The MMA Thread v2

[troutman]

Two boxers have died in Japan from injuries in the ring:

https://apple.news/A7hgt0hxoQCSJqMHH2VSUzg

A second Japanese boxer has died from a brain injury suffered at an event in Tokyo.
Hiromasa Urakawa, 28, died on Saturday after he was beaten via knockout in the eighth round of his fight with Yoji Saito on 2 August.
It follows the death of Shigetoshi Kotari on Friday from injuries sustained during a separate bout on the same card at Tokyo's Korakuen Hall.
Both boxers underwent surgery for subdural haematoma - a condition where blood collects between the skull and the brain.
Urakawa is the third high-profile boxer to die in 2025 after Irishman John Cooney passed away in February following a fight in Belfast.

I used to enjoy boxing, but no more.

20 recorded deaths in MMA:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatali..._arts_contests

A 2006 study suggests that the risk of injury in general in MMA is comparable to that in professional boxing.[1] For professional boxing matches, the Manuel Velazquez Boxing Fatality Collection lists 923 deaths during the 118-year period of 1890–2008.

[Slava]

Huge news this morning as Paramount+ will host all UFC events starting in 2026. No more PPV, which is enormous. The deal is worth $7.7b, but this could get a lot more fans going forward.

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by Slava

Huge news this morning as Paramount+ will host all UFC events starting in 2026. No more PPV, which is enormous. The deal is worth $7.7b, but this could get a lot more fans going forward.

That is huge news. They’ve been on the ppv bandwagon for too long. Their events are watered down these days with a lot of fighters unseating others routinely. Nobody wants to pay for ppv that regularly. Makes sense to transition to a new media.

[Roof-Daddy]

I quit buying PPV UFC years and years ago.

I'll watch it again now though.

[Beninho]

Unless I am missing something we are still getting ####ed by Rogers in Canada as they bought the UFC rights with the PPV model as part of the deal. This is an American deal not Canadian so my best guess is we are going to get shafted and still have to pay for the PPV’s until this deal runs out. Maybe Rogers follows suit but I highly doubt it.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Beninho

Unless I am missing something we are still getting ####ed by Rogers in Canada as they bought the UFC rights with the PPV model as part of the deal. This is an American deal not Canadian so my best guess is we are going to get shafted and still have to pay for the PPV’s until this deal runs out. Maybe Rogers follows suit but I highly doubt it.

Well, nothing a VPN and Paramount Plus couldn’t solve?

[Roof-Daddy]

This main event is a different kind of lay and pray.

[Roof-Daddy]

Total domination by Chimaev through 3 rounds.

Dude seems untouchable with his level of wrestling and grappling

[3rd liner]

Main event was absolutely boring from a stand-up-fight type of fan's perspective. Chimaev absolutely dominated DDP the whole fight, man vs. boy. Going into the fight I thought Chimaev would win, but had no idea it would be that lopsided. DDP was useless except for the end of the fifth round. Pretty surprising.

I'm a stand-up fight kind of fan, so I absolutely hated that entire fight, but it is obviously the UFC and that was a masterclass domination in grappling. I'm not sure who is going to pose a threat to Chimaev in the division.
For those of us who like strikers, the MVP fight, the Prates fight and the Murphy fight were great, at least.

[Roof-Daddy]

Yeah it's tough to watch. Not very entertaining for the average fan. Chimaev even had DDP in the crucifix multiple times and hardly inflicted any damage or punishment. Technically a guy is allowed to out wrestle and out grapple another fighter, but it's boring as all hell after one round of it. Then you sit and watch 4 more rounds of one guy smothering the other while barely doing any damage.

Chimaev played to his strengths and did what he had to in order to dominate and become champion, but a very small set of MMA fans want to watch that crap for 25 minutes.

[bdubbs]

Complete domination, but I still prefer Khabib's version of the grapple-dominant fighting. Full aggression with maximum damage inflicted and a submission finish.