UFC 205: Alvarez vs McGregor

[wandshogun09]

FUM - That was great. But I don't think that was actually the announcement that was being built up, was it? It was never confirmed that it'd be something Conor would announce in the cage anyway. Just that it would all be clear 'after 205'.

 

Is the press conference done yet? Maybe it'll be cleared up there. If not maybe in the coming days. There's definitely something going on. You could tell in that interview he did with Caroline Pearce. It was more what he didn't say than what he did say but it sounded like there's a couple of different things going on. My guess is his girlfriend is pregnant and also maybe McGregor's still hanging onto this nutty Mayweather fight thing that's never happening as well. As always these days after McGregor fights, expect a load of new demands, negotiations and turbulence between him and management now. If this PPV comes in big again, after McGregor's monster successes with 196 and 202 on PPV, plus the fact he's now got 2 belts, he's going to be wanting a bigger and bigger piece of that pie until the UFC are just left holding the empty plate. Obviously they're not going to let it go that far but McGregor vs UFC disputes are just part of the fallout of his fights now. With every win or big PPV number comes a new set of demands.

[FUM]

Maybe not but that's what I took although I think him saying he's just won the 2 belts and they're already trying to take one off him gave a hint towards an announcement if there is to be one.

[wandshogun09]

Maybe not but that's what I took although I think him saying he's just won the 2 belts and they're already trying to take one off him gave a hint towards an announcement if there is to be one.

That was always the plan though so he shouldn't be shocked at that. The thing was always that it'd be a champion vs champion fight and if Conor won and became the first double champ, he'd then have to vacate one belt so as not to hold two divisions up.

 

I know he was on about defending both belts but it's just not going to work. He's got too many things going on. There's too many fights out there that prevents him from being a defending champion at two weights. There was a recent interview, might've been on the Countdown actually, where McGregor says something like 'I'm the most active champion in the UFC'. But he won the title 11 months ago and hasn't defended it once. I understand why, the Diaz and Alvarez fights were huge for him and I can certainly see why he'd find those challenges more motivating than trying to do the impossible in topping his 13 second KO in a Jose Aldo rematch at 145. I get it. But you can't expect to hang onto two titles indefinitely if you're never defending one of them.

 

155 is where it's at for McGregor. Eddie Alvarez is a hell of a fighter. That's going to be forgotten now with everyone jizzing over McGregor's performance. Just like everyone seemed to forget what an amazing fighter Aldo after the McGregor loss, until he came back and schooled Frankie Edgar. Alvarez is top level. No-one has beat Alvarez the way McGregor just did it. That was arguably his best performance yet IMO. So I think lightweight is the right weight. I don't think there's anything for him to really do at 145. I'd love to see McGregor vs Edgar at some point and even McGregor vs Aldo 2 would intrigue me, but it just feels like 155 is where the best fights are currently.

 

Ferguson and Nurmagomedov ranked #1 and #2 looks like bad news if you're hoping for a decent McGregor title run at 155. Both very difficult fights in different ways. I think Ferguson is winnable for McGregor, although it could be very tricky. I think Khabib's all wrong for him though. The Johnson fight last night showed he's hittable, so there's that. But it's pretty clear to me that Khabib is THE worst style matchup out there for McGregor right now.

[Chunk]

 

I'm not going to have chance to catch this for days, what was Conor's left field announcement?

He had slagged off many people in his time and just wanted to apologize.

 

To absolutely nobody.

 

Genuinely, that was it.

That wasn't it. Not sure what made you think that. He just announced at the post fight press conference that he's having a baby.

[wandshogun09]

He just announced at the post fight press conference that he's having a baby.

HE'S having a baby?! Is there no end to the man's ability to make history?

 

Actually, he'd only be second on this one...

 

 

Can't have all the records, Conor.

[Chunk]

 

He just announced at the post fight press conference that he's having a baby.

HE'S having a baby?! Is there no end to the man's ability to make history?

That's the modern thing to say right? "We're pregnant" etc.

 

You get what I mean.

[wandshogun09]

Oh yeah. Why was every cunt in black or white again?

[SuperJohnny]

Who was the guy, arms folded, pissed off look on his face as the camera panned the crowd as McGregor celebrated? He was front row so must have been someone of note.

[adequate8]

What's that Odell Beckham?

[TildeGuy~!]

I didn't know Luke Rockhold was seeing Demi Lovato?

 

They should be perfect for each other the annoying twats.

[Undefeated Steak]

Fucking glorious, that was. McGregor is king of the world. That interview is up there with the best things I've ever seen.

[Yakashi]

Eddie looked like a prelim guy. Totally outclassed. Any non MMA fan would have thought it was a joke, it was so bad. He was right though. No on his size stands a chance. You need something special.

[AdamTH17]

Wonderful event, with the perfect ending I thought.

 

Didn't watch the FP Prelims, but nice to see Miller get the win after the whole fiasco regarding Alves' weight.

 

Great performances by Luque and Boetsch, Luque was just too fast for Muhammad and Boetsch tagging Natal early on meant he was able to control the entire fight until knocking him out. Genuinely thought Khabib was in trouble early on, Johnson was seemingly content picking him off from range, but it's scary how dominant Khabib is as soon as the fight hits the floor. Might as well end the round, announce it 10-9 to Khabib and save his opponent the trouble. Good resilience demonstrated by Johnson, but Khabib was just overwhelming him. Edgar/Stephens was more competitive than I imagined, actually. Frankie coasted through the first, but Stephens properly catching, and subsequently dropping him seemed like the wake-up call he needed. Frankie was just a step ahead in terms of movement and shot selection, and I agree with him picking up the win.

 

Tate/Pennington was weird. Didn't look like Tate addressed any of the problems Nunes gave her in that fight, constantly being stunned by a quick jab. She takes a few shots and just covers right up. I was genuinely terrified when Raquel began lifting Miesha up by her fucking neck! I called her hitting a Pedigree when she got into that position, but that looked like a horrible situation for Miesha. Good clinch control by Pennington, and the take-down at the end of the third was probably what tipped the fight her way. Another correct call from the judges.

 

Weidman/Romero was brutal! Really close one to call going into the last round, think I'd scored it a round apiece before Yoel decided to knee the head off of Weidman. I'll have to re watch, but my first thought was "he wasn't even looking to hit him with the knee" - meaning he'd probably be one of the first people to knock somebody out via accident. Notable mention to the gorgeous trip and sweep that Romero made in the second round, which was a thing of beauty. Genuine shame seeing Weidman getting knocked out in his own town, but hopefully he'll come back strong. As someone mentioned, the top 5 Middleweights are all so good, they're probably interchangeable, so I can see Weidman climbing back up the rankings soon enough. I don't like Bisping's chances against Yoel, but if it means we get more interactions like the one they shared, I'm all for the idea.

 

JJ/KK was a solid fight. Can't remember my specific round scoring, but I think I had JJ taking it 3-2. Her striking is just on another level at times, though on other occasions it looked though she was being too reliant on that head kick combination. Must of been at least 5 times in a row she tried it and just ended up swinging into thin air. Did laugh though at KK missing a spinning back fist, and then JJ coming back with one of her own. Where else do you go with JJ now? I think Dana said he likes the sound of KK/Gadelha, which I'm all for, but JJ is looking dominant as ever in that division.

 

What a great story Woodley/Wonderboy was. Slow start, picking up and up until peaking beautifully at the end of the 4th. How Wonderboy survived that onslaught is beyond me. 2 shots that would usually be enough to finish a fight alone, and then escaping a guillotine that looked insanely tight. The guy is an animal and I'm so pleased he was able to hang on until the decision. Bit of an odd gameplan from Woodley, used his wrestling in the first round to really control Wonderboy, winning him the round in process, and then for the rest of the fight decided to stand and trade with him instead. Even when Woodley was getting lit up by Thompson, you could never count him out, simply for the immense explosiveness and power he can smack you with, as Thompson found out. Really entertaining fight, and I agreed with the 47-47 scoring. Rematch please.

 

And then what a performance from Conor. Simply outstanding. Completely nullified everything Eddie threw at him, be it strikes, or whenever Eddie tried to take him on the floor. On the basis of that fight, he truly is on another level. How can anyone say he's not the real deal after that fight? Has anyone ever been so precise, yet so powerful with their striking? And that finish! Anderson Silva esque! I realise I'm rambling on about Conor, but that was a genuinely special performance. Once in a lifetime fighter, and tonight he created a moment which the company will be able to show for the next 20 years.

[WyattSheepMask]

$17.7m Gate, a new UFC record and is also being touted as a new MSG record also. Something tells me they will be back

[wandshogun09]

I didn't know Luke Rockhold was seeing Demi Lovato?

I didn't know either (why would we?) but when they showed them sitting next to each other they looked awkward as fuck. I thought Rockhold, cheeseball that he is, must've tried some lame chat up line on her and failed miserably but clearly not if they're together now.

 

Eddie looked like a prelim guy. Totally outclassed. Any non MMA fan would have thought it was a joke, it was so bad. He was right though. No on his size stands a chance. You need something special.

It's a bit early for that talk. It was a tremendous performance from McGregor over a really good fighter in Alvarez. But he's one fight deep into his UFC lightweight run. Granted he's the champ but there's some killers in that division and I think he'll have his work cut out with a few of them. You've got Ferguson who poses many of the same problems Diaz did (lankiness, slick submissions etc) plus he moves differently than anyone else in MMA. You've got Khabib who's a suffocating wrestler. Dos Anjos could work his way back in the mix. There's the rubber match with Diaz floating around down the road as well, he's ranked 4 or 5 still. Cerrone could come back down. It's a fucking snake pit.

 

Not counting him out. Bar the first Diaz fight he's massively exceeded my expectations whenever I've picked against him, so I'd be a fool to dismiss the chance he beats these guys at this point. But nobody stays on top too long. Especially in a division like 155. Who's the longest reigning lightweight champion to date? No-ones really gone on a long reign have they? It's such a competitive division.