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UFC 223: Khabib vs. Iaquinta (4/7/2018) - Brooklyn, NY (Barclays Center)


Elsalvajeloco

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UFC 223: Khabib vs. Iaquinta
April 7, 2018
Brooklyn, NY (Barclays Center)

UFC Lightweight Championship: Khabib Nurmagomedov (154.5) vs. Al Iaquinta (155.2)* (vacant) - Nurmagomedov, DEC (unanimous)
UFC Women's Strawweight Championship: Rose Namajunas © (114) vs. Joanna Jędrzejczyk (114) (first defense) - Namajunas, DEC (unanimous)
Renato Carneiro (146) vs. Calvin Kattar (145.5) - Carneiro, DEC (unanimous)
Zabit Magomedsharipov (146) vs. Kyle Bochniak (145) - Magomedsharipov, DEC (unanimous)
Joe Lauzon (155.5) vs. Chris Gruetzemacher (155) - Gruetzemacher, TKO (corner stoppage), R2 (5:00)

Fox Sports 1 Preliminary Card:
Karolina Kowalkiewicz (115) vs. Felice Herrig (115.5) - Kowalkiewicz, DEC (split)
Evan Dunham (156) vs. Olivier Aubin-Mercier (155) - Aubin-Mercier, TKO (knee to the body and punches), R1 (0:53)
Bec Rawlings (126) vs. Ashlee Evans-Smith (126) - Evans-Smith, DEC (unanimous)
Devin Clark (205) vs. Mike Rodriguez (203) - Clark, DEC (unanimous)

*Title only on the line for Nurmagomedov

Event Bonuses ($50,000?
Performance of the Night: Olivier Aubin-Mercier
Performance of the Night: Chris Gruetzemacher
Fight of the Night: Zabit Magomedsharipov vs. Kyle Bochniak
 
Attendance: 17,026
Gate: $3 million
Buyrate: 350,000

Cancelled Fights:
Mairbek Taisumov vs. Evan Dunham - Taisumov Visa Issues
Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov - Injury to Ferguson (Torn Knee Ligament)
Michael Chiesa vs. Anthony Pettis - Injury to Chiesa (Facial Lacerations)
Ray Borg vs. Brandon Moreno - Injury to Borg (Corneal Abrasions)
Alex Caceres vs. Artem Lobov - Lobov Removed From the Card
Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Max Holloway - Holloway Ruled Medically Unfit to Cut Additional Weight
Al Iaquinta vs. Paul Felder - Iaquinta Moved to Another Bout

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[IMG]

I typed my UFC 233 post up before heading online to find Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov for Ferguson’s UFC Lightweight Championship is off. Ferguson’s injured. It’s up there for most cancelled fight ever so out goes that. Now it's Khabib vs. Max Holloway, the UFC Featherweight Champion. Ferguson’s won 10 straight fights in the deepest division in MMA, Lightweight while Khabib is 25-0.

The UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion @Rose Namajunas defends against the woman she battered for the title, Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 217 in one of the biggest MMA upsets ever. Glad I watched UFC 217 as it happened. I’m predicting Khabib by decision and Rose by submission in the third round. I really like Thug Rose for how she conducted herself in their first fight and wanting to help when it comes to mental health.

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This didn't even have anything to do with Ferguson's injury surprisingly enough. 

I'm just trying to visualize how Ferguson tripped and tore a ligament. Did he trip on some sort of jagged, rough piece of equipment? 

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56 minutes ago, TheVileOne said:

This didn't even have anything to do with Ferguson's injury surprisingly enough. 

I'm just trying to visualize how Ferguson tripped and tore a ligament. Did he trip on some sort of jagged, rough piece of equipment? 

After watching Khabib tapes ; )

Shit news for Ferguson getting injured, Khabib and the UFC. Max should be getting that Anderson Silva money and then some for stepping in like he has. UFC be crossing everything for this new main event and the title weight cuts.

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Al Iaquinta is back for his annual fight!

I'm surprised the Zabit fight is first fight on the card. Honestly, he would beat the two guys in the FP headliner. Granted, I guess you can make that should he beat Bochniak.

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The guys in that fight have to make weight though. We might end up with a 160 or 165 pound catchweight especially if Holloway can't get down.

Also, I dunno how well Ferguson claiming to be champ is going to play after a trip and fall in a parking lot. I think his best option is watch how this all plays out. He could end up like RDA a couple years ago outside looking in and end up losing out of a McGregor fight especially if the UFC can line up the winner of Khabib/Max vs. McGregor in September.

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20 hours ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

The guys in that fight have to make weight though. We might end up with a 160 or 165 pound catchweight especially if Holloway can't get down.

Also, I dunno how well Ferguson claiming to be champ is going to play after a trip and fall in a parking lot. I think his best option is watch how this all plays out. He could end up like RDA a couple years ago outside looking in and end up losing out of a McGregor fight especially if the UFC can line up the winner of Khabib/Max vs. McGregor in September.

I agree with the fact that Tony Ferguson is going to be like Sean Sherk, who I just forget was ever champion.  My bigger point is that a lot of their belts are trinkets these days.  Remember a couple of months ago when we were arguing about whether or not being champion makes you the best?  I was arguing that Michael Bisping was the best middleweight in the world for about 3 seconds in that Rockhold fight, and you were arguing that he was the best because he was the champ.  That argument is kind of insane in retrospect, especially in that division.  I'd say Robert Whitaker is the best middleweight in the world, but Yoel Romero, who should be interim champion, Luke Rockhold (a stretch I know), who was in the unique position to be fighting for a championship without fighting someone challenging for that title, or even Georges St. Pierre, who may never fight again,  can claim to be the best middleweight in the world. 

Middleweight and Lightweight are both pretty deep divisions that aren't evolving because there is no real champion.  There are people who hold belts, but how many of those people have beaten the champ to get it.  I'm not even going to get into all the shit going on with the Welterweight division.

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1 hour ago, supremebve said:

I agree with the fact that Tony Ferguson is going to be like Sean Sherk, who I just forget was ever champion.  My bigger point is that a lot of their belts are trinkets these days.  Remember a couple of months ago when we were arguing about whether or not being champion makes you the best?  I was arguing that Michael Bisping was the best middleweight in the world for about 3 seconds in that Rockhold fight, and you were arguing that he was the best because he was the champ.  That argument is kind of insane in retrospect, especially in that division.  I'd say Robert Whitaker is the best middleweight in the world, but Yoel Romero, who should be interim champion, Luke Rockhold (a stretch I know), who was in the unique position to be fighting for a championship without fighting someone challenging for that title, or even Georges St. Pierre, who may never fight again,  can claim to be the best middleweight in the world. 

Middleweight and Lightweight are both pretty deep divisions that aren't evolving because there is no real champion.  There are people who hold belts, but how many of those people have beaten the champ to get it.  I'm not even going to get into all the shit going on with the Welterweight division.

I don't know that the divisions aren't evolving because I still really enjoy the fights. It's just that the champions (or fighters/contenders/etc.) are not fighting for whatever reason. I just saw moments ago that Weidman is having another hand surgery (apparently, he can't grip anything with that hand) and will be out until the fall at least. I forgot who I was discussing this with months ago here, but the UFC is still at the point where you can still finish the maze and figure out who was the legitimate champ. You juxtapose that with something in boxing like Marco Antonio Barrera getting stripped of his featherweight (126) title, being the linear champ, and then subsequently losing to Manny Pacquiao who then went to campaign at 130 for numerous fights and then 135 for only one fight to vulture (or cherrypick as many would say) a belt just to say he won a lightweight belt. However, Joel Casamayor was the real LW champ when Pacquiao beat David Diaz for the WBC 135 lb title. Casamayor would then lose to Juan Manuel Marquez later that year for the linear lightweight title. The same Marquez who Pacquiao won what many thought was a gift decision earlier in the year against in another weight class. At the same time, Nate Campbell was in possession of not one, not two, but THREE recognized world lightweight titles. It would take some effort for the UFC to that level of convoluted. 

However, just like the UFC though, a lot of that stuff was allowed to go on because there was a ton of money at stake.

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12 minutes ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

I don't know that the divisions aren't evolving because I still really enjoy the fights. It's just that the champions (or fighters/contenders/etc.) are not fighting for whatever reason. I just saw moments ago that Weidman is having another hand surgery (apparently, he can't grip anything with that hand) and will be out until the fall at least. I forgot who I was discussing this with months ago here, but the UFC is still at the point where you can still finish the maze and figure out who was the legitimate champ. You juxtapose that with something in boxing like Marco Antonio Barrera getting stripped of his featherweight (126) title, being the linear champ, and then subsequently losing to Manny Pacquiao who then went to campaign at 130 for numerous fights and then 135 for only one fight to vulture (or cherrypick as many would say) a belt just to say he won a lightweight belt. However, Joel Casamayor was the real LW champ when Pacquiao beat David Diaz for the WBC 135 lb title. Casamayor would then lose to Juan Manuel Marquez later that year for the linear lightweight title. The same Marquez who Pacquiao won what many thought was a gift decision earlier in the year against in another weight class. It would take some effort for the UFC to that level of convoluted. 

The fights have actually been outstanding, but there is a general lack of interest from anyone but the hardest of the hard core fans.  The issues they are having drawing new fans is exasperated by making convoluted title lineages, champions that aren't really champions, and the complete lack of star power.  I'm going to watch, you are going to watch, the people in this thread are going to watch, but I used to be able to get friends come to watch fights now I get the question, "who's fighting?" and they rarely have an idea who I'm talking about.  You'll be amazed how soon a person's eyes glaze over when trying to explain who is the champ, who else is the champ, and how neither of those guys is fighting in this championship fight.  I'm still into it though.

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21 hours ago, supremebve said:

The fights have actually been outstanding, but there is a general lack of interest from anyone but the hardest of the hard core fans.  The issues they are having drawing new fans is exasperated by making convoluted title lineages, champions that aren't really champions, and the complete lack of star power.  I'm going to watch, you are going to watch, the people in this thread are going to watch, but I used to be able to get friends come to watch fights now I get the question, "who's fighting?" and they rarely have an idea who I'm talking about.  You'll be amazed how soon a person's eyes glaze over when trying to explain who is the champ, who else is the champ, and how neither of those guys is fighting in this championship fight.  I'm still into it though.

The thing is star power seems to be a concept that no one has a grasp of though of how it's created. The fights has been good to great depending on who we are discussing, but the thing should be as a casual fan, what more do you need to see? Mr. Drama Show Gennady Golovkin is a star when you talk about being able to draw in the Inglewood Forum which seats about 11 to 12 thousand people and at the MSG Theater or the Theater at Foxwoods. However, against David Lemieux or whatever random Mexican fighter they exhume from the grave to fight him on Cinco de Mayo, he can't draw a number independent of being anchored to a Canelo that says he is a superstar. And it's a ridiculous. Why is a guy at that level who is that exciting who has that much charisma drawing DJ or UFC basement level numbers on PPV? You can use the vice versa for Demetrious Johnson although sans the charisma. Floyd Mayweather, who ironically couldn't draw flies for several years, wouldn't fight Miguel Cotto because his numbers weren't good on HBO supposedly. However, tied with an Antonio Margarito grudge match, he is a draw. That's a guy who had an entire island backing him yet he needs a historic boxing rivalry between two countries to prove his legitimacy.

My whole point is there is no one to one comparison on how to create stars and what level they're at in terms of superstardom. The UFC has a litany of problems, but independent of that is it's difficult to understand what fans view as a worthy attraction since entertaining fights which is the whole reason why people should watching fights in the first place in not the answer. Traditional stick and ball sports don't have these issues. Sure, they might do something like the NFL did with the Color Rush jerseys and the NBA does with their jerseys but that's not solely why ratings go down (NFL) or why they go up (NBA). You shouldn't have to tell people they need to watch Khabib Nurmagomedov versus another top fighter or Rose Namajunas rematching Joanna. It's insane if the person you're explaining to understands MMA as a sport in context.

 

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