UFC 296: Edwards vs Covington - Dec 16 ??

[wandshogun09]

I meant to post that in the 297 thread yesterday but I forgot. But basically, yeah, fuck Strickland as well. Although DDP came off as a cunt himself at that press conference as well so fuck ‘em both really. 

Back on Colby, this from Derek Brunson made me laugh.

In a sport where it seems like absolutely everyone is at odds, I don’t think I’ve ever seen everyone be on the same page on something as much as this. Everyone seems to be in agreement that Colby’s a worthless cretin. He’d been making enemies for years but since that comment about Leon Edwards dad the other day, I haven’t seen one fighter defend him. Literally everyone from Sean Strickland to Jon Jones to Alexander Volkanovski, even Max Holloway who never gets involved in negative shit had a pop. Never seen someone so universally disliked. By everyone. Literally the only cunts I’ve seen defending him have been fans.

It’s all well and good saying it’s all a gimmick, and it obviously started off as that. But somewhere along the line I think shit got warped and it’s become him now. With a gimmick you’re supposed to work the paying customers into buying your fights. In a shoot sport I guess a gimmick can also extend to working your opponent to create mind games and a psychological advantage. But he’s at the point now where pretty much 100% of his peers can’t stand him. Most of the high profile fighters he’s ever trained with ended up hating him. He even pissed big old placid Stipe Miocic off once because of something he said to Stipe’s wife. What kind of ‘angle’ was that working? Him and Stipe are too far apart in weight so there was never gonna be a fight to promote there. And the cameras weren’t even around. At some point you have to just conclude that he’s legitimately an absolute raging bellend. Being a shithead and then hiding behind the ‘it’s just a gimmick’ bollocks has a limit. 

And even this thing about Leon’s dad, the amount of times I’ve read this week that it was all to hype the fight. As if to say ‘he’s not really a bad guy, it’s all a gimmick’. Even if was just something he said to hype the fight, how does that mean he’s not a cunt? For someone to see their opponent’s murdered dad as nothing more than a tool for them to promote themselves for financial gain, that in itself makes you fucking scum. When people bring up the gimmick thing, you have to remember this is completely different to pro wrestling. While there’s obviously a load of links historically between pro wrestling and MMA, and there are similarities, it’s still not the same. The major difference here being that in pro wrestling, you might play a gimmick but the other side is co-operating and most or all of what’s said and done is agreed on beforehand. And even then, in the pro wrestling setting, bringing up dead people in promos and stuff (and we’ve seen it before) is fucking low. Some prick like Covington coming out with what he did at a MMA press conference is completely different.

He’s genuinely not got one single redeeming quality for me. It’s not ‘heel heat’, I’d just prefer to never see or hear of the tosser ever again. He’s awful in every way. 

Edited December 18, 2023 by wandshogun09

[wandshogun09]

Sorry for the double post but just seen this and…Christ.

Seeing these pics of Shavkat’s ankle from a few weeks before the fight, it really makes sense why he went with a solely grappling game plan on Saturday night. And makes his performance all the more impressive. 

Edited December 18, 2023 by wandshogun09

[Kfogg1991]

It seems I'm in the minority here but I couldn't be prouder and happier with Leon's game plan and what he did in there, he didn't let emotion take over and made Colby look like an amature and the fake/fraud he is. Post fight Colby saying he didn't touch him and he hasn't got a Mark on him while blood runs from his nose and forehead makes him look like the biggest cock in MMA right now glad it happened what a prick.

Co main wasn't what I expected I expected them both to go out and steal the show but that's not what happened and without meaning to sound too harsh showed why they didn't get any attention or hype whatsoever in the build and run up to the show.

Killed me too see Wonderboy get submitted for the first time which is madness that was his first submission loss considering how long he's been a active fighter in the UFC

But the Emmett Vs Gordon fight genuinely scared me and I thought we were seeing the first death in the cage with how his body was then convulsing it just made my blood chill so happy he's okay and no long term damage fucking terrifying.

The prelims were absolutely silly every fight felt like they were trying to steal fight of the night and looked like every fighter wanted to put their all for the fans and crowd which isn't something you see often but they put a shift in.

Great end to 2023 but what a fucking mad year it's been inside the UFC bring on 2024 

[wandshogun09]

17 hours ago, Kfogg1991 said:

Co main wasn't what I expected I expected them both to go out and steal the show but that's not what happened and without meaning to sound too harsh showed why they didn't get any attention or hype whatsoever in the build and run up to the show.

Nah. Pantoja vs Royval didn’t get attention or hype because 1) they’re not shit talkers or fight hypers at all and 2) it was overshadowed in that hype department on a card where you’ve got Colby Covington bringing up dead dads in the build up and talking points like Shavkat’s rise, Paddy’s return, Ferguson’s continued decline and even the whole Ian Garry drama and his removal from the card. Then add to all that, that big ‘seasonal press conference’ or whatever they billed it as with Strickland and DDP gobbing off. With all that kicking off, Pantoja and Royval was always gonna go massively under the radar. 

The lack of attention on that fight was never about people not expecting a great fight, if anything it was the opposite and that was really the only thing people expected going in. It wasn’t the FOTY contender it had the potential to be but it’s sport and sometimes it just goes like that. It was nowhere near being a bad fight. Just ended up being a bit too one sided to become a barnburner. It happens. Flyweight’s ace though. One ever so slightly lacklustre title fight doesn’t mean shit. They can’t knock it out of the park every single time. 

Edited December 19, 2023 by wandshogun09

[Kfogg1991]

6 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

Nah. Pantoja vs Royval didn’t get attention or hype because 1) they’re not shit talkers or fight hypers at all and 2) it was overshadowed in that hype department on a card where you’ve got Colby Covington bringing up dead dads in the build up and talking points like Shavkat’s rise, Paddy’s return, Ferguson’s continued decline and even the whole Ian Garry drama and his removal from the card. Then add to all that, that big ‘seasonal press conference’ or whatever they billed it as with Strickland and DDP gobbing off. With all that kicking off, Pantoja and Royval was always gonna go massively under the radar. 

The lack of attention on that fight was never about people not expecting a great fight, if anything it was the opposite and that was really the only thing people expected going in. It wasn’t the FOTY contender it had the potential to be but it’s sport and sometimes it just goes like that. It was nowhere near being a bad fight. Just ended up being a bit too one sided to become a barnburner. It happens. Flyweight’s ace though. One ever so slightly lacklustre title fight doesn’t mean shit. They can’t knock it out of the park every single time. 

Oh man to a certain extent I enjoyed the first couple of rounds where the back and forth on the ground was so intense but it didn't progress just both got gassed and clearly less exciting but it is a personal opinion didn't have a bad bad fight all night which made the evening fly 

[wandshogun09]

Fucking love Longo! ?

 

[Bruce85]

6 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said:

Fucking love Longo! ?

 

Seems like everyone is trashing Colby at the moment and I’m all for it. Not sure it will make any difference and he will still be the same insufferable prick. 
 

Who do we think Leon fights next? If Shavkat needs sugary on his ankle he could be out for a while. Will the finally give Belal his shot? I think that a pretty winnable fight for Leon. 

[wandshogun09]

I think Belal deserves it. It might not be the most popular choice, might not be the most entertaining fight and it certainly wouldn’t set the PPV world alight but it’s the next fight for me. As you say, Shavkat’s probably out for a bit now anyway and there is history with Leon and Belal. Was thinking we might see them do it in the UK as a double header with a Tom Aspinall fight but it sounds like Aspinall’s adamant on waiting to see how Jones vs Stipe plays out. I don’t think that’s gonna matter though in the end because I really can’t see either sticking around to fight Aspinall, they’re both done after that fight I’m sure. But yeah, I reckon we end up seeing Leon vs Belal 2 next.

As for Covington, he’ll almost certainly try and spin all this hate as people hating him because he licks Trump’s ring at every opportunity. And he’ll probably tell himself that it means his ‘heel character’ must be working. But was it really worth it? How well has that character really worked? He’s now pretty much unanimously seen as a cunt but he’s a failure and a choke artist when it comes to trying to win the big one and he’s 35 years old and really accomplished nothing when you actually dig into his resume. None of his wins really hold up to scrutiny and he’s gonna be remembered as the guy who lost every time he faced elite opposition in their prime. He’ll also be remembered as a guy who had to become a gimmick and say vile shit to desperately force an edgy persona because his real personality is so fucking dull nobody gives a single fuck or even notices he’s there.

And the best of it is, the defence is always ‘yeah but he’s a star, he’s a draw, he made big money’. How true is any of that really? I don’t follow PPV buys and ratings because it’s boring as shit and makes no odds to me. But I’ve seen no real evidence that he’s some hugely significant shifter of PPV buys. And some of his TV fights did shite numbers from what I remember. And even if that wasn’t the case, I doubt he gets a cut of the PPV anyway because not and never was or will be the champion. Or Conor McGregor. So when you really think about it, these title shots he’s been gifted where he’s said dodgy shit to Usman and scummy stuff to Edwards, they’re the champions. They actually get a percentage of the PPV. So Colby’s literally doing all that over the top bollocks to put money in his opponent’s pocket! I’m sure Colby’s made a nice chunk of change over the past 5 years or so but nowhere near what I’d want for basically selling my soul and having everyone bar the worst, most brain dead, sad edgelord wanker MMA fans hate me. Was it really worth it? 

Edited December 20, 2023 by wandshogun09

[David]

Stick Leon vs Belal on a UK card and it'll do just fine. Edwards should be getting a hero's welcome back home at this point, and it would be a good fight for that to happen.

[Egg Shen]

Yeah, makes sense in the UK. Belal more than deserves his crack, as much as the fight may end up being a dud.

[WeeAl]

As you guys say, Bella probably/probably  should get the next shot, with Shavkat's injury. I think that's a good matchup for Leon and would expect him to win. Shavkat meanwhile, I think I might make him the slight favourite against Edwards. That fight will do nicely later in 2024. It feels like it would be an anticipated fight with an outcome very much up in the air. 

Edited December 21, 2023 by WeeAl

[wandshogun09]

I know we all overindulge at Christmas but just look at this fucking gannet, will you? Fought Dec 16th, here he is just over 2 weeks later.

[Carbomb]

Looks like a woman has let that bollock fertilise her too. 

[David]

Even forgetting that he's an MMA fighter who needs to drop weight, can you imagine what he must put his body through to get to that size in such a short period of time? How much absolute shite he must eat and drink? That's not healthy.

[wandshogun09]

It took me the whole of lockdown, 3 months of eating junk and not being as active, to get to my chunkiest and I still wasn’t that bad. He’s gone from abs to flab in just over 2 weeks. I could swear he was saying in the run up to this Ferguson fight, and post-fight, that he wasn’t gonna do this anymore as well. That he was gonna knuckle down and take things seriously. State of him. Lad. 

Edited January 3, 2024 by wandshogun09