UFC Betting Sites – The Best MMA Online Bookies
UFC best betting sites and the best MMA odds and gambling news
It was a short night for Dustin Poirier at UFC 178. Even Conor McGregor probably expected the fight to go at least a couple more minutes.
Whether Poirier can still climb the ladder to the top of the division remains to be seen, but there’s no dou…
It was a short night for Dustin Poirier at UFC 178. Even Conor McGregor probably expected the fight to go at least a couple more minutes.
Whether Poirier can still climb the ladder to the top of the division remains to be seen, but there’s no doubt his stock has dropped after Saturday night. He may be forced to content himself with taking on the fringe of the featherweight division’s top 10 for the next couple of fights.
Read on for some potential future opponents for Poirier.
Chris Cariaso may have been outclassed by flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson at UFC 178, but the 33-year-old still has plenty to offer the division.
It’s unlikely he will ever make it back into the title picture, given how soundly he was beate…
Chris Cariaso may have been outclassed by flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson at UFC 178, but the 33-year-old still has plenty to offer the division.
It’s unlikely he will ever make it back into the title picture, given how soundly he was beaten by the champion. However, he could function as a gatekeeper of sorts for the next few years.
Read on for some potential future opponents for Cariaso.
Can Demetrious Johnson actually get any better? His bout with Chris Cariaso at UFC 178 was certainly a mismatch, but his victory was arguably even more emphatic than most expected.
No longer content to simply outpoint his foes, Johnson is now either fl…
Can Demetrious Johnson actually get any better? His bout with Chris Cariaso at UFC 178 was certainly a mismatch, but his victory was arguably even more emphatic than most expected.
No longer content to simply outpoint his foes, Johnson is now either flattening his challengers or making them cry “uncle.”
His casual dominance has given UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby a bit of a headache. Is there anyone left for the diminutive champion to beat? That’s a tough one, but I have the unenviable task of taking a crack at it.
Read on for some potential future challengers to Johnson’s throne.
For Dominick Cruz, it would appear the hard part is over. Just making it into the cage at UFC 178 was a victory for the former bantamweight king. After then going on to steamroll Takeya Mizukagi within a matter of seconds, it almost felt like Cruz had …
For Dominick Cruz, it would appear the hard part is over. Just making it into the cage at UFC 178 was a victory for the former bantamweight king. After then going on to steamroll Takeya Mizukagi within a matter of seconds, it almost felt like Cruz had gone 2-0 for the evening.
There have been few upsides to the 29-year-old’s absence, but one was the opportunity to watch him break down the minutiae of the fight game, giving us a fresh appreciation for Cruz’s mind for violence.
But boy was it good to see him back putting both his mind and body to its best use.
In truth, no one really knew what to expect from Cruz after almost three years on the sidelines. We are constantly reminded by UFC President Dana White that “ring rust is a real thing,” so it was difficult to imagine any fighter returning after such a lengthy absence and picking up right where he had left off.
As a member of the media, you always want to try and remain outwardly objective. However, it was difficult to not openly root for Cruz to make a successful return to the cage.
Most wanted him to look something like the fighter from 2011, even if that seemed like a fantasy. More improbable still was what actually transpired.
Cruz surpassed his previous self, making our ambitious expectations appear modest.
Impressive though he is, few would have considered the former champion “dangerous.” With only one legitimate stoppage in his previous 10 fights, Cruz’s record supported the prevailing perception that he is an extremely effective point fighter.
It’s hard to know whether Cruz was being propelled by sheer adrenaline at UFC 178, but he seems to have added a more aggressive dimension to his game, in addition to a few extra watts of power in his fists.
Perhaps it was just a product of the occasion, but one can only hope that it’s a lasting change to “The Dominator’s” game.
Those of you who frequent Bleacher Report MMA likely know that we put out “X Fights for ‘Fighter A’ to Take Next” articles after these events.
With his performance Saturday, Cruz effectively took that option off the table. There is only one fight to make, and publishing a slideshow that consisted of a solitary slide probably wouldn’t have endeared me to my editor.
The fact that Cruz didn’t lose his title in the cage is reason enough to give him the next crack at current 135-pound champion T.J. Dillashaw. His demolition of Mizukagi merely reinforces the need for that fight to happen as soon as possible.
The good news? Dana White has already announced his intention to put that fight together. The only real question left is when and where it takes place.
If both men fight up to their potential, we may bear witness to the quintessential mixed martial arts bout.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com
After dispatching Dustin Poirier inside of two minutes at UFC 178, even Conor McGregor’s most cynical critics would have to concede that he has something a little bit special.
The Irishman isn’t all talk. The hype would appear to be real, a…
After dispatching Dustin Poirier inside of two minutes at UFC 178, even Conor McGregor’s most cynical critics would have to concede that he has something a little bit special.
The Irishman isn’t all talk. The hype would appear to be real, at least from this writer’s perspective.
Of course, there is still the question of how McGregor will hold up against an elite wrestler, but it’s time to admit that he has far more going for him than just the gift of the gab.
The 26-year-old’s popularity is starting to be reminiscent of Ricky Hatton’s in the mid-to-late 2000s.
The former two-weight boxing world champion from Manchester would routinely attract thousands of fans from around the UK and Ireland no matter where he fought. When “The Hitman” travelled to Las Vegas for fights against Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, it felt like the entire population of Manchester had descended upon Sin City.
As was the case on Friday, the weigh-in became an event in and of itself. Watching Hatton strip down to his skivvies and step on a scale would have been sufficient to attract several hundred thousand pay-per-view buys on its own.
Like the Mancunian, McGregor has a working-class appeal that strangely complements his cockiness. He is not, as some have suggested, MMA’s own “Prince” Naseem Hamed.
Hamed didn’t possess the requisite charm to offset his ego. Consequently, he was promoted as a heel. Tens of thousands of fans weren’t travelling from Hamed’s hometown of Sheffield to cheer him on.
Even in the UK, a significant percentage of fans tuned in to see him get his comeuppance. When Marco Antonio Barrera slammed Hamed face-first into the corner post during their bout in 2001, half the country cheered in unison.
That clearly isn’t the case with McGregor. Not in the UK, and certainly not in Ireland. It’s doubtful that the majority of the MMA fanbase even view the Irishman as a heel.
Some athletes are so magnetic that you are willing to forgive their excesses. Imagine the words of Muhammad Ali being spoken by a lesser personality. You’d happily remortgage your home just to watch that man take a hiding.
Of course, McGregor will have to continue to back up his lofty claims if he expects the fans to stay on his side. No one wants to hear an ordinary fighter make extraordinary claims, even if he happens to be charm personified.
But as long as the Irishman looks as extraordinary as he sounds, the fans will continue to hang on his every word. The sport has a new star right when it needed it most, and we should all be thankful for that.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com
It’s fair to say that MMA referees take their fair share of stick from both fans and media. As viewers, we have a tendency to underestimate just how difficult a referee’s job is, and determining when to stop a fight may be its most challeng…
It’s fair to say that MMA referees take their fair share of stick from both fans and media. As viewers, we have a tendency to underestimate just how difficult a referee’s job is, and determining when to stop a fight may be its most challenging feature.
Referees are charged with giving the athlete every opportunity to recover from bad positions, but they are also tasked with ensuring the fighter’s safety. The ability to strike the correct balance between these contradictory aims is often what separates the Herb Deans from the Steve Mazzagattis of the refereeing world.
Step in a fraction of a second too late, and you’re guilty of allowing the fighter to take too much punishment. Step in a little too early, and you’ve potentially cost the fighter thousands of dollars, months of training they can never get back and set their career back a few months at the very least.
With that in mind, let’s take a moment to give these much-maligned officials the benefit of the doubt. Read on for a rundown of five controversial but justifiable stoppages.