MMA Live Event Discussion Thread, Summer Thru Fall 2025

[Elsalvajeloco]

9 minutes ago, jaedmc said:

Literally the only hope is that De Ridder and Fluffy can grapple and wrestle. Other than good fucking luck.

Venom Page might as well start getting that weight back off and go back down to welter. The future is bleak here.

 

I like De Ridder but what is he going to do that Dricus couldn't do? I mean the bar is low so maybe land more 1 significant strike in the first 3 rounds and also not lose consecutive 10-8 rounds. He might be able to do that.

As for MVP? They (Bellator) kept guys similar to Khamzat from him over half a decade. They fed him lesser strikers and mediocre grapplers so he can gain coincidence and improve. He's at a point where he can get up from takedowns and doesn't look completely lost. If he fights Khamzat, he might lose by a record number of ground strikes in a UFC fight. That's a horrendous matchup for him.

[Lawful Metal]

Lay and pray all day 

[Lawful Metal]

2 minutes ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

I like De Ridder but what is he going to do that Dricus couldn't do? I mean the bar is low so maybe land more 1 significant strike in the first 3 rounds and also not lose consecutive 10-8 rounds. He might be able to do that.

As for MVP? They (Bellator) kept guys similar to Khamzat from him over half a decade. They fed him lesser strikers and mediocre grapplers so he can gain coincidence and improve. He's at a point where he can get up from takedowns and doesn't look completely lost. If he fights Khamzat, he might lose by a record number of ground strikes in a UFC fight. That's a horrendous matchup for him.

De Ridder at least has knees up the middle that might catch Borz like Hermes Franca v. Sean Sherk. 

MVP may not catch a single ground strike if he gets submitted in 10 seconds
 

 

[Lawful Metal]

I gave Dricus round 5 for effective striking and for crying out loud give me something please anything after that 

[Elsalvajeloco]

1 hour ago, Lawful Metal said:

De Ridder at least has knees up the middle that might catch Borz like Hermes Franca v. Sean Sherk. 

MVP may not catch a single ground strike if he gets submitted in 10 seconds
 

You cannot rely on what he did to Bo Nickal. Now Nickal? He ain't lay and pray....matter of fact, those fighters don't really exist anymore cause they will stand you up inside of 25-30 seconds if you literally do nothing in half guard. However, Nickal is the definition of an American wrestler who is totally fine if he wins just purely on wrestling if he (a) isn't the better striker or (b) isn't just so much better on the ground than you. Moreover, he has spent a fraction of the time exchanging with other high caliber fighters to the point where we had no idea what would happen if he got in any adversity. Khamzat hasn't been in true adversity to the point where he is really walking the line between winning or losing, but he had some not so stellar moments and came through with flying colors. Maybe Bo can turn it around some day and become a champ, but he failed at the point Chimaev passed several fights ago. 

I was never a huge fan of Dricus probably cause some of his stuff looks awkward, but I couldn't argue with how effective he was. And he did over and over to other top tier middleweights. That guy just got shut down 21 out of 25 minutes. He spent at least ten good minutes trying to navigate how to get out of a CRUCIFIX. I remember when folks would call GSP or Cain Velasquez putting some in a crucifix for 3 or 4 minutes as impressive. This was the equivalent of two whole rounds. Had he not been so totally aware of Khamzat trying to latch his arm around his neck while giving up his back and good at fighting it off, that fight would have finished inside of two rounds. Again, taking nothing away from De Ridder, I don't see what De Ridder has that DDP doesn't or at least shown against top middleweights short of a miracle shot (or submission or gnarly freak injury) everyone in the top 10 or 15 has.

[DreamBroken]

Great to see Khamzat finally become champ. I had picked him to be champ by the end of the year like 3-4 years ago. One of my top favs in recent years ever since his UFC debut when he did the 10 day turnaround. I thought he'd get a finish, but a killer dominating performance.

[zendragon]

3 hours ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

That's simplifying it a bit.

Like saying pre banishment Ali "just get a fighter who can slip the jab and avoid the hook"

That was Aron Pico's Bellator debut all over again.

The most Dominant 5 round fight since Franklin v The Crow?

[The Natural]

9 minutes ago, zendragon said:

The most Dominant 5 round fight since Franklin v The Crow?

I'm still sleep deprived so came up with:

Couture/Ortiz.

Couture/Sylvia.

Merab/O'Malley.

[AxB]

The thing I don't understand is, if in the first round a guy shoots in on you, and go to hook him for a jump Guillotine, and he easily gets out and then controls you on the floor for the entire round... when the second round starts and he shoots right away, why would you try the Guillotine again?

If you have a technique that's ineffective, but the consequences of it failing are minor, it's worth trying. But when your ineffective technique failing results in you losing a round and taking a ton of damage, surely it's not a risk worth taking?

[jaedmc]

 Din Thomas made a point during the fight that I thought was both interesting and awful.

He basically looked back at the Gilbert Burns fight and said Gilbert was able to make it competitive because he could keep Khamzat in guard, which made Chimaev work harder while in control. The idea being that Chimaev eventually tired, and Burns was able to have more success.

Basically we're saying the only strategy anyone can come up with for this monster, is to hope Chimaev gets tired while he's mauling you. Then maybe you can stuff the next take down in the next round and keep it on the feet.

DDP did have a couple of scramble moments, that I felt a better grappler would've taken advantage of. And Cormier was kind of losing his mind at the lack of base level strategy DDP had for defending himself and the wrestling in general. So De Ridder, who has a judo and Bjj back ground, and is pretty active from his back... might have a chance. But again... that's basing it off the idea that he'll make Khamzat work harder than DDP did so maybe Khamzat will get tired and Ridder take it back to the feet. 

But holy shit what a bleak strategy. And it's based on data from a fight that happened three years ago when Khamzat was cutting to Welterweight.

And that's for all the people who have some kind of grappling/wrestling acumen.  All the strikers in the division have to just hope they can land a lottery ticket knock out in under 30 seconds before they're dragged to the mat.

Someone will beat him and it'll be a special night. But there's no one in the Top 15 I'd pick against him in the foreseeable future.

 

8 hours ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

As for MVP? They (Bellator) kept guys similar to Khamzat from him over half a decade. 

It was announced after the Chimaev fight that MVP wants to do the Brazil fight that Prates called for at Welterweight. So Page has already packed his bags and evacuated the area until Hurricane Chimaev blows over. Smart move.

8 hours ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

 Only the Fighting Nerds can save us. 

They're truly the heroes we need.

[Lawful Metal]

i looked at the final stats and I'm kinda stunned at 492 insignificant strikes and 0 submission attempts by Chimaev.  Pure lay and pray and zero attempts to finish the fight.  Absolutely deplorable.

[jaedmc]

24 minutes ago, Lawful Metal said:

i looked at the final stats and I'm kinda stunned at 492 insignificant strikes and 0 submission attempts by Chimaev.  Pure lay and pray and zero attempts to finish the fight.  Absolutely deplorable.

I bet you are a pitbull in the courtroom. 

[Teflon Turtle]

Odd as it sounds, I'd like to rewatch the main event. I typically notice more on second viewing.

Stopping Khamzat's takedowns seems nigh-impossible at this juncture. Beating him in a scramble is also gonna be a tall order. That said, let's not forget that Dricus managed to get to Khamzat's back in round 5, and his RNC attempt looked as close if not closer than any time Chimaev made it look like he might go for DDP's neck (as pointed out above, DDP also defended well). Getting to the back is going to be hell, but Chimaev showed he would give his back up or at the very least not make it completely unattainable. 

But, Chimaev was completely ahead of the game on DDP for about 23 minutes of that fight. As someone I watched the fights with said it of DDP being stuck on all fours with Khamzat putting his weight on him: he knows if he moves to stand up, he's gonna get launched. So, why not put that in the game plan and be ready for it? Why not have options knowing that you're going to have to be able to win scrambles and chain wrestle? Any time DDP moved to sit out or otherwise try to escape, Khamzat was ahead and pulled him right back down. There are some grappling deficits that are going to be insurmountable unless you've also been doing it at a high level from a young age (again...kind of puts it mildly), but DDP didn't look ready for that type of game. If nothing else, it was almost like Chimaev was able to turn the mind game tables on DDP for a change. Chimaev said he was going to kill DDP, but humiliated him instead. DDP was ready for a chaotic mess like he seems to prefer, when he needed to get ready for a wrestling match.

[Lawful Metal]

52 minutes ago, jaedmc said:

I bet you are a pitbull in the courtroom. 

I've been called an agent of chaos.

[Elsalvajeloco]

9 hours ago, jaedmc said:

 Din Thomas made a point during the fight that I thought was both interesting and awful.

He basically looked back at the Gilbert Burns fight and said Gilbert was able to make it competitive because he could keep Khamzat in guard, which made Chimaev work harder while in control. The idea being that Chimaev eventually tired, and Burns was able to have more success.

Basically we're saying the only strategy anyone can come up with for this monster, is to hope Chimaev gets tired while he's mauling you. Then maybe you can stuff the next take down in the next round and keep it on the feet.

DDP did have a couple of scramble moments, that I felt a better grappler would've taken advantage of. And Cormier was kind of losing his mind at the lack of base level strategy DDP had for defending himself and the wrestling in general. So De Ridder, who has a judo and Bjj back ground, and is pretty active from his back... might have a chance. But again... that's basing it off the idea that he'll make Khamzat work harder than DDP did so maybe Khamzat will get tired and Ridder take it back to the feet. 

But holy shit what a bleak strategy. And it's based on data from a fight that happened three years ago when Khamzat was cutting to Welterweight.

And that's for all the people who have some kind of grappling/wrestling acumen.  All the strikers in the division have to just hope they can land a lottery ticket knock out in under 30 seconds before they're dragged to the mat.

Someone will beat him and it'll be a special night. But there's no one in the Top 15 I'd pick against him in the foreseeable future.

 

It was announced after the Chimaev fight that MVP wants to do the Brazil fight that Prates called for at Welterweight. So Page has already packed his bags and evacuated the area until Hurricane Chimaev blows over. Smart move.

They're truly the heroes we need.

Well, the thing is Din is essentially right based on what we only saw in previous fights. The issue is more so that you're relying on your durability, which I don't know if you can count on in every fight. Even if several fights look exactly the same, they don't all end up the same. For example, when Pena fought Nunes the first time. The fact she wasn't scare to get hit AND the fact she can get rocked and still fight as if nothing happened paid off eventually when Amanda slowed down. Just like previous fights before Amanda went on her run, she slowed down and gradually fell apart. When the rematch happened, Pena tried to apply that same gameplan. To say it didn't work would be a gross understatement. It wasn't that Amanda's cardio got any better as much as Pena didn't have the same opportunities that opened up miraculously. Amanda hits really hard, but she ain't Tiffany van Soest or prime Lucia Rijker or Ann Wolfe in her heyday. That's why a very undersized Valentina can compete against an Amanda Nunes. She's good at striking, but her thing is she puts mustard on everything. She throws everything but a jab. If she was a male fighter against another hard hitter, she wouldn't be able to do that. I don't even think Cyborg is that cause she has always been about stopping people through an accumulation of strikes. So as is, Amanda can get away with that. There is nothing Chimaev is doing that's super unconventional ala an Anderson Silva where it's purely based on a big advantage or absurd reflexes. Did you see the D'Arce I believe he tried at the end of round 2 where had it cinched in in like negative five seconds from the time when he started going for? That's just someone who is innately comfortable being in those positions to the point he can just fuck around like it's a random Tuesday in the gym and he is in the room with his training partners. He can use you as essentially a grappling dummy in a live fight.

The only thing someone going against might be able to exploit is the fact he has been in so many fights where he's so used to being in those positions that he has totally forgot or no longer use to having a fight where you're really exchanging for more than 1-2 minutes at time. His muscle memory is now purely fights being in the clinch or on the ground in less than a minute. As much as someone can spend a whole camp training striking and being on the feet, the only time you really can get use to doing it is in a fight. I think that is what happened to Jon Jones later in his career as well as Ronda Rousey to the point where it looked like everytime Ronda got hit with a strike, she would freeze up and be stunned. That's not having a bad chin as much as you're not use to get hit AT ALL. Getting hit in sparring and get hit in a fight is very different. With Chimaev, since he is constantly advancing positions even when he starts off in dominant position, he is basically working the entirety of the round. Maybe that's one area he can improve on. He may be doing too much and that gasses out his arms and legs cause he was basically hauling around a 200 pound man for 5 whole minutes at a time. A Petr Yan can do that because that is his whole style and he himself is not carrying as much weight. However, it's not like Dricus was able to really do anything cause his arms and legs were spent too and you generate all your power from your hips. The few strikes he did land where basically arm punches. He's also not a one strike knockout fighter. That's just not him. 

IMO I would not be counting on the handful of openings that may or may not be presented over 25 minutes when you've already lost every second of every minute of the fight. MMA is a different beast in that yes, you can have what you had in the Prates/Neal and the Murphy/Pico fights. Shit can go left in a hurry. However, you cannot bet on that happening in a championship fight especially against fighters who are super dynamic. They may not be super efficient in every area, but they are at the very least capable. It's been a while since we had a one dimensional champion. Even with a Ngannou, by the time he became champion, he could stop takedowns and use his striking in a way to get to landing that big shot. So technically, even he wasn't one dimensional. Everyone can at least win based on one or two other things they're not primarily know for or figure out ways to implement what they do have when they get in a bind. Yes, most of the top ranked contenders are talented in some way. As Teddy Atlas has always said though about knockout artists/punchers in boxing, do you have a delivery system? Remember 25 years ago when David Tua was putting everyone to sleep and he was the next Tyson? Then he fought the supposedly mentally weak/glass jawed Lennox Lewis only to get soundly embarrassed over twelve rounds. Tua is the harder puncher by a country mile. Lennox Lewis was the much better fighter, and it was evident over the entire fight.

Yes, Dricus and Robert Whitaker infinitely better strikers than Khamzat. However, they didn't land one serious blow on him. He has fought a guy like Durinho who is a legit world BJJ champion (several times in no gi AND a gi). Didn't get submitted. So whenever you have to gameplan for Khamzat, it better be up to snuff. Otherwise, you have no chance other than the aforementioned puncher's chance that anyone has.

[The Natural]

Losene Keita misses weight, UFC debut vs. Patricio Pitbull at UFC Paris/UFC Fight Night: Imavov vs. Borralho is OFF. That's a really bad look.

[jaedmc]

Kaue Fernandes won via LEG KICKS in Round 1.  I've seen it a couple times before, but this was the first time I saw the victim need a wheel chair to take them out of the cage.

[Elsalvajeloco]

Maybe the Fighting Nerds won't save us all.

[SirFozzie]

was watching RYZ TV (one of those Free Ad-Supported TV networks on things like Samsung TV). In the space of 24 hours, they not only had slapfight, but Car-Jitsu. Yes, a MMA grappling competition where the ring is a mid-sized sedan car.

 

 

[zendragon]

I have a enough trouble staying injury free on a regular matt to try that nonsense 

[Lawful Metal]

Thicknesse v. Musasa had one of the most blatant intentional low blows I have ever seen and not even a fucking warning or a hard warning or shit.  Thicknesse bought himself 4 minutes of rest when he was getting teed off on.  Thicknesse even ended up winning the fight.  

Dude only threw one kick all fight and it was to the dickness.  

[Cobra Commander]

Think this fits here but I noticed UFC BJJ 3 streaming on YouTube. Didn't watch much of it. Event looked like it was taking place in a ring shaped like a skate park pit. A cameraman almost got wiped out on the edge once. Would "UFC event that just streams on YouTube" be around the lowest tier of the company? I don't know a lot about BJJ and I don't know if people really into it would like this or if it's someone's side project to take on some companies in Brazil or whatever

[The Natural]

UFC 320: Ankalaev vs. Pereira 2 today. Most looking forward to UFC Bantamweight Champion Merab Dvalishvili who has won 13 straight fights vs. Cory Sandhagen and Jiri Prochazka vs. Khalil Rountree Jr. Jiri Prochazka is one of my favourite MMA fighters ever. 31 wins. 30 by finish. 27 by KO. 3 by Submission. Hope he wins and Magomed Ankalaev defends the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship against Alex Pereira so we get Ankalaev vs. Prochazka as Prochazka has lost twice by TKO to Pereira already unless third time is the charm?

Edited October 5, 2025 by The Natural

[The Natural]

C'mon Jiri!

[The Natural]

8 hours ago, The Natural said:

C'mon Jiri!

What a comeback. Jiri two rounds down needed a finish and got it by KO. 32 wins. 31 by finish. 28 by KO. 3 by Submission. What a record especially the amount of finishes and KOs. 32-5-1.

Edited October 5, 2025 by The Natural