I tipped Miocic in a second round KO.

What a fight – the fact that both men went for 25 minutes is incredible.

Miocic nailed the perfect game plan – he took the bigger man down and continually used Ngannou’s size against him.

I am an Aussie that has lived in New York for the last 3 years.

I am a big boxing/UFC/BJJ fan that fortunately gets to go to a lot of these events.

Mundine is a COMPLETE UNKNOWN in the USA. He is never talked about or mentioned. The likes of Loma and GG have only just started to really gain solid followings as they are not American or Mexican. Mundine talks about these big names but they are not talking about him.

To be a known name you need to be living and constantly fighting in the USA.

Horn got a small amount of coverage over the Pacman fight but zero news on his solid win last night.

Great Article. i concur with the points noted.

I hope this is as exciting as we all hope. The build up was fun.

The Grafter – just to comment on the tap: I train in BJJ at Renzo Gracie Acamedy in New York and I can assure you when someone has you in a dominant submission you either tap or you are going to sleep in the next 10-15 seconds.

He was also giving away I would expect 30-35 pounds. Fighting and rolling with guys with that much weight on you – especially in BJJ, you are in real trouble.

The other angle to this is you should expect to see a very different animal in the Octagon when he returns – he has been on a more FTP based Cardio training regime and has upskilled his BJJ. Once this is over he will focus on that heavily.

I think Whittaker deserves the shot.

He is ranked ahead of Mousasi.

Rockhold lost in very poor fashion to Bisping and has been injured and unable to fight for some time.

Whittaker has been active and impressive in his last few fights. He took Souza apart.

This fight will happen.

Way too much money involved for it not to.

McGregor/UFC side all locked away.

Mayweather will aim for 50-0 and also recently lost a lot of money and this fight will cover that and then some.

This makes money because both men are Hype Machines.

Both are simply looking for a pay day. McGregor gets smoked in a boxing ring and Mayweather in a UFC ring.

I think boxing fans are worse than UFC fans based on what they spent for Pacman v Mayweather which was always going to be a dud fight.

Mayweather is an amazing boxer but he is extremely boring to watch.

I think Rousey is mentally done.

She has not evolved at all and was buying into her boxing/Striking. Bad foot movement. No head movement and was circling the wrong way into Nunes.

Her coach is not a striker.

Why contiunue fighting – so and make B grade films for 3-4mil a pop. Not a bad way to earn a crust of bread rather than getting popped int he face.

The key statistic that is not addressed is 4 ounce gloves (UFC) v 10 ounce for boxing.

McGregor loses a huge amount of his hand speed.

I dislike Mayweather but as far as pure boxing technical capabilities he is pure world class. Maidana is the only one who ever really landed a decent shot on him.

McGregor would struggle to land any shots and the glove change would reduce that even further.

Rousey is the biggest name but I don’t think she is the greatest. She is pretty 1 dimensional. Her striking lacks accuracy and finess – pure power and she just works for an arm bar.

She was completely outclassed by Holm who pulled her limb from Limb.

Personally I think Joanna Jędrzejczyk might not have the same household name but is a superior fighter. 13-0 and is a wrecking machine

As for the fight – if she wins it will be sold by the UFC as the greatest comeback. If she loses, and I think she will, it will be all over.

She has lost her fighting spirit – it is all image. She bought into ‘I am the baddest on the planet’ mentality and it was her undoing.

It is always a challenge when you go 17-0 and mop guys up. he has stepped his way up a few levels but agreed he has not fought anyone like Klitschko who is a very skilled heavyweight – excellent jab, knows how to clinch very well and has a big right hand.

I think AJ will fight everyone – including Haye. The money will be there so why not.

Interested to see how AJ fares against Klitschko – they used to spar against one another quite a bit several years ago so there will be familiarity between them.

Klitschko has had 18 months out of the ring and will be 41 when he fights AJ. AJ has been fighting a lot and has youth and likely the engine to go 12. His work ethic and approach to training is very solid.

McGregor would do this for the money and hype and nothing more – all of which I am fine with.

UFC wear 4 ounce gloves. Professional boxer are in what 10-12 oz gloves. McGregor will lose a lot of speed and Mayweather, as much as I dislike him has hardly ever been touched by another fighter.

He is the finest example of Defense there is in boxing. he hits and never gets hit. This is extremely boring to watch but it is highly effective.

Mcgregor did prove it was easy – for him.

No one else has ever done it. BJ Penn and Couture have held 2 belts but at different times.

I think it is even harder to do these days given how many fighters there are now and the skill level many have.

I do not think you will see a two-weight belt champion again in a very long time.

155 is McGregors optimal weight. At 28 he has a lot of good years in him. He put Aldo away in 13 seconds – hardly something he would want to go back to.

He is on too bigger and better things. Unsure who his next opponent will be but I expect it will be Diaz for the Title at 155 pounds. McGregor respects him and that is the big money fight right now.
‘
Whilst McGregor has fought Diaz at 170 pounds and won and whilst he talks about that weight I think it would be a mistake to test Woodley or Thompson – they are simply too big and fit at that weight.

Even away from the Cage he is the biggest name in the fight game right now. That will not change.

Nice Work Justin.

I live in NYC these days so looking forward to the UFC being here.

I think McGregor will previal – it takes time to build your skill sets and he has had a lot more time with Dillon Danis so his ground game is certainly on the improve – he controlled the clinch etc very well against Nate.

I am interested to see how his cardio is. That takes a lot of time but FTP and V2 max can come up a lot in 4-6 months and he has done a lot more targeted and structured training than just fighting.

The Loss to Diaz was arguably a very good thing.

Alvarez has excellent Cardio but the 5 inch reach advantage and McGregor’s accuracy I think will result in what he calls the ‘scrappy wrestler’ that starts to shoot.

The card is phenomenal. Joanna J I think is the best female in MMA – she is fast, aggressive and a genuine 5 round fighter.

Enjoy.

I am thankful I now live in the USA where boxing is a ‘real’ sport and you can watch top fighters in their prime.

I paid US$140 a ticket for excellent seats at the Garden last year and watched GGG (36-0) and Roman Choclatito (46-0).

The Mundine fight is simply a grab for cash between two fighters that are passed their prime and are unknown on the International Stage.

Mundine talked about fighting the big names but to do that you need to be based in the USA.

Unfortunaterly most will pay and that will likely be to watch Mundine hopefully get KO’d.

McGregor deserves his shot at this.

Aldo had pulled out of so many fights and made McGregor Wait for some time to get his title shot and Aldo provides nowhere near the PPV and the hype McGregor does.

Alvarez is a very tough opponent and a real grinder so McGregor really needs to keep an eye on his energy levels as he has gased out in his last few fights.

I live in NYC so I may well be ringside for this one.

Hard to say that was not the best card of 2016.

Undercard had plenty of good fights and some good knock-outs.

Rumble showed he is definitely in the top 3 of the Light HW division with a brutal uppercut KO in 13 seconds.

Main fight lived up to the hype and was an absolute war. I had McGregor up 3-2 across the 5 rounds. He was the more aggressive and effective striker.

He showed a lot more patience than prior fights and by doing so in the first 2 rounds where he mixed up chopping leg kicks with continued headshots and put Diaz to the canvas several times. Patience is what gave him the second wind as in round 3 he looked to be completely gased out.

The world has a huge amount of respect for Diaz as I don’t think many can take that kind of beating and stay standing but he should wait for 3rd fight with McGregor and then retire as his style of fighting is not one that lends well into the later years of life.

Nice article Sam,

I am an Aussie that now lives in NYC and I went to UFC 196 and likely UFC NY at the garden – the events live, even with an average card are incredible live.

The press conference really lit the fuze. This should be the best UFC event of the year.

I think McGregor having a full camp to specifically prepare for Diaz and bringing in world class athletes to train with – something Diaz critized him for during last fight – will pay off.

Diaz is a very tough fighter and he can really take a pounding. I think McGregor will just too well prepared this time.

Bring on fight night.

I paid the $50 and was fine with that as the card was solid – it always is. You also get the undercard for free so one should not complain too much.

You are watching the greatest Female fighter on the planet – she is systematically pulling opponents apart.

I don’t see anyone getting close to beating her in the next few years. She has the complete skill set.

I completely disagree – Rousey has an amazing skill set and she would pull apart 90% of men on this planet in the Octagon.

Holly Holm looks like she could offer a good mix of styles for Rousey but not sure her ground game will be good enough. Holm’s leg kicks are very sharp but that is really her main attack weapon – whilst she can punch her shots don’t have much power in them – they appear to just be the way to set up her kicks.

I don’t think anyone will defeat Rousey though – she will dominate for many years to come.

World class Athlete.

Lano,

I highly recommend watching the film – it would be right up there as one of the best sports movies made.

I am not convinced on the heavyweight division – Anthony Joshua looks like he has the size, power and skill set to be the next big World Champ.

he needs more time and the Klitschko brother will probably be close to hanging up the gloves by the time Joshua is actually ready for a proper World Title fight.

I think everyone wants to see Pacman and Floyd fight. the hype and build up will be amazing.

My Father came up with a great startegy for the S15 tipping – he did not put his tips in which means he gets the away teams so 5 from 6.

#Smart

One loss does not make a season.

Probably a good thing as Cheika will absolutely rip them to pieces.

Tahs will be up there at the end of the season.

Nic Bensley clocked 48.25km for the hr last night.

For a bloke that works full time it shows how good he is and how hard it actually is.

He commented to me this morning – i think it took a year off my life.

Goos has gone nowhere b/c he is lazy and does not train hard enough. Plain and Simple.

He looked fat at the Sun Tour.