Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted April 2, 2018 Author Paid Members Share Posted April 2, 2018 Yeah, and he'd never admit it but you know McGregor is hoping Holloway somehow pulls this off. Watch how quick he comes back if Holloway is champ not that Holloway would be an easy fight but it'd certainly be more winnable and appealing to McGregor style-wise than Khabib would be. Holloway is getting fucked up here though. There comes a point when it's just asking too much. And even if all the circumstances were perfect for Holloway (full camp, on weight etc) I'd still be picking Khabib just because of how their styles match up. 6 days notice, even less chance. And them asking for it at 170 is even more of a red flag because that shows Holloway thought he was too far over 155 to make it and still put forth his best on fight night. I mean, I understand being swayed by the extra cash. But I don't think it's worth the gamble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members WeeAl Posted April 2, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted April 2, 2018 The other thing as well with the condition Holloway is in, is the condition of his ankle, as well as the effect that will have had on his conditioning. Max isn't coming into this fight with it simply being a case of having had no camp, yet still having been in the gym training and feeling healthy. Almost everything I have heard and read, likely much the same as the rest of you fella's, has been fairly loose on the details of Holloway's actual injury. I've even heard some in the MMA media say it was a broken ankle. What we do know is that it was severe, and not necessarily healing well, since he was targeting an autumn comeback, and hoping that if he caught a lucky break he might be healthy in time to allow him to make it for one of the July shows. Max Holloway won't be coming into this fight in anything close to good condition, never mind the kind of pace he tends to set. This isn't Bisping against Rockhold. Bisping wasn't in camp but he wasn't injured, he was filming an action movie. Sitting at home with a wrecked ankle means you can't walk, never mind train. If Holloway's injury was as severe as we've been led to believe, then he isn't in decent cardio shape for this kind of job he has on his hands on Saturday night. There's the potential, I guess, that he was much further on in his recovery than has been let on. For Holloway's sake, I hope that's the case. Anyway you slice it, Holloway's one brave, tough motherfucker, in possession of a deathwish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted April 2, 2018 Share Posted April 2, 2018 Max has had his eye on unifying the belts for some time now. He said a few months back that he would eventually have to move to 155lbs due to the new weight restrictions. He said he was going to make the move "sooner rather than later". I doubt he imagined it would be this soon though. It will be interesting to see what happens to Max should he lose on Saturday. Common sense says he will defend against Ortega, but what would he do after that fight? If Khabib smashes him on Saturday, there would be little demand for a rematch between the two initially. Therefore, if he wanted to re-enter the lightweight division and have a crack at becoming a 2-weight world champion after facing Ortega, he would have to bank on someone tripping up Khabib in the interim. If not, he would have to play the waiting game and beat a few contenders before the rematch becomes more viable. Mind you, there have been more plot twists at 155lbs over the years than I can remember. Things rarely go to script in that division. I wouldn't bat an eyelid if GSP and Frankie Edgar are fighting for the belt this time next year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_mole Posted April 2, 2018 Share Posted April 2, 2018 Holloway is more about legacy I think than Conor, he wanted to clean out his division but never said he wouldn't move up and beating Khabib will do loads for a fighters legacy, he wants to be that guy who will fight anyone anywhere. Conor doesn't seem to want to go backwards, he beat Aldo, then immediately wanted RDA the LW champ, then his stuff with Nate was short notice/redemption stuff, then Eddie and the belt and then onto Mayweather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted April 2, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted April 2, 2018 Brian Ortega has confirmed he accepted the Khabib fight before they got the go-ahead from Holloway. Ortega/Khabib would be some fight too, Ortega probably offers more of a thread on the ground than Ferguson did, i would have loved to have seen that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted April 2, 2018 Author Paid Members Share Posted April 2, 2018 Yeah, Ortega actually would've been more interesting to me. It's going to take something like Ortega's submission game to potentially threaten Khabib from the bottom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TildeGuy~! Posted April 2, 2018 Share Posted April 2, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted April 2, 2018 Author Paid Members Share Posted April 2, 2018 Yeah, that schtick is getting tiresome now. It was all well and good being the smart arse when he was actually fighting. But taking the piss from the sidelines while sitting there with belts he won 2-3 years ago and has still never defended, while still having not committed to even a rough return date...it got old ages ago for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OzExile Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 6 hours ago, Egg Shen said: im telling you, they've chucked him a truckload of cash and they've dangled the McGregor carrot. If Holloway wins this they are doing Holloway/McGregor II. That's hardly a scoop, mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ColinBollocks Posted April 3, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted April 3, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BigJag Posted April 3, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted April 3, 2018 That Rogan piece suggests that Ferguson is seriously going to be pushed back as result of his unfortunate injury. His bargaining position has been seriously debilitated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted April 3, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted April 3, 2018 6 hours ago, OzExile said: That's hardly a scoop, mate. not a scoop, but people are still questioning why Holloway would take it, im just pointing out the motivation is the pot of gold a McGregor fight will provide. McGregor is never going back to 145 so this is Holloways ticket to that fight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 Yeah, McG will be sitting in his mansion praying for a Holloway win, that's a certainty. If you think about it, Ferguson getting injured is actually not good news for Conor, because Ferguson had a realistic chance of winning this fight, and in turn he'd be more of a winnable fight for McG. But now? If, as expected, Khabib smashes his way through an out of shape, recovering from injury Holloway to claim the title, it really leaves Conor with nowhere to go. Unless he essentially blanks the title scene and just moves in the direction of "attraction fights" against the likes of Nate and maybe GSP? There's really no doubt that the Khabib fight isn't what Conor wants, and if he's left with no wiggle room it'll be interesting to see what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ColinBollocks Posted April 3, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted April 3, 2018 19 minutes ago, David said: There's really no doubt that the Khabib fight isn't what Conor wants, and if he's left with no wiggle room it'll be interesting to see what happens. Huh? Is there any real evidence of this? One thing I give McGregor respect for is he's got a set of balls on him. He's never really been one to run away from a challenge - whether that be moving up a division, fighting Nate twice at Welterweight, or taking on the greatest boxer of his generation in a boxing match. Conor is a mad bastard and I suspect he thinks he's got the tools to take down Khabib. Realistically, what bigger challenge is there in the division than fighting an undefeated Khabib? The only thing I've heard Conor say against it is he's fed up of people pulling out with injury. Mind, this is a man that fought with a staph infection and a torn ACL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted April 3, 2018 Author Paid Members Share Posted April 3, 2018 The thing is as well, if Conor decides to come back and still not defend his title and faces Diaz again or something, he'll still expect to keep the 155 title and there'll be fans defending that and continuing with this 'well whoever fights for that belt isn't the real champ because Conor never lost it' bollocks. I mean, I get that to an extent but it's still barmy to me. If it was anyone else they'd be crucified. When guys like Cain, Pettis and Aldo were champs and picking up injuries you often had fans going 'strip him, can't have champs that don't defend their titles'. But it's OK for Conor to just sit out forever with a title he's never defended because people like his 'banter'? And he's choosing not to defend it. He's not injured, he just wants to have his cake and eat it. Sure, he never lost the title but that's because he never defended it. You can't lose something you never put on the line. Being champion is about more than just winning the title in one fight. And I'm a fan of McGregor. Not as big a fan as I once was but I'm still a fan and I'll be as chuffed as anyone when he finally comes back. But it's ridiculous now. He beat Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight title 16/17 months ago, for fuck's sake. If he comes back and wants to face anyone but the winner of Khabib/Holloway in a unification then they need to grow some bollocks and strip him of his title. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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