It’s been quite a few weeks here in MMA Fighting. There was a redesign of consecutive vertex cards and small sites! That redesign included several things, including feeds, our own personal octagons. As a result, we can also push back our mailbags for a few days and move forward, including feed questions.
Now, let’s take a look at this week’s column with that note.
“If DDP passes by Khamzat Chimaev next weekend, who is realistically taking the belt from DDP?”
Not anyone. At least not for a while.
As one of the earliest recruits of Dricus du Plessis, I continue to support my boy as he works up the middleweight history rankings. Is DDP a bit stupid sometimes? yes. But it only makes me love him more. And his awkwardness makes a bit more to hide how smart and capable he is in the cage.
DDP is probably the best active fighter right now when it comes to game plans. Every fight he enters with clear ideas on how he attacks the enemy and how to minimize their preferred attacks. Watch the rematch with Sean Strickland. Strickland came to fight doing the same old thing, but the DDP figured it out. He suffocated Strickland’s jab, took the tee, and slammed Strickland meaninglessly.
And that will become a real problem for anyone with DDP in the middleweight division. Because most of the top in the category already have many films. Anyone who steps in there with “Stillknocks” will have a wise idea about fighting them. He’s not always the most pretty, but DDP has a lot of physicality to back up his IQ. He’s not an easy person to beat.
If anyone is going to beat him, my guess is that it’s Cam That. It is a man who is so overwhelming that he can simply empower through the DDP’s plan. But I don’t think so. My guess is that Khamzat shakes a bit when he realizes he can’t simply overwhelm the DDP, and the South African champion drowns him in the deep waters as the fight progresses.
And if he does that, I don’t know who is taking it from this current crop. I choose DDP over Nassoldeen’s Imavov, Kaioboralho, and Rainedridder. The only thing I really have to think about is Anthony Hernandez, who isn’t as talented as DDP as the overall, but brings superhuman cardio to the table. “Fluffy” could make him a melamie.
“Why does the UFC continue to book Esteban’s Ribovik in the world’s most violent warehouse?”
I’m oh man. I think they don’t like fun.
This past weekend there was one of the very rare events in which a single card featured candidates for two battles this year. Esteban Rebovix vs. Elf Brenner was a stone-like banger that happened several minutes later when Chris Duncan and Mateus Rebecchi carved a mass of each other for 15 minutes. And you can never predict that the fight actually could be the material for this year, but anyone who knew anything about the fight knew that these two fights would be heaters.
So why put them at the top? Because the UFC doesn’t care. Rebovix has now won three consecutive battles. This man only grows into a sense of beloved action, fighting in front of the crowd. Instead, he is in a hollow gymnasium in Las Vegas. For shame.
“What MMA promotion do you recommend watching? Aside from the Cage Warriors and LFA, everything else seems a little amateurish.”
I always tell people to watch Fight Circus (whenever they post rare shows at this point), but the real answers are KSW and Lysin.
Lysine usually has a large gap of time, so it can be difficult to watch, so you have to get up until 5am East Coast time, but I think it’s still worth the Gander. Their fights are usually decent, the production is good, and it feels like watching the old Pride FC. It’s not the same, but there are some similar vibes.
Now, KSW certainly has those vibes. Essentially, every KSW show is a people packed arena, they become ham with proper production and their events feel like glasses in a way that the UFC simply doesn’t do anymore. KSW also has some very talented fighters, so if you haven’t seen the show, check it out.
“We will throw three HWs from every period of MMA history into today’s UFC HW division and order it.”
Certainly I chose Feder Emelianenko. My biggest guess is that even Prime Fedel hasn’t won the title in the current heavyweight landscape, as his Prime was 20 years ago. It’s been a long time. Since then, sports have been dramatically bounded (partly thanks to him), but he still Shockingly Considering the situation, it was a success.
Next is Prime Daniel Cormier. I know Cormier had a very successful heavyweight career, but he was always the best in the heavyweight division and passed the peak years of his career as his teammate, Cain Velasquez, was already in the Weight class. Give us a genuine extended DC heavyweight driving.
Finally, if you’re trying to add spices, you should be Brock Lesnar. Lesnar isn’t in the top 20 of the greatest heavyweights ever, but the man brought his eyes to make the event look bigger. Plus, I ended up getting him and DC.
“If Max defends the BMF belt again in the tough LW division, will it be like the interim belt for the LW?”
I think that’s one way to see it, but I think a better way to see it would be like the intercontinental belt of WWE. It’s still meaningful and a secondary championship where people can care without guaranteeing title shots and more.
I know Max Holloway doesn’t agree, and maybe some fans too, but I simply don’t mind running the max light title. He won the belt. It was amazing. We all loved it. And he spent years trying to get it back and failed. Recently, he was knocked out by a man who now has a lightweight belt. So there’s no need to do that again. Max can finish the title chase. Because it is purely a pursuit of trinkets and he already has one of them!
If I were on the corner of Holloway, I would encourage him to focus his energy on not only protecting the BMF belt, but also establishing a real identity for it. A legacy he can leave it for the next champion to follow suit. In the long run, it’s honestly cooler than winning another title, and that’s what I think sports really need. Modern sports are basically championships or busts, and in the UFC, only 11 of them have been played. It would be a great help for the sport as a whole for someone to actually build another title into some degree of relevance.
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 answer all the good things! 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.