Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted December 3, 2017 Author Paid Members Share Posted December 3, 2017 9 minutes ago, ColinBollocks said: Anyway... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul2j Posted December 3, 2017 Share Posted December 3, 2017 Great card. Loved pretty much all of it. It nicely sets up a load of Title and Contender fights going into 2018 too. Ngannou is an absolute beast, they need to promote the hell out of the inevitable Miocic fight. Rebook Holloway vs Edgar please, and chuck Torres in with Gadelha. Always fun to watch Alex Oliveira get finished too. What a prick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 I was travelling all day yesterday, so I only caught the two headline bouts, Ngannou's knockout was scary. For all the talk about Reem's whiskers, the punch that finished him here could have put a horse to sleep. A lot of Ngannou's game remains a mystery. What's his gas tank like? Can he consistently neutralise grapplers? Does he have a sturdy chin? However, if he keeps landing early with punches like that, these variables will be irrelevant. Miocic's most recent fights have all ended in round 1 as well, so landing early is currently the name of the game at the top end of the Heavyweight division. Max is the man. Another performance to strengthen his claim to being the sport's reference point. If he can beat Edgar, he may have claim to being the best Featherweight ever in terms of resume, and perhaps in general. As impressive as Max was this past weekend, more will be learnt about him by how he performs against Edgar next time out. It's a completely different style match-up, and one that Max will have to cater to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ColinBollocks Posted December 4, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted December 4, 2017 I can see Stipe trying to wrestlefuck Ngannou, similar to how he defeated Mark Hunt. Just, as jim points out, no idea how good Ngannou will be against some of the elite HW grapplers (Cain, Werdum, Stipe etc). If his TK defence is up to that level, then good luck. You're then relying on that HW lottery and you fancy Ngannou to have better odds than most walking earth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Really Big Shoe Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 Ngannou's knockout was brutal. Max Holloway outclassed Aldo. A real impressing showing from him. Since the Conor loss Jose seems to have lost his confidence. Had a few good strikes but you wouldn't think he was the same fighter. Alvarez got a good win too. Overall a really enjoyable card. Like it's been said it's set up some great future fights. Francis vs Stipe has must-see written all over it as does Max vs Frankie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 This is how Max's Featherweight resume now compares to Conor's and Aldo's. I've only included their best wins. Max: Aldo x2, Pettis, Lamas, Swanson, Stephens Aldo: Edgar x2, Mendes x2, Faber, Lamas, Zombie, Swanson, Mike Brown, Hominick McGregor: Aldo, Poirier, Max, Mendes Max has made up a lot of ground in only a short space of time. However, he needs Edgar on his resume to approach Aldo's resume. Despite going 0-3 against McGregor/Max, I still think Aldo is clinging on to the Featherweight GOAT title. Some of his best wins I have listed - Faber, Brown, Homnick - may not register that much these days; but those three were in their primes when Aldo beat them. They were very impressive wins at the time. His KO of Mendes in their first fight, and his 2nd win over Edgar were also mightily impressive. McGregor's resume at 145lbs lacks depth, but his best wins are a match for Max's and Aldo's best wins. The Aldo that McGregor knocked out clean was a bit less shopworn than the one Max faced this past Saturday. Max was just about to hit his stride when McGregor caught him, although that fight would almost certainly look very different today. Stoppage wins over Poirier and Mendes are also not to be sniffed at. McGregor is unlikely to build on that resume though. If he keeps his affairs in order - which is a massive if - he may surpass/match Aldo and Max with his achievements across multiple divisions. However, Aldo and Max are ahead of him at Featherweight based on depth and longevity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members WeeAl Posted December 4, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted December 4, 2017 Francis Ngannou is a scary, scary man. Who is also a fantastically lovable chap. All aboard the hype train for the big fella, this one's a runaway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ColinBollocks Posted December 4, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted December 4, 2017 4 hours ago, Really Big Shoe said: Ngannou's knockout was brutal. Max Holloway outclassed Aldo. A real impressing showing from him. Since the Conor loss Jose seems to have lost his confidence. Had a few good strikes but you wouldn't think he was the same fighter. Alvarez got a good win too. Overall a really enjoyable card. Like it's been said it's set up some great future fights. Francis vs Stipe has must-see written all over it as does Max vs Frankie. IDK, I just think there comes a time when a fighter or division overtakes a dominant champion. The fact Aldo handled Frankie Edgar last year shows he's not a spent force, rather he just faced off against a superior fighter in Holloway - or certainly one that is Aldo's kryptonite. If Aldo goes on some mad run of losses, after this, then I think we can say he's lost a step, but I think all the credit should go to Holloway for soundly beating a great like Aldo in two straight fights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted December 4, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted December 4, 2017 I'm loving the emergence of Ngannou - I imagine he'll be a massive inspiration to Cameroonian kids if he becomes World Champion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 I have little doubt that the Aldo that fought this past weekend had a lost a step compared to the Aldo of say 2012. However, as stated, Aldo was beaten by Max the first time when he was fresh off one of the best performances of his career; the second fight against Edgar. The Max of 2017 would give any version of Aldo serious bother. Aldo still has the best resume in Featherweight in the game, but he was never unbeatable, even before McGregor clocked him. Edgar (1st fight) and Mendes (2nd fight) both ran him close. At his peak, Aldo had a tendency to fade in fights. I could see Max exploiting that, as he often works his way into a fight, and is at his strongest in the middle rounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted December 4, 2017 Author Paid Members Share Posted December 4, 2017 Yeah, it's the evolution of the division. Holloway has no obvious holes in his game. There's things you could say like he lacks that one shot power but he makes up for that in his accuracy, timing, movement etc. And although he's yet to go into the championship rounds, you get the feeling he'll hold up. He goes at a hard pace and looks the same in the third as he does in the first. If anything he ups the pace as it goes on. The only thing he hasn't really answered is how he handles a serious wrestler. Which is partly why I was, and still am, so interested in the Edgar fight. I think Edgar is the best wrestler in the division. If Max can handle him, then he's going to be a stupidly difficult puzzle to solve because there really won't be a blueprint on how to tackle him. Of course, he's not unbeatable. Nobody is. We've seen him get cracked in most of his fights. There's times when he you see he likes to trade. He's shown a good chin up to now but there's always a chance he gets caught in those exchanges. But if he fights Edgar and has answers for his wrestling, then he can hang with pretty much anyone anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Really Big Shoe Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 17 hours ago, ColinBollocks said: IDK, I just think there comes a time when a fighter or division overtakes a dominant champion. The fact Aldo handled Frankie Edgar last year shows he's not a spent force, rather he just faced off against a superior fighter in Holloway - or certainly one that is Aldo's kryptonite. If Aldo goes on some mad run of losses, after this, then I think we can say he's lost a step, but I think all the credit should go to Holloway for soundly beating a great like Aldo in two straight fights. That's true. It has happened with Anderson and historically with Chuck and other fighters. Max was picking Jose Aldo apart though and taunting him. Going back a few years Aldo would have been firing back and it would have been a much more competitive fight. I don't think he's a spent force, Jose just needs to rebuild his self believe as its really a confidence issue I believe. Losing to Conor and getting trash talked I think took a mental toll on him. He should be rebuilt so to speak and once he starts winning then go back for a title fight. Its not nice to see a great fighter on the decline so hopefully its just a blip and the Jose Aldo of old resurfaces. If and its a huge if Conor comes back him dropping weight to fight Max Holloway would be a great fight. That plus concluding the Nate Diaz trilogy are fights I'd like to see from McGregor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members WeeAl Posted December 5, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted December 5, 2017 I think 155 is the route to go for Aldo now. The weight cut has always been difficult on him, and I'm sure that won't get any easier with him in his 30's. On top of that, he has fought everyone at 145 that I have interest in seeing him fight, yet I of course still have interest in watching Jose Aldo, so hopefully he joins the lightweight ranks for some fresh fight options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted December 5, 2017 Author Paid Members Share Posted December 5, 2017 I still think it's a bit early to say he's on any significant decline. Since the McGregor loss he's fought two men - Frankie Edgar and Max Holloway. He pretty much schooled a Frankie Edgar who is in top form and was, and still is, beating everyone else. And then lost twice to Holloway. If Aldo comes out and looks great in his next fight then it'll strongly suggest that these losses were more down how good Holloway is than anything else. If Aldo takes a step down and still looks off then maybe the people talking declines are onto something but I just think it's a bit premature. Holloway is good enough to make a lot of guys look bad. Wait and see on Aldo, I reckon. He could retire now and he's done more than enough in his career to be proud of. But I think he'll fight on. And that's fine too. I don't get the feeling he's a shot fighter at all. His next fight will tell us more about where he stands. Like I said before, I'd like to see him take a couple of fun fights at 155. I think that Anthony Pettis fight would be perfect right now. For both of them. Neither of them are in the title picture, they don't have anything else obvious or bigger in the pipeline than fighting each other and it was supposed to happen back in 2013 anyway so it'd neatly tie up that loose end as well. Edit - and what @WeeAl said above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ColinBollocks Posted December 5, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted December 5, 2017 Fuck that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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