MMA

[kevo]

Till’s has one or two decent wins, but he’s one of the most overhyped fighters I’ve seen in a while.

[Wee Tommy]

Till’s has one or two decent wins, but he’s one of the most overhyped fighters I’ve seen in a while.

Big puncher but he’s not got the balls to lay it on the line, he’s never a champion. Fought like junior witter last night and not for the first time.

[Ricky]

Till’s has one or two decent wins, but he’s one of the most overhyped fighters I’ve seen in a while.

Big puncher but he’s not got the balls to lay it on the line, he’s never a champion. Fought like junior witter last night and not for the first time.

The UFC needs to do something about these fvcking rotten main events. I remember thinking if i seen another 5 rounds of Adesanya Romero again I'd probably not bother watching it again. That Till fight wasn't much better in truth.

The amount of fights that seem to consist of 1 guy moves forward, the other guy moves back... then vice verca, does my head in

The recent cards with the smaller octagon was much better. The referee should instruct these guys to fight more often, and some of them, like Till, should learn to stand there ground and counter instead of bouncing away like a Kangaroo.

[Onetimeonly]

Till’s has one or two decent wins, but he’s one of the most overhyped fighters I’ve seen in a while.

Big puncher but he’s not got the balls to lay it on the line, he’s never a champion. Fought like junior witter last night and not for the first time.

The UFC needs to do something about these fvcking rotten main events. I remember thinking if i seen another 5 rounds of Adesanya Romero again I'd probably not bother watching it again. That Till fight wasn't much better in truth.

The amount of fights that seem to consist of 1 guy moves forward, the other guy moves back... then vice verca, does my head in

The recent cards with the smaller octagon was much better. The referee should instruct these guys to fight more often, and some of them, like Till, should learn to stand there ground and counter instead of bouncing away like a Kangaroo.

Yellow card and soccer kicks are the two things they should have kept from pride. I actually also prefer the full fight damage and trying to finish scorecard instead of rbr too. Pride was awesome.

These cards have been good. Not as concerned about main events. I went to bed during usman and Judas snoozer. Shogun/lil nog was killer.

[Wee Tommy]

Till’s has one or two decent wins, but he’s one of the most overhyped fighters I’ve seen in a while.

Big puncher but he’s not got the balls to lay it on the line, he’s never a champion. Fought like junior witter last night and not for the first time.

The UFC needs to do something about these fvcking rotten main events. I remember thinking if i seen another 5 rounds of Adesanya Romero again I'd probably not bother watching it again. That Till fight wasn't much better in truth.

The amount of fights that seem to consist of 1 guy moves forward, the other guy moves back... then vice verca, does my head in

The recent cards with the smaller octagon was much better. The referee should instruct these guys to fight more often, and some of them, like Till, should learn to stand there ground and counter instead of bouncing away like a Kangaroo.

I agree Rick, been some terrible main events recently mixed in with absolute classics like Poirier v Hooker.

[Wee Tommy]

ONE fighting championships has the best fights for action just now.

[jujigatame]

Big puncher but he’s not got the balls to lay it on the line, he’s never a champion. Fought like junior witter last night and not for the first time.

The UFC needs to do something about these fvcking rotten main events. I remember thinking if i seen another 5 rounds of Adesanya Romero again I'd probably not bother watching it again. That Till fight wasn't much better in truth.

The amount of fights that seem to consist of 1 guy moves forward, the other guy moves back... then vice verca, does my head in

The recent cards with the smaller octagon was much better. The referee should instruct these guys to fight more often, and some of them, like Till, should learn to stand there ground and counter instead of bouncing away like a Kangaroo.

Yellow card and soccer kicks are the two things they should have kept from pride. I actually also prefer the full fight damage and trying to finish scorecard instead of rbr too. Pride was awesome.

These cards have been good. Not as concerned about main events. I went to bed during usman and Judas snoozer. Shogun/lil nog was killer.

My issue with "attempt to finish the fight" as the primary judging criteria is that it pretty much gave the judges the license to give the fight to whoever they wanted. There's so much subjectivity in what an "attempt to finish" is. Like I remember when Ricco Rodriguez fought Big Nog. I was rooting hard for Nog but he largely got dominated. Taken down repeatedly and never really landed any strikes of consequence. Yet they gave him the decision because he threw up a bunch of submission attempts from his back, none of which got particularly close.

I think the best thing the UFC could do to encourage action is to drop the absurd pay structure they have where 50% of your salary is dependent on getting a win. That encourages conservative fighting and guys coasting in the 3rd round if they're confident they're ahead on the cards. They should raise base pay, drop the stupid win bonuses, and maybe add a 20% finish bonus while they're at it.

[punchoutsb]

Big puncher but he’s not got the balls to lay it on the line, he’s never a champion. Fought like junior witter last night and not for the first time.

The UFC needs to do something about these fvcking rotten main events. I remember thinking if i seen another 5 rounds of Adesanya Romero again I'd probably not bother watching it again. That Till fight wasn't much better in truth.

The amount of fights that seem to consist of 1 guy moves forward, the other guy moves back... then vice verca, does my head in

The recent cards with the smaller octagon was much better. The referee should instruct these guys to fight more often, and some of them, like Till, should learn to stand there ground and counter instead of bouncing away like a Kangaroo.

Yellow card and soccer kicks are the two things they should have kept from pride. I actually also prefer the full fight damage and trying to finish scorecard instead of rbr too. Pride was awesome.

These cards have been good. Not as concerned about main events. I went to bed during usman and Judas snoozer. Shogun/lil nog was killer.

Yellow cards and soccer kicks all day!

I also preferred the 10-5-5 round length as well.

[Counter-puncher]

Big puncher but he’s not got the balls to lay it on the line, he’s never a champion. Fought like junior witter last night and not for the first time.

The UFC needs to do something about these fvcking rotten main events. I remember thinking if i seen another 5 rounds of Adesanya Romero again I'd probably not bother watching it again. That Till fight wasn't much better in truth.

The amount of fights that seem to consist of 1 guy moves forward, the other guy moves back... then vice verca, does my head in

The recent cards with the smaller octagon was much better. The referee should instruct these guys to fight more often, and some of them, like Till, should learn to stand there ground and counter instead of bouncing away like a Kangaroo.

Yellow card and soccer kicks are the two things they should have kept from pride.

Shogun, bitches

[Baby Face Finster]

Khabib-Gaethje has been announced for October 24th. October 24th can't come soon enough for me. Hope Gaethje KO's the whining crybaby.

https://www.espn.com/mma/story/_/id/295 ... set-oct-24

[Onetimeonly]

Khabib-Gaethje has been announced for October 24th. October 24th can't come soon enough for me. Hope Gaethje KO's the whining crybaby.

https://www.espn.com/mma/story/_/id/295 ... set-oct-24

I just hope khabib shows up.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Robert Whittaker wants immediate title shot after UFC Fight Island win

Robert Whittaker says he is ready for another middleweight title shot and would jump at the chance to face off with the winner of Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa before the end of the year.

Whittaker, 29, has returned to Sydney following his unanimous-decision victory over Darren Till as part of the run of fights at the UFC's Fight Island.

After losing the first round -- during which he was floored by a thumping left elbow from Till -- on all three judges' scorecards, Whittaker recovered to take control of the fight and claim victory with a dominant showing in Rounds 2 through 5.

"I expected a hard fight. He's a good fighter. He's very good striker. He's fought five-rounders. He's fought for the title," Whittaker told ESPN. "So feeling him out in the fight, it was like a chess match. It was honestly one of the most intensely taxing fights of my career thus far.

"He had a very good game plan of trying to counter me, to expose me when I blitzed in. And it worked because in Round 1, I jumped in there, and I got caught on the blitz-in, and I just had to pull back and understand that this was his game plan. And for me to take advantage of that, I had to just pick him apart from the outside, chip away at his legs and go for takedowns when they presented themselves."

Whittaker was able to recover quickly when he was floored, getting his legs up in defense to prevent Till from continuing his attack. He was then able to reset and change plans in consultation with his corner at the end of Round 1.

"It was just a well-placed, well-timed shot. If it was a terrible shot, I wouldn't have got back up," Whittaker said.

"I was speaking to my corner, and hats off to my corner because they were receptive. They did an excellent job of working the corner and keeping me together.

"I told them, 'He's waiting for me. He's waiting for me to counter,' and they were saying, 'You've got to fake him out, a lot of fakes, look for the takedown if it's there and just keep chipping away,' and that's what I did."

Although Whittaker was unable to nail the takedown attempts with any regularity, he was able to clip Till on the way out with a series of "cheeky shots."

The question now is whether Whittaker (21-5) will get an immediate title shot against the winner of Adesanya-Costa, which is scheduled for Sept. 19, or will have to go through Jared Cannonier, as seems to be the preference of UFC President Dana White.

"You got Cannonier in there. Do you do Cannonier vs. Whittaker? I mean, that's a really good fight to find out who fights the winner of Adesanya vs. Costa," White told ESPN earlier this week.

For his part, Whittaker says he's ready to contest the middleweight strap before the end of the year.

"I would love that title shot. I will never turn away from a title shot," he told ESPN. "I'd love to run it back with Issy. I guess we'll wait and see.

"Right now, I'm in isolation, and my first priority is just to go and see my family and then get back in the gym and start plugging away and then see where it leads me. But I'd jump for it, mate."

After seeing off Till in Abu Dhabi, Whittaker spoke of how "terrifying" the fight was, given that it was his first after last year's defeat to Adesanya at UFC 243.

Asked to elaborate, Whittaker said it wasn't that he doubted his ability or preparation, but the prospect of being a former champion who slipped to successive defeats really played on his mind.

That is backed up by a middleweight statistic that has seen former champions slip to a collective 3-12 record after losing the belt, per ESPN Stats & Info.

"The same nerves occur for any fight, but I guess the big thing was that I was putting a lot of pressure on myself because I'd just come off a loss and I didn't want to lose again," Whittaker said. "The next fight after a loss is so hard for that reason because no one wants to lose twice in a row, especially after losing the belt.

"I didn't want to be that guy. I didn't want to be that champ that lost his belt and then went on a losing streak. I didn't want to be that guy. I'm young enough to have multiple runs ahead of me still, and I'm one of the best in the world. I believe that, and a lot of people believe that.

"So all these expectations and pressures, whether they were real or not, they're there."

Whittaker will complete 14 days of hotel quarantine in Sydney as part of the Australian government's border process amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"I was made for isolation, to be honest. You could leave me here," he said with a laugh. "Honestly, it has been outstanding ... If I had my family here, I wouldn't leave. It has been outstanding."

[Ruthless-RKO]

I would like to see Whittaker fight Cannonier TBH..

Till is the most over-hyped UFC fighter today...

Like Dana said, the winner of Whittaker-Cannonier vs. the winner of Adesanya-Costa..

Makes most sense..

[Ruthless-RKO]

What does everyone think of Khamzat Chimaev?

Made his debut 2 weeks ago and fought again after 10 days..

He's jumping on opponents like dogs..

[JCS]

What does everyone think of Khamzat Chimaev?

Made his debut 2 weeks ago and fought again after 10 days..

He's jumping on opponents like dogs..

He's supposedly fighting again in mid-August..

[Blodhemn]

Yellow card and soccer kicks are the two things they should have kept from pride. I actually also prefer the full fight damage and trying to finish scorecard instead of rbr too. Pride was awesome.

These cards have been good. Not as concerned about main events. I went to bed during usman and Judas snoozer. Shogun/lil nog was killer.

Yep. Also prefer the shape of the squared circle - kept fighters in the center of the ring, more focus on classic stand-up.

[Ruthless-RKO]

What does everyone think of Khamzat Chimaev?

Made his debut 2 weeks ago and fought again after 10 days..

He's jumping on opponents like dogs..

He's supposedly fighting again in mid-August..

Yeh, I heard about that..

He's thrown nearly 200 strikes in these 2 UFC fights.. No more than 3 rounds he's fought..

Been hit fewer than 3 times..

2nd fighter after Cain Velazquez to achieve this feat for UFC. From their debut.

[punchoutsb]

What does everyone think of Khamzat Chimaev?

Made his debut 2 weeks ago and fought again after 10 days..

He's jumping on opponents like dogs..

I like him a lot and he seems to be very well rounded but...

It's WAY to early for some of these talks of title shots. His resume doesn't read like a "Who's Who", it just reads like a "Who?".

His best win so far is probably Aliskerov. How about Cowboy Oliveira next? That fight will 100% tell you if he's real or not without feeling forced like giving him a top ten based off two quick wins over guys probably outside the top 100 in overall MMA would.

[jujigatame]

UFC has a tendency to rush prospects into big contender fights and I hope they don't do that with Chimaev. Oliveira seems like a big step up and should be at least 2 fights away, IMO.

Sergio Moraes would be an interesting test of his grappling. Or Thiago Alves if you want to go the other way and test his striking.

[punchoutsb]

UFC has a tendency to rush prospects into big contender fights and I hope they don't do that with Chimaev. Oliveira seems like a big step up and should be at least 2 fights away, IMO.

Sergio Moraes would be an interesting test of his grappling. Or Thiago Alves if you want to go the other way and test his striking.

They’re talking about a top ten for less than two weeks from now. I thought Cowboy was being generous compared to throwing him in against a top ten aside from maybe Chiesa. That said, they’re giving him someone with a name and Morales and Alves would both be good too.

[jujigatame]

It would be asinine to put him in with a top 10 guy right now. Dude has been a pro for less than 3 years and has fought zero noteworthy opponents.

I'm not suggesting the UFC go to the boxing style of matchmaking where a guy has 20 fights under his belt before he fights anyone with a pulse, but they get way too hot-to-trot with some of these prospects.

[punchoutsb]

Agreed. I don’t think top ten is a good idea, but I’d rather not see another pushover.

[jujigatame]

Yea I think realistically he should be 5-6 fights from a potential title shot, something like:

1) Alves, Moraes

2) Good, Oliveria

3) Cerrone, Muhammad

4) RDA, Magny

5) Top 5 contender

6) Title shot

[punchoutsb]

That's a good schedule. He needs seasoning, time, and a couple challenges. He'll get them with a schedule like that. I’d probably still skip that first tier though.

[Onetimeonly]

3 fights from now cerrone? That's a waste of 2 minutes. Agreed on the other cowboy next.