Discussion Combat Sport Discussion - March 31st - Tszyu v Fundora

[George]

Pinning the schedules to the top of the page for both boxing and MMA

Boxing schedule

Want to know what fights are on the horizon? Check out the boxing schedule for 2024.

www.espn.com.au

MMA Schedule - 2024 Season - ESPN

The complete 2024 MMA season schedule on ESPN.

www.espn.com

 

[George]

Think we have enough posters here with enough interest in Boxing/UFC/Pillowfighting to have somewhere to house all the discussion, plus it's been a great year for boxing and still some good fights left for the year.

I usually go here to check the schedule for the boxing events upcoming (if I don't hear about them on socials);

Boxing schedule

Want to know what fights are on the horizon? Check out the boxing schedule for 2024.

www.espn.com.au

PoppedCorn phantom13 Yawkey way and whoever else

 

[George]

Usyk v Dubois is the big one this weekend - 4am Sunday morning for those in Victoria. Dubois is a massive underdog and think he's out of his depth but is the mandatory for Usyk I believe, so has to fight.

Fury becoming a running joke taking on debutants as a world heavyweight champion. Tarnished his legacy fighting a witches hat in Chisora and boxing Whyte's head off before that. Boring stuff, and looks scared to fight Usyk for all the belts.

Wilder v Joshua in talks for end of year - think Wilder knocks him out, Joshua is done although he's probably my favourite heavyweight (doesn't run from fights, fights often, isn't an arseh*le/drama queen).

Tim Tszyu trying to go for undisputed but Charlo IMO ducking him and should be stripped. Fighting Canelo for a pay-day of course but needs to defend his belts as champion. Funnily enough Tszyu's brother is in the main event tonight in NSW, waiting for that to start as we speak.

Plenty of others to go through, frankly too many to name.

Would love to know how you got into the sport(s), some of your favourite fighters and fights, etc.

For me - Hearns, Duran, Hagler, Morrison, Tyson, Ali, Foreman, Frazier, Jack Johnson (the balls on the guy to flaunt his wealth in that era), Usyk, Spence Jr, Kambosos Jr, Tszyu, Plant, Haney, Loma some of my favourites.

Favourite fight of all time probably Ali v Foreman. Fury v Wilder 3 was unreal too. Some of Tyson's in the 90's were electric but personally prefer the ones that almost go the distance, both guys out on their feet etc.

 

[sunny3193]

Yawn.

 

[George]

And then UFC...O'Malley with a highlight reel KO on the weekend. Sydney hosting UFC 293, Izzy and Tuivasa on the card should be a ripper

Only got into the sport back in 2018-ish stemming from the lead-up to Khabib-McGregor

 

[George]

Yawn.

Fit the description of an accountant to a tee

 

[phantom13]

And then UFC...O'Malley with a highlight reel KO on the weekend. Sydney hosting UFC 293, Izzy and Tuivasa on the card should be a ripper

Only got into the sport back in 2018-ish stemming from the lead-up to Khabib-McGregor

More my wheel house. Massive fight night card this weekend. TKZ V Holloway as the main.

 

[George]

More my wheel house. Massive fight night card this weekend. TKZ V Holloway as the main.

It's a shame Holloway has been pushed to the FTA shows, think he's still good enough for at least the prelims of PPV's.

I box so don't want to admit it but the MMA guys are the real fighters IMO lol. Learning one discipline is hard enough let alone the amount that some of the elite guys here have to do.

I wish fighters got a better deal, but do like how the UFC makes the best guys fight each other and doesn't give too much of a shit about perfect records. Way it should be.

 

[phantom13]

It's a shame Holloway has been pushed to the FTA shows, think he's still good enough for at least the prelims of PPV's.

I box so don't want to admit it but the MMA guys are the real fighters IMO lol. Learning one discipline is hard enough let alone the amount that some of the elite guys here have to do.

I wish fighters got a better deal, but do like how the UFC makes the best guys fight each other and doesn't give too much of a s**t about perfect records. Way it should be.

I still love boxing, my home gym has a heavy bag and a floor to ceiling focus bag, nothing better than throwing hands, I just think the elite level has become more circus than sport and thus it’s hard to follow.

Boxed in my younger days then moved into mma and grappling in my mid 20s. I thought I was in pretty good shape until my first 45 minute no gi grappling class.

Agree on Holloway too but unfortunately he couldn’t get it done in 3 cracks at Alex and now he’s in no man’s land.

 

[triggering bro]

I’ve been an MMA fan since you could hire the old UFC events on video from Blockbuster in the late 90s.

I really got into Pride FC in the early 00s. My favourite fighter was always Fedor. He was an absolute beast in his heyday.

The sport has evolved so much since those days to now be a highly professional sport. You need to be highly technical and super fit now. No more days of Tank Abbott having about two mins to knock someone out before he gasses out completely.

I watched the O’Malley main card, that result was super surprising. Must admit I never took to him. But he’s definitely a technician.

Volk is a beast. Can’t see him taking another fight with Max. Maybe one or two more fights at FW and then a permanent move up to LW to see out until retirement.

 

[phantom13]

I’ve been an MMA fan since you could hire the old UFC events on video from Blockbuster in the late 90s.

I really got into Pride FC in the early 00s. My favourite fighter was always Fedor. He was an absolute beast in his heyday.

The sport has evolved so much since those days to now be a highly professional sport. You need to be highly technical and super fit now. No more days of Tank Abbott having about two mins to knock someone out before he gasses out completely.

I watched the O’Malley main card, that result was super surprising. Must admit I never took to him. But he’s definitely a technician.

Volk is a beast. Can’t see him taking another fight with Max. Maybe one or two more fights at FW and then a permanent move up to LW to see out until retirement.

O'Malley has been really really impressive since his debut, his last fight he got a slightly dodgy SD go his way but when hes looked on hes looked pretty great, his hands are ****ing lasers. I think the general consensus was it was too soon in his career but lo and behold.

 

[Sully111]

I’ve been an MMA fan since you could hire the old UFC events on video from Blockbuster in the late 90s.

I really got into Pride FC in the early 00s. My favourite fighter was always Fedor. He was an absolute beast in his heyday.

The sport has evolved so much since those days to now be a highly professional sport. You need to be highly technical and super fit now. No more days of Tank Abbott having about two mins to knock someone out before he gasses out completely.

I watched the O’Malley main card, that result was super surprising. Must admit I never took to him. But he’s definitely a technician.

Volk is a beast. Can’t see him taking another fight with Max. Maybe one or two more fights at FW and then a permanent move up to LW to see out until retirement.

My first look at the UFC was on a VHS tape my mate's jiu jitsu instructor had lent him. It was UFC 2. I'll never forget seeing Pat Smith elbowing that ninjutsu guy in the face repeatedly. Blew my mind at the time.

Got hooked and watched for years. Saw when wrestlers started dominating by pinning people down and just holding them there. I remember when Vitor Belford exploded onto the scene. The Chuck Liddell years... etc

Haven't watched much for a few years... been busy and it's one thing that got pushed aside.

 

[phantom13]

My first UFC was Silva v Sonnen and the bad guy dominated for 4 rounds before Silva threw up a triangle choke.

Lifetime fan of the bad guy and he was seconds away from getting the LHW belt from Jones too.

 

[George]

How's the entrances

 

[George]

My first UFC was Silva v Sonnen and the bad guy dominated for 4 rounds before Silva threw up a triangle choke.

Lifetime fan of the bad guy and he was seconds away from getting the LHW belt from Jones too.

I love Chael. I don't think he ever won a title did he? One of those guys that deserved one. If he did then I'll shut up haha

 

[phantom13]

I love Chael. I don't think he ever won a title did he? One of those guys that deserved one. If he did then I'll shut up haha

Nah, lost twice to Silva. Jones stopped him in their title fight with like 30 seconds left in the first round, when Jones was being interviewed he looked down and realised he compound fractured his big toe. If Chael could have survived he would have won on a technicality (which seriously would have been peak Chael).

Pretty sure he got popped for roids after the first loss to Silva too.

 

[George]

Nah, lost twice to Silva. Jones stopped him in their title fight with like 30 seconds left in the first round, when Jones was being interviewed he looked down and realised he compound fractured his big toe. If Chael could have survived he would have won on a technicality (which seriously would have been peak Chael).

Pretty sure he got popped for roids after the first loss to Silva too.

I'm glad he has found his feet post career. Has his own YouTube channel and it's got some traction.

Wish I was a fan back in those days, think he would've been my favourite

 

[phantom13]

I'm glad he has found his feet post career. Has his own YouTube channel and it's got some traction.

Wish I was a fan back in those days, think he would've been my favourite

He was absolutely my fave. Really the first dude to get the promotional aspect of the sport and exploit it.

Those were heady days, before it got really santised.

The Rousey/MCGregor era was a pretty wild ride too.

 

[phantom13]

How's the entrances

Conors entrance v Chad Mendes (i think) was pretty ****ing epic. Sinead might have actually been there singing the foggy dew (Mendes definitely had a live singer).

Adesanya has had a couple where hes tried to do cool shit and its been real cringey for mine.

Bam bam always does funny shit too.

 

[George]

Conors entrance v Chad Mendes (i think) was pretty ******* epic. Sinead might have actually been there singing the foggy dew (Mendes definitely had a live singer).

Adesanya has had a couple where hes tried to do cool s**t and its been real cringey for mine.

Bam bam always does funny s**t too.

Yeah I think it was v Mendes. She was up above the entrance. Her voice always gave me chills.

After Adensanya's weird promo for Du Plessis I think he's really cringe actually lol

Ian Garry similar, I actually like Ian but doing your pre-fight workout in a pub and being seemingly desperate to be the next McGregor is yuck

 

[PoppedCorn]

Shit where to start
My granddad boxed a bit in the services
Nothing flash, just loved it and did it, so I got interest from him and have fond memories of play sparring with him and showing me moves and what punches were what etc
Remember watching hagler and sugar ray and hearns snd was awesteuck at the smaller guys and the cardio
Was a Lennox Lewis fan as he was from uk
Loved Tyson just because the style was diff and he was an animal
Followed kosta and Jeff's fights
Now it's a farce, too much dodging, crooked scorers, and celebs
Still like Loma and watch his stuff and obviously the tyzsu boys
Follow the big fights and will watch them but interest is not massive like it once was, but i try not to miss too much

Ufc i was into it early
Shamrock the graces chuck Tito all that era then took a spell from it and got back into it in the last 10 or so years.

Did M.Arts and some iaido as a teenager so had the interest, actually loved the sword stuff and should of carried on but other stuff got in the way and im too old for it now
Mrs likes the ufc stuff too as she did judo so im lucky in that regard that she will warch it if i put it on.

Like volk, can't stand jones lol

 

[triggering bro]

s**t where to start
My granddad boxed a bit in the services
Nothing flash, just loved it and did it, so I got interest from him and have fond memories of play sparring with him and showing me moves and what punches were what etc
Remember watching hagler and sugar ray and hearns snd was awesteuck at the smaller guys and the cardio
Was a Lennox Lewis fan as he was from uk
Loved Tyson just because the style was diff and he was an animal
Followed kosta and Jeff's fights
Now it's a farce, too much dodging, crooked scorers, and celebs
Still like Loma and watch his stuff and obviously the tyzsu boys
Follow the big fights and will watch them but interest is not massive like it once was, but i try not to miss too much

Ufc i was into it early
Shamrock the graces chuck Tito all that era then took a spell from it and got back into it in the last 10 or so years.

Did M.Arts and some iaido as a teenager so had the interest, actually loved the sword stuff and should of carried on but other stuff got in the way and im too old for it now
Mrs likes the ufc stuff too as she did judo so im lucky in that regard that she will warch it if i put it on.

Like volk, can't stand jones lol

I loved the Mark Coleman, Abbott, Mark Kerr, Shamrock, Gracie periods. I didn’t see those early events live but hired the videos in the late 90s. I’ve since bought the early events on dvd (first 30 events). Haven’t watched them for years. Might need to revisit them.

For me the pinnacle of the sport was around when Pride was bought out by the UFC, TUF took off and Anderson Silva and GSP started their runs. The buzz when Wanderlei, Crocop, Henderson and Rampage came to the UFC from Pride was mental. Rampage knocking out Chuck was mental. Rampages entrance was epic. Also loved the Chuck vs Wanderlei Silva fight. Great stuff.

 

[phantom13]

In my time I’ve been lucky enough to spar and roll with a few well known aussie fighters.

Did some fight camp work with Dan Kelly before he went on the smashes (was actually in the build up for one of his AFC fights).

He would do 10 x 3 minute rounds with a fresh opponent every 2 rounds.

I jumped in after 2 other opponents, if you’ve ever watched Dan it would be generous to call his striking style “ungainly”. About 30 seconds in, he managed to slip a jab straight through my guard and just opened my nose right up. Blood ****ing everywhere. Being the unpaid professional I am I just kept right on going.

Anyway, got out and it would just not stop bleeding. Big Dan came up after he was done and thanked me, I’ll never forget what he said next.

“Mate, you should definitely take a fight, 90% of it is just being able to take a punch”.

He went on to a middling ufc career (I think he was Australias most decorated judoka though) but I felt like a ****ing king leaving the gym that night.

 

[CaptainRisky]

George Mercurio

 

[PoppedCorn]

**** how could I foget fedor
Smashed his stuff out in marathons too
Loved him because he just seemed so natural and not cocky
Its why i liked Whitaker too
Down to earth and didnt do all the crap hype bullshit

I've always hated the bullshit pre fight dribble talk, I know its used a lot to sell fights but I just can't do it
Another thing that is very minor but it shits me right off and it's stupid but its the walkout and the i have to hug all the trainers crap
Walk out, get your grease done and hands checked and get in the bloody cage ffs
Hugging should've been done in the rooms

Nice work phantom13
Something to be proud of mate that's for sure

 

[phantom13]

* how could I foget fedor
Smashed his stuff out in marathons too
Loved him because he just seemed so natural and not cocky
Its why i liked Whitaker too
Down to earth and didnt do all the crap hype bullshit

I've always hated the bullshit pre fight dribble talk, I know its used a lot to sell fights but I just can't do it
Another thing that is very minor but it shits me right off and it's stupid but its the walkout and the i have to hug all the trainers crap
Walk out, get your grease done and hands checked and get in the bloody cage ffs
Hugging should've been done in the rooms

Nice work Phantom
Something to be proud of mate that's for sure

I think you meant to tag me but some rookie gonna get a nice tyre pump from you