**Official UFC thread**

[Hockey Guy]

I'll take the loss on my bet just to see that brutal KO.

Well done Romero.

[BeerAndPoker]

[sonatine]

at the risk of doubling down on a bad read, i do think whitaker is going to shut romero's inertia down with volume.

[BeerAndPoker]

Here it is.

[peter mcneil]

at the risk of doubling down on a bad read, i do think whitaker is going to shut romero's inertia down with volume.

I think so as well. I think a healthy Whittaker is a huge problem for Romero. I suspect Romero will come with a heavier wrestling strategy next fight. Souza vs Gastelum or Weidman to get the following title shot would make sense. I think Souza gets lit up by either of those guys.

[Kuntmissioner]

Hunt needs to head over to Bellator.

If Hunt wants to continue in mma he needs to go fight in their heavyweight division with all the 40+ guys.

Hunt will be 44yrs old next month, and still owes the ufc 2 more bouts. That would make him 45 yrs old at best, and likely 46yrs old when he becomes a free agent.

Bellator will have no interest imo.

Japan maybe.

[BeerAndPoker]

If Hunt wants to continue in mma he needs to go fight in their heavyweight division with all the 40+ guys.

Hunt will be 44yrs old next month, and still owes the ufc 2 more bouts. That would make him 45 yrs old at best, and likely 46yrs old when he becomes a free agent.

Bellator will have no interest imo.

Japan maybe.

Maybe they will consider releasing Hunt but then again he's such a draw for these Australian cards.

Even though you're probably right Bellator is a organization full of gimmicks that let Royce Gracie fight Ken Shamrock so we can't say zero chance.

[peter mcneil]

If Hunt wants to continue in mma he needs to go fight in their heavyweight division with all the 40+ guys.

Hunt will be 44yrs old next month, and still owes the ufc 2 more bouts. That would make him 45 yrs old at best, and likely 46yrs old when he becomes a free agent.

Bellator will have no interest imo.

Japan maybe.

He's draws an entire country and he's a huge name. Bellator will gobble him up so fast. They headline fights like Kimbo Slice vs Dada 5000 for fuck sakes. If Hunt still has a semi functioning brain after these next two UFC fights he's going to Bellator for sure. I'd be surprised if that contract hasn't already been discussed.

[peter mcneil]

If anyone doesn't follow Al Iaquinta on Twitter you might want to to, he's hilarious. Gets drunk regularly and types away. After the fight tonight he says 'Romero, you're too religious bro, you're covering for something'. The other night he was ripping the new UFC game, recommending people go to the actual gym rather than play it. Also seems to be making some decent money selling houses.

[Mintjewlips]

NO TO GAY JESUS





Ugh broke even after everything, good fight but I feel like a loser for paying 65 dollars for fight night material.......

[peter mcneil]

NO TO GAY JESUS





Ugh broke even after everything, good fight but I feel like a loser for paying 65 dollars for fight night material.......

Hilarious interview. Last night's card was good value for $65. Every single fight delivered.

[Crowe Diddly]

Hunt will be 44yrs old next month, and still owes the ufc 2 more bouts. That would make him 45 yrs old at best, and likely 46yrs old when he becomes a free agent.

Bellator will have no interest imo.

Japan maybe.

He's draws an entire country and he's a huge name. Bellator will gobble him up so fast. They headline fights like Kimbo Slice vs Dada 5000 for fuck sakes. If Hunt still has a semi functioning brain after these next two UFC fights he's going to Bellator for sure. I'd be surprised if that contract hasn't already been discussed.

I don't think Bellator even has tv coverage in Australia or NZ. If they could resurrect Kimbo and redo the DaDa match, it would still way better ratings than Hunt vs Rampage, for instance.

We all love Mark Hunt obv, but he's not a mainstream draw in any sense.

[peter mcneil]

He's draws an entire country and he's a huge name. Bellator will gobble him up so fast. They headline fights like Kimbo Slice vs Dada 5000 for fuck sakes. If Hunt still has a semi functioning brain after these next two UFC fights he's going to Bellator for sure. I'd be surprised if that contract hasn't already been discussed.

I don't think Bellator even has tv coverage in Australia or NZ. If they could resurrect Kimbo and redo the DaDa match, it would still way better ratings than Hunt vs Rampage, for instance.

We all love Mark Hunt obv, but he's not a mainstream draw in any sense.

He's gotta have some value to the UFC, they've renewed his contract a few times, he's had 16 fights in the UFC and he is almost always on a PPV main card, he's even main evented a fight card. UFC pays him a fucking pile of money at 750k per fight. Maybe Hunt isn't main stream in the USA but he was a huge name in K-1 for years and has a massive Japanese and I'd assume Australia/New Zealand following. Bellator has had a tv deal in Australia for 3 years now.

[sonatine]

i think the rosetta stone for those opposing viewpoints is the lack of depth in hw.

[peter mcneil]

i think the rosetta stone for those opposing viewpoints is the lack of depth in hw.

For sure that's part of it, the HW division blows. I really believe Hunts international drawing power is being greatly underestimated. He's a legend in Japan. McDonald's used him in an advertising campaign. As mentioned there's a reason the UFC has paid him so well for 8 years straight, he's main evented 6 fights in his career.

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/amp.dail...df05386b46c79a

[sonatine]

i think the rosetta stone for those opposing viewpoints is the lack of depth in hw.

For sure that's part of it, the HW division blows. I really believe Hunts international drawing power is being greatly underestimated. He's a legend in Japan. McDonald's used him in an advertising campaign. As mentioned there's a reason the UFC has paid him so well for 8 years straight, he's main evented 6 fights in his career.

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/amp.dail...df05386b46c79a

exactly 0 people who ever watched a pride event in real time would disagree with you.

but its been 2 years since hunt did anything that make him particularly relevant to the least interesting division in the sport. and in those 2 years, a lot of new faces have shown up in the audience and a lot of elder statesmen have moved on. so given hunt's total irrelevance to the belt and that there is zero point zero chance hes going to put together a run for it, i get the argument that people feel he should retire.

but im with you that he's a legend and much bigger draw than 95% of the current hw roster and whats more, id love to see him in Rizin.

[Crowe Diddly]

He's gotta have some value to the UFC, they've renewed his contract a few times, he's had 16 fights in the UFC and he is almost always on a PPV main card, he's even main evented a fight card. UFC pays him a fucking pile of money at 750k per fight. Maybe Hunt isn't main stream in the USA but he was a huge name in K-1 for years and has a massive Japanese and I'd assume Australia/New Zealand following. Bellator has had a tv deal in Australia for 3 years now.

He has great value to the UFC because he's a star in a bunch of places they run often, like Australia. He's not valuable to people who value the US and European markets, which is Bellator. Also, K1 and Glory kickboxing are a shadow of what they used to be in Japan now, and in most other places too.

Bellator has had a tv deal in Australia for 3 years now.

They got a tv deal like 3 years ago, the station rarely aired anything at all, they switched to a lesser-reach outlet that only airs edited events months and years after they run, and even that's not on any regular schedule. Not anything live or even recent.

They have virtually no reach in Australia. The Bellator app maybe.

I agree Hunt might have value in Japan, but thats about it. Nobody anywhere else is gonna give him what the UFC was giving him, and he's surely going to be going to the biggest paycheck he can get.

[peter mcneil]

He has great value to the UFC because he's a star in a bunch of places they run often, like Australia. He's not valuable to people who value the US and European markets, which is Bellator. Also, K1 and Glory kickboxing are a shadow of what they used to be in Japan now, and in most other places too.

Bellator has had a tv deal in Australia for 3 years now.

They got a tv deal like 3 years ago, the station rarely aired anything at all, they switched to a lesser-reach outlet that only airs edited events months and years after they run, and even that's not on any regular schedule. Not anything live or even recent.

They have virtually no reach in Australia. The Bellator app maybe.

I agree Hunt might have value in Japan, but thats about it. Nobody anywhere else is gonna give him what the UFC was giving him, and he's surely going to be going to the biggest paycheck he can get.

I agree, his days of 750k pay days are long gone. If he wants big money he probably has to head to Japan.
What is Bellator paying its biggest stars?

[Crowe Diddly]

Chael and Rampage made $300K each (salary, no win bonus) last time out. Rory Mac made $100K.

[peter mcneil]

Chael and Rampage made $300K each (salary, no win bonus) last time out. Rory Mac made $100K.

Rory must have some pretty big sponsorship deals outside the cage to leave the UFC for that deal.