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Previous thread is here. July Events & Dates UFC 264: Poirier vs McGregor 3 - July 10, 2021 UFC on ESPN: Makhachev vs Moises - July 17, 2021 UFC on ESPN: Sandhagen vs Dillashaw - July 24, 2021 UFC on ESPN: Hall vs Strickland - July 31, 2021 Current Champions Men's Heavyweight Champion - Francis Ngannou (16-3) Men's Light Heavyweight Champion - Jan Blachowicz (28-8) Men’s Middleweight Champion - Israel Adesanya (20-1) Men's Welterweight Champion - Kamaru Usman (19-1) Men's Lightweight Champion - Charles Oliveira (31-8-1) Men's Featherweight Champion - Alexander Volkanovski (22-1) Men’s Bantamweight Champion - Aljamain Sterling (20-3) Men's Flyweight Champion - Brandon Moreno (19-5-2) Women's Featherweight Champion - Amanda Nunes (21-4) Women's Bantamweight Champion - Amanda Nunes (21-4) Women’s Flyweight Champion - Valentina Shevchenko (20-3) Women's Strawweight Champion - Rose Namajunas (11-4) Other Things to Check Out MMA is not solely restricted to UFC but it is pretty much guaranteed that the UFC will more often than not put on fun cards. There’s a bunch of B, C, and Z tier MMA organizations which you can chat about over at the B-League MMA: Grand Prixs and Untested Pee thread. We have the Let's Watch: Random Old MMA Events! Thread thread which has been great to read about/relive events through other people’s eyes and worth getting in on yourself if you like writing. We also are always looking for nominations for the 2021 Best & Worst of MMA awards. Finally, shout out to DumbWhiteGuy for providing details for the MMA IRC channel. irc.synirc.net #mma Join your fellow MMA fans in discussing all things MMA in a place probably secure against nuclear armageddon - IRC has been around for so long I'm not convinced anything could kill it. There is also the MMA Goons Discord if you no longer use IRC because you are living in the 21st century.  Please Note: this is not an official Fight Island discord, and is just some of us hanging around to chat and such. Link - https://discord.gg/SkR8ZeC
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Jul 2, 2021 02:18
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| # ¿ May 14, 2024 09:02 |
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June Recap June was quite busy but nothing seriously stood out aside from the UFC PPV that month and the Korean Zombie fight for me personally. On June 5th we had UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs Sakai which wasn’t too awful but not a whole lot was impressive. Bigi Boi won via TKO in the main event against Augusto Sakai and that was about it in terms of serious note. Next on June 12th the UFC held UFC 263: Adesanya vs Vettori 2. This was quite a good card overall. Paul Craig somehow was allowed to keep pulling on Jamahal Hill’s arm despite it clearly not looking how an arm should look evr, and would take the win via TKO. Belal Muhammad returned to action and fought Demian Maia in a “Who is the King of Grapplers” fight and it was pretty good. Muhammad ended up taking the W home that night via decision. In the first non co-main event 5 round fight, Leon Edwards defeated Nate Diaz but honestly I think we all assumed that’d happen. Leon won via a decision, but at a later point in the fight it did look like Nate could have stolen the win after rocking Edwards some. Whether Edwards will finally be given a title shot is still a mystery. In the co-main event we had a rematch for the Flyweight Championship between Champ Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno. Just like their first fight, the two put on a fantastic performance. Moreno looked markedly improved and would secure the win via a 3rd round rear naked choke. https://i.imgur.com/qqFBnVI.mp4 Finally in the main event Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya rematched with Marvin Vettori and while some assumed Vettori could win via a flash KO or even maybe hopefully grapple Adesanya to a decision win for the Italian, Adesanya easily pieced Vettori up and took home the unanimous decision and retained his Middleweight belt. Then on June 19th there was UFC on ESPN: The Korean ZOmbie vs Ige. This was a pretty good card actually. Matt Brown was beautifully violent with his KO win over Diego Lima which you can see here. https://i.imgur.com/wFT8vZ8.mp4 Also on the card we had a few more KO/TKOs. Bruno Silva (no clue who that is) KO’d Wellington Turman as well as Seung Woo Choi getting a KO win over Julian Erosa. Marlon Vera put on a great clinic on how to dominate opponents inside a clinch position when he rematched and beat Davey Grant. In the co-main event we had a sloppy and almost perfectly peak Heavyweight bout between Sergey Spivak and Aleksei Oleinik, which the former took via a decision. In the main event Korean Zombie showed his craftiness, awareness, and overall strong performance over Dan Ige. There were a few moments that Ige actually could have stolen the fight and clearly hurt TKZ, but lacked the urgency to do so and let TKZ get the time needed to recover and recompose. Finally for June we had UFC Fight Night: Gane vs Volkov. Personally I didn’t watch this card but from what I can see it wasn’t too great but had a few solid fights. Tanner Boser, the most redneck Canadian I’ve ever seen, god a solid KO win over Ovince St. Preux. Boser has been actually fighting a ton lately from what I can tell as well. Since around this time last year he’s fought 5 times which in general is not too uncommon but I recall that at some point Donald Cerrone also did about 6 or 7 fights in a 1 year span and it was considered impressive so hey, good on you Boser. https://i.imgur.com/Ly0jt6e.mp4 In the main event Ciryl Gane took on Alexander Volkov and it was pretty much Gane the whole way through. I used to be hot on Volkov and now think he’s essentially relegated to mid-tier gate keeper which is pretty lame because he has had some great performances etc. over his career. UFC events in July (coming soon, i didn’t have a chance to finish my writeup before going to work) Current Champions  Men's Heavyweight Champion - Frances Ngannou (16-3) Making an impactful debut in 2015, Francis Ngannou quickly rose to a top contender status amongst the dearth of talent that is Heavyweight. He became known not only for having a high percentage of finishes, but in the viciousness in which he was able to KO/TKO his opponents. His KO of Overeem will forever remain a highlight reel moment in UFC history. After amassing an impressive run, Ngannou was paired with Stipe Miocic for the latter’s UFC Heavyweight title. The undersized and underrated Miocic made Ngannou look like a completely different fighter outwrestling his opponent into exhaustion shutting down Ngannous impressive power. This was Ngannous first loss in the UFC and was then followed up by an utterly bizarre performance against Derrick Lewis which saw Ngannou seemingly do a 180 flip on his vicious aggressive style to a timid and gunshy fighter en route to a Lewis victory. After that fight Ngannou then amassed a winning streak earning his way back to the title via impressive wins, seemingly returning to his tried and true ways. With the rematch with Miocic booked, Ngannou was able to secure victory and become UFC Champion. The next fighter for Ngannou is unknown but good ole Jonny Bones Jones is yapping on Twitter for a fight which means it’ll 100% not be Jones who is next for The Predator.  Men's Light Heavyweight Champion - Jan Blachowicz (28-8) Poland’s Jan Blachowicz pre-UFC career was mainly a string of beating up European MMA fighters until being called up to the UFC. Things didn't go well for Blachowicz losing 4 of his first 6 fights in the promotion. Eventually though he found his groove and would string together wins and even avenging a few of his early losses in the UFC in rematches. It was when he fought and lost to Thiago Santos that things seemed to have changed. Blachowicz admitted the loss made him better and more focused on his fight game. He was relatively not a top end contender when the UFC matched him against the former UFC Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold. The viciousness of Rockhold’s KO loss that night sent the clear message that Jan was not to be overlooked and thanks to a pair more wins that immediately followed, he was clearly a top challenger for the UFC Light Heavyweight championship. When Jon Jones vacated the belt the UFC put Dominick Reyes and Jan against one another to determine the new champion. Many assumed Reyes, who arguably won against Jones in his last outing, would simply claim the vacant belt. Much like the Rockhold fight, Jan’s power and focus made it abundantly clear that he was not to be anyone’s stepping stone. The first test for Jan was Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya which, mostly, was a Jan affair thanks to him learning to use his size more effectively than Adesanya could use his precision and speed. It was a solid test but LHW remains really devoid of viable contenders after the division was summarily cleaned out.  Men’s Middleweight Champion - Israel Adesanya (20-1) A native of Nigeria, New Zealand’s Adesanya started his career not with MMA but with kickboxing and amassed a significant record of bouts throughout Asia and Australasia. Adesanya even made an appearance in Glory Kickboxing before moving to MMA full time. Debuting as an undefeated fighter, Adesanya simply kept collecting “scalps” (as he puts it) until he was facing off against the Middleweight Division’s best. With wins over Derek Brunson and Anderson Silva within his first year in the UFC, the brass decided he and Kelvin Gastelum would face off for the Interim Middleweight Championship. This was arguably the best fight of 2019, if not the best Round of the Year. With the Interim Belt to his name, he was set to face fellow Kiwi, but Australian based, Robert Whittaker in a showdown. Fittingly in the same arena that Adesanya was in the nosebleeds to see Holm KO Rousey, Adesanya KO’d Whittaker and took the Undisputed Middleweight Championship home. In his first defense Adesanya did not waste time aiming to clear out the division and fought against Yoel Romero. While this fight arguably was lackluster, it was clear that Romero’s prowess for chaos was at least stifled by Adesanya’s awareness and ability to not get caught. Next Adesanya defended his title against a fellow undefeated Middleweight in the form of Paulo Costa. Many believed this would be at least a greater test for Adesanya than before and yet Adesanya put on a picture perfect performance with a 2nd round TKO win. Adesanya then was booked to move up to 205 lbs to fight Light Heavyweight Champion Jan Blachowicz. The undersized fighter did not emerge victorious and become a two division champion though as Adesanya was mostly held down or stifled in the clinch by Jan’s size and strength advantage. That said, Adesanya did show why he was a top talent, and this lone blemish on his record is not too concerning at present.  Men's Welterweight Champion - Kamaru Usman (19-1) Debuting in 2015 with The Ultimate Fighter: Blackzilians vs American Top Team, Kamaru Usman quickly showed his belief in his own self and mental toughness was a trait you could easily identify about him. Following the TUF finale, which Usman won, he would then go on to amass more and more wins against the Welterweight division’s top fighters. However Usman’s performances weren’t as eye-catching as others in the division, and yet he was there easily dispatching his opponents. Following wins over Demian Maia and Rafael Dos Anjos, Usman served as a replacement for Colby Covington against Tyron Woodley for Woodley’s Welterweight Championship. This would be Usman’s standout performance of his career, easily controlling and just beating up Woodley for all 5 rounds to earn a lopsided decision. Next Usman was put up against Colby Covington who had already begun a campaign to challenge for the belt. Usman again put on a fantastic performance and shut Covington up by breaking his jaw. He was then expected to face fellow teammate Gilbert Burns but Burns contracted COVID19 and a last minute replacement of Jorge Masvidal was chosen. Again, Usman’s hard work and ability to grind his opponents down served him yet another victory. Usman then fought, and dominated, Gilbert Burns in a phenomenal showing. Usman then rematched Jorge Masvidal, who claimed he only lost their first fight due to having to cut weight, and KO’d him spectacularly inside of two rounds. It was then announced Usman would rematch Colby Covington because somehow he is the only other reasonable title challenger at the moment.  Men's Lightweight Champion - Charles Oliveira (31-8-1) After the mystique of Conor McGregor was destroyed by Khabib, The Eagle retired from the UFC just two fights later thus vacating the title. Common logic just pointed to Conor getting an immediate title opportunity, but instead the UFC opted to pair newly signed Michael Chandler, and longtime UFC veteran Charles Oliveira. Do Bronx has had one of the longest paths from UFC debut to UFC title shot and was paired with someone who had one of the shortest paths to their first title opportunity. The fight was a pretty great one, with Chandler being just seconds from a victory, only for Do Bronx to put Iron Mike away via TKO just a few seconds into the second round. With Oliveira in the Champions seat, Lightweight looks rich for contenders and Oliveira being a worthy champ only helps solidify the notion that the Lightweight division remains one of the UFC’s best.  Men's Featherweight Champion - Alexander Volkanovski (22-1) A former rugby player who pushed 200 lbs, Alexander Volkanovski’s athleticism has been a key factor in his UFC run. The Australian native entered the UFC with a 14-1 record and, much like his fellow champions on this list, just kept winning until he was facing off against former title challengers in the form of Chad Mendes, who he TKO’d, or former champions like Jose Aldo, who he beat via decision. With his winning ways he then saw himself across the Octagon from UFC Featherweight Champion Max Holloway. In a 5 round tactical battle, Volkanovski earned the upset win and dethroned the surging Holloway who had been undefeated at 145 for a good while. It was only fitting that Volkanovski then gave Holloway a chance to win the belt back and the 2nd fight was just as exciting as the first. Suffering an early knockdown, Volkanovski was able to recover and eventually work out another decision victory, setting Holloway off the Featherweight mountain for the foreseeable future. Volkanovski is currently filming the newest season of TUF against Brian Ortega who is his next title challenger.  Men’s Bantamweight Champion - Aljamain Sterling (20-3) A product of Matt Serra & Ray Longo, Sterling made his UFC debut in 2014. Early on, Sterling looked like a decent young prospect at Bantamweight and did well against his opponents. This path led him to fights with Bryan Caraway and Raphael Assuncao which were his first two ever losses, which oddly happened back to back. Sterling reworked his gameplan and continued to amassing a winning record before being dropped by Marlon Moraes thus derailing his momentum momentarily. With a return, Sterling then again amassed a winning streak and put himself back in title contention despite the two runs of setbacks. Earning the nod to get a title shot at Petr Yan, Sterling entered UFC 259 as an underdog of sorts thanks to Yan’s impressive performances. However mid-fight Sterling took an illegal knee that resulted in a DQ loss for Yan, meaning the UFC belt changed hands and Sterling became the new UFC Bantamweight champion. He is also the only person ever to win the belt in any division via DQ, a dubious honor to hold. Sterling is likely to face Yan next in a rematch though there’s been reports that Sterling is saying Yan needs to not be given a “reward” with a rematch. So who loving knows.  Men's Flyweight Champion - Brandon Moreno (19-5-2) The UFC fanbase was first introduced to Brandon Moreno fittingly on the TUF season entitled “Tournament of Champions” where 125lbs champions from around the world competed on the show to get a chance at UFC Flyweight king Demetrius Johnson. Moreno was not very lucky as he lost in the opening round of the tournament. Following the season, Moreno entered the UFC and won his first bout in just the first round earning himself a Performance of the Night bonus. He would go on to have several more fights against tougher competition before losing to Sergio Pettis, Alexandre Pantoja (who he lost to in TUF) and was subsequently cut in 2018. He moved on to the LFA for a spell before being picked up again by the UFC. This time he fought more ferociously and accumulated an impressive win streak. Eventually he would be given an opportunity to fight Deiveson Figueiredo for the Flyweight Championship he had sought since 2016, ultimately ending that fight in a draw. Just 6 months later the pair would rematch and Moreno took home that gold thanks to a dominant performance that ended with him submitting the champion.  Women's Featherweight Champion - Amanda Nunes (21-4) Having claimed the UFC Bantamweight Championship, Nunes would go on a winning streak while the Featherweight division sat under the control of Cristiano “Cyborg” Justino. When the two were eventually paired for a Champion vs Champion bout at Featherweight, many assumed that Nunes likely could win, but it wouldn’t be that easily. Boy did she make us all eat our words on that one. Nunes KO’d Justino in less than a minute and became the first Two Division Champion for the UFC’s women’s roster and also the first female Double Champ. From here Nunes would bounce back and forth defending her Bantamweight and Featherweight titles, most recently in Featherweight where she beat Felicia Spencer. Amanda easily beat Megan Anderson and then the UFC finally opted to put the nail in the coffin with regards to Women’s Featherweight, though the announcement was made via Megan Anderson on Twitch so….idk?  Women's Bantamweight Champion - Amanda Nunes (21-4) Following her third fight in the UFC, a loss to Cat Zingano, Amanda Nunes seemingly changed everything about her fighting style and went on a tear in the Bantamweight division. She would pick up wins over title challengers like Sara McMann and top title contender Valentina Shevchenko. This thrusted her into a Bantamweight Championship match against reigning champion Miesha Tate at UFC 200 which saw Nunes easily win in just three and a half minutes. Following this she would welcome former champion Ronda Rousey back to the UFC, and simultaneously retire her as well. A rematch with Shevchenko and a win over Raquel Pennington saw Nunes quickly become a top champion in the division. When she was put into a Champion vs Champion bout against Cristiano Justino, we all just assumed she would be undersized and yet she surprised us again with a quick KO. Since then she defended her Bantamweight title twice against Holly Holm, who she KO’d, and Germain de Randamie and then went back to Featherweight being the only truly active multi-weight champion defending both her titles.  Women’s Flyweight Champion - Valentina Shevchenko (20-3) Debuting as a Bantamweight, Shevchenko’s skills were easily notable in the women’s division. However key losses to Amanda Nunes at UFC 196 in a non-title bout, and then later in a title bout at UFC 215 would see her return to the Flyweight division which she had fought in during her pre-UFC days. A fight against then champion Nicco Montano fizzled when Mantano couldn’t make weight let alone the fight due to illness and was stripped. Valentina then faced former kickboxing opponent and former UFC Strawweight Champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk for the vacant belt which she won. Since then Shevchenko has been on a tear with KO and TKO wins over Jessica Eye and Katlyn Chookagian and a decision win over Liz Carmouche (who Shevchenko lost to prior to the UFC). Shevchenko then faced and dispatched of Jennifer Maia. Shevchenko then took on Jessica Andrade and dismantled her easily, leaving her once again without any seemingly reasonable competition other than long time rival Amanda Nunes.  Women's Strawweight Champion - Rose Namajunas (11-4) Fighting for the first time under the UFC banner (officially on a UFC card) for the inaugural UFC Strawweight Championship, Namajunas came up short. A few years later and an impressive winning streak put together, Namajunas shocked the MMA world by KO’ng the seemingly unstoppable Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Thug Rose then went on to defend the title against Joanna in an immediate rematch before dropping her belt to Jessica Andrade. This then led rose to take a year off and recover, before rematching Andrade (who had in the mean time lost her title to Zhang Weili). With the loss avenged, Rose set herself up as the most reasonable opponent for Zhang. At UFC 261 Thug Rose shocked the world again by KO’ng Zhang Weili with a perfectly placed head kick, snapping her 21 fight win streak, and also being the only woman in UFC history to capture her division’s championship twice. At present the perceived belief is Rose will rematch Zhang but whether or not that happens thanks to the UFC being dumb about Corona related procedures/distancing is up in the air. As always, if i forgot something please let me know. Mekchu fucked around with this message at 02:21 on Jul 2, 2021 |
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Jul 2, 2021 02:18
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solid snake
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Jul 5, 2021 15:03
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Quantum of Phallus posted:“”””””””””””””””””””alleged”””””””””””””””””” isn't that just how irish media law works due to privacy stuff and not conor putting a gag order out on them?
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Jul 13, 2021 22:56
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Ringo Roadagain posted:is conor the biggest draw in all of combat sports history to have never defended a title? Under that specific criteria? Yeah probably.
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Jul 16, 2021 23:17
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https://twitter.com/RyanMcKinnell/status/1420424255242522629
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Jul 29, 2021 11:33
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Eat This Glob posted:a pox on the mod who probed me 
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Aug 1, 2021 07:29
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| # ¿ May 14, 2024 09:02 |
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New Thread - https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3975202
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Aug 1, 2021 07:31
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