UFC/Boxing/Combat Sports

[willeyeam]

They bring crap fighters on the night of Canelo/GGG and get crap attendance. Shocker

[Morkle]

I wouldn't say they were crap fighters. In terms of exciting cards - it was one of the better ones of the year for knockouts and submissions.

There was no major hyped name, because it's Pittsburgh, and they probably expected down attendance. That all being said, Rockhold isn't that bad, and was #3 ranked for his weight class.

I just don't see Pittsburgh as a viable option for fights when you compare it to other areas. I also challenge the validity to the pull of Canelo/GGG. Nobody even said the word boxing around me until the Mayweather fight. I think it played a part, just not a major part.

[slappybrown]

McGregor-Ferguson, McGregor-Khabib, or McGregor-Diaz III?

Diaz III gets my vote.

[Morkle]

For title not getting stale interest, McGregor - Ferguson, for selling PPVs - McGregor-Diaz, for McGregor losing the title - I think he has to fight Khabib - but Khabib needs to make it through a training camp without getting hurt and that's highly unlikely.

[Morkle]

also - timely article about why Ferguson should get a chance to fight, but won't to unify the regular title and interim - https://deadspin.com/tony-ferguson-cono ... 1819278119.

Which I do think if they have Mac-Diaz 3, they need to strip the title and remove the interim from Ferguson's.

[Pavel Bure]

The only fight if they want it to be huge is Mac-Diaz. That's also the only way Diaz has said he'll get back in the octagon. It's the biggest thing the UFC could do right now.

Really they need to because they have ZERO stars other than those 2. DJ just broke the record for title defenses and no one cares. Stipe is good but BORING. I guess Bisbing is kind of interesting with GSP but it seems like everyone forgets what snore GSP was.

[Morkle]

I agree. GSP was a boring fighter, and the last string of his fights were mostly wrestlefests.

Ferguson is pretty outspoken but with Mac there, that's over shadowed.

DJ is the GOAT, literally - and the UFC has done a good job of hiding him because DJ doesn't believe in just talking to talk.

[Pavel Bure]

Whoever this new 3rd man in turd in the announce booth is sucks. He was stepping on Rogan throughout the GSP fight and wasn't nearly as good. There's no question Rogan won't put up with that **** for much longer and will be done after this contract is up. He already wanted reduced dates and the new ownership sealed him leaving with this joke of an announce team. It really overshadowed the fight.

[Shyster]

*sigh* Another sumo scandal. During last month's regional-tour stop in the city of Tottari, a bunch of the top-ranked Mongolian sumo wrestlers got together for a drinking party. The exact details are still a little sketchy, but it is clear that Yokozuna Harumafuji attacked Takanohana-stable wrestler Takanoiwa, supposedly because Takanoiwa answered a call on his cell phone while being scolded by Harumafuji for being insufficiently respectful toward senior/higher-ranked wrestlers. Harumafuji whacked Takanoiwa over the head with a beer bottle and supposedly also repeatedly punched him, which put Takanoiwa in the hospital for a couple days with a concussion and skull fracture.

Takanoiwa's stablemaster reported the assault to the police. Harumafuji has pulled out of the ongoing Fukuoka tournament, and I'm betting his career is over.

You know something bad happened in sumo when it gets coverage in the international press, such as:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41982929

[slappybrown]

Is sumo a work

[Shyster]

Not sure what you are asking.

[slappybrown]

what percent of sumo outcomes are pre-determined by the combatants

[Shyster]

Officially, none of them are, and none of them should be. It's not a scripted show like "professional" wrestling. There have been match-fixing scandals in the past, where wrestlers were ether trading matches (e.g., "I'll let you win this time when you need the win, and you let me win next time when I need it") or outright paying money to throw matches. A bunch of wresters were expelled in 2011 for match-fixing. Some followers of the sport assert that the Mongolian wrestlers have been going easy and not giving full effort for their Japanese opponents so that the Japanese fans can have their top-ranked Japanese wrestlers. I have mixed feelings on those accusations.

[Shyster]

The term for the "going easy" sumo, which I couldn't remember at the time I wrote the above, is mukiryoku, which translates into "lethargic."

[Shyster]

Terunofuji's run at ōzeki is officially over. Ōzeki is the second-highest rank in sumo, right behind yokozuna). Unlike all the ranks below it, ōzeki has special promotion/demotion rules. To be considered for ōzeki promotion, a wrestler generally has to win at least 33 wins over three tournaments while holding one of the two other top ranks in sumo (sekiwake and komosubi). The Sumo Association also has to judge the wrestler "worthy" of promotion to the rank, such as having the requisite demeanor. Once promoted, a losing record is not enough to lose the ōzeki rank. If an ōzeki has a losing record, he is referred to as kadoban for the next tournament. If he has a winning record in the next tournament, the kadoban status is lifted. But if he has another losing record, he drops down to the rank of sekiwake. He can still get his ōzeki rank back if he puts in at least 10 wins as sekiwake. If he doesn't get 10, however, that option is lost and in the future he's treated the same as any other wrestler.

Ōzeki Terunofuji had two tournaments in a row where he had to pull out due to injuries, and that meant he dropped down to the rank of sekiwake and had to win at least 10 wins this tournament in order to get his ōzeki rank bank. He clearly wasn't healthy, lost on the first four days, and pulled out again on day 5. In the history of the sport, there have been a number of cases where an ōzeki has dropped to sekiwake and gotten the 10 wins to jump straight back to ōzeki (it happened to former ōzeki Tochiazuma twice). But no wrester has ever lost the ōzeki rank and then managed to satisfy the promotion criteria a second time.

[Shyster]

My bet on Yokozuna Harumafuji's career proved to be correct, and he announced his retirement after the end of the Fukuoka tournament. The scandal stayed all over the Japanese press during the tournament, and it was even regularly reported internationally. Also, the Sumo Association has a committee called the Yokozuna Deliberation Council. It's made up of outsiders (such as educators and retired government officials) and serves as an advisory board on yokozuna promotions as well as the sumo association's general operations and management. The YDC met after the Fukuoka tournament and recommended a "very serious punishment," and the writing was basically on the wall.

Of the other yokozuna, Hakuhō dominated the Fukuoka tournament and won his 40th top-division title. Yokozuna Kakuryū didn't even compete due to injures, and he's only managed to finish all 15 days of a tournament once in 2017; he missed two tournaments entirely and withdrew midway through the other three. While I suppose he could recover, I personally think he has too many lingering injuries to stick around much longer. Yokozuna Kisenosato (a/k/a the Great Japanese Hope) withdrew midway due to injuries and looked terrible. Kisenosato had a very long run of being injury-free, but he hurt injured is shoulder back in March in his very first tournament as a yokozuna, and he's never been the same since. I think Hakuhō could outlast both of them, and I bet he does.

[slappybrown]

Will we see Mcgregor-Diaz III in 2018? UFC keeps insisting he has to fight Ferguson before anyone else.

[Morkle]

If he fights Diaz for the third time they need to strip him of the belt and Make Ferguson vs. Khabib for the official belt.

Conor holding up two divisions because he's the cash cow is ridiculous.

[slappybrown]

He's only the middleweight champ. He doesn't have the featherweight belt and isn't fighting at 145. I would rather watch McGregor-Diaz III and have the winner fight the winner of Ferguson v. Khabib. Do those two fights on consecutive PPVs.

[Morkle]

Interesting, I just read that he was stripped/vacated of the featherweight title on Nov 26th. Didn't know that.

[slappybrown]

Anyone watch last night? The only thing I caught was the main event. Ngannou basically said "I either knock him out in the first round or I'm gonna lose." Great job by Miocic to weather that first round and then just lean on him the rest of the way for a relatively easy UD.

[Pavel Bure]

No, I haven't watched in a while. They'd don't have enough star power to put a show on PPV every month.

[willeyeam]

What's the beef that Miocic didn't let Dana put the belt on him

[Morkle]

Because Dana put all of his eggs into the other guy's basket and was open about it. They wanted the new guy to be the next Tyson.

[willeyeam]

Ahh I see. I'm waiting for Kabob to get his shot at McGregor