if you go right back to early days of UFC when Dana was thin and had some hair, his accent was much stronger
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Izzy still leaves me with more questions than answers, but kudos to him going up a whole weight class and holding his own like he did. He also showed he can take a LHW with some of the heaviest hands punches and remain unphased, which puts to bed the notion, any touch would have him go night night.
Cormier pointed out something that people on his and Jones level would absolutely gobble up all night in that you can get Izzy leaning, and follow straight up to his torso with a shoot that he's too contorted to react to correctly. Further to that, in that weight class, he hasn't the strength to fend off any barrelling shot and he isn't getting up once someone like Cormier or Jones put him on the ground.
I think he's very good in stand up, but he isn't the genius that a Jones is. On fight IQ alone, there's a gulf between them and it's better for Adesanya he never fights Jones unless Jones is way, way past his best, if he's even still in the sport by then, which his own ego and pride probably won't allow for.
He also has to prove he's not all about height and size by matching up with his own giants he can go toe-to-toe with who he doesn't have size advantage over. Jones did it, most notably with Gustafsson, and his standing was further elevated.
Something this fight told me, which I've had my doubts about with Adesanya ever since Silva is he can't lead a fight, at all; if he's fighting top level, and they aren't bombing into him, he can't take the fight to them with any authority. Rather, he'll bait and feint and hope for an opening, but good, patient fighters who don't give him much to work with in terms of mistakes, he's shown no real competency in breaking down. For the level of greatness he aspires to, he's got a good deal of work to do to be in any conversation with the likes of Jones.
Jones will have his own obstacles going up to HW, where I do really think he will be negated for simply not having the power and mass to scare or hurt any of the top guns, but him being a genius level fighter, he'll have the tools to pounce on anything he sees in ways Adesanya can only dream of.
Adesanya needs to dial it down some now, imo. Although he was absolutely right in saying he is bold enough to go out there and put himself on the line in every fight he takes where others a bobbing and weaving avoiding the best fighters in favour of gimmes to retain belts.
I think I agree that Jan pretty much washed the fight - something to note is he said Izzy hits harder than he had imagined he would, but was slower and easier to tag than he thought, too, which was evident in how many times he landed shots that highlighted the excellence of Adesanya's chin; we also got to see the impressive way Adesanya rolls with most shots too, taking away a lot of power and impact en route to landing.
Ultimately, I feel Adesanya has a decision to make in terms of where he goes from here, as flip-flopping between divisions is no prep whatsoever for LHW - if he wants to do 'the double' he'll need to gain genuine mass and become a real LHW otherwise I don't see him being a threat with his counter style that doesn't need the opponent to be wreckless, but can cost Adesanya more harm than good (takedowns) when it goes wrong, specifically at LHW.
Cormier pointed out something that people on his and Jones level would absolutely gobble up all night in that you can get Izzy leaning, and follow straight up to his torso with a shoot that he's too contorted to react to correctly. Further to that, in that weight class, he hasn't the strength to fend off any barrelling shot and he isn't getting up once someone like Cormier or Jones put him on the ground.
I think he's very good in stand up, but he isn't the genius that a Jones is. On fight IQ alone, there's a gulf between them and it's better for Adesanya he never fights Jones unless Jones is way, way past his best, if he's even still in the sport by then, which his own ego and pride probably won't allow for.
He also has to prove he's not all about height and size by matching up with his own giants he can go toe-to-toe with who he doesn't have size advantage over. Jones did it, most notably with Gustafsson, and his standing was further elevated.
Something this fight told me, which I've had my doubts about with Adesanya ever since Silva is he can't lead a fight, at all; if he's fighting top level, and they aren't bombing into him, he can't take the fight to them with any authority. Rather, he'll bait and feint and hope for an opening, but good, patient fighters who don't give him much to work with in terms of mistakes, he's shown no real competency in breaking down. For the level of greatness he aspires to, he's got a good deal of work to do to be in any conversation with the likes of Jones.
Jones will have his own obstacles going up to HW, where I do really think he will be negated for simply not having the power and mass to scare or hurt any of the top guns, but him being a genius level fighter, he'll have the tools to pounce on anything he sees in ways Adesanya can only dream of.
Adesanya needs to dial it down some now, imo. Although he was absolutely right in saying he is bold enough to go out there and put himself on the line in every fight he takes where others a bobbing and weaving avoiding the best fighters in favour of gimmes to retain belts.
I think I agree that Jan pretty much washed the fight - something to note is he said Izzy hits harder than he had imagined he would, but was slower and easier to tag than he thought, too, which was evident in how many times he landed shots that highlighted the excellence of Adesanya's chin; we also got to see the impressive way Adesanya rolls with most shots too, taking away a lot of power and impact en route to landing.
Ultimately, I feel Adesanya has a decision to make in terms of where he goes from here, as flip-flopping between divisions is no prep whatsoever for LHW - if he wants to do 'the double' he'll need to gain genuine mass and become a real LHW otherwise I don't see him being a threat with his counter style that doesn't need the opponent to be wreckless, but can cost Adesanya more harm than good (takedowns) when it goes wrong, specifically at LHW.
Cyborg destroyed everyone she fought for 13 years though.
She had a Anderson Silva-like run. Now, i'm not going to argue she's the GOAT... there is a clear view among pretty much all fans that Nunes is it. I just don't want Cyborg's accomplishmments to be forgotten because of Nunes's talent.
Aldo didn't lose for an entire decade before the McGregor fight. Do you consider him a GOAT as well ?
Cyborg was juiced. It was such a big scandal. No one will forget that.
Plus she fight so many cans...
Nunes beat Shevchenko twice, Rousey, Holm and many other big names.
My GOAT list is: GSP. Jones. Silva. Emelianenko. Khabib. and DJ in that exact order. Aldo doesn't get in my top six due to his recent losses at a lighter weight class than the one he dominated in.
I think if Shevchenko keeps winning she could be considered the women's goat anyway. I think she will fight for longer than Nunes.
What about never lost a round Chael Sonnen?
"I beat Silva. I don't understand. This guy....I was beating him for 4 and a half rounds....then he wins 20 seconds and he wins the fight? In what other sport does that happen?? I won"
People will always point to her two losses to Nunes. I know, I know it was debateable/BS but that's what'll happen.
I wouldn't be annoyed it's just don't see how you can make a case, it's not really debatable at this point. Admittedly people ran from Cyborg for a few years (mostly Ronda) and she got a bit of a raw deal from Dana as he didn't like that she was this outside the promotion star. But the ufc invented a weight division just so she could be champ and she still lost it, that Nunes fight wasn't close. Nunes has the far better claim for GOAT status. She hasn't failed a drug test and can actually make weight in the more competitive range for women fighters and has defeated pretty much anyone worth talking about.
Can't really see Jones-Adesanya happening now, the only hope for it was winning that belt and taunting Jon to come back down to LHW. He's small for a LHW nevermind HW.
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He has a point here, referees should very quickly ask that the fighter get up. You can't stay "grounded" for 10 seconds doing feck all and being untouchable.
Yeah I think the UFC needs to find the appropriate balance between protecting fighters and allowing fighters to remain grounded because they don't want to be struck.
Grounded fighters can absolutely get struck. Just not kneed or kicked on the head. Not that complicated.
Petr had so many options to keep hammering.
And even if he wanted Aljo to stand up, just move back and let the ref force him up.
I would personally prefer for all strikes to be legal
The obvious distinction here being that grounded fighters shouldn't be able to stall the fight by playing a game of lowering and raising their hands off the ground to avoid getting kneed.
He's the trash talk goat for sure. The guy who showed other fighters the importance of self promotion
Why the UFC didn't really try to make the Ronda-Cyborg fight anyways ? It would have been the biggest women's pay per view ever
For Ronda it was a win-win situation. If she lost, she would still be very rich. If she won, even better. Cyborg had more to lose by taking that fight...
Ronda could have just moved up a division.
I was kind of being silly, but I agree with this.
Ronda losing would hurt her brand/image and in turn her marketability. It made long term business sense to keep her well away from Cyborg. So that's what they did.
Are you sure about that ?
Mcgregor lost multiple times and it didn't hurt his star power
Mcgregor knew how to play the game though. After his defeats he came back stronger and kept up the trash talk to market his fights. Rousey just fell apart and the UFC probably knew about the mentality of their fighter.
Exactly this.
These rules were bought in for a reason though right?
If a fighter is rattled badly and drop to their knees, what's to stop somebody getting a run up and absolutely kneeing their head off. Is that really necessary or required? it's something that is potentially the most dangerous of all actions.
Imagine a situation like Masvidal and Ben Askren, though with the other fighter hit to the temple and unable to defend themselves. It's an act of purposely trying to hurt somebody, not just beat them with skill.
I know they used to allow grounded strikes in Pride - but I didn't watch that or know if anybody got badly injured from a knee strike.
I doubt if Mighty Mouse got his head caved in like that guy in Bellator he'd have the same opinion.
Ronda told Cyborg cut to 135 and it would happen. Cyborg claimed she couldn’t make the weight. Ronda held the belt at 135. Surely it was Cyborgs job to get herself in a position to compete for it.
Hopefully they will scrap the 145 belt now as there is no point to it at all. Julianna was right, it was made for Cyborg and lazy girls. There is no competition in it at all. Nunes needs to go back to 135 and fight her then is she beats Penna see if Valentina will go up as I still think she was robbed in the last fight. Clearly beat Nunes. Dum ass judges.
I don't follow you here, did I suggest that the rule should be scrapped? I stated that referees should deal with it differently than they do now and my suggestion doesn't involve fighters being kneeled. You could count fighters that are grounded or quickly give them penalty points.
Everyone including Ronda knew Cyborg could never make 135. A catchweight at 140 was the most reasonable request for a super fight, and Ronda flat out refused that.
I think Jones and DC set such a high bar in the LHW division (more so Jones) that it's maybe made myself and others be a bit harsher on some of the current and recent talent, Jan being one of them. Saturday night they were talking up Teixiera as the next contender and I couldn't help but think how that just sums up the state of the division right now. The thing is he does deserve a shot, five fight win streak so it's tough to argue that he isn't a contender for the title right now.
I've been so critical of the division for years now. While I do think they desperately need some fresh, younger talent coming through in that division I do think both Cormier and Jones were so talented that it's kind of made the majority of others look average. It's so difficult to not sit and think "Ah, Cormier or Jones would absolutely dominate Jan or Adesenya" when watching that fight at the weekend.
What's people's thoughts on it? I've been so critical over the divison but thinking about it over the weekend started to wonder if actually some of the fighters they have or have had in the division over the years are actually good but have just been massively eclipsed during an era where Jones dominated and then DC dropped down and dominated. Or am I just suddenly being soft and the division is a bit shit?
I've been so critical of the division for years now. While I do think they desperately need some fresh, younger talent coming through in that division I do think both Cormier and Jones were so talented that it's kind of made the majority of others look average. It's so difficult to not sit and think "Ah, Cormier or Jones would absolutely dominate Jan or Adesenya" when watching that fight at the weekend.
What's people's thoughts on it? I've been so critical over the divison but thinking about it over the weekend started to wonder if actually some of the fighters they have or have had in the division over the years are actually good but have just been massively eclipsed during an era where Jones dominated and then DC dropped down and dominated. Or am I just suddenly being soft and the division is a bit shit?
Jones is probably the best fighter ever, even though I was actually impressed by Blachowicz I could help but think that Jones would have destroyed Adesanya even standing up, Jones ability to identify your weakness and play with it has not equivalent, he also has a great sense of space. That's without mentioning the fact that if he decided to grapple Adesanya would have no chance. Cormier was in my opinion the best wrestler in the UFC, was heavy as hell and had the ability to knock you out.I think Jones and DC set such a high bar in the LHW division (more so Jones) that it's maybe made myself and others be a bit harsher on some of the current and recent talent, Jan being one of them. Saturday night they were talking up Teixiera as the next contender and I couldn't help but think how that just sums up the state of the division right now. The thing is he does deserve a shot, five fight win streak so it's tough to argue that he isn't a contender for the title right now.
I've been so critical of the division for years now. While I do think they desperately need some fresh, younger talent coming through in that division I do think both Cormier and Jones were so talented that it's kind of made the majority of others look average. It's so difficult to not sit and think "Ah, Cormier or Jones would absolutely dominate Jan or Adesenya" when watching that fight at the weekend.
What's people's thoughts on it? I've been so critical over the divison but thinking about it over the weekend started to wonder if actually some of the fighters they have or have had in the division over the years are actually good but have just been massively eclipsed during an era where Jones dominated and then DC dropped down and dominated. Or am I just suddenly being soft and the division is a bit shit?
The point is promoting Nunes as a double champ. It probably helps the marketing.
it’s been a year since she defended the actual belt in a division that has talent in it. If she isn’t going to fight she should relinquish the belt.
She never said she didn't want to though. I think the UFC was the one who didn't offer her fights there ?
To be fair she's also cleaned out the 135 division, so there's really not much fan interest in watching her murder the next victim in the first round.
Y'all don't see the obvious solution.
Nunes vs. TJ Dillashaw. Make that happen! Let that little snake get a pummelling
Three fight deal vs Valentina. 1 fight for each belt. Whoever has more belts in the end is the GOAT
She hasn’t though Pena been waiting for her for ages.
Will she get murdered maybe she will but Pena has looked decent in recent memory and looks like she would at least stand a chance or put up a better display than what some of the others have done.
That's probably a somewhat plausible fight, but far less so when I look back at how easily Shevchenko dispatched with her and the fact that she's only 2-2 in her past four fights.
The fact she got submitted by 2 strikers, whom she was supposed to have a grappling advantage over, says it all for me. Another easy win for Amanda.
GDR remains Nunes relatively biggest threat at 135. Would prefer that rematch before the Iron Lady is too old (36yo now). She must be working hard on her grappling/Take-down defence since their last meeting. If she can stop Amanda's takedowns, it's game on.