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Memento
Aug 25, 2009


Bleak Gremlin
UFC March - ing into mediocrity.

Last month's thread is here. Thanks to CommonShore for handling the OP duties. I will be shamelessly stealingincorporating some of his features into this thread.

February started off with UFC Fight Night 104: Bermudez vs. Korean Zombie. This event saw the much-hyped return of Chan Sung Jung aka The Korean Zombie. Fans were concerned that three+ years out of the game might have taken the edge off his skills, and that ring rust might see him taken out by middle-ranked Dennis Bermudez. They need not have worried. Zombie took less than a round to beat Bermudez senseless and re-establish himself in the Featherweight division. Other fights on that card saw barely-known Lightheavyweight Volkan Oezdemir put in a Jon Jones-level performance (narrowly beating Ovince St. Preux in a tepid decision) and Jessica Andrade booking herself a crack at Joanna Champion by beating Angela Hill in the women's Flyweight division. It also saw Khalil Rountree going from "why do you have a job here" to "ok maybe you're worth keeping around for a bit" by knocking out Daniel Jolly in under a minute with a knee to the temple.

The 11th of February brought us UFC 208: Holm vs. de Randamie, in which a new division was born with Albuquerque native Holly "The Preacher's Daughter" Holm taking on Germaine "The Iron Lady" de Randamie for the inaugural women's Featherweight title. This fight was a dreary, plodding affair that was briefly lightened up by the referee forgetting where he was, possibly due to boredom, and letting de Randamie keep striking after the bell in both the 2nd and 3rd rounds. A few days after the fight, Holm's camp appealed the decision (48-47 on all three judges' cards) saying that they felt that points should have been deducted for those blows and Holly should be the new champion at 145. With breaking news as of this writing, the NYSAC has denied that appeal, officially making de Randamie the champion. Holm's camp is now talking up a rematch, which considering the card did about seventeen buys in the Continental United States, probably won't happen anytime soon. The remainder of the card saw Anderson "Spider" Silva taking a decision against Derek Brunson in a somewhat controversial match, with Brunson seeming to be winning one, possibly two rounds, even though the third judge gave it to Silva 30-27. Leaving It To The Judges: Not Even Once. Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza took Tim "Barbarian" Boatsch's arm in a kimura in their fight in the first round, breaking up a recent record 7 decisions in a row on the card.

Rounding out the month was UFC Fight Night 105: Lewis vs. Browne from the 19th. The main event showed us that Derek "The Black Beast" Lewis is a man who can control his poo poo. After weathering a storm of body kicks in the first round, he came back to knock Travis "gently caress this guy I'm not looking his nickname up" Browne down in the second round and then pounced on him to put him away. His ring interview afterwards covered such important, relevant topics as Lewis' need to defecate during the fight, Browne's domestic violence allegations and "Ronda Rousey's fine rear end". Browne continues his descent into mediocrity even after opportunities had presented themselves for a win, but apparently a huge flashing red zone on Lewis' stomach wasn't enough of a sing that he should keep kicking him there. This card also featured Johny "Bigg Rigg" Hendricks making his successful debut at 185, putting away Hector "Showeather" Lombard in three rounds. Constant pressure and knees to the head left the Cuban reeling and got Hendricks the win. Other fun fights were Paul Felder knocking Alessandro Ricci to the canvas just short of the end of the first round, and Sara McMann choking out promotional newcomer Gina Mazany.

March brings us some very interesting matchups.

Starting this weekend, UFC 209 sees two titles on the line. Headlining the card is the much anticipated Featherweight matchup between Tony "el Cucuy" Ferguson and Khabib "The Eagle" Nurmagomedov for the Interim Lightweight championship. Both fighters have been vying for a title match for a long time, with Ferguson putting together a 9-fight win streak in the UFC including three Fight of the Night bonuses and four for Performance of the Night. Nurmagomedov can only boast an eight-win UFC streak, but prior to that he was undefeated coming up and holds an incredible 24-0 record. Ferguson has excellent jiu jitsu and boxing and was an NCWA National Champion in wrestling, and Nurmagomedov is an insanely well-credentialled Combat Sambo fighter, and was also the European Champion of Army Hand-to-Hand combat. While Ferguson has many different tools in his skillset, Nurmagomedov's specialty is taking opponents down with world-class grappling and then grinding them out, whether that be by ground and pound or submission or just wearing them down for a decision. Whichever way this fight goes it will almost certainly be incredible. The winner is expected to take on Conor MacGregor for the unified Lightweight title at a later date, assuming he ever defends a belt in the UFC.

The co-main on this card sees the rematch from UFC 205 of the challenger Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson taking on the champion Tyron "The Chosen One" Woodley for the Welterweight belt. Woodley is an NCAA Division I All American wrestler and uses his incredible ability to cover distance in the blink of an eye to set up takedowns and his big right hand, both of which have brought him victory in the past. Thompson was a decorated karate fighter before starting his MMA career and is a precision striker with both hands and feet. Thompson's record consists of a highlight-reel of knockouts by fists and feet, and Woodley's power has seen him run through some incredible competition, including a round-one knockout of the former champion Ruthless Robbie Lawler.

Other fights on this card include the PSP Heavyweight Champion of Our Hearts Mark Hunt taking on a considerably less steroid-inflated Alistair Overeem, Rashad Evans Who Still Is A Thing For Some Reason taking on Cool Australia Judo Dad Dan Kelly at Middleweight, and Lando "Funky" Vannata hopefully putting more spinning back kicks into David Teymur at Lightweight.

Two more events finish out March in the UFC. UFC Fight Night 106: Belfort vs. Gastelum on the 11th in Brazil will bring us Dad Bod Vitor Belfort defending his relevance against Kelvin Gastelum who is looking to further settle himself at Middleweight, Welterweight being a bridge too far for his frame. Finally, UFC Fight Night 107: Manuwa vs. Anderson on the 18th from London sees TUF winner Corey Anderson taking on Jimi Manuwa at Lightheavyweight. Both of these cards may be the last time we see action from outside the US, with the new owners of the UFC indicating they have less interest in holding overseas cards, in favour of fewer, bigger cards in the US.

Current Champions

Your Current Champions

Men's Heavyweight Champion - Stipe Miocic (18-2)
Stipe Miocic won the Heavyweight title in May of 2016, stopping Fabricio Verdum in front of his countrymen in a single round. He backed this feat up with anotehr first-round stoppage of the most decorated Heavyweight of all time, Alistair Overeem, in Miocic's home town of Cleveland in September. It was considered that the winner of the fight between Werdum and Cain Velasquez at UFC 207, a rematch of the fight where Werdum took Velasquez' belt from him in 2015, would be Miocic's next opponent, but Velasquez was forced out of this bout with yet another leg injury. Miocic was recently announced to be defending against Junior dos Santos at UFC 211 in May, where he will seek to avenge his Fight of the Night loss from late 2014.


Men's Light Heavyweight Champion - Daniel Cormier (19-1)
Daniel Cormier won the belt initiall in May of 2015, winning against the heavy-hitting Anthony Johnson by rear-nake choke in the third round. Cormier defended his belt against Alexander Gustaffson in October of 2015 in a split decision. A planned rematch against Jon Jones was scheduled for UFC 200, which was called off after Jones tested positive for banned substances. Cormier went on to fight Anderson Silva in a non-title bout on three days' notice. Cormier was slated to fight Anthony Johnson in a rematch for the belt in December, a match which did not took place due to Cormier suffering a groin adductor injury. The bout is now set for UFC 210 in April.


Men's Middleweight Champion - Michael Bisping (37-7)
Bisping had a fairytale year in 2016, first of all beating the greatest MMA striker of all time Anderson Silva in front of his hometown crowd of Manchester in February. Then, on 17 days notice, he stepped up to fight Luke Rockhold for the Middleweight Championship in June at UFC 199. Bisping joked about not having the regular time to get his cardio ready, meaning he would have to knock Rockhold out in the first round, then against the expectations of everyone everwhere, including his own son, he did exactly that. He capped off his year with a successful defense against Dan Henderson, putting the ghosts of UFC 100 to rest. It is widely considered that his next defense will be against Yoel Romero, a man Bisping considers to be "the biggest cheating motherfucker in the whole sport"1.


Men's Welterweight Champion - Tyron Woodley (16-3-1)
Woodley was promised a title shot against the Welterweight champion 17 months before the fight took place. After Robbie Lawler put in Fight Of The Year performances against Rory MacDonald in July 2015 and Carlos Condit in January 2016, Woodley went into their fight in July of 2016 as a significant underdog. This meant nothing, with Lawler going down to strikes in the first round. Woodley defended his belt against Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson, putting on an incredible fight that ended in a majority draw at UFC 205 in New York in November 2016. A rematch for this fight will be held this month at UFC 209.


Men's Lightweight Champion - Conor MacGregor (21-3)
After punching his way to the Featherweight Championship in December 2015, McGregor was slated to fight Rafael dos Anjos for the Lightweight Championship in March of 2015. With dos Anjos pulling out of this with a broken foot sustained in sparring, Nate Diaz took the fight on 9 days' notice, winning handily in the second round with a rear-naked choke against a gassed McGregor. A rematch of this fight was held in August 2016, with McGregor fighting with a much more conservative, patient style, taking the fight by majority decision. A "superfight" was scheduled for UFC 205 in November 2015, with McGregor taking on Lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez. This fight was one-sided with McGregor boxing Alvarez to a standstill in the second round, after taking the first round 10-8. McGregor would go on to have the Featherweight title stripped off him in December 2016, to make way for an Interim championship to be created. MacGregor's next opponent will be the winner of Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson from UFC 209 this month.


Men's Featherweight Champion - Jose Aldo Jr. (26-2)
Aldo spent the better part of a decade being an unstoppable force at Featherweight; first with the WEC where he won the title in November 2009, then in the UFC after the former was absorbed by them. This run was derailed by Conor McGregor in December 2015, where Aldo was knocked into unconsciousness 13 seconds into the first round. An opportunity came Aldo's way in July of 2016, with an Interim Championship fight against Frankie Edgar at UFC 200 seeing Aldo regaining gold again. With McGregor being stripped of the Featherweight Championship before UFC 206, and Max Holloway winning the Interim title at that event, Aldo was promoted to Featherweight Champion, with his next defense against Holloway being as yet unscheduled.


Men's Interim Featherweight Champion - Max Holloway (17-3)
Holloway put together a 9-fight win streak, with several Performance of the Night bonuses, before answering the call to contend for the Interim Featherweight Championship at UFC 206 in December 2016. Taking out Anthony Pettis with a body kick and punches late in the third round, he has set himself up for a bout against jose Aldo at an unscheduled time in the future to combine the Featherweight Championship.


Men's Bantamweight Champion - Cody Garbrandt (11-0)
After amassing a professional record of 5-0 in the minor leagues, Garbrandt was able to parley this into a UFC contract in January 2015. He then went on to win 5 fights in a row in the UFC, including going from unranked at Bantamweight at the start of 2016 into championship contention at the end. He took on Dominick Cruz for the title at UFC 207 in late December, and in contrast to analysis from a variety of sources, took out Cruz in a unanimous decision. No current defense is scheduled.


Men's Flyweight Champion - Demetrious Johnson (25-2-1)
After winning the Flyweight Championship in September 2012 in a split decision against Joseph Benevidez, Johnson has amassed a 9-fight streak against the best that the division has had to offer. He has been so dominant that the UFC held an entire Ultimate Figher tournament to find his next challenger. The culmination of this was that Tim Elliott came back out of the MMA wilderness to lose a competitive match against Johnson in early December 2016. No current challenger is announced.


Women's Featherweight Champion - Germaine de Randamie(7-3)
In order to answer a question a grand total of about seven people outside Brazil were asking, the UFC set up a fight between Holly Holm and Germaine de Randamie for UFC 208 in February of this year. With de Randamie winning in contentious fashion, and Holm unsuccessfully appealing the outcome, the new champion is probably going to defend it against Cristiane Justino Venāncio aka Cyborg at some point in time in the future. Assuming Cyborg can keep off the drugs.


Women's Bantamweight Champion - Amanda Nunes (14-4)
Nunes headlined UFC 200 in July of 2016, putting a vicious beating on Miesha Tate and securing a rear-nake choke victory in a little over three minutes. She backed this up with a brutal 48-second TKO victory against former Women's Bantamweight Champion and WMMA pioneer Rounda Rousey in late December 2016. No current challenger announced.


Women's Strawweight Champion - Joanna Jędrzejczyk (13-0)
After winning the Women's Strawweight Championship against the one-dimensional Carla Esparza in March 2015, Jędrzejczyk has defended her title four times. Most recent of these was against her Polish countrywoman Karolina Kowalkiewicz at UFC 205 in November 2016. Jędrzejczyk will defend her belt against Jessica Andrade at UFC 211 in May.

With no long-term announcement for the replacement of Mike Goldberg, our one ppv of the year so far featured Joe Rogan accompanied by Jon Anik and Daniel Cormier on the announce table, with mixed results. UFC 209 will see Rogan and Anik joined by Dominick Cruz at the desk. We wait with baited breath as to whether any of these replacements will be Corn to the Core.

Thanks very much to LobsterMobster for putting together the awards thread for last year:

2016 Rowdy Ringsports MMA Awards - RESULTS THREAD!.

Thanks also go to LobsterMobster for putting together both iterations of the UFC Fightpass Thread

UFC Fight Pass Playlists and Collections

The NEW UFC Fight Pass Collection Thread


Let me know where I hosed something up!

Memento fucked around with this message at 04:01 on Mar 1, 2017

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JaySB
Nov 16, 2006



209 not 210 this weekend 208 was Holm vs De Randamie

Memento
Aug 25, 2009


Bleak Gremlin
lol, the MMA Junkie link http://mmajunkie.com/events/ufc-209 goes to 208. The link http://mmajunkie.com/events/ufc-208 goes to their 404 page.

Also I hosed up the title. You wish you could post like me.

Julio Cruz
May 19, 2006
Lobov-Swanson is a fight that's crying out for the return of Steve Mazzagatti.

(also, has his Wikipedia page been deleted or did he just never get one?)

NickRoweFillea
Sep 27, 2012

doin thangs
209 is such a sick card. I hope the main events deliver

Bundt Cake
Aug 17, 2003
;(

Memento posted:

lol, the MMA Junkie link http://mmajunkie.com/events/ufc-209 goes to 208. The link http://mmajunkie.com/events/ufc-208 goes to their 404 page.

Also I hosed up the title. You wish you could post like me.

lol

FishBowlRobot
Mar 21, 2006



Not terribly important but I'm pretty sure Lando's nickname is "groovy," not "funky."

Bundt Cake
Aug 17, 2003
;(
If your name is as unique as lando you dont get a nickname

The MUMPSorceress
Jan 6, 2012


^SHTPSTS

Gary’s Answer

Julio Cruz posted:

Lobov-Swanson is a fight that's crying out for the return of Steve Mazzagatti.

(also, has his Wikipedia page been deleted or did he just never get one?)

How about that ref who let someone be choked into the next emanation.

Eat This Glob
Jan 14, 2008

God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. Who will wipe this blood off us? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we need to invent?

Bundt Cake posted:

If your name is as unique as lando you dont get a nickname

it reminded me of rogan. oh, he land-oh! no, he didn't.

Captain Log
Oct 2, 2006

Captain Log posted:

"I AINT DYING! Choo choo motherfucker!"
:toot::birddrugs::toot:

Julio Cruz posted:

Lobov-Swanson is a fight that's crying out for the return of Steve Mazzagatti.

(also, has his Wikipedia page been deleted or did he just never get one?)

I live less than ten minutes from that venue and money isn't a problem but gently caress me I don't know if it's worth the energy.

FishBowlRobot
Mar 21, 2006



I've never been to a live card so I'm in the meh, maybe camp. It's not great but it's got Cub, Smyln Sam, John Dodson, Raging Al, and Brandon Moreno might be cool. If nothing else maybe I could get to see Matt Serra in person, screaming.

Ratios and Tendency
Apr 23, 2010

:swoon: MURALI :swoon:


Does anyone think Woodley/Thompson II will play out any different?

The MUMPSorceress
Jan 6, 2012


^SHTPSTS

Gary’s Answer

Ratios and Tendency posted:

Does anyone think Woodley/Thompson II will play out any different?

i think tyron woodley will use the power of friendship with super sage to charge up a potent spirit bomb to finish thompson

manyak
Jan 26, 2006

Ratios and Tendency posted:

Does anyone think Woodley/Thompson II will play out any different?

Im not really sure what to expect in terms of adapting since neither of them have had a rematch before afaik. I hope Thompson is less tentative and more active though, as much as i dislike Woodley as a fighter there wasnt really anything about that last fight that made me excited to root for Wonderboy in the rematch, i thought a draw was the right decision and could go either way this time

Memento
Aug 25, 2009


Bleak Gremlin

Ratios and Tendency posted:

Does anyone think Woodley/Thompson II will play out any different?

Well, one of the judges from that fight has a restraining order against him, taken out by Ray Longo, who is one of Stephen Thompson's coaches. So considering there's a vague (note that I said vague) chance that the judging won't be irreparably compromised, yeah, maybe.

We need an :mmajudging: emote where it's just a picture of Cecil Peoples doing that retarded little ki-YA before a fight he always did.

Memento fucked around with this message at 06:06 on Mar 1, 2017

kensei
Dec 27, 2007

He has come home, where he belongs. The Ancient Mariner returns to lead his first team to glory, forever and ever. Amen!


Memento posted:

We need an :mmajudging: emote where it's just a picture of Cecil Peoples doing that retarded little ki-YA before a fight he always did.

co-signed

Captain Log
Oct 2, 2006

Captain Log posted:

"I AINT DYING! Choo choo motherfucker!"
:toot::birddrugs::toot:

FishBowlRobot posted:

I've never been to a live card so I'm in the meh, maybe camp. It's not great but it's got Cub, Smyln Sam, John Dodson, Raging Al, and Brandon Moreno might be cool. If nothing else maybe I could get to see Matt Serra in person, screaming.

If I get a confirmation Serra will be there, I will be there.

I.N.R.I
May 26, 2011

Ratios and Tendency posted:

Does anyone think Woodley/Thompson II will play out any different?

i think woodley will win quickly

YOLOsubmarine
Oct 19, 2004

When asked which Pokemon he evolved into, Kamara pauses.

"Motherfucking, what's that big dragon shit? That orange motherfucker. Charizard."

Memento posted:

Well, one of the judges from that fight has a restraining order against him, taken out by Ray Longo, who is one of Stephen Thompson's coaches. So considering there's a vague (note that I said vague) chance that the judging won't be irreparably compromised, yeah, maybe.

We need an :mmajudging: emote where it's just a picture of Cecil Peoples doing that retarded little ki-YA before a fight he always did.

The judging in the last fight was fine though.

Work Friend Keven
Oct 24, 2015

I'M A BIG STUPID IDIOT WHO GETS TRIGGERED FROM THE WORDS SPORTS BALL AND HAS SHIT OPINIONS ABOUT CARD GAMES. ALSO I SAID I WAS GOING TO QUIT HEARTHSTONE OUT OF SPITE OF A TAIWANESE WINNING THE CHAMPIONSHIP SO REPORT ME IF YOU SEE ME POST IN A HS THREAD
Now that woodly has the friendship of a at risk youth he's going to win for sure.

Memento
Aug 25, 2009


Bleak Gremlin

big money big clit posted:

The judging in the last fight was fine though.

Yeah you're right, for some reason I was under the impression that the other judges gave it to Thompson enough that the one judge that hates his team swayed it enough for it to be a draw. That being said, he was the only one to give round 1 to Woodley 10-8.

JaySB
Nov 16, 2006



There seems to be some pretty good value on underdogs on the main card. Woodley, Ferguson, Hunt, and Dan Kelly are all dogs in winnable fights.

Thrifting Day!
Nov 25, 2006

I can now die happy knowing I am a known funny poster for coming up with the thread title.

Southpaugh
May 26, 2007

Smokey Bacon


JaySB posted:

There seems to be some pretty good value on underdogs on the main card. Woodley, Ferguson, Hunt, and Dan Kelly are all dogs in winnable fights.

Are all these guys underdogs? I genuinely think they will all win, PSP Hunto fanboydom aside I think they are all better if not equal odds to their opponents.

Work Friend Keven
Oct 24, 2015

I'M A BIG STUPID IDIOT WHO GETS TRIGGERED FROM THE WORDS SPORTS BALL AND HAS SHIT OPINIONS ABOUT CARD GAMES. ALSO I SAID I WAS GOING TO QUIT HEARTHSTONE OUT OF SPITE OF A TAIWANESE WINNING THE CHAMPIONSHIP SO REPORT ME IF YOU SEE ME POST IN A HS THREAD
Hunt won't win, woodly will, ferg probably will, Dan the Dynamo Kelly won't win. That's my predictions. Please bet accordingly and if you win you owe me 15%.

Skip My Posts
Aug 15, 2005

by FactsAreUseless

Memento posted:

Well, one of the judges from that fight has a restraining order against him, taken out by Ray Longo, who is one of Stephen Thompson's coaches. So considering there's a vague (note that I said vague) chance that the judging won't be irreparably compromised, yeah, maybe.

We need an :mmajudging: emote where it's just a picture of Cecil Peoples doing that retarded little ki-YA before a fight he always did.

Wait what?

CommonShore
Jun 6, 2014

A true renaissance man



Longo and Crosby have a public grudge over movie stunt work and Crosby has a habit of giving bad scorecards to Serra-Longo fighters.

JaySB
Nov 16, 2006



Southpaugh posted:

Are all these guys underdogs? I genuinely think they will all win, PSP Hunto fanboydom aside I think they are all better if not equal odds to their opponents.

Yep, they're all underdogs.

DumbWhiteGuy
Jul 4, 2007

You need haters. Fellas if you got 20 haters, you need 40 of them motherfuckers. If there's any haters in here that don't have nobody to hate on, feel free to hate on me
https://twitter.com/arielhelwani/status/836988911511617537

CommonShore
Jun 6, 2014

A true renaissance man



Shame. The Romero fight is legit interesting.

Luigi Thirty
Apr 30, 2006

Emergency confection port.

News: Sage is 21 today.

Views:

https://twitter.com/SecretMovesMMA/status/836099076806541312

JaySB
Nov 16, 2006



Yoel Romero is yelling something about gay Jesus right now.

henkman
Oct 8, 2008

Hell, why not

Digital Jedi
May 28, 2007

Fallen Rib

Really wanted to see the Romero fight.

But oh well. Watch GSP jab the poo poo out of Bisping's other eye

canoshiz
Nov 6, 2005

THANK GOD FOR THE SMOKE MACHINE!
Wow Yoel got owned. :rip:

DumbWhiteGuy
Jul 4, 2007

You need haters. Fellas if you got 20 haters, you need 40 of them motherfuckers. If there's any haters in here that don't have nobody to hate on, feel free to hate on me
if you aren't excited for that fight, i don't know what to tell you. also gently caress romero.

TheKingslayer
Sep 3, 2008

Bisping will beat GSP and then he will beat Yoel after he finally comes down with a case of the olds.

Le Saboteur
Dec 5, 2007

I hear you wish to ball, adventurer..
Booking a fight that severely owns Yoel Romero is always good.

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Bluedeanie
Jul 20, 2008

It's no longer a blue world, Max. Where could we go?



DumbWhiteGuy posted:

if you aren't excited for that fight, i don't know what to tell you

Michael Bisping will become the only man to beat both GSP and Anderson Silva, becoming the greatest fighter of all time circa 2010 in the year 2017

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