MMA is a complete monopoly right now. I feel like any competition is good for fighters at the moment but
Endeavor is also about to be in bed with the Saudis as well once their purchase of WWE is soon complete. I’d like to hear Ari Emmanuel’s take on the Saudis investing in another MMA organization while also investing in WWE when Endeavor did this…
Yay fossil fuels for allowing the most socially regressive culture on the planet also having the most wealth. In other news I saw this the other day and my god is this guy annoying the answer is simple. Have some sort of uniform minimum scale, make it public so that Dana isn’t doing weird backdoor deals with guys he likes. Every fighter on the card should get a cut of gate/ppv buys/ad revenue for non ppv. Obviously prelim cut is way less than title fighters and tenured title fighters. But Dana really likes the back room hand shake shit he gets away with now. Fwiw this is much better than what the ufc was doing just a few years ago. Not good enough, but better. Blackshear deserved more because he saved a fight and it was entertaining to boot imo
My takeaway is Aljo on his 3rd title defense making the same as O’Malley who didn’t have a win vs anyone currently on the roster
Yeah sports washing is unfortunately growing, but this feels inevitable for the PFL when you follow how the UFC does business. The cash to buy Bellator and other things necessary to compete was going to have to come from somewhere, and the UFC already has Abu Dabi/UAE locked down.
Woke up at 3 and couldn't go back to sleep. Since half of the fighters on this card are unknowns, I decided to dive deep into the numbers. Everything to the right of the black line is in percentages based on all of their fights. For instance, Spivac has a 74% finish rate (he's fought 19 times and finished his opponent in 14 of those). I'll break down the fights later on (to the best of my ability). I've been lost without being able to bet on golf the past few weeks, and NFL still being a week away.
Who are some UFC guys we could see being bought? I dont know who leaves the UFC but I could see some guys coming out of retirement (Masvidal)
It could take a couple years, but I think UFC fighters will stop signing extensions if PFL starts throwing around crazy money, and they also still allow fighters to sell advertisements on their gear.
They generally take care of some of their main event fighters via PPV bonus money, which helps prevent them from speaking publicly on other fighters dismal pay. Even before the Saudis, PFL was already starting to pay someone like Shane Burgos, and guaranteeing any opponents of Ngannou at least $1 million. And PFL shouldn’t stop with just pay, offer fighters full time health insurance while they’re under contract.
This card is pretty trashy. Top 3 fights are fun and then it falls off a cliff. The main is pretty straight forward. Either Gane pieces him up on the feet or Spivac finds takedown after takedown. I don't think there's any other path. I'll always side with the dog, especially when he's a wrestler. Gane allowed Ngannou to take him down multiple times which is just silly. Spivac ITD! Which Rose do we get? The last time out was the worst fight we've ever seen with Esparza. I think moving up in weight vs what seems like elite competition will give us sad Rose. Fiorot by decision. Saint Denis is one of my favorite two bets on the card. There's absolutely no way the God of War is losing in front of his home country. He's one of my most exciting fighters that few people talk about. My guy finishes 92% of his fights, best on the card. BSD ITD. Volkan/Guskov is a weird one. You would think it wouldn't get out of the first round, but surprisingly Volkan hasn't knocked somebody out in years. I think 2017 was the last time. I'll have equal exposure to both, makes too much sense with only 11 fights and not many first round finishers on the card. Fight finishes ITD is the pick (Guskov 1st round KO gun to my head). Gomis is a boring, low volume fighter without much power. Hard pass for me. I'm willing to take another dog in Ghemmouri here. Zecchini jumps off the page to me as a dog I want to put my money on. I promise I'm not making up these names, this is a Cage Warriors card with 3 good fights up top. Zecchini has a 71% finishing rate, 64% in the first round. Charriere having the 2nd highest ITD and 1st round odds is bizarre to me. He's not a finisher. He's won ITD 10 out of 28 fights. Another dog ITD with Zecchini. That one pays nice. Loughran/Lapilus could be the most exciting fight on the card. Go out of your way to watch Loughran clown on the French crowd during the ceremonial weigh ins. The fuck was that guy doing. He's 8-0, but this is a real test. I don't think he can stop the takedowns and Lapilus wins a decision. I think Loosa takes McGee down over and over and over and over. You might remember Rhys McKee being absolutely violated by Khamzat when he was still an unknown. I see a similar fight. Loosa ITD. Probably ground and pound. Cornolle has finished 57% of her fights in the first round. 86% finish rate for a female is insane. It's only 7 fights, but we know what Jocelyn Edwards is. It's not much. Cornolle will be an integral part of my day on DraftKings. 1st round KO. Basharat likely by decision, don't have much to say here. Saftic is really high on Basharat. Cavalcanti is the highest priced fighter on DK. Fairn is fucking dog shit terrible. Another ITD. Exposures on DraftKings: Loosa 75% Saint Denis 65% Guskov/Oezdemir 50% each Gane/Spivac 50% each Fiorot 50%/Rose 30% Cornolle 45% Basharat 35% Zecchini 35% Cavalcanti 25% Lapilus 20%
Yeah I’m thinking if Gane hasn’t changed coaches, he’s probably still the same fighter. If Spivac puts the pressure on early and gets a takedown, I think he gets the early finish too. Always tough to pick against the hometown guy though
I was only half watching while the Auburn game was on but was Trevor Whitman in her corner this time?
Yeah she’s cooked then. If I’d known Barry was the only one working with her, I’d have faded her for sure. Trevor’s coaching is what made her level up
Bryce Meredith fought someone last month and I completely missed it? edit, it looks like he had been booked to face Alberto Rodriguez at Bellator 298 but the fight didn't take place? Anyone know why?
Rooting for Strickland, but he's outmatched. Could get interesting if he embraces the wrestling. Rooting for Tai, but he's outmatched. Volkov can get cracked though. Kape mauls dos Santos. Lane with the upset knockout over Tafa. Pedro knocks out The Pleasure Man. Ulberg knocks out Jung Mariscal knocks out Jenkins. Makdessi wins a decision over Mullarkey. Haqparast probably wins a boring decision over Quinones. I'll have Quinones on some DK lineups, zero Haqparast. Radtke ITD over Blood Diamond (get that man out of the UFC). Miranda subs Young. Crosbie decision over Jousset. Not a great card. It'll be a nice supplement to all of the fun football tonight.
Sorry watching football https://strfi5h.blogspot.com/2023/09/ddf361.html https://www.thestreameast.to/ufc/ufc-293-adesanya-vs-strickland/ https://v2.sportsurge.net/watch-18635-ufc-293-adesanya-vs-strickland
I think he does. He presses the action and stays in your face the entire fight. His last fight was impressive and Izzy hasn't been dominant in a long time.
I’ve just never seen anything that I would deem impressive from Strickland. I could see him being resistant to Izzy’s usual trap, of keeping a guy at the edge of his range and pointing him to death.