MailBag: Max Holloway vs. Nate Diaz, Jon Jones hopes for six months, the best name in MMA

Well, UFC Vegas 104 is in the book. Yes, we don’t even need to worry about it. It was more fun than it was, but I’m not going to talk about it anytime soon. And while UFC London is definitely better on paper this weekend, it’s still not the most exciting.

So this week we opened up questions to what tickles your fantasies. This means we are on a journey. Buckle up.

Max Holloway vs. Nate Diaz

Max Holloway v Nate Diaz is floating around for some, but it appears to be receiving a major pushback in the online community. Are there any drawbacks to this fight? I’m struggling to see it.

I’m with you about this. Don’t get me wrong, this is not a battle I choose to make for either guy, but I have not really seen any flaws either. The current “BMF” champion for the creator of the title (whatever is worth it) is a fun storyline, and given how much love they are both, people line up to see this. The only downside I see is Max is a lightweight, featherweight, and I’m not really sure if Nate can make another 155.

If I had the druthers, Max will have a rematch with Charles Oliveira and Nate will have a trilogy with Conor McGregor, but if this happens, I’m fine with that.

UFC Vegas 104

Compare paper Dolidze/Vettori 2 cards with paper Emmett/Murphy cards.

I lied. Apparently, I’ll talk for a moment about UFC Vegas 104.

I said I support it as I headed for this event last weekend. The UFC Vegas104 was the worst paper-on-paper card since Covid. At least up to UFC Vegas 105.

The trip to the next peak of the UFC has a much better main event than the Marvin Bettori vs. Roman Doritze rematch (Josh Emmett vs. Lerown Murphy is sick), but the rest… well, that’s not good. There are some good leads and some good matchups, but as with this weekend, we won’t talk again after the event is over.

This is becoming the theme of UFC cards in 2025.

Lightweight division

Lightweight is the glory division of MMA and people are more likely to try and fit their weight class, so do they sway? Or more people will get that size about average physiology.

It may be a bit about being an attractive sector and thus attracting more people, but that is primarily the latter. This is a simple number game, with the majority of people falling more naturally into the 155 pound category. Plus, 155 pounds (or, more precisely, roaming 175 pounds) is not as competitive as the other sizes of athletes. One of the reasons why the heavyweight and light heavyweight division is so bad is that if you’re a naturally big person, you probably play other sports that pay better or reduce brain damage. Soccer doesn’t steal too many 170 pounders from the MMA, so even more people can come.

This is also why flyweights are as thin as they are (there are few in the world), but generally have a high level of talent. Because where is the athletic guy who weighs 130 pounds to pursue sports?

Yeee for statistics.

Robert Whitaker

Robert Whitaker is talking about going to light heavyweight. Light heavyweights are generally not very good. How far can Robert go there despite his large size?

Speaking of bad weight classes!

Light heavyweight is a hatred of the weight class, and the only reason we don’t talk about how bad it is is because heavyweights die so much (and more, Alex Pereira is fun, and that makes people forget). However, I am not very sure Whittaker will move forward there.

My concern about Whittaker is not just his size, but his decline. I think “Bobby Knuckles” appears to be pretty obvious in the back nine of his career, but that’s usually not the best time to try something new. Now Whitaker is in small sizes in some cases, with huge amounts and without bringing his A-game. It may not work.

John Jones

Will you ever see John Jones fight Tom Aspinel?

no. John Jones will not see him fight either.

John Jones Part 2

John Jones is said to have requested it at least six months after the fight was signed to prepare to fight Tom Aspinel.

He is completely within his right to want it. But if it wasn’t revealed before even the most enthusiastic followers had to accept the truth about what it was: John Jones doesn’t want to fight Tom Aspinel.

For John, it’s a risk vs. reward issue. Because if he fights and loses, the goats suddenly shake up, and the whole identity he has suddenly built up will see people defeat him. And if he wins, it’s just another victory (this is actually wrong, and while a victory over Aspinel is the best achievement of his career, that’s another argument). Why does he do that?

John is not going to fight Tom unless the UFC pays him infinite dollars. The UFC is not going to pay him near it because they don’t have to. This is two immovable objects locked in the chicken game, and John is a fighter, so it must flash first.

The six-month call is that John is simply trying to expand this as much as he can in the hopes of meeting Dana White Cave and his numbers. He won’t and hopes we can finish this farce and move on.

Merab dvalishvili

If someone had to put in $100 to beat Merab with Bantamweight, who is it and why? (Past or present)

easy. Currently Umar Nurmagomedov. In the past, TJ Dillashaw.

I know Umar just lost to Merab. If they fought again this year again, they chose Merab to win again. However, Umar made Merab work, but he is still increasing. In a year or two, he is still the best way to get things done.

Until the past, Dillashaw is the obvious answer. People hate TJ because of the EPO, but the Prime Dilla Show is the best bantamweight I’ve ever seen. He is an elite wrestler, has extraordinary cardio and has a very good impression of Merab. The only reason I’m not confident in Dogwalk Merab is that Merab continues to dummy people. Still, I bet Dillasho with confidence.

Oh, and of course, if you allow Prime Jose Aldo to eventually fall to 135 earlier, he is an obvious choice.

Comedy

Some fighters are inherently funny characters, like Sage’s North Cut, approaching all the experiences, or as feelings other than anger confuse the Codiger band, which makes him mad. Is there anyone who isn’t past Prime, which still offers such comedies?

Jiri Prochazka saw Alex Pereira and told him with 100% integrity that he should not be fooled with the help of spirits in a rematch. This is one of the most unintended and entertaining things about MMA.

Best MMA Name

What is the best MMA name of all time? Vernon “Tiger” is partially on white or Milcolo crops. If you included all the combat sports, fighting Harada would be pretty difficult.

So it appears to include not only the government’s name, but also the nickname. The nickname is the lifeblood of MMA, and whenever someone changes a big nickname to something crippled (see you, Corey Anderson – “Beastin 25/8” was spectacular) it hurts my soul.

Of course, names that take away a given name are always the best, so Mirko Cro Cop’s callouts are just as good as Shogun Rua and Rampage Jackson. But just put it aside, here are some great things that don’t fit that type.

• Charles “Crazy Horse” Bennett (I don’t recognize the same “felony” as Corey Anderson)
• Demetrious’s “Mighty Mouse” Johnson
• Roy “Big Country” Nelson
• Mark the “Super Samoan” hunt
• Wonder Ray “The Axe Murderer” Silva.

But sticking to what was said at the top, the best MMA name must be a Korean zombie. Seriously, how many people know what TKZ’s real name is? It was unique, fully accountable for the man, and it became much bigger than him. It’s a runaway guy.

Oh, in boxing tips, sweet science has a million great names, but I’ve always been partial to Smokin’ Joe Frazier and Sugar Ray Robinson. They are simply perfect. Do that whenever you can add a nickname as a title. It’s much better. We will never allow Dominic Cruz to be the “Dominator” in place of the “dominant” Dominic Cruz.

Thank you for reading and thank you to everyone who sent me a tweet (xs?)! Are there any burning questions about at least some relevance to combat sports? Then you are lucky because you can send your tweets to me, @jedkmeshewand I will answer what I like! As long as they’re good it doesn’t matter whether they’re local or insane. Thank you once more, and take a look at y’all next week.