UFC 293: Adesanya vs Strickland - Sep 9 🇦🇺

[Egg Shen]

47 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

Strickland. He knows there's a good chance that Adesanya's capable enough of adapting his game to take the belt back off him, so he's dialling back talk of an immediate rematch, completely against UFC's booking policy, in which that might happen.

Nonsense

[Carbomb]

20 minutes ago, Egg Shen said:

Nonsense

Maybe it is, but that's how it's reading to me. I'm not disposed to be charitable to Plastic Caesar, and I'm willing to bet that's how this will play out going forward. I'm also very prepared to be wrong.

[Egg Shen]

11 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

Maybe it is, but that's how it's reading to me. 

Based on what?

[Carbomb]

1 hour ago, Silky Kisser said:

To call Strickland 'Dana's boy' is  laughable considering the UFC seemingly didn't want to give him the title fight at all until Izzy pushed for it and there was no one else. Strickland's coach has come out and said the fight was in jeopardy and that Jared Cannoniers (who was there as backup) had coaches flown over last minute after Strickland punched a fan in the guts whilst doing media and they were concerned the UFC would pull him.

I'm not even sure that was the point David was making. Read to me that  Dana was flip flopping other than anything else.. If he was hell bent on 'his boy' getting a defence in so he can call himself a real champion, surely he would have shit on the idea of a rematch to start with? 

If you've seen or heard anything from Dana regarding Strickland before or after the fight, it's pretty obvious he is massively indifferent and is crossing his fingers Strickland doesn't do anything else stupid.

Izzy is one of their biggest stars, but I'd say the vast majority of people are against an immediate rematch. He hasn't made a defence during this reign and the win was very one sided and not a flash KO that could be debated as being lucky. There are a ton of challengers backed up including a potential match up with Khamzat if he gets through Costa next month. 

Or are we just assuming it's a race thing? 

 

I missed this post. 

Fair enough, I didn't know about the Cannonier thing. I just got the impression over the months, with Strickland headlining so many shows (albeit at the Apex), that they were giving him some sort of preference, despite him not being a particularly interesting fighter thus far. Normally, such a guy gets rinsed by Dana publicly instead.

I don't think this thing is particularly a race issue, but the "just assuming" thing is a bit much - there is an issue with subtle racism in the UFC, and I am not inclined to dismiss it.

8 minutes ago, Egg Shen said:

Based on what?

The above.

But, as I said, I'm prepared to accept I'm wrong. I didn't know about the Cannonier situation, or the punching of a fan, which puts a different light on the matter.

Am a little surprised they didn't penalise him for punching a fan, though - that's out-and-out assault. Has there been any development on that?

Edited September 14, 2023 by Carbomb

[Egg Shen]

I don't think there's any proof that it actually happened, Strickland told the story himself at the pre-fight press conference but as far as im aware there's no video evidence of it and the actual fan never reported anything. 

[wandshogun09]

Dana’s probably gutted Izzy lost the belt given he’s one of the only fighters they have who’s seen as a star these days and probably brings in a fair few eyes from African countries and the NZ/Aus market. And if we believe Strickland, Izzy’s also Chinese so he’s got that market covered as well!

I think Dana was hoping Izzy would keep the belt, at least until his real ‘boy’ could take it off him.

Izzy vs Khamzat would’ve been big and I think that was the fight Dana was probably hoping for sometime next year. He always says they don’t plan things like that but I really think if Izzy came through against Strickland like everybody expected, and Khamzat beats Costa next month, Izzy vs Khamzat sounds like a fight that would’ve been right at home on that big UFC 300 card next year.

Now we’re probably looking at Strickland vs Du Plessis. 

Edited September 14, 2023 by wandshogun09

[David]

5 hours ago, Carbomb said:

He wants his boy to get a winnable title defence in so he can say he's a legit champion.

Anybody else and it's an immediate rematch. You're definitely right there, David.

Nah, I actually think you've got it back to front there. Dana isn't a fan of Strickland. 

My viewpoint on the rematch? It shouldn't happen. Izzy is a guy who got absolutely cleaned out by Pereira in their first fight in the UFC. How many times have you seen Dana say that a rematch isn't needed if the result is definitive? Yet, he threw Izzy in there for the immediate rematch. He gets the win back, granted, but is then allowed to basically shut down that series at 1-1, claiming it as a victory for some bizarre reason.

So, he won the belt back. Then in his next defence, he gets effectively shut down by Strickland. And he should get another rematch? Is that how shit works with Izzy? Do you need to beat him twice to be champion and move on?

If you remember back before this fight, I said it would be hilarious if Strickland won. That's not because the Apex Predator is a funny guy. It's because it massively fucks up Dana and the UFC's chance to then launch themselves into a huge money-spinning fight built upon some really uncomfortable race-themed shit between Du Plessis and Adesanya. I absolutely did not want to see that fight because no matter who won, it would have been uncomfortable for everyone except Dana and his paymasters at the UFC.

We don't need that shit. What we need now is for Strickland to face Du Plessis and outpoint him in a 5 round boring bout, making Du Plessis go away. No offence to the guy, I like him. But we don't need him and Adesanya fighting in what will be a very uncomfortable situation. Bad timing for him, but that's how it is.

Edited September 14, 2023 by David

[wandshogun09]