Title fights already mean a ton, but when Islam Makhachev steps into the cage against Arman Tsarukyan a lot more will be on the line. Can Islam break the all-time title defense record and does that make him the greatest lightweight of all time in the process?
Weight Cutting might just be the most peculiar thing about MMA to anyone who's never watched the sport all the way those that constantly do as a hardcore fans. In some cases those like Khamzat Chimaev or Daniel Cormier, those misses are incredibly flagrant.
What if you are involved in a rivalry that is incredibly lucrative and competitive, but by the time it comes back around, a title is now introduced to the situation? That's exactly what's happened in these cases. Just like Islam Makhachev vs Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 311 for the lightweight title, so are the rest of these stories on today's video.
Saying one thing and doing another....this is an idea that is old as sporting itself is. In MMA, these moments are equally common, which means there are quite a few people we could have considered for this one, but didn't make the cut. So like the Jon Jones', Colby Covington's or Sean Strickland's, there's plenty to talk about in today's video.
Every era in this sport has had at least one gigantic star that took over the sport. They weren't always the GOAT contenders, but they definitely had something special to them. Whether it was the Fedor's, the Chuck Liddell's, or the McGregor's, you simply couldn't avoid them while they were around.... for better or worse, but mostly for the better.
Just one glance at some of these mma/ufc winners and man....they don't look like they won. Definitely, by today's scoring criteria, some of them would have easily lost.
There's a bunch of things that the UFC should do in 2025 and just like the thumbnail shows, the Netflix deal is a no-brainer, Aspinall vs Jones is a no-brainer.... it's time to make these things happen and will definitely make our world better as fans trying to consume this sport.
MMA in 2024 is another year that proves just how amazing the sport is. From Max Holloway's stunner over Justin Gaethje at UFC 300, Alex Pereira taking over the sport as it's biggest active star, Ilia Topuria doing the impossible twice, there's plenty to talk about for the MMA On Point Awards for 2024.
At one point in time Canada was one of the premier countries in the world for MMA. No two better athletes could embody that Canadian superstardom than of course Georges St-Pierre and Rory MacDonald. But Rory never became champion like GSP. What happened to his career and the story of Canadian MMA as a whole.
As amazing as things are in the cage, this sport can at times be even funny. Whether it's old man Volk walking around or Jamahal Hill just being Jamahal Hill, there's plenty to laugh at in this sport.
This is by far the longest piece we've ever written on there channel and wow, is there a lot to the story of Conor McGregor. We cover everything from the beginning to the end with experts and people who were there from the start. This is the complete timeline of Conor McGregor's Career.
What fighters do in the cage is amazing. Far be it from me to call anyone who makes a mistake dumb.... but there is definitely a tipping point. Every one of these instances in this video go way beyond that tipping point. These are by far the dumbest losses in MMA history.
A title shot, even when booked is never truly promised. Anything can happen to stop a fight from taking place and Tony Ferguson is a perfect embodiment of that. When he was supposed to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov and this is the crazy thing... it meant he never got his title shot, just like the rest of the people on this video. They never got their shot again.
Some rivalries just build up quickly, but others slowly bubble up to the surface from the most unlikely of places possible... teammates. Whether it's teams like Colby Covington vs Dustin Poirier and Tj Dillashaw vs Urijah Faber or Frank Shamrock vs his brother Ken Shamrock... these are about as bitter as it gets. But for some reason the fights never happened. Why not? We'll break that down in today's video.
Trash talk is one of the best possible ways to raise your profile in MMA, but there is a reason not everyone does it, because if you can't back it up it creates a ton of backlash. That is absolutely true of guys like Colby Covington and Sean Strickland in recent performances, but also Israel Adesanya when he was champion. These are the weakest performances on the backs of the biggest trash talk.
What is a cult hero? In pop culture it tends to be figures that have followings so die-hard, so dedicated that it is literally analogous to a cult. And that what these fighters are or were at one point in time to the MMA community. Fighters like Charles Oliveira, Nick Diaz, and Bas Rutten all have had that even through the worst times.
Up until last night Shavkat Rakhmonov pretty much looked untouchable aside from a moment here or there, but what Ian Garry did made you question everything. Can you imagine if Garry locked in that RNC? And now that question has to be pointed at Belal Muhammad. Are we feeling nearly as strongly about Shavkat's chances as a title challenger?
Who is fighting Alexandre Pantoja in the main event of UFC 310 this weekend? Kai Asakura is extremely well known to Rizin/hardcore MMA fans in the west, but the level of superstar he is in Japan is not well understood among more casual fans. This weekend everyone gets to see who is in the cage. Who wins?
You would think after a fight all the bad vibes would chill a bit and the two fighters would come to terms. Well.... that's not always the case. No better example than Ronda Rousey vs Miesha Tate. How about Dana White for some reason giving you crap for a great fight? Or not even signing you? Fans aren't exempt in this either with the Glover Teixeira situation. We'll show you it all in this video.
Everyone's 0 has to go at some point and if we're lucky it's at the best possible moment between two undefeated fighters. In this video it's all the most hyped fighters just like Ian Garry and Shavkat Rakhmonov at the height of their popularity. Who wins?.... is the only question left.
You never wanna stick around too long in this sport, cause those can just lead to some very miserable losses. And for that reason, usually leaving early is a good thing. But in this video, it's where something went wrong or distractions almost entirely wiped away a fighter's prime years.
Time to be thankful. It's that time of year again, so we broke down our favorite moments of the year and honestly just having a laugh on a big holiday. Happy Thanksgiving everybody! Hope it's a fun one!
Kinda crazy to think that someone who has nothing to do with a major MMA event can overshadow the whole thing, but that's exactly what's happened in these cases. What a better example than what just happened at UFC 309 when Tom Aspinall vs Jon Jones became a much bigger story than the actual main event vs Stipe Miocic.
Was this the end of their careers? Turns out not, but it certainly looked like it. In the case of Bisping or Aldo as pictured in the thumbnails, it was about as far down the line a loss could take you. How did they bounce back?
If you guys were watching around the time Werdum beat Fedor, you'd remember how much Dana White gloated that Werdum was a reject and that's how bad Strikeforce was. Fast forward a couple years and yeah, Werdum became UFC champion. That's what today's video is about; those who were kicked out of the UFC and became champions around the world and not just in the UFC.
Ahead of UFC 310, Kai Asakura is getting an immediate title shot at Alexandre Pantoja after being Rizin champion. Makes sense right? Champ vs champ is a fun idea. Well the UFC is pretty inconsistent about this. Actually, it's way more common for the UFC to deny a title shot for champions coming directly over even when it's made a ton of sense.
Jon Jones just thoroughly dominated a 42 year old Stipe Miocic who look every bit his age after 4 years off and basically semi-retired. What did this prove? What did this do for Jones' legacy that he keeps going on about? And more importantly, why did this have to happen instead of the Aspinall fight?
Most of the time fights get called off for pretty mundane reasons right? A fighter gets sick or injured? PED failures aren't great but are fairly common. In these cases though, it's almost like an act of god prevented them from going forward. Think of the last Tony vs Khabib booking? A Pandemic? What? That's the kind of thing you can expect to see on this list.
There's no doubt about it at this point. Jon Jones is ducking Tom Aspinall and he clearly wants to fight everyone, but Tom Aspinall - including Stipe Miocic this weekend at UFC 309 and in the future with Alex Pereira. But what about the other times fans have accused champions of doing this? Turns out there are a fair few more.
One big win can mean a massive amount in MMA and in this video that's exactly what catapulted these fighters from obscurity to stardom, but what happens when the fighter can't win after that? The two big examples we've highlighted are Kron Gracie and Houston Alexander who just couldn't keep the wins going after blowing up from that initial victory.
