UFC 249 On ESPN+ PPV [5/9] “Pandemic Of Violence” (Ferguson/Gaethje, Cejudo/Cruz, & More)

[TheDarceKnight]

Did the dude who has the rona compete last night??

Jacare didn't fight. Yeah they pulled his fight from the card

 

[TheDarceKnight]

Correct on the above. Justin uses his elite wrestling to keep it standing and counter wrestles to keep it on the feet because (he has EXCELLENT takedown defense) he hits you he's gonna hurt you. I don't think khabib will be able to press Justin against the cage(where he likes to do his most work to take down). Khabib isnt as great shooting his takedown in the center of the ring as he is when he get you on that cage. I honestly don't see how khabib wins this.

I think Khabib can win but I agree that Justin will give him a lot of unique problems. Justin is an incredible wrestler and his hips are crazy strong (pause).

I know some guys that have rolled with him and said he's like trying to hold down a bull. He's also talked about how his folk style wrestling game is different than a lot of people that Khabib has fought, and I think he's going to be harder to get down, harder to hold down, and I think he'll land some paws on Khabib on the feet that Khabib won't have felt before.

I'm still betting on Khabib, but it'll be a tough fight.

 

[Bryan Danielson]

 

[TheDarceKnight]

Justin may have ended Ferguson tonight. He picked him apart and landed devastating punches, chopped his legs up and fought a measured, patient fight. That type of Justin is a dangerous man even for Khabib. Tony at 36 shouldn't be taking that type of damage, he ate a lot of powerful shots tonight.

Not happy with the stoppage in Cejudo vs Cruz, Cruz was on his way back to his feet despite getting rocked.

What can you say about Ngannou, that man has ungodly power but that finishing sequence he had his chin way too high. He's fortunate HW is devoid of many great boxers. He's definitely earned the shot but has to wait for Stipe vs DC. If Stipe isn't ready in the next few months they should just make Ngannou vs DC fpr the interim title.

Greg Hardy seems to be coming along. His cardio looked much improved, still say he should trim down to at least 250lbs.

The undercard was solid, Luque vs Price was a war.

Bryce Mitchell on the undercard was also amazing. That guy's grappling is a joy to watch. Charles Rosa was talking shyt about his grappling pre-fight, and he's regretting that today. Bryce is 1 of 2 people to finish a twister submission in the UFC, and he had Rosa in like 4 twister attempts last night. He ran an absolute clinic on him and got a (I believe unanimous) 30-24 decision.

I'm glad you liked Luque and Price. Luque is mad underrated. Their first fight was also awesome. Luque darce choked him and I was worried for a second that Price might give him a receipt in the first round when he had it locked up against the fence.

 

[TheDarceKnight]

I don’t think the cutting twice in a month hurt him. Several fighters have came in on short notice and handled business or just had 1 training camp/fight and another fighter pulls out and they replace them on short notice. Tony seems like the type. The thing is this Tony USUALLY ALWAYS gets hit he’s just always been an animal enough to outwork his opponents. This time Justin stay composed and laid it on him. Tony had NO answer for Justin’s left which to me was a surprise and it looked like he was waiting/hoping Justin would rush and lose his stamina it didn’t happen and voila. If there was a rematch I think Tony would counter the left but idk it would still win... they are both alike in that they both take extreme amount of punishment and don’t necessarily back down either. Khabib is a different animal he doesn’t back down nor does he take punishment. So for Justin and Tony that’s a puzzle. Tony shoulda been ready for whoever regardless though so...

The 2 weight cuts may not have hurt him, but they definitely didn't help.

The only thing I'll say is that Tony gets hits (at least until last night) waaaayyy less than people think. His striking defense percentage is actually better than Conor or Pettis. Khabib's is only slightly better. I think a lot of people think Tony gets hit more than he does because a lot of shots glance off his shoulders and graze him, and he's had a couple of infamous knockdowns. Besides Pettis and Lando I can't really remember him getting dropped. And he did get hit a lot by Barboza.

But going into last night he actually had one of the better striking defense percentages of anyone in history at 155. I was blown away to find out that Conor and Pettis have lower striking defense percentages, and that Khabib's is essentially even with Tony (63% vs 67%).

But yeah. Tony had no answer on the feet. I was frustrated he didn't work for snap downs, singles, or ankle picks. After round 3 I think he should've tried to grapple. The guy has so many great submissions and didn't try to take the fight there besides that one Imanari roll that was way too little and way too late.

 

[THEREALBRAND]

yeah because every sports commissioner/executive does for the athletes.

“this is reckless and dangerous...but I will still watch”

more virtue. flimsy ass moral standard. But no longer surprising from The Coli

My initial post about Dana giving us entertainment at the sake of being reckless was a joke. If it wasn't funny or you took it as some type of affront I apologize. I really didn't have a problem with the event or people choosing to watch it or compete in it

The only thing I had a problem with was the way that Dana and the MAGA crowd were pushing this as if it were some sort of political statement. And the people acting like Dana and the UFC were doing this for any purpose other than making money. If you have a different viewpoint we can agree to disagree, but it wasn't my intention to create conflict or bad blood with either of my posts. I've got nothing but love for everybody in the MMA section.

 

[TheDarceKnight]

......people wanna act like Tony’s some overrated bum. This was Gaethje @ another level​

Anyone acting like Tony is a bum or overrated is a fukkin' fool.

The guy KO'd everyone on The Ultimate Fighter. He lost to Michael Johnson with a broken hand in the fight. Since then as you know he's had this crazy run. Cats that can't appreciate a 12-0 run in today's modern era of MMA are really stupid. The days of fighters being able to have double digit win streaks are pretty much over. Everyone is too skilled and too well rounded. Tony has done it with mostly finishes (a variety of submissions and T/KOs) as well as dominant performances. There was one split decision in that 12-0 run but everything else has been via T/KO, submission, or stoppage.

It's one of the GOAT runs and anyone undermining it should do some homework.

 

[The axe murderer]

Anyone acting like Tony is a bum or overrated is a fukkin' fool.

The guy KO'd everyone on The Ultimate Fighter. He lost to Michael Johnson with a broken hand in the fight. Since then as you know he's had this crazy run. Cats that can't appreciate a 12-0 run in today's modern era of MMA are really stupid. The days of fighters being able to have double digit win streaks are pretty much over. Everyone is too skilled and too well rounded. Tony has done it with mostly finishes (a variety of submissions and T/KOs) as well as dominant performances. There was one split decision in that 12-0 run but everything else has been via T/KO, submission, or stoppage.

It's one of the GOAT runs and anyone undermining it should do some homework.

Fans are fickle. Tony had an insane run and feared no one. Idk where he goes from here

 

[TheDarceKnight]

Fans are fickle. Tony had an insane run and feared no one. Idk where he goes from here

In terms of entertainment factor, I think a fight between he and Charles Oliveira would be fireworks. Oliveira just beat Lee (as you know I'm sure) and has finally put his striking together. H has a vary similar game to Tony in terms of catching submissions during transitions, having a great front headlock game, and having some unorthodox striking.

Oliveira may not be ranked high enough to fight Tony, but he's on a 6 or 7 fight win streak and I think it'd be a blast.

But I also don't know what Tony does. I'd love to see him fight Conor too, but they won't make that happen. I don't think he gets through Justin, and that's the path to Khabib for now.

I dunno. Tony with wins could be right back in title contention, but all the big names seem tied up, and sadly he's not a huge enough draw to be right back in title contention (IMO) without another 2 wins. Maybe 3. He does a big cut so maybe he could go to 170, but I can't imagine guys like Usman or Tyron being good match ups for him, and I don't think he can safely cut to 145.

I know I'm getting long winded and this an MMA forum and not a grappling forum, but I really wish Tony would prep for ADCC in 2021 in Las Vegas, and do Polaris, Fight To Win, and other submission grappling circuit promotions in between. I really think Tony could get on the podium at ADCC with a dedicated 3 month camp.

 

[The axe murderer]

In terms of entertainment factor, I think a fight between he and Charles Oliveira would be fireworks. Oliveira just beat Lee (as you know I'm sure) and has finally put his striking together. H has a vary similar game to Tony in terms of catching submissions during transitions, having a great front headlock game, and having some unorthodox striking.

Oliveira may not be ranked high enough to fight Tony, but he's on a 6 or 7 fight win streak and I think it'd be a blast.

But I also don't know what Tony does. I'd love to see him fight Conor too, but they won't make that happen. I don't think he gets through Justin, and that's the path to Khabib for now.

I dunno. Tony with wins could be right back in title contention, but all the big names seem tied up, and sadly he's not a huge enough draw to be right back in title contention (IMO) without another 2 wins. Maybe 3. He does a big cut so maybe he could go to 170, but I can't imagine guys like Usman or Tyron being good match ups for him, and I don't think he can safely cut to 145.

I know I'm getting long winded and this an MMA forum and not a grappling forum, but I really wish Tony would prep for ADCC in 2021 in Las Vegas, and do Polaris, Fight To Win, and other submission grappling circuit promotions in between. I really think Tony could get on the podium at ADCC with a dedicated 3 month camp.

All Imma say is gaethje probably cancelled the apocalypse preventing that Tony vs Khabib fight because THAT shyt IS CURSED

 

[TheDarceKnight]

All Imma say is gaethje probably cancelled the apocalypse preventing that Tony vs Khabib fight because THAT shyt IS CURSED

Absolutely! I saw memes about the MMA gods creating covid-19 just to stop the fight.

I mean 1 of the cancellations was a pandemic. One was Khabib having Kidney failure. The other was Tony blowing his LCL like a day before the fight.

That's all some freaky shyt. The fight just wasn't meant to be.

 

[Inertia Creeps]

Fans are fickle. Tony had an insane run and feared no one. Idk where he goes from here

He should fight Islam Makhachev. Would be the best possible preparation for Khabib style-wise in the division aside from the real thing and would immediately rekindle the hype and narrative for that fight that got erased in the loss to Justin. UFC and Khabib have every excuse to not ever give Tony another chance at him and the belt right now... but if he came back from this bad loss and dominated the division's biggest up-and-comer, who happens to be Khabib's close friend and training partner? It would prove he's still a top contender and Khabib will definitely take it personal; I think whoever gives Makhachev his first loss Khabib will call out for a mega fight directly after.

Islam is a big step down the rankings but anyone who's watched him knows he's definitely real contender material. Tony is too insane to take a big step down in competition (that he probably should) so instead of feeding him to another heavy hitter that'll give him more CTE like Dustin or McGregor, give him the one wrestler who'll best help reignite his case for the Khabib fight if he wins. We'll also finally get to see how good Makhachev is for real so win-win.

 

[etrofllenrod504]

I think Khabib can win but I agree that Justin will give him a lot of unique problems. Justin is an incredible wrestler and his hips are crazy strong (pause).

I know some guys that have rolled with him and said he's like trying to hold down a bull. He's also talked about how his folk style wrestling game is different than a lot of people that Khabib has fought, and I think he's going to be harder to get down, harder to hold down, and I think he'll land some paws on Khabib on the feet that Khabib won't have felt before.

I'm still betting on Khabib, but it'll be a tough fight.

I see you said you train at 10 planet which one? I'm a no gi guy also.

 

[TheDarceKnight]

I see you said you train at 10 planet which one? I'm a no gi guy also.

So I’ve been training for 15 years with Nova Uniao Hawaii (BJ Penn affiliation), and I started visiting and training with Brandon Mccaghren at 10th Planet Decatur last year.

I’ve always loved nogi more. Brandon is kind of far from me, but if you ever get a chance he’s amazing to train with. Most welcoming and fun training atmosphere I’ve ever been in. They treated me like family and it was awesome

Thankfully I moved recently, and I’m not at a Niva Uniao school anymore, but I’m at a place where I can mostly do nogi.

 

[chunky_mcdaniels]

have a nickname of “Chunky McDaniels” and really give a fukk about sports/UFC debates on a message board, brehs.

chase Daps on a message board

Right, you mad because i pressed the issue with gross malpractice on the UFC's behalf.

You're aware of it but the fanboy in you can't accept it.