MMA

[danamba7]

I start to foam at the mouth at the thought of RDA/McGregor. Dos Anjos is scary.

Dos Anjos has come on leaps and bounds. Looks a completely different fighter to the one with losses to Stephens, Griffin, Guida and Tibau.

I think the Nurmagomedov fight was a big turning point for him.

Good spelling! I would've just done with Khabib.

[Impractical Poster]

Dos Anjos has come on leaps and bounds. Looks a completely different fighter to the one with losses to Stephens, Griffin, Guida and Tibau.

I think the Nurmagomedov fight was a big turning point for him.

Good spelling! I would've just done with Khabib.

Copy and paste.

[thunderfromdownunder]

I wonder if Connor changed his mind about dos Anjos? Personally I'm more interested in seeing pettis fight him again should he defeat Alvarez. Lightweight is a fun division at the moment.

Is anyone else really pumped for Condit v Lawler? I can't wait, stylistically this should he awesome.
I'm going with Condit in a close one

[EddieShredder]

I wonder if Connor changed his mind about dos Anjos? Personally I'm more interested in seeing pettis fight him again should he defeat Alvarez. Lightweight is a fun division at the moment.

Is anyone else really pumped for Condit v Lawler? I can't wait, stylistically this should he awesome.
I'm going with Condit in a close one

Condit - Lawlor has me mega-pumped.

[danamba7]

I wonder if Connor changed his mind about dos Anjos? Personally I'm more interested in seeing pettis fight him again should he defeat Alvarez. Lightweight is a fun division at the moment.

Is anyone else really pumped for Condit v Lawler? I can't wait, stylistically this should he awesome.
I'm going with Condit in a close one

Condit - Lawlor has me mega-pumped.

Don't want to jinx it but Condit Lawler has fight of the year written all over it.

[thunderfromdownunder]

Talk today that RDA and Connor will fight in March. Dos Anjos deserves to be favorite imo, but I don't think Connor will be at too much of a disadvantage. He has a big frame and would fill out nicely at 155. Gotta feel sorry for Edgar and Aldo though

[danamba7]

Talk today that RDA and Connor will fight in March. Dos Anjos deserves to be favorite imo, but I don't think Connor will be at too much of a disadvantage. He has a big frame and would fill out nicely at 155. Gotta feel sorry for Edgar and Aldo though

Feel sorry for Edgar. At least Aldo had his chance.

Dos Anjos seems like a bad match up for Conor stylistically but McGregor could be even more of a beast at 155 because of not having to cut so much weight. Diaz would have been a perfect welcome to 155 fight for Conor, even just for the build up!

[Impractical Poster]

Talk today that RDA and Connor will fight in March. Dos Anjos deserves to be favorite imo, but I don't think Connor will be at too much of a disadvantage. He has a big frame and would fill out nicely at 155. Gotta feel sorry for Edgar and Aldo though

Feel sorry for Edgar. At least Aldo had his chance.

Dos Anjos seems like a bad match up for Conor stylistically but McGregor could be even more of a beast at 155 because of not having to cut so much weight. Diaz would have been a perfect welcome to 155 fight for Conor, even just for the build up!

I really really want to see RDA/Copnor. However, this is pretty cheap on Dana's and Conor's part. Conor went on record saying that he would give Edgar a shot if he looked impressive in his last performance. And it's impossible to deny that he did. I honestly believe they don't think they can beat Edgar. And I believe it as well. Edgar would make it a GnP war, and this is something they don't want. I hope RDA rag dolls his @ss.

[Impractical Poster]

Lawler/Condit should be an incredible fight. Tight match-up. I'm edging toward Robbie, but who knows.

Interested in Arlovski/Miocic. But have a feeling my main man, Andre, may be getting KOed. I hope I'm wrong.

The only other bout I'm really looking forward to is on the Fight Pass prelims, wtf... Poirier/Duffy.

[zojo]

I'm going to skip this one.

Lawler vs. Condit doesn't seem right.

Condit is 2 - 3 in his past fight fights, but is getting a title shot? Plus, he got wrecked by Woodley and yet gets the title shot before Woodley.

Seems like UFC shenanigans.

I like Stipe and think he would do well against Werdum, but the UFC brass clearly wants Cain (mr. injury) get the title back.

Even if Stipe beats Andre, he will probably have to win again (against Barnet/Rothwell winner?) before he gets a chance.

[danamba7]

I'm going to skip this one.

Lawler vs. Condit doesn't seem right.

Condit is 2 - 3 in his past fight fights, but is getting a title shot? Plus, he got wrecked by Woodley and yet gets the title shot before Woodley.

Seems like UFC shenanigans.

I like Stipe and think he would do well against Werdum, but the UFC brass clearly wants Cain (mr. injury) get the title back.

Even if Stipe beats Andre, he will probably have to win again (against Barnet/Rothwell winner?) before he gets a chance.

Huh? It was a knee injury wasn't it?

[thunderfromdownunder]

I wonder if the war with McDonald took a toll on robbie? Sometimes even the winners of wars like that are never the same, like Cotto v Margarito I, Antonio pulled out the win, but was wrecked in big fights afterwards... Just a thought.

[thunderfromdownunder]

I'm going to skip this one.

Lawler vs. Condit doesn't seem right.

Condit is 2 - 3 in his past fight fights, but is getting a title shot? Plus, he got wrecked by Woodley and yet gets the title shot before Woodley.

Seems like UFC shenanigans.

I like Stipe and think he would do well against Werdum, but the UFC brass clearly wants Cain (mr. injury) get the title back.

Even if Stipe beats Andre, he will probably have to win again (against Barnet/Rothwell winner?) before he gets a chance.

I'm looking forward to the main event,
However I agree with hu on Cain, I respect him as an athlete but he dosent deserve a rematch with Werdum. He got completely dominated and prior to that had been injured and fought sporadically.

[Impractical Poster]

I'm going to skip this one.

Lawler vs. Condit doesn't seem right.

Condit is 2 - 3 in his past fight fights, but is getting a title shot? Plus, he got wrecked by Woodley and yet gets the title shot before Woodley.

Seems like UFC shenanigans.

I like Stipe and think he would do well against Werdum, but the UFC brass clearly wants Cain (mr. injury) get the title back.

Even if Stipe beats Andre, he will probably have to win again (against Barnet/Rothwell winner?) before he gets a chance.

I'm looking forward to the main event,
However I agree with hu on Cain, I respect him as an athlete but he dosent deserve a rematch with Werdum. He got completely dominated and prior to that had been injured and fought sporadically.

I don't have an issue with a Cain/Werdum rematch. Having watched Cain many times, the altitude, and/or something else was effecting him. I would be comfortable in picking Cain to win in a rematch...

And Condit was not dominated by Woodley. It was a freak leg injury.

[northern]

if there was an MMA thread, I'd definitely be interested to see peoples opinions on the year ahead

[northern]

I wonder if Connor changed his mind about dos Anjos? Personally I'm more interested in seeing pettis fight him again should he defeat Alvarez. Lightweight is a fun division at the moment.

Is anyone else really pumped for Condit v Lawler? I can't wait, stylistically this should he awesome.
I'm going with Condit in a close one

I cant see him changing his mind about moving to lightweight at some stage but I think its all just talk right now and he'll have to fight Edgar before anything else.

Have to admit though I was disappointed with Aldo losing but all the matches they can make now he isn't the champion is actually better, rematch with llamas and swanson, diego sanchez is in their division now, even a final fight with mendez is a possibility.

and yeah can't wait for tonights fight, I'd love to see Lawler walk away the champion again but I'd also like to see how Condit does as the champion too, who ever wins it should be a great fight.

[thunderfromdownunder]

Lawler v Condit, one of the worst decisions I have ever seen in combat sports. Horrendous
Condit won 4 rounds pretty handily

[scottyboy_1978]

Yea that was bad last night. Man i feel sorry for Carlos.

[Impractical Poster]

Lawler v Condit, one of the worst decisions I have ever seen in combat sports. Horrendous
Condit won 4 rounds pretty handily

I had it 3-2 Condit. Gave Lawler rounds 2&5. Thought the other 3 rounds were clear Condit rounds. Condit is a classy dude.

[danamba7]

Lawler v Condit, one of the worst decisions I have ever seen in combat sports. Horrendous
Condit won 4 rounds pretty handily

I had it 3-2 Condit. Gave Lawler rounds 2&5. Thought the other 3 rounds were clear Condit rounds. Condit is a classy dude.

100% agree

[danamba7]

What a final round though. Great to see 2 fighters put it all on the line. Lawler is almost always in exciting fights.

[Impractical Poster]

What a final round though. Great to see 2 fighters put it all on the line. Lawler is almost always in exciting fights.

This is bad for me to say, but this is why I don't have that much of an issue with the decision. It should have went to Condit, but Lawler leaves it out there each and every time. Gives us Fights of the Year and Round of the Years seemingly consistently. I can't remember a fight within the past few years where Lawler has not delivered. It seems Condit was trying to win the fight through activity where as Lawler was trying to finish the fight with every punch.

[Deadendgeneration]

What a final round though. Great to see 2 fighters put it all on the line. Lawler is almost always in exciting fights.

This is bad for me to say, but this is why I don't have that much of an issue with the decision. It should have went to Condit, but Lawler leaves it out there each and every time. Gives us Fights of the Year and Round of the Years seemingly consistently. I can't remember a fight within the past few years where Lawler has not delivered. It seems Condit was trying to win the fight through activity where as Lawler was trying to finish the fight with every punch.

I enjoy watching Lawler for sure but thought he was lucky to win the belt in the first place and was even luckier last night. Great to watch but he's a pretty unconvincing champion.

[northern]

So... For the people in the know, I have some questions...

British fighters to get behind. Sorry, it's more fun for me to root for my own. Are we any good? Can we hang with the Americans and Brazilians? Or are we just also rans?

What is the best division? The one with the most talent? Who should I be looking out for?

Who are the figures I should want to get smashed? Should I dislike Conor? I feel like I may be able to find it in me.

Jon bones jones... This dude is back from suspension right? Who is he going to fight ? Should I get excited about it? Before Rousey he was the main UFC fighter I knew anything about. Is he a cool guy?

The other organisations... Isn't the UFC kind of a monopoly? When you have fighters like Fedor and Cyborg who don't fight in the UFC it seems like the UFC wants to eff them a little because they don't fit the UFC's idea of what is marketable or just don't want to play ball. For a lot of casuals UFC and MMA are almost interchangeable. Can this be challenged? Should it be?

Japanese MMA tournaments... They have less rules right? But the matchups are more circus like? What should I check out? Is it worth looking at that stuff? There's a new promotion in Japan I think. Thoughts on that?

Dana White. My first instincts on seeing and hearing this man talk is that he is a bell end and full of it. Is it possible that he may just... Go away? At some point? One of my main issues with MMA in the past is that I associate it with beefed up American frat boy jocks saying "let me bang bro" and White is kind of like one of those guys in a suit. I just don't like people like that. Aside from some characters (broner etc) boxing just seems to have more dignity to it. I'm obviously wrong , right?

Right now I'd say the british fighters to really get behind and support are Liam McGreary who's the Bellator LHW champion, won the title pretty convincingly, defended well against Tito Ortiz and will be competing against Phil Davis next. Michael Bisping is probably the next man to get behind a long time establish british name and has probably the biggest fight of his career next against Anderson Silva. After those I'd say watch Michael white in Bellator he fights at welter weight and he's just fantastic to watch.

Best division right now, I'd say welter weight, light weights are stepping up and now that GSP has pretty much left MMA all together, the welterweights in the UFC are all stepping up.

Honestly when it comes to people you don't like its entirely up to you, you might like the trash talk I'm not a big fan of it, I'm a believer in the show me idea. you don't have to tell me anything but you have to show me you can back it all up on the night.

Jones is a bit of a mixed case, yeah he's been a bit of a pain publicity wide for the UFC but you can't deny the man he's a bloody good fighter, I think he's meant to be next in line to fight Cormier for the LHW title in the UFC too so its all on him now, does he embrace the infamy and I don care attitude or does he shape up and be the model champion. time will tell.

the UFC is being challenged really by Bellator in the states and ONE FC and RIZIN over in asia, Bellator really gives the fighters more control and especially when it comes to sponsorships they are more fighter favoured where the UFC has this deal with reebok that really favors them, but yeah really the UFC is more mainstream and people will read more about it but Bellator is still going pretty strong compared.
One FC has been doing a pretty good job in Asia too really getting people interested againand promoting a lot of local talent with the exception of the odd big name from America if they've been worth it and the reception RIZIN got at new years with their two events featuring Aoki, Sakuraba and Fedor they basically sent a letter of intent to rebuild and re-establish Japanese MMA.

as for the Japanese 'circus' acts yeah they used to do things like matching up professional wrestlers with professional fighters which did turn into one sided beatings but that's pretty much stopped now and its professional wrestling alongside MMA if its on a big show.
When you mention less rules you mean the old PRIDE rule set, I think its called the world rule set instead of the nevada state rule set that's basically the rules of most western MMA but the World rules allow things like soccer style kicks to the head of a grounded opponent and knees to the head of a grounded opponent etc but again it really depends on the organisation now.
But onto RIZIN, I think its going to make the year ahead very interesting, if they can back up the pace they set for their new year events its going to be a good year for them and I can't see them not doing very well.

[lefty]

So... For the people in the know, I have some questions...

British fighters to get behind. Sorry, it's more fun for me to root for my own. Are we any good? Can we hang with the Americans and Brazilians? Or are we just also rans?

What is the best division? The one with the most talent? Who should I be looking out for?

Who are the figures I should want to get smashed? Should I dislike Conor? I feel like I may be able to find it in me.

Jon bones jones... This dude is back from suspension right? Who is he going to fight ? Should I get excited about it? Before Rousey he was the main UFC fighter I knew anything about. Is he a cool guy?

The other organisations... Isn't the UFC kind of a monopoly? When you have fighters like Fedor and Cyborg who don't fight in the UFC it seems like the UFC wants to eff them a little because they don't fit the UFC's idea of what is marketable or just don't want to play ball. For a lot of casuals UFC and MMA are almost interchangeable. Can this be challenged? Should it be?

Japanese MMA tournaments... They have less rules right? But the matchups are more circus like? What should I check out? Is it worth looking at that stuff? There's a new promotion in Japan I think. Thoughts on that?

Dana White. My first instincts on seeing and hearing this man talk is that he is a bell end and full of it. Is it possible that he may just... Go away? At some point? One of my main issues with MMA in the past is that I associate it with beefed up American frat boy jocks saying "let me bang bro" and White is kind of like one of those guys in a suit. I just don't like people like that. Aside from some characters (broner etc) boxing just seems to have more dignity to it. I'm obviously wrong , right?

Right now I'd say the british fighters to really get behind and support are Liam McGreary who's the Bellator LHW champion, won the title pretty convincingly, defended well against Tito Ortiz and will be competing against Phil Davis next. Michael Bisping is probably the next man to get behind a long time establish british name and has probably the biggest fight of his career next against Anderson Silva. After those I'd say watch Michael white in Bellator he fights at welter weight and he's just fantastic to watch.

Best division right now, I'd say welter weight, light weights are stepping up and now that GSP has pretty much left MMA all together, the welterweights in the UFC are all stepping up.

Honestly when it comes to people you don't like its entirely up to you, you might like the trash talk I'm not a big fan of it, I'm a believer in the show me idea. you don't have to tell me anything but you have to show me you can back it all up on the night.

Jones is a bit of a mixed case, yeah he's been a bit of a pain publicity wide for the UFC but you can't deny the man he's a bloody good fighter, I think he's meant to be next in line to fight Cormier for the LHW title in the UFC too so its all on him now, does he embrace the infamy and I don care attitude or does he shape up and be the model champion. time will tell.

the UFC is being challenged really by Bellator in the states and ONE FC and RIZIN over in asia, Bellator really gives the fighters more control and especially when it comes to sponsorships they are more fighter favoured where the UFC has this deal with reebok that really favors them, but yeah really the UFC is more mainstream and people will read more about it but Bellator is still going pretty strong compared.
One FC has been doing a pretty good job in Asia too really getting people interested againand promoting a lot of local talent with the exception of the odd big name from America if they've been worth it and the reception RIZIN got at new years with their two events featuring Aoki, Sakuraba and Fedor they basically sent a letter of intent to rebuild and re-establish Japanese MMA.

as for the Japanese 'circus' acts yeah they used to do things like matching up professional wrestlers with professional fighters which did turn into one sided beatings but that's pretty much stopped now and its professional wrestling alongside MMA if its on a big show.
When you mention less rules you mean the old PRIDE rule set, I think its called the world rule set instead of the nevada state rule set that's basically the rules of most western MMA but the World rules allow things like soccer style kicks to the head of a grounded opponent and knees to the head of a grounded opponent etc but again it really depends on the organisation now.
But onto RIZIN, I think its going to make the year ahead very interesting, if they can back up the pace they set for their new year events its going to be a good year for them and I can't see them not doing very well.

Tom Breese is a big talent.