Neither Fedor or BJ should have been fighting in the last five years. haha. Every time I watch all of these guys who were great back in the day but are now struggling to compete, it makes me appreciate Dan Henderson that much more.
Got some other interesting fights announced though. JDS/Ngannou, Cyborg/Evanginer with Anderson being out, and Maia/Woodley. Man, I would love to see Maia as champ and I think he beats mostly everyone, but I think Tyron is his hardest fight, stylistically. I kind of see Tyron keeping away from him for five rounds for a decision.
No kidding. Even though a chunk of his victories aren't in the most impressive fashion, wins over Condit, Lawler, Wonderboy, and potentially Maia would be one of the greatest resumes at that weight class. Funny enough, it sounds like he's got GSP lined up after that, so a win over him could put him in the Welterweight GOAT discussion.
Stoked to get two cards in one weekend (and three in one week). This is a rare occasion in the post-Zuffa era. I got a little burnt out with all of the cards, but man, sometimes when there were two in one week or sometimes two in the same day....it was great to kick back and do nothing but watch fights.
STRIP HER! Just kidding. Really hoping she's ok. I'm sure cancelling the main event would be devastating to everyone involved. If she's THAT sick though, I'm not sure the result of the fight would even feel satisfying if it were to still happen.
Actually ended up being a pretty great card though the women's fight would have been a great cap. Stoked for Whittaker! I see him vs. Bisping being a close 5 round technical battle. Was reaaally hoping Werdum would have pulled out a win. Not upset about him dropping that decision because he definitely should have put his foot on the gas at the end of the third when Overeem was hurt. He was perfectly content with sitting in guard at the end of the fight and riding out a decision. I'm not sure about that one.
Really happy about RW's win. Not a fan of Romero at all. Still in disbelief over Nunes' inability to fight even though she was cleared by a doctor. Sounds like shaky feet to me.
Nunes had to have had something a lot deeper going on. She's a veteran who headlined UFC 200 and fought/smashed Ronda Rousey... I can't see nerves or fear being a reason for her to back out. Also strange considering she had done the entire camp, weight cut, and media before backing out. It's fishy, nonetheless.
She did destroy Rousey, but who didn't know that was gonna happen. Whatever the deeper thing being, people payed a lot of money to see you fight in your headlining match. You get medically cleared to fight, but don't "feel like fighting" and that's all you'll say on the matter? C'mon. Unprofessional as ever.
A lot of people didn't know, apparently because Rousey was the betting favorite. Everything you said all points to something unknown going on which is why I don't jump to the conclusion that she was scared. Like I said, as a champion, you don't go through camp, successfully cut the weight, do the media and then turn down thousands of dollars because you are nervous. Definitely agree it's unprofessional though regardless of the reason.
I think that she was a lot more confident against Rousey knowing how much time she had taken off, as well as her being a striker. Valentina was a much more high stake fight imo for Nunes.
Title fights are all "high stakes" regardless of how confident they are that they'll win. I'm sure the truth is somewhere in the middle; she couldn't breathe properly and probably thought it would be a mistake to take the title fight when her cardio would be shit. They've "cleared" fighters with similar things before and it ended badly. It's better for herself to postpone, as unprofessional as it is. Just sick of the "ducking" accusations as soon as someone doesn't take a fight for any reason. Happened to her, MM, Bisping, Conor, Woodley, Cormier...you name it.
To go through all of the motions of weigh in and what not, just to cancel day of...I just don't like that. You have one job as an athletic fighter and that's to, in the healthiest and most professional ways possible, show up ready.
Yeah that's understandable. She may or may not have made the right choice in postponing as far as WINNING the fight with Valentina, but she definitely fucked up in a business sense. Probably the last time she gets to headline and probably ruined her shot at getting a super fight in the near future.
I mean, athletic commissions, for everything good they do, are essentially part of a business used to generate money. Regardless if they "clear" you to fight, that doesn't mean that you should fight. I agree it's a bad look to cancel day of, but she probably believed she still had it in her until common sense prevailed. And anyone saying she's scared just doesn't understand athletic competition. Dana says a lot, but get real. Jon Jones was never going to headline a card again, yet here we are two weeks away. If it makes business sense, she'll be main eventing again.
All I know is Joanna is easily my favorite fighter in the UFC right now, she actually resides in the same town as me in Florida as well!