The MMA Thread: DON'T ASK 4 STREAMS & NO GIFS- Cannonier, Imavov, Reyes, Rosas on NOW

[Vincent Van Goat]

I just rewatched what Big John said about Aljo, he didn't even say anything bad

I was surprised that Aljo came out and was so angry with Big John because I didn't recall Big John saying anything out of place on the show

All Big John said was that in his opinion Aljo couldn't have won round 1

Big John had it 1, 4 and 5 for Yan just like a lot of other analysts had it

Overall he said he didn't have an issue with the decision and that he won the right way and gave Aljo his congrats

If anything, Josh was going way harder on Aljo leading up to the fight

 

[2pacalypsenow]

Volk definitely needs to run that back with max. Refs were smoking a fat pack during that fight, im still puzzled til this day….

No disrespect to AJ McKee, he looked very great against Pitbull. But that formula almost never works; Bellator champ comes to the ufc, and only has entertaining fights at best. Only Eddie touched greatness, but he’s a legend who’s fought in all orgs and he happened to struck gold at the right moment with rdj being champ (and honestly I’d have that rdj winning more out of 10 fights). However the depth UFC has curated is just the best of the best. LHW is under construction

 

[steevoo1]

I thought that interview with Ali was pretty good. Props to Kayla for securing the bag most fighters would dream of, but from a competitive standpoint I think she knows the pfl is not providing her with the biggest fights possible.

From what I heard about her contract was that she was kind of a restricted free agent. So PFL had the opportunity to match or beat the offer without her declining it. Crazy, first time I heard of an MMA contract being like that lol. But Bellator made a big offer and PFL topped it. Which is why she was kind of frustrated towards the end of her negotiation process.

 

[steevoo1]

Man, I love Max but damn I don't know if he can beat this version of Volk. Max was getting touched up bad by Yair to the body and legs and had to lean on his wrestling to win. I don't see him being able to do that with Volk. We might have another Rob/Izzy situation. But we'll get some great fights out of it none the less.

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Volk definitely needs to run that back with max. Refs were smoking a fat pack during that fight, im still puzzled til this day….

No disrespect to AJ McKee, he looked very great against Pitbull. But that formula almost never works; Bellator champ comes to the ufc, and only has entertaining fights at best. Only Eddie touched greatness, but he’s a legend who’s fought in all orgs and he happened to struck gold at the right moment with rdj being champ (and honestly I’d have that rdj winning more out of 10 fights). However the depth UFC has curated is just the best of the best. LHW is under construction

You can’t really group every non ufc fighter and call it a formula though, just judge their individual skill set

When the ufc bought wec, strikeforce etc you saw a lot of non ufc guys get belts

It just depends on when aj goes over. If he goes over in his prime he can def compete for a belt. If he goes over when he’s older and worn of course he’ll have less chance

Let’s see how he does against pitbull, the reach advantage is crazy. Aj should be able to handle business all things considered

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Man, I love Max but damn I don't know if he can beat this version of Volk. Max was getting touched up bad by Yair to the body and legs and had to lean on his wrestling to win. I don't see him being able to do that with Volk. We might have another Rob/Izzy situation. But we'll get some great fights out of it none the less.

Max already proved he could beat volk

If he can’t beat this version of volk, so be it, at least let him prove it and then we can be done with this whole debate

Max has always gotten tagged in his fights that’s nothing new

He’s cracked volk many times as well with hard shots. If the judges can figure out what they’re looking at, that would give max a chance

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

From what I heard about her contract was that she was kind of a restricted free agent. So PFL had the opportunity to match or beat the offer without her declining it. Crazy, first time I heard of an MMA contract being like that lol. But Bellator made a big offer and PFL topped it. Which is why she was kind of frustrated towards the end of her negotiation process.

That’s exactly what it was, Ali confirmed it yesterday. Legally Kayla had no choice but to return to pfl due to them matching the offer

I’m trying to figure out if Ali let that clause be in their contract?

 

[boxer15]

LOL at 2 10-8 rounds for nothing more than backpacking.

 

[boxer15]

Pretty dope. Action Bronson a longtime super fan of MMA.

 

[jayt1202]

Max also dominated Ortega (I know it was 3.5 years ago) while Volk nearly got choked out at one point if we want to talk MMA math. IMO the trilogy needs to happen to close the book on this as Max won the 2nd fight in my eyes (and several others share the same opinion). If Volk wins decisively then we can start talking him as near Aldo as FW GOAT but until then I have him 2a and Max 2b.

Plus the LW division already has a legit #1 contender in Islam after next month's Charles/Justin title fight so really don't want to see Volk jump the line for that belt later this year. In a perfect world he'd at least have to fight Max this year and should he win that then start looking at a LW fight in 2023. Plus I don't think Volk really has the star power at this time to get an immediate shot at another weight class.

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

it’s just difficult for me to take so much away from a fight with an aged and over the hill zombie

That’s just what it comes down to

 

[2pacalypsenow]

You can’t really group every non ufc fighter and call it a formula though, just judge their individual skill set

When the ufc bought wec, strikeforce etc you saw a lot of non ufc guys get belts

It just depends on when aj goes over. If he goes over in his prime he can def compete for a belt. If he goes over when he’s older and worn of course he’ll have less chance

Let’s see how he does against pitbull, the reach advantage is crazy. Aj should be able to handle business all things considered

Well partly the WEC merger were for the tinier classes which was already a talent pool. There were decent fighters lw and above but i can’t recall if any of those fighters captured gold.

I would say the competition when strike force was a promotion was more relevant. Coker was definitely grabbing talent and names globally.

But back to AJ McKee, again he looked very good in his last outing, I’m just not sure if he’s faced enough stiff competition to compete for UFC gold. He’d definitely have to make a run at the UFC now while he does has the time to take a L and grow. Kids still young, but he’s reaching that prime champion age so it’ll be exciting if he signs with UFC ASAP.

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Well partly the WEC merger were for the tinier classes which was already a talent pool. There were decent fighters lw and above but i can’t recall if any of those fighters captured gold.

I would say the competition when strike force was a promotion was more relevant. Coker was definitely grabbing talent and names globally.

But back to AJ McKee, again he looked very good in his last outing, I’m just not sure if he’s faced enough stiff competition to compete for UFC gold. He’d definitely have to make a run at the UFC now while he does has the time to take a L and grow. Kids still young, but he’s reaching that prime champion age so it’ll be exciting if he signs with UFC ASAP.

WEC: Condit, Benson, Pettis, Aldo, Cruz
Strikeforce: DC, Werdum, Woodley, Dan Henderson, Rockhold

The point remains, there have been plenty of non UFC fighters who have then come into the UFC and gotten the belt. You just have to get these guys before they are too used

You can't just say "oh the formula from Bellator to the UFC won't work". That doesn't make any sense

It's definitely fair to say UFC has the much better competition at 145. Can't argue against it, you just have to evaluate the skill set like I was saying

At least Pitbull went up and KO'd Chandler at 155. Chandler, who was pretty worn down, went straight to the UFC and started giving the top dudes major problems (granted at 155, but still)

AJ is very well rounded, can wrestle, grapple, strike and move and is explosive. He can finish in pretty much any fashion. He has solid length and reach and height. He isn't plodding. I can't say he's better than any of the top 5 in the UFC but I would say he could absolutely give any of them problems and therefore could certainly win

The thing to watch is that he might not stay at 145 for long... so we really have no clue how he would fare at 155. That's totally up in the air I won't even try to say anything on that

 

[steevoo1]

it’s just difficult for me to take so much away from a fight with an aged and over the hill zombie

That’s just what it comes down to

Aged zombie sure but still the performance was a great showcase for Volk. Nobody's done that to Zombie in that way, ever. Ortega had the spinning elbow land in the 2nd round and still didn't put a beating on him like that the rest of the fight.

Like that beating was so bad I was legit feeling sorry for Zombie midway. Even had Volk asking him in the 4th if he still wanted to keep going lol.

 

[steevoo1]

Magny wants all the smoke. Holy ****.

 

[jayt1202]

Neil one of the few guys who actually seems down to fight anytime, anywhere in the UFC. Look forward to seeing if Shavkat is actually for real as Neil usually proves to be a tough out.

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Aged zombie sure but still the performance was a great showcase for Volk. Nobody's done that to Zombie in that way, ever. Ortega had the spinning elbow land in the 2nd round and still didn't put a beating on him like that the rest of the fight.

Like that beating was so bad I was legit feeling sorry for Zombie midway. Even had Volk asking him in the 4th if he still wanted to keep going lol.

And who's ever done what Max did to Kattar or even Yair

Max was the first to do what he did to Aldo.. twice... I'm not talking about a 5 second in flash KO like Conor did.. I'm talking about a clear beat down for more than 2 rounds

Max would have absolutely crushed that version of Zombie in there. He would have torched him

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

 

[degenerate423]

Big John can shut the f*** up with that bull**** . All of a sudden he wants to get on his high horse, but when Stephen A. criticized Masvidal, John called SAS everything under the sun… give me a break .

 

[spiderjericho]

Don’t forgot the Josh Thompson part.

Aljo giving them attention…

 

[2pacalypsenow]

WEC: Condit, Benson, Pettis, Aldo, Cruz
Strikeforce: DC, Werdum, Woodley, Dan Henderson, Rockhold

The point remains, there have been plenty of non UFC fighters who have then come into the UFC and gotten the belt. You just have to get these guys before they are too used

You can't just say "oh the formula from Bellator to the UFC won't work". That doesn't make any sense

It's definitely fair to say UFC has the much better competition at 145. Can't argue against it, you just have to evaluate the skill set like I was saying

At least Pitbull went up and KO'd Chandler at 155. Chandler, who was pretty worn down, went straight to the UFC and started giving the top dudes major problems (granted at 155, but still)

AJ is very well rounded, can wrestle, grapple, strike and move and is explosive. He can finish in pretty much any fashion. He has solid length and reach and height. He isn't plodding. I can't say he's better than any of the top 5 in the UFC but I would say he could absolutely give any of them problems and therefore could certainly win

The thing to watch is that he might not stay at 145 for long... so we really have no clue how he would fare at 155. That's totally up in the air I won't even try to say anything on that

I agree with you about get them before they’re used hence why I’m saying the formula of seeing bellator champs coming in won’t work unless you’re bred in the ufc. Given his age, he definitely still has time to lose for the better. It’s usually the other way around, where fighters on the decline going over for better pay and staying somewhat relevant. There’s just not enough depth in the bellator divisions to give these fighters some adversity.

If he’s really up for a renewal after this fight, he definitely needs to consider the UFC. He can’t get stuck there for too long like Patricio or Chandler. It’s definitely exciting to see a fighter calling out UFC champs because you know Dana and the matchmakers will be putting in that gatekeeper as the debut

Also yup I forgot all them aka dudes from strike force; they definitely were game changers to their respected divisions. WEC was essentially ufc for lighter weight classes before their merger, since it was all under zuffa.

 

[2pacalypsenow]

Big John can shut the f*** up with that bull**** . All of a sudden he wants to get on his high horse, but when Stephen A. criticized Masvidal, John called SAS everything under the sun… give me a break .

I legit saw someone say big John done more for the sport than aljo. I get it, big John is a legend in the sport but aljo is ****in champ. Man ain’t no body giving him his dues, man’s came back and put up the best performance against a wrecker in Yan.

I’m so happy for aljo man, he’s got all bragging rights until someone takes him off the throne.

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Big John can shut the f*** up with that bull**** . All of a sudden he wants to get on his high horse, but when Stephen A. criticized Masvidal, John called SAS everything under the sun… give me a break .

Dawg I know Aljo was getting excessive hate but Big John legit didn't say anything

Aljo just shotgun blasting everyone but so be it

 

[spiderjericho]

Big John said Aljo didn’t win round 1. Aljo disagreed.

It’s not like it’s the first time they’ve had a disagreement.

 

[xbiker47]

Magny a real one for taking that fight. Really wish that could of been on the ppv card the following week during international fight week.