MMA-UFC UFC 254

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I keep reading online that Gaethje looked bad. I thought he looked excellent on the feet in the first. Was tearing up Khabib's leg and stuffed a few takedowns.

Like everyone before him, just couldn't handle the pressure long term. Once it went to the ground it was all over.
 
How good did Whittaker look? I wasn't impressed vs Till, so it was good to see such a performance.

I still don't think he has much hope against Adesanya though. He's been getting dropped a lot recently, Israel likely finds the spot again. So where does that leave him?
 
so just watched the main events.

Whittaker won that pretty convincingly imo. Pretty unlucky not to get a finish in that 3rd round

As for the main event, Khabib stood there and traded with Gaethje a hell of a lot more than I thought he would have. His stand up game is very under rated.
 
Amazing performance by Khabib. Did a great job on the feet and was on a whole other level on the ground. The transition to mount in the second round that lead to the finish was incredible. Sad to see him go, but I think he's getting out for the right reasons. Gaethje landed some nice strikes, but looked exhausted 3 minutes in to the fight such was Khabib's pressure. He'll be straight back in to title mix despite that loss. I expect him and Chandler may get matched up to fight the winner of Conor and Poirier for the title.

Rob looked great against Cannonier. His leg kick defense left a bit to be desired, but he hardly got touched otherwise. The rematch with Izzy (if it happens) will be a different fight from the first one. He fought emotionally and tried to put full power in to every lunging strike. If he fights more like Romero did against Izzy he's a chance. Izzy doesn't lead well and Rob has good speed and countering ability. I would still favour Izzy, but it should be a much closer fight.

Volkov vs Harris was a fun scrap. Harris started well, but Volkov took over and looked great after the first minute or so.

Hawes has a lot of potential, but it's hard to read much in to his fight today. Malkoun looked like he froze, got cracked and went out. He probably gets another shot on an Australian card, but it's likely do or die for him next.

Murphy's on a nice run and probably one a few new fans with her wardrobe malfunction today. Her and Andrade up next for next shot at 125 makes sense I think.

Ankalaev left no doubt in the rematch! Terrific finishing combo and a scary KO for Cutelaba. Hoping to see him get a top 10 opponent up next.

Tuivasa getting a win was nice to see. Him slimming down is a good career move too. Starting camp at 322 is pretty ridiculous for a pro athlete... that's got to mean at least 3-4 weeks are purely about shifting weight. Nice to see he finally looks like he's getting serious with his body and wrestling skills. Strive should consider hanging them up again. He's still fairly young for heavyweight, but he's been KO'd a lot now.

The rest of the undercard was decent. Kenny vs Wood was a great fight, both guys have bright futures. Rakhmonov looked great and put Cowboy away early. Can see him figuring in the rankings in the next 12 months. Jung and Alvey was a decent scrap with a draw probably being a fair result. Jojua is a nice looking girl, but won't be for long unless she incorporates some head movement. The continents would have moved more during her fight than her head did! Nice performance by Maverick though. Alvarez's ground game is scary good. He's unproven, but I think he could be something at 155. Yakovlev is no pushover, going the distance with Maia and Usman at 170 so a quick win over him is very promising.
 
darko said:
Silva, Jones and maybe GSP.
Click to expand...

Fedor dominated the hardest division (in a time when HW was actually stacked) when they were doped up to their gills so he's my #1. GSP and Khabib for the UFC era. Silva and Jones were great fighters but were juicers.
 

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Engimal v3 said:
I keep reading online that Gaethje looked bad. I thought he looked excellent on the feet in the first. Was tearing up Khabib's leg and stuffed a few takedowns.

Like everyone before him, just couldn't handle the pressure long term. Once it went to the ground it was all over.
Click to expand...
I think he tried to keep the fight as much as possible in the middle and when he found himself near the fence.....he moved left/right to avoid getting taken down.

He did the best he could all things considered.
 
fwiw....I think we'll see Khabib competing again.
 
Topkent said:
I doubt it, promised his mother he would stop before this fight to help out the family. He cares more about family than he does fighting.
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I watched his post fight interview.

I believe him.

That doesn’t mean he can’t change his mind or able to find a balance in doing the things he wants to do.
 
Dan said:
I watched his post fight interview.

I believe him.

That doesn’t mean he can’t change his mind or able to find a balance in doing the things he wants to do.
Click to expand...

I don't think he fights anyone he's ever fought again, not gonna fight Chandler or Ferguson ever.

Only chance he comes back is to fight GSP and that would be an event in Russia but he's never gonna compete for a title again.
 
A couple years time if he misses the fight game, Tony becomes champ you never know but I think I just can’t let go of that fight which I have too.

Think George is too old.

I believe Khabib though.
 
I trust in Khabib's word too. I believe he'll honour that as it means a lot to him, as does his vow to his mother. Would hate to see him come back after a few years to get that 30th win ( and lose ) although chances are he'd probably win anyway.

But his promise to his mother means a hell of a lot more imo. Khabib is the best of all time.
 
Macpotata said:
I trust in Khabib's word too. I believe he'll honour that as it means a lot to him, as does his vow to his mother. Would hate to see him come back after a few years to get that 30th win ( and lose ) although chances are he'd probably win anyway.

But his promise to his mother means a hell of a lot more imo. Khabib is the best of all time.
Click to expand...
Is he really though?

He is defiantly up the top, but I don't know if he is number 1

For instance being undefeated in 29 fights is great, but probably 7 of them were against top opponents. Does that feat reign better than any/all of the following though?

Mighty Mouse - 11 UFC belt defenses
GSP - 12 times UFC champ in 2 divisions
Jon Jones - 26-1 (really that is undefeated though) 14 x UFC champ and his opponents is a murders row for years
Anderson Silva - won the UFC title like 13-14 times
Fedor even
 
I think there is a good argument for Khabib to be recognised as the GOAT. In the sport of combat fighting where there are just so many variables and absolutely anything can happen at any time, for a fighter to be just so dominant is rare. I think there was 1 fight early on in his career he was in trouble early, and perhaps briefly in the 3rd round v Conor. Other this that I don’t think he even looked like loosing.

Jones could elevate himself if he could win the HW title, although being banned for a year for illegal substances definitely hurts his reputation as a dirty fighter.

Other dominate fighters such as GSP and MM lost fights, so it shows just how tough it really is.
 
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