UFC 206: Holloway vs Pettis

[wandshogun09]

Yeah at least the fight is still on.

 

But let's just say Pettis wins. What a fucking balls up that would be. What do they do then? If they're saying he can't win the interim title even with a win then you'd assume that his shot at Aldo is also out the window for the time being? So if Pettis wins tomorrow all it's done is eliminate Holloway from contention and leaves Aldo flopping around like a third bollock.

 

Watch it happen now. It's just one of those shows. Pettis by Showtime cock slap to the face.

[JNLister]

Swanson-Choi is presumably now for the interim interim title.

[herbie747]

Why is this not on BT Sport?

 

edit - ignore. Just saw there's a BT Sport 3 now. I literally only turn on my SKY Box nowadays to record UFC.

[firstnameunknown]

But Pettis was so easily on weight he could go eat steak and eggs at some fancy restaurant a few days ago, as seen on Embedded. What a plum...

[jimufctna24]

Well then. I only watched the Main Card, but from what I saw this was a really good show. The quality of the action inside the cage made me forget about all the issues the card had beforehand. 

 

Cerrone vs Brown more than lived up to the hype. Max did a masterful job of dispatching of Pettis, and I believe is the first fighter to finish Pettis. But Cub vs Choi was absolutely barmy, and clearly stole the show. It was easily a late contender for fight of the year.

[wandshogun09]

I'll go into the rest tomorrow but fucking hell Swanson vs Superboy was amazing shit. I'm buzzing off that fight still.

 

Anyone who was ragging on this card going in just because it wasn't full of huge stars and stuff is an idiot. You can never guarantee fights are going to be as good as they look on paper but like I said earlier in the thread, if you weren't excited about a card featuring Holloway vs Pettis, Cerrone vs Brown and Swanson vs Choi you're wrong and don't deserve a Christmas.

 

Incredible show. Tremendous performances for Holloway and Cowboy in the top two fights, a genuine Fight Of The Year contender in Swanson vs Choi and a genuine Knockout Of The Year contender in Groovy Lando's spinning kick KO on Makdessi. Seriously Jim, look that knockout up. Shades of Barboza vs Etim which I've long said was the best KO in UFC history IMO.

 

And to top it all off, the cherry on the cake...Tim Kennedy got fucked up by Fatty Gastelum! How can you not love that?

[wandshogun09]

Just watched Swanson vs Choi again. That's my FOTY. I wish it was 5 rounds. Fuck that, I want a rematch over 10 rounds.

[WeeAl]

That was a great show! Holloway looked phenomenal, Pettis hand probably played a decent sized part in things but I still think Max would have had him.

 

I feel for Matt Brown, he's always entertaining and he's dangerous but he needs a couple of confidence boosting fights next after this loss. That head kick looked and sounded viscious.

 

What in the world did I just watch in that Swanson v Choi fight? That was all kinds of madness. Absolutely fantastic. As Goldberg said last night, I don't think there were any losers in this one. Both guys increased their stature and popularity massively in that one. What a chin on the two of them.

 

Gastelum battered the life out of Kennedy. And he was so much smaller looking too, though that didn't matter a jot here. He made mince meat out of Tim.

[jimufctna24]

I heard about the Lando knockout on Twitter. Just tracked it down, it didn't disappoint. 

 

Sherdog predicted that Kennedy was going to lose on Friday. It wasn't that surprising that Kennedy lost - more so that he took a right beating. Gastelum might be best advised to stay at Middleweight, and make the correct adjustments with his diet. He looked great. 

[wandshogun09]

Gastelum seems hell bent on going back down to 170 though. I get why because he's not that big a middleweight but he's missed weight at 170 so many times now. It's either pure laziness or he just can't make the weight. He even said himself after beating Kennedy last night that he lets himself get too fat between fights, so I'm thinking it's down to being a lazy fucker.

 

I agree though that despite being on the smaller side at 185, I like him at that weight. He's actually undefeated at middleweight as well. He went 6-0 at 185 at the start of his career. He's bounced between 170 and 185 ever since but every time he's gone up to 185 since then (vs Marquardt and Kennedy), he's looked really good, put beatdowns on his opponents and got the finish. He's 8-0 at middleweight and has finished 7 of his 8 fights there.

 

He's fought 7 times at welterweight (or catchweight if he came in heavy). He's 5-2 at 170 with losses to Woodley and Magny. And he's missed weight 3 times and caused his fight with Cerrone at UFC 205 to be scrapped.

 

The frustrating thing is he's so talented. Even those losses to Woodley and Magny were split decisions and I think I actually had him winning the Woodley fight. With different judges in those two fights we could be looking at an undefeated fighter now. He's really good. But he just continually fucks up with his weight. The way he handled this most recent weight miss with Cerrone was awful and so unprofessional. I wouldn't have blamed the UFC if they sacked him because of that. Especially given his previous.

 

But he bashed Kennedy so he's good with me. Rogan saying something like 'When a guy like Gastelum misses weight, Tim Kennedy sees that as lazy and disrespectful. Those are the guys Kennedy enjoys punishing'. Who made Tim Kennedy the policeman of the UFC? It was so satisfying watching him floundering in there and getting clobbered at every turn.

[jimufctna24]

Even if he starts fully applying himself, it might start being a struggle for him. Gastelum is also only 25. In a few years, it will be even harder for him to make 170lbs. I remember when Mousasi hit his mid 20's, and how he struggled with his weight - which ended with him going up to 205lbs for a number of years.  

 

Tim Kennedy is a big and talented Middleweight. You might expect a Rockhold or Weidman to run through him like Gastelum did last night - but certainly not many others. I hope someone gets in Gastelum's ear, and steers him in the right direction. Given his obvious talent, I wouldn't want to get turfed out of the UFC for not making weight again. . 

[Cousin Jim Bob]

 

But he bashed Kennedy so he's good with me. Rogan saying something like 'When a guy like Gastelum misses weight, Tim Kennedy sees that as lazy and disrespectful. Those are the guys Kennedy enjoys punishing'. Who made Tim Kennedy the policeman of the UFC? It was so satisfying watching him floundering in there and getting clobbered at every turn.

 

Rogan loves Kennedy, he praises him on his podcast all the time. Its kind of embarrassing. He loves stupid conspiracy theories like Rogan and killing animals I guess. Rogan has been all "he is a savage, he is wired different to us all. What a badass" a bunch of times.

[wandshogun09]

Yeah I've noticed Rogan's hard on for all things Kennedy. He's got a distorted memory of Kennedy's fight against Yoel Romero was well. He's remembered that with a much more pro Kennedy tint than is justified. He even said recently that Kennedy was "brutalising" Romero before Romero sat on the stool too long. Completely ignoring the bit where Kennedy was being a shit and holding onto Yoel's glove so he couldn't block his punches. He loves him some Kennedy. Suppose someone has to.

 

I was happy to see Max Holloway win the main event and especially with such a strong performance and a finish. I've always liked Pettis but I'm much more a Holloway fan. Plus Pettis was being a bit of a dick refusing the glove touch at the start after HE missed weight. Regardless, Holloway looked fantastic. He keeps getting better. Can't wait to see him and Jose Aldo. Or Jose Waldo as Holloway called him. I think that's a killer fight and I'm really split on who I think will win. A year or so ago I'd have thought Aldo would be a step too far but Max has looked phenomenal. Especially in recent fights and he just rises to these challenges time after time. You could always see the talent and potential there as far back as his UFC debut against Poirier, but he's really matured as a fighter ever since the loss to McGregor 3 years ago.

 

BT again censoring the post fight interview got on my tits. I get why they're having to do it with watersheds and shit but it's still annoying.

 

On pretty much any other night Cerrone vs Brown would've been the FOTN. It just so happened they were following a FOTY contender in Swanson-Choi. Loved this fight though. It did exactly what it said on the tin and was just how you'd have imagined a fight between them would be. The headkick KO was indeed vicious. That sound it made was sickening. Cerrone looks lethal at 170. I mean, Matt Brown went 5 rounds with Robbie Lawler and Cerrone just laid him out. There's so many options for awesome fights at 170 for him as well. Who wouldn't want to see Cowboy vs Lawler or a returning Nick Diaz? I know Cerrone wants on that Brooklyn show though and I'm not sure Lawler or Diaz will be ready to go then. There's always that Jorge Masvidal fight. Masvidal called him out the other week. Cerrone actually said on Matt Serra's podcast the other day though, that he wants to fight Demian Maia! Nobody could ever accuse Cowboy of looking for easy fights.

 

There's nothing much more I can add about Swanson vs Superboy that I or others haven't already said. But fuck it I'm praising it again. I think it is my FOTY now. And this year has had some incredible fights like McGregor vs Diaz 1 and 2, Lawler vs Condit, Bisping vs Hendo 2, Woodley vs Wonderboy etc. I loved all of them but I don't think I enjoyed any of them as much or lost my shit as much as I did watching Swanson and Choi do their thing last night.

 

Those three fights would've been enough but add in Kennedy getting wrecked by Gastelum and Lando's spectacular spinning shit KO on the prelims and you've got one of the most enjoyable shows the UFC put out in 2016.

[AdamTH17]

Of course I had to be the dickhead who slept through his alarm!

 

Can't wait for this to be uploaded to Fight Pass, seen some highlights, including Lando's and Donald's finishes and they've got me all kinds of excited to see this.

[ColinBollocks]

Not really feeling losing version of Pettis. That's 4 losses in the last 5 for him now. Granted, he's lost to some great fighters but gone are the days Pettis was looked at as a potential great. I really don't fancy his chances against most of the top ten at LW too.

Holloway was the business, however. Gold mirror tie and all. #WheresWaldo or whatever makes you appreciate a McGregor that little bit more.

 

I guess Cerrone showed he can indeed dig in when things are getting a little hairy. I did laugh a few times at Rogan's timing with his "Cerrone is right good at this weight" line because it always came out his mouth as Cerrone was getting smashed.

No fat on that leg kick. Scary. Some highlight reel Cerrone is building since moving up.

 

Not sure if Swanson v Superboy gets the nod over McGregor v Diaz 2 or Lawler v Condit, but it's a worthy FOTY winner.