2024 MMA General Discussion and Fight Announcements

[bov]

Edit-Rumor

 

[MMC]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1846245906007642228

 

[MMC]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1846386032595406894

 

[MMC]

“Don’t you dare illegally watch the UFC but I pirated BKFC last weekend”

https://x.com/i/web/status/1846383816232911063

 

[CDJ]

Dana is a very “do as I say not as I do” kinda guy

Some scuttlebutt out there that Murphy may be out of the Ige fight and Jean Silva might step in. Nothing confirmed

 

[MMC]

Dana is a very “do as I say not as I do” kinda guy

Some scuttlebutt out there that Murphy may be out of the Ige fight and Jean Silva might step in. Nothing confirmed

https://x.com/i/web/status/1846378807093350662

 

[CDJ]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1846378807093350662

Was about to say that would really suck for Ige

Jean Silva was stirring the pot a bit with it on Twitter lol…I like that maniac

 

[MMC]

Apparently Umar vs Song is heading the Tampa FN in December. Interesting fight but a strange booking after they seemed to really be pushing for Umar to fight for the title next. Guess they are indeed giving Sean the rematch

 

[CDJ]

Apparently Umar vs Song is heading the Tampa FN in December. Interesting fight but a strange booking after they seemed to really be pushing for Umar to fight for the title next. Guess they are indeed giving Sean the rematch

Yadong on insta seems to know nothing about it

 

[MMC]

Yadong on insta seems to know nothing about it

Ariel saying it’s being targeted by the UFC but no contracts yet. Can’t imagine either guy says no to this fight though

 

[I am not exposed]

Apparently Umar vs Song is heading the Tampa FN in December. Interesting fight but a strange booking after they seemed to really be pushing for Umar to fight for the title next. Guess they are indeed giving Sean the rematch

Urgh. Well easy money for Merab. And good for him for getting a pay cheque a lot bigger than if he fought Umar. Sean is the easier fight as well. Merab seems like a good dude so happy for him if it is true. As a fan, whatever.

 

[16Skippy]

Ariel saying it’s being targeted by the UFC but no contracts yet. Can’t imagine either guy says no to this fight though

What makes you say Umar wouldn't say no? It's a step down from Sandhagen.

 

[MMC]

What makes you say Umar wouldn't say no? It's a step down from Sandhagen.

Because he's been saying if he can't get the title shot in January/February he wants a different opponent so he can stay active

 

[CDJ]

Carlos Leal to the UFC. Solid fighter

 

[MMC]

Carlos Leal to the UFC. Solid fighter

Well deserved, very fun to watch in the PFL and his only 2 losses in the last 10 years are 2 decisions to Sy. Wouldn't be surprised if he ends up catching Rinat

 

[CDJ]

Rich coming from the guy who handed Colby title shot after title shot on a silver platter

Genuinely hate that he is doing this btw, ruins the integrity of the sport. Makes it more like WWE than an actual sport when you’re influencing fighters game plans

 

[Taytro]

Rich coming from the guy who handed Colby title shot after title shot on a silver platter

Genuinely hate that he is doing this btw, ruins the integrity of the sport. Makes it more like WWE than an actual sport when you’re influencing fighters game plans

At the end of the day it's a business before it's a sport, it's the entertainment business. If Ankalaev fights Rakic the way that he fought Błachowicz, then why on earth would Dana give him a shot? It's a horrible business decision.

Ankalaev is coming off one win in over two years, with one no contest and one horribly fought draw in his interim title fight. He has virtually no hype behind him after his last few performances, all his previous wins have fallen out of the top 5 in the division. Dana has a huge draw right now in Pereira, and he risks losing that for a guy that flopped his only PPV main event to date. Ankalaev's biggest selling point is that he's from Dagestan. If he can't perform in a way that's marketable, he doesn't earn a title shot. There's more to a title shot then where you are in the rankings.

With #11 Murzakanov matched up with #6 Krylov and #10 Ullberg matched up with #8 Volkan and #14 Guskov taking on #9 Johnny Walker. There's a lot of fresh talent that could be introduced in the top 10/5 in the near future. Dana probably doesn't want to risk losing his card saving big draw for a guy that lay and prayed the last two rounds of his only PPV main event. We just saw that matching Pereira up with someone further down the rankings can be a successful and exciting PPV main event that builds up both guys, especially if their styles compliment eachother. If you have Ankalaev vs Pereira and Ankalaev wins in a similar fight to his Błachowicz fight, then you just devalued the LHW champion and devalued one of your bigger bell cows.

Maybe that isn't loyal to the rankings but it is loyal to the shareholders.

Edit: Sorry for the rant, I just think it's about more than rankings.

 

[MMC]

Tbh I've hated Ankalaev ever since he threw a tantrum after not getting the decision against Jan so idc if he fights for the belt or not. He also needed 4 cracks total to get through Ion Cutelaba and Johnny Walker so there's that

 

[CDJ]

He hasn’t lost in 6 years and that was a fluky loss. Also “taking 4 times to get through Cutelaba and Walker” is pretty misleading when he either smoked or was smoking them both in every matchup. Like he violently killed them both. In that fight against Jan he threw 312 strikes to Jan’s 140 and people want to blame him because he decided to bank a couple rounds. He outlanded Jan and dominated him on the ground. To me Jan had no business getting a draw out of that one.

Ankalaev is coming off one win in over two years, with one no contest and one horribly fought draw in his interim title fight. He has virtually no hype behind him after his last few performances, all his previous wins have fallen out of the top 5 in the division. Dana has a huge draw right now in Pereira, and he risks losing that for a guy that flopped his only PPV main event to date. Ankalaev's biggest selling point is that he's from Dagestan. If he can't perform in a way that's marketable, he doesn't earn a title shot. There's more to a title shot than where you are in the rankings.

With #11 Murzakanov matched up with #6 Krylov and #10 Ullberg matched up with #8 Volkan and #14 Guskov taking on #9 Johnny Walker. There's a lot of fresh talent that could be introduced in the top 10/5 in the near future. Dana probably doesn't want to risk losing his card saving big draw for a guy that lay and prayed the last two rounds of his only PPV main event. We just saw that matching Pereira up with someone further down the rankings can be a successful and exciting PPV main event that builds up both guys, especially if their styles compliment eachother. If you have Ankalaev vs Pereira and Ankalaev wins in a similar fight to his Błachowicz fight, then you just devalued the LHW champion and devalued one of your bigger bell cows.

Maybe that isn't loyal to the rankings but it is loyal to the shareholders.

Edit: Sorry for the rant, I just think it's about more than rankings.

Again, wtf did Colby do to deserve his shots? He’s not a draw, he is more boring of a fighter than Ankalaev by a mile, his resume was worse (all his significant wins were decisions against ancient fighters or lightweights). Dana is inconsistent in how he applies this nonsense

If he wants strikers and striking matchups then start a f***ing UFC Muay Thai company. Otherwise call this something else because it’s not mixed martial arts if you don’t want people to actually mix it up and fight to the best of their abilities

Let’s give Dustin Jacoby a shot while we’re at it, he’s a GLORY kickboxer! (And he actually beat Rountree regardless of what the dumbass judges said)

If it’s not a sport then leave ESPN and stop pretending to be a sport. Don’t have any rankings at all. It’s WWE booking.

 

[Taytro]

He hasn’t lost in 6 years and that was a fluky loss. Also “taking 4 times to get through Cutelaba and Walker” is pretty misleading when he either smoked or was smoking them both in every matchup. In that fight against Jan he threw 312 strikes to Jan’s 140 and people want to blame him because he decided to bank a couple rounds. He outlanded Jan and dominated him on the ground. To me Jan had no business getting a draw out of that one.

Again, wtf did Colby do to deserve his shots? He’s not a draw, he is more boring of a fighter than Ankalaev by a mile, his resume was worse (all his significant wins were decisions against ancient fighters or lightweights). Dana is inconsistent in how he applies this nonsense

If he wants strikers and striking matchups then start a f***ing UFC Muay Thai company. Otherwise call this something else because it’s not mixed martial arts if you don’t want people to actually mix it up and fight to the best of their abilities

Let’s give Dustin Jacoby a shot while we’re at it, he’s a GLORY kickboxer! (And he actually beat Rountree regardless of what the dumbass judges said)

If it’s not a sport then leave ESPN and stop pretending to be a sport. Don’t have any rankings at all. It’s WWE booking.

152 of Ankalaev's strikes were thrown in the last 2 rounds, only 56 were considered significant and only 28 of those significant strikes landed. So in the final 10 minutes of action, to close out a PPV, Ankalaev out grappled an exhausted Jan and landed at a 3 significant strikes per minute pace... That ruins a fight and ruins a PPV.

Through the first 3 rounds of that fight Jan landed 53 significant strikes to Ankalaev's 50. And apparently did enough to have 2 judges give him the first 3 rounds, and one judge give him two.

A repeat of Ankalaev vs Jan is exactly what the UFC wants to avoid because they know Pereira is the superior striker and they know Ankalaev can hold down Pereira and they don't want to see it.

I don't know what you're on ... But Colby draws, like it or not more casuals want to watch Colby get beaten than want to watch another Ankalaev fight. When Colby was put in a PPV headliner vs Usman, he turned it up and performed. Both times he had a great fight. It's not hard to understand that UFC wants guys who perform and put the show before their record , it's why guys like Chandler get rewarded. Colby's recent performance vs Leon on the other hand was less interesting and he won't be rewarded on that. It's how the business works.

No one forces you to watch or like it but it's no secret that the UFC picks and chooses fights, especially the ones that headline PPVs. Styles make fights and the UFC makes money by putting on fights that are perceived by the audience to be fun. Way she goes.

 

[bov]

Ankalaev had a massive opportunity and the fight was so bad that they pivoted to Hill and Teixeira. Now he has another one, and I don't think he's getting screwed as much as people say. It's not like he was beating the top contenders either, Johnny Walker, Anthony Smith, Ion Cutelaba, the lackluster fight against Blachowicz...big deal.

I am all for Ankalaev fighting for the title too, I have nothing against him and he may very well be the best 205er out there. But the narrative that he's some boogeyman that the UFC is keeping away from Pereira...I don't really buy it. The guy doesn't have wins over the top contenders, plain and simple. In my opinion, Rakic is the toughest test to date.

Also Colby is a draw, maybe not some mega star but people want to see him fight even though he never KO's anyone and usually is heavy on wrestling and pressure. Can't stand the guy but he gets people to tune in.