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Gonna keep this short for now, but I'm not interested or watching UFC 249, and outside of 4-5 matches/scenarios don't really have any interest in the UFC at all from this point out.
Once things are back I'll be more focused on specific sports (boxing, MT, wrestling, K-boxing).
Once things are back I'll be more focused on specific sports (boxing, MT, wrestling, K-boxing).
So first is the me stuff:
1. Regardless of how the UFC is run I'd be feeling some ebb in fandom right now because my original guys are aging out. There's nothing anyone can do about that. It's just part of the fight game.
2. I have less free time than I used to.
1. Regardless of how the UFC is run I'd be feeling some ebb in fandom right now because my original guys are aging out. There's nothing anyone can do about that. It's just part of the fight game.
2. I have less free time than I used to.
The UFC stuff:
1. Dana is a terrible human being whose actions have been pushing me away here and there for years. Relatively small but the final straw with this was in @TheJulianLung's excellent short on TFS's patreon on the MMA media.
1. Dana is a terrible human being whose actions have been pushing me away here and there for years. Relatively small but the final straw with this was in @TheJulianLung's excellent short on TFS's patreon on the MMA media.
Don't know how I missed it originally, but Dana calling Leslie Smith a "meddling bitch" for fighting for fighter rights is basically the man in a nutshell, and enough is enough for me.
I know my money doesn't matter to him but it does to me, and the UFC has to earn it.
I know my money doesn't matter to him but it does to me, and the UFC has to earn it.
2. Match-making:
By the time (and this assumes the winner of Cejudo/Cruz doesn't do Aldo next) an actual contender gets to fight for the BW title (Best division in MMA IMO) they will have waited 1.5-2 years for the opportunity.
By the time (and this assumes the winner of Cejudo/Cruz doesn't do Aldo next) an actual contender gets to fight for the BW title (Best division in MMA IMO) they will have waited 1.5-2 years for the opportunity.
BW has one of the best conveyor belts in the sport and the UFC has totally shut it down with 3 viable talented contenders ready to go.
LW is similar. Tony was a deserving contender almost 4 years ago and will likely never get a shot now if Gaethje wins (which I think likely).
LW is similar. Tony was a deserving contender almost 4 years ago and will likely never get a shot now if Gaethje wins (which I think likely).
The UFC let a talented crop of WW's swim in the middle of the division for years without giving them a shot at the upper ranks and now Leon Edwards is the only one besides Usman to have really made it out of that.
The Flyweight booking has been mindless and destructive.
The Flyweight booking has been mindless and destructive.
With the plan the UFC was running with pre-covid (IE Volk-Max rematch), the only two good divisions that they haven't been muddling would be MW and Women's Strawweight.
I love Aljo, TKZ, Edwards, Yan and others who could replace older fighters, but they're all stuck right now.
I love Aljo, TKZ, Edwards, Yan and others who could replace older fighters, but they're all stuck right now.
Which brings me back to my 2nd "Me" point. Time is limited and the UFC's usual schedule wants all of it. But I got more enjoyment from boxing (WBSS in particular) the past two years than the UFC. And @FightSitedotcom has made Muay Thai, Wrestling etc. much more accessible.
And the UFC is just so madly nihilistic at times. I know fighters often need to look past their own welfares, but in MMA, their corners don't in fight, their management doesn't out of fight and the fans don't care. Give me Errol Spence Jr.'s honest self-consideration any day.
So I'm just at a point where anything outside of high level fights where I can expect both tactical and strategic adjustments in potentially every round, I have to work myself into right now. If they make stuff like Volk/TKZ or Figueiredo/Moreno I'll be there. Otherwise, meh.
I think this goes without saying, but this is very a much a "Where I'm personally at" thing and I'm not judging anyone who disagrees.
But last night I saw Chatchai use teeps in the pocket to create just enough distance to take all the sting off strikes, so I'ma watch that stuff.
But last night I saw Chatchai use teeps in the pocket to create just enough distance to take all the sting off strikes, so I'ma watch that stuff.
