The MMA Thread

[Smug Panther]

Justin is the man, what great fight. Rose probably lost imo and Usman looked very beatable

 

[Wizardman]

Justin fought a great fight.....Chandler has some great tools....just lost one great fight to a walking zombie and the other one to the champ. Chandler is one of many beasts in that division.

Rose definitely lost that fight in my eyes. First three rounds was Welli, 4th was tight...but Rose did not do a lot on the ground. She won that fight purely because she held the belt.

Usman looked human from round three onwards. Colby is a tough bastard though.

 

[Valheru]

Colby is easily the 2nd best Welterwight in the world and is closer to Usman IMO then he is to whoever is number 3 in the world.

I had him winning 5 of the 10 rounds they have fought. The problem he has is that Usman can take his best punches but he can't take Usman's. That normally wouldn't be a problem for Colby as he has that issue with others like Woodley, Masvidal etc. but in those cases he just takes them to the ground and wrestles the shit out of them. Usman has unparalleled ground defence so the fight stays standing which he is unlikely to win.

I personally scored this fight 10-9, 10-8, 9-10, 9-10, 9-10 for a 47-47 draw but can understand round 3 going either way. None of the judges gave round 2 to Usman 10-8 which I find mystifying and I have no idea what the judge who scored 49-46 was looking at.

It was nice to see some contrition from Colby once it was done. I see Usman moving up a division in the not too distant future (only Edwards and Chimaev really offer an intriguing fight at this point) so he will get another chance but has to beat a few contenders first.

 

[Jono078]

I only care to see Khamzat vs Usman at this point in all honesty.

I know Khamzat’s competition hasn’t been great but it still feels like it’ll be the unstoppable force vs the immovable object.

No chance of Usman at 185 whilst Izzy is there.

 

[Valheru]

If Izzy beats Whittaker again, what is left for him at 185? There are less intriguing fights for him at 185 than Usman has at 170 IMO

I expect he will move up to 205 full time and try to get that Jon Jones fight.

 

[Smug Panther]

Rob is a chance if he fighters smarter

 

[Smug Panther]

Yair went pretty well but didn't have the cardio to go with Max. Max seems to be avoiding the Volkanovski rematch which is smart because he won't win

 

[shiznit]

Super Proud of Rob… he showed that the first fight was just a bad night at the office and he deserved to be in the cage with Izzy…

I had Izzy winning 4-1… maybe 3-2 if I’m being generous to Rob… but I just think Izzy is terrible style match up for Rob.

IMO… Rob beats everyone at MW and WW not named Izzy or Wonderboy…

i actually think if Rob went back down to WW he could beat Usman… his style is Taylor made to beat wrestlers… he just can’t beat the absolute elite of the elite strikers… the pinnacle dudes at striking.

 

[Jono078]

Super Proud of Rob… he showed that the first fight was just a bad night at the office and he deserved to be in the cage with Izzy…

I had Izzy winning 4-1… maybe 3-2 if I’m being generous to Rob… but I just think Izzy is terrible style match up for Rob.

IMO… Rob beats everyone at MW and WW not named Izzy or Wonderboy…

i actually think if Rob went back down to WW he could beat Usman… his style is Taylor made to beat wrestlers… he just can’t beat the absolute elite of the elite strikers… the pinnacle dudes at striking.

Basically agree with all of this.

 

[Wizardman]

I thought Rob just edged Izzy. In saying that, a belt should not be won with a challenger edging a win. I don't think Rob did quite enough to win the belt. Congratulations to Izzy....a man that has really grown on me as time has gone on. It is one thing to have good reach, it is another thing to use it properly.......Izzy is an absolute master of using it to its absolute advantage.

How about Tai though? I have never heard the pub I go to for big events go off as nuts as they did with the Tai ko. EVERYBODY in the pub went right off their rockers! I've seen multiple main event fights where the pub did not react as much as this afternoon. I moment I won't forget.

 

[Jono078]

I actually don't understand those saying Rob won. I felt Izzy was in control the majority of time and Rob landed maybe a handful of solid strikes the entire fight. He also didn't do a lot with his grappling.

For me the only clear round for Rob was round 5 but the rest were Izzy's even though maybe 1 or 2 of them you could say Rob. Izzy probably have done more but he did what he needed to and was calculated.

Khamzat has told Izzy he's coming.. I think that'd be super interesting tbh.

 

[shiznit]

The problem for Khamzat is the same problem for the rest of the MW division….

Robert Whittaker! Khamzat will have to get past Rob… and Rob’s combination of striking and defensive wrestling make him almost impossible to beat for wrestling focused guys.

he forces them to strike with him… and Rob has very high level striking… not quite Izzy level… but still miles better than 90% of the fighters on the roster.

 

[Wizardman]

The only negative with Khamzat is that he has faced pretty poor opposition so far. In saying that, he has dealt with them as ruthlessly as I've seen a fighter do in a while. He is still very much an unknown quantity.....but my goodness he looks great.

 

[Jono078]

I think Khamzat is the real deal and I want them to progress him as quick as they did Conor. I'm so keen to see him hopefully fight Usman and Adesanya.

EDIT: and to @shiznit point, Whittaker would be a great challenge for Khamzat! Rob has fought wrestlers but none like Khamzat I don't think.

 

[Wizardman]

I think Khamzat is the real deal and I want them to progress him as quick as they did Conor. I'm so keen to see him hopefully fight Usman and Adesanya.

EDIT: and to @shiznit point, Whittaker would be a great challenge for Khamzat! Rob has fought wrestlers but none like Khamzat I don't think.

Im still holding off judgement unit I see him fight someone who has some resilience who punches back. I've seen talents who have folded at the first sign of an opponent punching back before. Great signs....but still know too little about how he'd even go past one round. He may well lose gas very quickly.

 

[shiznit]

I think Khamzat is the real deal and I want them to progress him as quick as they did Conor. I'm so keen to see him hopefully fight Usman and Adesanya.

EDIT: and to @shiznit point, Whittaker would be a great challenge for Khamzat! Rob has fought wrestlers but none like Khamzat I don't think.

Whittaker has done 10 rounds with Yoel Romero… and Yoel who was actually doing something unlike when he fought Izzy.

Yoel’s wrestling is better than Khamzat’s…

Khamzat has a few big tests at MW before he gets to Izzy’s level… I mean he would probably need to beat a Paulo Costa, Brunson or Vettori… just to get the opportunity to fight Whittaker.

I think Alex Pereira is the guy the UFC will try and build… he’s the only person to have KO’d Izzy…

but he needs to prove himself against good wrestlers first.

 

[Wizardman]

Whittaker has done 10 rounds with Yoel Romero… and Yoel who was actually doing something unlike when he fought Izzy.

Yoel’s wrestling is better than Khamzat’s…

Khamzat has a few big tests at MW before he gets to Izzy’s level… I mean he would probably need to beat a Paulo Costa, Brunson or Vettori… just to get the opportunity to fight Whittaker.

I think Alex Pereira is the guy the UFC will try and build… he’s the only person to have KO’d Izzy…

but he needs to prove himself against good wrestlers first.

Pereira looks like a bit of med to long term project. He looks like he needs a LOT of work on his wrestling and take down defence in particular.

 

[Valheru]

Super Proud of Rob… he showed that the first fight was just a bad night at the office and he deserved to be in the cage with Izzy…

I had Izzy winning 4-1… maybe 3-2 if I’m being generous to Rob… but I just think Izzy is terrible style match up for Rob.

IMO… Rob beats everyone at MW and WW not named Izzy or Wonderboy…

i actually think if Rob went back down to WW he could beat Usman… his style is Taylor made to beat wrestlers… he just can’t beat the absolute elite of the elite strikers… the pinnacle dudes at striking.

I think 3-2 was a fair assessment, Rob won round 2 IMO.

Rob kind of has the same problem Colby has in the WW division, as you pointed out above, the champion is a terrible match up for him even though he is clearly the next best and will beat anyone else in the division. Izzy is just too tall and evasive for Rob. Even though Rob got him down a few times he didn't have the strength and leverage to keep him there. Rob is a small MW unlike Jan who is a fairly big LHW and was able to take izzy down (and keep him there) with authority.

I really like Rob going back down to WW from here if he can cut weight safely. I agree he would be a massive issue for Usman and he probably only needs 1 or 2 wins to earn a shot.

On Izzy, he will fight Cannonier next which is really the last legit contender there is at the moment. I'm not sure if he will try LHW again as he just does not have the power to be competitive there IMO.

 

[Valheru]

I actually don't understand those saying Rob won. I felt Izzy was in control the majority of time and Rob landed maybe a handful of solid strikes the entire fight. He also didn't do a lot with his grappling.

For me the only clear round for Rob was round 5 but the rest were Izzy's even though maybe 1 or 2 of them you could say Rob. Izzy probably have done more but he did what he needed to and was calculated.

Khamzat has told Izzy he's coming.. I think that'd be super interesting tbh.

I don't think you can say he won, it was a competitive fight though.

IMO round 2 has to go to Rob, that was the closest of the rounds and you reward the takedown when picking a winner there. Round 1 was clearly Izzy and round 5 clearly Rob. Rounds 3 and 4 were close but Izzy was the more effective and efficient.

 

[Valheru]

How about Tai though? I have never heard the pub I go to for big events go off as nuts as they did with the Tai ko. EVERYBODY in the pub went right off their rockers! I've seen multiple main event fights where the pub did not react as much as this afternoon. I moment I won't forget.

Tai must have one of the hardest jaws in the world. Lewis smacked him multiple times and he just ate it up and swung back.

He should take the 3 ranking now. I would like to see him against a more skilled HW next as opposed to fighting someone that mirrors his own style. Miocic or the winner of blaydes/daukus makes sense, possibly for an interim belt if Francis is going to be on the shelf for a while due to injury and contract issues.

Jon Jones is of course the wild card in the HW picture.