UFC 236 Holloway vs Poirier 2 April 14th

tommyboy26 · 14-04-2019 6:18am

Mellor wrote: »

Anaconda, needed 20 seconds more

would of been a crazy finish!!

MrStuffins · 14-04-2019 6:19am

Very good fight!

Utopia Parkway · 14-04-2019 6:20am

Right decision.

tommyboy26 · 14-04-2019 6:20am

max knew he didnt have it you could see it in his face.

MrStuffins · 14-04-2019 6:22am

Delighted to see Poirier get his hands on "a" belt. He's put the work in over the years.

Pity he won't ever get his hands on "the" belt though. He hasn't got anything for Khabib

tommyboy26 · 14-04-2019 6:22am

apologize for bad language.... really after the violence of that fight

Mellor · 14-04-2019 6:26am

I do t think there was any question of Dustin win. 49-46 or 48-47 was the only question.

Arguements for 10-8 1st and 10-10 4th cancel out

bur · 14-04-2019 6:27am

Epic main and co-main. adrenaline is going 90. Thought Dustin had gassed himself and expected Max to poor it on in the last two rounds but he didn't have it and couldn't hurt Poirier.

MrStuffins · 14-04-2019 6:29am

Was that Theo Von? :pac:

Still Ill · 14-04-2019 6:35am

Don't feel like I can sleep after that! Amazing fights!

Mellor · 14-04-2019 6:37am

Happy for no performance bonuses and a double fight of the night.

tommyboy26 · 14-04-2019 6:49am

MrStuffins wrote: »

Was that Theo Von? :pac:

yea both of them are friends it was theo first time ever at a fight

derfderf · 14-04-2019 8:01am

I like Poirier, but it's a strange situation that he's ended up with a belt. I think Khabib, Tony, and Conor, all take him.

dashoonage · 14-04-2019 8:34am

dashoonage wrote: »

Dustin and Israel for me. I've been a Dustin fan so long I just want to see the man wear a belt. He deserves it sooooo much.

That will do...that will do.

bur · 14-04-2019 8:50am

Can't get used to these new belts, they are so ugly.

Zero-Cool · 14-04-2019 10:08am

Man the mains were crazy, great fights. Beaming for Dustin, finally a champ but that's an easy night for khabib. Feel bad for Max, he was on a great run, still gonna be dominant 145 champ.

ASOT · 14-04-2019 11:22am

Fell asleep last night but just finished there. I taught it was a really good card overall compared to how it looked on paper. The Main & Co Main were absolute barn-burners. Israel/KG was such a close fight up until that last round, cant wait to see the Bobby Knuckles fight.

DP what a kind, delighted for him. Two gents in that fight and the provided the goods. Max will probably go back down to FW now anyway but he done well. Dustin has improved ten fold at LW.

Roundtree looked class, the trip to Thailand done so much for him. The fight should have been stopped in the second round it was a massacre.

The Nal · 14-04-2019 11:58am

These interim belts are bullsh1t. Devalues the real belt. Embarrassing getting them put on. Whats wrong with number 1 contender?

MrStuffins · 14-04-2019 12:39pm

The Nal wrote: »

These interim belts are bullsh1t. Devalues the real belt. Embarrassing getting them put on. Whats wrong with number 1 contender?

Great fights though

darced · 14-04-2019 12:51pm

I do wonder is that Max's chin cracked? Interesting to see how he holds up in his next fight, especially if he cuts to 145.

The Nal · 14-04-2019 12:52pm

MrStuffins wrote: »

Great fights though

Sure, and they still would be without a stupid belt.

Autecher · 14-04-2019 2:35pm

Mellor wrote: »

Happy for no performance bonuses and a double fight of the night.

And that's exactly what happened!
Also Max and Dustin are a pair of class acts

https://twitter.com/Sascha_pm/status/1117325191183355904

mdwexford · 14-04-2019 3:57pm

Just watched it all.

Both title fights were unreal. Can’t remember there ever being two back to back 25 minute wars like that.

Kelvin will have regrets watching the replay. He had Adesanya badly rocked and had 45 seconds left to finish and went for a takedown. Was a big mistake. Adesanya put in a savage final round though and made sure of the win.

Dustin and Max lived up to the hype. I’ve been a huge Dustin fan for a long time, absolutely delighted for him. Haven’t been that emotional over a fight since Conor beat Mendes. He really deserves his moment of glory.

I’d rather he got the money fight v McGregor next to set him up for life. He would still be well paid vs Khabib as well so it’s a huge win for him. Will have been about 3 years since Conor’s last win if they fight this year while Dustin has been taking out killers. I’d fancy him to beat him Conor now and would be rooting for him to do so.

His power and striking would cause Khabib problems as well if he could stay on his feet. His BJJ is no joke either.

Brussels Sprout · 14-04-2019 6:29pm

The Nal wrote: »

These interim belts are bullsh1t. Devalues the real belt. Embarrassing getting them put on. Whats wrong with number 1 contender?

It is absolutely farcical but the ramping up of these is due to the new UFC owners having a policy of a belt having to be on the line for every pay-per-view. Unfortunately they also have a policy of setting up super fights between their various champions. The combination of these two policies results in them having to create new belts when they don't have any champions available to headline an upcoming card.

On the plus side, the fighters get more money when they are interim champs. On the minus side, as Tony Ferguson and Colbey Covington learned, they might never even get to fight as the interim champions.

Whelo79 · 14-04-2019 6:46pm

Keep the interim belts coming I say. Chances are with no belt on the line last night at least one and maybe both of those fights would only have been 3 rounders.

2 epic battles. I would like to see Max fill out a bit and stay at 155. The size and power difference was obvious and you can see how Dustin has settled into 155 after the few years fighting at that weight.

SureYWouldntYa · 14-04-2019 7:28pm

I hate interim belts

But nowhere near as much as the new belt design

The new belt design reflects my feelings towards interim belts

It's the sort you'd make as a pisstake in a UFC game on the PS4

mailburner · 14-04-2019 11:00pm

I'm not a fan of these interim belts either but looking at what it meant to
poirier I don't mind them so much and am just delighted he got it for all his hard work over the years, those wars
against justin and eddie did him the world of good
almost feels like bisping all over again when only bisping had more fights to get the belt

can't believe those last two fights back to back, nothing comes close in any other sport for me

I'm not sure he can take khabib but I'd love to see him have another
crack at conor some day

Mellor · 15-04-2019 12:30am

Brussels Sprout wrote: »

It is absolutely farcical but the ramping up of these is due to the new UFC owners having a policy of a belt having to be on the line for every pay-per-view. Unfortunately they also have a policy of setting up super fights between their various champions. The combination of these two policies results in them having to create new belts when they don't have any champions available to headline an upcoming card.

What champion v champion superfights have set up?
There's literally only been two fights, and in both cases fighter relinquished the belt. I don't see how that has anything to do with interim belts.

Kelvin was due to fight Whitaker, who pulled out last minute. The champ isn't available to defend, and interim is justified imo. Had Isreal stepped in on the night, it would have been interim title.

The LW one is bull**** though. They'll use the Khabib ban as the excuse, but he wouldn't have been fighting anyway.

Ultimate Seduction · 15-04-2019 1:50am

Mellor wrote: »

What champion v champion superfights have set up?
There's literally only been two fights, and in both cases fighter relinquished the belt. I don't see how that has anything to do with interim belts.

Kelvin was due to fight Whitaker, who pulled out last minute. The champ isn't available to defend, and interim is justified imo. Had Isreal stepped in on the night, it would have been interim title.

The LW one is bull**** though. They'll use the Khabib ban as the excuse, but he wouldn't have been fighting anyway.

Conor v Alvarez.
DC v Stipe.
TJ v Cejudo.
Holloway v Porier
Nunes v Cyborg

Kirby · 15-04-2019 3:19am

Whelo79 wrote: »

Keep the interim belts coming I say. Chances are with no belt on the line last night at least one and maybe both of those fights would only have been 3 rounders.

Why exactly? The UFC make their own rules. There is absolutely no reason why they can't have a headlining fight be 5 rounds without a belt. Sure didn't they do it with Conor vs Nate?

Interim belts are nonsense. And the idea that Max/Dustin/Kelvin/Israel wouldn't fight as hard without it is ridiculous. The big red goof said it post fight and I can't believe people are repeating it.

All four of them knew that winning meant a shot at the champion so none of them is taking the easy way out, fake belt or not. Not that they would anyway. The idea is absurd.

Mellor · 15-04-2019 3:21am

Ultimate Seduction wrote: »

Conor v Alvarez.
DC v Stipe.
TJ v Cejudo.
Holloway v Porier
Nunes v Cyborg

Conor v Alvarez, and DC v Stipe were the two I referred to. (Conor being moving up to LW created Aldo’s UFC 200 interim but that was before new owners)
Max v Poirier wasn’t champ v champ. Flyweight is gone (and so it TJ ), that fight didn’t create an interim.
I wasn’t thinking of the Women to be honest. Fair enough. But I don’t think that led to an interim title either.

The interim titles recently have been at MW, WW and LW. None of the divisions with an champion was fighting in another division.
MW was due to Whitakers injury. LW was due to Khabib suspension. I’ve no idea why the WW one came tbh. But the other two are fair given it’s c.12 months without a title fight.
I think 12 months is a reasonable line in the sand.

Mellor · 15-04-2019 3:29am

Kirby wrote: »

Why exactly? The UFC make their own rules. There is absolutely no reason why they can't have a headlining fight be 5 rounds without a belt. Sure didn't they do it with Conor vs Nate?

I think he meant that, without the interims;
Dustin v Max would have been a 5-round main event.
Then Israel v Kelvin would have 3 rounds co-main.

There's definitely been silly interims in the past, but I think these are the wrong two to single out.

TerrorFirmer · 15-04-2019 1:29pm

Two amazing fights. There was a moment I think in R4 where Kelvin had Israel totally wobbled but went for the clinch instead of trying to finish him. That was his biggest mistake.

Porier has serious power compared to Max though. It would be absolutely fascinating to see either against McGregor, assuming McGregor gets back in optimal condition.

AlmightyCushion · 15-04-2019 1:35pm

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Two amazing fights. There was a moment I think in R4 where Kelvin had Israel totally wobbled but went for the clinch instead of trying to finish him. That was his biggest mistake.

I actually facepalmed when I seen him go for the takedown there. If he had kept going he could have ended the fight or at least hurt Israel bad going into the last round. I don't know what he was thinking.

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Porier has serious power compared to Max though. It would be absolutely fascinating to see either against McGregor, assuming McGregor gets back in optimal condition.

Yeah, McGregor against either of these two would be a cracking fight.

The Nal · 15-04-2019 1:52pm

Kirby wrote: »

Why exactly? The UFC make their own rules. There is absolutely no reason why they can't have a headlining fight be 5 rounds without a belt. Sure didn't they do it with Conor vs Nate?

Interim belts are nonsense. And the idea that Max/Dustin/Kelvin/Israel wouldn't fight as hard without it is ridiculous. The big red goof said it post fight and I can't believe people are repeating it.

All four of them knew that winning meant a shot at the champion so none of them is taking the easy way out, fake belt or not. Not that they would anyway. The idea is absurd.

Indeed. They could just make every "number 1 contender" fight 5 rounds and ditch the sh1t belts.

Is Poirier going to wear his belt into the Octagon for the Khabib fight? He'll look like a right twat.

Would love to see Poirier vs McGregor at 155. First time out was a very soft finish.

mdwexford · 15-04-2019 7:10pm

The Nal wrote: »

Is Poirier going to wear his belt into the Octagon for the Khabib fight? He'll look like a right twat.

Nobody wears a belt into the octagon.

But no he wouldn’t. He’s worked his whole life to become a champion which he now is, regardless of what internet dweebs say.

SureYWouldntYa · 15-04-2019 7:37pm

mdwexford wrote: »

Nobody wears a belt into the octagon

I always wondered why is that? Surely it adds to the spectacle of any entrance when you can see the champion wear the belt

I'd love to see it worn or held when the callouts are being made, and then its handed over to the ref or whoever outside the octagon, really emphasises the fact the belt is on the line

Part of me thinks it's to stay away from any pro wrestling comparisons

MrStuffins · 15-04-2019 8:54pm

What a night Saturday was for Stylebender. I really think he was the big winner through all this. He beat a proper contender and did it in such a way that nobody can question his guile, his stamina or his champion heart.

It reminded me of Jones v Gus. Of course, Jones was already champ and absolutely hammering everyone. But nobody, Jones included, knew how he'd react under that kind of pressure. When you're getting beat up in a war and you have to dig deep to pull it out of the bag.

Stylebender proved a lot on Saturday, and like Jones did v Gus I'd imagine he proved it to himself too.

Can't wait to see him v Whitaker now!

Naos · 15-04-2019 10:03pm

Interim belts provide:

5 round fights
Guaranteed (almost) number 1 contender spot
Champ vs Champ type excitement
PPV points for the interim champ

15-04-2019 10:26pm

As an aside to the fight analysis wanted to add - just so refreshing to see both of the below (sorry for the pics, can't edit out). Just what MMA needs right now: classy respectful athletes.

I love the sport and the potential - and this makes me proud. Not like some of the recent twitter shenanigans that just feels like a quick dead end for everyone longterm.

Woke up to watch both fights Sat/Sun, and was so hyped after I couldn't get back to sleep! So I went to the gym and for a long run Sunday on 3 hours sleep, I swear I was using these guys as inspiration to the whole way

They did not get paid enough - I hope the "locker-room" bonuses doubled the official purses at least.

https://twitter.com/stylebender/status/1117778229534908416

https://twitter.com/DustinPoirier/status/1117486483420610561

UFC 236 Holloway vs Poirier 2 ***April 14th***

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UFC 236 Holloway vs Poirier 2 April 14th