The MMA Thread: DON'T ASK 4 STREAMS & NO GIFS- Islam vs Dustin on TONIGHT

[spiderjericho]

That man’s left hook is nasty.

 

[spiderjericho]

 

[Zainjal26]

That man’s left hook is nasty.

One of the scariest left hooks in mma

Only other one equally as scary was mark hunt

 

[2pacalypsenow]

One of the scariest left hooks in mma

Only other one equally as scary was mark hunt

Chuck had a nasty looping left hook. He baited his opponents with it and occasionally rocked them too.

 

[boxer15]

Homeboy grabbing his shoulders at the end and telling him, “that’s how your butterface mom made you, kid.”

 

[Zainjal26]

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Lol here we go…

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Saw the champions vs champions thing coming. I’d hope after the first initial tournament they’d just combine into one

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Yeah, I’m skeptical on saying this is for sure better for mma and the sport and the fighters overall

I don’t trust pfl. Their format sucks. Their pacing sucks. Their marketing sucks

Bellator clearly had a much better roster and talent than PFL, so that’s obviously a huge benefit. But does this really mean more money for everyone? Does this mean more opportunities? A lot yet to be seen

 

[steevoo1]

Dumb as hell to keep things separate. Bellator has a much better roster than the PFL. Why would you not want that from day 1.

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Also curious how the contracts will fold over

I don’t see them being able to acquire every single Bellator fighter and keeping every single pfl fighter

How does the pfl have enough money for all of this

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Dumb as hell to keep things separate. Bellator has a much better roster than the PFL. Why would you not want that from day 1.

I would say it’s a decent idea only if they merged after the initial champion vs champion tournament

 

[steevoo1]

Doesn't seem like they're planning to when they say that Bellator will be overseas.

I better get ****ing Doumbé vs Lima, Amasov, JJ

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

They need to get serious with lazy king and doumbe. The pfl roster sucks balls and it was hilarious that people were ever considering them the #2 promotion before this merger

But anyway, early ideal champion vs champion matches:

Lazy King vs McKee or Lazy king vs usman for the 155 title

Doumbe vs Jason Jackson or doumbe vs amosov for the 170 title

 

[steevoo1]

Also curious how the contracts will fold over

I don’t see them being able to acquire every single Bellator fighter and keeping every single pfl fighter

How does the pfl have enough money for all of this

They can. I've pointed out before that they're investors are a bunch of billionaires who already own major sports teams. Also the Saudi funds backing them.

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Doesn't seem like they're planning to when they say that Bellator will be overseas.

I better get ****ing Doumbé vs Lima, Amasov, JJ

They can still merge into one overall roster and run overseas right?

I agree with the doumbe vs those guys, I just hope Lima isn’t washed

 

[steevoo1]

All I know, if they rebrand bellator and I still hear josh Thompson and Big John on the call still, I'm turning that **** off.

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

They can. I've pointed out before that they're investors are a bunch of billionaires who already own major sports teams. Also the Saudi funds backing them.

They’ll need that Saudi money especially if Francis ever comes over

Im gonna wait for this interview with Ariel though. Im still skeptical

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Well, Alex, could also point out how you might be living in the past and how brutal the sport can be to guys your age regardless of prior accolades

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Meanwhile I don’t think the ufc will sit on this and probably break some kind of big news lmao

At the same time, I also wonder what this actually does to push the ufc

This merger doesn’t seem like a true threat to the ufc quite yet, at least on paper

Everyone always says “competition is better!!!”

Well two of the biggest competitors just became one, I’d hope some of the experts out there can shed light on how this can really put pressure on the ufc

 

[steevoo1]

UFC got bigger fish to fry with the judge deny8ng their motion and moving ahead with the trial this past weekend.

It won't impact the UFC in the short term. In the long term it can Plat a big deal. All depends how the lawsuit ends and if the restricted contracts become a thing of the past.

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

UFC got bigger fish to fry with the judge deny8ng their motion and moving ahead with the trial this past weekend.

It won't impact the UFC in the short term. In the long term it can Plat a big deal. All depends how the lawsuit ends and if the restricted contracts become a thing of the past.

Yup, unless the ufc is forced to change the way they negotiate contracts this merger might not be a blip on the radar

 

[spiderjericho]

That trial could hurt PFBellator too. They’re be forced to change their contracts as well.

PFL doesn’t seem posed to threaten UFC. And you can have backers and Nations performing sports washing but at the end of the day if you don’t have product that puts butts in seats or eyes on PPV streams, it’s pointless. Is ESPN supposed to pay for both Bellator and PFL media contract? Could Netflix? Amazon in bed with OneFC.

 

[jayt1202]

I know Netflix has said they don't want to do live sports and it seems the reason is because they don't control the organization around the games. However, it seems like only a matter of time before they get something like the NBA in season tournament, a PFL, boxing or some other sport.

The UFC definitely isn't feeling threatened in the least by this merger, Bellator has/had a great roster but outside of the hardcore MMA fans they never really had a legit star. None of their guys really had big moments, closest might have been MVP with his viral K.O. and pokemon celebration. They got Fedor way too late and their CBS cards never really generated hype. I think PFL needs a major rebrand and hopefully they make some changes in 2024.