.

There is a difference between sambo and combat sambo. But you are wrong to say that Ivanov has only a chin and no talent or anything like that. If this were true, he would not have defeated Fedor Emilianenko, albeit in a difficult discipline like combat sambo.

The fight against Sakai was equal, but this dude cheated in the 3-rd round when Ivanov tried to take him down. I gave the first 2 rounds to Ivanov, but it doesn't matter anymore.

And yes, I meant that Emilianenko is HW GOAT because of his whole long history. Some people think Daniel Cormier is a bigger name, but everyone has a right to an opinion.

As for Khabib, I think he lost against Gleison Tibau. Jon Jones certainly lost the first fight against Gustafsson and maybe his last fight against Dominick Reyes. GSP lost to Hendricks and other guys. I just don't think there are undefeated fighters and for that reason I don't consider this a criterion when analyzing who's the GOAT. Steroids should also not be considered, as the fact that someone does not have positive doping tests does not mean that this fighter was certainly clean. Doping tests for a long time have passed very easily. The GSP stopped the fighting for several years when doping control was very ineffective.

Let everyone have their own opinion about who's the GOAT.

Not saying he has no talent just he doesn't have the talent or athleticism to be a legit top 10 hw I'm sure if you put him in ngannous body he'd be top 5 tho

I remember scoring the tibau fight for khabib in real time plus tibau was on roids although it was very close and no one landed anything of note etc

Who do we all like on the next card? Haven't done my research yet but at first glance I like Nunes even at ridic price does Spencer really win 1 in 10 let alone 1 in 6, Cody nochin by tko or decision or straight up if not much price diff, not sure assuncao will be able to lure him into a brawl and isn't a huge power guy although obv chins a concern, considering Martin as a dog I really rate him although magnys a tough fight. Maybe chase hooper too

I agree Sakai cheated and should have had a point deducted fwiw

It's not like the HW top 10 is overly impressive:

Ngannou - completely one dimensional fighter
Lewis - completely one dimensional fighter
Rozenstruik - completely one dimensional fighter
Oleinik - completely one dimensional fighter
Walt Harris - 6 wins 7 losses 1 NC in the UFC

Garbrandt has been working with mark henry in NJ, still think he has a ton of talent. This could be a good bounceback spot for him.

I tend to agree offensively he's still arguably the most talented fighter in the division

His chin and poor fight iq will cost him a lot of time time against power punchers like say Moraes or cejudo if he's not retired but assuncao is more of a point fighter with 4 tkos in 27 fights. He's very skilled and technical but assuncao is also very old for a lower weight class and his best days are almost certainly behind him

If Cody gets knocked out in this fight he's truly done as a contender but if not he should be a substantial favourite and he can win by both tko and decision a lot

If be brings a Cruz gameplan of strike at range and not brawl or rush in wildly he should win at least two thirds or so the reason he's only a small fav is his fight iq plus the chance his chin or confidence is completely shot I guess

I think he wins though this time and even though I strongly dislike his personality I hope he does because there a ton of interesting fights for him at the top of the division, Yan, Moraes, cejudo if he doesn't retire, etc

the goat has spoken

https://www.instagram.com/p/CA4ZUtPl...=1wr44yjxbt2ir

Already backed a few early on for the next card.

Cody at 1.7 this should be a really good bounce back fight for him. Assuncao been around for a long time not a big hitter, looked outclassed against Sandhagen. Think this Cody's price closes under 1.6.

Took Sandhagen at 2.06 think he is the future of this division. Sterling's a great athelete but I don't think he can keep up with Sandhagen's volume. Best win path would be to keep this a grappling match but Sandhagen's slick there too.

Annoyed at the Nunes price because had 1.25 before it was cancelled. Took some small at 1.2 but was hoping other books would open higher. Nunes destroys her imo, people make out the Spencer vs Cyborg fight was close but it was one sided beatdown. This will be now different.

Spencer is looking at a fluke sub or fluke injury to win this fight imo. Current price is probably value but not a fan of laying heavy money at 1.17 which is the best price I can find. Nunes inside the distance might be the play.

Can anyone off the top of their head tell me if Cody has attempted any subs in his professional MMA career? Am seeing Cody TKO or DEC -130 at a local if theres like a 1% chance of a sub or whatever which is my gut feeling it may be better than straight up

Assuncao is a black belt in BJJ I can't imagine Cody trying to grapple with him or even if he ends up in top position somehow in a scramble he'll either stand up or GNP surely right?

Caceres hooper price is getting insane.

I feel like if Cody gets someone hurt he’s seeing red and will just start smashing, grabbing an rnc wouldn’t even cross his mind.

Cody won't be going for a sub, don't even worry about that.

Cooper is a terrible everywhere except BJJ, and while Caceres did just give his back real easy vs Gracie, it is against a legend in the bjj world. So I ask myself is he going to give a 21 yr punk the same level of respect? Is he going to make the same mistake again?

He should beat the crap out of Cooper and because the price is so good, I'm going to bet him, even if he gets subbed I won't be surprised at all.

Other fights I like:
Nunez and Stamann are like free money imo, perhaps a nice parlay as both have very short odds.

I like Heinish over Meersheart
I like AJ over Sandhagen
Magny looked sensational, I believe the hype train to continue, he should beat Rocco if he shows up like his last outing.
I like Garbrandt to dominate
Hard not to bet on O Malley, but Wineland at 4.8 is kinda tempting, I still think O Malley gets it done but Wineland is a grinder, that fight isn;t easy, perhaps a dec for Malley.

do you think aljo is going to outgrapple him? i was on aljo before, but today i did tape, and man i came away impressed with corey. obviously aljo's easiest path to victory will be taking him down and outgrappling him but corey is really slick. aljo has obviously looked amazing in his last few fights and i've made some good coin off it, but this is a totally different style matchup than any of the previous 4 wins. tough to bet against aljo cause he's one of my favorites, but i 'm close to talking myself into it.

think i like charles byrd this weekend. maki will be really undersized at 185, and byrd is fairly well rounded. looked absolutely incredible vs. darren stewart before the knockout. losing to shabazian in that fashion wasn't amazing but hey, losing to callan potter for pitolo is unforgivable.

Yeah Sandhagen is talented and theoretically it should be very close, it prob will be but I just think AJ will want it more, he is the more savage of the 2 imo.

In a fight like this when both fighters are at a very similar level, I look at strength, tenacity and savagery. I think AJ has all 3 of those over Sandhagen.

I think Byrd gets it done as well btw, forgot to put him on my previous list.

Some out of the box thinking, might just be complete horseshit but let me know what you think: With the black lives matter movement, you think we should just bet all black fighters, subconsciously, white fighters will fight less than optimal, black fighters will fight even harder?

White fighters won't want to be the guy that defeats a black fighter in these times and black fighters will want it extra hard? What you think?

This is not political, just a thought I had. It's not that any fighters are deliberately throwing a fight or whatever, it's pure subconsciousness and something the fighters don't even realise.

Lol no, I don’t think that’ll be relevant

More likely black fighters' heads won't be in the game because they are preoccupied with other things going on.

We'll see, I do think it plays a role, and Crusher you could be right as well.

Starting to lean towards Garbrandt choking it, yeah he'll be faster but if he gets cracked he's likely getting finished. Another problem I see is if Cody starts to think his recent new found BJJ training is going to pay off and he goes full ****** thinking he can get a sub, only to get dominated on the ground.

Assuncao can crack and he has cracked many opponents, wouldn't surprise me 1 bit to see him finish Cody.

neil magny is funny because he's such a good fighter until the minute he starts backing up, in which case he becomes the worst fighter in the world.

Assuncao's never finished a top level fighter by TKO though, ever. His best TKO win is Matthew Lopez

Granted Garbrandt does indeed have no chin and at times ****** level fight IQ when he isn't sticking to the gameplan to fight technically and avoid brawls but surely he knows his career is on the line here if he gets knocked out again he'll be a punchline as the guy who got knocked out four times in a row after winning the belt, Raphael Assuncao is nearly 38 that's very very old for BW, and he's certainly going to get worse not better with every fight

I ****ing HATE the idea of being on Cody given how his last fight played out plus not being a fan of his at all, but I can't help it am going to end up firing him here. Assuncao is about to be 38. He's not likely to be the same guy who took TJ to two close decisions though. I think he has to knock Cody out to win. Sure, that might happen but nearly 40% of the time? If it was Marlon Moraes or Cejudo sure, Cody is going to sleep a ton, but Assuncao?

Got a decent sized bet Cody, might look stupid if he goes gets tagged and just starts swinging. But even in that scenario where Cody fights like an idiot I would still cap him as a slight fave.

Working with Mark Henry is a positive as it means he is at least acknowledging holes in his game. I also thought Assuncao looked pretty flat against Sandhagen and given his age I think is on the decline.

You put me in Ngannou's body - I'd be competitive in PFL/regional circuit events (I did train in Sambo for several years and know some basic boxing, i.e. different jab-punch sequences, switching stances, cutting off the ring, etc...). But the point is I am not in Ngannou's body, while Francis is.

And this is not just natural attributes. Francis put a lot of work to be in the body he is over the years - this is part of the game. I know Ivanov's history with getting stabbed and long recovery, but surely he could be in a much better shape. I mean look at Arlovski at 41 or Cheick Congo at 45. I am not even counting Romero, since he is likely roided up.

There are a lot of people out there who got the heart of a champion and could die in the ring if need be, but don't really have the grit and dedication to put in the work day to day and I not just talking MMA, you see a lot of people like that in regular life. And Ivanov might be just one of them. I am not talking getting to Ngannou's physique, but surely getting to like Oleinik level of fitness must be attainable?

And finally Blagoy's Sambo experience might be doing a bit of disservice to him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sgn8oCkoC2g
Sambo is a lot more wrestling/takedown/clinch work based than Ivanov's MMA style. Also, in Sambo there are a lot more breaks in action, so he never needed to be able to fight for 5 continuous minutes.

You know what would be cool, bring back old school style into modern day UFC cage at the Apex for one off specials, so like in detail, im talking Jon Jones War Style against Ngannou, K1 rules,

It's elbows in close that define a fighter as alive, I think fighters would prefer to mix in one camp a year at least under k1 type, change up the demands, some fighter's style would mix well under k1 and would enhance the vigor of the match up, soccer kicks are nice to the jaw

Some one needs to start a fight like on the poster of blood sport, a running jumping side kick to some ones face and connect full properly,

But then you get fighters that can snap kick through with their shins 2x2in and eat more

“Rome will exist as long as the Coliseum does;
when the Coliseum falls, so will Rome;
when Rome falls, so will the world.”

Always burn, never lose the Coliseum or the resources to run her

yea its like 10 year age difference and hes lost to basically the goat of 135 twice and decided to throw all fight IQ out the window and brawl/got caught his last fight.

personally i do not think hes done at all, chinny maybe. slow or lacking technique/movement? no way. assuncao to the best of my knowledge is more plodding in his movement. also he doesnt get finished often. i think cody will outpoint him, i bet we see a more cautious garbrandt and he just uses his speed and amazing footwork(his best assets by far) and pointfights his way to a win. honestly the best value is probably straight up tho as cody has power to finish.

or he gets into a brawl with the very strong assuncao and catches him/gets caught again as cody fights emotionally. as close as the line is i think cody has to be the correct side here.....

TJ Dillashaw is the GOAT with just 3 successful title defenses? Plus, he lost to Cruz, lost to Assunção, and lost to Dodson. TJ has never had longer than a 4 fight win streak.

Here's what I got bros. Lets get it.

Alex Perez -135
Wineland/O'Malley o1.5 -125
Spencer +450
Assuncao +120
Assuncao/Garbrandt o2.5
Kelleher +220

Props (1/10th bet amount of above due to limits):
Byrd wins by submission +335
Nunes wins in R2 +425