UFC 217: Bisping vs St Pierre

[wandshogun09]

Yeah, the winner of Cruz vs Rivera should be next in line. Or if they can finally get that TJ vs DJ fight booked then that.

What I don't want to see, and I don't think it'll happen anyway, is an immediate rematch of TJ vs Cody. As fantastic as this fight was, this was Cody's first defence and he lost the title and got stopped. That doesn't warrant an immediate rematch. He needs a win or two at least, IMO.

Fights I'd try to make coming out of last night's show; 

GSP vs Robert Whittaker or Tyron Woodley (depending on what weight he's at for his next fight) 

Michael Bisping vs Yoel Romero (this HAS to happen. Fuck Belfort, fuck Rockhold, fuck all the other options out there. This is the one) 

TJ Dillashaw vs Cruz/Rivera winner or Mighty Mouse (depending on what weight he's at for his next fight) 

Cody Garbrandt vs John Lineker (come on, who wouldn't want to see this?) 

Thug Rose vs Joanna Jedrzejczyk 2 (Joanna's dominance should earn her a rematch plus it'd be a great fight, interesting to see how JJ comes back and all the other contenders are rebuilding anyway. No brainer for me) 

Wonderboy Thompson vs Darren Till (yeah, longshot and probably won't happen but sod it. I've seen enough of Till to convince me he's ready for a top contender and it'd be fascinating to see how his striking would match up with Wonderboy's. Get it booked) 

Jorge Masvidal vs Neil Magny (both coming off losses to top guys so it'd make sense) 

Paulo Borrachinha vs Uriah Hall (fun clash of striking styles plus Borrachinha's aggression would probably force the best out of Hall) 

James Vick vs Jeremy Stephens (Vick's earned a name fight and him and Stephens would make for some fireworks) 

Fuck knows what to do with Joseph Duffy, Mickey Gall and Aiemann Zahabi. Three really talented and promising fighters coming off decisive losses so it's back to the drawing board. 

[wandshogun09]

12 minutes ago, jimufctna24 said:

I have little desire to see Rockhold polish off Bisping again.

With you on that Jim. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I never want to see Bisping vs Rockhold 3. That story already had the perfect ending and I'm hoping Bisping ends up retiring without the rubber match ever happening, forever having the last laugh over Rockhold. 

[Cousin Jim Bob]

I'm not sure I want to see Bisping in his last fight getting wrecked by Romero over here tbh. The build would be fun the end result would be brutal. I can't see him winning and he would probably take another real beating. I'd like to see Michael retire. He has his UFC pundit work, acting and his podcast going on. His family want him to retire and he has nothing left to prove.

[wandshogun09]

Well yeah, if it was up to me I'd probably rather he just retire now as well. But he doesn't sound like he's retiring just yet. 

And if he's fighting on then it's the Yoel fight above all others. Too much water under the bridge for that one never to happen. 

[the_mole]

Rockhold still does that walking back with his chin out, Branch nearly caught him like Bisping did, so who knows, it's not as if he's went away and fixed that problem but I would be up for Romero fighting Bisping far more.

Whitaker isn't boring, certainly not during fights, the guys a killer, he just doesn't trash talk and just comes across as a nice Aussie bloke, he can help them in Australia as well but he's not that big as he fought at WW and GSP should have the speed advantage and GSP mixes stuff up more than any of the top MWs he's beaten, GSP should defend the belt, then maybe think about Woodley or Conor.

With everybody at MW not on winning streaks and if Anderson Silva beats Gastelum (2 top 10 wins in a row and a very close decision loss to the former champion in his fight before that), then you could maybe get away with giving Anderson Silva a final shot and if it is against GSP that makes it even bigger. Weidman & Rockhold both have one win and Jacare, Romero & Bisping all have lost their last fights.

[jimufctna24]

Belfort and Romero are fine as farewell opponents for Bisping. 

Bisping has previous with both of them, so both fights make sense. Belfort is a shell of the fighter he once was. Bisping should be able to beat him and sign off on a high note. Romero is a riskier fight, but one of the things that  has defined Bisping as a fighter is his willingness to take difficult fights. It would therefore be typical of Bisping to face Romero in his farewell. I think Bisping might have a chance against Romero. He has a better engine, and if he keeps his defence as tight as possible, could withstand Romero's early onslaught, and rally in the later rounds. In fact, if a fight between the two went the distance (5 rounds), I would be a bit surprised if Romero came out the winner. 

On another note, Bisping made a decent point during fight week, things have changed a lot in MMA since GSP was last around. What the heck happened to MMA's class of 2013? As that year drew to a close, it looked as though Hendricks, Pettis and Weidman would dominate their respective divisions for quite some time. Instead, just four years later; Hendricks is on the verge of retirement, whereas Pettis/Weidman are merely fringe contenders. Sure, Weidman has been a victim of the Middleweight division going through a golden period, but it would have taken a brave man in 2013 to predict that he would merely be a contender in 2013; rather than "the man". Pettis looked like a P4P kingpin as well. A fighter who could potentially beat a prime Aldo. Since then he's gone 3-4, and changed weightclasses twice. 

Things can change pretty quick in MMA. As we have learnt, it's not easy to stay on top in viable and ever evolving divisions (sub 205lbs). GSP has received a lot of praise for his win over the weekend - but it's a footnote in his career really. It took someone a bit special to stay on top at 170lbs for all those years. And yes, I am a bit of a GSP fanboy. 

[WeeAl]

What a bloody brilliant show that was. Well done Colin Bollocks' for sensing the upset in the women's title fight. I couldn't see it, but Rose put JJ's lights out in one of the biggest upsets I've ever seen. 

Everything on this show was noteworthy in some fashion. UFC had a perfect PPV when they needed it most. Some definite buzz was captured with this show. 

I think we seen where Mickey Gall was at with this fight. He has a lot of growing to do. 

James Vick put in a very good performance in beating a game Joe Duffy. Vick is on a great run and could possibly main event that show in Austin if they match him up with a name fighter, similar to Cerrone vs Till.

OSP struggled and was losing two rounds to zero when he put Boring Corey's lights out. What a vicious KO. 

Harris was rightfully DQ'd in what could have been an instance where the wrong call was made, but here they got it right, which was good to see.

Paulo Costa really could be their next big brazilian star. This guy looks like something carved out of stone, hits like a truck, showed that he has patience and good take down defence. Then he went and did a great interview afterwards. I'd have him main event the Brazil show in February with Vitor in a semi-main, and somebody like Jessica Andrade on the bill, or else have him semi-main under a show headlined by Anderson Silva should he win later this month. If this guy can keep winning for the next while, the sky is the limit.

Thompson looked great against Masvidal. A really good performance that showed no signs of a loss of speed following his knee injury. He'll have to clear out the division, or else hope someone beats Woodley before he gets another crack at the title, but luckily for Wonderboy, anyone not named Tyron Woodley will have a hell of a night trying to beat him.

Cody vs TJ always had the potential to go in absolutely any direction and both men had their moments. A really good fight, between two evenly matched competitors, with a decisive winner in the end. Cody will bounce back. I think the best result for both would be Cruz to beat Rivera and re-match TJ for the belt, with Garbrandt fighting Rivera. I'm really not fussed on any more division muddling between Dillashaw and Mighty Mouse. It would probably be a great fight, but at this point the division swapping is getting ridiculous, and these two divisions have been largely unaffected by that and I'd like to see it stay that way. 

GSP looked like a tank, and had a good first round, then started to tire, but when he wanted to bring the fight to the ground it's like Bisping was determined to make him suffer and think twice about that strategy. So GSP changes it up and knocks Bisping for six and chokes him out. What a comeback. I didn't want either man to lose but I don't think anyone lost much here as both men showed the heart of a lion. GSP cemented his best ever status, of which he already was in my book ever since the drug test failures for Anderson and Jones.

An incredible show with bundles of stories coming out of it and lots of new narratives going forward. What more could you ask for. 

[Egg Shen]

the last sentence is whats gripped me coming out of 217, so many new possibilities and directions to go in.

UFC 217 reminded me why i love the sport so much, not to knock pro wrestling cause i love that too, but 217 was basically what a pro wrestling ppv tries to falsely create, to see it play it in reality is pretty special.

[Guy Bifkin]

What an amazing show. I was pretty certain we’d get three decisions in the title fights so to have three excellent finishes was fantastic, much less who got them. It was a great evening for schadenfreude, with the mouthy champs all getting put to sleep. 

GSP v Bisping was a good fight that ebbed and flowed. I thought Bisping would go on to win comfortably after the second when it looked like George had gassed. The problems with his cup might have affected him but what a fantastic finishing sequence from GSP. 

Thug Rose stole the show though.  

[theringmaster]

Forget those silly things called rankings, forget terms like 'Top 5'......

 

Is GSP v Silva such a long shot? This will be our final chance to have this as a title fight.

[ColinBollocks]

Meh, that's maybe a fight that would do well with the lapsed fan, but Silva is such a spent force that it's no longer a big deal in my life. I feel like you do that if GSP goes a bit 'BJ Penn' in a year or two (which I doubt).

Sorry for my strong language, GSP, but I dare say I want to see GSP v that no good cuss, Woodley, next. Dana still seems furious with that no good hound dog, however. A shame because I would gladly rest on my sit upon in the wee hours for such a sporting contest.

[Chunk]

Waned Cody, Bisping and Joanna wins going in, so fuck UFC 217! 

Joking aside, what a great show.

This is worth a watch to see how great a bloke Bisping seems to be:

 

[Egg Shen]

Garbrandt was surprisingly humble in defeat too. He went off on TJ's cornerman but he kept cool towards TJ and everyone else, was cool to see.

[Chunk]

I don't get the hate for Garbrandt. Is it because I didn't watch the series of TUF he coached?

I watched the Joe Rogan podcast with Cody and Faber and was Team Garbrandt from then on out. TJ sounds like a total tosser.

[Paul2j]

Bisping vs Weidman or Romero as the London main event seems a no-brainer. 

You can have a solid main card at this point whereby all fights feature a British fighter:

- Bisping vs Weidman/Romero

- Till vs Masvidal

- Manuwa vs Shogun

- Edwards vs Gunnar Nelson (Dong Hyun Kim or Alex Oliveira work also)