MMA Thread/Betting

[AdamM]

After the awesomeness that was UFC 189, there was an inevitable come down in the barrage of cards since. Maybe it just felt like that because I had to binge watch about 9 hours of MMA, winding through all the commercials, pre/post fight interviews and links, etc just to fit it all in.

Stephen Thomson was impressive against Jake Ellenberger in the TUF finale. Thought the season was ok, but not great. I've been saying for years that a gym v gym concept would be a good one, but it'll need a bit of tweaking from this first attempt I think. Hope they give it another go in the future. That said, USA v Europe with Faber v McGregor could be a lot of fun.

Great to see Frank Mir still chalking up wins. Unlikely he'll ever reach the top again, but you never know with that HW division these days. Ferguson looked great too.

Lots of good looking UK/Ireland prospects on the Glasgow card. Duffy, Calderwood, Edwards and Ray all delivered. Shame about Ross Pearson. He was just on the end of a well executed game plan, and as for Bisping, it's not looking good in terms of another climb to the top IMO. I think he can continue to put away the likes of Dolloway, Leites, but Rockhold looked an entirely different class in their fight. I think calling out the entire top 5 in his post fight interview is optimistic. Looking above him in the rankings, the only one I see him beating is Kennedy, but that rematch probably doesn't make much sense for anyone. The rest look like a bad night for him. Machida could be interesting I suppose.

When's Diaz back from suspension? That's the fight I'd really like to see Bisping get.

The upcoming Dillashaw Barao card could be a belter looking at it. Apart from the main event, there's a lot of entertaining fighters on there.

[Marky147]

Thompson is a 'bad motherfucker', as Rogan said when asked on the podcast.

When you can hit as hard as Mir and co, anything is possible, which makes the division interesting.

I love Pearson, so was gutted that the guy managed to just keep him on the deck or hold onto him for the fight. Would like to see him fight again and hopefully spark him out.

Duffy looked about the best of the other Brits I thought, and will be interesting to see him crack on.

I've said for years that Bisping is always going to be the gatekeeper. He'll beat most of the division, but can't hang with the elite guys. Good for Dana, because he weeds pretenders out, is very good from a revenue persepctive, and he's 100% company man, too.

[GreekStein]

What does everyone like for tomorrow's card?

I think I'm gonna bet on Mir vs Arlovski

[AdamM]

Going Johnson, Mir, Manua in the final three fights

[Marky147]

Gutted that Rogan has to host, because it means no fight companion...

I like the odds of me being asleep before the main card kicks off

[AdamM]

13/1 on that

[Marky147]

13/1 on that

I'd have my net on at odds against, as 1/13 would be closer to the price

[AdamM]

I think Manua v Rumble is a close fight, but bookies have Rumble nailed on.
I also think Arlovski v Mir is a pick em

[Marky147]

I think Manua v Rumble is a close fight, but bookies have Rumble nailed on.
I also think Arlovski v Mir is a pick em

When there are bangers in the mix, I nearly always take the underdog.

[Honeybadger]

Demetrious Johnson looked pure class last night. I really like Paige VanZant too; she fights with complete joy, massive smile, loves the game.

Did anyone catch the Lineker vs Rivera fight on the undercard? Was absolute insanity, I couldn't believe what I was seeing lol.

Also, who subscribes to UFC Fight Pass? I'd highly recommend it. They have a huge back catalogue of fights. And a really good feature is that you have a slow-motion option. I love watching fights in slow-motion, either entire fights or just parts of them. You get a much better understanding of what is going on; which strikes actually connect, footwork, positioning etc. Especially good for really fast fighters like Rousey/Johnson. If you're very experienced with MMA then you probably take in all this stuff at real speed, but for someone like me who is just getting into MMA the slow-motion option is a brilliant learning resource.

That said, slow-motion of Rousey's armbar vs Tate (in their first fight) was a horrible experience, almost made me hurl. At full speed it is so fast that it does not look like anything much, but in slow-motion it is sickening. You can see Rousey stop applying pressure for a split second as she can see the arm is totally fucked, but then when Tate does not tap Rousey just keeps going and pretty much bends Tate's arm back on itself. Horrendous.

[Marky147]

He is a different gear, and can't see him being beat for a loooooong time.

Watching him fight in slow-motion might be like watching the higher weights at normal speed

Dana said that there were 200 punches thrown in 2 minutes, in the Lineker fight!

I watched an episode of a UFC programmes that showed all Rousey's defences, which included both Tate fights, and those armbars were sick.

Funny in the 'Go Big' press conference this weekend, where McGregor was causing chaos, and said he's going to move up after he retires Aldo.

Cerrone had a few choice words for him 'I'll bend your little ass over and knock the fucking lucky charms out of you'

[Honeybadger]

Haha, yeah I just watched that press conference this afternoon. Love McGregor, but thought he was massively over the top even by his standards.

The Aldo v McGregor fight is gonna be intriguing. I just can't decide how it will go. Maybe Aldo is just so much better than McGregor that it is going to be an embarrassing mis-match. Or maybe it will be a proper changing of the guard fight like Barão v Dillashaw where a seemingly invulnerable world champion was completely dominated by the challenger. Or maybe it will be ridiculously close and a brilliant fight.

I had one thought about the Aldo v McGregor fight that I would like to run past those guys who know more about MMA than me (probably all of you)... I gather Aldo is absolutely top notch on the ground, but ofc we have never really seen it in action because he stuffs almost every takedown attempt and is so dominant on his feet that he never goes for takedowns himself. My thought is that Aldo might surprise McGregor with a gameplan based on waiting for the right moment, then taking him down and submitting him. Assuming Aldo really does have a high level ground game, this would seem to be an excellent plan. McGregor's ground game is obviously not as strong as his stand-up game. Plus, McGregor will likely not prepare too much for Aldo taking the fight to the ground; and even if he does he will have little idea what to prepare for as we have never seen Aldo proactively use his ground game. At the very least, Aldo going for takedowns would give McGregor something else to think about and require him to focus on more than just Aldo's kicks and punches. Does this seem like something that could happen, or am I just completely naïve in thinking this?

[Honeybadger]

If there is any logic at all to my thinking above ^^ then (closer to the time obviously) Aldo to win by submission might be a great bet. He has no submissions in the UFC, very few people will be expecting it to happen (or betting on it) and the price could be way too big. Obviously it is a long way off, but forward thinking ftw etc. What you reckon?

[Marky147]

Yeah, I like him, but thought he was OTT, and I found it a little bit cringeworthy.

Trash talking to hype fights is all well and good, but telling everyone he could change their bum life, is a bit embarrassing. Especially when it isn't likely that he's going to fight them anytime soonl.

I think Barao looked broken in that last fight, and maybe he's one of the fighters trying to become accustomed to not having his juicebox.

Before his injury, Aldo was training with a guy that mimics McGregor's style of fighting, and it was gutting that he ended up pulling out.




Not a clue what will happen, but it will be a ridic fight!

[Honeybadger]

Cool video... the guy is moving exactly like McGregor!