UFC 187: Cormier vs Rumble

[jimufctna24]

Weidman is fine, just comes across as a bit dull.  It doesn't help that he is surrounded by Serra and Longo, who are both walking cartoon characters. There is nothing unpleasant about him though, and I look forward to his fights.

 

I suspect Weidman vs Belfort will play out like Couture vs Belfort 3.

[wandshogun09]

I know of one person who definitely wouldn't hear a bad word against Chris Weidman...

 

 

That's Anna Croenlein. The 94 year old lady Weidman saved from bleeding to death.

 

To his rivals, the sight of UFC Middleweight champion Chris Weidman inspires fear.

 

To one badly injured 94-year-old Long Island woman, it brought unfathomable relief.

 

A blood-soaked Anna Croenlein, fearing for her life after breaking open her head in a fall, was screaming for help on her Dix Hills driveway when the neighbor she barely knew came to the rescue.

 

Weidman helped stanch Croenlein's bleeding and called 911 — and even stayed around to mop up her blood after she was rushed to the hospital.

 

Croenlein didn't know Weidman's name and had never heard of the UFC. But she's now one of the feared fighter's biggest fans.

 

"I want to thank him because he saved my life," Croenlein told the Daily News Tuesday, still sporting a two-inch gash on the back of her head. "He is really a champion. Believe me."

 

Croenlein's brush with death came a day after she celebrated her 94th birthday.

 

The tough-as-nails great grandmother was chowing down on her morning bowl of Cream of Wheat on Oct. 16 when she slipped off an ottoman and slammed her head on a glass table.

 

In seconds, Croenlein was covered in blood.

 

"It was a beauty," Croenlein said sarcastically. "There was so much blood I didn't think I had blood anymore."

 

Croenlein tried to call her daughter, who had just stepped out for a dentist's appointment, but couldn't operate the phone.

 

Not knowing what else to do, she walked out to the garage — leaving behind a trail of blood — and started screaming for help in her driveway under a torrential downpour.

 

"I stood out there in the rain, and I screamed and screamed," Croenlein said. "Not a soul."

 

Weidman, who lives just a few doors down, was in his driveway cleaning out his car when he heard a strange sound that he couldn't quite make out.

 

At one point, he looked over towards its direction and thought he saw a figure in his neighbor's driveway. "But the person's body language wasn't showing that they were yelling," Weidman, 30, told The News.

 

Weidman hopped in his car and headed towards the sound, his window rolled down. Rain was spraying in his face, but as he drove past Croenlein's house, he heard the unmistakable sound of a woman pleading for help.

 

Weidman burst out of his vehicle and rushed up to Croenlein.

 

"She was holding her neck and there was blood everywhere," Weidman said. "It was the worst amount of blood I've ever seen."

 

Weidman brought his wounded neighbor inside the garage, sat her down and quickly dialed 911. But he twice failed to get through to an emergency dispatcher.

 

So Weidman called up a cop buddy and told him he needed an ambulance immediately.

 

Croenlein was so bloody that Weidman couldn't tell where it was coming from. "At first, I was thinking she got stabbed or stabbed herself with a knife," he said.

 

Once he realized the blood was pouring out of the back of her head, he grabbed a towel and pressed it against the wound. He checked her pulse every few minutes.

 

All the while, he was consoling Croenlein, who has five great grandchildren.

 

"She said, 'I just wanted to live one more year,'" Weidman recalled. "I said, 'You are not dying today. This is not your day to die.'"

 

Finally, an ambulance arrived. Croenlein was rushed to Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center, where she was diagnosed with a minor concussion. It took nine staples to close up the gash on her head.

 

After the ambulance had taken off, Weidman stuck around, cleaning up the blood in Croenlein's garage.

 

All he could think about was performing the same chore three years ago following the death of his uncle who fell down a flight of stairs.

 

"We had to clean up his blood," said Weidman, a father of two who is 12-0 in the UFC. "It was the worst experience of my life."

 

Croenlein's daughter said Weidman stopped by the house the next day asking how her mother was doing.

 

"He was very, very thoughtful," the daughter, Walli Amato, said. "His kindness is something I appreciate more than I can say."

 

Five days after the incident, Croenlein shrugged off the injury. "I feel fine," she said as she stepped out into her garage with the aid of a cane.

 

"If you were raised in a foreign country and you come here, you've got to be a little bit tough," added the Romanian-born Croenlein, who emigrated to the U.S. in 1940 at the age of 20.

 

She said she was looking forward to expressing her gratitude to her hero neighbor, who she refers to only as "that young man."

 

"He was just a very, very sweet man," Croenlein said. "Like a mother who was caring for her baby."

 

Added Croenlein: "That young man is the nicest person I ever met."

The man's basically Superman with ground and pound, takedowns and Jiu-Jitsu.

 

 

I still think part of the Weidman backlash for some is because he had the cheek to end Anderson Silva's reign. Which would be a ridiculous reason to dislike him but it has to be part of it IMO because I don't recall one negative thing being said about him prior to the Anderson fights. I dunno, it's almost like some people just can't accept that a normal bloke who looks like Paddy McGuinness beat the almighty Anderson Silva and took his belt.

[jimufctna24]

Weidman is a better comedian than Paddy McGuinness 

[wandshogun09]

Weidman is fine, just comes across as a bit dull.  It doesn't help that he is surrounded by Serra and Longo, who are both walking cartoon characters.

See, I'm the opposite with this. While Weidman isn't the life and soul of the party personality-wise, I actually think him always having Longo and Serra around distracts from that and they fill that void for him. They're like the mouthpiece and he's their fighting machine. It's kind of cool. It's like babyface version of Ivan Drago doing the fighting and his wife carrying the load on the interviews.

 

To be honest, I don't even think Weidman is particularly dull. Yeah he's not going to stand out in a room with the bigger personalities like Serra, McGregor, Rousey, Cormier or whoever but I noticed this week he's getting better at the media stuff. He was good during his scrum and I never felt bored or uninterested listening to him. I think he just needs more time for people to connect to him. He went from beating mid-carders to a year on the shelf to beating Anderson Silva and becoming the man. It was a weird rise through the ranks in a way. It wasn't a gradual journey where people got to follow every step with him. He kind of came out of nowhere. Beating the Tom Lawlors and Mark Munoz's then completely missing that Bisping/Sonnen level and beating Silva and Machida.

 

I like Belfort but I really hope Weidman wins in spectacular fashion tonight and with no controversy. That's another thing that's kind of harmed him. The two Anderson fights had the 'Anderson was too cocky/leg like a noodle' shit surrounding them which sadly detracted from Weidman's exceptional performances. The Machida fight was awesome but went the distance. I think it'd do him good to deal a couple of clean cut, absolutely indisputable thrashings out. To really put a stamp on his reign. I'm fully expecting him to stop Vitor tonight. Vitor's always a threat (especially those first two rounds) and I think people are putting a tad too much emphasis on his saggy shrivelled physique going in. He's still got the skills and he's going to be dangerous. Weidman was saying in his scrum that Belfort could actually benefit cardio-wise from not carrying so much muscle, which would also free him up to attack more because he won't be so worried about conserving energy. That's a good point none of us really brought up. I think Weidman stops him though.

 

And then you've got Rockhold and Jacare waiting in the wings. Both of which I think are incredible fights and I can't wait to see them. I just hope Weidman can stay healthy now and build up proper momentum and put a good title reign together. With wins over Anderson and Machida, he couldn't be off to a better start.

[jimufctna24]

I was probably a bit harsh with "dull". I don't find him boring. "He isn't a massive character", is probably a more accurate statement. It's irrelevant though, because I enjoy his fights, and I care about what he is doing.

[Egg Shen]

id completely forgotten about what was on the undercard for this fight because it's top heavy, but there's some solid shit on the undercard. The whole Fox undercard is quality, highlighted by Dodson/Makovsky (the winner apparently gets the next shot at Mighty Mouse). Mike Pyle returning on Fight Pass too, im in!

[pryko]

I can count the number of UFC shows I've stayed up for in the last 12 months on 1 hand.  But this card, I'm going for it.  Big fan of Weidman.  Big fan of Cerrone.  Big fan of AKA, so therefore Cormier.  John Dodson on the Prelims.

 

Awesome looking card.  Need to watch all the embedded shows and what not to build up to it.  Just watching the Helwani interview with Weidman now

[wandshogun09]

Embedded is fantastic. It's never boring even when a card is lacklustre like 186 but when there's a card like this it's even better. Never fails to increase my excitement for a big show. Embedded easily gets me more hyped up than the Countdowns do now. I don't even bother with some Countdowns these days but I never miss Embedded.

 

Here's episode 6;

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=2AVWgeozM7U

 

And here's a pretty awesome Vitor Belfort highlight;

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=QDMFq8rHsX4

 

It feels like a lifetime since his last fight against Hendo.

 

Despite me being totally convinced Weidman vs Belfort is going to be a one-sided beatdown, I'm really excited for it now it's actually here. I guess with the amount of times the fight has fallen through, subconsciously I just expected it to end up getting cancelled again so I didn't get sucked in by the build-up. Now they've weighed in though, barring something insane happening, it SHOULD happen. And now we're here I can't wait to see how it all unfolds.

[David]

I'm not really interested in Weidman as a person, it's as a fighter that I don't really like him, and his antics regarding Belfort's TRT use have kinda grated on my nerves. Other fighters have used TRT. Anyone badmouthing Dan Henderson and calling him a cheat? Frank Mir? Todd Duffee? Nope. Just Vitor.

 

And the reason I don't like DC is because of the faces he pulls during his FOX analysis. Nothing more.

[Supremo]

Genuine question; did any of the other TRT users have previous drug test failures? I think, without double checking the facts, that Vitor's past issues with drugs were what thrust him into being the villainous poster boy for TRT. Sure, he was still playing within the rules, but I can certainly understand why other fighters ruled him out as public enemy number one. Whilst the whole TRT thing was a bit of a joke, it took extra piss that anyone with a past failure for steroids could be given an exemption.

 

EDIT: I've just remembered Chael had an exemption despite having a previous test failure, so if anyone should have shared the burden of being the face of TRT it probably should have been him. But like wand has pointed out below, he wasn't smashing guys like Vitor was, so that's probably what separates them in the eyes of the fighters and the public. It's hard to be annoyed by somebody's supposed unfair advantage when he's mostly getting pounded by guys like Jon Jones and Rashad. It's the combination of the previous failures, having the physique of the Hulk, and absolutely destroying guys that made Vitor the obvious target for guys like Bisping and Rockhold. If Vitor loses tonight like I suspect he will I fully expect Rockhold and Bisping to ask for another shot at Vitor now that he's assumedly clean. And I expect a different result in at least the Rockhold fight, if not both.

[wandshogun09]

What's to dislike about Weidman's fighting? He's a great wrestler (which you usually love), attacking BJJ, good and dangerous standup, tough (as he showed in the Machida fight), fights intelligently. He's a brilliant fighter. It's easy to forget that he's still relatively young in MMA. How many guys have the first 10/11 fights this guy has? He's a beast.

 

Other fighters have used TRT. Anyone badmouthing Dan Henderson and calling him a cheat? Frank Mir? Todd Duffee? Nope. Just Vitor.

I said this at the time and pretty much everyone disagreed with me and acted like I was pro-cheating. Like I said back then though, Vitor took all the flack because he was the only one who was both on TRT and winning. Mir and Hendo never looked worse than when they were on TRT. Belfort was winning, looked like a Hasbro and said goofy shit. He was the perfect poster boy/fall guy for people to make their point with. They couldn't have used Frank Mir as an example that TRT was cheating when he was on a four fight losing streak. So Belfort took all the shit.

 

Just stuck the weigh in on. Anyone else got subtitles they can't turn off on the weigh in video uploaded on the UFC's youtube channel? I've ticked to switch it off and it just stays on. Really annoying.

[pryko]

Watching the Embedded shows now.  Not sure whether to have a bit of a pre-show sleep or not

[Supremo]

Catching up on everything now, that interview with Longo and Serra is fantastic. Two of the best personalities in the sport. If Chris Weidman wins tonight and they don't do a season of TUF with Longo, Serra and Weidman vs. Rockhold, Cormier and the rest of AKA then it's one of the biggest mistakes the UFC have ever made.

 

What the fuck is going on with Matt Serra's calves though? Are they legitimate implants? Looked horrendous!

 

EDIT: Rose Namajunas and Nina Ansaroff are off the show due to Ansaroff having the flu.

[David]

Right, here goes for the next instalment of Degenerate Dave's descent into debt and destitution, sponsored by TRT.

 

To recap, I'll be betting £15 per event, but I've now switched the format to £3 on five bets, nice & simple.

 

All bets will be made on Paddypower.com, and I'll point out that the aim here isn't always winning big, but winning consistently. I want to see if I can basically make it through a year of events and come out with a decent profit overall and a winning record of note.

 

So, for this event i'm heading in with a cash record of -£4.50, and with an 14-4 record from 3 events thus far. The Faber/Edgar event put a dent in my stride, so here's hoping I can get back on track.

 

My five picks are as follows;

 

Islam Makhachev to win over Leo Kuntz at 3/10. A win sees me take £3.90.

John Dodson to win over Zach Makovski at 1/5. A win sees me take £3.60.

Joeseph Benavidez to win over John Moraga at 1/6. A win sees me take £3.50.

Travis Browne to win over Andrei Arlovski at 2/9. A win sees me take £3.67.

Donald Cerrone to win over John Makdessi at 1/6. A win sees me take £3.50.

 

As an extra feature to this I'm going to put forward a few interesting bets that won't be included in the main game, but are simply there as possible tips for anyone looking for a way to lose their money. I'll chart these as well simply out of curiosity.

 

For this event i'm going to be throwing down £5 on Donald Cerrone to beat John Makdessi by submission. This sees a return of £14.38. I'll also be throwing down £5 on Islam Makhalev to beat Leo Juntz via submission, which will see me take an £18 return.

 

Also, if anyone is feeling lucky it may be worth throwing some coin down on a Josh Burkman win over Dong Hyun Kim. A £5 on the result alone with see you take £15 home, whilst a bet on him to win by KO (which is really the only way Burkman wins in my opinion) would net you a tidy £32.50.

 

Anyone else got some bets lined up for tonight?

[Egg Shen]

i've done an acca, i had two boxing fights on there which have come in...then from the UFC i have DC, Dodson, Benavidez, Browne & the anyone can win the Weridman/Belfort but it has to end by either KO or Decision.