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

[Vincent Van Goat]

If Hill destroys or soundly beats Smith, I wouldn't be surprised if Hill got the next title shot

Rakic probably needs to heal and fight someone so he might not be a threat to Glover's title shot

But yeah, the division was in a good place and then all of a sudden with all the injuries and people washing out it's looking like trash again

 

[spiderjericho]

Thanks for posting the tea, Vince.

Artem/Conor beefing. UFC 282 falling off of a cliff. Wild…they tried to put together Jon/Stipe. They didn’t want to throw the bag at Stipe. Then this fight falls apart. Should of just offered him $1.5 million to Gallup off into the sunset and either cement his status as the GOAT HW or add to Jon’s legacy.

 

[SORIANOTRON]

Dayuum so ankalaev and jan for the belt?

Or no title title fight announced yet?

 

[mr z]

Jan SACRIFIED to Ankalaev for light heavy belt bro

 

[アミーゴ]

Jan SACRIFIED to Ankalaev for light heavy belt bro

Nobody wants him

Glover gunna have to beat him for the belt regardless now

 

[spiderjericho]

Jan wanted a title shot. Now, he got one. He was fighting that dude anyway.

 

[アミーゴ]

Yep works out well for Jan

 

[Davey Magoo]

Wait…what?

Jiri voluntarily vacated his title because of an injury before even getting to make his first defense?

…are we actually supposed to believe that ********?

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Wait…what?

Jiri voluntarily vacated his title because of an injury before even getting to make his first defense?

…are we actually supposed to believe that ********?

Probably the first time it's happened in the UFC

Strange stuff

 

[アミーゴ]

I didn’t think it was voluntary? He’s going to be out for another year.

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Jiri could have simply waited several months before relinquishing in case there was a better result with his injury. That wouldn't have been out of line

 

[アミーゴ]

Yeah Dana jumped it and said he had to vacate and this was for the belt

 

[spiderjericho]

Based on that Ariel post, it sounds like it would’ve been career ending if he didn’t treat it now. And with the six months since the last fight and the year recovery, the show must go on in the UFC’s eyes.

They NEED title shots for these PPVs that are contracted to their broadcast partner ESPN.

Not saying it’s fair…but the fighters don’t have a lot of say.

Kind of like Jon/Blaydes in March if Francis ain’t ready.

 

[spiderjericho]

 

[アミーゴ]

As sad as it is - the UFC NEEDS Conor way more than he needs them right now

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Based on that Ariel post, it sounds like it would’ve been career ending if he didn’t treat it now. And with the six months since the last fight and the year recovery, the show must go on in the UFC’s eyes.

They NEED title shots for these PPVs that are contracted to their broadcast partner ESPN.

Not saying it’s fair…but the fighters don’t have a lot of say.

Kind of like Jon/Blaydes in March if Francis ain’t ready.

I get that but they could have simply done an Interim Title fight

Whether Dana forced him to vacate or not, they still could have just done an Interim like they always do

From what we know of Jiri, I actually wouldn't be surprised if he just gave it up. He a different dude

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

As sad as it is - the UFC NEEDS Conor way more than he needs them right now

I don't think that's true at all. Ever since UFC got into business with ESPN they are guaranteed Brinks Trucks monthly as well as the fact that during COVID they were running shows out of the APEX for no cost

They were still getting bags from ESPN

Then when they started going on the road again, cities were paying them to come. They have Abu Dhabi money as well

As spiderjericho said, as long as they keep pumping out their contracted number of fights with ESPN, they're never going to need another fighter again

That's why the number of shows has increased so much and they're basically letting anyone into the UFC at this point thanks to DWCS. It never used to be like that

 

[アミーゴ]

I don't think that's true at all. Ever since UFC got into business with ESPN they are guaranteed Brinks Trucks monthly as well as the fact that during COVID they were running shows out of the APEX for no cost

They were still getting bags from ESPN

Then when they started going on the road again, cities were paying them to come. They have Abu Dhabi money as well

As spiderjericho said, as long as they keep pumping out their contracted number of fights with ESPN, they're never going to need another fighter again

That's why the number of shows has increased so much and they're basically letting anyone into the UFC at this point thanks to DWCS. It never used to be like that

Not one marketable champ - believe ratings on the PPVs are down too

Who is a household name that gets the casual fan to buy/watch?

 

[spiderjericho]

With that partnership/contract, the show must go on. And it’s not like ESPN is pressuring UFC to up the game, force them to get Jones, Francis, Conor, etc.

Not one marketable champ - believe ratings on the PPVs are down too

Doesn’t matter. The contract says UFC gets the money from a 500K PPV every time. The Worldwide Leader put themselves into this corner. All UFC is responsible for is watered down content eg watered down APEX cards, Find a Contender, TUF, etc + 12 PPVs.

When they started and re upped, they were gassed of the numbers that Conor did. It probably also helped they had an up and coming Izzy, Gamebred, Nate, etc.

They definitely have the “potential” for big cards with a Conor return, Jones return, LW super fight, Usman P4P against Edwards (at least possibility of 500K with the right promotion), etc.

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Not one marketable champ - believe ratings on the PPVs are down too

The ESPN deal makes up for this and any down PPV numbers

Now they're getting guaranteed money regardless of having "draws"

They really aren't marketing anyone these days because they don't have to

Chimaev is the obvious one but they really weren't even pushing him all that hard like they were pre-ESPN with Ronda, Conor etc.

Do you see how happy Dana is these days? lol. Dude is never stressed, they're all living so damb good

 

[spiderjericho]

Dana literally doesn’t care

My man on his Keto diet, working out, and doing lines in Vegas and sometimes missing cards.

 

[dasitmane]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think the UFC's deal with ESPN was that long term? I think it was only a 5 year deal they signed a few years ago. With all the "big name" champs aging out and no one really capturing that mainstream attention I'm curious to see what their next contract will look like or if ESPN decides to move on.

 

[アミーゴ]

The ESPN deal makes up for this and any down PPV numbers

Now they're getting guaranteed money regardless of having "draws"

They really aren't marketing anyone these days because they don't have to

Chimaev is the obvious one but they really weren't even pushing him all that hard like they were pre-ESPN with Ronda, Conor etc.

Do you see how happy Dana is these days? lol. Dude is never stressed, they're all living so damb good

It’s a 300M annual deal - again, that’s nothing, and ONLY 5 years.

Tell me how that makes up for this

 

[アミーゴ]

Dana literally doesn’t care

My man on his Keto diet, working out, and doing lines in Vegas and sometimes missing cards.

He’s missed a TON of cards

Didn’t even show up for Intl Fight week

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think the UFC's deal with ESPN was that long term? I think it was only a 5 year deal they signed a few years ago. With all the "big name" champs aging out and no one really capturing that mainstream attention I'm curious to see what their next contract will look like or if ESPN decides to move on.

Dana is always one step ahead

I'm sure if ESPN doesn't renew they'll somehow strike a deal with someone else that's even more lucrative. Think about all the new streaming stuff going on

Amazon wants NBA. Apple lurking

He really hasn't had one misstep business wise

In fact I just Googled, there's already an article saying that at the end of their deal in 2 years, ESPN could have competition

https://www.sportspromedia.com/news...ng Championship (UFC,US$1.5 billion from 2019.