UFC 207: Nunes vs Rousey

[ColinBollocks]

Thing is, if Velasquez decided to call the fight off when his back went then they probably could have given Werdum the time for a JDS war. I agree Werdum is just being clever, realising he's got it all to lose here. Who knows maybe he just slots into the no. 1 contender spot now, seeing as Cain will be out for a few months.

[ColinBollocks]

Re the McGregor/Rousey press stuff, I think the difference might be that Rousey had factored this in to her contract/agreement to fight whereas Conor hadn't and just didn't want to do it. Though on the other hand there is the conflict of interest since the owners of UFC also represent Ronda so may just want to keep their client happy..so who knows but either is plausible.

I think a lot of it has to do with Dana being told "no" when he expects the opposite. McGregor for months and months worked his arse off hyping the Aldo fight and I assume Dana expected much of the same. Instead McGregor very reasonably asked for that time back to train.

 

It's worth remembering that the 200 show was the last under the Zuffa ownership. For 202 and 205, McGregor did very little press when compared to the previous year. Thing is, with McGregor it works because he makes the most out of the time. Rousey, I'm not so sure.

[wandshogun09]

Everything about Ronda in the build up to this has seemed really off to me. If she's that emotionally fragile that she can't face the media or take questions or whatever then it's a bit worrying that she's going to be locked in a cage with Amanda Nunes in a few days. I hope I'm wrong and she's just done the old Marvin Hagler thing and locked herself away, focused 100% and trained her arse off but I don't have a good feeling about it.

[icke83]

If she is not doing any media because of how fragile she is mentally, which isn't too much of a stretch, I wonder if they will clear the backstage area of the people you usually see milling about during the walkouts in case someone throws her off..I'm joking of course but just on an intrigue level i'm more interested in the fight than i would be if I had seen her sobbing during interviews or doing the usual nicely nice chat shows with the generic questions and answers.

Anyway, have a good day all either with family or simply just enjoying the time off work

[herbie747]

I wonder if they will clear the backstage area of the people you usually see milling about during the walkouts in case someone throws her off..I'm joking of course 

 

I wouldn't be one bit surprised if that actually happened.

[Egg Shen]

has any other fighter in modern UFC history been excused of all media duties going into a fight?

 

oh, and JDS has a replacement, and it's a good one!

 

[METAL ON METAL]

Werdum is saying he didn't get offered the JDS fight (not sure I believe him).

 

Werdum does seem like an utter dick though. This quote he just came out with:

 

“Some people think he’s jealous because I became champion beating his ‘dad’ Cain Velasquez, but I don’t think that’s the case,” he continued. “I think he didn’t come out of the closet yet. I don’t have anything against homosexuals, but ‘Cigano’ needs to get out of the closet. He must have something because he won’t forget me. I already told him I’m married. Nothing against gays, but everyone does their own thing.”

 

Fucking hell. It's like 2005 MMA homophobia all over again. I'd love to see JDS knock that goofy faced fucker out again.

[ColinBollocks]

Werdum is saying he'll fight anyone now. I really hope the nicest man in MMA smashes his daft face now.

[wandshogun09]

I'm a big Werdum fan but that quote is ridiculous. Come on Fab.

 

If they can bring in JDS then that is a fantastic save and Werdum vs JDS 2 would be every bit as interesting to me as Werdum vs Cain 2 would've been. I still reckon it's a risk Werdum would be foolish to take on this notice but fuck it, can't say I wouldn't love to see that rematch.

[jimufctna24]

I get the impression that this won't happen. The UFC seem content with only having 10 bouts on the card. Cain vs Werdum was one of - if not the - fight I was looking forward to the most, but the UFC can stand to not have it on the bill. It's the Rousey show, and even without a top-line Heavyweight clash, they still have a very strong undercard.  Although, I wouldn't be surprised if the UFC book Werdum vs JDS for a card early next year. I would very much look forward to it.

 

I remember the build-up to the first fight. JDS was an unknown at the time, and the bookies had him as a massive outsider. Much like today, when a new Heavyweight turned up around this period they usually ended up being a bit crap. However, in the days before the bout, Dana posted a video online of JDS looking very sharp while working his boxing. In accordance, the bookies shifted their odds a tiny bit. This was also partially due to Werdum looking soft at the weigh-in. Despite this, Werdum entered the cage as a massive favourite, and it was surprise when he got laid out. It was thought that Werdum could drag JDS to the mat, and score a submission or grind him out with strikes. In retrospect, there was only going to be one winner that night, but at the time, it very much went against the script. I don't think there would be a script if they fought again. I would not like to put my money on either. 

[wandshogun09]

I remember the build-up to the first fight. JDS was an unknown at the time, and the bookies had him as a massive outsider. Much like today, when a new Heavyweight turned up around this period they usually ended up being a bit crap. However, in the days before the bout, Dana posted a video online of JDS looking very sharp while working his boxing. In accordance, the bookies shifted their odds a tiny bit. This was also partially due to Werdum looking soft at the weigh-in. Despite this, Werdum entered the cage as a massive favourite, and it was surprise when he got laid out. It was thought that Werdum could drag JDS to the mat, and score a submission or grind him out with strikes. In retrospect, there was only going to be one winner that night, but at the time, it very much went against the script. I don't think there would be a script if they fought again. I would not like to put my money on either.

Fond memories.

 

I'm sure I told this story before on here but I actually won a drunken bet with my mate (now brother-in-law) on the first JDS vs Werdum fight. Neither of us had ever heard of JDS and my mate was a proper Pride fanboy and backing Werdum to walk it. He hadn't seen the video blog of JDS absolutely murdering the pads and and looking terrifying. I had. I looked up his record and it looked decent. Saw he'd been training with the Nogs, this was back when they were still a force. And then on fight week Werdum showed up looking rather soft and pudgy. All in all, JDS seemed a decent underdog bet to me. My mate was so overconfident about it the day of the show that he offered to bet everything that was in his wallet at the time on Werdum to win. I remember he had about £45 in his wallet but he needed his bus fare home so he said to call it £40. In hindsight I was a fucking idiot agreeing to it based on an unknown but this was in my days of having a bit of a problem with drink and I was careless with money back then.

 

So that night we sat down to watch the fight and early in round one...

 

 

 

A beautiful £40's worth of uppercut right there.

 

My mate's face was a fucking picture. I've loved JDS ever since. And my mate hated him for years after that. I don't think JDS won him round until his heroic display of toughness in the second Cain fight years later.

 

Probably the only MMA bet I've ever won as well.

[ColinBollocks]

Countdown, y'all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HqdlvKa1r4

 

Embedded.

[wandshogun09]

Rousey not doing media has really hurt the buzz for this show, hasn't it?

 

I'm excited for it, I'm sure a lot of people are, but it's undeniable that Rousey refusing to promote this fight has resulted in a weak build up. In a weird kind of way her silence has added to the intrigue in wanting to see this fight. But the flipside is that there's not much to discuss when she's basically gone into seclusion. And it's not like they've even pushed Nunes in the promotion either. So the build up for this fight has been weird. They've got a challenger who's a massive star coming back off a year layoff following her first defeat...but she's not playing ball with the media. And they've got a champion who's an absolute beast but they don't seem keen on giving her much push. Don't get me wrong, I get that Ronda is the star here, of course. Her comeback was always going to be the focal point. But it feels like Nunes is a complete afterthought here. Right from the second they released the event poster with the big SHE'S BACK plastered right in the middle of it.

 

The Countdown was pretty good. And Nunes did get a fair bit of air time there, which was good because she's a fighter I've wanted to know a bit more about. The clips of her coming back to Brazil with the belt were cool. But again, the whole thing is odd. There were only a couple of small little talking head bits from Ronda and I think they were taken off other interviews. I don't think she did anything new for the Countdown and she wasn't on the first Embedded either. And what's even stranger, unless I missed it, they never showed the Holly Holm headkick once. That kick is a huge part of the story going into this fight. The biggest part of the story in many ways. Everything started there, it's the reason Rousey has barely been seen all year, it's the reason she's not doing any media etc. But they wimped out of showing it because they're walking on eggshells trying not to upset Ronda. It's the strangest buildup to a fight I can remember. There's never been a case of a fighter being excused doing any media like this before a big fight and the whole thing is just making me more and more curious to see what the fuck is going to happen if Ronda loses again here.

 

The Cruz vs Garbrandt bit of the Countdown was good. But I can't help thinking Garbrandt is deluding himself when he talks about Cruz. I think it was in Embedded where Cody and that twat Justin Buchholz are saying something like 'Cruz just does the same thing all the time. He does everything technically wrong' or some bollocks. Well then why has he been able to run through all the top guys from Alpha Male? Garbrandt is a wrecking ball but I just can't help thinking this Cruz fight has come along a few years too soon for him. I think all he's really got that Faber, Dillashaw and Benavidez lacked is that one punch knockout power. I think that gives him a slightly better punchers chance but it's not like Cruz is going to just stand and trade with him. How many times did GSP fight some big hitter and we'd all go 'Hmmmmmm, this could be dangerous' then GSP would just school the guy? I think Cruz is like GSP in that way. If you're coming into a fight with Cruz pinning all your hopes on landing that knockout deathblow, you're probably going to fall short because Cruz is too smart for that. I'm not counting Garbrandt out, maybe it's his time. But I think the probability is Cruz outclasses him.

[herbie747]

I used to like Ronda, but she's such a fucking baby. I think I'm up for Nunes. I don't even know anymore. I was a huge Rousey fanboy since the Julia Budd fight, which was when I first saw her. But since her season of TUF - man, what a spoilt little brat. And I hate her coach. 

 

Very torn here.

[Egg Shen]

Crazy that the UFC are allowing Ronda to stay out of the promotion given they are relying on her name to sell the PPV. Just goes to show how much the UFC must want her to win, they are giving her what she wants, i don't think there's another fighter in the sport they'd allow to sit out of the fight week hype...except perhaps Conor.