The UFC and Mixed Martial Arts Thread
- Thread starter Mikey_Fitzgerald
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Azzurri
Player Valuation: £70m
He can't. That'd mean Edgar having a fight which isn't a rematch, and we all know that's impossible.
FTY
Player Valuation: £80m
He'd also be underneath Edgar for 3/5 rounds and therefore no hypetrain and no $$$$$.
Frankie Edgar is a great fighter but he just can't draw a decent buy rate
Connor McGregor almost certainly will draw a good buy rate
Hence he gets the fight
Sound logic to me in all honesty
It's not like he's all talk either, he's a good fighter
I'm picking Aldo to win, but Connor will hold his own with him I think
Connor McGregor almost certainly will draw a good buy rate
Hence he gets the fight
Sound logic to me in all honesty
It's not like he's all talk either, he's a good fighter
I'm picking Aldo to win, but Connor will hold his own with him I think
FTY
Player Valuation: £80m
No one's disputing that tbf, just that his talk his bigger than his talents.
I mean, ''the best pound for pound fighter of all time'', really? Surely he doesn't believe that?
Little Ralphy
Player Valuation: £15m
Why all the hate for McGregor's title shot? Everyone else has had their turn, it'll be nice to see a more original match-up for a change. Plus it has the potential to be a proper stand up fight rather than a wrestler getting kicked to death.
Aldo's kicks wont even be as effective cos of McGregor's southpaw stance. Aldo tends to just use his right for the power kicks. Plus McGregor has a size and reach advantage and has a good standup game himself. We saw when Aldo was backed up in his last fight he came out fighting, he'll be made up with this matchup cos he's finally going to make some money. He knows he can't sell PPVs alone, but McGregor will be like Chael was to Silva. I think it'll be a close fight.
Not sure Cerrone won that fight but fair play for fighting twice in 16 days. It sets him up for a top match up next as well.
Aldo's kicks wont even be as effective cos of McGregor's southpaw stance. Aldo tends to just use his right for the power kicks. Plus McGregor has a size and reach advantage and has a good standup game himself. We saw when Aldo was backed up in his last fight he came out fighting, he'll be made up with this matchup cos he's finally going to make some money. He knows he can't sell PPVs alone, but McGregor will be like Chael was to Silva. I think it'll be a close fight.
Not sure Cerrone won that fight but fair play for fighting twice in 16 days. It sets him up for a top match up next as well.
Wrestling Observer Newsletter 2014 Awards, MMA section
MIXED MARTIAL ARTS MOST VALUABLE
1. RONDA ROUSEY (551): 3,503
2. Chris Weidman (75): 1,693
3. Jon Jones (49): 1,164
4. Conor McGregor (5): 323
5. Robbie Lawler (23): 265
6. Anderson Silva (4): 146
7. Daniel Cormier : 145
8. Johny Hendricks (6): 113
9. Donald Cerrone (3): : 85
10. Tito Ortiz (2): 73
New category in 2007. Highest place winner from MMA in previous Thesz/Flair award balloting: 1994 - Royce Gracie; 1995 - Ken Shamrock; 1996 - Mark Coleman; 1997 - Maurice Smith; 1998 - Frank Shamrock; 1999 - Frank Shamrock; 2000 - Kazushi Sakuraba; 2001 - Kazushi Sakuraba; 2002 - Bob Sapp; 2003 - Randy Couture; 2004 - Wanderlei Silva; 2005 - Kid Yamamoto; 2006 - Tito Ortiz
Rousey, 27, became the first woman ever to win one of the big five awards in a year. During our awards period she went 3-0, with three finishes, two of which were in less than 66 seconds and the last two were via striking instead of an armbar.
Rousey’s business numbers blew away anything that any woman in combat sports has ever done. In her ten pro and three amateur MMA fights, 11 of them didn’t get past the 90 second mark. The overall depth and talent level isn’t at the level of the men, but it’s a level of division dominance that no fighter in UFC history has ever approached.
Weidman went 2-0 during the period, with his second knockout of Anderson Silva and a win over Lyoto Machida, and headlined over Rousey in two of her three fights.
Jones was generally considered the best male fighter in the game, but only fought once during the calender year, a decision win over Glover Teixeira, so he really couldn’t win the big categories this year.
McGregor was the fastest rising star, but went 2-0, with wins over Diego Brando and Dustin Poirier. He was valuable in the sense he put the featherweight division on the map, but he has yet to headline a PPV.
PREVIOUS WINNERS: 2007 - Randy Couture; 2008 - Brock Lesnar; 2009 - Brock Lesnar; 2010 - Brock Lesnar; 2011 - Georges St-Pierre; 2012 - Anderson Silva; 2013 - Georges St-Pierre
MOST OUTSTANDING FIGHTER OF THE YEAR
1. RONDA ROUSEY (259): 2,164
2. Chris Weidman (193): 1,486
3. Demetrious Johnson (63): 690
4. Robbie Lawler (89): 605
5. Donald Cerrone (51): 552
6. T.J. Dillashaw (13): 492
7. Jose Aldo (39): 404
8. Jon Jones (15): 287
9. Daniel Cormier (12): 134
10. Conor McGregor (3): 97
HONORABLE MENTION: Fabricio Werdum 63
Rousey performed a rare double here. In the past decade, the only other person to win Most Valuable and Most Outstanding in the same year was Anderson Silva in 2012.
Rousey’s three wins with three stoppages, two in the first round, beats out Weidman two wins, although Weidman’s two wins, were of the highest caliber of competition.
Johnson retained the flyweight title all year, with three wins, a knockout over top contender Joseph Benavidez, a dominant decision over Ali Bagautinov and a submission over Chris Cariaso.:
Lawler went 3-1 during the period, with a close loss to Johny Hendricks, which he avenged later in the year to win the welterweight title, plus he scored wins over Jake Ellenberger and Matt Brown.
Cerrone went 4-0 during the year, with three finishes, and having already gone 2-0, he’s off to the strongest start of 2015. Dillashaw went 3-0, including winning the bantamweight title from Renan Barao in one of the biggest title win upsets in MMA history, as Barao came in with a nine-year unbeaten streak.
PREVIOUS WINNERS: 1997 - Maurice Smith; 1998 - Frank Shamrock; 1999 - Frank Shamrock; 2000 - Kazushi Sakuraba; 2001 - Wanderlei Silva; 2002 - Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira; 2003 - Randy Couture; 2004 - Wanderlei Silva; 2005 - Fedor Emelianenko; 2006 - Mirko Cro Cop; 2007 - Quinton Jackson; 2008 - Georges St. Pierre; 2009 - Georges St. Pierre; 2010 - Georges St. Pierre; 2011 - Jon Jones; 2012 - Anderson Silva; 2013 - Cain Velasquez
MMA MATCH OF THE YEAR
1. ROBBIE LAWLER VS. JOHNY HENDRICKS 3/15 DALLAS (225): 1,724
2. Matt Brown vs. Erick Silva 5/10 Cincinnati (113): 1,371
3. Mark Hunt vs. Antonio Silva 12/8/13 Sydney (217): 1,353
4. Chris Weidman vs. Lyoto Machida 7/5 Las Vegas (86): 982
5. Ronda Rousey vs. Miesha Tate 12/28/13 Las Vegas (97): 656
6. Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes 10/25 Rio de Janeiro (61): 569
7. Dan Henderson vs. Shogun Rua 3/23 Natal (2): 205
8. Robbie Lawler vs. Matt Brown 7/26 San Jose : 122
9. Michael Chandler vs. Will Brooks 5/17 Memphis (21): 121
10. Jamie Varner vs. Abel Trujillo 2/1 Newark (2): 108
HONORABLE MENTION: T.J. Dillashaw vs. Renan Barao 5/24 Las Vegas 95
This was a list with UFC domination, as only one match, the Michael Chandler vs. Will Brooks PPV match from Bellator, cracked the top 11.
Every match on the list was very good and it’s all personal preference. In my opinion, timing of being last December greatly hurt Mark Hunt vs. Antonio Silva, which I think would have won or at least challenged for the top spot had it taken place a few months later. When I look at this list, to me the two best were Hunt vs. Silva and Aldo vs. Mendes. The surprise was Lawler vs. Brown, which I was at live and thought was a disappointment because Brown really never got his game going. Henderson vs. Rua had the great come-from-behind finish and was good, but I thought many bouts were better. Lawler vs. Hendricks was a fight I saw as a strong match of the year candidate. Brown vs. Erick Silva was more a blow-away fight with the Brown comeback from death and savage beating, but with Lawler-Hendricks it was a title fight with two guys putting on a great performance and the outcome was in doubt until late in the fifth round.
PREVIOUS WINNERS: 1997 - Maurice Smith vs. Mark Coleman 7/27 Birmingham; 1998 - Jerry Bohlander vs. Kevin Jackson 3/13 New Orleans; 1999 - Frank Shamrock vs. Tito Ortiz 9/24 Lake Charles; 2000 - Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Royce Gracie 5/1 Tokyo Dome; 2001 - Randy Couture vs. Pedro Rizzo 5/4 Atlantic City; 2002 - Don Frye vs. Yoshihiro Takayama 6/23 Saitama; 2003 - Wanderlei Silva vs. Hidehiko Yoshida 11/9 Tokyo Dome; 2004 - Quinton Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva 10/31 Saitama; 2005 - Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar 4/9 Las Vegas; 2006 - Diego Sanchez vs. Karo Parisyan 8/17 Las Vegas; 2007 - Randy Couture vs. Tim Sylvia 3/3 Columbus; 2008 - Forrest Griffin vs. Quinton Jackson 7/5 Las Vegas; 2009 - Diego Sanchez vs. Clay Guida 6/20 Las Vegas; 2010 - Leonard Garcia vs. Chan Sung Jung 4/24 Sacramento; 2011 - Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio Shogun Rua 11/19 San Jose; 2012 - Chan Sung Jung vs. Dustin Poirier 5/15 Fairfax, VA; 2013 - Gilbert Melendez vs. Diego Sanchez 10/19 Houston
MIXED MARTIAL ARTS MOST VALUABLE
1. RONDA ROUSEY (551): 3,503
2. Chris Weidman (75): 1,693
3. Jon Jones (49): 1,164
4. Conor McGregor (5): 323
5. Robbie Lawler (23): 265
6. Anderson Silva (4): 146
7. Daniel Cormier : 145
8. Johny Hendricks (6): 113
9. Donald Cerrone (3): : 85
10. Tito Ortiz (2): 73
New category in 2007. Highest place winner from MMA in previous Thesz/Flair award balloting: 1994 - Royce Gracie; 1995 - Ken Shamrock; 1996 - Mark Coleman; 1997 - Maurice Smith; 1998 - Frank Shamrock; 1999 - Frank Shamrock; 2000 - Kazushi Sakuraba; 2001 - Kazushi Sakuraba; 2002 - Bob Sapp; 2003 - Randy Couture; 2004 - Wanderlei Silva; 2005 - Kid Yamamoto; 2006 - Tito Ortiz
Rousey, 27, became the first woman ever to win one of the big five awards in a year. During our awards period she went 3-0, with three finishes, two of which were in less than 66 seconds and the last two were via striking instead of an armbar.
Rousey’s business numbers blew away anything that any woman in combat sports has ever done. In her ten pro and three amateur MMA fights, 11 of them didn’t get past the 90 second mark. The overall depth and talent level isn’t at the level of the men, but it’s a level of division dominance that no fighter in UFC history has ever approached.
Weidman went 2-0 during the period, with his second knockout of Anderson Silva and a win over Lyoto Machida, and headlined over Rousey in two of her three fights.
Jones was generally considered the best male fighter in the game, but only fought once during the calender year, a decision win over Glover Teixeira, so he really couldn’t win the big categories this year.
McGregor was the fastest rising star, but went 2-0, with wins over Diego Brando and Dustin Poirier. He was valuable in the sense he put the featherweight division on the map, but he has yet to headline a PPV.
PREVIOUS WINNERS: 2007 - Randy Couture; 2008 - Brock Lesnar; 2009 - Brock Lesnar; 2010 - Brock Lesnar; 2011 - Georges St-Pierre; 2012 - Anderson Silva; 2013 - Georges St-Pierre
MOST OUTSTANDING FIGHTER OF THE YEAR
1. RONDA ROUSEY (259): 2,164
2. Chris Weidman (193): 1,486
3. Demetrious Johnson (63): 690
4. Robbie Lawler (89): 605
5. Donald Cerrone (51): 552
6. T.J. Dillashaw (13): 492
7. Jose Aldo (39): 404
8. Jon Jones (15): 287
9. Daniel Cormier (12): 134
10. Conor McGregor (3): 97
HONORABLE MENTION: Fabricio Werdum 63
Rousey performed a rare double here. In the past decade, the only other person to win Most Valuable and Most Outstanding in the same year was Anderson Silva in 2012.
Rousey’s three wins with three stoppages, two in the first round, beats out Weidman two wins, although Weidman’s two wins, were of the highest caliber of competition.
Johnson retained the flyweight title all year, with three wins, a knockout over top contender Joseph Benavidez, a dominant decision over Ali Bagautinov and a submission over Chris Cariaso.:
Lawler went 3-1 during the period, with a close loss to Johny Hendricks, which he avenged later in the year to win the welterweight title, plus he scored wins over Jake Ellenberger and Matt Brown.
Cerrone went 4-0 during the year, with three finishes, and having already gone 2-0, he’s off to the strongest start of 2015. Dillashaw went 3-0, including winning the bantamweight title from Renan Barao in one of the biggest title win upsets in MMA history, as Barao came in with a nine-year unbeaten streak.
PREVIOUS WINNERS: 1997 - Maurice Smith; 1998 - Frank Shamrock; 1999 - Frank Shamrock; 2000 - Kazushi Sakuraba; 2001 - Wanderlei Silva; 2002 - Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira; 2003 - Randy Couture; 2004 - Wanderlei Silva; 2005 - Fedor Emelianenko; 2006 - Mirko Cro Cop; 2007 - Quinton Jackson; 2008 - Georges St. Pierre; 2009 - Georges St. Pierre; 2010 - Georges St. Pierre; 2011 - Jon Jones; 2012 - Anderson Silva; 2013 - Cain Velasquez
MMA MATCH OF THE YEAR
1. ROBBIE LAWLER VS. JOHNY HENDRICKS 3/15 DALLAS (225): 1,724
2. Matt Brown vs. Erick Silva 5/10 Cincinnati (113): 1,371
3. Mark Hunt vs. Antonio Silva 12/8/13 Sydney (217): 1,353
4. Chris Weidman vs. Lyoto Machida 7/5 Las Vegas (86): 982
5. Ronda Rousey vs. Miesha Tate 12/28/13 Las Vegas (97): 656
6. Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes 10/25 Rio de Janeiro (61): 569
7. Dan Henderson vs. Shogun Rua 3/23 Natal (2): 205
8. Robbie Lawler vs. Matt Brown 7/26 San Jose : 122
9. Michael Chandler vs. Will Brooks 5/17 Memphis (21): 121
10. Jamie Varner vs. Abel Trujillo 2/1 Newark (2): 108
HONORABLE MENTION: T.J. Dillashaw vs. Renan Barao 5/24 Las Vegas 95
This was a list with UFC domination, as only one match, the Michael Chandler vs. Will Brooks PPV match from Bellator, cracked the top 11.
Every match on the list was very good and it’s all personal preference. In my opinion, timing of being last December greatly hurt Mark Hunt vs. Antonio Silva, which I think would have won or at least challenged for the top spot had it taken place a few months later. When I look at this list, to me the two best were Hunt vs. Silva and Aldo vs. Mendes. The surprise was Lawler vs. Brown, which I was at live and thought was a disappointment because Brown really never got his game going. Henderson vs. Rua had the great come-from-behind finish and was good, but I thought many bouts were better. Lawler vs. Hendricks was a fight I saw as a strong match of the year candidate. Brown vs. Erick Silva was more a blow-away fight with the Brown comeback from death and savage beating, but with Lawler-Hendricks it was a title fight with two guys putting on a great performance and the outcome was in doubt until late in the fifth round.
PREVIOUS WINNERS: 1997 - Maurice Smith vs. Mark Coleman 7/27 Birmingham; 1998 - Jerry Bohlander vs. Kevin Jackson 3/13 New Orleans; 1999 - Frank Shamrock vs. Tito Ortiz 9/24 Lake Charles; 2000 - Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Royce Gracie 5/1 Tokyo Dome; 2001 - Randy Couture vs. Pedro Rizzo 5/4 Atlantic City; 2002 - Don Frye vs. Yoshihiro Takayama 6/23 Saitama; 2003 - Wanderlei Silva vs. Hidehiko Yoshida 11/9 Tokyo Dome; 2004 - Quinton Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva 10/31 Saitama; 2005 - Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar 4/9 Las Vegas; 2006 - Diego Sanchez vs. Karo Parisyan 8/17 Las Vegas; 2007 - Randy Couture vs. Tim Sylvia 3/3 Columbus; 2008 - Forrest Griffin vs. Quinton Jackson 7/5 Las Vegas; 2009 - Diego Sanchez vs. Clay Guida 6/20 Las Vegas; 2010 - Leonard Garcia vs. Chan Sung Jung 4/24 Sacramento; 2011 - Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio Shogun Rua 11/19 San Jose; 2012 - Chan Sung Jung vs. Dustin Poirier 5/15 Fairfax, VA; 2013 - Gilbert Melendez vs. Diego Sanchez 10/19 Houston
Little Ralphy
Player Valuation: £15m
The 3 main fights are all really close IMO.
I think Davis may get Bader down and then just lay on him for the W.
Hendo has the potential to catch Mousasi, but likely will be too slow.
I think it's a shame Gus and Rumble are fighting cos I'd like to see both fight Jones. Difficult one to pick, Rumble is arguably the more rounded fighter, but Gus is huge.
Davis, Mousasi and Gus.
FTY
Player Valuation: £80m
AJ TKO in the 2nd round, watch.
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