🥊 The UFC Info and Prediction Thread

[YuginKadoya]

Very controversy situation with Francis Ngannou. He is inactive for a year already. I hope he knows what he is doing. So far I havent heard he has signed different contract with anyone else. But I predict that promotions will now fight for him. UFC has made him famous. Now Francis is able to select an easy path - promotion with weaker heavyweight than UFC has, and sign a big contract with them. Beat few bags, grab billions and retire  

Well, what could possibly go wrong he is a massive guy, and with performance wise, he is the champion so he can do anything for himself, too much Khabib Nurmagomenodov had much success and open up a combat fighting of his own, and I think Francis Ngannou could think of something of his own, or maybe find a different career well after the boxing match with Tyson Fury because Fury is the big money actually,

Well, that is the thing most of us keep on noticing the level of competition with each fighting promotion you can see the level of fighters in the UFC and in the other promotion if you pit them to fight each other there is a gap between the other fighting promotion and pretty much UFC will keep on winning those fight if it happens,

I'd wait for Francis' side of the story before you make judgment and you also need to take Dana's comments with a pinch of salt as well because Dana is already seemingly trying to make the narrative about Francis being scared of fighting certain people which sounds like butthurt BS to me. Francis' coach has already come out and said Francis doesn't want to be a sell-out: https://www.instagram.com/p/CnfjW8XJuQL/

Looks like Francis himself might be going on Ariel's podcast today so hopefully we'll get his side of the story then, but when Dana said he offered Ngannou the highest heavyweight contract in history that might not mean much given how often they stiff the fighters and don't pay them what they're worth. He might have offered Francis a dollar more than the terrible pay he's previously offered superstar heavyweights and that would still technically be 'the highest pay'. He could have offered Francis a mere million or so dollars advance and you might think that's a lot but it's not when Francis can probably get that for a single sponsor on his shorts which you cannot do in the UFC so you have to take all this into consideration rather than being a slave to the UFC. What they probably did was offer Francis a large sum of money upfront for x amount of fights which will look a lot on paper but not anywhere near what he's worth. Dana mentioned he'd signed Jon Jones to an eight fight deal and I bet he tried to do the same with Francis but Francis probably isn't desperate for the money whereas Jon Jones probably is given he hasn't fought in ages and regularly gets himself into trouble so Jon will take what he can get and secure his future which is always perilous with him.

Nice Find on Francis Ngannou's Trainer definitely knows something and pretty much I am waiting for Francis Ngannou's statement the thing here is I never really trust the UFC's management there is some shady stuff going on inside, but even though that was the case we all really enjoy those fights but sometimes forget the value of fighters and I think Francis Ngannou is a big asset that has run away for the UFC, and as I have to know PFL is offering him a much greater contract because we all know the level of audience invitation when PFL would sign Ngannou, although I think Bellator will be a great new home for him well PFL is really good enough,

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[Welsh]

I've felt for a while that Francis not only wants to get paid what he thinks he deserves, but also wanted to make the move to boxing. I don't know if that's what he'll end up doing, but I got that impression from how he's been talking the last year or so. However, he's been a good sport in my opinion, hasn't spoken out too much about the situation despite there obviously something going on behind the scenes.

The podcast will be some insight just to have two sides of the story, but ultimately I don't like seeing Dana throw him under the bus, there may have been the possibility he came back after his adventures elsewhere.

[bittraffic]

After inactivity for a long time, I think he had already decided to move out of UFC. Ngannou in PFL and a boxing offer made his decision a good decision after all. Maybe the fight that never happened may still have a chance such as Ngannou vs Jones if PFL and UFC agree.

$3M for a single fight is not what he can get in UFC, that's a big money and he could do more than that in boxing.

[TopTort777]

Is Ngannou more interested than UFC 283 ? Already second page of discussion He is no longer in UFC, so lets move on.

Main card of UFC 283 looks great. Main and co-main fights are worth not missing. Burns vs Magny. I believe Burns gonna finish him. Magny mostly looses by submission, and we all know that Burns is a master of it. Almost every last Magny fight went full distance, which makes a lot of time for Burns to submit him. If someone plan to place a bet, I would suggest to consider choosing Burns by sub.

[hilariousetc]

For everyone who thinks that Ngannou was wrong for not continuing to work with Dana the Abuser Junky, here is the list of requests he had during negotiations.
He asked for right of a sponsorship, he asked for health insurance, he asked for a fighter advocate in the board meeting.
He didn0't expect UFC to accept all requests but they didn't accept a single thing he proposed except they offered with much more money.
Listen to first special interview Ngannou made with Ariel Helwani: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vngym7ChcM

The interview with Ariel is well worth a watch for those who want to hear Francis' side of the story. It seems like he's walking away from a very large amount of money. What he was asking for wasn't unreasonable but I don't think the UFC is willing to give fighters those things. It looks like they tried to get him on a huge fight deal probably similar to the 8-fight deal Jon Jones was on but then he wanted a three fight deal which Francis seemed to think he could get done in a year which was optimistic.

I've felt for a while that Francis not only wants to get paid what he thinks he deserves, but also wanted to make the move to boxing. I don't know if that's what he'll end up doing, but I got that impression from how he's been talking the last year or so. However, he's been a good sport in my opinion, hasn't spoken out too much about the situation despite there obviously something going on behind the scenes.

The podcast will be some insight just to have two sides of the story, but ultimately I don't like seeing Dana throw him under the bus, there may have been the possibility he came back after his adventures elsewhere.

Yeah, I didn't like how Dana tried to spin the narrative there. Ariel had some good comments on what Dana should have said instead. Interestingly it doesn't look like Francis is opposed to re-joining the UFC but probably knows he won't ever get the terms he wants. Maybe if Dana ever leaves then there might be a shift in how the UFC is run. Francis said he is likely to box next and named Fury and AJ as people he would like to fight but those are unlikely to happen. Maybe Eddie Hearn should contact him about doing a co-promotion to get him into the boxing world. I just hope Francis has something already lined up behind the scenes - or nearly lined up - as he almost certainly isn't going to get what he the UFC offered him with another rival MMA promotion. He will get a huge payday against someone like Fury but like I said before Fury has a queue of people lining up to fight him and I'm not sure when they could squeeze that fight in. Maybe Francis should try box a couple of other people first before going for a megafight.

[tokeweed]

Is Ngannou more interested than UFC 283 ? Already second page of discussion He is no longer in UFC, so lets move on.

Main card of UFC 283 looks great. Main and co-main fights are worth not missing. Burns vs Magny. I believe Burns gonna finish him. Magny mostly looses by submission, and we all know that Burns is a master of it. Almost every last Magny fight went full distance, which makes a lot of time for Burns to submit him. If someone plan to place a bet, I would suggest to consider choosing Burns by sub.

Lol yup.  Let's see those picks, make some bets and have a little fun come fight day.    There's nothing we can't do about Ngannou anymore.  Sure it's a huge loss for the UFC but the UFC isn't going anywhere.  They're now gonna squeeze every drop they can get from Jon Jones at HW.

And yeah, Burns way better, way faster, has powerrr and more explosive than Magny...  Magny way taller with way longer reach tho.  I still like Burns but it's an interesting match up.

At first glance my most confident picks are Burns, Andrade, Rodrigues and Almeida.  They're all chalky tho.

[Welsh]

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.

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.

[notblox1]

The interview with Ariel is well worth a watch for those who want to hear Francis' side of the story. It seems like he's walking away from a very large amount of money. What he was asking for wasn't unreasonable but I don't think the UFC is willing to give fighters those things. It looks like they tried to get him on a huge fight deal probably similar to the 8-fight deal Jon Jones was on but then he wanted a three fight deal which Francis seemed to think he could get done in a year which was optimistic.

It's worth of listening every minute so people can understand what piece of shit Dana White is.
He tried to make Ngannou look bad saying he will now fight with weaker fighters, and that he was overweight 300 pound injured man, all lies coming from angry abuser.
UFC didn't actually release Ngannou but his contract was expired in December, he only respected his word and people from UFC and waited for their decision.
We just need to have few more people like Ngannou and all this house of UFC cards will start to fall down, and this will result in fighters creating union or something new will be created.
If Dana wants to rule fighters will fear it's only a matter of time when his empire on glass feet will crumble.
Right now everyone is still afraid to say anything about Ngannou case because they will be punished by UFC, they are like slave gladiators.

[TopTort777]

Please stop this Ngannou vs UFC drama  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.

I am more pissed with Moreno vs Figueiredo fight. Fourth fight. Come on, give other guys a chance to become a champion. I would laugh it their fight ends with a draw and we are going to see a fifth fight.

[tokeweed]

^  Rofl I don't get the whole Santa Barbara thing but there's something about the music that made me chuckle a bit.    But yeah, it feels like we're kicking a dead horse rn.  It sucks but it's done.  And I would've bet for Ngannou against Jones at anything at 1.60 and above.  Don't think Jones could out muscle Ngannou with Jones coming back from a long lay off and moving up in weight class.

As for Fig vs Moreno 4, I don't mind it tbh.  I've enjoyed all their match ups and looking forward for another one.  This one is close to a coin flip but I think Fig wins it as the event is in Brazil..  That's if he has a good weight cut.  The guy is huge for 125.  So wait for weigh ins.

[Welsh]

I am more pissed with Moreno vs Figueiredo fight. Fourth fight. Come on, give other guys a chance to become a champion. I would laugh it their fight ends with a draw and we are going to see a fifth fight.

I can definitely see your point. Although, they've been fun to watch every single time so I'm not too fussed about it, plus they've always been competitive against each other. While, I wouldn't like to see them go against each other again after this fight, I'm still looking forward to it. Also, from a betting perspective I don't know who to go with. My head says Fig, while my heart says Moreno. It's actually the one fight stopping me from posting up my predictions, since it's just so damn close.

 

[notblox1]

As for Fig vs Moreno 4, I don't mind it tbh.  I've enjoyed all their match ups and looking forward for another one.  This one is close to a coin flip but I think Fig wins it as the event is in Brazil..  That's if he has a good weight cut.  The guy is huge for 125.  So wait for weigh ins.

There is nobody else who can challenge this two guys in flyweight division, this is the reason.
Only way this could happen if Aljamain Sterling, Petr Yan or someone else would step down in lower division, make brutal weight cut to fight them, but I don't see this happening soon.
UFC could always sign new unknown poor slave flyweight fighters that could earn Dana White money for more cocaine 

[Welsh]

I believe Fig was talking about moving up a division? If that's the case, he could vacate the title if he wins on the weekend anyhow. Moreno will probably take it again after that, not sure who that title fight would be against though. There's a few biting at the heels, but I don't see any major threats for Moreno.

I'll be posting my predictions tomorrow. I don't think I'll be changing much from my early leans. Big fight weekend though with a lot of competitive fights, but also some very important fights. We've got a few months of some great headliners too. Mostly, looking forward to seeing Jones in the heavyweight division though.

[riocasinoback]

I believe Fig was talking about moving up a division? If that's the case, he could vacate the title if he wins on the weekend anyhow. Moreno will probably take it again after that, not sure who that title fight would be against though. There's a few biting at the heels, but I don't see any major threats for Moreno.

I'll be posting my predictions tomorrow. I don't think I'll be changing much from my early leans. Big fight weekend though with a lot of competitive fights, but also some very important fights. We've got a few months of some great headliners too. Mostly, looking forward to seeing Jones in the heavyweight division though.

fig will beat Moreno.  since fig train with henry cejudo he improved his bjj, take down defense, mindset etc. he trained with the goat.
moreno is childish when fig has alpha man mindset. they do it in brazil when everyone wil boo to moreno and cheer fig.
fig has more power on his hand he can shut him down for good.

i believe his power will overhelm moreno and it will go to ko or decision by fig when moreno is  badly hurt.

this is how it goes fig will win.

easy money all in on Deiveson Figueiredo 

[TopTort777]

^  Rofl I don't get the whole Santa Barbara thing but there's something about the music that made me chuckle a bit.    But yeah, it feels like we're kicking a dead horse rn.  It sucks but it's done.  And I would've bet for Ngannou against Jones at anything at 1.60 and above.  Don't think Jones could out muscle Ngannou with Jones coming back from a long lay off and moving up in weight class.

As for Fig vs Moreno 4, I don't mind it tbh.  I've enjoyed all their match ups and looking forward for another one.  This one is close to a coin flip but I think Fig wins it as the event is in Brazil..  That's if he has a good weight cut.  The guy is huge for 125.  So wait for weigh ins.

It is Santa Barbara, as this was one of the most popular soap operas on post soviet territory Ngannou said that. Dana promised this. They first agree on this. But later Ngannou told that he wants freedom, insurance, bla-bla-bla-bla during more than a year. True soap opera. In the end it will turn out that Ngannou is Dana's long time abandoned son from a maid. He has abandoned him because he ran out from Pedro, who was a Rachels father, bla-bla-bla Soap opera like I've said.

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

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.

[eaLiTy]

~
The interview with Ariel is well worth a watch for those who want to hear Francis' side of the story. It seems like he's walking away from a very large amount of money. What he was asking for wasn't unreasonable but I don't think the UFC is willing to give fighters those things. It looks like they tried to get him on a huge fight deal probably similar to the 8-fight deal Jon Jones was on but then he wanted a three fight deal which Francis seemed to think he could get done in a year which was optimistic.

From what i understand the contract given to Francis Ngannou was a 3 fight deal with $8 million a fight and then the PPV money which is obviously multiple times more than the guaranteed amount. The reason he rejected the offer is he wanted more freedom from his contract and he wanted to fight Tyson Fury or similar boxers and the UFC rejected that completely and he wanted health insurance all year round and we can say that he was doing this for the rest of the fighters but you cannot bend the UFC like that because if they bow down to his demands then the rest of the fighters will start demanding these.

We might see a fight between Francis Ngannou and Tyson Fury and it will earn him a huge purse, the problem will be, what will happen after that, none of the promotions will be able to match the offer the UFC gave and with a loss in boxing which is obvious, UFC will not match that contract even if Francis Ngannou wants to return to the UFC.
Fight fans look out for Sharaputdin Magomedov from Dagestan, he is a Middleweight fighter with heavy kicking game and counter strikes and refuses to go to the ground unless the opponent forces him. Finally he is signed to the UFC and look out for some spectacular striking technics from him and a title contender in a short period.

[TopTort777]

~
The interview with Ariel is well worth a watch for those who want to hear Francis' side of the story. It seems like he's walking away from a very large amount of money. What he was asking for wasn't unreasonable but I don't think the UFC is willing to give fighters those things. It looks like they tried to get him on a huge fight deal probably similar to the 8-fight deal Jon Jones was on but then he wanted a three fight deal which Francis seemed to think he could get done in a year which was optimistic.

From what i understand the contract given to Francis Ngannou was a 3 fight deal with $8 million a fight and then the PPV money which is obviously multiple times more than the guaranteed amount. The reason he rejected the offer is he wanted more freedom from his contract and he wanted to fight Tyson Fury or similar boxers and the UFC rejected that completely and he wanted health insurance all year round and we can say that he was doing this for the rest of the fighters but you cannot bend the UFC like that because if they bow down to his demands then the rest of the fighters will start demanding these.

We might see a fight between Francis Ngannou and Tyson Fury and it will earn him a huge purse, the problem will be, what will happen after that, none of the promotions will be able to match the offer the UFC gave and with a loss in boxing which is obvious, UFC will not match that contract even if Francis Ngannou wants to return to the UFC.

I've heard that Ngannou wants to fight 3 boxers, Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua. Tyson Fury frequently speaks about retirement (probably would do after a fight against Olexander Usyk). AJ seems to be mentally broken. Wilder - he is like a light heavyweight for huge Ngannou. Wilder is not a natural heavyweight actually, he is pumped; one of the smallest heavyweights in boxing.

We all know such game for kids as find X differences between two pictures. I present you a bit different version of that game - find similarity



UFC should pay their page designers more. No wonder Ngannou left and they pay fighters low

P.S. All credits to https://www.reddit.com/user/starfoxzeronie/

[hilariousetc]

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

[Leviathan.007]

Nice Find on Francis Ngannou's Trainer definitely knows something and pretty much I am waiting for Francis Ngannou's statement the thing here is I never really trust the UFC's management there is some shady stuff going on inside, but even though that was the case we all really enjoy those fights but sometimes forget the value of fighters and I think Francis Ngannou is a big asset that has run away for the UFC, and as I have to know PFL is offering him a much greater contract because we all know the level of audience invitation when PFL would sign Ngannou, although I think Bellator will be a great new home for him well PFL is really good enough,

Everyone is waiting for something to hear from Francis Ngannou's after the decision to exit the UFC fights at this age, I mean he is still not young but not old enough to make the decision for retirement because he is just 36 and on the other hand I see today on the news that UFC legend Conor McGregor said something about Francis Ngannou and give some advice because Francis Ngannou could never reach what he deserved for as the already said: https://talksport.com/sport/mma/1306453/conor-mcgregor-advice-francis-ngannou-ufc-exit/

[tokeweed]

I believe Fig was talking about moving up a division? If that's the case, he could vacate the title if he wins on the weekend anyhow. Moreno will probably take it again after that, not sure who that title fight would be against though. There's a few biting at the heels, but I don't see any major threats for Moreno.

I'll be posting my predictions tomorrow. I don't think I'll be changing much from my early leans. Big fight weekend though with a lot of competitive fights, but also some very important fights. We've got a few months of some great headliners too. Mostly, looking forward to seeing Jones in the heavyweight division though.

Yeah I think if he wins vs Moreno he def should move up if he wants to hold two belts.  He's not getting any younger.  At 35 losing all that weight becomes harder and more taxing to the body.  But as I'm picking Fig here just cos the match is in Brazil.  I don't think USADA goes to Brazil.  Lol.

^  Rofl I don't get the whole Santa Barbara thing but there's something about the music that made me chuckle a bit.    But yeah, it feels like we're kicking a dead horse rn.  It sucks but it's done.  And I would've bet for Ngannou against Jones at anything at 1.60 and above.  Don't think Jones could out muscle Ngannou with Jones coming back from a long lay off and moving up in weight class.

As for Fig vs Moreno 4, I don't mind it tbh.  I've enjoyed all their match ups and looking forward for another one.  This one is close to a coin flip but I think Fig wins it as the event is in Brazil..  That's if he has a good weight cut.  The guy is huge for 125.  So wait for weigh ins.

It is Santa Barbara, as this was one of the most popular soap operas on post soviet territory Ngannou said that. Dana promised this. They first agree on this. But later Ngannou told that he wants freedom, insurance, bla-bla-bla-bla during more than a year. True soap opera. In the end it will turn out that Ngannou is Dana's long time abandoned son from a maid. He has abandoned him because he ran out from Pedro, who was a Rachels father, bla-bla-bla Soap opera like I've said.

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

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.

Oh ok.  Lolol.

As for champions, I think there's gonna be a Russian take over in the UFC.  The Russian prospects coming up are all tooough.

And as for Jon Jones vs Cyril Gane, I don't mind it.  I mean I'm disappointed it's not vs Ngannou but it's better than nothing.

Edit:  This started earlier than usual...  :/

UFC 283:  Live Weigh In Show
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfoZ3vc8yf8