Quote from: Welsh on January 18, 2023, 03:33:12 PM

I'll be putting my predictions out in the next day or so, it's a good event. However, Ngannou leaving is a big thing, that's a current champion who seems to have been advocating for benefits for all fighters rather than just looking for bigger money in the deal. If that's true, then it's an incredibly bad look on the UFC, especially since they're claiming he's scared to fight.

The Francis situation is going to be a talking point for a while and I still think it's worthy of discussion because how is this going to effect fighter's going forward? Francis isn't the only one that is unhappy and he was luckily in a situation where he could walk away. You know there's plenty of fighters locked into contracts right now that wish they weren't and there will be a lot more who can't or don't want to speak out right now because the UFC can just stiff them if they start to cause trouble. I just wish the UFC would compromise and meet fighters half way. Why not let fighters have a couple of their own sponsors on their shorts/kit? The back of the shorts and tops are all clear from what I remember so just let them work out their own deals for that. The UFC can't claim that fighters are independent contractors, then lock them into exclusive deals an make them essentially wear a uniform. They should let some of the biggest fighters fight in crossover boxing as well. They did with Connor and did that as a co-promotion so why not just let Francis do the same. It brings huge eyes onto the UFC when fighters go over to boxing so it's win-win for Dana and if Francis did well against someone like Fury or even beat him imagine the reaction to that. The UFC's greed is probably going to come back to haunt them if their biggest fighters all jump ship and move to the next best promotion which could see the UFCs market share quickly dwindle.

Quote from: Welsh on January 18, 2023, 03:33:12 PM

Seems like a great person, he basically came from nothing, and become champion. If he was a little more charismatic he would've probably been one of the biggest stars the UFC has ever seen, because his fighting style, and build is obviously something that attracts fans.

I hope there's a movie in the works and his life is definitely worth one. That's another thing the UFC could have done: helped finance a movie about his story and do that under a UFC Film production arm or something.

Quote from: TopTort777 on January 19, 2023, 11:17:06 AM

Please stop this Ngannou vs UFC drama[/url] Grin

We all know that how crappy UFC management is. There might be hundred fights like Ngannou that complain how bad and unfair contracts are, yet people will still think that UFC is the best promotion ever and dream to get there. Take Don King for example. Everyone knew how he robs his fighters, how he manipulates boxing. People still were ready to sign contract with him, to let him do business and etc. Situation with Ngannou is not the first and the last.

You don't have to engage in the Francis drama if you don't have to but it's still worthy of discussion and I don't think people should just ignore it and hope it goes away nor should fighters put up and shut up about it either. If the UFC doesn't change their business model fighters leaving is going to be a common thing which is only going to hurt the UFC.

Quote from: TopTort777 on Today at 08:48:58 AM

Tired of Ngannou. No more 3 African Champions. Ngannou left, Adesanya and Usman lost their belts. Destiny.

They will likely both win them back pretty soon. I doubt Usman is going to make the same mistake again and should have probably tried to finish him instead of coasting for an easy points win.

Quote from: TopTort777 on Today at 08:48:58 AM

Frankly, I am not much interested in JJ fight against Gane. JJ was inactive for too long. I think he wont fit current UFC fighting realities. 3 years without fights, that is a lot.

I'm looking forward to it but I think Jones is going to struggle against Gane as he would have against Francis. I'm hoping he isn't biting off more than he can chew as this is certainly a huge test for him. He should have probably had one or two warm up fights first before challenging for a title. If he pulls off a win though that's certainly going to be a huge W but there's not many exciting options left after that. Personally I'm hoping the UFC can work something out with Francis even if it's a small 3 fight deal to see him vs Jones as that's the fight that should have been happening.