UFC 251 Fight Island: Masvidal v. Usman

[REDDzone]

Ya I would rank Burns #1 then Colby #2 when it comes to chances to beat him. Edwards has no chance in my opinion. But when it comes to the business end of it, Colby 2 is the only one that has any kind of chance to get any kind of buzz right now. The UFC is going to have a really hard time selling PPVs with Usman as a headliner. People are bashing him like crazy right now. He is probably the least liked champ right now in the UFC.

Haha I honestly wouldn't be shocked if he beats Burns next, Dana doesn't offer Khabib big money to move up to knock him off. Dana is probably fuming right now. This is not how he wanted tonight to end at all.

Usman has already said he won't fight Khabib.

Hell, I wouldn't want to either if I was him.

Ya both have Ali as their managers so no way that fight would ever happen anyways, I just could see Dana offering big money for him to take him out though haha. 170 probably is the least marketable division (maybe 2nd to 125) right now for the UFC. All the entertaining fighters that the casual fans know and like (Jorge, Nate, Conor) have zero chance at beating Usman. While a Burns/Usman (who I think matches up very well with him) fight has absolutely 0 draw.

Idk why Ali as manager would matter?Moraes/Cejudo fought. Ali's stable is far too large for his fighters to refuse to fight each other on the basis of having the same manager lol.

[cowboyronnie]

Yeah, with GSP's jab? He would destroy Usman. He didn't always turn that dominance into finishes (cf. Shields) but he certainly could finish Usman within a couple rounds, if he were determined.

[Dupp]

No way Volkanovski won that. Could see an argument for 4-1 Max, at worst it was definitely 3-2 Max. One of the worst judging screw jobs that I have seen!

Lol - you're one of those?

No, the decision was absolutely reasonable.

https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2020/7/12/21321588/dana-white-slams-bad-judging-for-holloway-vs-volkanovski-here-are-the-scorecards

I still have the feeling it was a terrible decision but I need to rewatch rounds 3 and 4.


Looking at the scorecards though the judge that had max ahead gave him round 5 which makes no sense.

[Dupp]

Also Dana didn’t seem pissed off at all at how the fights ended. Said that’s exactly how he thought the fight would play out. Said he’s looking forward to burns uaman co he knows it’ll be a good fight.


He did seem a little mad at the judging and annoyed at the Aldo stoppage which was terrible. That was easily the worst thing of the night. Went on so long.

[aggerrard]

No way Volkanovski won that. Could see an argument for 4-1 Max, at worst it was definitely 3-2 Max. One of the worst judging screw jobs that I have seen!

Lol - you're one of those?

No, the decision was absolutely reasonable.

https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2020/7/12/21321588/dana-white-slams-bad-judging-for-holloway-vs-volkanovski-here-are-the-scorecards

Volk outlanded Max in 3, 4 and 5. 18 media members had it 48-47 for Max, while 9 had it 48-47 for Volk. This is how people on mmadecision scored the 3rd round:
10-9 Holloway 50.3%
10-9 Volkanovski 44.9%
10-10 Draw 3.4%

To call it a robbery is stupidity. Maybe rewatch the fight without the insane commentary bias from Bisping.

[NO-KG-AI]

felt like 20 minutes of ineffective shoulder shots, ineffective knees and ineffective toe stomps
with a few minutes of ineffective ground and pound, a couple head butts and a handful of decent strikes mixed in
way to go champ

That's exactly what it was. He held his title by stifling Masvidal, but you could tell he couldn't mount any offense either. That's all fine, but you know Usman is going to be super defensive about it when criticized, and also continue with trash talk in the Colby vein of "I'm going to beat this guy to a pulp, and leave him laying in a pool of blood" or some other superlatives that just don't fit their game, lmao.

[lobosloboslobos]

Yeah, with GSP's jab? He would destroy Usman. He didn't always turn that dominance into finishes (cf. Shields) but he certainly could finish Usman within a couple rounds, if he were determined.

i wonder if there's any chance of that fight could ever happen. i know Dana is pissed at GSP for not sticking around last time and that he wouldn't let him fight Khabib, which sucks because that would maybe be the most hyped fight ever, but maybe if Usman beats Burns and has beaten all the top contenders he'd see it as a worthwhile one-off. I think GSP could be tempted back for a title fight against a guy he would think he could probably beat. And maybe if he beat Usman he'd agree to fight Khabib and Dana could make mountains of cash off those two fights.

anyone think that has any chance of happening or am I dreaming?

[REDDzone]

No way GSP gets out of bed for Usman at this point IMO. Woodley had 4-5 title defenses IIRC and GSP had zero interest in that fight. Why would he care about Usman who has only had two? The only two guys GSP said he'd be interested in fighting a few years back was Khabib and Askren. At the time, both were undefeated fighters who posed a unique problem that he could try to solve. That said, even then GSP basically said he wouldn't fight Askren because Ben wasn't a big enough draw, and Usman isn't going to get anyone to buy the fight that GSP alone isn't going to draw.

Guys like Usman (or 2018 Woodley) are nothing that GSP hasn't seen before, far from some once in a generation puzzle to solve that would go far in shaping GSP's legacy. And he's not this undefeated fighter steamrolling everyone like Askren was and Khabib is.

Like, what's the upside for GSP. He takes a semi-dangerous fight. If he loses, his legacy is gone. If he wins, congrats you just beat like the 4th or 5th best UFC WW champion ever?

[duppyy]

I want to see GSP vs Usman

Really? After watching that, I’m not sure he can threaten GSP from any level. I would bet on him getting outstruck and outgrappled soundly.

I want to see it just so GSP could show how far ahead he is of everyone in the welterweight division being a lot older and retired. Not from an entertainment standpoint.

Cause I know Dana will say **** like “Usman is better than GSP” or something crazy like that.

[Dupp]

Gsp wanted to fight khabib and Dana was having none of that. He’s never gonna give gsp another title shot

[cowboyronnie]

I love Max Holloway as a human, man. He seems a sincerely good, community-minded dude, especially compared to all these right wing **** (all the Bolsonaro and Trump supporters).

[Headliner]

Max loves the Raptors, it goes without saying he’s a great guy.

[REDDzone]

Max loves the Raptors, it goes without saying he’s a great guy.

Nobody's perfect.

[Jasen777]

Gsp wanted to fight khabib and Dana was having none of that. He’s never gonna give gsp another title shot

Doesn't have to be a title fight. You can have champions fight without a belt on the line. Also could see if GSP would do it at 163 or something.

[REDDzone]

Usman has already said he won't fight Khabib.

Hell, I wouldn't want to either if I was him.

Ya both have Ali as their managers so no way that fight would ever happen anyways, I just could see Dana offering big money for him to take him out though haha. 170 probably is the least marketable division (maybe 2nd to 125) right now for the UFC. All the entertaining fighters that the casual fans know and like (Jorge, Nate, Conor) have zero chance at beating Usman. While a Burns/Usman (who I think matches up very well with him) fight has absolutely 0 draw.

Idk why Ali as manager would matter? Moraes/Cejudo fought. Ali's stable is far too large for his fighters to refuse to fight each other on the basis of having the same manager lol.

Not to quote myself, but just to reinforce this point...Ali is now pushing for two of his clients to fight in Usman vs Burns (because of course he is LOL..that snake wins either way).

[Jasen777]

Reports out there that the card did 1.3 million buys. Which frankly I don't know if I believe that. didn't think we'd get there in the ESPN+ era, especially for a non-Conor card.

[Headliner]

Reports out there that the card did 1.3 million buys. Which frankly I don't know if I believe that. didn't think we'd get there in the ESPN+ era, especially for a non-Conor card.

It only took three title fights, a number one contenders match and a pandemic to cancel all other sports and lock people inside.

[Jasen777]

It only took three title fights, a number one contenders match and a pandemic to cancel all other sports and lock people inside.

Yes, but no top level draw (unless Masvidal was somehow one). Pandemic may have been a factor, but I don't know if that's quantifiable. It seems the ESPN+ extra paywall isn't as big of a factor as I thought it might be.

[Dupp]

Jorge seems to have done a complete 180 in his desire for title vs money