MMA/UFC Discussion Thread MMA • Page 231

I wonder what they do with Francis now

who's left for him to fight that he hasn't either destroyed or will get destroyed on the ground by?

 

I don’t see him really getting destroyed by anyone except if DC were to face him and lay on him for 5 rounds. I would love to see him and Lewis run it back since they both seem to be in better spots now. There’s always the potential rematch with Stipe too. Volkov, Struve, Dos Santos are all guys that people like to see fight who haven’t stepped in there with him. The UFC bumped him up the rankings as fast as possible to get him fighting for the title, but he skipped a lot of dudes along the way.

 

:(

 

end of an era

he will be missed

 

I guess he didn't wanna wait for Khabib. Understandable. From what I heard he had already cut some weight and was training heavy for 155.

 

Khabib wanted this too, so it’s just another way that he shot himself in the foot. It cost him potentially the fight of his career.

I’m really happy George isn’t forcing it. He’s the GOAT, with nothing left to prove. Finally someone who I love as a fighter that also knows when it’s time to stop fighting. Nothing but respect for his decision.

 

Not just for walking away on his own terms, I had a lot of respect for him for doing everything else on his own terms as well. One of the few fighters who have stood up to the UFC in negotiations and knew his worth. You can't help but to feel like if they would have invested in Georges a little more (particularly once the UFC was sold), we would have seen him return more than that single time.

For selfish reasons, I wish I could have seen him fight Anderson (in his prime), Woodley, Askren, Khabib, etc. but you can't hate the guy for not wanting to do it if he's not 100% motivated.

 

Khabib responds

 

Wow

 

That's pretty awesome. GSP still so good and admired that Khabib asks him to postpone retirement. Ha.

 

Khabib also tryina make up for that hefty fine haha

 

sure he realizes that it's probably the biggest payday he'll ever have

 

Just brainstorming, but do you think a fight with GSP would payout more than a rematch with Conor?

 

I don't think so? I think Conor is the biggest draw in UFC by quite a large margin. GSP/Khabib would do great, but it wouldn't transcend sports like Conors fights do. It will just appease all of UFC's fanbase.

 

I think it would, based simply off the fact that we've seen that fight, we know how it went and most likely how a rematch would go, and GSP actually has more than a fighting chance against him, but I could be completely wrong. obviously Conor is their biggest draw, I just feel like people would be far more interested in seeing those two fight, because both are considered goats in their own ways

 

Unless this is all just GSP's master plan to build up hype....

 

I feel like I know lots of people who talk about UFC only when Conor is fighting, if it's anyone else then they ain't watching. I think that's a big deal when it comes to the promotion biz, ya know?

 

yeah, I guess you're right. he kind of changed the sport, for better or worse

 

Who knows though, something like GSP/Khabib could bring back a lot of old fans who don't watch anymore and that could create some big numbers.

 

Well that’s cryptic

 

Sorry Khabib, live with it. GSP doesn’t work on your schedule.

Also, yes I do think GSP v Khabib would sell as well as a rematch with Conor. GSP transcends 2 generations of fight fans around the world. Khabib is bigger than ever. Conor already lost once as well. Badly.

 

Smith is at +700 if any of you are feeling a little risky

 

Yeah, we're hitting the point where Khabib has been so dominant that people are going to pay to see anyone they think can possibly have a shot at beating him. Maybe if Max or Tony put a beating on him (not even necessarily win against him), that will take down some of the mystique he has though.

 

So here’s my take on this: Why not root for Anthony right?

For one, it’s always fun in the sport to root for an underdog. 2, it’s impossible to think after this long and being this lucky that Smith is gonna be dumb enough to let Jones control the pace. He’s gonna take some sort of risks to try and get it done under 5 rounds. 3, we’ve seen a streak of fighters the past year surprise us, take the fight to the dominant strikers early on and throw them completely off guard. If you land one of your strongest hits early that you’re gonna be able to throw the whole fight, it clearly can win you a fight it’s just not something we’ve seen as commonly years before. We’ve seen it executed very well in Nunes vs Cyborg, Cejudo vs Dillashaw, Ngannou vs Blaydes 2, Andrade vs Karolina, etc etc and I think that’s what Smith is gonna go for here.