lol at rogan trying to make out that khabib was ever in any sort of danger, or that khabib's striking not being world class is something we just learned

50-44
50-43
50-43
Barely squeaked by according to Rogan though. Lol.

i mean you could arguably have scored that fight 50-41 with the only 10-9 coming in round 5 since al actually landed a few punches early there.

that was a complete massacre, and just LOL at serra/longo telling al that his best shot in the last round was to go for the takedown. guy got completely mauled on the ground in rounds 1-2, then just stood there and ate jabs to the face for two rounds. just an all around terrible performance from typical staten island douchebags, get rekt losers

Obv Al got destroyed but Khabib looked bad at the same time. 1 takedown after Round 2 and I agree with Joe that he looked vulnerable on the feet. Al got him a few time with that overhand right. With how unprotected his chin is, a better striker has a good chance to land the killshot with dece TDD. Ferguson’s chances went up in my mind.

pretty sure he didnt even attempt a takedown in rounds 3-4 and scored the first one he attempted in round 5. i'm definitely not a khabib fanboy (can't get behind a fighter who steps into the octagon like once every 3 years), but i didn't think khabib looked bad or out of shape at all. like yeti said, we already knew his striking isn't elite.

Al stuffed at least 3/4 takedowns in rounds 3 and 4. Maybe Khabib was trying to showcase his striking, but I think he was struggling with the takedown.

And it’s not his striking that worries me, it’s his striking defense. That chin was out there for the taking all fight.

0 for 1 on TDs in 3rd; 0 for 2 in the 4th; 1 of 3 in the 5th

One thing that surprised me was that I thought Khabib had a stronger mentality. Look how Al baited him right into a stand up fight. Now imagine Conor...

Perhaps Khabib just knew that Al didn't have much for him. He wasn't exactly putting punches together.

Khabib claimed he could have made more takedowns and finished the fight earlier but five rounds in the octagon is worth like ten months of training. Sounds a little like he’s justifying being bated into a stand up fight but it’s possible the eagle was playing with his food before eating it.

Khabib basically can't fight during the summer at all because of Ramadan right?

So Fall 2018 is the earliest he'd defend the belt. Assume vs a healed Tony or Conor

or maybe a catchweight vs GSP if that interests Georges.

my bad on this, just letting myself get completely blinded by the disgust i have for serra longo etc. laughing at al just eating jabs with no response for 10 minutes

Ramadan ends June 14.

Why won’t he fight during Ramadan?

Observant Muslims don't eat or drink (even water) between sunrise and sunset which is about 15-16 hours wherever Khabib lives.

I didn't see anyone comment on this. I thought it was funny. Never seen a fighter do that during an obvious defeat.

Yeah that was awesome! Plus, my favourite bit of cornering motivation after rd 3: “**** yeah Raging Al!”

I believe Roy Nelson did it after Overeem beat him silly, can't find the gif though. Also Roy was almost certainly troling.

Not to try or brag or anything but I've seen that like 20+ times.

he did it well tho

something crazy to think about: this sport used to be really good. Now its possibly bigger than ever and most cards aren't even worth buying. Every other card has a major injury withdrawal. The day of shogun/hendo quality fights seems long gone. Over a few years I went from watching every UFC show on television to skipping most cards. I only follow now to keep my trolling up to date

I feel the same way but the skill of the fighters has come way, way up which offsets some of those complaints. When I do buy it there are usually quite a few great fights and highlights, and when I don’t buy it and follow along live in the mma threads here, there are usually some strong reactions or foty talk that makes me wish I did. I am less excited about the sport than ever, but I feel I’ve seen more of the best cards ever in the last two years.

I think USADA has increased injuries in three ways—over training without the ped help, suspect injury claims from bad masking issues, and more difficult cutting both because of no peds and no ivs.

Then the politics.

Good post. Now I’m curious how often this has happened.

I agree cards are insultingly watered down these days (I’m looking at you women’s MMA). Having said that, I PVR or DL most events and there are usually at least a couple fights that make me glad I did. The rosters pretty deep and the unknowns are increasingly up and comers instead of cans. The WWE shenanigans and injuries are big problems, but the product is still pretty solid.

This is coming from the perspective of streaming most PPVs and buying a few a year. Lol at paying for the last 2 PPVs.

Hope whatever network gets the new UFC tv deal forces them to have 6 PPV's a year. Whats the point of paying 200 million a year if your just going to get watered down cards with no big names ever fighting.

Yeah, fs1 cards have turned into the d-league with maybe one or two fights between top ten guys.

my favorite female fighter, cortney casey, returns to action this saturday! she's one of the few women with KO power in her hands

cm punk vs mike jackson in chicago. pretty sure i called that one a long time ago.