artmonkforHOF

Looks like Rothwell is slotted behind Stipe& is given the HW title gatekeeper fight with JDS in Croatia. They have 4 HW fights on that card, but I think the UFC sends the small cage form them to fight in. Lots of quick KO's if that happens.

Yep, it's booked for UFC 197 - McG vs RDA, along with Holm vs Tate.

So Anderson was right, they pulled 197 out of Brazil. That was rumoured to be Silva Belfort 2 before the Bisping fight was announced.

Who the heck is going to fight on 200? Ronda maybe & 2 title fights? Assuming 1 belt each at 198 & 199, that would mean 6 belts out of 10 over 4 PPV's. or 9 really since the 145 belt is on hold while McG fights RDA.

Condit got robbed.

I think Edmond is terrible. Feels like all the fighters under him have regressed. I can see Ronda winning a rematch. She is by far still the best grappler in the division. Just got to work on setting up her takedowns better.

Yeah, running in on a straight line face first with the chin up just won't work against a woman who knows how to stick the jab & circle out.

It's worked before because most of her opponents freeze up, stand still & try and trade blows with Ronda, who's throwing punches just to get her arms in close for a tie up & a throw. Holly out-boxed her bad.

http://fightland.vice.com/blog/how-holly-holm-killed-queen-ronda-rousey

another great technique breakdown

From the master Jack Slack himself. You could read that breakdown of the fight, or read the article he wrote back in the summer about how to beat Rousey in which he explains jabbing & circling away from a clinch combined with oblique kicks is the way to beat a bull rushing Ronda.

The man's got skills. Even called Weidman's double up on Silva.

http://m.fightland.vice.com/blog/killing-the-queen-ronda-rousey

Ronda looked horrible in that fight. Near the end of the first she wasn't even striking anymore, just trying to grab Holly's lead hand in a desperate attempt to get an arm bar.

They shouldn't do an immediate rematch, but they will. & if Rousey loses again, so long women's championship fights headlining PPV's.

Loved that Hunt got the KO.

So Anderson Silva said he's fighting Bisping in April, on a card with Werdum in Curitaba (his home town).

Thoughts?

reports have him getting 2.5mil for one fight

anyone checking for tonight's card?

Barnett vs. Nelson

Mousasi vs. Hall

Is that airing tonight or tomorrow? It's in Japan & I'm always confused as to when the fights are live & when they air on North American TV.

It's the Hall Mousasi fight I want to see. Hall was a replacement for some guy I barely remember, made this whole card better IMO.

Well on to some good news:

Big Nog has retired & taken a job with the UFC.

So Lawler injured his thumb, is out of 193 in Mebourne with Condit. The UFC moves Rousey Holm from 195 to headline 193 in a 70,000 seat stadium Nov. 14.

looks like Condit will wait for Robbie to heal up.

MMA Junkie is reporting Oliviera has a micro tear in his esophagus. can be fatal if not treated quickly.

here's hoping he is alright.

Cain rematch is stupid. If Cain wins, then they do a rubber match 18 months down the road after Cain heals up? What if Cain loses? Then you've just killed a big draw at HW & hope he is healthy for the cards in Mexico.

Dumb move by Dana & co.

Now Sheilds is suspended as well for unsportsmanlike conduct - swinging at Palhares after the tap.

You can't make this crap up, only the NSAC can.

What's the over/under on how many pints of blood Lauzon spills on the canvas? 2? 1.5?

Barboza is also on the main card. I'll never forget hearing his leg kicks while I was in the concourse of the MGM Grand Stadium for 162. Those things where vicious.

Man, Burt & now Stitch? Is this even the UFC anymore?

without Stitch, Lawler MacDonald 2 doesn't make it to the 5th round.

Who taught Duffee how to punch? I need answers on this one

That's not even "bar room brawl" level, its closer to "school girls arguing over barbies" level.

What you can't see from that pic is Duffee's left hand far out from his body as well. Just looking at that photo & forgetting the actual fight, Duffee looks like he is using the schoolyard "windmills of doom" approach to striking.

There is not a single young HW prospect worth getting excited about

old dudes gonna trade the belt for a while

Fedor thinks so too apparently.

I'm not surprised that a HW fight in the smaller cage (40% less area) ended in a 1st round KO, but am surprised Mir was the one who did it.

There is just no room for the big boys in there in that tiny WEC cage meant for 155ers & lower. Worse is 2 little guys in the big cage, turns into a track meet.

It would have made more sense to give Edgar the fill-in spot.

its easier to sell Aldo/Edgar II than it is Aldo/Mendes III

Well that would be the logical choice. Lorenzo defended picking Mendes over Edgar by saying Mendes was ranked #1 at the time. Since then, new rankings have come out & Edgar is #1, lol.

My guess is McGregor said give me the stumpier of the 2 & is planning on his reach & distance to get him the W.

Interim belt is stupid, Aldo should fight by the end of the year, if he misses that one then do an interim belt.

If McGregor loses he could be the next Josh Grispi or Eric Koch. Aldo's injuries haven't prevented top contenders their shot at the belt, there is no log jam since Aldo has beaten all other decent ranked opponents.

I can buy a few of those temporary tattoo's out of a gumball machine outside my local grocery store. Now all I need is an elastic band for my hair, a full upper torso wax and the burning desire to show of my unique-ness.

Damn, forgot about Stipe.

I got it: JDS first title shot, Stipe Arlovski #1 contender, & let Cain fight Browne next. keep Reem on speed dial for the injury as well as Mark Hunt & Roy Nelson

HW still is not very deep, but at least there is something to look forward to other than JDS crushing contenders after Cain pulls out of a fight yet again. Long live the Werdum Era!

Damn, well my stream behind. The high attitude looked to mess Cain up. He looked gassed in the 2nd. Werdum time!!!!!!

Maybe now there can be 2 HW title fights a year, or at least more than 4 title fights in the 2 1/2 years. Please no immediate rematch, Junior should get him with Arlovski Overeem next contender fight.

As for Cain leading with his face, that's what he does. Puts pressure by moving forward, dives in with his head & then goes for clinch against the cage. Werdum trained well for Cain, he deserves the belt.

hard to remember that Do Bronx is just 25. They fed him to wolves so early in his career, but he's starting to fulfill that potential

His 4 loses:

Jim Miller& Cowboy Cerrone @ 155

Cub Swason & Frankie Edgar @ 145.

He can't strike worth a lick, but there is a good chance he wins if he can get into a clinch and an ever better chance if he gets the fight to the ground.

He never should have fought at 155, but the UFC didn't have a 145 division when he got there, so what's the kid to do? I'll always watch his fights live after seeing the calf slicer vs. Eric Wisely.

I can't say Hall got robbed when he didn't have any sense of urgency at all in that fight. I gave Hall the 1st, 2nd was close, 3rd was Natal's. Hall has attributes that says he should be much better than he is, but he's simply a timid fighter when he's not facing a considerably overmatched opponent.

Agree 100% on Hall in general, but he still gets this judges decision in the fight.

Hall did show he is a student of Anderson Silva (any young UFC MW who says they are not is lying). He fights on the counter, saw the James Irvin kick catch & rear straight counter- a bit of taunting to get Natal in range- good sense of distance( head movement on jabs or punches he knew would be out of range). Plus he had Natal walking into a few right leg head kicks in a row. Thought one more & Natal was done, but he let Natal back in the fight.

But yeah, Hall needs to pull the trigger more often, he's got the skill, lacks the will I guess is the poetic way of saying it.

Sucks Rose got pulled because her opponent missed weight by 4 pounds then got sick today. I wanted to see her fight.

I try not to make predictions, I have guys I'm pulling for, but don't want to jinx them!

Though Hall got robbed. takedown stats are misleading shows in that fight. I haven't seen the numbers, but Hall got up quick from a few takedowns & stuffed others. Didn't do so well in cage or in clinch but Hall had 2 rounds in my book. 1st for sure, my opinion on 2nd. 3rd I have to Natal.

LHW title is a coin toss for me, just going to sit back & enjoy (but I hope DC loses-imagine the wars & injuries at AKA with Cain & DC both holding belts?)

I hope Weidman wins just so Vitor can retire. I kinda want Vitor to win though since i think he is more likely to take a fight vs Anderson in Brazil- (since it doesn't look like Anderson will fight in the U.S. anytime soon). If Weidman does win, who's next? Rockhold? Souza? Romero if he gets by Machida?

I was looking forward to Cowboy- until I remembered Makdessi was the injury replacement. Is RDA ready or is he nursing an injury? Cowboy will fight him the first week of June if he can.

After that, I'm really only interested in the prelims for 187. Just killing time until Aldo Mcgregor.