With the new year quickly approaching, there’s no better time to reflect on the great fights we’ve witnessed this past year. 2017 gave us Mayweather vs McGregor, GSP vs Bisping, and Jones vs Cormier II, failed drug tests, and epic showdowns. Let’s take a look at the best fights of 2017 in review of a […]
With the new year quickly approaching, there’s no better time to reflect on the great fights we’ve witnessed this past year. 2017 gave us Mayweather vs McGregor, GSP vs Bisping, and Jones vs Cormier II, failed drug tests, and epic showdowns.
Let’s take a look at the best fights of 2017 in review of a year that broke barriers and records while also alienating fans and making them question of the future of the UFC alike:
Photo Credit: MMA Junkie/USA Today Sports
5. Georges St-Pierre vs. Michael Bisping
This fight had it all; a title fight with a former champion returning to reclaim his former glory, an expert trash-talking Brit with a chip on his shoulder, and perhaps the greatest MMA fighter of all time.
Fans and pundits didn’t know what to make of St-Pierre’s return, having been in retirement for the past four years. Ring rust is real, but the former longtime welterweight champion looked better than he ever had against Bisping at UFC 217. St. Pierre controlled the entire fight before finishing the middleweight champ with a rear naked choke in the third round.
It was one of those moments in MMA that shine a little brighter than the rest. Even though GSP would ultimately give up the belt he just won, his performance against an always game and gutsy Michael Bisping was nothing short of spectacular.
With no clear direction to go in concerning lightweight champion Conor McGregor’s first title defense, many impatient UFC fans have cried for the controversial star to be stripped of his belt. It may be hard to argue with those fans, yet with the UFC in need of bankable stars now more than ever, just don’t […]
With no clear direction to go in concerning lightweight champion Conor McGregor’s first title defense, many impatient UFC fans have cried for the controversial star to be stripped of his belt.
It may be hard to argue with those fans, yet with the UFC in need of bankable stars now more than ever, just don’t expect it to happen anytime soon.
That’s according to UFC president Dana White, who told ESPN.com that anyone who suggests McGregor should be stripped is just a “Conor hater” and the UFC has done their job by stripping him of the 145-pound title after he won lightweight gold in 2016:
“For people to suggest that, you’re just a Conor hater. Because if you look at how everything played out, Conor has fought everybody. When he won the 155-pound belt, he dropped the 145-pound belt, which we made him do. He tried not to do it, but he contractually had to let go of the 145-pound belt.”
White has recently stressed that he hopes McGregor will fight in the Octagon next summer because he ‘needs to defend that title;’ however, according to him, it’s not fair to state that the Irish star hasn’t defended a title even though he hasn’t. In a baffling bit of redirection, White categorically denied that McGregor has failed to defend his title despite him having absolutely no title defenses in the UFC or his entire MMA career:
“He became the 155-pound champion, and his next fight was against Floyd Mayweather. He has to defend the title now. So, how has he never defended the title?
There’s some f—ing exaggeration in saying the guy’s never defended a title,” White said. “He fought everybody on his way up 145 pounds. He fought [Chad] Mendes, [Dustin] Poirier. He beat Max Holloway, the only guy to beat Max Holloway in four years.
“It wasn’t Conor’s fault [dos Anjos] got hurt. It is Conor’s fault he did Mayweather, but we decided to do the Mayweather fight and everybody gave a f—. And after the fight, every fighter in the UFC gave him props for representing the sport.”
Well, it’s not exactly an exaggeration considering that McGregor just hasn’t completed a single title defense – that much is simply the plain fact of the matter.
True, he beat several top fighters on his way up the featherweight ladder, but that and losing to Mayweather in a boxing match do not equal a successful title defense in a different division. So ‘props’ or not, again, McGregor has yet to defend a title and has tied up one of the deepest and most talented divisions in the sport to the point where top-ranked contenders Khabib Nurmagomedov and Edson Barboza don’t know what they’re fighting for at tomorrow’s UFC 219 from Las Vegas even though the winner would clearly be worthy of a title shot.
Welcome to today’s UFC, fans, where what you see in facts can be denied by Dana White. Regardless of what he says, however, McGregor has never defended a title, and it will remain to be seen if he does.
During a somewhat slow period of time for actual MMA news, retired boxing great Floyd Mayweather Jr. decided to drum up his own headlines by stating he could make $1 billion for 3-4 UFC bouts if he chose to unretire and compete in the Octagon. Immediately the reaction, at least from MMA fans, was that […]
During a somewhat slow period of time for actual MMA news, retired boxing great Floyd Mayweather Jr. decided to drum up his own headlines by stating he could make $1 billion for 3-4 UFC bouts if he chose to unretire and compete in the Octagon.
Immediately the reaction, at least from MMA fans, was that without any former wrestling and/or grappling credits to his name, Mayweather would be worked over in a matter of seconds by even the greenest of pro MMA fighters. However, the predictably did not stop several UFC names including dominant flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson from immediately offering their services against Mayweather.
Thankfully, Mayweather put the rumors to rest by ‘clarifying’ what he had actually meant during the initial interview about with the UFC – that he ‘could’ make a billion with the UFC if he wanted to, not that he was actually going to do it. A sigh was let out from the MMA universe after Mayweather vs. McGregor sucked the air out of anything MMA or combat sports-related this summer, but there’s also reason to believe Mayweather to the UFC isn’t completely off the table just yet.
Speaking on FOX Sports’ ‘Undisputed’ today, UFC president Dana White said he still could not rule out Mayweather in the UFC:
Show host Skip Bayless asked White what his take on Mayweather in the UFC was, and White left the door open for a huge spectacle:
“Right, so when he had come out earlier and said that so people were asking me about it, and I said that he would, you know, don’t count anything out on him coming over to the UFC, that anything is possible. I still don’t. Listen, you guys know, I was here. I did not believe McGregor Mayweather would happen and it did, so anything is possible.”
Talks have reportedly gone so well that White even said he was meeting with Mayweather’s team later in the day:
“I actually have a meeting with those guys today. I do. With his crew, yes.”
Bayless the suggested such a meeting would at least signify the potential for some kind of business, and co-host Shannon Sharpe suggested perhaps another boxing match, to which White agreed could be coming next year:
“Well, I’m interested in getting into boxing in 2018, so we’ll see.”
When UFC 1 took place on a cold November night back in 1993 from McNichols Arena in Denver, Colorado, it ignited the beginning of the world’s foremost mixed martial arts (MMA) competition, fueled by the concept of the best fighting the best to call themselves champion. It may have been extremely rough around the edges in […]
When UFC 1 took place on a cold November night back in 1993 from McNichols Arena in Denver, Colorado, it ignited the beginning of the world’s foremost mixed martial arts (MMA) competition, fueled by the concept of the best fighting the best to call themselves champion.
It may have been extremely rough around the edges in those ‘dark’ days where the sport having few rules and regulation had it on the precipice of doom, but the opposite is very much true today. After the Fertitta brothers along with Dana White purchased the UFC for a paltry sum and turned it into a legitimately regulated competition watched on pay-per-view the world over, the UFC exploded into a global brand that put shows on nearly every weekend.
When its popularity peaked in 2016 on the heels of the Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz rivalry, the Fertitta brothers saw an opportunity to cash in, and cash in they did. Selling the UFC to Hollywood talent giant WME-IMG (now Endeavor) for a then-record $4.2 billion, one of the biggest franchise sales in sports (of any kind) history was complete. But all was not rosy. This year has seen the advent of some truly horrific pay-per-view and television ratings, with UFC 213, UFC 215, and UFC 216 ranking as three of the lowest-watched PPVs ever, while December’s TUF 26 Finale was the least-watched UFC live event of all-time.
So while it was undoubtedly rough around the edges in its infancy, the UFC is dealing with a whole different set of problems heading into 2018, and many would argue that the UFC owners don’t exactly know what they’re doing. A growing sense is that the Hollywood agency is now trying to book the more mainstream, over-the-top spectacle fights rather than those that clearly have a more legitimate meaning based on meritocracy.
It’s lead to a steady stream of criticism that the UFC is becoming more like pro-wrestling and their WWE counterpart, obviously not the most endearing of words from fight fans. The argument, unfortunately, cannot be totally denied. Let’s take a look at the reasons why:
Jason Silva/Zuma Press/Icon Sportswire
5.) Titles Mean Next To Nothing:
Endeavor has to be commended for finally getting the middleweight division moving in the right direction by booking Robert Whittaker vs. Luke Rockhold for UFC 221, but there is one weight class that is an absolute mess in the UFC.
It’s obviously Conor McGregor’s held-hostage lightweight division, where “The Notorious” fought once and won the belt way back at UFC 205 in November 2016 before leaving to box – and lose – to Floyd Mayweather for the entirety of 2017. McGregor made the record-setting payday he was always looking for and can’t be blamed for doing it, but the fact remains the 155-pound landscape, which is still one of the most talented in MMA, has no clarity whatsoever at the current moment.
An interim belt was given to Tony Ferguson at October’s UFC 216, but without a path to a unification bout with McGregor, he opted to have elbow surgery, leaving not one but two champions on the sidelines with no real news about a return. Take into account the middleweight situation as well, where Michael Bisping was allowed to avoid the top 10 contenders by facing a retiring No. 14 Dan Henderson and an unretiring Georges St-Pierre, who had never even fought in the division. St-Pierre won and vacated the belt hardly a month later.
Interim titles are also created around much more frequently, making them seem more like the WWE titles that are handed over and won back on a never-ending cycle.
Because of these occurrences, UFC titles seem like little more than gold belts to be flaunted after a win rather than symbols of true MMA supremacy to be defended with pride.
When UFC 1 took place on a cold November night back in 1993 from McNichols Arena in Denver, Colorado, it ignited the beginning of the world’s foremost mixed martial arts (MMA) competition, fueled by the concept of the best fighting the best to call themselves champion. It may have been extremely rough around the edges in […]
When UFC 1 took place on a cold November night back in 1993 from McNichols Arena in Denver, Colorado, it ignited the beginning of the world’s foremost mixed martial arts (MMA) competition, fueled by the concept of the best fighting the best to call themselves champion.
It may have been extremely rough around the edges in those ‘dark’ days where the sport having few rules and regulation had it on the precipice of doom, but the opposite is very much true today. After the Fertitta brothers along with Dana White purchased the UFC for a paltry sum and turned it into a legitimately regulated competition watched on pay-per-view the world over, the UFC exploded into a global brand that put shows on nearly every weekend.
When its popularity peaked in 2016 on the heels of the Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz rivalry, the Fertitta brothers saw an opportunity to cash in, and cash in they did. Selling the UFC to Hollywood talent giant WME-IMG (now Endeavor) for a then-record $4.2 billion, one of the biggest franchise sales in sports (of any kind) history was complete. But all was not rosy. This year has seen the advent of some truly horrific pay-per-view and television ratings, with UFC 213, UFC 215, and UFC 216 ranking as three of the lowest-watched PPVs ever, while December’s TUF 26 Finale was the least-watched UFC live event of all-time.
So while it was undoubtedly rough around the edges in its infancy, the UFC is dealing with a whole different set of problems heading into 2018, and many would argue that the UFC owners don’t exactly know what they’re doing. A growing sense is that the Hollywood agency is now trying to book the more mainstream, over-the-top spectacle fights rather than those that clearly have a more legitimate meaning based on meritocracy.
It’s lead to a steady stream of criticism that the UFC is becoming more like pro-wrestling and their WWE counterpart, obviously not the most endearing of words from fight fans. The argument, unfortunately, cannot be totally denied. Let’s take a look at the reasons why:
Jason Silva/Zuma Press/Icon Sportswire
5.) Titles Mean Next To Nothing:
Endeavor has to be commended for finally getting the middleweight division moving in the right direction by booking Robert Whittaker vs. Luke Rockhold for UFC 221, but there is one weight class that is an absolute mess in the UFC.
It’s obviously Conor McGregor’s held-hostage lightweight division, where “The Notorious” fought once and won the belt way back at UFC 205 in November 2016 before leaving to box – and lose – to Floyd Mayweather for the entirety of 2017. McGregor made the record-setting payday he was always looking for and can’t be blamed for doing it, but the fact remains the 155-pound landscape, which is still one of the most talented in MMA, has no clarity whatsoever at the current moment.
An interim belt was given to Tony Ferguson at October’s UFC 216, but without a path to a unification bout with McGregor, he opted to have elbow surgery, leaving not one but two champions on the sidelines with no real news about a return. Take into account the middleweight situation as well, where Michael Bisping was allowed to avoid the top 10 contenders by facing a retiring No. 14 Dan Henderson and an unretiring Georges St-Pierre, who had never even fought in the division. St-Pierre won and vacated the belt hardly a month later.
Interim titles are also created around much more frequently, making them seem more like the WWE titles that are handed over and won back on a never-ending cycle.
Because of these occurrences, UFC titles seem like little more than gold belts to be flaunted after a win rather than symbols of true MMA supremacy to be defended with pride.
Conor McGregor’s supposed MMA return remains one of the hottest topics in an MMA topic currently devoid of true pay-per-view-worthy stars. Although many fight fans have seemed to grow at least somewhat tired of ‘The Notorious” outside-the-cage antics as he holds the coveted UFC lightweight title hostage, there’s also little question that those same fans […]
Conor McGregor’s supposed MMA return remains one of the hottest topics in an MMA topic currently devoid of true pay-per-view-worthy stars.
Although many fight fans have seemed to grow at least somewhat tired of ‘The Notorious” outside-the-cage antics as he holds the coveted UFC lightweight title hostage, there’s also little question that those same fans would tune in to watch the biggest name in the UFC fight no matter whom it was against.
He’s been rumored to face off with interim champion Tony Ferguson, who is currently on the sidelines after getting elbow surgery, and boxing legend Floyd Mayweather recently hinted at a UFC return – even though he ultimately shot it down – after beating McGregor in the boxing ring via 10th-round TKO this August.
With the MMA world awaiting any kind of news, recent interim title contender Kevin Lee revealed what he knew during a recent appearance on MMA Junkie Radio (quotes via MMA Mania), noting that he would most likely fight Ferguson but ‘something crazy’ could happen with Mayweather:
“Either that, or something crazy is going to happen there. But, at least I think everything that I’ve seen and all the little whispers that I’ve heard, he comes back, he fights Tony.”
If and when the anticipated title bout does go down, Lee doesn’t believe McGregor will be able to handle the experience of Ferguson after facing and losing to him at UFC 216. As for when “The Motown Phenom” said he’s heard the fight will happen this March:
“I don’t think he beats Tony. There ain’t no way. Tony’s going to be way too experienced, Tony’s going to be way too tough… He’s going to be too much for him. So I’m interested to see that fight. I wish they would just go ahead and make the damn fight happen already. I hear it’s supposed to go down in March, so we’ll see.”
There’s absolutely no doubt that a title unification bout between the two 155-pound champions would be one of the biggest fights the UFC could currently put on, and it would also go a long as to addressing McGregor’s lack of title defenses throughout his entire MMA career.
But McGregor has seemed to love the wealth of fighting rather than actually fighting since fighting Mayweather, so he may be wanting an even bigger potential payday than the Ferguson fight would provide, namely against Mayweather in MMA or perhaps Georges St-Pierre.
Either way, the UFC needs McGregor back, so the sooner, the better. Can they corral their unpredictable star back into the Octagon in early 2018?
