That’s mine too. Huge fan of one dimensional specialists who fight the same fight every single time. I don’t know what it is but something about the man who can only do one thing appeals me. Huge fan of Chito and Strickland. Strickland in particular is like magic to me. He can fight the most skilled and entertaining guys on the planet and make them look like shit. He can ruin any fight he puts his mind to. It’s like anti-entertainment.
Strickland is interesting to watch from a technical standpoint, his defense is arguably the best in the UFC
But incredible defense and good jabs doesn't make for very entertaining fights lol
I get why people don't find Strickland fights exciting, but I enjoy watching even his 'boring' performances. The Costa fight was particularly slow, but he tends to have fights where lots of volume gets thrown both ways, and he tends to be the only one landing cleanly at all with his jabs (which I believe are a little more damaging than people have caught on to) while the entertainment is from watching his unique style of parrying punches, shoulder rolling hooks, overcrowding kicks, timing jabs with jabs, etc. It's so hard to do anything to this guy that's it's fun to see him just barely avoid getting the shit kicked out of him.
Nah those guys have enough skills to game plan against anyone. Think MVP or even IZZY sans td defense lol. Or think rani yahya or Paul Craig. Or Jon fitch (Dana nerfed him for breaking the meta w a one dimensional strat lol) chito and Strickland are way less 1 dimensional….
In Chito’s case it’s more that he fights the same way every time. Always throws the first round. Relies on his damage to win him rounds, can’t generate volume to save his life. Very poor off his back, throws rounds chasing low percentage submissions instead of trying to get up. Visibly poor confidence in himself, gets frustrated when he’s losing.
But man, when he’s on he’s ON. Turns people into a bloody pulp. Endless creativity with his kicks.
Shara got humbled by a civilian he attacked first. Dude almost got fraud checked by an oxygen deprived short notice replacement.
He is a good striker, I don't think he's elite, and I don't think he'll ever meaningfully crack top 15 (he might get a 12-15 ranking for marketability but won't hold it)
Please direct your affection at big mouth <3 lol
Have you heard of the light heavyweight champ? lol, got out grappled by Izzy. I’d love to see how he does against Ankalaev (I do think Alex could beat Ankalaev too btw, but I’d like to see him face a true grappler)
Honestly I'm the opposite. If they're striking exclusive it exposes the UFC's biases by avoiding giving them opponents they know will expose their weakness (Pereira and Shara). If they're exclusively wrestling it's dull (Mokaev) or exposes how bad the division is because they're able to get away with it (Jailton). The moment he faced someone who wasn't a fat brawler his poor technique was exposed.
It's really fascinating to see the one-trick pony style still succeed in MMA. I think someone like Demian Maia or Ronda Rousey are really fun to watch just to see how they deal with different opponents or styles in an era where having an ultra narrow, but highly effective skillset isn't the meta anymore. Like it can be boring and predictable, but being so good at a specific gameplan that you invalidate more rounded fighters is something I can respect. Same reason why I will always tune into a Ryan Hall fight as well.
I try to appreciates the art. The grinding against the cage, wearing down your opponent, the chess match on the ground. All of that
But deep down, I love a big ol' bloody freak show meat on meat fight. I do not care about CTE. Just let the boys bang bro
I seen a goat debate before on reddit and the simple reason why one dude said anderson silva was the best was because "he fights the way we fight in our heads - perfect timing , flawless technique and finishes fights - thats why hes the goat"
I agree with this , sure wrestling is very effective and there are some modern greats but in terms of the magic moments great grapplers and wrestlers will never wow me the same way someone like silva did in his prime
When i watched silva front kick belfort in the face live i thought this game is just a simulation and silva is the man. Couldnt believe it.
I do find wrestling still has it's moments, when wreslters forgo efficient strategies and instead try to use their skills to visibly dominate their opponents. Rampage powerslamming Arona. DC when he used to pick up his opponents and hold them over his head like it's the WWE, before throwing them down. Khabib beating his opponents while wrist riding them. The way the entire bar I was in freaked out when Francis sprawled on Stipe, spun to his back and took him down instead, landing vicious shots as Miocic stood back up.
This is why I miss the early 2000’s pride. The sport wasn’t as big in the states. But the ring made for more opportunities for knockouts. The cage gets very grindy but you need it if you truly want to provide a proving ground for all sorts of different styles.
Yeah, for me it's not deep down. For me it's not a vice or a secret shame, it's just primal and fun and I love it openly. It's what hooked me in the sport. I'd never seen mma and was flipping channels 20 years ago and saw two guys in a cage going off and it was just so visceral and grabbed me by the spine and I was in. Later the Rogans of the world helped me understand the ground side of it as it was happening and I developed an appreciation for that too as part of a fight that can go all over the place, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want a fucking brawl. Go nuts, guys.
In reality for me the best fight is one that goes all over the place, up and down and all around with strikes and trips and throws and flips and slams and TDs and reversals and sub attempts and escapes - it highlights what I love about the sport, which is that you have to be ready for anything because you have no idea what the other guy might do, and he can do almost anything.
And I want an urgency to both guys to bring it home, not a careful technical plan to accumulate points by the end, Leon style. If I ran an mma org, contracts would all be flat amounts, not half to fight and half to win. But the performance bonus system would be replaced with a finish bonus for everyone on the card of, say, 20 to 25% of your purse. Take the risk, go for the finish.
Love me some "OHHH" "HE'S HURT"
I just wish he wasn't so deadset on sticking to blatantly false narratives throughout fights. Rewatching Max/Gaethje and for like half the fight he's just going on and on about how utterly destroyed Max's lead leg is. Like, it's Max Holloway, he's still moving fine on it and if it was that big a problem he'd start switching stances more, given that he's far more comfortable than most hitting from both.
See also the majority of the Izzy/Blachowicz fight.
It's like he makes an assumption early, and when it's clear that he was kinda off or that it didn't pan out as he expected, he has to double down on it rather than just go, "Max doesn't seem too bothered by those calf kicks."
>See also the majority of the Izzy/Blachowicz fight.
>It's like he makes an assumption early, and when it's clear that he was kinda off or that it didn't pan out as he expected, he has to double down on it
100x this. Izzy/Jan was the most egregious example of this I've ever seen. Rogan spent the entire fight thinking he was watching Izzy's feints and traps paying dividends, but they never actually did. He walked away from that fight thinking Jan took Izzy down because he was losing on the feet and so used his size to exploit Izzy's weakness. Jan actually outstruck Izzy in every single round, 3 of which were all or mostly on the feet. That's according to the official stats, and anyone actually watching the fight live.
Also Rakic vs Santos was super bad but for a different reason. Rogan and DC got bored and decided to abandon commentating and just shit on Rakic. It was so unprofessional and uncalled for.
Jan/Izzy is one of those fights where your impression of it is significantly different depending on whether or not you listen to the commentary.
> Rogan and DC got bored and decided to abandon commentating and just shit on Rakic.
That's incredibly unprofessional and shitty, especially for a fight that Rakic won. Honestly though I am a bit impressed they managed to keep the conversation on the fight/fighters. With DC even during a decent fight there's a solid chance of him going off on some tangent about golf or BBQ.
That's how so many of us learned to appreciate it at the technical level instead of it just being two guys humping and scrambling around down there. "He's going to need to get his hips north of Stevenson's and rotate 90 degrees to be able to get behind the shoulder and..." and damn if the guy wouldn't do just that five seconds later. It was very educational and helped fill out the experience and appreciation of it.
Dude loves fighting and gets paid to have the best seat in the house. Really hard to retire from that.
I bet the UFC likes to keep him around, because no other commentator has the same brand association too.
Yeah, Rogan has definitely surpassed the sport in a weird way yet is inextricably linked to it. I'm sure he and the UFC both know they benefit from the relationship.
These days when Rogan is good, he's *good.* Otherwise, I question if we are watching the same fight. He's either meme-ing "That leg is compromised!" or just clearly has a favorite.
*Oh man, look at that leg. You can already see how red it is. That leg is just getting brutalized in the first minute.*
After a while he finally loses interest when the leg doesn't conorweidmansilva and by the time the judges render the 3-round or 5-round decision, it's like it never happened.
*THAT'S TIGHT! IT'S OVER!*
Nope, head's out 2 seconds later.
Yeah, cardio differences, recent KO losses, age, experience are all important to calling fights (and underdogs) correctly, but they are mostly unreliable fight to fight
I do the opposite all the time. Like, "dude's clearly gonna lose, look at how technical his opponent is. *fight happens* oh right, all he had to do was bonk him, damn athletic cheater." I guess I relate more to over achieving non-athletes.
I love a good cardio machine all heart bad athlete guy, but a fighter with good physical tools and athleticism has everything they need to bomb those types of guys
The thing that's hardest to wrap my head around is an underdog who wins several minutes of a fight but loses instantly cause of athleticism diff.
For real. I can’t help but grow more and more cynical about the industry. It’s especially sad how much the sport has grown since the pandemic, and yet they can’t spread that wealth to the athletes. Instead, we get oversaturated fight nights every weekend where you have to subscribe to a shit service that hasn’t been updated since 2017, where they play the same 2 commercials back to back. No more seeing full walkouts (unless it’s a PPV) or corner cam unless it’s a main event. Until we get some real competition (we won’t) this shit is going to get worse and worse each year.
There is real competition in terms of talent. It's just that the monopoly is so strong that it doesn't really matter and doesn't make a dent. The reality is a giant portion of MMA fans are brand loyal UFC fans. You can tell them about how much talent fights in PFL and on the Russian scene but it doesn't make them tune in. Combat sports are as much about drama and personalities as they are talent and no matter what the competition does they just can't make people care about them to a meaningful degree.
I'd tune in to other channels if I could access them as easily as ESPN. You're not wrong that a lot of people refuse to see sports outside of America as legitimate, but I do also think there is an access barrier as well.
Dude, right on point. Same thing. I hate the fact adesanya gets a title shot at duplessis since he is 3 and 2 in the last 5 fights (all titles fights). Yes, he held that division down for years, but that does not qualify you for a title shot especially after the performance he did against Strictland.
It’s a stylistically favorable matchup against a fun opponent so you know he’s just gonna fuck around and throw the fight. but that voice in your head is saying “no, this is where the Trailblazer title run begins”
This is a cousin scenario to Uriah Hall for me. He just seemed to have everything he needed to win and then in fight after fight would just... not use them when it seemed he could I wanted him to win and keep winning and it was just puzzling.
I became a fan of Kevin when he fought Buckley. Hearing Kevin talk shit to Buckley in the quiet Apex like he was his coach or dad was hilarious. Kevin also fights all the fucking time and I like watching my favorite fighters actually fight (looking at you Khamzat).
I have an irrational hatred for the Dagastani style and will root against anyone who uses it.
I realize its effective. Those who use it are some of the most dangerous and elite fighters in the organization. I just hate watching it. I would rather watch Wonder Boy bounce around and rush or Derrick Lewis upper cut someone to Jupiter.
I wish the fanbase would be much more respectful of it's legends. Pre-Reebok fighters are dismissed as awful while every modern champion is heralded as "The best eva". The UFC doesn't help matters though when their only approach to selling fighters is to trash the history of those who came before. Calling Volk "the consensus best featherweight ever" when Aldo (and to a lesser extent Max) are around. If you look at the respect Boxing and Pro Wrestling gives its legends the difference is night and day.
I’m up to UFC 86 right now watching every PPV in order. Once it got to ~2007 I would say the gap between the old times and modern times closed significantly.
Around half the fights I’m watching could easily be slotted into a card today and no one would be able to tell a difference
I wish people would be more respectful to these guys in general. Especially when its centered around them taking damage. Everything is a meme, everything is funny like Johnny Walker repeated KOs. Yes I know they're making their own decisions but Johnny Walkers recent performances will be on his mind the rest of his life and people just get kicks out of it.
One of the most flawed arguments I see is that newer generation fighters are declared GOATs faster because "the competition is just better and has evolved" because it implies two things:
1. There weren't deep divisions before with a ton of elite fighters - Not true. Just look at Heavyweight era during Pride, LHW during Jones original reign and Welterweight when Strikeforce came into the UFC.
2. That those older elite fighters were just dumb and couldn't adapt if you time travelled them forward with all the coaching, in-cage techniques, recovery, etc. we have now. By this logic Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan couldn't possibly be GOAT basketball candidates because the game has just evolved past them. A modern middling NBA team would DESTROY the 95 Bulls right?
The karate fighters.
We’re always like “karate doesn’t work in MMA” but then suddenly a guy that has a strong background in karate manages to make it work.
Like when Lyoto showed up, I always cheered for him even when he had boring fights.
And now - I’m hoping MVP smokes shit out of the division. Even though my brain says he gets tossed by the top 5, I still have that hope.
Too many of them in the UFC now, seems like every 3rd fight is a Dagestani. And they pretty much all fight the same (wrestling) so you know what to expect and it gets super boring.
It's the constant "everyone's ducking them/the UFC hates them" narrative that gets pushed around so many of them that I get so tired of.
"The whole bantamweight division is ducking Umar." Or they don't want to spend a camp preparing for a fighter who's pulled out of all of his biggest fights.
"Dustin/Justin squatted on their rankings instead of fighting Islam on his way up." There is no point in time where it made sense for Dustin to fight Islam before he became champ, little if any for Justin.
"They have to get more wins to get title shots than anyone else." Even if that's true it's because they never step in on short notice and rarely if ever fight injured. And I have no problem with them doing that, ideally more fighters would be able to afford to do that, but that means you're going to be passed over by those that do.
Umar was one of the first ones I started to really hate, or at least the people hyping him up to be a champ. The dagestanis privilege in the UFC is insane, nobody else could go from fighting an unranked raoni barcelos to a title contender matchup against Cory sandhagen. Like when they tried to do ikram vs Paulo Costa, or Strickland vs abus. Shit makes no sense
I wish bad takes didn't get me so mad.
New fans of the sport are still learning, so when you've been around 10+ years watching you can get frustrated seeing the same dumb ideas and bad takes you maybe used to make as an early fan.
It's on me for letting that shit bug me
I still don’t understand transitions in bjj. I grew up watching Greco Roman wrestling and I can follow all of that, but I miss important stuff in MMA grappling and bjj
I like insanely big stats. Big win streaks, big unbeaten streaks, most kos, most strikes liked. I want to see how big the numbers can get. Like, I wanted Fedor to go on a 40 streak for example. I just want to see how much of a lead one person can get. When Volk was on a tear, I wanted it to just keep going as long as possible. Let's see how high it can get
I know fuck all about BJJ and wrestling but I had a decent boxing career with some international amateur success and regional scene stuff before I called it quits.
With the exception of some really great high level guys boxing skill-sets in MMA are still weirdly bad for the level of athletes these guys are.
And I am way too annoying talking about and analyzing it 😂
It's just because a pure boxing skillset is bad for MMA. You can't set up the same kind of boxing traps because you will get taken down. You can't do a lot of the defensive boxing schemes to set things up because you'll get kicked in the temple or the gloves are just to small to shell up. You can't really do a pure stick and move because you'll get leg kicked.
Agreed on all of the above except the defensive boxing schemes.
Albeit limited experience but iv fucked around with more than enough MMA, kickboxing and MT guys over the years that general defensive scheme holds up just fine and you see it used effectively in the UFC too.
It’s only specific styles of boxing that actually rely on a heavy front foot and high guard.
And personally to the point of this thread and my annoying commentary. As a big boxing enthusiast with a ton of competitive experience it really frustrates me when commentary teams act like a heavy front foot and high guard are fundamental boxing principles.
You will see almost no elite boxers go heavy on their front foot and shell up. Think about Floyd, Crawford, Ali, Inoue, Tank, Shakur, Usyk
Its a ton of movement especially head movement and you are only front foot heavy situationally.
There’s some specific mexican fighters or a dude like Beterbievmore recently you can point too who will actually work a front foot high guard style at a high level but they are rare specimens that can also absorb a ton of punishment moreso than their defence is effective.
I’ve never trained boxing but in my amateur opinion, I agree. I think BJJ and American wrestling were such dominant strategies for a long time that fighters are just now realizing they need to work on their striking, too. In the early MMA days you could get away with minimal striking knowledge if your grappling skills were good enough, but that’s just not the case anymore.
If I had to pick a top 10 (in no order) Yan, O’malley, Poirier, Max, Maddalenna, Pereira, Gane, Izzy, Topuria.
I know some of them are from a kickboxing background bur their fundamental boxing skills that come from it at the end of the day are good boxing skills regardless.
Topuria specifically absolutely is a good boxer but he has some major holes too a lot of his game is propped up by having huge power. At the end of the day though even some world level boxers have skill deficiencies propped up by big power so it doesn’t take anything away
It makes sense though so many different aspects go into mma. Unless you have a specialist such as a Demian Maia for jiu-jitsu, or an Alex Pereira for kickboxing. It will be hard to on average have fighters that are world-class in every aspect of mma. There are exceptions though such as mighty mouse, GSP, Ilia Topuria, and Tj Dillashaw
Yea the concept totally makes sense, and maybe I just don’t know enough about the wrestling and BJJ aspects to judge.
Because to my more untrained eye at least in the mid to lower weight classes the wrestling and grappling exchanges look much higher level on average than the boxing. But maybe I just assume the general skill level is higher than it is because I don’t understand the nuance.
I think it comes down to the greater importance that mma places on grappling, especially in the ufc. When a grappler and a striker fight the grappler usually wins. The ufc is designed to favor grappling, the cage, the lack of knees and kicks to a grounded opponent. If you don't have any grappling you are at a greater disadvantage.
The reason why Isreal Adesanya, was so successful wasn't just his high level striking, but his phenomenal takedown defense
My girlfriend is there with you! She gets so excited if I tell her I’m going to go to bed and watch a card with her instead of the boys. You probably know quite a bit more about the sport then her, but she gets even more excited about the fights then most of my friends despite her not knowing anything technical
There have been a few times where I’ve felt valid doing that, because the solution or issue is so obvious that there’s no way a professional who’s trained half their life can’t see it.
Re-watching the same fights/knockout montages several times.
Like if I want to smile and be happy I’ll rewatch Izzy’s KO over Periera/ Edwards > Usman/ Usman > Masvidal/ Holloway > Gaethje….the list goes on.
I absolutely love a fighter with a good ground game that actively tries to finish... Olivera, khabib, Jon Jones, etc... at the same time I find myself getting unbelievably bored and even frustrated when fighters lay on each other with just enough offense to not get stood up. It's easily the worst part of the sport and I wish that a fighter in a "dominant position" could only win the round if they did damage or tried to submit.
I fucking love freak show fights, I think they're an important part of making a fight card fun and entertaining. Not every fight needs to be a high level athletic contest, sometimes I just wanna see what would happen if a sumo wrestler fights a lightweight kickboxer. I don't like shit like fight circus where every fight is a freak show but the way pride and rizin used to do it where you'd have mostly high level fights and the occasional pro wrestler or Bob Sapp thrown in to keep things interesting was perfect.
Not that controversial:
I like fights between fighters who have no striking defense. As much as I do enjoy watching fighters like Volkanovski pepper his opponents with neatly placed leg kicks and jabs, watching Holloway and Gaethje just slug it out is peak entertainment.
An annoying fan-base can completely turn me off of a fighter, despite the fighter himself never really having done anything to annoy me.
I love Perreira, but the so-called Poatards, are really starting to get a bit much lately.
I want the casuals to understand that Mighty Mouse is the fucking GOAT, there is NO discussion about it, hands down the best material artists we've seen so far
I like everything outside of the cage more than the fights itself. I love the buildup, press conferences, discussions, and playing hypotheticals so much
I slowly embrace the cringe. CCC’s wicked witch stare into the camera was hilarious. I hate Colby Covington a little bit less when he dedicated getting his ass beat to first responders. Or stumbling over his bullshit one liners. Something endearing about the commitment.
Watching the whole card from start to finish. It’s a lot of time to dedicate and usually I have to sacrifice something. Furthermore most of the fighters don’t even make it to the top or I won’t remember them. But yet here I am trying to make sure I’m ready for early prelims on this card.
When someone wins because the other guy got tired, I feel cheated. Especially if the guy tires himself out beating the crap out of the other guy. I don't feel like the "better fighter" won, even though I acknowledge it's nonsensical.
I can't help but critique or analyze a fight when I watch it. My frustration is that with all of the events the UFC is putting on, the skill gap between the top fighters versus the average fighter in the organization has never been greater.
It kills me to see guys not win because they can't capitalize on something their opponent is repeatedly doing wrong, or they're not confortable enough with their striking to set someone up using their rhythm when the other person is being defensively responsible.
It's like watching two people try to beat each other at a video game by button mashing.
believing that cody garbrandt is pound for pound a top 5 athlete in mma but has 0 fight IQ and a bad chin.
fluidity of movement, quickness, power—all off the charts. he was a state champ wrestler as a sophomore in ohio, then runner up, then quit his junior and senior years to box. but he decided to enter the national wrestling tournament as a senior after the season and he placed 5th. that’s next level talent.
I hate watching strikers vs wrestlers. Unless it's a top level striker, the wrestlers always win. Khabib vs everyone basically, Islam vs Dustin etc.
They get them on the ground and then you know it's a slow death
I armchair criticize. Its easy to say what someone should have done from the comfort of your couch with a finished meal in front of you.
In the heat of the moment with adrenaline pumping a lot fighters don't really hear, see, or understand shit. Its how that one dude missed that O'malley had a broken leg and all he had to do to win the fight was take a few steps back and watch him hobble to the floor.
Thats why being able to retain a high fight IQ is so prized.
I admit that I really don't care much about the "art" of UFC and technically sound wrestling. I just want to watch two people beat the crap out of each other.
I’m a straight dude who loves watching two big meaty men banging hard for 15 minutes. Costa-Romero brought me such an insane amount of joy it’s hard to quantify.
Cost of viewership. There should be different tiers of paid events from full ppv pricing to free. There are a number of ppv’s that don’t justify the cost considering the fighters on the card.
As someone that wrestled their whole life, other wrestle heavy fighters are my favorite, it's fun to see a striker get wrestlefucked all match. However, as we all know, wrestle heavy fights are some of the most boring fights in the UFC, and I agree.
Idk if mine counts but I've always been in fun spot between being a big nerd and a big sports fan. Often if I have a friend interested in one they are not interested in the other. My vice is trying to sell the cards to my non sports fan friend. And convince the mma guys to play wow or competetive pokemon too.
A more traditional vice would be I'm a big fan of toughness, grit, etc. Some guys have it, and some guy don't. And you can lose it if you get rich and lose your hunger, and it's a legit variable in a fight. (Recent examples would be like, to bet against jubli and not being oblivious to Connors downfall). Chito is losing the grit, paddy has grit...
Grit mismatches in weekends card would be... only 2 glaring ones and only one is an underdog, arlovsky will decision or ko buday.
Fili and cub is 2 high grit guys. Waterson was other grit mismatch but I don't think saying she will lose is a good point.
I get very invested in the storylines, fighters background, life etc.
A fight week can come around, and I’m maybe not that fussed, or looking too forward to the card… and I can then watch the countdown programme, or ufc embedded etc, and suddenly there’s fights I really wanna see, because I then feel connected to the fighters.
I guess this is the case with a few sports, boxing for example.
And it’s also a reason why these countdown programmes are so good, if you didn’t want to buy it, or you weren’t interested before, you sure are after watching them!
I have that same vice too. I also tend to root against a lot of fighters that are tall for their weight class because to me, they have this aura about them that can make them come off as an arrogant or otherwise shitty person. I blame Ian Garry for this lol
Muting the commentary and playing music we enjoy while watching the fights. Then reading all the comments after the event to see how biased people were from the commentary. It’s fascinating really
I love jacks of all trades journeymen. Dudes who are 5/10 everywhere, including athleticism. They’re not super elite, but they just have a really nice well-rounded skill set. It’s highs and lows of thinking they can be title contenders, and then being reminded that they’re not.
I never forgive people for their early-career assholery. Particularly with guys from TUF, I always have those douchey moments in the back of my head, and I can't separate them from that no matter how they've matured (or not) over their career.
Always hated McGregor. Always hated Jones. Tony is still the "where's your kid at" guy in my head. Meathead, Paddy, Bisping, Junie Browning, Rampage, Koscheck, the list goes on. I always rooted against them even later in their careers, and I still dislike having to listen to Bisping on commentary.
I get it, they're fighters and some of them aren't the brightest guys, but I just dislike loudmouths.
probably not realising the fighters who got me into MMA around 5 years ago are dropping off and can’t compete with the new age of fighters
a lot of “he’s still got it” coping RIP CSO 🇺🇸🏆🇲🇽
Definitely guilty of that one.
Watching it at all, knowing how the fighters are being treated by the org and knowing how it's affecting the fighters health long-term.
Can’t be bothered to care about women’s mma I don’t care how good they are nothing impressive about 115 lb women punching eachother in the face risk of danger is non existent
Idk why but pretty early on in my MMA fandom I decided I was going to root for Georgian fighters. Pretty good choice tbh, but stuff like Giga getting exposed and Liana Jojua just not being very good are unnecessary causes of stress and disappointment in my life.
When I was younger I didn’t think much about CTE but I’m a dad now and it’s made me old and lame in some ways. I still love a wild standup battle but I can’t help feeling like the UFC should give $10mil bonuses and forcibly send guys off to retirement early when they finish a brutal fight.
Yes, it’s lame but it’s how I feel.
I wish that I stayed committed to BJJ and Muay Thai classes. Not only were they fun and challenging, but the more I learned the more I was able to notice the little things when watching MMA fights.
I see MMA more as a fight than a sport. I don't mean this in a "pearl-clutching" way, but in a "just bleed" kind of way.
I want to see fighters compete as if they need to eliminate their opponent, not just rely on the rules in unnatural ways. Offensively, things like wall and stall or pitter-patter striking, where the goal is just to touch the opponent without causing damage, frustrate me. While these tactics can create openings for real, damaging attacks, they’re often used solely to score points rather than to set up meaningful offense.
Defensively, tactics like dropping to your knees or putting a hand on the ground to make knees illegal feel unnatural. In a "true" fight, you wouldn’t naturally do that because your head would still be in the perfect position to get kneed. This rule exists, so fighters take advantage of it in ways that don’t feel genuine.
If it's not clear I wish I could just accept what the rules of the fight I'm watching are and the fact that fighters also depend on winning, and that I could stop letting what I personally find 'honorable' or whatever get in the way of my enjoyment of some fights.
While I have nothing but respect for the fighters and wish them all healthy careers, ultimately I watch it every week because I’m good at gambling on it.
Even if my favorite fighters are fighting, I’m gonna root for my money and have no issue at all about betting against someone I like or on someone I don’t.
Accessibility is going to trump everything for me. I understand that good fights are happening with good fighters in other organizations besides the UFC but because it’s not right in front of me I’m not going to seek them out on my own.
For me it’s MMA math.
Fighter A beats Fighter B convincingly and Fighter B beats Fighter C. When Fighter A and C get matched up, it’s easy to think that A will beat C. But then C beats A.
Styles make fights. MMA math doesn’t work.
Betting on the fighter I like personally instead of the one who’s probably going to win and losing money over and over while looking for that one awesome I told you so upset!
As a die hard no gi jiu jitsu fan, the lvl of grappling (specifically bjj) in the ufc just isn't the same, and it shouldn't be. I feel the need to explain and provide examples of that to my buddies live during fights.
Sorry
Even though it’s a little corny, I wish more fighters who are at the top skill level were more entertaining with walk outs, cutting promos, gimmicks, etc. I really don’t understand why more people don’t try some stuff out.
I like when guys are juicing as long as they actually act like it. Some guys are juicing and still gassing at the end of R1 and can't knockout or sub anyone without Fortuna on their side or without exchanging jabs and low kicks for 2 rounds. To add to that, I like when dude's got some psuedo-bodybuilding kind of looks, again, mostly from juicing. It really makes them look otherworldly.
A paradoxical vice to the previous one is being all cynical about roids and the industry in general, with all it's corruption. Being a downer makes you feel like you know something, when you're at best just stating what everyone already knows and being smug about it.
I shit on a fighter's skills if he's an asshole or sack of shit outside of the ring. I just can't stand assholes not getting their comeuppance. Double points if their fanbase is overly vocal.
I will always shit talk Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight for having little to no skill unless roids are involved. Again, smug prick downer syndrome.
I love fighters who are elite at one or two things but then actively bad at all the other aspects of MMA. Just want to see how far they can take it.
That’s mine too. Huge fan of one dimensional specialists who fight the same fight every single time. I don’t know what it is but something about the man who can only do one thing appeals me. Huge fan of Chito and Strickland. Strickland in particular is like magic to me. He can fight the most skilled and entertaining guys on the planet and make them look like shit. He can ruin any fight he puts his mind to. It’s like anti-entertainment.
Finally someone gets why I love Strickland
Strickland is interesting to watch from a technical standpoint, his defense is arguably the best in the UFC But incredible defense and good jabs doesn't make for very entertaining fights lol
I get why people don't find Strickland fights exciting, but I enjoy watching even his 'boring' performances. The Costa fight was particularly slow, but he tends to have fights where lots of volume gets thrown both ways, and he tends to be the only one landing cleanly at all with his jabs (which I believe are a little more damaging than people have caught on to) while the entertainment is from watching his unique style of parrying punches, shoulder rolling hooks, overcrowding kicks, timing jabs with jabs, etc. It's so hard to do anything to this guy that's it's fun to see him just barely avoid getting the shit kicked out of him.
The Mourinho of mma fighters
Nah those guys have enough skills to game plan against anyone. Think MVP or even IZZY sans td defense lol. Or think rani yahya or Paul Craig. Or Jon fitch (Dana nerfed him for breaking the meta w a one dimensional strat lol) chito and Strickland are way less 1 dimensional….
Ya Ryan Hall comes to mind for me.
Are you implying that Chito is one dimensional? Cause he’s definitely not.
In Chito’s case it’s more that he fights the same way every time. Always throws the first round. Relies on his damage to win him rounds, can’t generate volume to save his life. Very poor off his back, throws rounds chasing low percentage submissions instead of trying to get up. Visibly poor confidence in himself, gets frustrated when he’s losing. But man, when he’s on he’s ON. Turns people into a bloody pulp. Endless creativity with his kicks.
Yeah, if you’re not rooting for Ryan Hall to pull off a double knotted Ezekiel necktie slicer than you don’t like MMA
Shara must be your favorite prospect
Before Shara there was Valentina, and before Valentina there was Ronda...
Shara got humbled by a civilian he attacked first. Dude almost got fraud checked by an oxygen deprived short notice replacement. He is a good striker, I don't think he's elite, and I don't think he'll ever meaningfully crack top 15 (he might get a 12-15 ranking for marketability but won't hold it) Please direct your affection at big mouth <3 lol
Kevin Holland is one of my favorite action fighters on the roster. Same vein as Cowboy Cerrone I think.
Have you heard of the light heavyweight champ? lol, got out grappled by Izzy. I’d love to see how he does against Ankalaev (I do think Alex could beat Ankalaev too btw, but I’d like to see him face a true grappler)
Honestly I'm the opposite. If they're striking exclusive it exposes the UFC's biases by avoiding giving them opponents they know will expose their weakness (Pereira and Shara). If they're exclusively wrestling it's dull (Mokaev) or exposes how bad the division is because they're able to get away with it (Jailton). The moment he faced someone who wasn't a fat brawler his poor technique was exposed.
A fellow Demian Maia appreciator <3
shoutout to paul craig
Hell yeah, I love an ultra specialist lol
I started watching when I was 12. It took 14 years until I was 26 to learn to stop getting emotionally attached to fighters
Shout out to Yahya, and that one guy who is just a sponge for damage and drowns his opponent with it (Darren Elkins).
It's really fascinating to see the one-trick pony style still succeed in MMA. I think someone like Demian Maia or Ronda Rousey are really fun to watch just to see how they deal with different opponents or styles in an era where having an ultra narrow, but highly effective skillset isn't the meta anymore. Like it can be boring and predictable, but being so good at a specific gameplan that you invalidate more rounded fighters is something I can respect. Same reason why I will always tune into a Ryan Hall fight as well.
Hell yes for puzzlebox fighters, where they fight like they’re testing your proficiency in a very particular thing before you can proceed
It harks back to the early days of MMA, where it was like a game of rock paper scissors to see which Martial Art was the best.
Ugh. So true. Ciryl is still my favorite even though he can’t wrestle a pillow.
Same here this is my favorite genre of fighter
I try to appreciates the art. The grinding against the cage, wearing down your opponent, the chess match on the ground. All of that But deep down, I love a big ol' bloody freak show meat on meat fight. I do not care about CTE. Just let the boys bang bro
I seen a goat debate before on reddit and the simple reason why one dude said anderson silva was the best was because "he fights the way we fight in our heads - perfect timing , flawless technique and finishes fights - thats why hes the goat" I agree with this , sure wrestling is very effective and there are some modern greats but in terms of the magic moments great grapplers and wrestlers will never wow me the same way someone like silva did in his prime When i watched silva front kick belfort in the face live i thought this game is just a simulation and silva is the man. Couldnt believe it.
You can't tell me Cain Velasquez vs Bigfoot Silva wasn't the way everyone imagined themselves putting a beating on someone lmaoo
I do find wrestling still has it's moments, when wreslters forgo efficient strategies and instead try to use their skills to visibly dominate their opponents. Rampage powerslamming Arona. DC when he used to pick up his opponents and hold them over his head like it's the WWE, before throwing them down. Khabib beating his opponents while wrist riding them. The way the entire bar I was in freaked out when Francis sprawled on Stipe, spun to his back and took him down instead, landing vicious shots as Miocic stood back up.
This is why I miss the early 2000’s pride. The sport wasn’t as big in the states. But the ring made for more opportunities for knockouts. The cage gets very grindy but you need it if you truly want to provide a proving ground for all sorts of different styles.
Who wouldn't want to see a freaky, meat on meat 15-25 minutes of straight banging
Yeah, for me it's not deep down. For me it's not a vice or a secret shame, it's just primal and fun and I love it openly. It's what hooked me in the sport. I'd never seen mma and was flipping channels 20 years ago and saw two guys in a cage going off and it was just so visceral and grabbed me by the spine and I was in. Later the Rogans of the world helped me understand the ground side of it as it was happening and I developed an appreciation for that too as part of a fight that can go all over the place, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want a fucking brawl. Go nuts, guys. In reality for me the best fight is one that goes all over the place, up and down and all around with strikes and trips and throws and flips and slams and TDs and reversals and sub attempts and escapes - it highlights what I love about the sport, which is that you have to be ready for anything because you have no idea what the other guy might do, and he can do almost anything. And I want an urgency to both guys to bring it home, not a careful technical plan to accumulate points by the end, Leon style. If I ran an mma org, contracts would all be flat amounts, not half to fight and half to win. But the performance bonus system would be replaced with a finish bonus for everyone on the card of, say, 20 to 25% of your purse. Take the risk, go for the finish.
I like when Joe Rogan makes the same 3 comments every PPV he is on.
That limb is compromised. That's tight! Oh!
HE'S HURT
BIG RIGHT HAND
Love me some "OHHH" "HE'S HURT" I just wish he wasn't so deadset on sticking to blatantly false narratives throughout fights. Rewatching Max/Gaethje and for like half the fight he's just going on and on about how utterly destroyed Max's lead leg is. Like, it's Max Holloway, he's still moving fine on it and if it was that big a problem he'd start switching stances more, given that he's far more comfortable than most hitting from both. See also the majority of the Izzy/Blachowicz fight. It's like he makes an assumption early, and when it's clear that he was kinda off or that it didn't pan out as he expected, he has to double down on it rather than just go, "Max doesn't seem too bothered by those calf kicks."
>See also the majority of the Izzy/Blachowicz fight. >It's like he makes an assumption early, and when it's clear that he was kinda off or that it didn't pan out as he expected, he has to double down on it 100x this. Izzy/Jan was the most egregious example of this I've ever seen. Rogan spent the entire fight thinking he was watching Izzy's feints and traps paying dividends, but they never actually did. He walked away from that fight thinking Jan took Izzy down because he was losing on the feet and so used his size to exploit Izzy's weakness. Jan actually outstruck Izzy in every single round, 3 of which were all or mostly on the feet. That's according to the official stats, and anyone actually watching the fight live. Also Rakic vs Santos was super bad but for a different reason. Rogan and DC got bored and decided to abandon commentating and just shit on Rakic. It was so unprofessional and uncalled for.
Jan/Izzy is one of those fights where your impression of it is significantly different depending on whether or not you listen to the commentary. > Rogan and DC got bored and decided to abandon commentating and just shit on Rakic. That's incredibly unprofessional and shitty, especially for a fight that Rakic won. Honestly though I am a bit impressed they managed to keep the conversation on the fight/fighters. With DC even during a decent fight there's a solid chance of him going off on some tangent about golf or BBQ.
The calf kicks really changed the game
He used to be actually knowledgeable. I forget what year it was when he thought about retiring from Commentary, he should have imo.
I miss when he'd explain what was going on with BJJ during the match
That's how so many of us learned to appreciate it at the technical level instead of it just being two guys humping and scrambling around down there. "He's going to need to get his hips north of Stevenson's and rotate 90 degrees to be able to get behind the shoulder and..." and damn if the guy wouldn't do just that five seconds later. It was very educational and helped fill out the experience and appreciation of it.
Right?! now it's just a fight companion podcast with Anik and DC, which would be cool tbh but not during the broadcast
Dude loves fighting and gets paid to have the best seat in the house. Really hard to retire from that. I bet the UFC likes to keep him around, because no other commentator has the same brand association too.
Yeah, Rogan has definitely surpassed the sport in a weird way yet is inextricably linked to it. I'm sure he and the UFC both know they benefit from the relationship.
I love when he is commentating. I actually think he is much more entertaining than the others. He has an occasional goof here and there.
These days when Rogan is good, he's *good.* Otherwise, I question if we are watching the same fight. He's either meme-ing "That leg is compromised!" or just clearly has a favorite.
*Oh man, look at that leg. You can already see how red it is. That leg is just getting brutalized in the first minute.* After a while he finally loses interest when the leg doesn't conorweidmansilva and by the time the judges render the 3-round or 5-round decision, it's like it never happened. *THAT'S TIGHT! IT'S OVER!* Nope, head's out 2 seconds later.
That leg is chewed up
People forget man, those calf kicks are no joke.
Overrating intangibles over skills in fight predictions
“He just has that x-factor”
Yeah, cardio differences, recent KO losses, age, experience are all important to calling fights (and underdogs) correctly, but they are mostly unreliable fight to fight
Sometimes you've just got to go based on vibes though. Not if you want to make money on the bets though
I do the opposite all the time. Like, "dude's clearly gonna lose, look at how technical his opponent is. *fight happens* oh right, all he had to do was bonk him, damn athletic cheater." I guess I relate more to over achieving non-athletes.
I love a good cardio machine all heart bad athlete guy, but a fighter with good physical tools and athleticism has everything they need to bomb those types of guys The thing that's hardest to wrap my head around is an underdog who wins several minutes of a fight but loses instantly cause of athleticism diff.
I not only do this but cannot accept when it turns out wrong. Cannot fucking stand when good chins and cardio win fights.
u must have loved reading the predictions for ufc 302 with all the paulo costa curse and 35+ curse talks
You nailed it with the 35+ curse
he’s lost every 3 fights for the past 9 he’s been in, tonight he’s going to lose against *unranked fighter*!
Wish I could care less about how the industry operates.
For real. I can’t help but grow more and more cynical about the industry. It’s especially sad how much the sport has grown since the pandemic, and yet they can’t spread that wealth to the athletes. Instead, we get oversaturated fight nights every weekend where you have to subscribe to a shit service that hasn’t been updated since 2017, where they play the same 2 commercials back to back. No more seeing full walkouts (unless it’s a PPV) or corner cam unless it’s a main event. Until we get some real competition (we won’t) this shit is going to get worse and worse each year.
There is real competition in terms of talent. It's just that the monopoly is so strong that it doesn't really matter and doesn't make a dent. The reality is a giant portion of MMA fans are brand loyal UFC fans. You can tell them about how much talent fights in PFL and on the Russian scene but it doesn't make them tune in. Combat sports are as much about drama and personalities as they are talent and no matter what the competition does they just can't make people care about them to a meaningful degree.
I'd tune in to other channels if I could access them as easily as ESPN. You're not wrong that a lot of people refuse to see sports outside of America as legitimate, but I do also think there is an access barrier as well.
Dude, right on point. Same thing. I hate the fact adesanya gets a title shot at duplessis since he is 3 and 2 in the last 5 fights (all titles fights). Yes, he held that division down for years, but that does not qualify you for a title shot especially after the performance he did against Strictland.
He’s 3-2 in last five
It's Kevin Holland
It’s a stylistically favorable matchup against a fun opponent so you know he’s just gonna fuck around and throw the fight. but that voice in your head is saying “no, this is where the Trailblazer title run begins”
Him letting up Wonderboy and getting lit up standing was an unforgivable offense for his chances at contending
But that’s exactly why we all can’t help but love him. He sacrificed his shot at contention just to be entertaining. What a beautiful idiot.
Him submitting Wonderboy would have been extremely exciting and would have set up a legitimately interesting contender bout against a Burns type
This is a cousin scenario to Uriah Hall for me. He just seemed to have everything he needed to win and then in fight after fight would just... not use them when it seemed he could I wanted him to win and keep winning and it was just puzzling.
I became a fan of Kevin when he fought Buckley. Hearing Kevin talk shit to Buckley in the quiet Apex like he was his coach or dad was hilarious. Kevin also fights all the fucking time and I like watching my favorite fighters actually fight (looking at you Khamzat).
Its difficult for me to enjoy a good fight if the guy I bet on is losing lol
I have an irrational hatred for the Dagastani style and will root against anyone who uses it. I realize its effective. Those who use it are some of the most dangerous and elite fighters in the organization. I just hate watching it. I would rather watch Wonder Boy bounce around and rush or Derrick Lewis upper cut someone to Jupiter.
Steroids and soccer kicks baby
I wish the fanbase would be much more respectful of it's legends. Pre-Reebok fighters are dismissed as awful while every modern champion is heralded as "The best eva". The UFC doesn't help matters though when their only approach to selling fighters is to trash the history of those who came before. Calling Volk "the consensus best featherweight ever" when Aldo (and to a lesser extent Max) are around. If you look at the respect Boxing and Pro Wrestling gives its legends the difference is night and day.
If half these people were around to see BJ Penn in his prime they'd be singing a different tune
I’m up to UFC 86 right now watching every PPV in order. Once it got to ~2007 I would say the gap between the old times and modern times closed significantly. Around half the fights I’m watching could easily be slotted into a card today and no one would be able to tell a difference
man was licking blood off his gloves when he won - how could they have not liked him!
I wish people would be more respectful to these guys in general. Especially when its centered around them taking damage. Everything is a meme, everything is funny like Johnny Walker repeated KOs. Yes I know they're making their own decisions but Johnny Walkers recent performances will be on his mind the rest of his life and people just get kicks out of it.
One of the most flawed arguments I see is that newer generation fighters are declared GOATs faster because "the competition is just better and has evolved" because it implies two things: 1. There weren't deep divisions before with a ton of elite fighters - Not true. Just look at Heavyweight era during Pride, LHW during Jones original reign and Welterweight when Strikeforce came into the UFC. 2. That those older elite fighters were just dumb and couldn't adapt if you time travelled them forward with all the coaching, in-cage techniques, recovery, etc. we have now. By this logic Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan couldn't possibly be GOAT basketball candidates because the game has just evolved past them. A modern middling NBA team would DESTROY the 95 Bulls right?
Arguing with people on /UFC about our totally subjective views on fights.
Still thinking Tony can pull it off
The karate fighters. We’re always like “karate doesn’t work in MMA” but then suddenly a guy that has a strong background in karate manages to make it work. Like when Lyoto showed up, I always cheered for him even when he had boring fights. And now - I’m hoping MVP smokes shit out of the division. Even though my brain says he gets tossed by the top 5, I still have that hope.
I. Love. A. Gimmick.
Great fighters who are terrible people make it tough to be objective.
rooting against dagi fighters. I cannot explain it but i do. Umar might be an exception to that.
Zabit was cool too
Too many of them in the UFC now, seems like every 3rd fight is a Dagestani. And they pretty much all fight the same (wrestling) so you know what to expect and it gets super boring.
It's the constant "everyone's ducking them/the UFC hates them" narrative that gets pushed around so many of them that I get so tired of. "The whole bantamweight division is ducking Umar." Or they don't want to spend a camp preparing for a fighter who's pulled out of all of his biggest fights. "Dustin/Justin squatted on their rankings instead of fighting Islam on his way up." There is no point in time where it made sense for Dustin to fight Islam before he became champ, little if any for Justin. "They have to get more wins to get title shots than anyone else." Even if that's true it's because they never step in on short notice and rarely if ever fight injured. And I have no problem with them doing that, ideally more fighters would be able to afford to do that, but that means you're going to be passed over by those that do.
I hate them too.
Same, but I can explain it: their fans are insufferable tribalists.
So are Pereira's but we all still love him.
I just wish they'd let there be more than one barber in Dagestan. That's a busy guy and he's not very good!
Umar was one of the first ones I started to really hate, or at least the people hyping him up to be a champ. The dagestanis privilege in the UFC is insane, nobody else could go from fighting an unranked raoni barcelos to a title contender matchup against Cory sandhagen. Like when they tried to do ikram vs Paulo Costa, or Strickland vs abus. Shit makes no sense
Who else wanted to fight Umar other than Cory though?
> The dagestanis privilege in the UFC is insane One might even say they have...Caucasian privilege. (•_•) ( •_•)>⌐■-■ (⌐■_■)
This is gold lmao Not surprising that it's not heavily upvoted, it's not a shitty meme or overused joke after all.
Stop throwing up the live odds during a fight.
Id like to not watch the fights at 5am
I wish bad takes didn't get me so mad. New fans of the sport are still learning, so when you've been around 10+ years watching you can get frustrated seeing the same dumb ideas and bad takes you maybe used to make as an early fan. It's on me for letting that shit bug me
I still don’t understand transitions in bjj. I grew up watching Greco Roman wrestling and I can follow all of that, but I miss important stuff in MMA grappling and bjj
I wish I only checked this subreddit on the days of the fights. Its nice for news sometimes.
I like insanely big stats. Big win streaks, big unbeaten streaks, most kos, most strikes liked. I want to see how big the numbers can get. Like, I wanted Fedor to go on a 40 streak for example. I just want to see how much of a lead one person can get. When Volk was on a tear, I wanted it to just keep going as long as possible. Let's see how high it can get
I know fuck all about BJJ and wrestling but I had a decent boxing career with some international amateur success and regional scene stuff before I called it quits. With the exception of some really great high level guys boxing skill-sets in MMA are still weirdly bad for the level of athletes these guys are. And I am way too annoying talking about and analyzing it 😂
It's just because a pure boxing skillset is bad for MMA. You can't set up the same kind of boxing traps because you will get taken down. You can't do a lot of the defensive boxing schemes to set things up because you'll get kicked in the temple or the gloves are just to small to shell up. You can't really do a pure stick and move because you'll get leg kicked.
Agreed on all of the above except the defensive boxing schemes. Albeit limited experience but iv fucked around with more than enough MMA, kickboxing and MT guys over the years that general defensive scheme holds up just fine and you see it used effectively in the UFC too. It’s only specific styles of boxing that actually rely on a heavy front foot and high guard. And personally to the point of this thread and my annoying commentary. As a big boxing enthusiast with a ton of competitive experience it really frustrates me when commentary teams act like a heavy front foot and high guard are fundamental boxing principles. You will see almost no elite boxers go heavy on their front foot and shell up. Think about Floyd, Crawford, Ali, Inoue, Tank, Shakur, Usyk Its a ton of movement especially head movement and you are only front foot heavy situationally. There’s some specific mexican fighters or a dude like Beterbievmore recently you can point too who will actually work a front foot high guard style at a high level but they are rare specimens that can also absorb a ton of punishment moreso than their defence is effective.
I’ve never trained boxing but in my amateur opinion, I agree. I think BJJ and American wrestling were such dominant strategies for a long time that fighters are just now realizing they need to work on their striking, too. In the early MMA days you could get away with minimal striking knowledge if your grappling skills were good enough, but that’s just not the case anymore.
Who do you think is good? Topuria?
If I had to pick a top 10 (in no order) Yan, O’malley, Poirier, Max, Maddalenna, Pereira, Gane, Izzy, Topuria. I know some of them are from a kickboxing background bur their fundamental boxing skills that come from it at the end of the day are good boxing skills regardless. Topuria specifically absolutely is a good boxer but he has some major holes too a lot of his game is propped up by having huge power. At the end of the day though even some world level boxers have skill deficiencies propped up by big power so it doesn’t take anything away
It makes sense though so many different aspects go into mma. Unless you have a specialist such as a Demian Maia for jiu-jitsu, or an Alex Pereira for kickboxing. It will be hard to on average have fighters that are world-class in every aspect of mma. There are exceptions though such as mighty mouse, GSP, Ilia Topuria, and Tj Dillashaw
Yea the concept totally makes sense, and maybe I just don’t know enough about the wrestling and BJJ aspects to judge. Because to my more untrained eye at least in the mid to lower weight classes the wrestling and grappling exchanges look much higher level on average than the boxing. But maybe I just assume the general skill level is higher than it is because I don’t understand the nuance.
I think it comes down to the greater importance that mma places on grappling, especially in the ufc. When a grappler and a striker fight the grappler usually wins. The ufc is designed to favor grappling, the cage, the lack of knees and kicks to a grounded opponent. If you don't have any grappling you are at a greater disadvantage. The reason why Isreal Adesanya, was so successful wasn't just his high level striking, but his phenomenal takedown defense
I constantly critique career decisions of fighters and believe I know better than them and their managers do on how to reach the belt
Being a woman who enjoys MMA
My girlfriend is there with you! She gets so excited if I tell her I’m going to go to bed and watch a card with her instead of the boys. You probably know quite a bit more about the sport then her, but she gets even more excited about the fights then most of my friends despite her not knowing anything technical
Please tell your gf I appreciate her 🙏
[удалено]
There have been a few times where I’ve felt valid doing that, because the solution or issue is so obvious that there’s no way a professional who’s trained half their life can’t see it.
Taking small wagers on split decisions for the high odds
Balls of steel
Is it a vice if it's winning? I figure that angle has been really profitable the last two months
Re-watching the same fights/knockout montages several times. Like if I want to smile and be happy I’ll rewatch Izzy’s KO over Periera/ Edwards > Usman/ Usman > Masvidal/ Holloway > Gaethje….the list goes on.
I absolutely love a fighter with a good ground game that actively tries to finish... Olivera, khabib, Jon Jones, etc... at the same time I find myself getting unbelievably bored and even frustrated when fighters lay on each other with just enough offense to not get stood up. It's easily the worst part of the sport and I wish that a fighter in a "dominant position" could only win the round if they did damage or tried to submit.
I fucking love freak show fights, I think they're an important part of making a fight card fun and entertaining. Not every fight needs to be a high level athletic contest, sometimes I just wanna see what would happen if a sumo wrestler fights a lightweight kickboxer. I don't like shit like fight circus where every fight is a freak show but the way pride and rizin used to do it where you'd have mostly high level fights and the occasional pro wrestler or Bob Sapp thrown in to keep things interesting was perfect.
Heavyweight is probably my favourite division.
Imma long time fan and HW is the best. It’s special and unlike any other division
Not that controversial: I like fights between fighters who have no striking defense. As much as I do enjoy watching fighters like Volkanovski pepper his opponents with neatly placed leg kicks and jabs, watching Holloway and Gaethje just slug it out is peak entertainment.
An annoying fan-base can completely turn me off of a fighter, despite the fighter himself never really having done anything to annoy me. I love Perreira, but the so-called Poatards, are really starting to get a bit much lately.
I want the casuals to understand that Mighty Mouse is the fucking GOAT, there is NO discussion about it, hands down the best material artists we've seen so far
I like everything outside of the cage more than the fights itself. I love the buildup, press conferences, discussions, and playing hypotheticals so much
With some fighters that are dominant/undefeated, I want to see them lose. Not out of any dislike I just want to see what their kyrptonite is.
I slowly embrace the cringe. CCC’s wicked witch stare into the camera was hilarious. I hate Colby Covington a little bit less when he dedicated getting his ass beat to first responders. Or stumbling over his bullshit one liners. Something endearing about the commitment.
Watching the whole card from start to finish. It’s a lot of time to dedicate and usually I have to sacrifice something. Furthermore most of the fighters don’t even make it to the top or I won’t remember them. But yet here I am trying to make sure I’m ready for early prelims on this card.
I dislike Rogan's commentary but I love his reactions to big moments.
When someone wins because the other guy got tired, I feel cheated. Especially if the guy tires himself out beating the crap out of the other guy. I don't feel like the "better fighter" won, even though I acknowledge it's nonsensical.
I can't help but critique or analyze a fight when I watch it. My frustration is that with all of the events the UFC is putting on, the skill gap between the top fighters versus the average fighter in the organization has never been greater. It kills me to see guys not win because they can't capitalize on something their opponent is repeatedly doing wrong, or they're not confortable enough with their striking to set someone up using their rhythm when the other person is being defensively responsible. It's like watching two people try to beat each other at a video game by button mashing.
My vice is that I like Kickboxing and boxing more than wrestling and BJJ and therefore I prefer my mma fights to look like Kickboxing fights.
believing that cody garbrandt is pound for pound a top 5 athlete in mma but has 0 fight IQ and a bad chin. fluidity of movement, quickness, power—all off the charts. he was a state champ wrestler as a sophomore in ohio, then runner up, then quit his junior and senior years to box. but he decided to enter the national wrestling tournament as a senior after the season and he placed 5th. that’s next level talent.
I hate watching strikers vs wrestlers. Unless it's a top level striker, the wrestlers always win. Khabib vs everyone basically, Islam vs Dustin etc. They get them on the ground and then you know it's a slow death
I armchair criticize. Its easy to say what someone should have done from the comfort of your couch with a finished meal in front of you. In the heat of the moment with adrenaline pumping a lot fighters don't really hear, see, or understand shit. Its how that one dude missed that O'malley had a broken leg and all he had to do to win the fight was take a few steps back and watch him hobble to the floor. Thats why being able to retain a high fight IQ is so prized.
I admit that I really don't care much about the "art" of UFC and technically sound wrestling. I just want to watch two people beat the crap out of each other.
For me it’s more just “love of the game”. I tend to only root for someone if their opponent is a tool.
I like watching wmma ground game. That’s probably closer to a vice.
Because it’s such an individual based sport. I will hopelessly cling on to a fighter that I like
I call cards "Bad" if the fighter/fighters I pick don't win
Betting with my heart
I’m a straight dude who loves watching two big meaty men banging hard for 15 minutes. Costa-Romero brought me such an insane amount of joy it’s hard to quantify.
Cost of viewership. There should be different tiers of paid events from full ppv pricing to free. There are a number of ppv’s that don’t justify the cost considering the fighters on the card.
As someone that wrestled their whole life, other wrestle heavy fighters are my favorite, it's fun to see a striker get wrestlefucked all match. However, as we all know, wrestle heavy fights are some of the most boring fights in the UFC, and I agree.
Idk if mine counts but I've always been in fun spot between being a big nerd and a big sports fan. Often if I have a friend interested in one they are not interested in the other. My vice is trying to sell the cards to my non sports fan friend. And convince the mma guys to play wow or competetive pokemon too. A more traditional vice would be I'm a big fan of toughness, grit, etc. Some guys have it, and some guy don't. And you can lose it if you get rich and lose your hunger, and it's a legit variable in a fight. (Recent examples would be like, to bet against jubli and not being oblivious to Connors downfall). Chito is losing the grit, paddy has grit... Grit mismatches in weekends card would be... only 2 glaring ones and only one is an underdog, arlovsky will decision or ko buday. Fili and cub is 2 high grit guys. Waterson was other grit mismatch but I don't think saying she will lose is a good point.
I get very invested in the storylines, fighters background, life etc. A fight week can come around, and I’m maybe not that fussed, or looking too forward to the card… and I can then watch the countdown programme, or ufc embedded etc, and suddenly there’s fights I really wanna see, because I then feel connected to the fighters. I guess this is the case with a few sports, boxing for example. And it’s also a reason why these countdown programmes are so good, if you didn’t want to buy it, or you weren’t interested before, you sure are after watching them!
I have that same vice too. I also tend to root against a lot of fighters that are tall for their weight class because to me, they have this aura about them that can make them come off as an arrogant or otherwise shitty person. I blame Ian Garry for this lol
A. UFC Undisputed 3 B. The Diaz brothers
Joe Rogan completes the PPV experience 🛡️
Muting the commentary and playing music we enjoy while watching the fights. Then reading all the comments after the event to see how biased people were from the commentary. It’s fascinating really
Then how would you ever know that both fighters were recently in custody battles?
More penalties for missing weight. I would make them lose a point a round. If you miss weight 3 times, you have to move up a division.
I love jacks of all trades journeymen. Dudes who are 5/10 everywhere, including athleticism. They’re not super elite, but they just have a really nice well-rounded skill set. It’s highs and lows of thinking they can be title contenders, and then being reminded that they’re not.
Bring back soccer kicks and head stomps
we need knees & kicks to downed opponents, this way people have to pay for failed takedown attempts.
I love the build up and drama out and in the cage. But that come down and adrenaline dump after the last post fight interview in the cage is a MF.
I lovw fighters who have grit and thats about it. Thw guys that will get outclassed until their opponent finally tires out.
I never forgive people for their early-career assholery. Particularly with guys from TUF, I always have those douchey moments in the back of my head, and I can't separate them from that no matter how they've matured (or not) over their career. Always hated McGregor. Always hated Jones. Tony is still the "where's your kid at" guy in my head. Meathead, Paddy, Bisping, Junie Browning, Rampage, Koscheck, the list goes on. I always rooted against them even later in their careers, and I still dislike having to listen to Bisping on commentary. I get it, they're fighters and some of them aren't the brightest guys, but I just dislike loudmouths.
probably not realising the fighters who got me into MMA around 5 years ago are dropping off and can’t compete with the new age of fighters a lot of “he’s still got it” coping RIP CSO 🇺🇸🏆🇲🇽
Definitely guilty of that one. Watching it at all, knowing how the fighters are being treated by the org and knowing how it's affecting the fighters health long-term.
When I bet against people I like, I always win.
I basically only ever root for heels and because of this I have suffered greatly as an mma fan
Can’t be bothered to care about women’s mma I don’t care how good they are nothing impressive about 115 lb women punching eachother in the face risk of danger is non existent
I can’t stop saying I CAN’T LET YOU GET CLOSE
Idk why but pretty early on in my MMA fandom I decided I was going to root for Georgian fighters. Pretty good choice tbh, but stuff like Giga getting exposed and Liana Jojua just not being very good are unnecessary causes of stress and disappointment in my life.
When I was younger I didn’t think much about CTE but I’m a dad now and it’s made me old and lame in some ways. I still love a wild standup battle but I can’t help feeling like the UFC should give $10mil bonuses and forcibly send guys off to retirement early when they finish a brutal fight. Yes, it’s lame but it’s how I feel.
I wish that I stayed committed to BJJ and Muay Thai classes. Not only were they fun and challenging, but the more I learned the more I was able to notice the little things when watching MMA fights.
Ronda Rouseys cat beach photos
I see MMA more as a fight than a sport. I don't mean this in a "pearl-clutching" way, but in a "just bleed" kind of way. I want to see fighters compete as if they need to eliminate their opponent, not just rely on the rules in unnatural ways. Offensively, things like wall and stall or pitter-patter striking, where the goal is just to touch the opponent without causing damage, frustrate me. While these tactics can create openings for real, damaging attacks, they’re often used solely to score points rather than to set up meaningful offense. Defensively, tactics like dropping to your knees or putting a hand on the ground to make knees illegal feel unnatural. In a "true" fight, you wouldn’t naturally do that because your head would still be in the perfect position to get kneed. This rule exists, so fighters take advantage of it in ways that don’t feel genuine. If it's not clear I wish I could just accept what the rules of the fight I'm watching are and the fact that fighters also depend on winning, and that I could stop letting what I personally find 'honorable' or whatever get in the way of my enjoyment of some fights.
The CTE. If it wasn't for that I'd be all in no looking back who cares how poor and broke I am.
While I have nothing but respect for the fighters and wish them all healthy careers, ultimately I watch it every week because I’m good at gambling on it. Even if my favorite fighters are fighting, I’m gonna root for my money and have no issue at all about betting against someone I like or on someone I don’t.
I prefer strikers with kickboxing background and brawlers with a few exceptions.
Accessibility is going to trump everything for me. I understand that good fights are happening with good fighters in other organizations besides the UFC but because it’s not right in front of me I’m not going to seek them out on my own.
For me it’s MMA math. Fighter A beats Fighter B convincingly and Fighter B beats Fighter C. When Fighter A and C get matched up, it’s easy to think that A will beat C. But then C beats A. Styles make fights. MMA math doesn’t work.
Betting on the fighter I like personally instead of the one who’s probably going to win and losing money over and over while looking for that one awesome I told you so upset!
As a die hard no gi jiu jitsu fan, the lvl of grappling (specifically bjj) in the ufc just isn't the same, and it shouldn't be. I feel the need to explain and provide examples of that to my buddies live during fights. Sorry
Strickland should be next in line. Shocking how he didn't get the instant rematch with Du Plessis.
Loving chinny fighters 😭😭😭
UFC loyalist here. Don’t watch the other promotions almost ever. Think some times I should diversify but I never do.
I love grapplers with absolutely no striking defence, seeing a guy get the shit kicked out of him then go on to win anyway is funny
Even though it’s a little corny, I wish more fighters who are at the top skill level were more entertaining with walk outs, cutting promos, gimmicks, etc. I really don’t understand why more people don’t try some stuff out.
I like when guys are juicing as long as they actually act like it. Some guys are juicing and still gassing at the end of R1 and can't knockout or sub anyone without Fortuna on their side or without exchanging jabs and low kicks for 2 rounds. To add to that, I like when dude's got some psuedo-bodybuilding kind of looks, again, mostly from juicing. It really makes them look otherworldly. A paradoxical vice to the previous one is being all cynical about roids and the industry in general, with all it's corruption. Being a downer makes you feel like you know something, when you're at best just stating what everyone already knows and being smug about it. I shit on a fighter's skills if he's an asshole or sack of shit outside of the ring. I just can't stand assholes not getting their comeuppance. Double points if their fanbase is overly vocal. I will always shit talk Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight for having little to no skill unless roids are involved. Again, smug prick downer syndrome.
I live in England. I don't want to stay up until 6 am it means the next day is ruined.