[DethStryque]

...I have followed these kinds of tournaments since the days of Japan's domination and old skool warriors like Minoru Suzuki. Before PRIDE. Just before RINGS. In the days of Shootfighting, and before then...the days of Brazil's Vale Tudo. The days of the old skool hardcore International Judo when wristlocks were still allowed.

Regarding UFC 205? I admit that I called Conor to win by decision, as I didn't count on Eddie doing the exact opposite of what his corner told him to do and what they trained to do all camp. I also called Conor to win because...like most dominant champions in the UFC...Conor is actually about 20 pounds heavier than the weight classes he is champion of.

In the context of sports? I absolutely despise that practice...which is rampant in every combat sport of international stature. Boxing, Wrestling, Judo, Taekwondo, even FENCING [ especially those who use the Epee, the heaviest weapon in Fencing, at 775 grams, violate "weight" considerations; even though there are no literal "weight classes" in Fencing. Epee draws the taller, larger competitors more often because both the weapon is "heavier" at 775 grams AND the entire body is a valid target to be hit. The Foil and Sabre...the other 2 fencing weapons...have lighter weapons and limited valid target selection. The Foil and Sabre have blades weighing a max of 500 grams. The Foil's targets are the upper torso's chest, back, groin, but not arms or legs whereas the Sabre's targets are everywhere above the waist except the hand ] are all flagrant violators of this weight class requirement, or the "sporting spirit" of weight classes.

In sports, the idea of "fair play" is supposed to reign supreme. The contestants are supposed to be physically equal in size, therefore making the winner in their contests more likely to be the competitor with superior skills and various admirable intangibles which are acquired only by the even more admirable intangibles of hard work, tremendous strength of spirit, tactical brilliance, technical magnificence, total dedication to their sport, unbreakable self confidence most especially in the face of unyielding, withering opposition, and more. The spirit of sport and fair play is NOT supposed to be corrupted, besmirched, devalued to the point that the winners of these contests have been reduced to an evaluation of who is the larger, taller, stronger competitor.

In self defense, there is no limit on or notion about size limitations. In fact, the idea in self defense is that it's a given that the attacker will be taller, bigger, stronger, probably armed, maybe launch a surprise blitz attack especially from the rear or flanks, and probably has armed aggressive friends of superior size, too. But unfortunately most guys who promote THE IDEA of the above in self defense, DO NOT TRAIN FOR THESE CONDITIONS because THEY'RE BUSINESSMEN. They run schools. They're all about attracting, retaining, and building as massive an amount of students in order to make as massive an amount of profit as they possibly can. And most of their students? Don't want to do the demanding physical work that the above circumstances require; which do indeed include every permutation of "sports combat", as well. Sooo...usually out of shape, trash talking White guys in the USA who are school owners pitch these sweet verbal sales pitches about the benefits of their self defense program which in reality is a bunch of garbage that doesn't work as advertised, or doesn't work at all.

Anyway. Back to the UFC 205.

Conor had almost all the physical advantages on Eddie going in. Conor was about Eddie's weight and of course enjoyed a distinct height and reach advantage. Furthermore, exactly as Conor said, McGregor had tons of experience fighting the kind of short squat spark plug wrestler style that Eddie Alvarez exemplifies. Styles oftentimes makes fights. Conor had the optimal style matchup advantage. Given all of that... when coupled with his clearly superior striking skills... Conor was ALSO right. His style, his antics, placed Eddie in exactly the position that Conor forecast he would be in. That is..."shooting for your life".

Eddie, knowing this would be Conor's gameplan beforehand [ just like everyone else who studied the game of MMA and actually knows anything of substance about training self defense and MMA ], would be smart to play a head moving, bobbing and weaving, stifling pressure, wrestling and Thai clinch heavy and wrestling heavy camp. A much stepped up version of what he did against Anthony Pettis.

When Eddie decided ON FIGHT NIGHT to go against literally everything he was trained to do in his camp to fight Conor? Well. Catastrophic results were predictable.

I have to admit this also: Conor has made a believer out of me. Despite the fact that I remain firm in my heart that Frankie "The Answer" Edgar is THE REAL 155 POUND CHAMP CUZ HE'S ACTUALLY 155 POUNDS ON FIGHT NIGHT, and the 170 pound Mcgregor, the 175 pound Eddie Alvarez, the 180 pound Rafael Dos Anjos [ who I love ] are not deserving of the UFC LW title because of THEIR SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER THAN 155 POUNDS SIZE ON FIGHT NIGHT...I must say that Conor gets props because he is a real "martial artist" at heart. He really believes what he says, then...as he pointed out...he "backs it up".

He isn't the innovator in movement that the n00bs swear that he is. Bruthas have been doing more, better, against worse, for centuries. My family's fighting style...of which I am Mtaalam Mkufunzi/Kocha, Lead Trainer/Coach...is much more rich in movement and is the actual hybrid Afrikan warrior art of Kipura [ updated to NJIA UHURU, meaning "THE WAY OF FREEDOM" ] that was brought to the Western Hemisphere and achieved legendary results against what was thought to be literally impossible odds. A vastly less comprehensive, massively stepped down, diluted form of my family's art...Cardio Capoeira of Brasil...is the style that Conor learned his movement coach, Ido Portal.

I never called Conor to starch Jose Aldo at all. Much less in the first round. I thought Jose was going to kill him. Torment Conor over 5 rounds, then take Mcgregor down, ground n pound, and at the appropriate moment use his WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP WINNING JIUJITSU to submit Mcgregor.

Wrong.

I called Diaz to beat McGregor, and he did...but I thought Diaz WOULD DOMINATE Mcgregor in the rematch, as Diaz would have a full training camp behind him. I honestly called that fight for Conor by a slim margin because of the multiple knockdowns he produced against Diaz. A feat that I didn't think him capable of. And remember...Diaz was freakin huge for that fight. Just...madd props to Conor for that work he put in. I have enormous respect for him because of that feat and the way he went after it. Sure, Diaz isn't a world beater at Welterweight but he's still a freakin Diaz Brother. Death By A Thousand Stockton Slaps. Conor didn't have to rematch Diaz, and he certainly didn't have torematch Diaz at Welterweight. But he did both and justifiably won that fight, when EVEN MORE odds were stacked against him. Hats off. Props to him.

But something else. Lemme call it how it is. Conor is getting a pass for using Mayweather antics, because Conor is both White and a international European star. That is a full stop reality. All of yall may hate, but it's the truth.

And don't get me started about who's the more exciting fighter. Mayweather has more pro knockouts than Conor has pro fights. Period. You Johnny Come Lately New Kids On The Block who know zero about boxing and even less about it's history don't know how moronic you sound when you say that Mayweather is "boring" whereas Conor is not. No. You are too ignant...not "ignorant", I said "ignant"...to recognize not just superlative but literally GOAT defensive boxing skills. That is the worst kind of diss that can be handed to all of you hatin on Mayweather. You are so unaware of what true real skills are, that you don't recognize GOAT defense when you see it. And. You're so unaware of the double standard and racism in big sports that you don't see it either...likely because you subconsciously practice it. Yep, I said it.

Anyway.

Tyrone Woodley vs Wonderboy. Loved that fight. And? Ty won that fight. Wasn't a draw. It was such a good fight, though? We need to run that back. Rematch. Really. Woodley will win that rematch more decisively, imo. But Wonderboy most definitely deserves not only a second but almost certainly a third title shot.

I've liked Wonderboy forever. I used to compete in the various tournies [ until I kept being DQ'd for knocking people out ] and I knew about Wonderboy back then. But I don't think that he or Ty should be fighting for the 170 pound title because THEY'RE BOTH 200+ FREAKIN POUNDS. They should be fighting at LHW. Or. Stop being Masters of the Weight Cut so they can have size advantages over their smaller opponents, stay right and tight on their diet, and compete at 185lbs. Be actually 185lbs on fight night, the way that Machida used to be.

Would love to see these guys really throw down at their optimal weight, in their optimal weight class. That's better FOR EVERYONE. They have longer careers, produce more exciting fights, have less physical deterioration and damage as they age. Everyone wins. Fans get better fights. Because of better fights? Promotion makes more money and pays athletes better. Because of better health practices and more exciting fights which pack in more spectators both in the ring and on PPV? Athletes get bigger paychecks for longer periods because their careers are longer. Like I said: Everyone wins.

Can you imagine Machida [ who is very likely THE REAL 185 lbs. champ ] vs T. Woodley or Wonderboy at 185? Or Michael Venom Page vs Conor at 170? [ MVP merks Conor in standup striking; the real question is: which of the two is the better grappler? Given the fact that Conor's millions of $ gives him the more comprehensive, more high quality training camp wherein he can bring in top notch, very pricey bjj and wrestling guys? Going with Conor on that one. ]

The REAL Heavyweight division should be 215-230 pounds. That would put Jon Jones, Rumble, DC, Gustavsson, etc. in the class that they actually are in on fight night...Heavyweight. It would still put Cain as a Super Heavyweight. Can you imagine Jon Bones Jones vs Werdum at HW [ Jon wins ]? I think that Bones Jones could outpoint the [ actually Super Heavyweight at 250+ pounds ] current HW Champ Stipe Miocic due to Bones' speed, quickness, reach, underrated firepower, underrated defense vs strikes and his STILL underrated takedown skills. Remember, Overeem WAS WINNING his fight vs Stipe until Overeem...still displaying his lack of head movement...got his big ole box shaped dome cracked by that monster Stipe punch.

Anyway. Meisha Tate. Love me some Cupcake Tate. But yeah, after her most recent MMA losses? She's right. Hate to see her go, but...she needs to take a big break from MMA, as she is accumulating way too much damage. She also needs to totally retool her fight game, as she is way too much "blood n guts" in there...like Mickey Ward was [ may he R.I.P. ]. She needs to learn some real defensive skills. Go train with the bruthas, who will teach her how to move her freakin head, elude, block and pick off strikes, get better with creative combination striking, footwork, ring generalship, timing, psychological manipulation, and in general get way more creative with all facets of her striking and grappling game.

Duane "The Bang" Ludwig in his teaching methods which are incarnated in his star pupil T.J. DILLASHAW and Dominic "The Dominator" Cruz have already incorporated fighting movement and skills directly from the "Black American" style of boxing and standup striking inclusive of kickboxing, point fighting, etc. Meisha should go spend a year with Duane. Very seriously. Before she thinks about getting back in MMA again. Real talk? Ronda Rousey should have shook her current coach for Daune "The Bang" a long time ago.

Btw? Dominic Cruz outstrikes Conor McGregor. Dominic Cruz beats Conor on points. Yeah. I said it.

So what do yall think?