Usman vs. Burns, Volkanovski vs. Holloway 2, Yan vs. Aldo all added to UFC 251

[nuraknu]

UFC 251 is going down on Fight Island on July 11th, and the UFC is doing their best to get divisions moving again by adding three title fights.

While it hadn’t been officially official yet, it has been widely reported that the promotion has added three bouts for belts to the UFC 251 card - Kamaru Usman vs. Gilbert Burns for the welterweight title; Alexander Volkanovski vs. Max Holloway in a rematch for the featherweight title; and Petr Yan vs. Jose Aldo for the vacant bantamweight title.

Dana White finally did confirm all three fights in an interview on First Take on ESPN today....

Continue reading:

Usman vs. Burns, Volkanovski vs. Holloway 2, Yan vs. Aldo all added to UFC 251

UFC 251 is going down on Fight Island on July 11th, and the UFC is doing their best to get divisions moving again by adding three title fights.

www.bloodyelbow.com

 

[ECC170]

Wow if this all really happens

 

[Sheepdog]

'Fight Island' was just Arab oil money island, as we suspected.

I still doubt they will let Volk leave Australia by then but we will see. It's good that they are at least thinking about stacking cards, so that if shit falls through they have other fights to work with.

 

[member 3289]

'Fight Island' was just Arab oil money island, as we suspected.

I still doubt they will let Volk leave Australia by then but we will see. It's good that they are at least thinking about stacking cards, so that if shit falls through they have other fights to work with.

Yeah I doubt he qualifies for any of the exemptions:

If you are an Australian citizen or a permanent resident you cannot leave Australia due to COVID-19 restrictions unless you have an exemption. You can apply online but you must meet at least one of the following:

• your travel is as part of the response to the COVID-19 outbreak, including the provision of aid
• your travel is essential for the conduct of critical industries and business (including export and import industries)
• you are travelling to receive urgent medical treatment that is not available in Australia
• you are travelling on urgent and unavoidable personal business
• you are travelling on compassionate or humanitarian grounds
• your travel is in the national interest.

 

[Robbie Hart]

I want burns to demolish youseman
Holloway vs the foreign named game, I’m not sure I care enough to watch 5 rounds

 

[Sheepdog]

Yeah I doubt he qualifies for any of the exemptions:

If you are an Australian citizen or a permanent resident you cannot leave Australia due to COVID-19 restrictions unless you have an exemption. You can apply online but you must meet at least one of the following:

• your travel is as part of the response to the COVID-19 outbreak, including the provision of aid
• your travel is essential for the conduct of critical industries and business (including export and import industries)
• you are travelling to receive urgent medical treatment that is not available in Australia
• you are travelling on urgent and unavoidable personal business
• you are travelling on compassionate or humanitarian grounds
• your travel is in the national interest.

'Urgent and unavoidable personal business' could be the tenuous loophole. It is legitimately unavoidable, the 'urgent' part is the problem.

It's not unreasonable at all to argue that given the unique circumstances, he would be in a more controlled and tested environment than basically anyone else leaving the country, so he really should be given an exemption.

The problem is the optics and the timing. People haven't been able to visit dying relatives. Australia is going to open up travel to New Zealand, but that won't happen until September. So how can we let a guy travel to Abu Dhabi before then?

Seems like a political shitstorm the government would want to avoid. UFC is borderline mainstream here now - it won't fly under the radar. The media will latch on to it in a big way.

 

[Papi Chingon]

I don't like the fast turnaround for Burns since he just went 5 rounds, but he asked for it, so oh well. I'm rooting for him.

 

[Sheepdog]

I don't like the fast turnaround for Burns since he just went 5 rounds, but he asked for it, so oh well. I'm rooting for him.

I genuinely don't understand this silly logic that pervades MMA. There is this bizarre notion that inactivity is better than activity, which is the exact opposite of how every other sport works.

The difference of course is that fighters need proper time to heal IF they took damage - that adds in a big caveat that many other sports don't have. But if Burns doesn't have significant injuries, 2 months is plenty of time to prepare and it means he will still be in great shape to pick up where he left off.

Cody Garbrandt went from unranked to champion in a calendar year by fighting 4 times. He then started fighting once a year and got knocked out 3 times in a row.

 

[Papi Chingon]

I genuinely don't understand this silly logic that pervades MMA. There is this bizarre notion that inactivity is better than activity, which is the exact opposite of how every other sport works.

The difference of course is that fighters need proper time to heal IF they took damage - that adds in a big caveat that many other sports don't have. But if Burns doesn't have significant injuries, 2 months is plenty of time to prepare and it means he will still be in great shape to pick up where he left off.

Cody Garbrandt went from unranked to champion in a calendar year by fighting 4 times. He then started fighting once a year and got knocked out 3 times in a row.

It is scheduled for July 11th, so that is not 2 months away. Ideally fighters would have time to rest, heal, and recover, get back into the gym going fairly light for a while, then get into true training camp for 6-8 weeks. Burns just went 5 full rounds and though it was domination, he still got hit, and nobody knows what nagging injuries he had going in. At this level, 3 fights a year is an active fighter because of these factors. I'm not suggesting a long layoff is the way to go for anyone, but there is injuries, recovery, and a camp involved. which involves another weight cut (yes, he still cuts weight even though he is fighting at 170). Not everyone can be like Cerrone in his prime wanting to fight every day. Burns wanted it, so that's great, I just don't see this as a recipe for a long career in most cases.

 

[homo fagit]

I genuinely don't understand this silly logic that pervades MMA. There is this bizarre notion that inactivity is better than activity, which is the exact opposite of how every other sport works.

The difference of course is that fighters need proper time to heal IF they took damage - that adds in a big caveat that many other sports don't have. But if Burns doesn't have significant injuries, 2 months is plenty of time to prepare and it means he will still be in great shape to pick up where he left off.

Cody Garbrandt went from unranked to champion in a calendar year by fighting 4 times. He then started fighting once a year and got knocked out 3 times in a row.

Most importantly he stated fighting like an idiot once a year

 

[Sheepdog]

It is scheduled for July 11th, so that is not 2 months away. Ideally fighters would have time to rest, heal, and recover, get back into the gym going fairly light for a while, then get into true training camp for 6-8 weeks. Burns just went 5 full rounds and though it was domination, he still got hit, and nobody knows what nagging injuries he had going in. At this level, 3 fights a year is an active fighter because of these factors. I'm not suggesting a long layoff is the way to go for anyone, but there is injuries, recovery, and a camp involved. which involves another weight cut (yes, he still cuts weight even though he is fighting at 170). Not everyone can be like Cerrone in his prime wanting to fight every day. Burns wanted it, so that's great, I just don't see this as a recipe for a long career in most cases.

Yep, I screwed up the date, so fair enough that this might be slightly too quick.

My general point though is that if you go 5 rounds and you take only a moderate amount of damage, it's not dramatically different to the hard sparring sessions guys go through to prepare themselves for 5 rounds. His body should be better for the recent experience rather than worse for it. This will not always be the case, but it seems that way for this fight.

 

[Papi Chingon]

Yep, I screwed up the date, so fair enough that this might be slightly too quick.

My general point though is that if you go 5 rounds and you take only a moderate amount of damage, it's not dramatically different to the hard sparring sessions guys go through to prepare themselves for 5 rounds. His body should be better for the recent experience rather than worse for it. This will not always be the case, but it seems that way for this fight.

I get what you're saying, I was just pointing out some issues that may or may not contribute to short notice performance and longevity in the sport.

 

[Sheepdog]

Most importantly he stated fighting like an idiot once a year

Sure. But people used to point to Cowboy's losses and go 'he fights too much'. I can point to Garbrandt and Adesanya, who went from debuting to winning two titles fights by fighting 7 times in 18 months, to say that guys don't fight enough.

There is no counterfactual either way. But basic logic is on my side. Nobody in any other sport ever gets better by not doing it consistently. MMA is one of the few sports where people seem to think training is better preparation than actually competing.

That doesn't mean there isn't a sweet spot, of course there is, but MMA coaching culture has decided that quick turnarounds as a rule are the work of satan, when there is absolutely no evidence to support that and in fact plenty of counter-evidence.

Gil is on fire right now. I would want to get him in ASAP rather than kill his momentum by having him spend 6 months in the gyn taking punches for free.

 

[MondoIDIOT]

Oh great.
Yeah we really need more women fighters headlining PPV's Dana . You know us fans so well !

FFS we just had to bare through Nunes hitting a punching bag for 5 rounds and now we have to watch a UFC card on FIGHT ISLAND headlined by another 'fight' by these women fighters .






Come on Dana give us the fights we want and not this trash


I will NOT be buying this card and anyone who does is a naive SHEEP




I am done

 

[nuraknu]

View: https://twitter.com/ufc/status/1274001457465880576