The Official UFC Thread

[tiempo]

Making a case as the GoAT now. He's brought MMA to another level.

What's Greatest of All Time in UFC? How long is MMA around? (Not being smart, just curious). I certainly hadn't heard of it until maybe 6 or 7 years ago, I think I saw it on Eurosport or something and couldn't believe it was allowed!!

UFC has been around since 1993.

There was no such thing as sport anywhere on earth until 2003.

[tonto1888]

Presumably MMA has been around longer than that?

in various guises

[gallsman]

The Unified rules came into effect in about 2001. Before that things had been moving away from the "no holds barred" approach pretty much since UFC 1.

[Hound]

When it started in the 90s, "there are no rules" was its main selling point!

The only actual rules were no eye gouging and no biting. So groin strikes, head-butting and hair pulling were all fair game! And refereeing standards were a lot different. There were no weight classes, and one of the main early stars (Royce Gracie) was a relatively little lad who used Brazilian ju-jitsu to beat much bigger opponents. 

Its completely different now and no doubt it is a proper and legitimate combat sport (which IMO it certainly wasn't in the early days)

[square_ball]

All the talk about McGregor being the first to have two belts but has anyone ever had a fight to get the 2nd belt? I don't know a lot about the sport so just wondering is there a history of fighters going for the 2nd belt?

[muppet]

Making a case as the GoAT now. He's brought MMA to another level.

What's Greatest of All Time in UFC? How long is MMA around? (Not being smart, just curious). I certainly hadn't heard of it until maybe 6 or 7 years ago, I think I saw it on Eurosport or something and couldn't believe it was allowed!!

I think the first time I saw it was when some extra on Friends (Monica's boyfriend?) was regularly pulverised in a cage.

[Tony Baloney]

Making a case as the GoAT now. He's brought MMA to another level.

What's Greatest of All Time in UFC? How long is MMA around? (Not being smart, just curious). I certainly hadn't heard of it until maybe 6 or 7 years ago, I think I saw it on Eurosport or something and couldn't believe it was allowed!!

A good few lads I know (and ALL of them are EXPERTS) seems to think it started when McGregor started in UFC.

[gallsman]

All the talk about McGregor being the first to have two belts but has anyone ever had a fight to get the 2nd belt? I don't know a lot about the sport so just wondering is there a history of fighters going for the 2nd belt?

McGregor is not the first to have two belts - he's the first to hold two at the same time. Both Randy Couture (light heavy and heavy) and BJ Penn (light and welter) have been champion in two divisions. Penn (as lightweight champion) later challenged GSP (welterweight champion) and lost.

Making a case as the GoAT now. He's brought MMA to another level.

What's Greatest of All Time in UFC? How long is MMA around? (Not being smart, just curious). I certainly hadn't heard of it until maybe 6 or 7 years ago, I think I saw it on Eurosport or something and couldn't believe it was allowed!!

I think the first time I saw it was when some extra on Friends (Monica's boyfriend?) was regularly pulverised in a cage.

That extra was Jon Favreau - Iron Man director!

one of the main early stars (Royce Gracie) was a relatively little lad who used Brazilian ju-jitsu and lots of steroids, like everyone else involved, to beat much bigger opponents.

FYP

[Hound]

FYP

Yeah, it's only in the last couple of years that they've got a handle on the drugs.
Now they're with USADA so as good as any other sport.

That timing has probably helped McGregor too. Alvarez beat Dos Anjos to win the world title. A man who used to look unbeatable, but like a lot of the Brazilians has looked a shadow of his former self since proper drug testing has come in and Alvarez nailed him.

[square_ball]

All the talk about McGregor being the first to have two belts but has anyone ever had a fight to get the 2nd belt? I don't know a lot about the sport so just wondering is there a history of fighters going for the 2nd belt?

McGregor is not the first to have two belts - he's the first to hold two at the same time. Both Randy Couture (light heavy and heavy) and BJ Penn (light and welter) have been champion in two divisions. Penn (as lightweight champion) later challenged GSP (welterweight champion) and lost.

That's actually what I meant has any one else had the opportunity to win two belts simultaneously? Is this penn guy the only one that had the chance?

[Fuzzman]

I enjoy watching McGregor's fights and am glad he won but I can't help but wonder are these fights for real or are they using Conor to make money which wasn't there before.
I expected this to be a decent fight as I did with Aldo but Avarez put up a very poor show and I can't help but wonder was he just paid off to lose to keep the McGregor money making machine going.
I'm far from an expert in this sport so just wondering what others out there thought?

The amount of money these previous champions are making from the one fight against McGregor far outweighs what they earned before that.

[Declan]

I enjoy watching McGregor's fights and am glad he won but I can't help but wonder are these fights for real or are they using Conor to make money which wasn't there before.
I expected this to be a decent fight as I did with Aldo but Avarez put up a very poor show and I can't help but wonder was he just paid off to lose to keep the McGregor money making machine going.
I'm far from an expert in this sport so just wondering what others out there thought?

The amount of money these previous champions are making from the one fight against McGregor far outweighs what they earned before that.

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/other-sports/conor-mcgregor-remains-most-valuable-asset-in-ufc-s-short-history-1.2866472

Dave Hannigan in today's Times has an article that touches on the Fuzzman

[The Iceman]

great card - was always going to be.  Uncle Dana knew he had to put on a show and the fighters delivered.
Frankie needs to really consider his future, his health and his quality of life.  People I know in Tom's River, NJ, say he is already showing some signs of this - speech is changing, memory slipping... he can't continue to take shots like that...
Feel bad for Weidman he looked good against Romero - that was an awful injury to sustain.  Romero...what a cheat, stalling between rounds...and he cant be natural...no way


McGregor was all class.  He started very very slow and Eddie played into it didn't know what to do with him and waited to see what was coming and he couldn't see anything....
McGregor looked in great shape, hard to tell what his cardio was like after such a short amount of time but he was ready for the wrestling.  Conor said Eddie shouldn't have been in there with him and he was right. Eddie got destroyed by Cowboy, he out-wrestled Pettis on a very bad night and he beat RDA post USADA (who hasn't looked the same since).  Eddie changed camps, wasn't ready for the striking and got caught too many times.  CMG a deserving two weight world champion!

He will have to vacate the 145 belt.  If he's taking off for a bit he will have to drop it - there's no money down there for him except Aldo and he has everything to lose in that fight.
155 against Diaz is the fight to make next. Superbowl weekend in Houston.

[yellowcard]

I enjoy watching McGregor's fights and am glad he won but I can't help but wonder are these fights for real or are they using Conor to make money which wasn't there before.
I expected this to be a decent fight as I did with Aldo but Avarez put up a very poor show and I can't help but wonder was he just paid off to lose to keep the McGregor money making machine going.
I'm far from an expert in this sport so just wondering what others out there thought?

The amount of money these previous champions are making from the one fight against McGregor far outweighs what they earned before that.

I've long thought about this to be honest and I too sometimes wonder how genuine it actually is.

[gallsman]

FYP

Yeah, it's only in the last couple of years that they've got a handle on the drugs.
Now they're with USADA so as good as any other sport.

That timing has probably helped McGregor too. Alvarez beat Dos Anjos to win the world title. A man who used to look unbeatable, but like a lot of the Brazilians has looked a shadow of his former self since proper drug testing has come in and Alvarez nailed him.

The USADA stuff is a bit of a smokescreen. USADA are corrupt as f**k. Umpteen "retrospective" TUEs given to Mayweather. MMA is still dirty a hell. As Iceman said, look at Yoel Romero's physique. The six pack on him after rehydrating was ridiculous.

That's actually what I meant has any one else had the opportunity to win two belts simultaneously? Is this penn guy the only one that had the chance?

As far as I can recall that's the only other time it's happened.