Mixed Martial Arts

[jmdirt]

Well it looks like it's a definite no-go for McGregor at UFC 200. Most likely will headline the Madison Square Garden card in November. It could work out nicely.

I notice more and more the Irish media being more critical of McGregor and his latest tiresome antics. Two excellent pieces today.

http://www.newstalk.com/Ewan-MacKenna-UFC-200-and-Conor-McGregor

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/what-conor-mcgregor-and-donald-trump-have-in-common-and-it-ain-t-pretty-1.2626753?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

I think that CMc might have blown it on this one.

 

[StyrbjornSterki]

The main bout on UFC 200 now is Jones-Cormier II. Jones is laying off his mediocre performance in his win against the one-armed OSP to his mother having had surgery in the week before the fight to amputate a leg. And if he beats Cormier again, he wants Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson at UFC 205, which will be the UFC's inaugural event in New York State.

And Miesha Tate also wants R3 at UFC 205. Man plans, G-d laughs.


Dana claims it wasn't his decision to pull McGregor from UFC 200, but I think that's just semantics. He gave McGregor an "either-or" proposition and McGregor chose the "or." But he notes that McGregor will fight in the UFC again at some date, he's just not sure when. As if they've come to a meeting of the minds and now McGregor has been given to understand it's up to him to figure a way to both fulfill his contractual obligations to the UFC and train to a standard he's happy with.

Dana is wafting a list of potential opponents for UFC 200 under Nate Diaz's nose, still trying to get him a payday on the card, too.

And Rousey has signed a 3-movie deal with the American "Lifetime" channel, "...to bring stories that reflect her passions about empowerment to the screen...."

 

[StyrbjornSterki]

At least two other MMA venues are trying to lure Connor McGregor away from the UFC with the offer of a 7-figure payday. Not sure whether McGregor's contract with the UFC is exclusive, but it typically is for an "A-list" fighter. But I don't think the money is his deal, since he walked away from a guaranteed $10 million USD at UFC 200 (according to "Big John" McCarthy). But if this leads to a bidding war, you know McGregor wouldn't be McGregor if he didn't fan the flames a bit.

UFC LHW "Filthy" Tom Lawler is taking holiday from the sport to deal with what he describes as symptoms relating to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). With all the focus on brain injury in the contact sports since the 2015 release of the Will Smith film, Concussion, you had to know this was coming. Interesting to note that Lawler has had 19 total MMA fights (one as an amateur) and never once lost to a KO/TKO, but he does state he was concussed as recently as six months ago.

 

[StyrbjornSterki]

McGregor isn't letting it go, still hoping he can bully Dana into giving him the Diaz fight at UFC 200. This morning he posted on Instagram, "Nobody gives a *** about these other fights until this one is settled. Cut the bull****. Run it back."

 

[StyrbjornSterki]

Even if The Notorious One doesn't get the message, apparently his coach does. He's claiming McGregor will be back "soon," probably for UFC 201 or 202.

 

[StyrbjornSterki]

Anderson Silva has had to have gall bladder surgery, which likely will put a kink in his plan to have four UFC fights this year.

Wanderlei Silva has had to have shoulder surgery after being struck by a car while riding his bicycle home from the gym. No word what the particular injury was requiring surgery, but cycling being cycling, my money's on a fx clavicle. Chances are that ronnies whatever plans Rizin had for him, at least for this year, as well as his new bosses at Bellator.

Frank Mir's 'B' sample came back positive for the same three PEDs metabolites. Mir continues to protest his innocence and is shopping the 'tainted meat' defence.

And Dana White denies rumours that the UFC is in talks with a consortium of potential buyers (at least one of them Chinese) offering to purchase the UFC for something north of $4 billion USD. But Dana adds that while a $4 billion offer might not get you the UFC, it will at least get you a conversation with the UFC's owners. Sounds like there might be a marketing alliance in the offing. Dana mentions that they've been interested for some time in expanding into the Chinese market, hinting that that might be one potential outcome for the talks.

 

[jmdirt]

There is building buzz about CMcG fighting Floyd Mayweather, and I like the idea! I want to see them fight twice: one boxing, and one MMA. My prediction: Floyd would win the boxing on the score cards, CMcG would win the MMA by submission. Some are calling it a publicity stunt, but who cares, it could be entertaining.

 

[The Principal Sheep]

Re:

There is building buzz about CMcG fighting Floyd Mayweather, and I like the idea! I want to see them fight twice: one boxing, and one MMA. My prediction: Floyd would win the boxing on the score cards, CMcG would win the MMA by submission. Some are calling it a publicity stunt, but who cares, it could be entertaining.

Personally I think this is a horrible idea and the only entertainment value would be the hype before the fight if you enjoy that sort of thing. Floyd would win the boxing in any manner of his choosing (so would likely carry Conor the distance) and I doubt he'd agree to an mma return without stipulations.

This sort of carnival rubbish is fine for Floyd whose semi-retired but a joke for Conor when many believe he's still to cement himself as a dominant force in the Octagon(rather than PPV figures). Conor has plenty of fights waiting in the Ufc which he'll struggle with and if Floyd wants back in the ring let it be against Golovkin (I can dream!)

 

[StyrbjornSterki]

Rousey had a "minor" knee surgery on Wednesday, so she's probably unavailable for the remainder of the year. Dana still says shes she gets a title shot on her return fight, whoever holds the belt. Funny that just days before the surgery, the press were reporting she was back in the gym 'hitting the bag,' apparently with some ferocity.


Now Dana says Diaz-McGregor II might never happen. The fight originally scheduled for UFC 200 would have been Diaz's first appearance under his new contract with the UFC, and I'm sure his appearance fee would have been quite handsome. But now that that's ronnied, and through no fault on his part, Diaz apparently feels the UFC still owe him for him making himself available for that fight, and for the investment he made in preparing for it (which probably amounted to cutting back on how much weed he was smoking). White didn't say specifically but I think Diaz is attempting to hold up the UFC for still more money for Diaz-McGregor II Part Deux because The Notorious One is now even more notorious, and he because Diaz is passing on other pursuits, such as other opportunities to fight. And it's got Dana over the proverbial barrel because McGregor, who is the hottest property in the UFC at the moment, has a bee in his bonnet over the rematch with Diaz at 170, will not consider any other offers.

McGregor, BTW, now says the first fight with Diaz was going "okay" for the first eight minutes. BJJ legend Rigan Machado stirred the pot a bit, offering that one of his students, Hollywood actor Ashton Kutcher (who in real life is a BJJ purple belt, two ranks below the first black belt), could submit McGregor. I've not seen Kutcher's ground game but I have seen McGregor's (or rather its lack), and I don't find the claim the least bit implausible.

And it's somewhat old news but in case you haven't been keeping up, it appears B.J. Penn is un-unretired. The UFC postponed his first unretirement contest at UFC 197 as a precautionary measure when it was announced Penn was being investigated on charges of sexual violence. Once that was cleared up, the UFC scheduled him for still another fight at this coming weekend's UFC 199, but now USADA have suspended him for violating the WADA IV policy. Penn admits he received an OOC IV, not for rehydration but for treatment for concussion symptoms with a known non-banned medication (doctors telling him it was the most effective means of administration), without realising that IVs are banned even out of competition.

Which begs the question, how many other WADA rules has he ignored for failing to familiarise himself with the code.

 

[jmdirt]

Rockhold will finish Bisping.

Edit: I was wrong. Nice work old man...now you're the champ!

 

[jmdirt]

Lesnar un-un-un-unretired for UFC 200.

Diaz vs. CMcG for UFC 202...maybe.

 

[The Principal Sheep]

Re:

Rockhold will finish Bisping.

Nah, doubt it

(who would have thought it...)

 

[StyrbjornSterki]

Re:

Rockhold manhandled Bisping when they fought in 2011, before submmiting The Count in the 2nd. Bisping not only took last night's fight on 17 days notice, he was off in the hinterlands of Canada filming the next installation of the XXX franchise when the call came (I never realised Canada had telephones). Little wonder Rockhold was the prohibitive favourite. But there's no excuse Rockhold according a challenger to his belt no more respect than a sparring partner. Bisping might not be a legitimate title threat, but he showed last night neither is he a man to be trifled with. He's spent 10 years since winning the Ultimate Fighter competition beavering away at a title shot, and when the opportunity arrived, he did not waste it. I doubt he'll keep the belt over long, but I hope he relishes every last second, because he's earned it.


I'm glad to see Cruz recovering his form. As good as he is, 13 consecutive wins, he's a 30-year-old fighter who has given half of his career amiss due to injury and illness. He's broken both hands (in different fights, but still managed to win both) and blown both ACLs (once each on different occasions), rejected the cadaver ligament used to mend the first torn ACL, precipitating a second replacement. And he's only managed three fights in the last 4.5 years, two of them in the most recent six months. That frenetic, crouched, side-winding style of his flummoxes most of his opponents, and he manages to generate good offence from it. If he can stay healthy, I suspect in time you'll hear his name mentioned as a candidate for GOAT.


The Lesnar fight might be a one-off. Vince McMachon isn't letting him out of his WWE contract, only giving him the night off. He's been in training camp since 10 April so this will not be a short-notice fight for him. Whomever they pick for his opponent isn't likely to be much of a threat.

EEDIT:
BTW, the little mermaid was the reporter who broke the news about Lesnar coming to UFC 200, beating the UFC's announcement to the punch (pardon the pun). When Dana White found out he had Helwani stripped of his press credentials, shown to the door and banned from all UFC events for all eternity.

 

[JackRabbitSlims]

Re: Re:

Rockhold manhandled Bisping when they fought in 2011, before submmiting The Count in the 2nd. Bisping not only took last night's fight on 17 days notice, he was off in the hinterlands of Canada filming the next installation of the XXX franchise when the call came (I never realised Canada had telephones). Little wonder Rockhold was the prohibitive favourite. But there's no excuse Rockhold according a challenger to his belt no more respect than a sparring partner. Bisping might not be a legitimate title threat, but he showed last night neither is he a man to be trifled with. He's spent 10 years since winning the Ultimate Fighter competition beavering away at a title shot, and when the opportunity arrived, he did not waste it. I doubt he'll keep the belt over long, but I hope he relishes every last second, because he's earned it.


I'm glad to see Cruz recovering his form. As good as he is, 13 consecutive wins, he's a 30-year-old fighter who has given half of his career amiss due to injury and illness. He's broken both hands (in different fights, but still managed to win both) and blown both ACLs (once each on different occasions), rejected the cadaver ligament used to mend the first torn ACL, precipitating a second replacement. And he's only managed three fights in the last 4.5 years, two of them in the most recent six months. That frenetic, crouched, side-winding style of his flummoxes most of his opponents, and he manages to generate good offence from it. If he can stay healthy, I suspect in time you'll hear his name mentioned as a candidate for GOAT.


The Lesnar fight might be a one-off. Vince McMachon isn't letting him out of his WWE contract, only giving him the night off. He's been in training camp since 10 April so this will not be a short-notice fight for him. Whomever they pick for his opponent isn't likely to be much of a threat.

EEDIT:
BTW, the little mermaid was the reporter who broke the news about Lesnar coming to UFC 200, beating the UFC's announcement to the punch (pardon the pun). When Dana White found out he had Helwani stripped of his press credentials, shown to the door and banned from all UFC events for all eternity.

Lesnar will fight Mark Hunt - http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11651813

 

[JackRabbitSlims]

Kimbo Slice Dead!

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11652222

 

[The Principal Sheep]

Re:

Kimbo Slice Dead!

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11652222

Too young, far to young for a guy whose providing for his family, and though I didn't share it he was popular with many fans but likely only had a few more big money fights coming to him, such a shame.

 

[jmdirt]

Re: Re:

Kimbo Slice Dead!

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11652222

Too young, far to young for a guy whose providing for his family, and though I didn't share it he was popular with many fans but likely only had a few more big money fights coming to him, such a shame.

Yes too young. I wonder what caused the heart attack?

 

[StyrbjornSterki]

Yes too young. I wonder what caused the heart attack?

There's no story here unless the press can link his death to some fashion of drug abuse, PEDs or recreational (not that they haven't already tried), but the facts are he was a 42-year-old black man with a BMI of >30. The USA's CDC lists heart disease as the leading cause of death for all black men (24%), as well as for those in specifically his age bracket (21.8%). I doubt it's any more complicated than that. And unless there was a tox screen done, and something suspicious turns up, that's probably all we'll ever know.

 

[jmdirt]

Re:

Yes too young. I wonder what caused the heart attack?

There's no story here unless the press can link his death to some fashion of drug abuse, PEDs or recreational (not that they haven't already tried), but the facts are he was a 42-year-old black man with a BMI of >30. The USA's CDC lists heart disease as the leading cause of death for all black men (24%), as well as for those in specifically his age bracket (21.8%). I doubt it's any more complicated than that. And unless there was a tox screen done, and something suspicious turns up, that's probably all we'll ever know.

Steroid use crossed my mind of course, but I was thinking genetic defect.

BMI is a useless measurement of health (especially for muscular athletes): a height to weight ratio tells you nothing about body composition. 5' 10", 200 lbs, 30% body fat, 5' 10", 200 lbs, 20% body fat, and 5' 10", 200 lbs, 10% body fat have the same BMI. What was his body composition? % body fat , % muscle (+other tissue)?

 

[StyrbjornSterki]

Official COD was congestive hear failure.

 

[StyrbjornSterki]

UFC's in-house rules require that a fighter must have made himself available for drug testing for the four months previous to a contest. But the date of his signing for UFC 200 (9 July, Las Vegas) left Brock Lesnar too little time to meet that provision, so they granted him an exemption.

And just to make up for missed opportunity, last week Lesnar was OOCed by USADA five times. Five.


I'm thinking USADA need to put fresh batteries in their randomizer.

 

[jmdirt]

Re:

UFC's in-house rules require that a fighter must have made himself available for drug testing for the four months previous to a contest. But the date of his signing for UFC 200 (9 July, Las Vegas) left Brock Lesnar too little time to meet that provision, so they granted him an exemption.

And just to make up for missed opportunity, last week Lesnar was OOCed by USADA five times. Five.


I'm thinking USADA need to put fresh batteries in their randomizer.

They can target test, but HFS Lesner is not important enough to test five times in a week! That's a waste of resources!

 

[StyrbjornSterki]

Fox Sports reported a couple of days ago that Georges St Pierre is shopping for an un-retirement (title) fight. Because he sees (current champ) Michael Bisping as a push-over? That seems to be a widespread opinion. There's also that Bisping is very vocal in his criticism about fighters who previously had a TUE for TRT, or who he still believes are juiced. So maybe GSP sees a come-back as justifiable against an opponent he believes is cleans, and the fact The Count isn't widely viewed as a credible title holder is incidental. Regardless, I think its a bad idea because three years (obviously) has given GSP too much time to forget why he retired. Too much time to convince himself he was better at the end than he really was. Not to mention the symptoms of traumatic brain injury he cited among his reasons for retiring in the first place. The brain damage likely will only accelerate from this point.


The rumours of the sale of the UFC have been swirling for some weeks, and the UFC remain vehement in their denials, but now the 'pundits' are speaking of it as a done deal. The rest is just tidying up the loose ends.


EDIT:
And if you're a fan of Rampage Jackson, (after a year's layoff) he fights Satoshi Ishii tomorrow at Bellator 157. This will be Ishii's first fight in the USA, and Jackson is heavily favoured, but it is a catchweight fight and Ishii is the heavier by two and a half stone, and an Olympic gold medal judoka to boot. If he can get Jackson to the mat without Jackson turning his head about, this could be interesting.

 

[jmdirt]

Rampage won, but the two minute 'highlight' real that I saw didn't look that great.

 

[StyrbjornSterki]

Jackson looked rubbish but I'd say Ishii earned himself a return fight, should he want to fight in the USA again.

Matt Mitrione has been cleared to fight again on 16 July. Which seems a bit soon, since this happened to him just 24 June. But he's had an MRI and been cleared, so there you go. You have to love a fighter who'll accept such a quick turn-around, especially if he smiles from being punched in the face.