MMA IS THE ONLY SKILL SET THAT THE YOUNGER GENERATIONS HAVE EXCELLED

AS I WATCH THE END OF YEAR UFC MATCHES SPECIFICALLY THE UFC 269 EARLY PRELIMS I CAN NOT HELP REFLECT ON THE WORLD/NATIONAL CONDITIONS WE HAVE BEEN EXPERIENCING! THROUGHOUT ALL THE DOOM & GLOOM AND DYSPHORIC FEELING ABOUT AMERICAS FUTURE I HAVE BEEN SUPER CRITICAL OF THE YOUNGER GENERATIONS THAT HAVE COME UP BEHIND ME & IN THE ULTIMATE IRONY I SEE A GLIMMER OF HOPE FOR THE HUMAN RACE.  IRONIC BECAUSE OF THE DEGRADING PILLARS OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY THAT HAVE BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR THE GREATNESS THAT HAS KEPT THE USA LIGHT YEARS MORE ADVANCED THAN ANY OTHER COUNTRIES MMA/UFC HAS BEEN THE ONE PILAR THAT MAY BE THE WAY FOR OUR GREATNESS TO CONTINUE! WHILE WE HAVE BECOME LESS HEALTHY, PERSONABLE, DISCIPLINED AND EDUCATED IN ALL ASPECTS OF OUR CIVILIZATION THE PROFICIENCY, SKILLS, COMPETITIVENESS HAS BECOME SO INCREDIBLY CLOSE IN MMA THAT EVEN ON THE EARLY PRELIM MATCHES OF EVERY UFC HAS BECOME CONTESTS OF MEGA HIGH DEGREE GRANDMASTER LEVEL CHESS PLAYERS TWISTED UP IN THE CAGE USING TECHNIQUES & COUNTERS THAT IF NOT SPECTATED WITH AN EYE THAT CAN SEE THE MICRO FLEX OF MUSCLE FIBERS ON VARIED MUSCLE GROUPS REACTING SO QUICKLY TO EACH OTHER ONE WOULD MISS THE WAR TAKING PLACE! WHEN THIS SPORT FIRST CAME ONTO THE SCENE IN THE 1990s & I WAS IN MY PRIME, PEOPLE LOOKED AT THE COMPETITORS & THE EVENTS AS SOMETHING THAT WAS EQUIVALENT TO A FREAK SHOW! NOW 3 DECADES LATER THE ENTIRE WORLDS HAS BECOME THE REAL FREAK SHOW AS THE ULTIMATE SPORT, THE ULTIMATE CONTEST, THE ULTIMATE FIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP HAS BECOME THE ONLY ASPECT OF OUR GLOBAL COMMUNITY THAT HAS EVOLVED INTO THE GREATEST COMBINATION OF SKILL, CONDITIONING, DISCIPLINE AND INTELLIGENCE THAT HUMANITY HAS ACCOMPLISHED! INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING, SCIENCE, MILITARY, COMMUNICATION & MEDICINE HAVE CRUMBLED IN DISGRACE UNDER THE WEIGHT OF CORRUPTION & UNETHICAL BEHAVIOR WHILE THE ONCE MEATHEAD BARBARIC SHOW OF VIOLENCE HAS BECOME THE ONLY BRIGHT SHINING HOPE PROVING THAT HUMANITY STILL HAS THE ABILITY TO ADAPT & SURVIVE & GROW IN A DIRECTION THAT SHOWS THAT WHEN MERIT & ABILITY ARE REWARDED CHILDREN WILL GROW & BLOOM TOWARD PERFECTION OF OUR SPECIES. 

"INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING, SCIENCE, MILITARY, COMMUNICATION & MEDICINE HAVE CRUMBLED IN DISGRACE UNDER THE WEIGHT OF CORRUPTION & UNETHICAL BEHAVIOR WHILE THE ONCE MEATHEAD BARBARIC SHOW OF VIOLENCE HAS BECOME THE ONLY BRIGHT SHINING HOPE PROVING THAT HUMANITY STILL HAS THE ABILITY TO ADAPT & SURVIVE & GROW IN A DIRECTION THAT SHOWS THAT WHEN MERIT & ABILITY ARE REWARDED CHILDREN WILL GROW & BLOOM TOWARD PERFECTION OF OUR SPECIES."


Possibly the best sentence ever written about MMA and the all caps makes it even better!

MIND YOU WHEN COMPOSING THE WELL CRAFTED STATEMENT ABOUT THE CURRENT STATE OF MMA, THE WORDSMITH WAS BEING INSPIRED BY THE EARLY PRELIMS & PRELIMS. THE INSPIRATIONAL SPIRT SEEMED TO DEEM POST MAIN CARD SADLY. I WAS LEFT WITH A TASTE OF DISAPPOINTMENT AND BEWILDERMENT AFTER WITNESSING BOTH THE FEMALE MMA GOAT & THE RAGING CAJUN DIAMOND FALL. WAS IT JUST MY OVER CONFIDENCE IN MY PICKING BOTH NUNEZ & PORRIER TO WIN AS DID A MAJORITY OF TAPOLOGY FANS? I STARTED TO QUESTION MY EARLIER ASSESSMENT & LEAN TOWARD A WWE TYPE SENARIO THAT WAS SETTING UP BOTH FOR A LATTER PPV WITH HIGHER PAYOFF. I HATE TO THINK THAT I WOULD LIKE FEEDBACK...

@Richldnrd

Isn't upsets part of what make MMA so exciting? If you follow boxing, serious boxing upsets are very rare due to the often carefully selected match ups and when a big name loses, it's usually against another big name so not really an upset. Seeing Nunes getting rear naked choked by Peña brought back the kind of emotions, I haven't felt in while watching MMA since Holm KO'd Rousey and isn't that a good thing? OK, I've no doubt they'll be a rematch somewhere down the line and I'll probably pick Peña again for that but for now, let's revel in the raw feeling of having recently witnessed what I'm sure in about 8 years time will still be a contender for upset of the decade.

THE PROBLEM WITH GROWING UP WITH THE SPORT AND TRULY LEARNING THE TECHNIQUES IS THAT WHEN SOMETHING IS OFF IT IS NOTICED QUICKLY. THEN AFTER THE INITIAL MISHAP ANOTHER IS NOTICED. THEN ANOTHER UNTIL THE POSSIBILITY OF THAT MANY MISTAKES ISN'T ACTUALLY MISTAKES HAPPENING.  WHILE YOU ARE CORRECT IN THE UNIMAGINABLE TAKING PLACE IS OFTEN A DELIGHT & APPRECIATED. BUT WHEN YOU SEE PULLED PUNCH HAPPEN A DOZEN TIMES FOLLOWED BY THE WEAKEST REAR NAKED CHOKE IN HISTORY MAKING THE FEMALE G.O.A.T. TAP MANY QUESTIONS ARISE. THEN THE FOLLOWING MATCH REPEATS THE PULLED PUNCH & HESITATIONS THAT LEADS TO THE SAME ENDING OF IMPROBABILITY. MAYBE ONE. TWO OF THE MOST ELITE FIGHTERS WHO HAVE TAKEN ON INCREDIBLLY TALENTED OPPOSITION & CONTINUALLY PERFORMED LIKE WAS EXPECTED BOTH GETTING ENDED IN THE SAME MANNER WAS A BIT MUCH FOR ME TO BELIEVE. MAYBE I HAVE BECOME JADED WITH ALL OF THE CORRUPTION & FRAUD TAKING PLACE IN OTHER ASPECTS OF LIFE FROM ONCE WELL RESPECTED INSTITUTIONS. I HAVE NEVER WATCH AMANDA OR JUSTIN HOLD BACK PUNCHES REPEATEDLY & EAT AS MANY AS THEY DID. THE PERFORMANCES WERE SO OUT OF CHARACTER FOR BOTH IT DIFFICULT TO COMPREHEND. BUT ALAS, I HAVE ALREADY MADE MY PICKS FOR 12/18 UFC. WE SHALL SEE IF THE MAIN CARD HOLDS UP TO THE STANDARDS THE UFC HAS SPOILED ME TO. I SURELY WILL BE WATCHING FROM EARLY TO POST MAIN!!

@Richldnrd

Yes, Nunes didn't look herself that night but I certainly don't suspect any kind of corruption in that fight. Fighters aren't robots who throw flawless punches a thousand times in a row, they are humans and humans make mistakes. And once you start making mistakes, that can knock your confidence which in tern leads to more mistakes and at that level, continually making mistakes will cost you fights. That's what I suspect happened to Nunes, she made a few mistakes, couldn't compose herself or find her rhythm and Peña capitalised on those mistakes and won. Is Peña the better fighter? I don't think so but she was certainly the better fighter on the night and got a well deserved win. Your argument seems to completely ignore the phycological aspects of the fight. 

As for the Holm VS Rousey upset, that was just simply a case of a bad stylistic matchup for Rousey. Rousey was far the better on the ground but even though Holm wasn't on the same level as Rousey in that sense, she was just good enough to hold her off. When it came to the striking, Holm was far superior in terms of skill and head kicked her way into MMA history. In short Holm was an opponant that Rousey couldn't quite finish using her Judo that she was overly reliant on and was outmatched on the feet. It seems easy to say this in hindsight but I'm sure there were some people who would've come to the same conclusion before the fight and perhaps for them, this wasn't an upset at all.

* Edited at 12.17.2021, 5:33 PM ET *

"Your argument seems to completely ignore the phycological aspects of the fight. "


OR PSYCHOLOGICAL EITHER...LOL


I UNDERSTAND THE QUICKSAND CONCEPT THAT CAN HAPPEN IN A COMPETITOR'S MIND ONCE THAT FIRST MISTAKE HAPPENS, THEN BOGS THE FLOW NOT BEING ABLE TO FORGIVE ONESELF & QUICKLY FORGETTING IT. AMANDA NEVER SEEMED TO ALLOW THAT TYPE OF MISTAKE TO HAPPEN BEFORE. MAYBE MOTHERHOOD HAS ERODED THE MENTALITY NEEDED TO STAY AT THAT HIGH OF LEVEL & THIS MAY BE A SIGN OF HER OTHER TITLE FALLING AS WELL. VERY FEW CAN KEEP TWO TITLES FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD. THE ADDED WEIGHT CUT MAYBE ANOTHER FACTOR THAT CAN SCREW WITH OPTIMAL PERFORMANCES CONSISTENTLY OCCURRING. 


I THINK MY GENERAL FEELING OF THE PERFORMANCES FROM BOTH HEADLINER FIGHTS WERE FROM THE SUBTLE ACTIONS OF THE FIGHTER'S EXPRESSIONS & MOVEMENTS. BOTH SEEMED TO BE HOLDING BACK PURPOSELY & SECOND GUESSING THEIR OTHERWISE REFLEXIVE ATTACKS. AMANDA & JUSTIN BOTH ACTED THE EXACT SAME WAY. I AM NOT ALLUDING TO THE UFC GOING CORRUPT AS A WHOLE BUT IT IS NOT OUT OF THE REALM OF SPORTS TO HAVE NEFARIOUS SCHEMES IN PLACE TO BET ON THE LONG MONEY. SOME HAVE PULLED PUNCHES OR SHAVED POINTS WHEN WANTING TO NOT COVER SPREADS OR WIN BIG ON THE UNDERDOG. OTHERS HAVE FELL TO GHOST PUNCHES OR MISS A KEY FEILD GOAL TO MEET THE DEMANDS OF VEGAS CRIMINAL BOSSES.


WHO KNOWS WITH THE WORLD FALLING FROM CORRUPTION LATELY. MAYBE I AM WRONG & MORE SO HOPE I AM BEING OVERLY SUSPICIOUS. EITHER WAY, I STILL FIND MMA THE PUREST SPORT AVAILABLE TODAY.

@Richldnrd

I seriously doubt that Nunes would've lost for the sake of betting. Sure, she could've cashed in a big bet on Pena but that would've just been a one time burst of extra funds. She would've easily made more by putting in a convincing and exciting win to help boost her name among casual fans in order to increase opportunities to make money outside of the UFC on the back of her name. 

Take Connor McGregor for instance. The majority of his wealth has come from his ventures outside of the UFC. His boxing match with Mayweather made ****loads for him. He only got those opportunities by building up his name in the UFC and now that he's starting to decline, he's relying on the strength of his name more than ever. No other way would he be in title contention talks otherwise on a 2 fight losing streak (or 3 fight losing streak if you only include the division he's aiming to become Champion in again). 

If that's what McGregor managed to achieve in his UFC career, then Nunes who is still arguably the women's MMA GOAT would easily be able to achieve the same level of wealth if she managed her brand right and being a continuously dominant Champion would be crucial to building up that status. I seriously don't think she'd risk her reputation and all that could be in front of her for a one time big betting win against a fighter that a lot casuals wouldn't heard of (the amount of people who came out saying that Nunes was always **** due to one bad performance after that was ridiculous and didn't take into consideration that Pena and the other contenders are still dangerous fighters). Even if this were part of a long term plan to get both the money from a big bet and keep her reputation on track by beating Pena in a rematch as a sort of redemption arc, it still wouldn't make any business sense as I'm certainly not seeing people getting hyped over the potential (probably inevitable) rematch.

The simplest answer to me is that women's MMA has always been unpredictable and this was just another example of that. Yes, Nunes was clearly the best of the bunch but the gap between her and the other top girls is closing and closing fast. On their night, any of them could've won if Nunes was slightly off form which she clearly was. What caused that lack of form is anyone's guess but it could be anything such as fatigue, stress, the weight cut, potential unknown injury or more likely a mix of multiple different factors. I just don't buy into the betting theory due to how much was on the line in terms of legacy and other opportunities outside the cage for her.