Holloway vs. Nurmagomedov

This is the official discussion thread for Holloway vs. Nurmagomedov. Let's see what you've got.

aT tHE End Of ThE dAy iT isSss WhAT IT iSsSS

Max must be offered a ton of money for this.

I think max was offered the most money he ever made for this fight. however, I doubt it was nearly as much as some other fighters have made. I think this will be his highest paid fight but I think this is more Max being an utter badass, then the UFC really paying him to take the fight. It likely that Max is going to make a lot less then he should for taking this fight. However if he wins, he going to be so dam marketable and guarantees him a rematch for huge money against Connor.

* Edited at 04.02.2018, 11:20 AM ET *

Completely agree. I'm sure he will make good money but he wants this fight because he loves to fight. So much love for Max, hard not to like him.

Gotta think Holloway's chances here are not great, but crazier **** has happened in MMA. I'm sure the large payday he's probably getting from this will soothe any wounds. 

So there will be 3 155pds champs at the same time?

Nah. Dana said Tony's belt is gone. 2:30

* Edited at 04.02.2018, 2:41 PM ET *

Mr.Stay Ready was nowhere to be seen hahaha. Willing to fight a featherweight on late notice but won't do the same for Khabib. Didn't he just say he would step in like 2 weeks ago?

Actually he was willing to do the same. Dana clearly state he never asked him and was against the idea of conor fighting on such short notice. 

* Edited at 04.02.2018, 3:51 PM ET *

Tony belt is gone but Connor belt is not? *** is that chitt

Sucks that Tony had to pull out.  Really wanted to see him and Khabib brawl, as I believe both guys can beat McGregor.

That being said, this fight is going to be awesome.  And while my head says Nurmagomedov easily, my heart kind of wants Holloway badly to win.  The magnitude of a McGregor vs Holloway rematch would be astronomical and a real fight to sell that is competitive AND actually means something for both divisions.  Plus if you are a fan of the whole "lineal title" stuff (which is not a big thing I focus on), it would finally present the chance to unify the lineal Featherweight and Lightweight titles once and for all.  Either way, whoever wins this fight, we as fight fans win because this is the first time in a while where you can say the UFC is putting on a fight that actually means something.

@Fishrat

Yes and no.

It's a disaster in the fact that a win over Holloway would further strengthen McGregor's grip on the company and would make it more apparent that, while Emmanuel may legally own the promotion, McGregor is the de-facto head of the UFC.  Plus, by Khabib potentially losing, you again recreate the log jam in two divisions that feels like it has gone on forever now where there doesn't need to be one.

It wouldn't be a disaster in that it is a legitimate competitive fight that the hardcore and casual fans would care about, which the UFC has been extremely lacking since 2013-14.  Like of all the fights to make, and as much as it would be better overall for Khabib to get it rather than Holloway (only so that Holloway defends against Ortega and 145 isn't in limbo again and finally seeing a long awaited fight with Khabib and Conor), I can actually live with and get behind Max vs Conor 2.  Mainly because I think Max can go in between divisions and defend both belts without much problem, whereas McGregor is "no longer capable" of cutting down. 

With Holloway having been nursing an injury and not training, I fully expect Khabib to get him down early and choke him out. Seems like the most likely outcome imo.

Hopefully it isn't as one sided as I'm expecting it to be.

@Fishrat

"yes, but you said it yourself; Holloway can move up or down whenever he wants. If he wants to fight Mcgregor, or vice versa, they can do it at LW at any time. No need to have two belts on the line.Let Conor take back the lightweight belt from Khabib if he can, and then let Holloway challenge him for it in a superfight."

Well both of the physical belts wouldn't be on the line, that's crazy.  It's the uniting of title lineage that would be significant (although I think it is meaningless).  The fact of the matter is, most people (that doesn't include me) believe that no matter if Holloway or Khabib win, they won't "really be champ" because Conor got stripped and therefore is still "lineal champion" despite not holding a single physical title.  That aside, having Holloway get beaten by a non champion, even in a division up and against a world beater like Khabib, would hurt the Featherweight title a lot. It'd be better if Holloway fought McGregor after beating Ortega, but we're not given that luxury.

"Or just book Holloway vs Mcgregor for no reason at all. If they can make Diaz vs Mcgregor for no reason, if they can make Hendo vs Bisping for no reason, or any of the other fights seemingly made for no reason, and based on nothing, then they can make Holloway vs Mcgregor for no reason and according to no process of logic at all. That fight can still happen at any time."

Time out.  There is a big difference between the vanity fight of Diaz-McGregor at Welterweight and Hendo Bisping 2 for the MW title when compared to Holloway vs McGregor 2.  There have been legit rumors on Holloway making the jump up for a while now and Holloway has been on a ridiculous winning streak that has proven he is legit as they come.  Diaz got McGregor off a one fight win streak following RDA pulling out and Hendo got a shot for the MW belt because Bisping was a big ***** as champion and was ducking Whittaker and Romero like a ************.

"Mcgregor shouldn't get to cheat the weight cut; if he wants to capture the FW belt, let him make weight. He has already been shoehorned into the easiest multiple weight title contention path in history once, and look how much of a ****show it's been in the aftermath. What did he do with that privilege other than reward the fans by not fighting, nor defending anything at all? Do we really want this to happen again? Do we want two divisions stalled for another two years? That would make 4 ******* consecutive years! That's basically a generation in MMA terms."

You will get no argument from me that McGregor wasn't fast tracked to the title to start his career and that he is a chicken**** coward that wants to pad his record.  Unfortunately, that's what tends to happen when you have bean counters running the show who want profit over legitimacy, which is what Dana and the UFC have become, and a guy who, with his great promo skills, prints money like an ATM.  Conor is, for better or worse, a box office superstar and with that comes the need to cow tow to that superstar's demands.

"The long and short of it is, anybody who wants Holloway to win this is either a masochist, or isn't thinking hard enough about the implications of that. Look, I get it--I really do. I ******* love Holloway man. I hate that this fight is happening. They should have just put Alvarez, Iaquinta, or Lee in as a replacement, but they didn't because they are trying to set up another jackpot.Max is a goddamn baller and I hate the fact that I can't root for him to win, but frankly I hope he loses this fight and doesn't take too much damage in the process.

Because  if he does win, the UFC will make him fight Mcgregor at LW for the unification. No doubt about it. He will have no say in that whatsoever, and they will set up Mcgregor for the W as best they can, as they have always done.

And then, we'll never get off the merry-go-round. If Max wins, they will simply book a rubber match the same way they did with Diaz. If Conor wins, there will be no rematch. And there will be no defenses for the next two years in two divisions.""

Did you really expect anything less than an avaricious move from the UFC at this point?  They have clearly shown the hardcore fans that the whole "WE LOVE THIS FOR THE SPORT GUYS! WE AREN'T IN THIS FOR THE MONEY! WE SWEARS IT!" line Dana pushed was either all a lie or went out the window once the rumblings of the sale from Zuffa to Endeavor began to come up in 2015-16.  It's blatantly obvious that Endeavor is running the UFC like a Hollywood production than a legitimate sporting organization. That's why the old guard either left or got fired once Emmanuel bought the company, due to the conflict of the direction where the UFC was going.  Ari and Dana want casual fan dollars for short term gain at the expense of the long term health of the UFC.  Rather than building up and having a stable of stars at their disposal like they did ten years ago, they are just going to bank on Conor (and Ronda before she retired after losing) and rarely promote some other fighters here and there until McGregor retires so they can pawn the UFC off onto some other sucker.  If the UFC 207 promos that only focused on Rousey (who is a client of Endeavor) and rarely on Nunes didn't sink that in for you, then I don't know what to tell you. 

Genuine question, if Max does pull of one of the greatest upsets in the sport's history.

Literal 6 day notice, going up in weight against an undefeated powerhouse for the title, his Second weight class title.

Does this make Max Holloway and all time great? Or at least, put him in the conversation?