Elsalvajeloco

Right now even though Misha has the best win of everyone, Ngannou has the best upside by just being in the HW division. Cirkunov is already a top 10 LHW at worst, but that trio (Cormier, Jones, & Rumble) at the top of LHW is hard to beat. If Cirkunov beat someone like Gustafsson, I wouldn't be surprised because Gustafsson now looks more like a smart veteran fighter like a Glover Teixeira who isn't going to be champion. At the same time though, there ain't really many fighters like that at heavyweight save for a Barnett (who is about to be suspended) or a Ben Rothwell. I don't see that many trap fights or fights that would bring Ngannou down to Earth. That's why the Arlovski fight is interesting. The method of victory is obvious and Ngannou might look very impressive, but you can see someone like Arlovski pulling it out somehow. The Krylov fight for Cirkunov was still a prospect vs. prospect fight. Ngannou is getting a real test though despite Arlovski's flaws.

Yes, but he is also Hawaiian (just scrap etc.) I believe it was OSJ in the PVZ vs. Waterson thread who started discussing Sage and why he might not have the motivation or grit to be a fighter. Penn, despite coming from an affluent family as well, is the antithesis of that. He's a fighter trying to reignite his career and go on this one last run, but the sport has passed him by a generation or so. Fifteen years ago, there was no fighter like BJ Penn except for BJ Penn. Now, we have at least 3 or 4 fighters like that per division (especially between men's 135 to 170). They might not be BJJ World champions at like age 21, but they're pretty damn talented. He doesn't just want to be a pioneer or one of the best lightweights of all time. However, a fighter this close to 40 in the lower weight classes is like a 33 year old running back in the NFL or a Thai fighter in boxing/kickboxing who is older than 30. Unless you have some of the darnedest PEDs or just a genetic freak like Herschel Walker, the production is all downhill no matter what coaches you hire or dietary changes you make.

The nominees are... Misha Cirkunov (XTREME COUTURE TORONTO) W-SUB2 (NECK CRANK) ALEX NICHOLSON (UFC Fight Night 82: Hendricks vs. Thompson, February 6, 2016) W-SUB3 (ARM TRIANGLE CHOKE) ION CUTELABA (UFC Fight Night 89: MacDonald vs. Thompson, June 18, 2016) W-SUB1 (GUILLOTINE CHOKE) NIKITA KRYLOV (UFC 206: Holloway vs. Pettis, December 10, 2016) Francis Ngannou (MMA FACTORY/BLACKZILIANS) W-TKO2 (DOCTOR STOPPAGE) CURTIS BLAYDES (UFC Fight Night 86: Rothwell vs. Dos Santos, April 10, 2016) W-TKO1 (PUNCHES) BOJAN MIHAJLOVIC (UFC on Fox 20: Holm vs. Shevchenko, July 23, 2016) W-SUB1 (KIMURA) ANTHONY HAMILTON (UFC Fight Night 102: Lewis vs. Abudurakhimov, December 9, 2016) Vicente Luque (BLACKZILIANS) W-SUB2 (BRABO CHOKE) ALVARO HERRERA (UFC Fight Night 90: Dos Anjos vs. Alvarez, July 7, 2016) W-KO1 (PUNCH) HECTOR URBINA (UFC Fight Night 95: Cyborg vs. Lansberg, September 24, 2016) W-KO1 (PUNCHES) BELAL MUHAMMAD (UFC 205: Alvarez vs. McGregor, November 12, 20160 Jared Cannonier (GRACIE BARRA ALASKA) W-KO1 (PUNCHES AND ELBOWS) CYRIL ASKER (UFC Fight Night 86: Rothwell vs. Dos Santos, April 10, 2016) W-DEC3 (UNANIMOUS) ION CUTELABA (The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale: Tournament of Champions, December 3, 2016) Jason Knight (ALAN BELCHER MMA CLUB) W-DEC3 (SPLIT) JIM ALERS (UFC on Fox 20: Holm vs. Shevchenko, July 23, 2016) W-DEC3 (UNANIMOUS) DAN HOOKER (UFC Fight Night 101: Whittaker vs. Brunson, November 26, 2016) Megan Anderson (GLORY MMA) W-TKO3 (KNEES AND PUNCHES) AMBER LEIBROCK (Invicta FC 15: Cyborg vs. Ibragimova, January 16, 2016) W-TKO1 (HEAD KICK AND PUNCHES) AMANDA BELL (Invicta FC 17: Evinger vs. Schneider, May 7, 2016) W-KO (PUNCHES) PEGGY MORGAN (Invicta FC 18: Grasso vs. Esquibel, July 29, 2016) 2013 Winner: Rustam Khabilov - JACKSON'S MMA 2014 Winner: Aljamain Sterling - SERRA-LONGO FIGHT TEAM 2015 Winner: Joanna Jędrzejczyk - BERKUT ARRACHION OLSZTYN Award voting will close 1/13 at 12:30 p.m. CST.

Erik Magraken wrote an article about some of the compelling points in the lawsuit (including the Belfort/JBJ thing), but also where there are holes in the lawsuit. Hunt before the fight said he didn't care if Lesnar was on PEDs or not and would fight him anyway. Plus, he knew beforehand that Lesnar was getting the waiver and still took the fight. With some of the serious claims within the lawsuit, I believe he has to show the UFC intentionally tried to conspire against him. That's going to be tough because of the his attitude before the fight and the fact that Lesnar was still subjected to testing. The UFC didn't expedite the test results, but Lesnar still failed and Hunt would probably need credible evidence they tried to cover it up. Keep in mind, the UFC pulled Jon Jones earlier that week as soon as they got the results back. So if they were going to hold onto test results for big name fighters, they would likely do it across the board.

Please read previous replies before posting.

Plenty of fight news: Lombard vs. Brad Tavares has been removed from the Denver card. However, the card is adding Alessio Di Chirico vs. Eric Spicely, Luis Henrique da Silva (aka Frank Waisten Jr./Frankenstein) vs. RFA champion Jordan Johnson, Alex Caceres vs. Jason Knight, and Eric Shelton vs. Alexandre Pantoja. Ricardo Ramos vs. Michinori Tanaka has been added to the Korean Zombie vs. Bermudez card. Carla Esparza vs. Randa Markos has been added to the Dos Santos vs. Struve II card.

Thomson or Tibau maybe. However, he was supposed to fight Khabib on the PVZ vs. Namajunas TUF Finale card before Khabib pulled out. Also, on the Florida card last year. I dunno if I feel better or worse about his chances before that. Khabib started off both the Horcher and Michael Johnson fights a step slow (it almost cost him in the latter) before everything came together and he went to town the rest of the way.

I think part of Ferguson's problem (if you want to call it that) is his belief that the belt doesn't mean a whole bunch and becoming apathetic to being a title contender in his mission to get more money. However, if his mission was to get McGregor (and guarantee he makes good money just like fighting Floyd was good for at least $2 mill), then he failed miserably after the Dos Anjos fight. Khabib has a sizable fanbase in a country the UFC is finally making inroads into, and he still blew away the attempt Ferguson made. When you're a fighter without a nation or fanbase, it's going to be super tough to get the money you rightly deserve as a top fighter. At one point Ferguson was trying to show some type of flare and be a guy who wanted to help build fights up. Then, he just stopped short and talked about how he really didn't care for the title. The hardcore fans want to see him fight because he's amazing, but I don't think his apathy is going to add a whole bunch of casuals. He is one those fighters I feel who is fortunate he puts on compelling fights since there is no other hook.

He was asking for the same money Khabib was making, but Khabib's disclosed purse for 205 was $52k. Tony's last disclosed purse was $50k, and he has had 2 fights since then. He must have found out what Khabib was really making and lost his shit.

I knew when Botter tweeted about Dada's padwork at the open workouts we were going to see something epic. I had no idea it would be like the backyard wrestling version of a MMA fight (or vice versa).

The nominees are... ROY NELSON W-DEC3 JARED ROSHOLT (UFC Fight Night 82: Hendricks vs. Thompson, 2/6/2016) Las Vegas, NV (MGM Grand Garden Arena) Perhaps the worst thing to happened to a card where a title fight main event fell off twice forcing it to free TV was an unmotivated Roy Nelson having to chase down a defensive Jared Rosholt for fifteen grueling, agonizing minutes. KIMBO SLICE NC DADA 5000 ( Bellator 149: Shamrock vs. Gracie III, 2/19/2016) Houston, TX (Toyota Center) You know those epic, historic turn-of-the-century boxing matches that took place in the hot summer heat, were brutal from start to finish, and lasted for hours? This would be one if you were on a bunch of schedule III & IV substances. Probably. RAFAEL CARVALHO W-DEC5 MELVIN MANHOEF (Bellator 155: Carvalho vs. Manhoef, 5/20/2016) Boise, ID (CenturyLink Center) At best, Rafael Carvalho is a poor man's Ricardo Arona clone who offers you a potential solid addition to the middleweight division. At worst, he throws a single digit number of a strikes in a five minute opening round of a championship bout that was contested on the feet for 95% of the time. Yet, somehow a befuddled Melvin Manhoef decided to land an occasional leg kick and follow the Brazilian around giving the bargain bin Idaho judges a chance to ruin an already lowly title fight. JOHN MORAGA L-DEC3 MATHEUS NICOLAU PEREIRA (The Ultimate Fighter 23: Team Joanna vs. Team Cláudia Finale, 7/8/2016) Las Vegas, NV (MGM Grand Garden Arena) What's not to like about a former title challenger bordering on a return to fringe contendership status against a regional Brazilian fighter who would later go on to fail a USADA test? It's not like it can go on to be a the worst fight of a three day event stretch during a big MMA weekend. MARYNA MOROZ W-DEC3 DANIELLE TAYLOR (UFC Fight Night 92: Rodríguez vs. Caceres, 8/6/2016) Salt Lake City, UT (Vivint Smart Home Arena) As Justine Kish's replacement against a much bigger, part time armbar-from-guard guru Maryna Moroz, Danielle Taylor provided possibly the most infuriating fighter performance in the short history of the UFC's female strawweight division. The five foot tall, compact built Taylor circled around the octagon's outer reaches, trying to measure and time a largely ineffective right hand counter against the Ukrainian who was often halfway across the cage. The look on Herb Dean's face above is a perfect representation of the disbelief and disgust most fans had watching this atrocious, repugnant display of combat. GABRIELLE GARCIA W-TKO1 YUMIKO HOTTA (RIZIN Fighting World Grand Prix 2016: Final Round, 12/31/2016) Saitama, Japan (Saitama Super Arena) The fight stunk for the little time it lasted, but we did a get a bizarre-yet-amusing post "fight" angle involving one of my favorite Joshi wrestlers from the 90s Shinobu Kandori, some random roided European pro wrestler lady, and the freshly USADA suspended Cris Cyborg. Things could be worse. I mean not much worse, but you get the point. 2013 WINNER: RORY MACDONALD vs. JAKE ELLENBERGER 2014 WINNER: ANDREI ARLOVSKI VS. BRENDAN SCHAUB 2015 WINNER: GABRIELLE GARCIA VS. SEINI DRAUGHN Award voting will close 1/12 at 1:30 p.m. CST.

I think it depends on the Cowboys pass rush. David Irving has appeared out of nowhere and had monster games. I think Dallas can make Montgomery (and Michael) ineffective. Now Randall Cobb? That might be a whole different story. It feels like the Cowboys are due for that game where the opposing QB pulls two or three rabbits out of the hat. Rodgers is going to have at least one quarter where he looks lights out. If GB keeps Zeke contained, the Cowboys could be playing a FG or TD behind most of the game. I see some late fourth quarter heroics unless someone's defense just gets ate up in the first half. Either way, it's probably going to be the best game of the WC/Div. playoffs easily IMO.

Not really too bold, but yeah it is acceptable now.

Yes, pretty much.

Can you specify a little on this? Right now, we have about 2 or 3 former champs (Dillashaw, Werdum, and possibly Velasquez mid summer) all coming back to challenge for the belt at the moment. Bantamweight ain't that loaded so Dominick Cruz can challenge for a belt during the calendar year too.

Yeah, gonna need a substitute for #4. The only way that would work is if you said it was happening.

Why she didn't do it the two months BEFORE the test she took and ultimately failed is going to be brought up.

UFC Fight Night 103: Rodríguez vs. Penn January 15, 2017 Phoenix, AZ (Talking Stick Resort Arena) Yair Rodríguez (145) vs. B.J. Penn (146) - Rodríguez, TKO (strikes), R2 (0:24) Joe Lauzon (155) vs. Marcin Held (156) - Lauzon, DEC (split) Court McGee (170) vs. Ben Saunders (170) - Saunders, DEC (unanimous) John Moraga (126) vs. Sergio Pettis (125) - Pettis, DEC (unanimous) Fox Sports 1 Preliminary Card: Devin Powell (155) vs. Drakkar Klose (156) - Klose, DEC (unanimous) Frankie Saenz (135) vs. Augusto Mendes (135) - Mendes, DEC (split) Oleksiy Oliynyk (242) vs. Viktor Pešta (239) - Oliynyk, SUB (ezekiel choke), R1 (2:57) Alex White (155) vs. Tony Martin (155) - Martin, DEC (unanimous) Fight Pass Preliminary Card: Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger (115) vs. Nina Ansaroff (116) - Ansaroff, SUB (rear naked choke), R3 (3:39) Walt Harris (254) vs. Chase Sherman (246) - Harris, TKO (strikes), R2 (2:41) Joachim Christensen (205) vs. Bojan Mihajlović (205) - Christensen, TKO (punches), R3 (2:05) Dmitry Smolyakov (257) vs. Cyril Asker (248) - Asker, TKO (punches), R1 (2:41) Event Bonuses ($50,000) Performance of the Night: Oleksiy Oliynyk Performance of the Night: Yair Rodríguez Fight of the Night: Frankie Saenz vs. Augusto Mendes Attendance: 11,589 Gate: $913,373 Rating: 1.1 million viewers Cancelled Fights: Erik Koch vs. Tony Martin - Injury to Koch Damian Grabowski vs. Viktor Pešta - Injury to Grabowski Jussier Formiga vs. Sergio Pettis - Injury to Formiga (Ankle) Devin Powell vs. Jordan Rinaldi - Injury to Rinaldi Bryan Caraway vs. Jimmie Rivera - Injury to Caraway Marlon Vera vs. Jimmie Rivera - Rivera Withdrew from Bout