MMA & UFC General - Featuring Bellator MMA & Rizin Fighting Federation

[Beavis]

Well, Max Holloway had one of the most chad moments I have seen. Dropped his hands to talk to the commentary team while he slipping and countering. Makes McGregor's hand behind the back look like nothing.

Amazing just a few years ago Max was having serious health issues and it looked like he could be done by 30. Maybe there’s something to minimal contact sparring.

 

[Slimy Time]

Amazing just a few years ago Max was having serious health issues and it looked like he could be done by 30. Maybe there’s something to minimal contact sparring.

I think so. McGregor does it, I think Rob Whittaker does it as well (going by his TUF stint as coach and podcasts I have listened to). Allows for better shot selection, feint and distance management without the damage and allows him to focus on his biggest assets, his cardio and striking. I remember that interview with Bisping where he appeared concussed, so I think there is a definite health reason behind him doing minimal contact sparring

I think him coming off two losses, the last being controversial lit a fire under Max. He started fast instead of his usual slower pace and mixed in oblique kicks, elbows, spinning kicks etc with more regularity and he didn't fucking gas. I'm hoping he's fighting clean because that is a godly pace.

He clowned on Kattar, someone I thought would give him difficulty because Kattar is a good boxer with cardio. That's a career ending type of loss. He's going to forever be the guy who Holloway clowned on by stiff jabbing him and slipping while looking and talking to the commentators. Man's got heart and chin, and I hope he recovers from this loss. Also speaks a lot to Volkanovski, who in two fights never ended up taking a beating as bad as Kattar or Ortega.

 

[naffatune]

Well, Max Holloway had one of the most chad moments I have seen. Dropped his hands to talk to the commentary team while he slipping and countering. Makes McGregor's hand behind the back look like nothing.

I found that pretty cool, but i've seen better. Guys like Tyson, Ali, Canelo and Garbrandt (in his fight with Cruz) had better head movement highlights of their own.

That being said, both men exposed each other's gaps in their style. Kattar was timing Holloway with his right hand when he initiated his somewhat sloppy lead hooks and jabs. Holloway, of course, exposed Kattar's one-dimensional defense by throwing body shots and head hooks around Kattar's static guard and frames. Holloway was also bashing Calvin to the side with a right elbow while he was covering up, which I thought was pretty funny (for obvious reasons).

Another thing worth noting is that Kattar does not throw combos the way Max does. He's very simplistic and tends to throw up to 2 punches at once. That's why Max was able to just slip out of the way and counter right away without being punished for it.

I would like to close this off by saying that I still have yet to see more proficient boxers in the UFC outside of Poirier, with Garbrandt being a close second and McGregor a close third. I have stated that Max and Kattar are one of the better boxers in the UFC, but I was only really speaking in relative terms. I have only seen guys who are good at one area of boxing (i.e. either defense or offense), but I don't see a lot of UFC fighters who can put all the boxing principles together.

tl;dr, Holloway vs. Kattar was cool, but both still leave more to be desired.

 

[I.B. Niggin]

Does anyone remember Bloodstain Lane? Gained notoriety for combating the "Zuffa Zombies" and has devolved into a conspiracy nutjob from what I last saw.

I had no idea what the fuck a lolcow was back in his "heyday" but my god, does he qualify with flying colors in hindsight.

Looking back on it, there's quite a few MMA associated lolcows. Dan Quinn, especially.

 

[Salubrious]

Amazing just a few years ago Max was having serious health issues and it looked like he could be done by 30. Maybe there’s something to minimal contact sparring.

Cain Velazquez's career basically ended because of injuries suffered by training too hard.

I think a lot of these guys, especially 10 years ago, were simply killing themselves in the gym because that's how it was done back then. Sparring was like 90% fight speed or something insane.

 

[JamusActimus]

Cain Velazquez's career basically ended because of injuries suffered by training too hard.

I think a lot of these guys, especially 10 years ago, were simply killing themselves in the gym because that's how it was done back then. Sparring was like 90% fight speed or something insane.

I used to train part time at AKA when Cain was the champ. The atmosphere at the gym was clearly special let me tell you. Cain is a trully a gently giant and a beast in training the dude trained harder than everyone. One day I sparred with him and hit him with a kick to the head. He was pretty mad at me and decided to ankle pick me. Reaching down he sadly broke his back and went unconcious. I tried to do Cpr on him but broke his ribs. Haven't seen him training since.

 

[XYZpdq]

lol paying for things loses again

 

[You're a Big Guy]

DUSTBIN HEEM'D MCGOOBER, AHAHAHA!

 

[Pentex]

Poirier by TKO in the 2nd.

Looks like the MacGregor code has been cracked.

 

[Beavis]

Conor is finished against any legit 155ers. He hit Dustin with some clean shots that didn’t phase him. He was a sitting duck after his lead leg was tenderized.

Can Conor cut to 145 again? Asking for a bald friend.

 

[Sheriff of CWCville]

Fucking hell this is worst timeline. I was just telling my dad the other day that leg kicks were the key to stopping Conor. Maybe this was always the other potential outcome of the Aldo fight, but I still believe Conor is one of the best. Sad tho, what a crazy sport.

 

[Jose Jordan]

At least we won this fight

 

[Slimy Time]

Bookies on suicide watch. Chandler starched Hooker in the 1st and Poirier exacted his revenge in the early rounds, contrary to what every professional fighter and analyst was saying.

Fucking hell this is worst timeline. I was just telling my dad the other day that leg kicks were the key to stopping Conor. Maybe this was always the other potential outcome of the Aldo fight, but I still believe Conor is one of the best. Sad tho, what a crazy sport.

Calf kicks have really become a thing over the last year. They are deadly and are hard to check. Prior to last year most people probably thought of the Jose Aldo vs Urijah Faber Muay Thai styled leg kicks. That's sort of been done away with in favour of the calf kick. Kick them a few times in the right place and they can get drop foot. What took Aldo 4-5 rounds to do can be achieved in 2.

Funny thing now to watch is all the excuses online from Conor fans why he lost. The guy has been out of it for a whole year, only fought twice in 2 years, and one of them was against Cerrone, who was on a 2 fight loss streak (now 4). Poirier has been far more active against good opponents.

 

[trent]

Conor is done against legit opponents now. His skill pool is just too shallow and he doesn't seem to have the pop on his strikes any more.

He just stood there and took those calf kicks and he looks clueless in pretty much every grappling exchange.

 

[Slimy Time]

Conor is done against legit opponents now. His skill pool is just too shallow and he doesn't seem to have the pop on his strikes any more.

He just stood there and took those calf kicks and he looks clueless in pretty much every grappling exchange.

The grappling defence was OK, he didn't get ground and pounded or choked, but otherwise I agree, he's made his money and is done fighting real opponents. Here are some stats. After his dominant performance against Eddie Alvarez in November 2016, Conor has had only 3 MMA fights, including this one. One with Khabib, which he lost, one with Cerrone, which he won (Cerrone, who is currently on a 4 fight losing streak), and Poirier, who he lost to and got his KO'ed for the first time.

Poirier in comparison has had 9 fights since November 2016, he's more active, he's seen the game evolve to where calf kicks are now a staple/new addition to MMA. Hooker uses them, Chandler knew to avoid them, Poirier uses them, everyone (Volkanovski, Adesanya, Gaethje, Marlon Vera, and so on) knows and uses them. Conor hasn't seen the game change from in the ring.

I'm sure Dana will throw him out yearly with the hype machine in full swing against a fighter who is safe for a big payday, but otherwise I think he's on his way out. He's stuck with the same team as well, so it's not him doing something retarded like Tony Ferguson, he's just not doing it seriously once he's made his money.

 

[Pointless Pedant]

The grappling defence was OK, he didn't get ground and pounded or choked, but otherwise I agree, he's made his money and is done fighting real opponents. Here are some stats. After his dominant performance against Eddie Alvarez in November 2016, Conor has had only 3 MMA fights, including this one. One with Khabib, which he lost, one with Cerrone, which he won (Cerrone, who is currently on a 4 fight losing streak), and Poirier, who he lost to and got his KO'ed for the first time.

Poirier in comparison has had 9 fights since November 2016, he's more active, he's seen the game evolve to where calf kicks are now a staple/new addition to MMA. Hooker uses them, Chandler knew to avoid them, Poirier uses them, everyone (Volkanovski, Adesanya, Gaethje, Marlon Vera, and so on) knows and uses them. Conor hasn't seen the game change from in the ring.

I'm sure Dana will throw him out yearly with the hype machine in full swing against a fighter who is safe for a big payday, but otherwise I think he's on his way out. He's stuck with the same team as well, so it's not him doing something retarded like Tony Ferguson, he's just not doing it seriously once he's made his money.

I rewatched Poirier v Gaethje a few days before he fought McGregor and he took loads of leg kicks before battering Gaethje with his fists. After that he learned to use the kicks himself and wore McGregor down very quickly. Since professional MMA is a relatively new sport the tactics change quickly and a few years makes a big difference. Especially at lightweight, the sport has evolved a lot over the past 5 years.

 

[Slimy Time]

I rewatched Poirier v Gaethje a few days before he fought McGregor and he took loads of leg kicks before battering Gaethje with his fists. After that he learned to use the kicks himself and wore McGregor down very quickly. Since professional MMA is a relatively new sport the tactics change quickly and a few years makes a big difference. Especially at lightweight, the sport has evolved a lot over the past 5 years.

He seems to be very adaptable as well. I remember when Poirier fought Hooker (first fight after Khabib) there was a moment when Poirier took Hooker down and then proceeded to do exactly the same sort of thing that Khabib did to him. Tied up the legs, hand control and so on before eventually moving to another position. You are absolutely right that the sport evolved quickly. Conor vs Alvarez was the time when Ronda Rousey was attempting a comeback against Nunes, and it's quite clear that what was done then has moved on considerably.

 

[Sheriff of CWCville]

I think this fight was an important reminder of the reality of MMA, and as a reminder of why Conor felt so special when he stormed thru FW. For the most part if you’re doing your job as a matchmaker (in the sense that you’re booking competitive fights and not favorable matchups) then most fights at the pro level are probably about a 60/40 split on any given night, with either guy actually having the potential to look better than the other even if their top limit of skill may be lower than the guy they beat. Being the guy to run hot and beat those odds is always so fun to watch, and Conor was that guy who seemed to defy the meta and conventional logic of the sport and just kept winning no matter what.

The fact that he made me forget for a while that fighting is a cruel game of inches and odds was what made me wanna believe meme magic was real. Conor felt like the only guy who the rules didn’t apply to, and he has a style to make you believe that’s the case. And shit, maybe for a while he really was that good like I think and that the sport has passed him by through inactivity, or maybe he just gambled big on himself and happened to come out on top more than not.

If Conor fights again, the fight I wanna see them book is him and Tony Ferg. Dustin should get matched with Charles Olivera, and you make Chandler v Justin G as a number one contender fight. On that note, how shit did Hooker look, and why did come out so fucking slow?

 

[No. 7 cat]

Jake Paul did insultingly challenge Conor McGregor. A somewhat diminished McGregor could slap that crass jerk for an easy pay day for both.

 

[Sheriff of CWCville]

Also does anyone have contact with The Sauce Boss? I made a sig and avitar bet with him months ago over the McGregor fight. If so, let him know I’ll honor it still even tho he got the banhammer for sperging at Null.