i'll address the other things when i have time, but a game plan of going toe to toe with mcgregor was stupid. we've seen how bad the cuts are for mcgregor, we saw how he was becoming fatigued in the mendes fight, there's the iv ban now. aldo had to pick him apart over 5 rounds.

Aldo should fight Edgar, and McGregor should move up to 155 and fight the winner of next week on the same card. Then Conor can fight the winner of Aldo - Edgar at a later date.

Edgar easily beats Conor imo.
Edgar isn't going to get knocked out and will just wrestle**** Conor.

Gunnar Nelson is supposed to be the best grappler on Conor's team and it was actually disgustingly embarrassing what Maia did to him.
You could see the sheer fear in Nelson's eyes in that match
H wasn't even around for Conor's win he must have been in the nearest hospital.

I just rewatched round 3 of Weidman-Rockhold. Whoever was saying that Weidman was still fighting at the end is talking nonsense. He was getting absolutely battered, not throwing anything back and barely defending himself. His head was bouncing off the mat until the point when it's flat on the mat and he's just eating endless punches and elbows. Watching it again makes allowing the fight to continue look like a terrible decision.

This is solid, especially if you believe Conor gets housed at 155.

Go up, have a big fight, reality hits, come back to 145 and get more big fights (at least 2: Aldo II and Mendes/Edgar)

It's Herb. He's been making dangerously poor ref decisions the last 3 or 4 years now.

Conor says he's going to keep defending the 145 and go after the 155 then hold both belts. I think if he wins the 55 belt then the 45 belt is kind of pointless. If he's the 45 and 55 champ why would he ever rematch a guy like Aldo, or Edgar at 45 when he can just drop the 45 belt and tell them to come up to 55?

UFC has a pretty clear "can only hold one belt at a time" policy. Of course, Dana will probably bend that for his only remaining cash cow, but if he doesn't. A move up seems likely

Dean,

I enjoyed your posts, interesting thoughts.

As far as the underdog aspect working in CMs favor, it agree with the other poster. Your point about the pressure is well taken, but the hunger that comes from chasing is energizing in a way that is different from the need to hold th crown. I believe this is why he is setting himself up for the 2 belt challenge right now. He is driven by ambition more than anything. I doubt he is interested in breaking Aldo's record reign as FW champ. He needs big goals.

I'm interested in thoughts as to why Aldo would not be granted an immediate rematch. I thought that was standard. It happened for Anderson Silva. They are holding Holm for Rousey. GSP. I mean aside from the injury pull out, which also resulted in the crazy fast interim belt creation, what gives here? Is it strictly promotional ability after this match was built up for so long? It seems like Aldo is really getting less respect than he deserves.

As far as Edgar deserving a title shot, he deserved it before Chad did and before Connor did in reality. Screwing over the most dominant fighter in the division who held he title for years for him cuz he got passed over earlier for the Conor hype train is just grossly political IMO.

Same here, keep it up.

Right, he could vacate the belt and still talk about being 145 champ and say whoever fills the void is a paper champ

O man, that was so great

In the post fight presser he was explicit about not vacating and holding/defending both. I can't help but think they will let him do what he wants at this point until he is unable to print money for them. It's his world now.

huh, I didn't realize he showed up. It was the Rockhold monologues for the first half hour and I hate when Sholler runs them so I shut it off.

Dude, they cleared the stage for him and he took the damn podium. Incredible.

From the corner Jose came out mad
Conor's neck he was looking to grab
He punched seeing red
and stuck out his head
but he just couldn't fade the first jab

(meh, I'm bored)

I agree with most of what you're saying. The only problem is Jose has been pulling out of so many fights he's created a log jam at the top. Frankie has been way more active and way impressive.

I guess I am in the minority, I don't think Jose Aldo should get an instant rematch. If you are getting knocked out in 1 punch and 15 seconds into your Title defense then you should have to wait.

I was interested to see if all that sht talk by CM was going to have Aldo come out like a great Champion should and shut him up, instead he gets knocked the fk out. I expected more from a Champion that hasn't lost for 10 years, I figured he would have come out with a good game plan and stick to it, not let a guy get into his head like some amateur. Really disappointed in how JA came to fight, he looked like a challenger and not a Champ.

They should have stopped the Rockhold match when he was beating the guys head to ground for 15 seconds. Rockhold was in complete control at the end of match and continuing the fight only made other guy get more injured. I couldn't believe he actually stood there for an interview with his face looking like Rocky.

Aldo looked weak. He couldn't even look at Connor before the fight. When he lost he was crouched in corner looking at wall. For a champion he seems pretty sensitive.

Do you think that getting knocked out by one punch, and I am not saying it was a lucky punch, is more an indication of lower skill than being dominated for several rounds? I don't see it that way but I'd like to understand it better. Even mcgreggor himself downplayed what this fight proved.

Rousey got handled. So did barao. They both got rematches. This was a case of making a single mistake against an opponent who was ready and able to take advantage of it the very first time it happened.

The Edgar deserving it argument has some weight, but those are the breaks man. It's like Evander having to wait for Tyson after Douglas. Evander deserved a title shot had to wait.

I just can't see how someone who went unbeaten for 10 years, then made one fatal mistake, suddenly has to reprove himself. It smacks of simple dislike of the man.

a key difference is that those were both monumental upsets

this is more akin to Cain and JDS and Cain didn't get an immediate rematch, JDS fought Mir and Cain fought Big Foot

yes, Cain wasn't a longstanding champ (it was his first defense) but the odds and finish are almost completely analogous to this fight

Seems closer to silva vs weidman to me.

except the one who's the draw won

Can't argue with this. And it's likely not the most promotable fight right now. I guess I should join the real world on this point, but I was a fan of the sport before the hype so those decisions are not made on my behalf.