***spoilers*** UFC News and Discussion Thread

[Gazz]

Man, I know it's a business and they're there to make money and I love Conor but c'mon, how about actually treating it as a sport, like it used to be?

[Cymbols]

2 hours ago, Asuka's Gonna Kill You said:

So it's Alvarez against McGregor at 205 for the belt. Meanwhile you have two legit contenders who have torn up the division in Khabib and Ferguson still waiting to receive a title shot while McGregor hasn't even defended the 145 title. 

At 205?! Damn, I knew Conor was big for the 145 division, but not that big! 

Seriously though, total bullshit. He does not deserve that shot over Khabib or Ferguson, and I bet they won't stick to their guns and make him vacate the Featherweight title either. 

Best case scenario, Conor wins, then Khabib suplexes him until his face breaks next time out.

[Rich]

I like the fight, but McGregor should drop the Featherweight Championship if he isn't going to defend it.

At this rate it will be well over a year after he unified the belts to him actually defending it.

[EddieG]

And still won't be as long between Aldo's last title defense and the McGregor fight.  

[Vince Russo]

Timing is everything. If Conor was in this situation last year, then Conor, most likely, would have had to bite the bullet and had to either defend the featherweight title or vacate it and move to lightweight. However, not only has the UFC just been sold, but they’re about to make their MSG debut after being shut out of New York for almost twenty years. That means, for a variety of reasons, the UFC needed to put on, not just the best card they could, but the biggest card they could, and right now, there are only a four people that can make a UFC card seem like a big deal, and Conor is one of them. The other three are Ronda, Brock and GSP, and all three, for a variety of reasons, are some way off from coming back, and Brock may never come back. So the timing put Conor in the driving seat and allowed him to get what he wants. Is it fair? No. But life isn’t fair and neither is business, which is what the UFC is, and what any sport is once money becomes involved.

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

Weidman/Romero also confirmed for 205, brilliant fight.

[Your Mom]

This is such a fucking joke. I hope Eddie Alvarez crushes him

 

 

 

 

That being said I will probably order the fight  

[EddieG]

Apparently Jose has requested his release from the UFC.

[Just Joe]

If he wanted to fight McGregor so badly he'd have stepped up at 196.

[Cymbols]

Bullshit. If he wasn't fit to compete, stepping in to face someone who has had a full training camp would be a terrible idea. 

It also misses the point that booking Conor in a Lightweight title fight ahead of actual fighters who are ranked in the division makes a mockery of the system, and damages the UFC's appearance as a legitimate sporting organisation. 

Sure, Aldo isn't losing out as much as Ferguson, Khabib etc., but given that Dana White said that Conor's next fight would be either at 145, or he lost his belt, this seems like a total slap in the face to the 145 division, which is still in limbo because of this.

[Walker]

The UFC stopped pretending they were a sport ages ago. I'm not suprised this happened, and it will continue to happen until something drastic changes. Until then, I hear Bellator are hiring.

[Vince Russo]

Why are people still shocked that the UFC runs itself like a business?  That would be like getting upset at Bellator for putting on a freak show fight in a desperate grab for ratings, and Bellator are far worse when it comes to the sideshow aspect of MMA than the UFC.

Edited September 29, 2016 by Vince Russo

[Gazz]

Because there was a point, not very long ago, where you earnt title shots in the UFC by putting together a run of victories against top opposition, not by getting immediate undeserved rematches or just saying you want a belt.

[Benjamin]

Yeah, but at the same time, Brock got a title shot with a 1-1 record in the UFC, Chael Sonnen got a title shot at Light Heavyweight after losing a Middleweight title shot, Nick Diaz was coming off a lost and a year long layoff when he fought GSP, and even BJ has done this before while he had a long row of contenders who ended up having to beat each other while he went up to Welterweight to fight GSP. Those were all things that happened not too long ago.

So while titles may mean something some of the time, money always means more. 

And besides, Connor doesn't not deserve a lightweight title shot, he's the current featherweight champion. Aldo and Holloway can fight in the meantime because other than that, what other contenders are there? :/ 

[Rich]

On 30/09/2016 at 18:41, Benkid Nada said:

Yeah, but at the same time, Brock got a title shot with a 1-1 record in the UFC, Chael Sonnen got a title shot at Light Heavyweight after losing a Middleweight title shot, Nick Diaz was coming off a lost and a year long layoff when he fought GSP, and even BJ has done this before while he had a long row of contenders who ended up having to beat each other while he went up to Welterweight to fight GSP. Those were all things that happened not too long ago.

So while titles may mean something some of the time, money always means more. 

And besides, Connor doesn't not deserve a lightweight title shot, he's the current featherweight champion. Aldo and Holloway can fight in the meantime because other than that, what other contenders are there? :/ 

Still good fights vs the likes of Edgar or even Lamas out there. Wouldn't take much for someone like a Stephens, Bermudez or Pettis to step up for a shot.  Plenty of talent at 145.

[Benjamin]

Oh, I'm not denying that there's a huge amount of talent at 145, but they've all been beaten by Aldo, Holloway and Connor. At least from a merit perspective, if neither guy gets Connor, then Aldo and Holloway are the two top contenders right now. I actually feel bad for Holloway more than I do Aldo. Holloway is on like a 8 or 9 fight winning streak, has called out Connor while he was champ, then Aldo while he was interim champ, and even when it looked like he was getting neither guy, he campaigned for a shot against Edgar in New York. He wasn't given any of those fights, and now he still won't get Aldo because Aldo wants out of his contract. He basically has been left on a hill all alone, just waiting for someone fight nim.

[Chris2K]

What I don't understand is that is is completely apparent what gets Conor his shots ahead of everyone else, his charisma and willingness to put himself out there to make a name for himself to get opportunities, and yet still 99% of the UFC roster continue to just go along not doing anything to make them better known to the mainstream, waste their promo time after they win by saying they'll fight whoever they're told to, and then complain that someone who is doing these things is getting opportunities they're not. 

[Benjamin]

You can't teach what Connor does. Even when people try to do it (Tony Ferguson, Mousasi), it comes off being super awkward and not natural at all.

[Rich]

1 hour ago, Benkid Nada said:

Oh, I'm not denying that there's a huge amount of talent at 145, but they've all been beaten by Aldo, Holloway and Connor. At least from a merit perspective, if neither guy gets Connor, then Aldo and Holloway are the two top contenders right now. I actually feel bad for Holloway more than I do Aldo. Holloway is on like a 8 or 9 fight winning streak, has called out Connor while he was champ, then Aldo while he was interim champ, and even when it looked like he was getting neither guy, he campaigned for a shot against Edgar in New York. He wasn't given any of those fights, and now he still won't get Aldo because Aldo wants out of his contract. He basically has been left on a hill all alone, just waiting for someone fight nim.

I do not agree with that at all, if you follow your logic then Holloway shouldn't fight McGregor as he has already lost to him.  There are plenty of people who could give McGregor an interesting fight.

Little factoid.

in 2016 all UFC championship fights have either ended in the first or the fifth round

[MDK]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/37571306/ufc-middleweight-josh-samman-dies-following-probable-drug-overdose

UFC middleweight Josh Samman has died at the age of 28 following a probable drug overdose.

The fighter spent five days in a Florida hospital and for two of those he was brain dead, says Dr Craig Mallak, chief medical examiner for Broward Country.

He was moved to a hospice where he was declared dead on Wednesday morning.

Dr Mallak said toxicology tests had been done and the cause of death would be listed as a probable drug overdose.