Uh oh. 

Holm lost to tate. 

Mcgregor gets choked out by diaz 

48 minutes ago, Brandon said:

He can take two dives in one night no?

Anything can happen in JMMA.   Why not get two birds stoned at once and make it a handicap match!

I caught the UFC card tonight... entertaining fights but wowza lots of decisions.   It's funny how some cards like the Winnipeg one can have so much finishes and others like tonight mostly went to the judges.     Also what kind of crack were some judges smoking giving Holly 2 rounds?

All 3 judges gave Holly round 2 & two gave her round 1.  I can see giving her the 1st two (had it 49-46 myself) since Cyborg didn't really turn it up until the 3rd round. 

Having said that, I also wouldn't have been upset by 50-45 Cyborg.  1st couple rounds could have been scored either way depending on the judges view. 3-5 went to Cyborg easy.

Rizin put on an amazing show this morning.  Kinda glad the Gabi fight didn't happen, that freakshow would have taken away from an awesome night/morning of legit fights (cro cop vs kosaka aside ?).

In case anyone was wondering, Bob Sapp did "fight" the bear... the results are as expected.   

 

Lol i came to post the bear video ... you beat me to it.      

 

Also found out that Bob Sapp may be in trouble for beating up his girlfriend.

On 12/28/2017 at 11:27 PM, Brandon said:

Even better idea... have Bob Sapp take a dive against her!  

Im worried about the potential out come of having bob sapp and  gabi get too close together. 

On 12/29/2017 at 10:58 AM, bigg jay said:

Bob has other plans for New Years...

http://www.bjpenn.com/mma-news/bob-sapp-mma-news/video-bob-sapp-may-fighting-bear-new-years-eve/

GL tapping to strikes against a bear. They operate on the palhares fight to the death (of your career) rules. 

Big John is off to Bellator to do color commentary...  this saddens me because he is the best ref in the business. 

It's a nice get for Bellator.  John has been hinting at retirement for a while so I'm not surprised.  He still hasn't officially retired but this drastically limits what he'd be able to do (ie major league mma is done for him).  

13 hours ago, bigg jay said:

It's a nice get for Bellator.  John has been hinting at retirement for a while so I'm not surprised.  He still hasn't officially retired but this drastically limits what he'd be able to do (ie major league mma is done for him).  

Great get.  can't imagine anyone who has more knowledge and understanding about how the fights go.    will be a delight to listen to as a commentator.

He's done commentating before (Affliction) and his podcast was great (he might start that up again now) too so he should be fine. 

I've spent a bit of time with him and listening him talk about the how's & why's of the sport was fascinating.  I hope that translates to his commentating career.

Now if only Bellator would run a more regular show with a bit more star power on the undercards ....

21 hours ago, bigg jay said:

He's done commentating before (Affliction) and his podcast was great (he might start that up again now) too so he should be fine. 

I've spent a bit of time with him and listening him talk about the how's & why's of the sport was fascinating.  I hope that translates to his commentating career.

ya I recall the brief foray into Affliction when he quit the reffing biz for a bit there in the UFC.. I agree, he was great ring side.

 

2 hours ago, The Unknown Poster said:

 

 They are desperate for any kind of star.  

If Dana White was smart he would have an ultimate fighter season with a bunch of former WWE or other professional wrestlers.  

I had to chuckle watching the event on the weekend...   Stipe swipes the belt out of Dana's hands and gives it to one of his guys to wrap around his waste.     

Dana immediately after the event in an interview the first thing he brings up was that Ngannou went to France for vacation for 2 weeks before the fight...  (giving excuses on why the guy he hyped up was embarassed).   

I'm amazed that they would keep Dana around as from my perspective he is very amateurish in the media....

Dana White blasting last nights referee Mario Yamasaki in the Shevchenko fight, maybe he should blast his promoter  and match maker for putting a Brazilian opponent who was  way over her head and didn't belong in the cage with Shevchenko.

Usually in Brazil the mismatches are the opposite where the local guy gets a cupcake fight against a much lesser opponent.   

UFC in chicago on June 9. Look for CM Punk to fight on that show. 

Edited February 5, 20188 yr by The Unknown Poster

18 hours ago, bustamente said:

Dana White blasting last nights referee Mario Yamasaki in the Shevchenko fight, maybe he should blast his promoter  and match maker for putting a Brazilian opponent who was  way over her head and didn't belong in the cage with Shevchenko.

The ref, her corner, and the matchmaker all deserve blame for what happened in that fight.

On 1/20/2018 at 8:48 PM, Brandon said:

 They are desperate for any kind of star.  

If Dana White was smart he would have an ultimate fighter season with a bunch of former WWE or other professional wrestlers.  

Not for any kind of star, they have stars. They have developed stars. They are desperate for MORE stars, and really desperate for a star they can control. It does smack of sweat and shame though. This guy does not belong in a pro mma match. Period. They can not dig up a pro fighter who wont merc him. 

On 2/4/2018 at 12:33 PM, bustamente said:

Dana White blasting last nights referee Mario Yamasaki in the Shevchenko fight, maybe he should blast his promoter  and match maker for putting a Brazilian opponent who was  way over her head and didn't belong in the cage with Shevchenko.

A lot of fault to go around in that horrible beating. Seriously, that was bad. Ill preface this by saying ive fought at the amateur level (not mma) extensively, and I am fully in favor of early stoppages. Dont over weigh one loss like in boxing. Let them come back and do it again later, and save the CTE as much as possible. 

Matching making, reffing, cachoeiras corner, and mma culture all share some blame in this.

I dont think its the worst thing in the world to have a some one like shevy fight a low tier fighter. That said, having her go down in weight THEN fight a low teir fighter in that bracket? Nah thats messed up. That shouldnt happen, especially not with some one with her offensive skill set. 

Mario gonna mario. The guy is a joke. If we see an in ring death he will be the ref. The guy is a butcher and a joke. In general mma reffing needs work, and no easy solution exists. Hes gonna keep getting work, and so will other questionable at best judges and refs. Knowing this, puts extra importance on the rest of the factors needing to do a better job.

Cachoeiras corner. Wow, throw in the ***** towel. It isnt her last title shot as a mid 30 some thing. She clearly was out matched and stood no chance. If you work a corner your number one obligation is the saftey and health of your fighter. You protect them at all times. 

Mma culture. This macho arrogance, this anti tapping stuff kills me. Seen soo many grapplers maimed because they are too tough to tap.  Refusing to tap is as bad as holding a sub too long. Youve lost only you refuse to be humble enough to accept it. This comes out in spades when we see stuff about tapping to strikes. Tapping is ok. Tapping to strikes is also ok. if youve ever taken a hard liver shot or body shot you will know the bodies reaction is soo intense and overwhelming you cant even quantify the pain. You shut down. Getting elbowed a gazillion times in the head has a similar affect. We shouldnt $^%^ on fighters for admitting defeat when every one else knows it too. 

 

FOX has reportedly offered UFC $250 million per year under a new TV contract, up from their initial $200 million.  UFC will make $168 million this year so $250 would be a significant increase.  There is talk of UFC potentially dropping some of the lower level PPV's and running more specials with FOX.

I'd assume this would dampen FOX's interest in WWE unless they really want to juice their sports programming (which actually is a greater focus since selling most of their assets to Disney).

57 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

FOX has reportedly offered UFC $250 million per year under a new TV contract, up from their initial $200 million.  UFC will make $168 million this year so $250 would be a significant increase.  There is talk of UFC potentially dropping some of the lower level PPV's and running more specials with FOX.

I'd assume this would dampen FOX's interest in WWE unless they really want to juice their sports programming (which actually is a greater focus since selling most of their assets to Disney).

It might be an increase but it's still far below the $420-450 million the UFC had been looking for.  The new owners are carrying a lot of debt and the interest alone is rumored to be about $100 million a year.  They cut a ton of costs since the purchase but they were also banking on a huge new TV deal.  It'll be interesting to see if they take it or if they continue to hold out for a better deal.

4 minutes ago, bigg jay said:

It might be an increase but it's still far below the $420-450 million the UFC had been looking for.  The new owners are carrying a lot of debt and the interest alone is rumored to be about $100 million a year.  They cut a ton of costs since the purchase but they were also banking on a huge new TV deal.  It'll be interesting to see if they take it or if they continue to hold out for a better deal.

Yeah but that $400 they have been saying was a pipe dream and they know it.  I've heard internally they wanted $250 but asked for $400.  Its possible they can squeeze FOX for a few bucks more if they're already at $250.  WWE did the same thing, promising way more than they could be expected to deliver and they got sued over it since they're publicly traded and were accused of lying.

A lot of ties between UFC and WWE in that WWE's stock has been skyrocketing on expectations of significant TV rights fee increase and they expire after UFC...so UFC sort of helps set a market value.  WWE delivers higher ratings and get higher rights fees.  So if UFC gets $250, WWE will be looking for closer to $300 which would be incredible for them (incredibly profitable).  Maybe in the $270 range. 

I think you're right though, UFC was hoping to ride their wave of popularity to a crazy rights fee when they were bought, with the idea the huge debt wouldnt be an issue.  WWE carries very little debt and is very profitable making them a likely target for a buy out at some point.

 

On 2/8/2018 at 9:57 AM, The Unknown Poster said:

FOX has reportedly offered UFC $250 million per year under a new TV contract, up from their initial $200 million.  UFC will make $168 million this year so $250 would be a significant increase.  There is talk of UFC potentially dropping some of the lower level PPV's and running more specials with FOX.

I'd assume this would dampen FOX's interest in WWE unless they really want to juice their sports programming (which actually is a greater focus since selling most of their assets to Disney).

10 PPV events a year would be perfect imo. 11 divisions plus the new womens fw division. You can have 2-3 title fights in a ppv night, and some mixed into the free live events. And focus the free events on a bunch of belt qualifier matches and up and comer types.