Why was Edson Barboza letting Melendez of the hook in the last 2 minutes?

Love his style but this is the 3rd time he's circled the octagon for minutes to avoid engaging. Then throws hands up with 5 seconds left and looks around because the bell hasn't rang.
Yeah it's probably in his best interest to stop doing that shit lol
 
People who dog on pride you pretty much have to hold their opinion low on all things mma.
It was the perfect rules ,scoring and had a ring all of these things allowed for all around better fighting, it's not even debatable. and you were punished for stalling.

I think Pride rules could be tweaked and I don't have a preference in the ring/cage debate but in general It was way better than the 10pt system which I feel promotes points fighting. Nothing bugs the shit out of me more than watching someone in UFC look at the clock with 15 seconds left in a round then go for a do-nothing takedown thinking it will win the round.
 
Had he have run in like a wild man, trying to knock Gil out, and got caught and finished in the process, we'd be sitting here, saying, "Damn Barboza and his weak fight IQ, he should have fought smart!"
 
The same reason Aldo didn't finish Faber in their fight.

Same reason GSP didn't break Dan Hardy's arm, despite claiming he couldn't quite finish it.
 
He was easily winning the fight and his chin is suspect so why risk it

Because his opponent was almost falling down from his kicks. Hes a huge prospect and a finish would have done a lot for him getting big fights. A knockout/tko would've been title contender talk, instead were left with "why did he leave Melendez off the hook"
 
The same reason Aldo didn't finish Faber in their fight.

Same reason GSP didn't break Dan Hardy's arm, despite claiming he couldn't quite finish it.
The other side of that coin is that if fighters decide to be too tough for their own good, then they should learn what the term "too tough for their own good" actually means.
 
Had he have run in like a wild man, trying to knock Gil out, and got caught and finished in the process, we'd be sitting here, saying, "Damn Barboza and his weak fight IQ, he should have fought smart!"
No one is saying he should have brawled with Gil.
 
No one is saying he should have brawled with Gil.
No, but Gil, who knew he was behind on the scorecards, would have been risky to engage with. I thought Barboza could have done more, but he had the fight won, and he chose to sit back and take it, with very low risk.
 
He was easily winning the fight and his chin is suspect so why risk it

Because it's a spectator sport and your pay is determined by how many spectators your boss thinks will pay to see you fight. Edson won, great, but that third round and the boos it prompted weren't ideal for his brand.

Luckily he's one of the most exciting strikers in the UFC and he can just about get away with that shit.
 
Because he had the fight in the bag and didn't want to run the risk of being caught again.
 
I was wondering that also but its all good. Hes a good sportsman. He knew he had it like others said and took his foot off the gas. Otherwise, he would have REALLY hurt him.
 
Because he isn't good at taking a punch.. A at giving, C- at receiving. Gets hurt when he gets hit.
 
i gotta think part of it was coasting, but i think he was still trying to finish in rnd 3. melendez despite being crippled was still dangerous and was doing a half decent job of avoiding more leg kicks. its not easy to finish gilbert melendez, with or without bonus testosterone
 
He wasn't, it was his best bet to avoid exchanging in the pocket, Gilbert was scoring hard in the 2nd and he wanted no part of that going into the 3rd, if he played it any differently he very well could have been knocked out
 
Good fighter..Lacks killer instinct.. Not championship material.
Wonder if he was tested for this fight..
 
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