I think Nate Diaz is a loser but he looked very good last night, he really dominated rounds 2 and 3.

RDA looked great again last night, I don't think McGreggor can handle him yet.

So would the UFC really give CM a title shot first go if he moves up? I can see a heavier fighter getting a first shot at a Title if they moved down but moving up? Not sure who they would have CM fight first though, probably the #6-7 ranked fighter in LW. Seems the winner of Pettis/Alverez will be next in line for Title shot.

IF Conor wants to move up and IF the UFC isn't going to give him a title shot right away (which, procedurally seems wrong, moving champs should basically always be a title shot I'd think), then Cowboy is still a crazy good money maker at 155.

Problem is that that seems like a fairish fight, which might be viewed as an unneeded risk.

If the fans want to see him fight for the 55 title, he wants to fight for the 55 title, and the 55 champ wants the payday and notoriety that comes with fighting him then why not?

Conor has all the negotiating chips. If he tells the 55ers that he isn't coming up without an immediate title shot, why would any of them ever say no? Even the guys who are next in line to getting a title shot would benefit greatly from his induction into the division...

1 Anthony Pettis (Has a fight already vs Alverez)
2 Donald Cerrone (just lost)
3 Khabib Nurmagomedov (deserves a title shot but might need a tuneup fight 1st)
4 Eddie Alvarez (has a fight and doesn't deserve ****)
5 Tony Ferguson (up and comer but probably needs another quality win)


He hasn't cleared out the division but there isn't a great fight for RDA right now. If Conor loses to RDA then it adds massive hype to RDA and the 55 champ belt. If Conor wins, it might be a long time for a rematch, but it will assure a massie payday for the contender.

If Conor takes a non title shot it's because he doesn't want to fight RDA imo

RDA would obviously rather fight Conor for a cool million than get suplexed all over the octagon for pocket change.

First thing ufc said in the presser after Conor beat Jose is that he could either fight Edgar next or for the title at 55.

I thought the LW division was really loaded but most of the top 5 guys I haven't heard of. Did 3-4 guys move up and down in classes?

Also, Cowboy looks like he is the hump fighters need to get over, if you can beat Cowboy you have a shot at being a champ but if you can't then you will be an also ran.

you get an exemption for not knowing eddie alvarez cause he had a long run in bellator but no excuse for not knowing Khabib (or do you not know Pettis?! O_O )

Anthony Pettis should be universal recognition just for the one kick. even if he does nothing else for the rest of his career, the showtime kick was that good.

Fight Matrix's LW rankings (updated today):

dos Anjos
Pettis
Cerrone
Brooks
Ferguson
Alvarez
Melendez
Dariush
Iaquinta
Diaz

No Khabib due to inactivity (450 days)
Ben Henderson is #10 at 170
Jorge Masvidal is #20 at 170
Conor McGregor is 145 champ (ldo)

http://www.fightmatrix.com/mma-ranks/lightweight/

A lot of people who don't know anything about MMA know him and that kick. It received a ton of mainstream sports center hype.

Conor should just fight Frankie asap and set up a massive UFC 200 fight for the 155 belt. By that time Pettis and Alvarez will have fought which sets up a clear #1 contender fight and Ferguson will be back from medical suspension so put him vs Khabib.

At 145 have Aldo vs Halloway and give Oliveira to Mendes.

Aldo/Holloway makes sense from a lot of angles.

And I really like Max Holloway.

But I've gotta think Aldo is gonna be in full-rage mode and literally decapitate him or something.

Anyone know for certain when the Holm/Rousey rematch is scheduled? Bovada says 12/31/15 but the internet says July 9 and SBR says 12/31/16.

And grunch: why did Aldo decide to throw fists? Machismo? His strength is ground work and Connor's strength is striking, so take it to the ground! Same with Rousey, she should have tried everything in her power to tie up and take the fight to the ground. I assume that's what she'll do in the rematch, and Holly will be wise to do whatever she can to keep it a kickboxing match. She should back up, circle and show up with better takedown defense than before. Her takedown defense wasn't so good in the 1st fight considering she got hip-tossed (a hip toss only works against bad/non wrestlers).

Floyd Mayweather offered to help Rousey with her boxing game, which she'd be foolish not to accept (and in return she can teach him some ground moves), but better yet she should get help from Adrian Broner. Broner is the king of tying up. So is Wladimir Klitschko for that matter. He ties up even when he's the shorter fighter! (Though I don't expect him to do that in his rematch vs Fury.)

Per his coach, his plan wasn't to attack like that but he saw an opening and went after it. Oops.

Which is what Conor wanted him to see.

@heehaww

Holm's throw defense was much better than you're giving her credit for, as explained by Firas Zahabi (password: r/mma)

You fell for the expert trolling from Mayweather. That was his highground way of making fun of her striking after theyve had a war of words on social media in the months before her fight.

lol what? Was this your first Aldo fight?

I'm watching the successful throw again and I see it was a trickier one to prevent than most because Ronda already had a deep underhook. Still, Holm did some things wrong in the brief period before Ronda stepped with her left leg.

@kirby -- Ok oops, Aldo is also pretty good at striking, but by far his best chance to lose was by engaging in a striking match. He'd have the clear edge in a ground match.

For some reason I haven't been following MMA for a while.

Conor being the first combatant to think of this is pretty crazy. They should come up with a name for someone that tries to counter an opponents offense with punches.

What Conor did so successfully is bait Jose into thinking the attack was open and then one step ahead of him in both psychology and speed he took him out.

Emmanuel Yarborough R.I.P. - early UFC pioneer.

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/UFC...es-at-51-97625

Not sure if this was mentioned ITT but I was listening to Rogan's podcast and he said Aldo looked smaller to him. Didn't outright say it, but heavily insinuated that Aldo may be off the sauce because of the tougher testing and this could've effected him in the fight. He said he seemed very nervous going to the ring.

it's been discussed a lot, if not in here then in EDF: https://www.instagram.com/p/_YWVcrpyMW/

there were a lot of side by side pics of exact same stance and he looked pretty much the same

Aldo was correct in that he saw an opening. He hit Conor pretty square on the jaw even while getting KO'd.

But he just left his defense open for like half a second, and Conor took advantage. Most of the time you're going to get away with that, but sometimes giving an opportunity like that ends with you on the canvas, wondering how you got there.