Signings, exits, returns etc

[David]

We're likely going to see a lot of this with Ngannou paving the way, aren't we? Thing is, he was lightning in a bottle, so to speak. A one-off.

[Carbomb]

54 minutes ago, David said:

We're likely going to see a lot of this with Ngannou paving the way, aren't we? Thing is, he was lightning in a bottle, so to speak. A one-off.

Depends on what circumstances you mean - I'd have said McG was the one who kicked it all off. He essentially showed MMA fighters that they didn't have to put up with the scraps from Plastic Caesar's table if they could show enough personality, or make connections with the right promoter.

[David]

7 hours ago, Carbomb said:

Depends on what circumstances you mean - I'd have said McG was the one who kicked it all off. He essentially showed MMA fighters that they didn't have to put up with the scraps from Plastic Caesar's table if they could show enough personality, or make connections with the right promoter.

As crazy as it sounds, that McGregor fight was nearly seven years ago now. Which is mental. Doesn't seem that long.

But, after that, we didn't see a ton of fighters making the jump. I think Francis has led the way in a way that McGregor didn't. There was always the feeling with Conor that it was an attraction fight because the UFC was involved. Dana's big red face was all over the promotion, and so on. 

Ngannou has made the jump to boxing proper, I think. If anything, his MMA fighting will be part-time in comparison.

Plus, we've got the bareknuckle stuff, and Game Bred bareknuckle MMA etc, all of which is giving fighters options. 

[Egg Shen]

Guess this is a comeback, Scott Coker is running some kind of new show in May:

 

[Carbomb]

Surprising. I thought Coker would've been part of the new PFL/Bellator merger.

[David]

I always liked Coker. I mean, he's still a hard-headed businessman who's involved in the fight game, but he seems like he's not a reprehensible human being, which is a bonus. 

I hope he's successful. The MMA world needs more promoters like him.

[wandshogun09]

Yeah I’ve said it before on here but when you look at the range of different personality types he’s had dealings with in MMA, and not all of them were known for being easy to deal with, it’s actually amazing that not one of them seem to have a bad word to say about him. From Diaz to Rousey to Fedor to Semtex to Tito to Kimbo to proper old schoolers like Shamrock and Gracie etc. Then you see this and realise he’s had this long standing relationship with Melendez dating all the way back to the very first Strikeforce show in 2006! I’m sure he has his moments behind the scenes but, by fight promoter standards, the man’s pretty much a saint. For him to be around so long and deal with so many established names and some difficult characters and not really have any bad stories attached to his name tells you how respected he must be. 

[Egg Shen]

21 hours ago, Carbomb said:

Surprising. I thought Coker would've been part of the new PFL/Bellator merger.

Coker was offered a position but turned it down to do his own thing:

I’ll tell you honestly: I thought about it. The opportunity was there. But how I felt was, it’s time to go. It’s time for me, for myself, to be an entrepreneur. I love that the most. I worked for Viacom and Paramount for nine years (as Bellator president). It was a great experience. I’m glad I did it. Paramount was very good to me. I learned a lot over there. But I’m an entrepreneur at heart. It’s really the first job (working for someone other than myself) I took as an adult.”

Edited March 16, 2024 by Egg Shen

[Egg Shen]

Lots of noise about Paul Hughes recently and who was going to sign with post-Cage Warriors. He's gone and signed with the PFL:

 

[wandshogun09]

As always, pinch of salt and we’ll see if it sticks but Matt Brown appears to be done…

 

[Dai]

Didn't he retire a few years back? No doubt he will be back once the bare knuckle feds approach him 

[wandshogun09]

Yeah he definitely retired at some point and came back. This seems out of the blue but it’s probably about the right time now. He’s 43 years old and seems to have his focus on other things these days. If this is it, he went out with a first round KO win, which is cool. 

All that said, yeah, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if him and Mike Perry are throwing bare knuckles by the end of the year. It’s mad that those two never crossed paths in the UFC, to be honest. I actually had to check they never fought because it seems like it should’ve happened. 

[Egg Shen]

Id imagine Brown is locked into a UFC deal so wont be fighting anywhere unless he fights out the contract.

Bit of a surprise to see the retirement though, thought Brown would have wanted one last fight. Hell of a run though. 

[Egg Shen]

Scratch that:

[wandshogun09]

No spoilers for the show itself but Kai Asakura announced on the Rizin card today that he’s relinquishing his belt and heading to the UFC.

Good signing and only makes the Bantamweight division even stronger than it already is. Or even Flyweight if he decides to cut down. He’s traded wins and losses with both Kyoji Horiguchi and Manel Kape over there and notably knocked out Horiguchi in a minute years ago.

There had been rumblings earlier this year of both him and Horiguchi possibly being UFC bound but I don’t think Horiguchi is gonna jump sadly.