Appreciated that final fight

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Savagewolf

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As we will soon be bombarded with the "Stipe is done / a can" and "Ngannous greatest GOAT ever" threads, I wanted to voice my appreciation for how this fight went down.

Stipe comes in and offers a relatively warm hand on hand handshake. You don't see that kind of respect very often. Often there is a ton of trashtalk, refusal to shake hands, and just glaring at each other. It was nice to have a change of pace.

I also appreciated how Stipe stuck in there after taking some pretty solid hits, how Francis kept control while scooting around behind after stuffing the takedown attempt, and how Francis appeared more calm and willing to wait for the correct shots to take. Plus just that scary power.

Great fight.
 
It was a great fight, but one thing people just need to understand about HW, is that it is the hardest division in MMA to stay on top .... Stipe had 3 title defense before losing the belt the first time.. i knew it was about time a new HW was crowned.. but the same thing goes for Ngannou.. he might defend.. or might not.. but it will be awhile before a HW Champ defends 3 in a row.. You watch
 
HW hasn't been this great in so long. Such a breath of fresh air. Would love to see Ngannou KO all challengers but HW is so volatile. Someone like Black Beast could hang around for 4rds and catch a gassed Nganmou. Great fight. Ngannou silenced the haters.. low kicks, high kicks, TDD, grappling, fight iq, vicious KO. He had it all tonight.
 
Tons of beautiful violent finishes tonight.


Somebody sacrificed virgins to the just bleed god.

I am entertained.
<{JustBleed}>
 
I hate to say it... but I think Cormier could come back and possibly beat Ngannou... I could be wrong, but wrestling/cardio has been the weakness for Ngannou that eventually I see him losing by.. Guess we'll see.. Jones vs Ngannou is shocking to think about.
 
christopher said:
It was a great fight, but one thing people just need to understand about HW, is that it is the hardest division in MMA to stay on top .... Stipe had 3 title defense before losing the belt the first time.. i knew it was about time a new HW was crowned.. but the same thing goes for Ngannou.. he might defend.. or might not.. but it will be awhile before a HW Champ defends 3 in a row.. You watch
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doubt anyone will beat ngannou soon.
 
Everyone loses. The second they lose, they suck. That diminishes their best wins who lost to them who are further diminished when they lose to other guys. Every fighter fucking sucks.

Sincerely, Suredawg.
 
YourBoss said:
doubt anyone will beat ngannou soon.
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Really though.. think about who he might be fighting.. JJ might take his belt before he even gets to defend.. the point is... to win 4 in a row at HW getting the belt and defended 3 times.. has only been done 1 time.. The going bet now that Ngannou has the belt.. is what are the betting odds for how long the Ngannou HW Reign will be?
 
christopher said:
Really though.. think about who he might be fighting.. JJ might take his belt before he even gets to defend.. the point is... to win 4 in a row at HW getting the belt and defended 3 times.. has only been done 1 time.. The going bet now that Ngannou has the belt.. is what are the betting odds for how long the Ngannou HW Reign will be?
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doubt there are any betting odds for that. but to be honest i dont think jones has even a slight chance. guys like lewis have a punchers chance, but thats it really.
 
christopher said:
It was a great fight, but one thing people just need to understand about HW, is that it is the hardest division in MMA to stay on top .... Stipe had 3 title defense before losing the belt the first time.. i knew it was about time a new HW was crowned.. but the same thing goes for Ngannou.. he might defend.. or might not.. but it will be awhile before a HW Champ defends 3 in a row.. You watch
Click to expand...
For sure. The overused saying in combat sports is that you are only one punch away from losing, but I think it really rings true at these size levels. Stipe, even though he looked small in comparison, isn't a small guy. He was just dwarfed by Francis. Eventually Francis will get caught (ala Derrick Lewis fight), but he looked good out there.
 
christopher said:
I hate to say it... but I think Cormier could come back and possibly beat Ngannou... I could be wrong, but wrestling/cardio has been the weakness for Ngannou that eventually I see him losing by.. Guess we'll see.. Jones vs Ngannou is shocking to think about.
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DC's back is fucked now and his team says he can't wrestle as much because of it. Not only that he shot the idea down ADAMANTLY multiple times during the broadcast
 
Substance Abuse said:
Everyone loses. The second they lose, they suck. That diminishes their best wins who lost to them who are further diminished when they lose to other guys. Every fighter fucking sucks.

Sincerely, Suredawg.
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It's not just the loss though, it's the manner of the loss.

Just look at the poll. Sherdog thought Stipe would win by 59/41 margin. And yet Stipe looked many levels below Francis. Unlike Sherdog, the betting markets knew what was coming.

I genuinely think Stipe probably knew what was likely to happen and yet took the fight anyway for the money and also because he holds the title obviously. There's no way this came as a surprise for him, I don't think he's that stupid.
 
Savagewolf said:
For sure. The overused saying in combat sports is that you are only one punch away from losing, but I think it really rings true at these size levels. Stipe, even though he looked small in comparison, isn't a small guy. He was just dwarfed by Francis. Eventually Francis will get caught (ala Derrick Lewis fight), but he looked good out there.
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Personally i think Francis will lost by getting put on his back.. it would be wild to see him get Ko'd his body frame almost looks impossible to knock out.. but of course every one can get KO'd.. that all being said.. 22 champions in UFC HW divison. more than any division.
 
Twist11 said:
It's not just the loss though, it's the manner of the loss.

Just look at the poll. Sherdog thought Stipe would win by 59/41 margin.
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I didn't see that poll, but even if I had, I rarely put much faith into the forum warriors. As much as you would think they watch and understand fights, you'd think they'd be better than they are at predictions, and thats before you throw in the unpredictableness that the fight game naturally has.
 
christopher said:
It was a great fight, but one thing people just need to understand about HW, is that it is the hardest division in MMA to stay on top .... Stipe had 3 title defense before losing the belt the first time.. i knew it was about time a new HW was crowned.. but the same thing goes for Ngannou.. he might defend.. or might not.. but it will be awhile before a HW Champ defends 3 in a row.. You watch
Click to expand...
I'm going to say the exact opposite. When I saw Francis check a leg kick in the midst of throwing punches, and then later slide back just out of the way of another leg kick I understood he is, for the first time, showing that he is understanding distance, timing, and angles, like he never has before.

He is brand new in his understanding. And he just systematically dismantled and KO'd the consensus best HW of all time (barring possibly Fedor).

And he's just taking baby steps. Francis actually outstruck Stipe plain and simple. AND out grappled him, plain and simple. AND made him pay, plain and simple. I'm mostly speaking of his growth in skill here.

AND he's also huge. AND he's strong and powerful. I mean..... I don't see who, inside of 3 fights, is beating Francis. Anything is possible but the next time we see him he will be more skilful and demonstrate more finesse in all areas of MMA. I'm looking forward to this.
 
Extremely impressive, mature performance from Ngannou.
 
At least now there's a champ that will fight more than once every two years.
 
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