The MMA/UFC Thread

[Mike5181]

Punk's probably going to get killed though.

 

[King Pietersen]

McCregor himself was only signed because Dana happened to be in Dublin one time, pretty much to get the European views on PPV. And he's gone on to dominate - when he wasn't really a dominant fighter before he was in the UFC.

You mean other than going on an 8 fight win streak after the Duffy fight, mostly in Cage Warriors, all 8 of those fights ending in a finish, with Conor winning belts in two weight classes on the way? Looks pretty dominant to me. Conor was the stand-out fighter on the UK and Ireland MMA scene and post-Duffy fight looked like a killer.

And yeah, Punk's getting embarrassed. I don't think he understands just how good a kid like Gall is. He's going to get sparked, which is a shame, I like the guy, but he should have stayed in Wrestling.

 

[hendrix]

You mean other than going on an 8 fight win streak after the Duffy fight, mostly in Cage Warriors, all 8 of those fights ending in a finish, with Conor winning belts in two weight classes on the way? Looks pretty dominant to me. Conor was the stand-out fighter on the UK and Ireland MMA scene and post-Duffy fight looked like a killer.

And yeah, Punk's getting embarrassed. I don't think he understands just how good a kid like Gall is. He's going to get sparked, which is a shame, I like the guy, but he should have stayed in Wrestling.

You might be right, and I certainly think he's a very good fighter. My point was more that he's come into the UFC from outside and completely dominated.

It kinda goes to show that the fighters in the UFC are not necessarily all that great. Some of them are very good, but really it comes down to who Dana gets on contract. In comparison with other sports where like boxing where if you're good enough you just find yourself a promoter.

RE: CM Punk - the cynic in me thinks they'll chuck him on a bunch of drugs and give him a win, because it's profitable. The other thing is that professional wrestlers are pretty good athletes. Yes it's all fake, but you still have to be strong and coordinated enough to do the actual moves.

 

[King Pietersen]

You look down the champions though, and not all of them are hand-picked marketable champions. DJ, DC, Miocic, Alvarez, Woodley and Nunes would not be Dana's first choice of Champs I'm sure, but they're all immensely talented fighters with strong bases and superb all-round games. Demetrious Johnson might well be the most effective striker in the history of MMA. His movement, speed, defense and power for his weight class is just incredible. The UFC are also trying to sign more legitmate guys. They've finally got Henry Cejudo on board, they've signed heavyweight Olympic bronze medallist freestyle wreslter Bilyal Makhov who looks like an absolute killer, and then they've got guys like DC, Henderson, Romero and Lombard who are all olympians. At the end of the day though it's a business, and marketability of a fighter always has an impact on promoting fights.

As for Punk. No amount of drugs will prepare him for what he's going to face. They're not feeding him a bum. Mickey Gall is a tough mother****er. Has a perfect record in MMA thus far, and absolutely starched Mike Jackson in his UFC debut. Punk better be ready because he's facing a seriously tough guy who has been training for many years. This is no gimme fight for Punk, they're throwing him in the deep end.

 

[Uppercut]

I think Hendrix is completely right that the system is rigged towards marketability and subject to the whims of a total arsehole, and the sport has almost no integrity or legitimacy as a result.

That said, I think he's understating the quality of the UFC's fighters in practice. And overstating the fairness of the Boxing system in comparison.

 

[hendrix]

I think Hendrix is completely right that the system is rigged towards marketability and subject to the whims of a total arsehole, and the sport has almost no integrity or legitimacy as a result.

That said, I think he's understating the quality of the UFC's fighters in practice. And overstating the fairness of the Boxing system in comparison.

It's not that I think the boxing system is fair at all. Just comparing the strengths and weaknesses.

 

[King Pietersen]

I think Hendrix is completely right that the system is rigged towards marketability and subject to the whims of a total arsehole, and the sport has almost no integrity or legitimacy as a result.

That said, I think he's understating the quality of the UFC's fighters in practice. And overstating the fairness of the Boxing system in comparison.

I do agree to some extent. I do think the UFC favour marketability when making fights, but don't think that takes away from the legitimacy. The integrity maybe, they've made a few very questionable decisions recently which have hurt their integrity, but the sport hasn't lost any of its legitimacy. As much as it's "rigged" towards marketability, you still have to win fights against the toughest fighters on the planet. Nobody wins a UFC title on marketability alone.

 

[hendrix]

you still have to win fights against the toughest fighters on the planet.

My point is that they're not the toughest fighters on the planet.

 

[Spikey]

CM Punk was never really an athlete like some of the other guys (and certainly isn't a drug taker), and now he's 37. he's gonna get killed but hey he was totally over wrestling, he enjoys the product and wanted to do it, and UFC gave him the opportunity for whatever reason.

 

[Uppercut]

Dan Henderson getting a title shot is the glaring recent example, having been kept on life support with a steady diet of suitable match ups for years. If he wins they'll give it the whole OMG HE WON THE TITLE AT THE AGE OF 73. But who cares? It's a story they wrote themselves.

 

[King Pietersen]

 

[Dan]

CM Punk was never really an athlete like some of the other guys (and certainly isn't a drug taker), and now he's 37. he's gonna get killed but hey he was totally over wrestling, he enjoys the product and wanted to do it, and UFC gave him the opportunity for whatever reason.

Money, crossover appeal etc.

And yeah the idea of Punk being on a stack of PEDs amuses me.

 

[King Pietersen]

2nd episode of Evolution of Punk

 

[King Pietersen]

Latest episode of Evolution of Punk. Here, he looks sad as he reads mean tweets.

 

[hendrix]

Jesus he doesn't even know how to punch properly.

They'll chuck him on some juice and give him the W I reckon.

 

[King Pietersen]

How is putting him on juice going to help his technique?

 

[hendrix]

It's not but it will mean he can train way longer and harder, and give him the strength to wrestle the dude the whole match, and will give him way more endurance across the length of the fight.

 

[King Pietersen]

Just being able to train a bit longer and recover a bit quicker isn't going to help Punk suddenly make huge leaps in technique. Steroids aren't a super-power. Also, Punk is straight-edge, he isn't taking roids.

 

[hendrix]

Also, Punk is straight-edge, he isn't taking roids.

lol i'm not sure what this has to do with anything

 

[King Pietersen]

“I don’t think it’s a secret [that] I’m straight edge. I have been, my entire life. I think if you use drugs and you’re a professional athlete, you’re a ***** … I just really feel that, I know everybody wants that competitive edge and they want to be better and stuff like that, but at the end of the day, you’ve gotta look at yourself in the mirror. I don’t know how some of these guys are doing that and still being proud of who they are.

“The flip side of that is, the supplement **** scares the **** out of me, because hey, who knows? There’s a dozen guys saying they had a tainted supplement. Maybe one of [them is telling the truth]. I don’t f*ckin’ know. But you know what I do? I just don’t take supplements.

“It is what it is. Don’t do drugs.”

I know guys have said stuff like that before, but I believe him. Punk's not going to take roids, and the point remains, even if he did they're not going to lead him to making the giant leaps in technique he's going to have to make to become competitive.