Boxing is very very important in MMA. Head movement and footwork above all is underutilized.


The problem I have with people harping on MMA guys sucking at boxing is it's impossible for MMA fighters to be as good at boxing as boxers when they don't have the time to train boxing full time, the coaches to train them at the elite level, or the benefit of not worrying about getting leg kicked and or taken down.

I think boxing is actually better than Muay Thai in MMA, but Muay Thai doesn't have to be tweaked as much and the high level coaching is much more accessible for the fighters.

I 100% agree you with rubber band. That means you may be wrong.

Rampage vs Wand is so great.

Jack Marshman vs Magnus Cedenblad was a lot of fun recently. Marshman wading in to deliver hook after hook.

I just realized no current UFC champion has a fight scheduled.

Gut tells me Conor was thinking way ahead when after his win he said he was taking time off. He will have a fight scheduled soon on his terms

Also time off for him may not actually be that long given his density of fights. He'll fight in the spring I would guess.

khabib and tony ferguson hinting on twitter

Was kinda hoping Khabib/Aldo would happen.

If Aldo wants to make $ then I'd think some catchweight mega-fights are going to need to start happening. Nobody really cares if he wins back the 145 belt.

Aldo vs. Shadow Aldo would be a badass fight tho

I am a Conor fan so I want to see him fight the best guys but this pisses me off, he should be fighting one of these guys next instead of them fighting each other. Now he probably fights the winner and probably never fights the loser when he could have fought both back to back.

If he fights Woodley he might not ever fight either if the winner gets hurt or has to schedule another fight before Conor defends his 155 belt.

We had that fight in the late 80's, Shadow Aldo was too good and could only be beat with leg kicks.

Conor has held four different titles in his MMA career. He's defended any of those four belts exactly zero times...

Think its clear now that Conor just wants the money fight. A trilogy fight vs Diaz likely sells more than a title defense vs anyone. Same goes for a title fight vs Woodley. As a fan of the sport im on the side that id love to see him fight Ferguson or Khabib. Taking either fight right now does nothing for Conor. THe fight will be sold purely on Conors popularity. His best bet to make the most money is let them 2 fight, hope the winner goes mainstream then fight the winner.

Right now everyone from 145-170 wants to fight conor for the money. He now is just looking for an opponent who can draw themself or a gimmick that draws like another title.

If someone says Conor will defend his 155 belt 0 or 2+ times, I am not sure what one I would bet. I am not sure how his career path will play out but I wouldn't be surprised if it was just a lot of bouncing around and nothing actually happens but we will see. I don't think he wants any part of Diaz right now, a loss to Diaz would be huge, Woodley is the safest fight for him, he gets paid and if he loses it's no big deal since he isnt a 170 lb'r. Then he will defend his 155 to someone that isn't hurt and win, maybe the 3rd or 4th ranked 155 because the top 2 guys will have already scheduled a fight, then fight Diaz and retire.

edit - I just don't think there are any fighters that can go mainstream to up the PPV's. Diaz since the fights were awesome and Woodley because it is a type of circus fight.

Id imagine that the PPV buys would be around the same if conor fought Aldo, Ferguson, Khabib or any other contender. The buys will be basically equal because everyone is buying it for Conor. Conor is looking for a fight where there is a draw other than himself involved.

There won't be. If true it seems Conor is a superstar but doesn't want to have to do the superstar stuff like promote a fight.

Best bet might be a trilogy with whoever emerges out of Khabib/Ferguson. Nate wasn't really a draw, but became one after the first fight. Same could be true of Khabib if Conor-Khabib 1 is interesting.

Otherwise I think Conor just handpicks whichever opponents he feels like and settles for 1-1.2 million buys. Might be tough to hit the 1.65 million # he did against Nate when all the title/moving up in weight class gimmicks are exhausted and there isn't a big-name besides him to sell the fight.

I disagree. I think conor knows that while he is a great fighter, he makes money because of his mouth and promotion. Only time there was a question about him wanting to promote was the rematch vs Nate and imo that was just a cluster**** that went bad coz dana wanted to show that he was the man.

Id guess that conor's next fight is either Woodley for the 170 belt or Diaz for the 155 belt.

A fight with Khabib would sell well for the same reason Mayweather's fights against his toughest opponents sold the best: we wanted to watch him get beat.

Put him in with a guy who very possibly might smesh him, and you're selling PPVs

After the Ronda fight I bet Dana is freaking out. Dana knows he has to do Conor/Khabib or Conor/Diaz which he doesn't want to do for whatever reason. Conor hasn't hinted anything yet but excited to see who he has next.

Khabib isnt a big name. I dont think casual fans know Khabib or know that he would be a good fight for conor. Conor is the biggest name in MMA atm. He will sell the PPV by himself. I dont think Khabib brings in that many more viewers.

Conor is looking for the fight that makes the casual fan tune in and pay. Khabib isnt that guy. Khabib might be that guy eventually but he isnt right now. Its why i feel Diaz trilogy or a fight for the 170 belt is next.

Khabib beats Ferguson and Khabib McGregor sells huge. He can't fight Woodley yet he has an essentially mandatory rematch vs wonderboy.

Khabib fight will sell a lot. Maybe not as much as Conor Diaz 2 but a lot of that is dependent on how much media Conor does.

Diaz 3 sells itself and will likely be a bigger fight.
Khabib sells likely less and certainly takes more promo work.
Beating Diaz avenges the first loss completely and finishes the trilogy.
Beating Khabib means a lot to fight fans but nobody else and not to his legacy. Defending a belt is obv not important to him on its own accord.
Diaz is an easier fight against an opponent he knows well. Khabib is likely much harder with a suspect chin being a question mark but not a certain path against a fighter who is not a good match up other than that.

Why would he choose Khabib?