I do believe they announced one fight for 205 which was al iaquinta vs Thiago alves at lightweight.

Diaz Alvarez for title at 205 if he finishes conor again?

Am I On my own or is there anyone else that kinda likes glover to win against rumble?

I semi agree with Woodley crushing Diaz only because he needs GSP level cardio to do it. I think the 4th and 5th get interesting. And there's always that chance the **** talking breaks him a bit. Diaz is just so hard to finish.

GSP says he's interested in Woodley fight

I'll believe GSP is back when he signs that contract, until then he's just baiting us.

GSP and Woodley @ 205. Please

I dunno though, does Woodley actually have competent striking? Absolutely, he hits like a truck but if you can get out of the way of that right hand, I think he starts looking like Roy Nelson pretty quickly.

There's also the cardio problem. He'd need to finish Diaz early, same as Lawler, or he's gonna get outworked in the later rounds.

As for other top 10 welterweights... I dunno if I'd go as far as -200 but I'd definitely pick Woodley to beat Condit again. He was easily winning their previous fight before Condit blew out his knee. I'd almost certainly take him at that price against Hendricks, who is somehow still top 10.

I dunno, I'm gonna need to see Nate's drawing power without McGregor before I believe he's up to headlining an event like that. Alvarez certainly isn't a big enough name on his own :P

As for Glover to beat Rumble, I guess it's possible but I personally don't see it being likely. I'm just not sure I see a clear path to victory for him. Rumble is vulnerable to takedowns, top control and subs but only if you're a Cormier-calibre wrestler... which Glover isn't. Glover hits hard but Rumble hits harder. Rumble will probaby have gas tank issues in the later rounds if the fight goes the distance, but Glover is hardly an elite athlete either.

I dunno, what do you think a Glover victory looks like?

I would assume it looks like 'survive the first 7-8 minutes, win when Rumble gasses/he has no heart and will quit mentally when things stop going his way'. I assume they will bang it out in round 1 and Glover drops first but either guy could and I may make a small Glover by sub play if the price is right as his wrestling isn't the worst, but he's probably too confident in his hands and no one should be standing with Rumble as their primary gameplan at 205 (maybe someone like prime Machida or Wonderboy could via elusiveness and counterstriking but that fighter doesn't currently exist at 205). Gustafsson could too if he shores up his striking defense to work from range, maybe.

For oz N swoop I need to re Watch some fights but off the top of my head I was thinking his route to victory may look like a combo of cormier/rumble N st preaux/glover, big strong athletic guy with power and wrestling/grappling deficiencies vs tough well rounded veteran with a few tricks N black belt bjj. Só yeah weather a storm N then capitalize when he fades/slows down essentially. Plus not that Im picking this as a route nor do I like anyone chances trading with rumble but I dont recall seeing rumble chin tested really ever and In a shoot out glover has some power of his own.

Of course I need to think about it a bit more and I cant ignore the huge possibilty glover is face down unconcious inside a round. But I dont think Its easy a fight for rumble at all N if glover price gets any bigger than it is now i think I will defo have to fire.

Wonder if Diaz price will get much better seen it at +120. Conor does always get the public money but people can't ignore that first fight.

The UFC needs some more LHW fighters. A lot of top tier atheletes in the US/Canada who walk around 230 but could cut to 205 elect nearly any sport over MMA due to the money. That's why the UFC has to go to Eastern Europe/Russia to scour for some top talent. At this point I'd even recruit an agent from Venezuala to go over to Cuba and look to bring top atheletes to the US via Venezuala.

I don't see much future talent... perhaps Krylov but the division is really about Jones>DC>Rumble>Gus> maybe Glover and Bader. This is so weak and a lot of these matchups have already happened.

Well said.

This isn't about fear of losing etc. This is about fear of losing and not making any money. At least with GSP he will get some of that shiny stuff to buy his Mom a new outfit and hopefully a dance instructor.

Yeah. There's a problem when it's 2016 and your division still features guys like Shogun, Rashad Evans and Little Nog in the top 10, all of whom are clearly shot. I think Manuwa and OSP have already hit their ceilings, as has Bader. There's six of your top 10 right there.

As long as Jones is out there's really nobody in the division I'd pick to beat Cormier, until he falls off the athletic cliff. At 37 that's coming sooner rather than later, but still, until then...

Krylov is a solid prospect, as is Corey Anderson. There's also Ilir Latifi, I just think he might've left his run too late as he's already 33.

So there were some changes made to the unified rules of MMA overnight:

http://www.mmafighting.com/2016/8/2/...a-new-rules-in

A fighter now has to have BOTH hands and both feet on the ground (or another body part) to qualify as a grounded fighter, if they don't their opponent is allowed to kick or knee them to the head.

Also some changes to female clothing (no more loose tank tops) and a more formal "Jon Jones" designed to minimise eye pokes.

Biggest changes for betting though is probably the new language and definitions around what constitutes a 10-8 round, expect to see even more of them going forward. In particular it says that if one fighter exhibits domination, duration and damage they judge MUST score it a 10-8 round, and they're encouraged to consider a 10-8 score if a fighter exhibits two of those three.

That would be nice. Thank you.

from what i've heard i like the new rule changes

not sure how I feel about the 10-8 round changes, it doesn't seem to clarify much. What exactly constitutes domination? Does someone who has top position and does very little damage get a 10-8 due to exhibiting domination + duration? imo damage should be the #1 criteria for 10-8s.


About time the knee/kicks to a grounded opponent was changed

You're right, I suppose the gist is that it's better defined than it used to be, and it encourages the use of 10-8 rounds much more than they've been used in the past.

As for what constitutes "domination" I'm guessing that just being in top in your opponent's guard wouldn't count, you'd need to be in mount or something.

Oh, you're also allowed to heel-kick your opponent in the kidneys on the ground now. I suspect a Gracie wrote that rule :P

Seems like they are standing fighters up and breaking them on the fence much quicker lately. I wonder if the threat of someone getting a 10-8 round for domination will add to that? Not sure if I like that direction too much. I don't enjoy wet blanket for full rounds but if part of your strength is waiting to capitalize on a mistake it could neutralize you pretty bad.

There doesn't seem to have been any official change to the stand up rules, though I agree they definitely seem to have been pushing for quicker standups in recent months.

There's a greater emphasis on "impact" or "damage", and an explicit instruction to value striking and grappling most highly, and only go to aggression and octagon control if the striking and grappling is deemed even.

What I assume that's going to mean is that lay and pray / wall and stall won't be rewarded in the same way it has been in the past.

Which would have been good to know a few months back when I picked Roy Nelson over Derrick Lewis. I was spot on about what would happen, but not about who the judges would award the win as a result...

Interesting with the 10-8 change, I do expect to see a lot more draws though, like Maldonado Fedor, clearly first 10-8 round, then lose 2 next rounds 10-9's.

Also, Corey Anderson and Ilir Latifi, I don't expect them to get to top 3. If they can beat a top 5-7 I'd change my mind but so far they've shown a kind of limited skillset to beat top guys over 5 rounds.

woodley will beat gsp if they fight. Gsp hasn't fought in years and would be hella rusty. i see woodley bumrushing him before he can find his legs and rhythm. now a prime or even 80 percent gsp would be a different story. i don't see GSP ever coming back though unless he just needs the money.

I rather had a scoring system where they will have much more 10-10 or even rounds, often rounds are pretty close that it could have gone both ways, why not just not score those rounds or score them even and only award rounds with a clear winner to the winner.

Good point about those athletes aiming for other sports, didn't think about it that way, but it make sense since at 205 they are often tall and strong enough to be able to compete in other sports where being taller/bigger/stronger is often an advantage since they don't have weight classes outside of combat sports.

Also I think quite a few big 185'ers could compete at 205 and do well.
I think Rockhold/Romero/Jacare might very well be capable of beating guys like Gus, Bader, OSP, Lil Nog and maybe some other top 10 guys.

Jacre lost a joke split decision against Yoel, or Jacre would be the champion right now. Can't wait until this company finally gives him his well deserved title shot.

He'll run it

Going through Yair's tape now and GOT DAMN how nasty is this man on the feet? I watched his fight with Fili live so knew he was a solid striker but some of the **** he threw in his other fights was silly.