UFC Fight Night 59: McGregor vs. Siver Discussion Thread

The fighters are weighed in and everyone's set to go for one of the bigger Fight Nights in some time. 

Prelims kick off on UFC Fight Pass at 6pm ET before moving over to FS1 from 7 until midnight. 

I'm attending this one live, so Greg's taking over in the FightCenter.

If you're like me, you had no idea what video McGregor was talking about. After watching it, I gotta say that Lamas should do himself a favor and keep his head down and be the dude with class as he always has been, because this wasn't funny or clever and will win him no fans.

That video is funny

McGregor is right though, that had to take a LOT of time and energy lol

* Edited at 01.19.2015, 2:25 AM ET *

Just got back from the TD Garden. 

Some slow spells and some dud fights, but McGregor made it all worthwhile. 

Me, my brother and good friend all scored the co-main for Cerrone, 29-28, but it was close as hell and we admittedly hate Bendo decisions. 

As for the main event, holy **** McGregor is a beast. 

For people talking about how Siver took him down ... ummm, remember when you all thought Cub Swanson was god's gift to the ****** division, the same guy who was soundly out-grappled by Siver for large spells during their fight before coming out on top?

Yeah, McGregor got taken down twice and got up just as fast to resume the ass-kicking. 

Anyway, I'm pumped for Aldo/McGregor and think there's serious upset potential there. We'll see.

nah man....McGregor looked like a beast, because that was the point of that fight, to make him look like a beast and justify the title shot. Aldo will set things straight.

Hahahaha, this guy. ^

* Edited at 01.19.2015, 2:42 AM ET *

Just bothers me how MMA fans can be. Like, if the dude loses to Aldo, the best 145er of all time, he sucks, right?

Ummm ... or he's 5-0 in the UFC with 4 knockouts, two of them over top 10 fighters and the lone dominant decision win was against another top 10 fighter he ****d with a torn ACL. 

No big deal, though.

MMA fans gonna MMA fan.

* Edited at 01.19.2015, 2:42 AM ET *

@legacy, there's beating a guy and there's making a top 10 (Siver) and top 6 (Poirier) guy look like they're 2 levels below.

Remember how Cub looked against both of them? Please tell me before the Edgar fight you weren't gunning for Cub to get the shot (I know I was).

Conor made these top athletes look like they had no business being in the same cage as him. You have to admit that suggests he's more than just a protected prospect.

no, don't get me wrong, I accept Connor is good, he definetly is top 10 maybe top 5, hell he may be the next champion. but  I think is hard to argue that some of his fights hasn't been tailored for him, Siever was outside top 10 and was bumped into it because and for this fight. the only real top 10 Connor has fought was Poirier and he was stylistically a bad match for him. maybe Conor is the next all time GOAT, I personally don't think he is, but how much can you praise someone as the best when he hasn't fought a single top 5. we know he's being bumped to a titleshot because he sells a lot, but there's a reason imo that he hasn't been matched with anyone inside the top 5, I'm not saying that all of them would beat him, but I think most of them would

what I meant saying that Aldo will set things straight, is not that if  Conor looses it means that he sucks, I just think Aldo is the measuring stick for the FW division, everyone that's a contender has lost to him. so we can have an idea of where Conor really stands (lose or win) if He wins then he will shut us up won't he? at least he will shut me up.

I just watched the post fight presser and I mean, I wish MMA was a bigger sport just so more people would be talking about how badass and charismatic Conor ******* McGregor is. Being a 3rd generation American from Irish families on both sides I must admit I'm embarrassed to say that I picked him to lose to Brimage.

I never thought I could be a bigger fan of anyone than I was of Anderson Silva, until I met Anthony Pettis. And after tonight, I have no idea who I would root for in a fight between those two.

What a beast. 

mma fans gonna mma fan indeed

@skelliher Who are the two top 10's he knocked out? Poirier and? I'm not hating just curious.. I thought Siver was outside Top 10

* Edited at 01.19.2015, 9:02 AM ET *

Poirier was #5 when he defeated him, Siver was #10 and I suppose Holloway wasn't. Holloway is #13 now, but will shoot higher.

@skell I don't think anybody here thinks he sucks. The Holloway fight said more about him than any other fight he's been in. McGregor's good for the division because it gets the casuals talking. I think most of the people that have complained about him are people who (like me) don't really care for the loudmouths and want to see title shots earned. 

Until the other day the last criticism was something I agreed with, but then I noticed something I hadn't before. Since Aldo became the FW champ there really haven't been too many guys that have actually had to earn their shot at the championship, so in a way that's not even a fair criticism of McGregor. It's more a statement about how weak the division was when it was the WEC championship and a statement of Aldo's dominance of the division. Some people may be inclined to disagree with the assessment that many of the fighters didn't earn their shot, but I'll just the let the facts speak for themselves (all rankings from fightmatrix historical rankings):

Urijah Faber - 1 fight win streak over Raphael Assuncao, ranked #3
Manny Gamburyan - 3 fight win streak including Leonard Garcia and a KO of Mike Brown, ranked #4
Mark Hominick - 5 fight win streak including Caraway, Jabouin, Garcia, and Roop, ranked #13
Kenny Florian - 1 fight win streak over Diego Nunes, ranked #2
Chad Mendes - 11 fight win streak including Siler, Koch, Swanson, Omigawa, and Yahya, ranked #5
Frankie Edgar - 2 fight LOSING streak both to Ben Henderson, ranked #2 at LW
Chan Sung Jung - 3 fight winning streak over Garcia, Hominick, and Poirier, ranked #16
Ricardo Lamas - 4 fight winning streak over Grice, Swanson, Hioki, and Koch, ranked #7
Chad Mendes - 5 fight winning streak including Elkins, Guida, and Lentz, ranked #3

McGregor will be getting a title shot off of - 13 fight win streak (the longest win streak of any challenger) including Buchinger, Holloway, Brandao, Poirier, and Siver, ranked #6 (though this could change by one or two spots in either direction by the time Aldo and McGregor fight)

* Edited at 01.19.2015, 1:07 PM ET *

@Zarog I read this somewhere and I think it's pretty true but... The most interesting thing Lamas has ever done in his career is pretend to be McGregor.  

Eh....I disagree mightily with that statement. I didn't find the video to be entertaining nor clever. Lamas was trying too hard to be something he's not. I would say his wins over Koch and Bermudez were the most interesting things he's ever done.

 I am obviously speaking personality wise outside the ring. There is a reason nobody cared when Lamas fought Aldo, because more often than not winning in the ring just isn't enough. Just because the video isn't funny or clever doesn't mean it's not the most interesting thing he's ever done especially when compared to the bland personality Lamas usually carries around.  

I might get bunch of down arrows for this, but Bendo is one of the most self bias people in the UFC, if not the most self bias. I think he underrated by people and much better then he gets the credit for. However, he extremely self bias. He always has this crazy look like how could anyone give the fight to soemone else, in every single close fight of his. 

* Edited at 01.19.2015, 1:04 PM ET *

^100% agreed. Benson Henderson tries to give off this vibe of humility but then the guy talks about beating Anderson Silva's records after getting his ass kicked by Frankie Edgar and Gilbert Melendez.

Seriously, Benson Henderson probably thinks that Benson Henderson is the best fighter of all-time.

I agree with with the 2 posts before me. I couldn't believe how Benson was about to throw a tantrum, thankfully he didn't but body language says all. 

Obviously Benson's fighting style leads to a lot of close decisions and I'm not trying to take anything away from the guy. But if you honestly BELIEVE that he rightfully won Edgar 1, Edgar 2, Melendez, AND Thomson without thinking one of those should've gone to his challenger, you are delirious. 

Obviously you can make cases for those going to Benson. However I strongly believe he lost the Thomson fight clearly and a close loss to Melendez. 

The point I'm trying to make is he shouldn't be outraged at a razor-thin decision not going his way. He was due for one to happen to him.