This past weekend, Support Miocic sent Daniel Cormier to the grass, winning her trilogy fight at UFC 252. Then Jon Jones stalled all the thunder by unlocking his title and signaling his intention to go to heavyweight. So, let’s talk about those things, and then we’ll wrap it up with an example of the biggest event of the weekend: CamSoda Fight Circus!
Will DC actually retire?
– Alex Scaffidi (@alexscaffidi_) 21 August 2020
In MMA, smart money is always on a fighter who does not stay with retirement. It happens so rarely, you would have to be an idiot to think this will stick. What I think is thinking makes me an idiot, because I think we saw the last of DC in the cage.
At the conclusion of UFC 252, Cormier made it clear that he did not want to fight again unless it was for a belt and that makes sense. What is the point of hanging on to his age? If he was in his late 30s, sure, but he’s on the wrong side of 40, and a last – minute replacement is out, he’s not getting another title fight, and even that radiates credibility. Sometimes you just have to hang them up, and if it’s not the storybook he ended up with, then DC still has one of the better pensions in the sport’s history (which is a condemnation). He did not walk on his back, or suffer a cruel clot. He lost a decent fight with a man who is likely to come down as the heavyweight GOAT. That’s a damn face better than Cain’s exit.
All this being said, man, I really think Cormier will have regretted not clinging to his guns over retirement at 40. After he left Stipe, Cormier could easily have never fought against him again and no one would have thought less of him. He could just come out and say, ‘Yes, I wanted to fight Brock, but that did not happen. I’m 40, my back is trash, and I’ve promised my family. I’m running away, ‘and if he had done so, his career would have been remembered so much differently. Instead, coming back and losing a few fights to Support, throws him firmly out of every GOAT conversation and places him likely outside the top 10 fighter conversation.
Damn. What a difference a year makes.
Does Jon Jones sit and wait for Support vs Ngannou winner or take a ‘test’ fight against someone like Rozenstruik before shooting a title?
– Fight Fan (@MMAFightzFan) August 20, 2020
There’s roughly a zero percent chance Jon Jones takes every fight at heavyweight other than Stipe Miocic or Francis Ngannou, and he does not either. You think Jon’s going to heavyweight and adopting Curtis Blaydes as something shitty? GTFO. Jones has been the lightweight champion for almost a decade. If there’s one who lives who deserves to jump up and get a direct title, it’s him. And honestly, Dana’s statement that Francis Ngannou is not getting a jump is insane. Yes, Ngannou has been a spectacular run, but you know who has been on a better run? Jon Jones! Not even considering that Ngannou has already lost to Support, that should be reason enough.
But hey, the UFC wants to wait and I think the reason is obvious: they want to defeat Ngannou Support and then they can set up the Ngannou-Jones fight for the true heavyweight title. Talk about your money battles right there. And if Stipe wins again, then Jones is less noticeable to him but a nice enough consolation prize.
The last 3 fights of Jon Jones (Santos, Smith, Reyes) have been subpar appearances by his standards. When that Jon comes up with heavyweight, does he beat Support as Francis?
– K9 (@ k9_k9_k9_k9) August 19, 2020
I think Jon Stipe kills but loses to Francis, although I’m not particularly sure about that.
At this point, I’m known as a ‘Support Miocic hater’, although I would be sly with that assessment. I just think that Miocic is, the fifth-best heavyweight in the world at the moment and would be picked up by some top contenders, and that I really think the best natural fighter we’ve ever seen would be his meat and potatoes throwing up game, especially considering that Jon is a tough match for him.
Honestly, if you were looking for the best possible opponent for Jones to stand in his move to heavyweight, it would be Support. The major strengths of Support are cardio, endurance, footwork, and a decent jab. Jon is taller, leaner, equally durable, would contaminate Stipe’s jab with handcuffs, which functionally fucks half of the champion’s offense. Support is not even a particularly big KO threat, so Jon does not have to live in fear of getting one-shot. Seriously, I just do not see what Support can do to win that fight. Is he going to Jon Wall-en-Stall like he did with DC? Good luck trying that on the best clinch fighter in MMA history. Support is done in typical Jones five-round fashion.
Ngannou is a much more interesting proposition because Ngannou has that real death-touching power. We saw how horrible Jones was when he sat without knees against a Thiago Santos. In view of that, there is a possibility that if he was ever locked in a cage with Francis Ngannou, he might never be within four feet of “The Predator.” Jones is the best fighter ever, so this is not to say he can not win, but if he fights like he has lately, then he can not.
Despite what the judges said, Jon Jones lost to Dominick Reyes because he firmly refused to throw offense, unless there was no chance of him getting hurt. He damn close lost to Thiago Santos in the same way and really, Anthony Smith was the same only in that fight Anthony Smith was not ass gung-ho aggressive, so it was at least a clear win for Jones. This is like that stretch of Georges St-Pierre’s career where he could not even finish Dan Hardy because he was only putting himself at zero risk, only taking people down. and lying on them, Jon is shoes for everyone. That’s simply not a strategy that will work on the kind of artillery that Ngannou brings to the table.
All that said, the worst thing about Ngannou is that we still have no idea how good he really is. He keeps knocking people out before we have a chance to see if he has improved or grown. I mean, I think if you can swing it, it’s a good gig, but we still know so little about what Ngannou’s actual game is, that it’s crazy to feel confident about him as the best. fighter ea.
Do you think O Malley will be better back than ever after his first loss in the UFC?
– HONG KONG (@AbdullahShwihdi) August 20, 2020
By default, yes. He’s still a young boy, so the next time he steps into the cage, he’s definitely going to be better than we’ve ever seen. That being said, I doubt he will take any of this loss. He certainly does not act like that, although that may be just part of the persona.
I was never big on O’Malley from the jump, largely because I did not get his call. I think he’s a good fighter and his fighting style (and really everything about him) is so clearly influenced by Conor McGregor that he’s fun to watch, but he was still so young and hadn ‘t really done much. The Marlon Vera fight was his first chance to really announce to his fellow fighters that he was more than hype and well, he did not. Sure, he can come back and still have a great career, but maybe it’s just cool with Cody Garbrandt’s conversation at the moment.
Will Rumble get a direct shot at the LHW champion when he returns as a top 5 opponent and then a title shot?
– Roger White (@sodakrogerwhite) August 19, 2020
Oh great irony of irony that just like Rumble returns, Jon Jones is relieved of light heavyweight. I think the one consolation we can take in that is that Dominick Reyes is the true 205 champion anyway. And after Reyes Blachowicz strikes to get the belt that should all be his, the UFC would be idiots to do anything but book Rumble for the next title fight.
With Jon Jones leaving and Daniel Cormier retiring, one of the UFC’s marquee divisions became just as interesting as it has been positively in nearly a decade, while being completely devoid of household names. Rommel is one of those names. We have no idea if Rumble himself is a shell of himself, but it does not matter, run that husk out and let him fight Reyes and build your new champion. Otherwise, there is a risk that Rumble will be wrestled to death if you reserve him a rest-breaker fight. I mean sure, in a rational world he would need at least one win, but the UFC has never been ashamed to do things like this. Cave to your base instinct Dana and give us this.
Also man, without Jones, DC, as Gustafsson, and even Shogun leaving soon, 205 is a low, low division at the moment. Vadim Nemkov is perhaps the best light heavyweight on the planet. Sheesh.
Which fight are you looking forward to from most of this weekend’s most important martial arts event, CamSoda Fight Circus?
– Alexander K Lee (@AlexanderKLee) 21 August 2020
For those of you unaware, CamSoda was responsible for probably the biggest MMA event ever made and makes its triumphant return to the MMA space last night through a partnership with Full Metal Dojo to create “Fight Circus”. Just watch this promo and tell me it’s not the best you’ve seen in months.
Okay, now that your appetite is wet, just look at the majesty of this fighting card.
An organization that embodies the freak show roots of this “sport” of carnival side shows is clearly destined for an incredibly fun time. And although I’m excited for each of these fights in their own way, two of them stand out above all others.
First, Chitnuphong Sommuttirum, a bantamweight Muay Thai fighter who takes over Tang Mo a heavyweight boxer is just some spectacular matchmaking. I’m all for experimental matchmaking and this will help us get started on solving the question of how much of a factor size is for fighting. Can you, reader who went to a kickboxing class three days a week three days a week, actually beat any random guy if you had to? Let’s find out here through our two proxy fighters! It’s David Vs. Goliath only instead of a pendulum, our hero has shoelaces like steel beams and he will kick the shit out of Goliath and try not to take his head off in the process. That is MMA in its purest form.
And then of course there’s the real main event of the evening, the main event of the people: Brothers Bank & No Money which takes 1-1 from middleweight Mikhail Vetrila. Yes, this is the SECOND two-on-one fight of the evening, but I find it most interesting. For one, the names are sensational. Bank and no money? I’m not sure these brothers will have the best teamwork. And they will need it, if you combine their weight, they are heavier than Vetrila. Will their number advantage make it irrelevant? Will the brothers attack at the same time or will someone be sitting in the back shadow box when you see henchmen in the movies? If Vetrila flashes one immediately, is the other just a tap out? If so, how does that affect their advancing brotherly relationship? There are so many questions and thank God we will get the answers, plus so much more.
Long live CamSoda!
Thanks for reading this week, and thanks to everyone who sent tweets! Do you have burning questions about at least tangentially related to martial arts? Then you are lucky because you can send me your Hot Tweets, @JedKMeshew and I will answer them! Does not matter if they are topical or crazy. Be weird with it. Let’s have fun.
