General UFC Chit Chat/News

DrPhilG

Ush1 wrote: »

Andersons camp are more interested in Luke Rockhold. Rockhold wants to rematch Jacare though next.

Anderson's camp are full of waffle. They know damn well (it's been widely publicised) that no SF fighters are in a position to move for the time being.

Zero-Cool

What!? Mir will fight Cormier in Strikeforce in October??

John Morgan from USA Today confirmed that
Daniel Cormier will meet Frank Mir inside the hexagon at a
soon-to-be-announced Strikeforce card in late October

http://middleeasy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8615%3Aoh-wow-frank-mir-vs-daniel-cormier-is-going-down-in-strikeforce&catid=34%3Aorganizations

p to the e

sheehy83 wrote: »

What!? Mir will fight Cormier in Strikeforce in October??



http://middleeasy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8615%3Aoh-wow-frank-mir-vs-daniel-cormier-is-going-down-in-strikeforce&catid=34%3Aorganizations

I find this to be kind of a "nothing" fight. Mir has shown he can't last with the top few heavy-weights in the UFC and it should be the same with Cormier. If he does manage to beat Cormier then the Strikeforce HW division is being dropped anyway so he'll have a useless belt.

I don't know if Cormier wins if it will guarantee he gets a shot at the UFC belt (he probably won't fight Cain if he beats Dos Santos) and if Mir wins he's still a long way away from another title shot so this match up just seems to be a "what the hell we'll just make up a random fight" decision. I think Werdum might have been a better prospect as it pushes one fighter or another nearer to the title shot.

Zero-Cool

Man, Mir is my favourite fighter but I see a one way beatdown here from Cormier.

I figured this would have been a good fight for Cormier's UFC debut, Mir acting as HW gatekeeper for Cormier to prove himself (not that it's really needed). Strange the fight is in Strikeforce.

ASJ112

I don't know if Cormier wins if it will guarantee he gets a shot at the UFC belt (he probably won't fight Cain if he beats Dos Santos)

The HW division is going to be quite interesting over the next 12-15 months. I think Cain has a good chance against JDS, but there is no chance these AKA guys are going to fight each other. I'd imagine Overeem will get the next title shot and then Cormier(maybe fights Werdum for #1 contender depending on the schedule).

Throw Barnett, Carwin, Browne into the mix, and there are going to be some fun fights.


Was watching video chat with Luke Thomas from MMAFighting, mentions at the 1 hour 08 minute mark that Cain and Cormier would fight for the belt, says Koscheck told him this.

http://www.mmafighting.com/2012/7/25/3186192/live-chat-ufc-on-fox-4-invicta-2-and-ufc-middleweight-discussion

smilerf

ASJ112 wrote: »

I don't know if Cormier wins if it will guarantee he gets a shot at the UFC belt (he probably won't fight Cain if he beats Dos Santos)

The HW division is going to be quite interesting over the next 12-15 months. I think Cain has a good chance against JDS, but there is no chance these AKA guys are going to fight each other. I'd imagine Overeem will get the next title shot and then Cormier(maybe fights Werdum for #1 contender depending on the schedule).

Throw Barnett, Carwin, Browne into the mix, and there are going to be some fun fights.

think big Ben will get better too

Be like Nutella

Love Cormier... totally outsized has no right to be winning his fights and does anyway coz he's fearless and throws a punch that would kill a horse. He beats Mir easily but he doesn't beat Dos or Ubereem under any circumstances but I'd watch any match up he's in. Cormier wasn't arsed with his final SF contract fight but now this gives him more exposure and prob money when alls said n done.. and this is prob Dana's intention... raise him up, keep him happy to build his profile v the top guys in the UFC.. the dream fight for Dana is deffo Cain v Cormier down the road.. I'd love that one.. Cain wins I reckon, he was so scary against Silva.. never saw a man more intent on killing someone there was no way anyone was beating him that night he was so focused and angry I actually peaked through my fingers watching that one in case he tore Silva's heart out and ate it live on ESPN.

Mellor

DrPhilG wrote: »

Anderson's camp are full of waffle. They know damn well (it's been widely publicised) that no SF fighters are in a position to move for the time being.

Exactly.
Widely known, and calling over Rockhold over Weidman, is just to belittle Weidman when he gets the shot.

sheehy83 wrote: »

Man, Mir is my favourite fighter but I see a one way beatdown here from Cormier.

I figured this would have been a good fight for Cormier's UFC debut, Mir acting as HW gatekeeper for Cormier to prove himself (not that it's really needed). Strange the fight is in Strikeforce.

the HWGP winner was contracted to at least one defense in SF. Shifting Mir over is to give it some gravitas and avoid him fightign a typical SF can.

scudzilla

Mellor wrote: »

Exactly.
Widely known, and calling over Rockhold over Weidman, is just to belittle Weidman when he gets the shot.



the HWGP winner was contracted to at least one defense in SF. Shifting Mir over is to give it some gravitas and avoid him fightign a typical SF can.

But on the other side of the coin no way would Mir be doin this for the good of his health, must have been promised something good, like a shot if he wins

Mellor

Prob a big pay packet. He knows he isn;t getting near a title shot anytime soon, if ever again

pauldoo

Mir will have to go on a serious run to get near a title shot again. His last 2 title shots have been very one sided. Hes one of my favourite fighters, but hes on the slide. I think he could do with changing camp and dropping 15-20 pounds, he was better when he was lighter, could move a lot better. Putting on the bulk to deal with the likes of Carwin and Lesnar has played against him i think.

El Guapo!

Silvas manager has said they'd be interested in fighting Rich Franklin!!

With Chael Sonnen vanquished, the next challenger to Anderson Silva's coveted middleweight belt is one of the hot topics in MMA. Yesterday Bloody Elbow told you about Silva's manager Jorge Guimaraes scoffed at the idea of fighting the likes of Chris Weidman, Luke Rockhold, or any other top contenders in either the UFC or Strikeforce. Today co-manager Ed Soares discussed with MMA Junkie who he would like to see the greatest middleweight of all-time fight, and one of the answers may surprise you:

Another name that Soares said fans are overlooking as a potential contender is former champ Rich Franklin

"The only guy that Rich Franklin has ever lost to at 185 pounds is Anderson," Soares said. "So when you look at the 185-pound division, he's definitely up in the mix as far as a contender. I think [Silva would] be interested in fighting Franklin again, just simply because he respects Rich a lot, and he feels that Rich was the guy that gave him the opportunity to fight for the belt."

Soares, like Guimaraes, also brought up the possibility of fighting UFC Welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre:

But perhaps the most attractive fight on the market at this moment, Soares said, is a superfight with welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre, which has been on the radar screen for more than a year as the two have continued to decimate their respective divisions.

Again, Soares stated that Silva vs. GSP, should it ever happen, would probably involve Silva dropping to 170 or agreeing at a catchweight in-between the two weight classes.

Personally I feel much of this is grandstanding nonsense from Soares. A Rich Franklin rubber match would be one of the most absurd things the UFC could possibly create. Franklin last fought at middleweight in 2008, and is 5-3 at various fights at LHW and three catchweight bouts since losing to Silva the 2nd time. I understand that Franklin's only MW losses are both to Anderson, but at 37 and having such an extended break from the division, it's highly unlikely Franklin is a contender at 185. If the UFC even had an inkling that Franklin could make one last push for the title, they wouldn't have originally scheduled him against Cung Le. And the first two fights between Silva and Franklin were so incredibly lopsided that it makes zero sense to even do a special 3rd fight as a non-title.

As for fighting Georges St. Pierre? I fear that ship has sailed. This fight has never been remotely close to being made and GSP is coming off over a year of inactivity due to injury. He still has the issue of fighting credible challengers in his division, including Carlos Condit, Johny Hendricks, Martin Kampmann, and Jake Ellenberger. I certainly won't complain if GSP vs. Anderson becomes reality, but Soares' comment just reeks of classic manager rhetoric.

Source

As much as I like Franklin this fight would be ridiculous imo. Franklin isn't anywhere near the level he needs to be to deserve a shot at Silva.
I think Silva is nearing the end of his career and doesn't want to risk losing to any legitimate contenders. I reckon he wants to finish on a high with an easy victory, or at least a big payday with a superfight (GSP......which I think he knows will never happen).
The superfight talk is just that.....all talk. I notice there was no talk of a superfight against Jones. He probably sees Jones as more of a threat than GSP and plus he knows GSP is in no position to take that fight right now.

tonymontana82

alright lads, nick diaz`s camp just came out saying that they want to him to fight anderson silva next. thats 1 fight i can see the ufc been interested in considering there are no other big ppv draws in that division for anderson. and its also a fight that could happen alot sooner then say a fight with gsp because of the way the welterweight division is beginning to stack up.

ASJ112

Why would the UFC be interested ? Nick Diaz screwed them over multiple times with the GSP fight, and I don't imagine he is going to suddenly start playing nice with press conferences and media if he got the fight. He is a 170lber who didn't exactly have the most exciting last fight. The UFC rarely have guys jump up in weight, and never fight for the title after a loss.

Diaz is hardly a PPV draw himself, I'd venture that Silva vs Bisping would probably do as good or even better in PPV buys. The list of current challengers would give Silva a more competitive fight too.

The GSP fight is never going to happen, and this is clearly an attempt at Cesar Gracie talking more nonsense to keep his fighter in the headlines. Isn't Diaz banned till February ? No way the UFC are going to wait that long for Silva's next fight. Surely he is going to have some serious trouble, and drug testing, if he were to get the Nevada state commission to accept the fight, thus potentially jeopardising it.

Lets just say he does get the fight, and wins. Diaz is going to get destroyed by the likes of Weidman, Munoz, Sonnen, and any half decent wrestler. And of course Silva would destroy him so it wouldn't even get that far.

tonymontana82

ASJ112 wrote: »

Why would the UFC be interested ? Nick Diaz screwed them over multiple times with the GSP fight, and I don't imagine he is going to suddenly start playing nice with press conferences and media if he got the fight. He is a 170lber who didn't exactly have the most exciting last fight. The UFC rarely have guys jump up in weight, and never fight for the title after a loss.

Diaz is hardly a PPV draw himself, I'd venture that Silva vs Bisping would probably do as good or even better in PPV buys. The list of current challengers would give Silva a more competitive fight too.

The GSP fight is never going to happen, and this is clearly an attempt at Cesar Gracie talking more nonsense to keep his fighter in the headlines. Isn't Diaz banned till February ? No way the UFC are going to wait that long for Silva's next fight. Surely he is going to have some serious trouble, and drug testing, if he were to get the Nevada state commission to accept the fight, thus potentially jeopardising it.

Lets just say he does get the fight, and wins. Diaz is going to get destroyed by the likes of Weidman, Munoz, Sonnen, and any half decent wrestler. And of course Silva would destroy him so it wouldn't even get that far.

well 1st off, i dont think the gsp fight will happen either, neither fighter has expressed a real interest.And of course the ufc would be interested in a diaz/silva fight, i didnt say it would be the next fight for both fighters either.

To say that a bisping/silva fight would be the same as a diaz/silva fight in terms of ppv`s is nuts, they wouldnt even be close.Diaz is a huge ppv draw.I know well diaz would probably get mauled by the likes of even munoz but the ufc will always be attracted to the huge fights. if it did happen they would probably give him an easy fight 1st in that weight division, (although after seen what happened with lombard maybe not) .

Who else in the middleweight division is left besides weidman that really stands out?? silva only has maybe a couple of fights left & surely 1 of those fights will be against another top ppv seller.
Im just going by the previous history of the company, they gave lesnar an easy run over his status & were also trying to build lombard up to be the next top guy until an average tim boetsch messed things up.

And as far as the whole drugs thing goes, i didnt see that effect sonnens quick return to a title shot.

El Guapo!

More posturing from the Silva camp. Diaz is extremely overrated and the only way this fight would end is by brutal ko by Silva. It'll never happen.

tonymontana82

Dean09 wrote: »

More posturing from the Silva camp. Diaz is extremely overrated and the only way this fight would end is by brutal ko by Silva. It'll never happen.

I agree silva would destroy him, but that doesn't mean the fight wouldn't happen. There are plenty of fighters extremely overrated in that division, munoz, stann, boetsch etc... But I'd much prefer he fight some1 like Diaz than those 3.

ASJ112

And of course the ufc would be interested in a diaz/silva fight

I'd love to know why you think they would be(a reason beside PPV numbers) ?

To say that a bisping/silva fight would be the same as a diaz/silva fight in terms of ppv`s is nuts, they wouldnt even be close.Diaz is a huge ppv draw.

No its not. Bisping has around 14 fights in the UFC, has coached TUF twice and been on it once. He has been the main and co-main event for PPVs and a lot of non-PPV shows, he also sells really well in crappy UK shows. Simply being on the UFC 100 main card(and being beautifully KOed) helped increase his appeal. This adds up to Bisping having a load more exposure than Diaz. While Diaz is clearly a more interesting fighter inside and outside of the cage than most others, he simply isn't known as well as you think he is. Most UFC fans don't watch Strikeforce/Bellator

As for being a huge PPV draw, this is definitely untrue, and the figures prove it.

UFC 137 Penn vs Diaz only did 280,000 buys, and the numbers would have been even lower if Penn wasn't his opponent. Silva himself wasn't as big of a PPV draw as you would expect either, Sonnen hugely helped him in that regard.

If you look at the Strikeforce ratings, he wasn't even their best fighter for ratings there(and all his fights have been title fights which always helps ratings).

"Strikeforce: Silva vs. Fedor" (February 2011): 741,000 viewers
"Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg" (August 2009): 576,000
"Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg" (January 2011): 561,000
"Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley" (April 2011): 528,000

His fight vs Noons only got 350,000 viewers too.

Who else in the middleweight division is left besides weidman that really stands out?? silva only has maybe a couple of fights left & surely 1 of those fights will be against another top ppv seller.

Nobody at MW(including Diaz, Rockhold etc) will be a PPV seller. Silva would have to fight the #1 LHW contender or Jones if he wants a huge PPV fight.

And as far as the whole drugs thing goes, i didnt see that effect sonnens quick return to a title shot.

My point in regards to the drug testing was that Diaz clearly smokes marijuana during his training camps, he is definitely going to be targeted for "random" drug testing by Nevada, which will show he has failed, and thus forcing the fight to be cancelled. The UFC are not going to take that risk, and realistically Diaz is not going to stop smoking for 2-4 months.

tonymontana82

ASJ112 wrote: »

And of course the ufc would be interested in a diaz/silva fight

I'd love to know why you think they would be(a reason beside PPV numbers) ?

To say that a bisping/silva fight would be the same as a diaz/silva fight in terms of ppv`s is nuts, they wouldnt even be close.Diaz is a huge ppv draw.

No its not. Bisping has around 14 fights in the UFC, has coached TUF twice and been on it once. He has been the main and co-main event for PPVs and a lot of non-PPV shows, he also sells really well in crappy UK shows. Simply being on the UFC 100 main card(and being beautifully KOed) helped increase his appeal. This adds up to Bisping having a load more exposure than Diaz. While Diaz is clearly a more interesting fighter inside and outside of the cage than most others, he simply isn't known as well as you think he is. Most UFC fans don't watch Strikeforce/Bellator

As for being a huge PPV draw, this is definitely untrue, and the figures prove it.

UFC 137 Penn vs Diaz only did 280,000 buys, and the numbers would have been even lower if Penn wasn't his opponent. Silva himself wasn't as big of a PPV draw as you would expect either, Sonnen hugely helped him in that regard.

If you look at the Strikeforce ratings, he wasn't even their best fighter for ratings there(and all his fights have been title fights which always helps ratings).

"Strikeforce: Silva vs. Fedor" (February 2011): 741,000 viewers
"Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg" (August 2009): 576,000
"Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg" (January 2011): 561,000
"Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley" (April 2011): 528,000

His fight vs Noons only got 350,000 viewers too.

Who else in the middleweight division is left besides weidman that really stands out?? silva only has maybe a couple of fights left & surely 1 of those fights will be against another top ppv seller.

Nobody at MW(including Diaz, Rockhold etc) will be a PPV seller. Silva would have to fight the #1 LHW contender or Jones if he wants a huge PPV fight.

And as far as the whole drugs thing goes, i didnt see that effect sonnens quick return to a title shot.

My point in regards to the drug testing was that Diaz clearly smokes marijuana during his training camps, he is definitely going to be targeted for "random" drug testing by Nevada, which will show he has failed, and thus forcing the fight to be cancelled. The UFC are not going to take that risk, and realistically Diaz is not going to stop smoking for 2-4 months.

Well in my opinion Diaz vs silva is still way bigger than the bisping fight, Im a big fan of mike don't get me wrong but it's in the states where it matters & on other mma forums you will see the difference , if you checked your facts you will see thy Diaz has a medical card issued to use weed legally, he just didn't put it forward to the commission. I'm not saying he deserves the fight, I'm just being openminded about it.

ASJ112

if you checked your facts you will see thy Diaz has a medical card issued to use weed legally, he just didn't put it forward to the commission

Just because he has a medical card for it doesn't mean the commission are going to automatically let him use it. He needs to apply for an exemption, which nobody has ever done for marijuana before. Sure Tim Credeur isn't even allowed use adderall for his ADHD.

I cant imagine Diaz is in Nevada's good books after he tried suing them for violating his constitutional rights. They royally screwed him over after that.

Personally I think there are more exciting fights at 170 for him. Diaz vs Condit, GSP, McDonald, Koscheck, Hendricks would all be amazing, I think he loses them all though.

the_doctor199

Why doesn't it surprise me Balotelli likes the UFC? (1:12 in)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKlQ4Gw9KLg

tonymontana82

ASJ112 wrote: »

if you checked your facts you will see thy Diaz has a medical card issued to use weed legally, he just didn't put it forward to the commission

Just because he has a medical card for it doesn't mean the commission are going to automatically let him use it. He needs to apply for an exemption, which nobody has ever done for marijuana before. Sure Tim Credeur isn't even allowed use adderall for his ADHD.

I cant imagine Diaz is in Nevada's good books after he tried suing them for violating his constitutional rights. They royally screwed him over after that.

Personally I think there are more exciting fights at 170 for him. Diaz vs Condit, GSP, McDonald, Koscheck, Hendricks would all be amazing, I think he loses them all though.

Ya bit you know yourself Diaz will want big paydays, hence callin out silva, I'd love to see him fight koscheck, there would be some serious **** talk haha. Anyways I'm sure you understand where I'm coming from, & I respect your opinion aswell

Mellor

But he doesn't need a TUE for weed.
Drug testing out of competition and in competition have different rules.
He's ok to smoke weed between fights as long as he doesn't have it in his system during fights.

tonymontana82

Mellor wrote: »

But he doesn't need a TUE for weed.
Drug testing out of competition and in competition have different rules.
He's ok to smoke weed between fights as long as he doesn't have it in his system during fights.

??? I only said he has a medical card for it, where did I day he has it in his system during fights?? I do know the rules by the way, he has to have it out if his system at least 1 month prior to a fight.

Mellor

tonymontana82 wrote: »

??? I only said he has a medical card for it, where did I day he has it in his system during fights?? I do know the rules by the way, he has to have it out if his system at least 1 month prior to a fight.

Paranoid much.
Where did I mention you or anything you said?


I was responding to ASJ112 who said he'd need to apply for exemption.

tonymontana82

Mellor wrote: »

tonymontana82 wrote: »

??? I only said he has a medical card for it, where did I day he has it in his system during fights?? I do know the rules by the way, he has to have it out if his system at least 1 month prior to a fight.

Paranoid much.
Where did I mention you or anything you said?


I was responding to ASJ112 who said he'd need to apply for exemption.

Fair enough , no worries

weemcd

On the conference call today Dana has said winner of Shogun vs Vera gets the next shot at the title. Think this is very premature, Vera is nowhere near top 10 & 9 months from his last fight, and shogun is L-W-L-W-L in his last 5.

Proper matchmaking would have winner of Machida vs Bader square off against the winner or Rua vs Vera and then we would have a genuine #1 contender.

MrStuffins

This is bizarre!

Vera shouldn't be anywhere near a title shot!

El Guapo!

I wonder what the thinking behind that was?? Seems strange.

scudzilla

If it's a shite fight Dana will only rescind the title shot.

Can't see Shogun having too many problems wit Vera though