If you're mad about UFC noche, go watch kickboxing which is very exciting right now.

[Doctor Grudge]

Would O'Malley be elite in kickboxing though? I dont think he would tbh.

Whether he would or he wouldn't isn't really that relevant, but an obvious reason why strikers with bad grappling do not go into kickboxing is because of the pay, not because they suck at striking. I think KB/MT is more analogous than boxing for most strikers in MMA.

while on the topic though, your chances of being a kickboxing champion or contender are much higher than being the UFC champion. I dont see why he couldn't be a good kickboxer if he had gone that route.

 

[TeenageMutantLesnarTurtle]

Whether he would or he wouldn't isn't really that relevant, but an obvious reason why strikers with bad grappling do not go into kickboxing is because of the pay, not because they suck at striking.

Would you not agree though, that ON AVERAGE, there is a very clear difference in the typical level of striking displayed in MMA compared to kickboxing? its not even necessarily just about the skills of the strikers themselves, its that MMA as a ruleset significantly compromises the striking game. Which is why I dont understand why people would seemingly want constant stand and wang when you could just go watch another sport and see it displayed in an uncompromised higher level form.

 

[Paolo Delutis]

Don't try to make this into a grappling vs striking thing. You can still like grappling even if you don't like the five round cardio wrestlers who can't finish a sandwich.

In the last couple of months have had both Belal and now Merab winning the titles in fights where they did close to no damage to their opponents despite almost 25 minutes of domination. In both cases the most significant damage of the fight was made by their opponents during the 30 seconds or so they got going. Merab has a 22% finishing rate, that's just crazy low, even worse than Belal.

I don't know if there needs to be a rule change or something, I accept that if the wrestler lands 1 significant strike in the round and the striker lands 0 then the wrestler will win. It's just atrocious to watch. I think for real they should change judging to where position control has 0 impact on the score and they only count damaging strikes, whether from the top or the bottom.

Lmfaoooo hahahahahha ...























Ahahahahahahahahahahhssh

 

[usernamee]

But if I go to watch kickboxing I will be mad about that too!

 

[Uber_Noober]

I was watching boxing and kick boxing in the early 80’s before mma was a thing. I just started watching ONE and Glory, it suits me since I’m a Just Bleed stand and bang type of guy. Not a Just Blanket, take him down and do not engage fan.
Your mileage may vary.

 

[Big Tuppy Hole]

I enjoyed what Merab did to Sean but hated it him when he fought Petre Yan.

 

[Darkavius]

Exactly, just because somebody doesn't like seeing lay and pray points fighting doesn't mean they hate grappling in general. I don't think anybody would call Charles Oliveira's ground game boring but Johnny Hendricks, Jon Fitch, Merab etc... Different story. Grappling can be very fun to watch if the grapplers are skilled submission artists and are trying to finish the fight. If they are just holding on and trying to win via holding onto a dominant position, different strokes for different folks IG. If you enjoy watching that then great but somebody not enjoying it doesn't mean they shouldn't watch MMA.

I agree but just call it what it is. People are just tired of seeing decision machines become champions who don't actively try and finish fights. It makes the product worse to watch. In O'Malley's case it was his job to make sure he didn't get beat but that does not excuse Merab's lack of finishing ability. In the middle of a fight he had time to literally kiss O'Malley's back. Why not use that time to actually try and finish O'Malley?

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

But there are neither submissions nor ground strikes in boxing or kickboxing...

And can we please stop acting like lay-and-pray is the pinnacle of mixed martial arts? It's getting pathetic.

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

Boring tactics exists in every sport.

But are the fans expected to enjoy them and told to GTFO if they don't?

 

[Pequeño Corey]

I found the Merab/ Suga fight entertaining. Sean was able to get up several times and each round started standing. I was holding my breath until Merab was able to get a takedown. There was an element of danger there as if Merab could get caught at any second. The fifth round in particular had me on the edge of my seat after Merab got kicked in the mid.

 

[FlyingDeathKick]

But are the fans expected to enjoy them and told to GTFO if they don't?

Probably by some I would assume, yeah.

 

[13Seconds]

But are the fans expected to enjoy them and told to GTFO if they don't?

Fans don't need to enjoy it. I'd expect hardcore/evolved fans to understand though. And not cry out like this is something new. It is what it is.

Just state your opinion that you don't like it and move on.

People making whole ass threads with wall of texts why Merabs fight was horrible is the point where I would say gtfo

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

Fans don't need to enjoy it. I'd expect hardcore/evolved fans to understand though. And not cry out like this is something new. It is what it is.

Just state your opinion that you don't like it and move on.

People making whole ass threads with wall of texts why Merabs fight was horrible is the point where I would say gtfo

I think everyone here understands the point of stalling, it's just awful to watch. People are trying to push this kind of MMA totalism where everything must be enjoyed or nothing can be. It's like if someone were to say you can't call yourself a cheese fan if you don't love every single variety.

 

[Xanzito]

If you like 2 men hugging for 25min, go watch... you know what, nvm.

 

[TheShockmaster]

Would O'Malley be elite in kickboxing though? I dont think he would tbh.

He would not.

 

[13Seconds]

I think everyone here understands the point of stalling, it's just awful to watch. People are trying to push this kind of MMA totalism where everything must be enjoyed or nothing can be. It's like if someone were to say you can't call yourself a cheese fan if you don't love every single variety.

Yeah. Personally I hate point fighting striking. Izzy style when he was champ.

 

[capnlarge]

I thought 5th round notwithstanding, Merab was the only one with any offense and O'Malley was the one not doing anything to win the fight

 

[Ares Black]

Why did you join an MMA forum in January of this year?

To troll actual MMA fans and embarrass himself in the process.

 

[shunyata]

Casuals have been complaining about grappling in mma for about 20 years now, but US ratings for kickboxing are still terrible and it seems like only European and Asian promotions are able to keep kickboxing alive.

 

[TempleoftheDog]

December 1, 2017..

That is the date of O’Malley’s UFC debut.

That is SEVEN years ago. And the fucking guy hasn’t spent ANY time during those 7 years to learn TDD, or how to get up?

Him and Dern can both fuck off. How do you just ignore such a GLARING hole in your game, like that? I chalk it up to shit coaching. But what is the excuse of the fighters themselves? They honestly don’t understand that they are not well rounded, or what?

Dern will never earn a TS. And O’Malley got a very fortunate win that vaulted him past most of the division. Or he never would have earned a TS in the traditional way (putting together a winning streak, while taking incremental steps up the rankings ladder).

The sport is MMA. With the huge emphasis on the first letter M. It stands for MIXED.

So how come people love Khabib, Islam, Umar, etc? They all have the same gameplan. Which is not very different than Merab’s?

I knew since the Aldo fight Merab would become the champion. As soon as Aljo stopped hiding behind Merab, and moved up it was a done deal.

Aldo - Still widely considered the FW GOAT.. except amongst the casuals. 30-27 across the board.

Yan - Ex-UFC BW Champion. 50-45 across the board. He beat the piss out of Yan. Very impressive, imo.

Cejudo - Ex-UFC FLW, and BW Champion. 29-28 across the board against that cherry picker. Most expected Cejudo to win.

O’Malley - Reigning, defending.. could have been 49-46 across the board. But still a minimum of 48-47 UD.

Those are Merab’s last 4 fights. Only Alex has a run like that right now. But Alex also lost a few fights ago. Merab is on an 11 fight UFC winning streak.

Seeing somebody totally nullify their opponent at their specialty, as they strive to reach the summit is impressive as fuck, imo. And now he’s at the very top of the mountain. That says a LOT.

I like him, but he’s been a bit stupid lately. I hope he can keep his ego in check. If he can beat Umar, it’s hard to see anybody on the horizon that can beat him.

But he must keep training, etc as if he’s still trying to get the belt. Because complacency is what gets these fighters with 3-4 defences. They think they are invincible. As we always see with these pretenders to GOAT status..

They screw the pooch before they even get half of the consecutive defences as the REAL divisional GOATS.

I’m looking forward to whatever comes next.