Mixed Martial Arts Megathread

The main card for UFC 186 was pretty meh, good thing I got some friends and family to split the costs on this one.

Johnson over Horiguichi (Dominated the entire fight ending it with a UFC record for latest stoppage win by submission at 4:59 in the 5th!)

-With that win it makes me wonder if the UFC or anybody can take on Mighty Mouse now that he's pretty much laid waste to most of the flyweight contenders. Maybe give Dodson a title shot again now that he has a few more fights on his belt in the UFC sounds like the most viable option but this really doesn't sell me on this fight if it headlines a main event.

I think at the moment the UFC have the Georges St. Pierre dilemma with Mighty Mouse where he's so good that he can easily win all his fights with decisions just with his quickness and cardio alone. I mean Mighty Mouse doesn't just go out for the decision win like Pierre but actually KO's and submits his opponent. Yet he's not in the same position of St. Pierre where he's beaten so called legends / high profile names in MMA like a Matt Hughes, nor is he the most popular fighter in his country like St. Pierre is. You can't really move him up in weight class cause he's literally too small to compete with bantamweight fighters. Demetrius Johnson should be mentioned in the same breathe as all the other UFC champions but other then outside MMA die hard fans he is still a relatively unknown.

Rampage over Maldonado (Decision)

Rampage looked old and gassy, but not as old and gassy than Maldonado. Some take away points from this fight is that Maldonado trained away from Brazil for this one and still looked rough. Rampage is throwing kicks again... whoever said you can't teach Rampage new tricks?

Bisping over Dollaway (Decision)

Good for him, Bisping could of gone the Florian route and called it a career and commentate all day on UFC pre-shows but fuck, that guy says he wants to be champion and is still determined to become one.

Madeski over Campbell (TKO)

Huge Surprise considering all the accolades Campbell has accrued in the Muai Thai realm. Madeski is still getting sued by Gegard Mousasi and a few other fighters over money so I'm sure Madeski could of used the win and cash to pay off people.

Almeida over Jabouin (TKO)

Almedia was super impressive and the techniques on those strikes at the end were so crisp. Definitely a name to look forward to in the Bantamweight division.

Rumors are swirling around that UFC 187 Jones vs. Rumble might not happen. There's alleged reports that Jon Jones was involved in a hit and run accident recently which might cause him to miss the bout.

Take this with a grain of salt but the news has found it's way to some of the more major sports blogs and outlets today.

http://fansided.com/2015/04/26/jon-jones-out-ufc-187/

* fuck biggest pr nightmare in UFC history. The alledged reports have Jon Jones running from a 3 car accident he caused in Albuquerque, New Mexico. One of the injured includes a pregnant woman, coke was said to have been found in his car.

# Check out this very long list of very hard things to accomplish from Rampage :P http://www.bjpenn.com/rampage-mission-wants-rematches-shogun-rashad-jon-jones/

@tdervan: If Jon Jones is out, I wouldn't mind seeing a Rampage vs. Rumble main event at 187. I think the only way UFC could get something like that done quickly is pay both boatloads of money to save the card.

@i_stay_puft:

They haven't called that off though right? I heard it was just rumors at this point and UFC has said it's waiting until it hears more to make a full comment.

@tdervan: Upgraded officially to a suspect in a hit and run. News is no longer in the pile of rumors and blogs and has been posted on ESPN & Yahoo Sports.

"...a fucking sport-killer"

Been saying for like 3 years Jon Jones is no good. Dude's like the biggest heel in the business and wants to play babyface. Seems like he fucks up in between literally every one of his fights.

Be pretty shitty if they had to cancel another PPV because of him.

Did you see the last PPV? If they didn't cancel UFC 186 when, pretty much, the entire main card dropped out then I don't know what will end UFC 187 at this point.

Edit: Actually, I take that last bit back. I don't want the injury bug to hurt Weidman or Vitor.

187 is loaded enough where even without the LHW title fight it's still a really really good event. Just throw DC in there against Rumble for an interim belt while you wait and see how much shit Jones is in. But if either Belfort or Weidman go down...Man, I hope Jacare & Rockhold are staying in top condition, put it like that.

Going back to what @i_stay_puft: said on UFC 186 though, I don't necessarily buy that Johnson is too small for Bantamweight. He would be a smaller Bantamweight, obviously, but he has wins over 2 all time 135 greats in the name of Kid Yamamoto & Miguel Torres, plus 2 wins over Joseph Benavidez who was at worst the 4th best 135 in the world before dropping down to Flyweight. And then there's the fact that he's so much better than he was for the first Ian McCall fight.

I'd totally be down for Demetrious Johnson Dominick Cruz rematch if Cruz can ever stay healthy. And if he could win that, well, I'd watch Johnson vs Dillashaw or Barao. He'd not be favoured in either of those fights but I think you'd be crazy to rule him out.

Strip the title and suspend Jones for a year, have him get his life straight. The UFC brought this on themselves as they have always defended his bad behavior creating a double standard between him and the other fighters.

I'd rather Jones stayed in, and if the case gets settled out of court which it probably will, then it'll result in no real consequential legal action. The UFC is under no obligation to remove him from the card apart from some good press, but think about how much his next fight has been mentioned now due to all this. A few people might be lost and might not buy it out of moral objection, but more will tune in now overall because of this I think. Plus fuck it, whatever, I wanna see him fight Rumble.

If the UFC lets him fight they would lose face within the MMA community and their corporate sponsors. Just 15 years ago they were fighting to be accepted by mainstream audience and sponsors, they now have that.You also would have to think about how their own MMA roster would respond if the champ was able to fight with this type of case still pending. Rumble Johnson and Thiago Silva both had to pull out of their fights when their domestic abuse arrests came to light I wouldn't see how this would be any different. If the UFC does diddly squate the double standard of the UFC will be loud and clear in the eyes of many.

I'm also no lawyer but he kinda fled from an accident he caused, which kinda sounds fishy in its own right. He ran up a hill, looked back and slouched over not cause of guilt for the other drivers but cause he left wads of cash in the car. Hah!

Personally I would want to see a fight as a fan but still man there's so much for the UFC to lose and sort out not to mention as others have said before this card is stacked. If this fight was postponed till fall and Rumble and Jones had to wait with nobody taking any other fights during the time don't tell me you wouldn't still buy this one.

@i_stay_puft: Yeah i think that may be a possibility, but I often think we overblow the possible ramifications of these kinds of controversies in MMA. We always seem to be waiting for the one thing that will sound the death knell and bring all the "human cockfighting" people back out the woodwork. I think MMA has reached a point where it is understood and respected enough to have moved past that, but that it is also not big or mainstream enough for a lot of these seemingly big issues to matter, to even register on a lot of people's radar. I simply think in the end, no one will really care what happens here with Jones apart from those within the community and at the end of the day, I already know the UFC is a shitty corp in the same way every corp is shitty, and I still watch it now. He seems like a shit person, but well, at least it's not another domestic abuse case. Whatever slightly lame consolation that may be.

Welp.

Woah, I was so wrong, they actually came down on him. Christ.

DC also replacing Jones, him against Rumble for the vacant title. This news makes me so happy.

EDIT:

From the Incredulous Cormier thread on Sherdog

Not incredibly surprised but still kudos to the UFC for actually stepping up and going through with this. Of course it is just gonna lead into some bullshit redemption story for Jones once his legal issues are sorted and he probably does a small stint in rehab.

Really hope Johnson wins the title just so there isn't the controversy with DC losing to Jones earlier but then becoming the champion.

The Notorious is so fantastic - watch this!

Ep 1 review -http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-stories/97-ufc/42264-the-notorious-episode-one-the-comeback-tv-report

Ep 2 review -http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-stories/97-ufc/42281-ufc-qthe-notoriousq-conor-mcgregor-ep-2-review

Ep 3 review -http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-stories/97-ufc/42298-ufc-qthe-notoriousq-conor-mcgregor-ep-3-review-conor-does-the-vince-walk

Watching Fight Night 65 prelims on my ipad while the NBA playoffs are playing on my tv. What a great submission win for Alex Chambers at the end of the third round. She was totally dominated throughout that fight and was able to win it with an armbar at the end.

So far this card has been pretty great and entertaining. The aussie cards always seem to be action packed and an awesome crowd that is respectful to all fighters, even if their dude looses. Sam Alvey so far has been the highlight so far, dude has some legit KO power and is a fun, entertaining dude overall; very funny on the mic and is personable. And Joe Martinez is great on the mic, every card he does I always think he should end up doing all UFC events, dude is just legit professional and puts the same effort into announcing every fight with enthusiasm. Buffer puts in zero effort for a lot of announcements, only for main cards does he actually do his shtick.

Early start on the Manilla card today in case MMA fans forgot. Most of the card is finished but Urijah Faber vs. Frankie Edgar match is starting on Fox Sports 1.

Now I know what F1 fans feel like, the matches started at 5 am today where I'm at.

It will be nice to have the card finished before noon where I am.

It's been mentioned on the broadcast but it's kinda insane how much bigger Faber looks over Edgar, which probably speaks volume to how good Edgar was when he was at Lightweight and fighting bigger opponents.

@i_stay_puft: Edgar to Flyweight?

hah 125 might be a bit too much weight cut. I think featherweight is the right class even if he were to drop to bantamweight at 135 he'd probably lose his speed advantage.

@i_stay_puft: I don't think he would lose anything at 135. I bet he could make 125 but he would lose the speed advantage to the top tier fighters.

@nightriff: You're probably right at 135, Dominick Cruz is 5'8 and has no issue with that weight cut. I just think 125 would leave him at a serious disadvantage. If Frankie wins this I just want to see him get a rematch with Aldo or punch in the face of Conor McGregor.

No clue who won that, both were evenly matched. I think you give it to Frankie cause of the amount of takedowns he had. Faber had a few shots on Frankie though.

Felt like Faber won the first two rounds and Edgar won the last three from takedowns and sheer volume. Can't help but think if Faber took some more risks he would of gotten in some huge shots since he did seem so much bigger but who knows. The card coming up next weekend is going to be nuts.

@marco724: Is it really? Normally I'd get excited about a card with 2 belts on the line but Rumble vs Cormier isn't really exciting me cause in the back of my mind no matter how they sell this as the "undisputed" Light Heavyweight Championship we all know Jon Jones is still champ until someone beats him. Hopefully Rumble wins it so we can maybe see Jones returns with a fight against Rumble. If Cormier wins it I can't imagine all the disservice he'd get cause of how he lost to Jones in December.

Weidman vs. Belfort doesn't interest me at all cause this is Belfort's first fight since getting off of TRT. This is literally Belfort's first fight in over 2 years. You are watching a prime Weidman fight a nearly 40 year old Belfort off of TRT.

Fight is stacked though so I'll buy it even though the 2 main events aren't selling me as they would. Donald Cerrone, Browne, Benevidez are there while the undercard is pretty good as well. You know what if I just watched the undercard I think I would end the night satisfied John Dodson, Urijah Hall, Dong Hyun Kim and Rose Namajunas are some of the fighters competing on the undercard.

Struggled to pay attention to this card. Just was rather dull combined with an early morning show I suppose. Neil Magny is the only guy that I come away with an impression of... think he seems pretty legit at this point. Main event was a snoozer to me. Frankie did what Frankie does but Uriah looked uninspired so I blame him. From what I was able to pay attention to I wouldn't give Uriah a single round so I'm not sure why some are thinking it was a close fight at any point.

@i_stay_puft: well this is coming from a guy that watches a lot of boxing, so my expectations for what is or isn't a good card might be a little less than most lol. You make some good points on the co-main/main event, however I'm still pretty anxious to see the whole thing through. I would love to eventually see Rockhold versus Weidman and Rumble versus Jones and I think this card will set these up down the line. If not Cormier, is there someone else you would have rather saw in this title fight? I kind of felt like this was the right move.

Almost thought Vitor had it but Chris Weidman is freaking huge in this division. He pretty much looked like Jon Jones on top with the ground and pound. All I can say is Belfort probably didn't deserve that title shot after sitting for two years but now we can finally get to Jacare or Rockhold challenging for the belt against Weidman.

Along with that Dana needs to give Cerrone a title shot and Arlovski looked might impressive.

Lol, just stick interim to that lightweight belt till Jones is back.

Best card in quite some time. Weidman is a beast.

That was a really good card overall. Andre Arlovski had a huge upset over Travis Brown, the two title bouts were entertaining and Cerrone needs a title shot now!

Genuinely didn't expect DC to win that. Bananas...

Hope you guys are watching the post fight press conference, hilarious.

Watched the recaps it was pretty funny! Ryan Bader's at it again!

http://mmajunkie.com/2015/05/ryan-bader-rushes-stage-at-ufc-187-post-fight-challenges-daniel-cormier-to-fight

@travisrex: Really? I mean, I was wishing so hard for Rumble to win because I'm not really interested in seeing Jones humiliate DC again when he comes back, but I knew DC was gonna wrestlefuck Rumble to a victory if he could withstand the early flurry.

Just didn't predict Rumble gassing hard after the second round.

And Bader is just doing what he has to do to get noticed. I believe wholeheartedly that DC will make quick work of him like he said he would, but there's really no one else that deserves a shot.

Indeed once Jones became champ it seems like everyone in the division either got old or just jumped to another weight class. There are still some names out there, I wouldn't mind seeing Gustaffson bounce back from his brutal loss to Rumble and maybe compete for a title shot again. You're right though in a perfect world Rumble would've won and none of these doubts to DC would creep up, unfortunately it didn't happen that way. DC had a winning gameplan and no way was he gonna box with Rumble especially with the belt on the line.

Condit looked fantastic on his return. So glad to see him back as he is easily one of the most entertaining fighters in all of MMA. Want to see a Woodley rematch that is 5 rounds. Both Condit and Bendo should always be in 5 round fights.

Great prelim fights on fox sports 1 so far. Fantastic late submission by Proctor.

Edit: Really hope you guys are enjoying this one, under and main card have been surprisingly awesome. That Brian Ortega is unreal, such heart.

double edit: damn, Joe Proctor got screwed out of a bonus, the fuhh..

Can't believed I skipped what people are calling potentially the card of the year. Fuck... hope these FS1 cards are uploaded quickly to fight pass.

That was possibly the greatest free main card I've ever seen! So many wild finishes in the first round and that Tavares/Ortega fight was legendary! Honda can still land H-bombs, Poirier looked great and Rothwell will likely compete with Danier Cormier for post fight interview of the year. So dumb but great!

@nightriff: I'm not gonna lie, I was planning on just watching the co-main and main event. I'm really glad I decided to turn on the prelims. It was a blast (for the vast majority of the fights) all the way through. For sure if you know someone who DVR'D it, watch it, it was fantastic.

@travisrex: I have fight pass...hope they upload it quickly so I can watch before my trial period runs out

@nightriff: Yeah, I got fight pass too, it usually take a month or two I feel like...

With what occurred yesterday it doesn't surprise me that Dan Henderson was able to lay out Tim Boetsch. If your opponent is slower than Dan, it's not that for him to put his right fist on Timmy's chin.

@i_stay_puft: he wasn't slower, he under estimated him and thought he could handle the h bomb. Biy was he wrong. Credit to Tim, he didn't completely get floored on that first punch.