UFC 207: Nunes vs Rousey

[Bus Surfer]

Great that shes got something out there quite quickly as it did appear we were going straight down the same track as last time, which is super worrying.

 

It's incredible to think what's happened in the space of 2 years. A stark reminder that nothing is forever, and it can all go away so quickly.

 

I think most thought she was definitely retiring after this, but I'm not so sure now. Probably very selfish to say, but UFC without Ronda is a much worse place and I hope we see her again.

[tiger_rick]

I did my usual and checked Twitter without thinking before I could watch. What a tit. Still watched the show. All the talk online and on here is about Ronda but Cody and Cruz was fucking fantastic. That cut on the eye was sick though. Throwing up in my mouth just recalling it.
 
Guess it's Dillashaw next for Garbrandt after his boring win over Lineker. I hate wrestlers in MMA. They ruin it. Lineker's an exciting fighter but not when someone's sat on him for three rounds.
 
Kim and Saffiedine wasn't up to much either. The opener was a decent scrap though. Borg was very impressive. Smolka tried everything to avoid being caught but Borg worked even harder to keep him down. It reminded me of those Indy tributes to the Guerrero/Malenko ECW matches with all the escapes and reversals. Borg's a huge little man. He's got sharp elbows an 'all.

 

Not a great card. Main event might have been shocking if I'd not ruined it, like.

[wandshogun09]

Yeah on almost any other card Cruz vs Garbrandt would've been the main talking point. And it really deserves to be. It just so happens that what might've been the end of one of the UFC's biggest stars immediately followed it.

 

Cruz vs Garbrandt was amazing though. It's too late now but that fight probably should've been in the running for FOTY in the awards on here. I wouldn't have it above the fights in there but I'd definitely say it warrants a place alongside them. A tremendous fight that had a bit of everything. If Cruz had won that I'd genuinely rank him maybe the Fighter Of The Year. What we got instead was a potential new star being born in Garbrandt. I loved this fight. Even the walkouts were great with Cody's emotional entrance with the kid who fought cancer, then Cruz coming out looking the most intense I've ever seen him.

 

What shocked me, and I'm presuming everyone else, most was Garbrandt's defence and movement. When the fight was announced I think everyone thought it could go one of two ways - either Garbrandt catches him with a big KO punch, or Cruz hits and moves his way to a decision. Nobody would've called Garbrandt to do what he did. He was so slick and hard to hit. It's been an overused phrase since Friday night but it's true, Garbrandt really did out Dominick Cruz Dominick Cruz.

 

Who knows what's next. I'd like to see Garbrandt vs Dillashaw myself though. As great as Garbrandt vs Cruz 2 would be, I don't think the decision was controversial and I'm not a huge fan of immediate rematches unless they're really necessary. I think Cody vs TJ is the way to go now. That's a hell of a fight style wise plus there's the whole backstory with the Alpha Male vs Dillashaw fallout. Plus it'd make a refreshing change to see Cruz against someone else who's not linked to Team Alpha Male in some way. His last three opponents were Garbrandt, Faber and Dillashaw. Wouldn't mind seeing Cruz vs Lineker actually. There's a clash of styles for you. Or Cruz vs Dodson or Assuncao maybe.

 

135 isn't the strongest weight class, but it's probably more exciting now than it's ever been.

[Supremo]

Garbrandt's performance was the most note worthy thing on the show. Ronda's deal went pretty much as I expected. Cody Garbrandt though. What a turnaround. In the lead up to the show he seemed like a witless oaf. Cruz was talking circles around him at every opportunity and I was utterly convinced the fight would consist of Cruz outsmarting him, dancing around, and making him look a dickhead. It seemed set in stone that Cody didn't have the mental toughness to deal with Cruz's style.

 

Then he comes in and puts on the performance of lifetime, essentially out-Cruzing Cruz, and I think I might have a new favourite fighter. That was an insane level of confidence, skill, and metal strength, to achieve what he did. Giving that kid the belt is just the icing on the cake. What a babyface.

 

Also, insight from my wife. She reckons Garbrandt is the most attractive fighter on the UFC roster.

[wandshogun09]

Well, he was with Paige VanZant for a bit and his current missus isn't too shabby either. Not bad for someone nicknamed 'No Love'.

[lambyUK]

Garbrandt didn't simply out Cruz Cruz as people have put it, he added top class striking to the repertoire.

 

His footwork and movement was more orthodox in comparison to Cruz but his superior athleticism added to the whole thing.

 

It's going to sound odd, but my favourite moment of the whole fight was Garbrandt's incredible takedown of Cruz.

 

I can't remember the whole transition completely, but I think it went something like Cruz swinging an overhand right, with Garbrandt ducking and moving away. It initially looked like his natural body motion would take him away from Cruz so Cruz lunged forward. Yet somehow Garbrandt reverses his momentum and turns it into an incredible takedown.

[ColinBollocks]

Pfft, he's no Luke Rockhold.

 

I pretty much agree with everything else Supremo typed about Garbrandt. I went in with a similar view of him and how the fight would play out, but he seemed to be a step ahead throughout the fight. If it wasn't for McGregor battering Alvarez in 2 rounds. like he was a jabroni, I'd probably put what Garbrandt did as performance of the year. He went in there with Cruz and made it look easy! Incredible. He won me over the moment Goldberg finished telling us who the boy was during the walkout; total babyface.

[Zaheer]

Part of me feels that Cody played Cruz, thinking he had the edge on the mind games when really Cody did it all on purpose. Masterful performance.

 

 

Standing in front of the female Vitor Belfort and exchanging was always going to end badly. It's almost a conical tactical approach.. Nunes said it best on the post fight presser in regards to her training.. If she wants to fight again Ronda really needs to switch camps.

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

Garbrandt was amazing. Pre-fight, it looked as if he was completely gotten to by Cruz and his logical, analytical shit-talking... and then they got in the cage. Total role reversal. Garbrandt was cerebral and making Cruz miss wildly, taunting, breakdancing- while bouncing him around the Octagon. Really great fight and deserved a lot more attention after the event, but Ronda was always going to get more attention, even if the ladies somehow had a dull Fitch-esque 5 rounder.

 

I definitely have to take back my comments about Cody being unintelligent too. Either he did play Cruz, or he was legitimately gotten to and had the mental fortitude to switch on at fight time. Either way, beating Cruz in that fashion shows a substantial fight IQ.

 

Seen a lot of comments around forums saying Cody pulled off a "babyface turn", with the sick kid and the sportsmanship post-fight... I don't know, I always liked the guy. Yeah, I picked against him and questioned his intelligence, but I bought into Cruz's talk because of Cody's fight history and reactions to the talk. I was hardly the only one. But I love his fighting style and the general fire he shows. I hope he doesn't become Mr Humble and all corporate friendly now that he's a champion. 135 especially needs guys with abrasive personalities like his. Be like Conor- build the fight, be a showman, have aggression and show class after the fight.

 

Funny side note- with the talk about Cody being an attractive fighter, my mum kinda fancied him after seeing him at the weigh in (she was basically tuning in for Ronda). But she sees anyone under the age of 30 as a child, so when I pointed out that Cody was younger than me, she immediately denied any such thoughts or comments That kinda thing doesn't bother me in the slightest though, Sofia Vergera and Jennifer Aniston are both older than her, but I would in a heartbeat!

[wandshogun09]

Yeah I think she needs to join a proper camp if she's going to fight on. It's all well and good tailoring your own fight camp to suit you but when it results in you being surrounded by incompetents and yes men you're doing yourself a disservice in the long run. She had the success she had despite Edmond. Imagine if she'd had proper coaches and a team of top level training partners? In the end that's her own fault for stubbornly sticking with Edmond. But it does make you think how good she could've been had she found a home elsewhere.

 

I don't really know if I agree with people saying she chose to stand with Nunes though. I don't think Nunes gave her a choice or really a chance to even start to implement a gameplan at all. All fights start standing and the whole thing lasted 48 seconds and she was snapping Ronda's head back with hard jabs from the off. She hurt Ronda right out the gate and just never let up. Not saying Ronda wouldn't have tried to box with her anyway, but she really just got taken out of the game before she could do anything. Nunes was great about not giving her a chance to close the distance. Ronda might well have been planning to grapple the fuck out of Nunes but you start on the feet and you've got to set grappling up. The problem was Nunes just came right down the middle with those jarring straight punches and fucked her up before she could set anything up. The only other thing Ronda could've done would've been to just start shooting for takedowns immediately but she's never been a power double leg takedown artist. She's a judoka and to get to that upper body clinch where she feels most comfortable you have to get in the danger zone striking range. Nunes knew this and made her pay the price.

[the_mole]

Cody Gambrandt talks OK and looks like he could become a big star if he continues winning but he admitted at the post fight press conference that he only learned to read in third grade and barely graduated high school, so he knew Cruz would out talk him.

 

I think the fact he has been Boxing since he was a young kid, was a good wrestler and a terrific athlete helped him, most American fighters come from a Wrestling background and then learn to strike when they get into MMA, Cody already had good Boxing when he started MMA, throw in the best camp in the US for under 170lb fighters most of whom have wrestling backgrounds and the sky's the limit for him.

[wandshogun09]

Ronda's mum telling TMZ she wants Ronda to retire;

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=697ct4sNvOg

 

Interesting that she said she's wanted her to retire for a while. I said before that I had a feeling she wasn't on board with this comeback and this just backs that up. Still no fan of Edmond either by the sounds of it.

[Philjax]

I think Garbrandt has been underestimated a lot by many before most of his bouts. Not by me. New champion!

 

I see Nunes taking out RR pretty much in the same manner as Tate, but maybe quicker, because Ronda is probably gonna bull rush in with her crappy striking and get sparked. Face plant.

 

And I forgot to bet on it again!

[wandshogun09]

Rogan and Schaub discussing Nunes vs Rousey...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=fRiIcXszU7g

 

And Cruz vs Garbrandt...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=LU6yGUk8ZAU

[Egg Shen]

not quite sure how i avoided spoiler for this show, but New Year messed up my viewing plans, but i did it!

 

The Ronda fight went pretty much as i expected, i always felt that if Ronda came out and got cracked she was going to fall apart. I'm not even sure who i blame for the loss, it's easy to pin on Edmund (and that video of his cornering is gold) but the bottom line to it is that Ronda simply doesn't know how to respond when she gets hit, anything she's learnt is forgotten and she stands there as stationary target. I'm not sure how much active sparring Ronda ever did, but her pretty mitt hitting techniques with Edmund has clearly not taught her how to react to some actually throwing back. The TKO win over Bethe Correira probably played into Ronda's downfall more than anyone expected at the time, i think everyone got carried away with Ronda's standup after that.

 

Nunes was fantastic though, came out tight and sharp and just blasted Ronda in oblivion, great performance. One of the hardest parts about fighting Ronda is probably the pressure the whole thing brings, i think that's broken some of Ronda's opponents in the past before they got into the cage with her.

 

The PPV portion wasn't great until the Garbrandt/Cruz fight which might have snuck in and taken my FOTY slot, based purely on how caught up i got in the whole thing. Great build up and it delivered. I think everyone expected Garbrandt to fight too emotionally and play right into Cruz's hands, the way he actually fought just blew me away, he said he thrives in heated situations and it showed, probably means why Garbrandt has to get so angry before hand, he's a guy who needs that to fuel his performance. The way Garbrandt just made a mockery of Cruz' in-and-out footwork and awkwardness was outstanding, Cruz was valiant in defeat but very little he did actually worked, i might have had him winning 2 close rounds but Garbrandt was a clear and deserving winner.

 

Garbrandt/Dillashaw could be fun...it's an nice little twist in the Dillahaw/Alpha male tale.

 

Dillashaw fought a masterclass against Linker (to quote Rogan). Lineker is limited but he's dangerous as fuck and Dillashaw shut him down and took very little damage. I wanted Lineker to clip but there's no denying it was a great performance from TJ.

 

The other positive from the PPV was the perforamce of Ray Borg. Slightly jilted because of him missing weight, but in a fucked up division like 125, he could be near a title shot by the middle of 2017 (needs a signature win first), slick operator.