UFC Fight Night: MacDonald vs Thompson

Devastator

Jojo Calderwood wow! I didn't think she would be able to trouble LeTourneau but WTF was the ref at? Fighter turns their back and he steps in and tells them to break? She was grabbing at her top the whole fight, I think she was hurt and the ref got it completely wrong, then he let the fight go on longer than it should.
Bosse O'Connell good fun fight, both swinging and landing big punches. I can't believe it went the distance! Bad point of the fight, fighters high fiving eachother mid round :mad::mad::mad: fcuk off and get on with punching eachother! Theres plenty of time to do that after the fight but they stopped numerous times and even at the 10 second left bell. Also did Herb Dean step in and end the fight early? I think he got confused by them high fiving too.
Cowboy looked impressive at WW against Cote. I didn't think Cote was good enough to beat him but thought it would have been bit more competitive than what it was.
The main? :rolleyes: I'll not rush to watch that fight again. Big disappointment. Very glad I didn't force myself to stay away to watch it. Can't deny Thompson the next title fight but he didn't go out to try and stop that fight imo, was happy to land more strikes and take the points. He'll loose a lot of his early fanbase if he keeps that approach up.

Overall, pretty disappointing card I thought. Probably just because the main was so anticipated and it was a let down.

just watched this myself thought Rory looked quite bigger than usual but very surprised he couldn't upset Thompson more than he showed on the odd rare occasion. I think with that on the toes wide stance as thompson comes in, he lunges with left right combos and stands very square (abit like machida on the attack), it's that real shotokan style. Why rory didnt draw him in and throw that front kick or even stamp kick to the stomach is beyond me.

poor rory, he kinda looked like a punch drunk mummy walking after wonderboy. I don't agree thompson was happy to tap through the match, I just think both styles cancelled out each other, they're both technical enough, that kind of anticipation and let down has happened before.

Depp

MacDonald by Decision

think rory just put too much emphasis on neutralising wonderboy, which to be honest he did quite well, and he didnt concentrate enough on stamping his own style on the fight

That_Guy

I think MacDonald/Thompson is the type of matchup where both fighters were too evenly matched. Very little risk taking until late into the fifth round.

Understandable given what was on the line.

Shame we didn't get the war we expected.

EDIT: Rest of the card was pretty... meh. Jojo looked good but not sure what the ref was at. Utterly bizarre.

Bosse/O Connell fight was all sorts of brilliant. Very very enjoyable.

Cerrone looked good at welterweight. If Rory manages to renew a contract with the UFC, that's the fight I'd like to see next for Rory.

Devastator

Is Cowboy out of contract or talked of retiring? I thought he said between 2nd & 3rd rounds something like "If this is my last round I'll make it a good 1". I've got it downloaded so I must remember to go back and check it again later

Dtp1979

Devastator wrote: »

Is Cowboy out of contract or talked of retiring? I thought he said between 2nd & 3rd rounds something like "If this is my last round I'll make it a good 1". I've got it downloaded so I must remember to go back and check it again later

I think he meant it as he's gonna turn up the heat for this round

Devastator

Dtp1979 wrote: »

I think he meant it as he's gonna turn up the heat for this round

Probably, just weird his choice of words. I mean, it was going into 3rd round of a 3 round fight, so why say "If its my last round...." unless he can't count

Gamebred

He said he wants words with Dana about a pay rise in the press conference said he doesnt feel valued by the ufc,any idea what hes on?

If Hendo is on 800k and hes on the 80k its a disgrace,shows up fights anyone anytime,


Some good fights for him now I'd like to see him fight Gunnar.

Subcomandante Marcos

MacDonald by Submission

Gamebred wrote: »

He said he wants words with Dana about a pay rise in the press conference said he doesnt feel valued by the ufc,any idea what hes on?

If Hendo is on 800k and hes on the 80k its a disgrace,shows up fights anyone anytime,


Some good fights for him now I'd like to see him fight Gunnar.

He got 79/79 for his last fight, so probably the same last night.

Dtp1979

Devastator wrote: »

Probably, just weird his choice of words. I mean, it was going into 3rd round of a 3 round fight, so why say "If its my last round...." unless he can't count

Unless it's his last fight on his current contract? Then he means 'well if this is my last round, I'll make it a good one'

Devastator

Dtp1979 wrote: »

Unless it's his last fight on his current contract? Then he means 'well if this is my last round, I'll make it a good one'

Just went back and watched it a few times to be sure. He says "If its my last 1, its gonna be my best 1" and he glances straight into the camera beside him.

Depp

MacDonald by Decision

Devastator wrote: »

Just went back and watched it a few times to be sure. He says "If its my last 1, its gonna be my best 1" and he glances straight into the camera beside him.

mentioned a good few times how he was getting sh!t money aswel and said he was going to talk to dana about it or something along those lines if i remember it right aswel, maybe it was the last fight on his deal and he kept it quiet?

Devastator

Depp wrote: »

mentioned a good few times how he was getting sh!t money aswel and said he was going to talk to dana about it or something along those lines if i remember it right aswel, maybe it was the last fight on his deal and he kept it quiet?

If he is still in contract then he shouldn't have signed it if he wasn't happy with the money. I don't get people when they agree to something then complain they're getting done over somehow. I could just be looking too much into 1 simple sentence, afterall he did say after the fight about fighting at 200.

Paully D

Devastator wrote: »

Is Cowboy out of contract or talked of retiring? I thought he said between 2nd & 3rd rounds something like "If this is my last round I'll make it a good 1". I've got it downloaded so I must remember to go back and check it again later

Yeah, I think he said it. Watching it at the time I rewound it back a couple of times as I thought he had said it but wasn't 100% sure. Anik or Florian then thought he had just referred to it being a comment regarding the 3rd round so I dismissed it. What did Cowboy say to make his corner piss themselves laughing too?

I wonder if Ariel gets him on The MMA Hour today to talk about possible retirement/contract negotiations :pac:

Devastator

I don't know what Cowboy said to make them laugh, was impossible for me to catch it even after watching multiple times because he turns his head away. The corner seemed so relaxed(even by Jackson's standards) during the fight. I had to laugh after the 1st round they were like "Yeah great round" then few seconds silence and GJ goes "So what do you want to talk about?" to Cowboy

I maintain my thinking about Helwani and he should stop stirring the pot then acting the victim. He'd be better off avoiding that type of conversation with fighters for the foreseeable future imo and let the dust settle. If it is Lorenzo that hates him(like Dana is supposed to have claimed) then he might not have to wait too long if the takeover talks progress.

Subcomandante Marcos

MacDonald by Submission

So Ariel should be a good boy and just act as a mouthpiece for the UFCs PR department.

What a load of nonsense.

StringerBell

Just catching up on the card, Cowboy was impressive, and Wonderboy is no easy opponent obviously but Rory was very poor imo, and incredibly cautious until it was too late. Is it possible the match with Lawlor has pretty much finished him as a genuine title contender? The nose is going to be a problem for him going forward obviously, the chess match style he went with was clearly not the best game plan, Thompson too fast and too good at picking his spots and scoring.

I'm a fan of Rory so hope this was just an off night, but a concern for me for sure. Rory said he was at his best tonight, if that is true I just don't see how he forces his way back into title contention for the foreseeable future.

Gamebred

The reaction to Rory losing has been hilarious you'd swear he got destroyed like Hendricks did,lost a point scoring kick boxing match against a 57-0 kickboxer,the scoring and commentary was a bit biased too I had him winning rd 1 and 3,5 was close enough,tough style match up with the added problem of ring rust after 11 months out,

He is 26 years of age anyone who thinks hes done or anything like it is on drugs.

Devastator

Subcomandante Marcos wrote: »

So Ariel should be a good boy and just act as a mouthpiece for the UFCs PR department.

What a load of nonsense.

hahaha some crazy logic there that you can read "should stop stirring the pot" and turn it into should be UFC's pr good boy :rolleyes::D

StringerBell

Gamebred wrote: »

The reaction to Rory losing has been hilarious you'd swear he got destroyed like Hendricks did,lost a point scoring kick boxing match against a 57-0 kickboxer,the scoring and commentary was a bit biased too I had him winning rd 1 and 3,5 was close enough,tough style match up with the added problem of ring rust after 11 months out,

He is 26 years of age anyone who thinks hes done or anything like it is on drugs.

Losing is not the cause of the reaction for many I would wager.

TimRiggins

Thompson by Submission

Gamebred wrote: »

The reaction to Rory losing has been hilarious you'd swear he got destroyed like Hendricks did,lost a point scoring kick boxing match against a 57-0 kickboxer,the scoring and commentary was a bit biased too I had him winning rd 1 and 3,5 was close enough,tough style match up with the added problem of ring rust after 11 months out,

He is 26 years of age anyone who thinks hes done or anything like it is on drugs.

I don't think people realise just how good Wonderboy is. I think he'll destroy Lawler!

D.Q

Agree with the above. Thompson seems to have reached a different level. Love watching him.

Gamebred

TimRiggins wrote: »

I don't think people realise just how good Wonderboy is. I think he'll destroy Lawler!

He is prime too,33 and on the run of his life hes put it all together now complete martial artist,wish woodley would F off and we could have Lawler Wonderboy epic fight,


Lawler takes shots for fun I'd love to see him chasing Wonderboy down eating spinning heel kicks it would be incredible.

Mellor

TimRiggins wrote: »

I don't think people realise just how good Wonderboy is. I think he'll destroy Lawler!

Technically he's class. I was planning on backing him as next WW champ if he beat Rory. But that market is gone.

Techncially Lawlor isn't nearly as good as the top few, but his raw fury powers through all that. Hendricks, Carlos and Rory are all technically better than Robbie imo. But he broke them all. I can see him doing that over 5 rounds with wonderboy. He'll walk him down to land a shot.

TimRiggins

Thompson by Submission

Mellor wrote: »

Technically he's class. I was planning on backing him as next WW champ if he beat Rory. But that market is gone.

Techncially Lawlor isn't nearly as good as the top few, but his raw fury powers through all that. Hendricks, Carlos and Rory are all technically better than Robbie imo. But he broke them all. I can see him doing that over 5 rounds with wonderboy. He'll walk him down to land a shot.

He hardly 'broke' Condit and Johnny, both very controversial decisions, I wouldn't say he's technically worse than Johnny either.

His chin isn't going to hold up forever either. He's been in war after war, I think Wonderboy will beat him easily to be honest.

Mellor

TimRiggins wrote: »

He hardly 'broke' Condit and Johnny, both very controversial decisions, I wouldn't say he's technically worse than Johnny either.

I'd consider Johnny's superior wrestling to give him the edge technically. I aware they were both close fights, both split decisions iirc.

By "broke", Johnny was winning the fight, and still winning well into the 4th round. Towards the end he went for a double leg, but didn't complete it, he didn't do anything and he just sat there holdign on. Robbie just start smashing elbows down and took the round off him.
Then in the fifth, more of the same. Robbie ramped up the aggression and Johnny didn't want to be there. He broke mentally. He just wanted it to be over knowing he might have won, Robbie was making sure he won.

Here's the last 30 seconds of that close split decision,
Who wants the belt?
And who wants the bell?






That stare down at the end is immense.
As was the stare down after the 4th round at 189. To his credit, Rory stared back. He was 3-1 up at that point. But Lawlor finished the job.

I though Condit also let it slip through his hands in a similar fashion in the championship rounds. But checked scorecards there, and I got it mixed up. I’ll take that one back.

TimRiggins

Thompson by Submission

Mellor wrote: »

I'd consider Johnny's superior wrestling to give him the edge technically. I aware they were both close fights, both split decisions iirc.

By "broke", Johnny was winning the fight, and still winning well into the 4th round. Towards the end he went for a double leg, but didn't complete it, he didn't do anything and he just sat there holdign on. Robbie just start smashing elbows down and took the round off him.
Then in the fifth, more of the same. Robbie ramped up the aggression and Johnny didn't want to be there. He broke mentally. He just wanted it to be over knowing he might have won, Robbie was making sure he won.

Here's the last 30 seconds of that close split decision,
Who wants the belt?
And who wants the bell?






That stare down at the end is immense.
As was the stare down after the 4th round at 189. To his credit, Rory stared back. He was 3-1 up at that point. But Lawlor finished the job.

I though Condit also let it slip through his hands in a similar fashion in the championship rounds. But checked scorecards there, and I got it mixed up. I’ll take that one back.

Sorry, thought you were talking about his striking.

Johnny probably thought he had the fight won. He took the 2nd, 3rd and 4th rounds in it quite clearly I thought. Majority of the media scored it for him too. When I was watching it live and heard the last scorecard was 49-46 I thought Johnny had it for sure. No way Robbie won 4 rounds in that fight.

I love Robbie and his title reign, but he's been incredibly lucky with some of the decisions he's got. I think he'll beat Woodley but I expect Wonderboy to destroy him to be honest.

Mellor

TimRiggins wrote: »

Sorry, thought you were talking about his striking.

Johnny probably thought he had the fight won. He took the 2nd, 3rd and 4th rounds in it quite clearly I thought. Majority of the media scored it for him too. When I was watching it live and heard the last scorecard was 49-46 I thought Johnny had it for sure. No way Robbie won 4 rounds in that fight.

I love Robbie and his title reign, but he's been incredibly lucky with some of the decisions he's got. I think he'll beat Woodley but I expect Wonderboy to destroy him to be honest.

Yah, meant overall. He's just not an refined or technical as the rest of them. But makes it up with bags of heart and aggression. No arguments that's there's been an element of luck in all his title fights.

I agree than the 49-46 was a joke.
Robbie won 1st & 5th, Johnny won 2nd & 3rd,
4th was the only debatable round. I always feel a fight that comes down to 1 round is never a robbery either way.

I gave it to Robbie at the time. I remember not scoring that takedown. For me at least, an incomplete takedown is not effective grappling, but dropping elbows from a seated position is effective striking.

StringerBell

I can't wait to see how Wonderboy deals with Robbies brute force aggression, will he break under it or will he use that to beat him, he is on top form right now and technically has all the tools to beat anybody in the division but Robbie is the ultimate test for him imo. A guy who doesn't care how much he gets hit, just keeps ploughing ahead and overflowing with aggression, won't be deterred by getting countered.

califano

Rory didnt look very good there to me. Maybe Thompson made him look that way but he showed no belly for the fight highlighted when Thompson got up off him with just over a minute of the fight left encouraging a dust up which was Rorys best chance at that stage and he didnt really take him up on it. Like he accepted his best wasnt good enough some way out.

Gamebred

Pretty sure I seen Rory gesture towards to WB to ''bring it'' if you will,first few seconds of the last round he charged at him too,you try brawl with Wonderboy and its most likely going to end one way a highlight reel finish look at whittaker,

He also said in the press conference when he nose broke he felt like quitting but he mentally toughed it out thanks to the experience last time,


You just know Woodley is going to come along and **** up the whole WB Lawler dream fight.

Call Me Jimmy

I was a bit disappointed in the fight overall, I get it they are both very technical but that was just too cautious. If you're lining up for a title shot there has to be a point where ye throw caution to the wind.

Cowboy was class, I'm sure mgregor will fight him somewhere down the line.

Mellor

Gamebred wrote: »

You just know Woodley is going to come along and **** up the whole WB Lawler dream fight.

Axwell

Mellor wrote: »

That stare down at the end is immense.

Had forgotten about this stare down, this and when he spits blood on the ground at the end of the 4th with Rory just remind you what an absolute psycho Robbie Lawler is once hes in there!

Dtp1979

Axwell wrote: »

Had forgotten about this stare down, this and when he spits blood on the ground at the end of the 4th with Rory just remind you what an absolute psycho Robbie Lawler is once hes in there!

Somebody put up that staredown

Axwell

Dtp1979 wrote: »

Somebody put up that staredown

https://cdn.streamable.com/video/mn37.mp4

Myrddin

Robbie is an absolute pleasure to watch, a total warrior.

I too thought Rory was pretty disappointing for this one, so very cautious. That said, and as said above, when fighting WB what choice do you have...thought he (WB) was incredible tbh.

I'd love to see Robbie & WB go at it...I still think Robbie would eek the win out though.