d-d-d-dAz Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 I’m not going to lie, I’m way more excited for Conor/Khabib now. He doesn’t deserve the publicity or payday, but in the fight game the more drama the better for me. Just like Wand though, I’d want Khabib to beat the shit out of him from Round 1 to 5. Above all, though, I want King Al to win. I can’t help it. It’s like if an Atletico level team got to the champions league final; I’d want them to win against Real, then if Real got swapped out for PSG I’d still want them to win. THEN, if PSG got swapped out for Juventus, I’d probably still want them to win. But if Juve got swapped out for Yeovil Town, I’d still like them but I’d want Yeovil to win the champions league. I can’t help it. I love an underdog. #TeamAl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted April 7, 2018 Author Paid Members Share Posted April 7, 2018 Yeah, definitely pulling for Real Estate Al as well. I'd love to see him shock the world. If he did win there'd no doubt be an immediate rematch. And rightly so really, considering how Khabib's been fucked around opponent wise. If he slips on an Iaquinta shaped banana skin tonight then I honestly think he deserves another crack. But I guess that depends how long Conor's comeback takes. Paulie Malignaggi has unsurprisingly been loving all this. His conspiracy theory on twitter last night was that McGregor has done this to deliberately get himself suspended to duck Khabib for longer. Someone asked what Conor's motivation was for going so far and Paulie said something like 'He can't be picked on for ducking Khabib if he's suspended. You have to read between the lines with snakes like this.' I think he's giving Conor too much credit there myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 1 minute ago, wandshogun09 said: Yeah, definitely pulling for Real Estate Al as well. I'd love to see him shock the world. If he did win there'd no doubt be an immediate rematch. And rightly so really, considering how Khabib's been fucked around opponent wise. If he slips on an Iaquinta shaped banana skin tonight then I honestly think he deserves another crack. But I guess that depends how long Conor's comeback takes. Would there be an immediate rematch though? I honestly think McG would be right on the phone to Dana saying he wants to come back at that point (if he's able to), because Iaquinta is a much easier fight than Khabib. whilst I don't think Conor is actively trying to duck Khabib, I still think like I did a few days ago that it's a fight he doesn't want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted April 7, 2018 Author Paid Members Share Posted April 7, 2018 Fuck knows what happens. There's a bunch of ways it can go. Another reason I'd like to see Iaquinta win tonight is I was watching the press conference with Dana, Khabib and Iaquinta (or Ya-Quinta as Khabib calls him) and the media were asking Dana about what happens with the title if Al wins because the commission haven't officially green-lit it as a title fight. Dana just kept saying 'we'll deal with all that after that fight'. It felt like Dana just brushing it off as 'well Iaquinta isn't going to win anyway so it won't matter in the end'. Reminded me of that bit in Rocky 1 where Rocky's in the arena the night before the fight looking at the posters of him and Apollo, the promoter walks in and Rocky says 'Hey, the poster's wrong. I'm wearing white shorts not red' and the promoter just goes 'Does it really matter?' Iaquinta has been an afterthought in this whole thing. Even from before any of the McGregor nonsense happened, there was the thing with the name card thingys. Now it's just like it's a foregone conclusion that Khabib crushes him. It's really unlikely but I'd love him to flip the script on its head tonight. It's the only way to end such a crazy week, isn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d-d-d-dAz Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 I get the feeling Big Al said he’d take the fight only if it’s for a title and they’ve just gone ‘yeah, whatever mate’ and then laughed about the whole thing. Somehow all this shit has got me pumped for tonight. I want Conor to try and storm the arena again. Maybe in a tank, DX-style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted April 7, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted April 7, 2018 6 hours ago, Egg Shen said: Is he really? had no idea about that. Id imagine thats it for him in the UFC though, hes bad arguably the greatest coat tail riding run in MMA history, fair play to him. Could be. I'd say Cathal Pendred gives him a really good run for his money. Â It's not going to happen, but I would [keegan]love it, absolutely love it if Ragin' Al beats Khabib[/keegan]. It'd be the perfect scenario for me. The underdog who's not afraid to tell the management to go fuck themselves wins the belt and causes them some headaches, and one shady cunt and one complete cunt don't get to fight each other for the title. I can but dream. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted April 7, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted April 7, 2018 Â Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 6 hours ago, wandshogun09 said: Just a day later at the little Khabib-Iaquinta press conference they did  he was already kind of backing down saying something like 'hey, yesterday I was still in shock'. Give it a couple of weeks and he'll be in full on hype mode for Khabib vs Conor. I certainly wasn't deluded about it, just wasn't sure they'd include it in Embedded one day after Dana saying he was "disgusted" by the whole thing. In the back of my mind I knew the answer to that, but seeing it on Embedded just confirmed it. Then again, as much of a cock as he is, it's not all a Dana White decision either. It's easy to forget sometimes that, although he's by far still one of the most powerful figures in the sport, he's not the main man anymore and he has to answer to higher ups now. Even if he was against it and wanted to punish Conor (doubt it), if the owners want Khabib vs Conor then it's happening. I expect one of those "I spoke to Conor about the incident, and we sorted it out" speeches from Dana in a few months. A few days ago someone on here argued that Tim Sylvia would have never got away with the stuff that Conor does today. That was a very good point. McGregor is someone who people lionise. He's been the coolest kid in town for quite sometime now. McGregor can insult fighters and get away with it due to his charm and wit. Sylvia had neither of those graces. When Sylvia entertained a fight with Fedor, he was ridiculed. When McGregor chased a fight with Aldo, he was celebrated. Same desire, but different messenger and delivery. Even when Sylvia was UFC champion he cut a sorry figure in some ways. He frequently clashed with the press in the worst possible ways, and sometimes made a right spectacle of himself in public. He appeared on a dating show and admitted that he couldn't handle his alcohol. The woman in question rejected him if memory serves correctly. Some people want to be like Conor McGregor. Even Tim Sylvia probably didn't want to be Tim Sylvia. However, at one time, Dana White cut Sylvia some serious leeway. Dana was desperate for decent heavyweights. Pride had a near monopoly on the division, and the UFC felt like they needed a big heavyweight fight to crack the Japanese market. After Sylvia failed a drug test in September of 2003, he was rightfully stripped of the UFC title. Dana addressed this development on the next PPV. Rather than slate Sylvia, he actually tried to defend him -  "he's a man of his word". The title remained vacant for 9 months until Sylvia fought Mir to crown a "new champion". Had Sylvia not been popped in September 2003, he would have defended the belt against Mir in the Spring of 2004 anyway. Therefore, Sylvia's career projectory was not altered in any serious way. Sure he was stripped of his title, but he was allowed to win it back as soon as possible. Years later, Dana publicly rubbished Sylvia as a fighter. By that time, Sylvia had left the UFC and his career was on the rocks. He was no longer of value to Dana and the UFC. The overarching theme is that if you can do something for Dana, he will move heaven and earth for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Houchen Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 Aye, that was me trying to come up with the MMA version of The Bob Holly Rule. Â Good post that, Jim, poor Timmy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Bifkin Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 I think if Ragin' Al wins tonight it caps the craziest week in the history of sport. This is a guy who had to make his own sign at the media event the other day. For all the discussion about how great Khabib/Conor/Tony/Max are, this time tomorrow they could all be eclipsed by an Estate Agent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Supremo Posted April 7, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted April 7, 2018 11 years to the day that Serra upset GSP. It’s destiny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted April 7, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted April 7, 2018 it has to be. Good post above too Jim ^Â Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cousin Jim Bob Posted April 8, 2018 Share Posted April 8, 2018 I think Tony would have beat Khabib tonight. I've been saying he has horrible stand up defence for an age. It's the worst of any male or female UFC Champion by miles. Chin up and stumble forward.  Conor will fancy his chances. Woodley and GSP would stuff him then light him up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d-d-d-dAz Posted April 8, 2018 Share Posted April 8, 2018 1 hour ago, Cousin Jim Bob said: I think Tony would have beat Khabib tonight. I've been saying he has horrible stand up defence for an age. It's the worst of any male or female UFC Champion by miles. Chin up and stumble forward.  Conor will fancy his chances. Woodley and GSP would stuff him then light him up. His stand-up isn’t technical, but I think it provides a level of chaos up top that opens up the legs for takedowns. But, yeah, in a stand-up fight you’d have to fancy Tony and Conor to light him up like a Christmas tree. Not sure about this ‘stuffing’ nonsense though. By all accounts his wrestling is deceptively brilliant. Like, better than it looks. Even non-bias people talk of his legendary sparring sessions: never been taken down, never even had his neck snapped down. By the sounds of it, they bring in Olympic wrestlers, the best of the best, and he throws them around. Obviously there’s some hyperbole and myth/legend in there, but I think it’s fair to say his grappling is on a level very rare at the UFC level. I don’t think anyone can say with certainty they’d stuff him. Good show I thought. The crowd were fucking terrible though; they booed the end of the Joe Lauzon fight despite the fact he was literally being murdered: they gave the Zabit fight a standing-O (quite right too), then booed him for talking Russian; they booed the Cattar fight...just generally shitty all night. Zabit Magomedsharipov is a name everyone should learn though. Holy cow he’s special. I want to see him fight that Sean O’Malley character. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cousin Jim Bob Posted April 8, 2018 Share Posted April 8, 2018 Ragin Al was stuffing and fending of Khabibs mythical takedowns when he got tired so I wouldn't say it was nonsense someone alot bigger like GSP or Tyron would be able to as well. Â Both would more than likely be teaching him a lesson on their feet too. I can't get on this Khabib train yet tbh till he stops defending punches with his face. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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