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UFC 251: Usman vs Masvidal - Jul 11 🇦🇪 🏝🌴


wandshogun09

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Is it for definite that they are going back to the bigger cage? If so thats a real shame given how great the fights have generally been at UFC Apex in the smaller cage - I really do feel like its helped increase the action.

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2 hours ago, Egg Shen said:

i think a lot of people are gonna be disappointed when they tune in and seeing it look like any other UFC event.

 

Yeah, it’s definitely going to be in an arena like every other card. Dana’s always said he’s scared to do a proper outdoor show because of the weather and the dodgy lighting making show look like shit. To be honest, as cool as it is imagining a UFC on the beach, I think the idea of it is better than the reality would be. 

2 hours ago, neil said:

Is it for definite that they are going back to the bigger cage? If so thats a real shame given how great the fights have generally been at UFC Apex in the smaller cage - I really do feel like its helped increase the action.

Last I heard, Dana confirmed it’ll be the bigger cage on Fight Island. I’m hoping they’ve changed their mind since but you know how stubborn Dana is once he decides something. 

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The smaller cage is the best setting for MMA. 

The ring looks better than the cage, but the ropes aren't sturdy enough to contain the action. There have been instances where fighters have risked serious injury by falling out of the ring and messy exchanges where fighters have gotten tangled up in the roped. Moreover, the larger cage makes it difficult for fighters to cut off the cage, which makes for long periods of inactivity during fights. The smaller cage has neither of these shortcomings. It contains the action, while also encouraging activity. 

Sure, the smaller cage doesn't benefit counter/backpeddling strikers (Machida for example), but whatever the setting, certain fighters are always going to benefit more than others. For example, smaller pressure fighters such as John Lineker have been hindered greatly by the large cage, as it makes it more difficult for them to draw their opponents into exchanges. 

Finger crossed the smaller cage becomes a regular fixture in UFC and Bellator going forward.

Edited by jimufctna24
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Didn't @wandshogun09 say that was one of the primary reasons that WEC so consistently had entertaining events?

A thought occurs: might it be a good idea for the UFC to have a permanently-designated division for a smaller cage with perhaps a slightly variant ruleset to make for faster-paced matches? Call it the "Lightning Division" or something. It'd probably be asking too much, but it's just that, the moment you allow variance within the "main" division like cage size instead of uniformity, then you get all sorts of bollocks with fighters politicking to fight within a smaller or bigger cage as suits them, potentially using an outside influence as an unfair advantage over an opponent who possibly fights better in the opposite size, whereas if it all takes place in one division or the other, then it's on both fighters to make that choice.

Not to mention the sheer volume of annoying debate that combat sports fans engage in over all sorts of variable factors in fights, whether it's era, training, rules, etc. Say, for example, Jon Jones faces some up-and-comer that people really rate, and beats him in the arbitrarily-chosen smaller cage (arbitrary because they chose that venue). You then get a load of people saying "Yeah, but if it had been in the bigger cage, it would've been a different story, but Such-and-Such didn't have the clout to get the match held in it", etc.

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32 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

Didn't @wandshogun09 say that was one of the primary reasons that WEC so consistently had entertaining events?

A thought occurs: might it be a good idea for the UFC to have a permanently-designated division for a smaller cage with perhaps a slightly variant ruleset to make for faster-paced matches?

(1) Correct. WEC did use a smaller cage. 

(2) Similar ideas have been pitched to help fighters in the lighter divisions. 

Jack Slack:

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In this day and age, it cannot be impossible to create an octagon which can quickly have the fence panels either shifted or removed and replaced with smaller, closer in ones.  The grounding points for the smaller fence could easily be covered with matting and canvas when the light heavyweights and heavyweights came out, after all.

 

Edited by jimufctna24
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I was thinking more a separate division for all weights, so there could be a HW smaller-cage division, and so on. Probably not feasible on that scale, though.

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8 hours ago, Carbomb said:

I was thinking more a separate division for all weights, so there could be a HW smaller-cage division, and so on. Probably not feasible on that scale, though.

They could theoretically combine your idea with Slack's if they really wanted to. That way, they could have fights from the divisions you theorised (smaller cage, "Lightening Division", etc), share the same card as fights from the regular divisions (larger cage). Or, they could allow camps to mutually agree on the size of the cage, and then adjust it accordingly if needed on the night of the fight (as you proposed with the Jon Jones example in your previous post).

Personally, I would rather them stay simple and just shelf the larger cage. But then again, I am a sucker for simplicity. 

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