CONOR MCGREGOR VS MAYWEATHER DEAL ALMOST DONE?!

The huge fight that has been brewing for the last few months is drawing closer and closer. It has moved from just an idea, to rumours, to them two actually talking about the idea of fighting each other, to now where the negotiations are actually taking place

How the negotiations work

This is quite a complex deal to work out for several reasons. There a lot of people involved in this deal, a normal deal consists of the promoter and the two managers acting on behalf of the fighters. Due to the sport cross in this deal, there is Dana White (UFC President), Conor McGregor and his management, Floyd Mayweather and his team and Mayweather promotions. There are two sides to a deal, Dana white will negotiate with Conor McGregor's team first in which they will discuss show money, how much of the Pay Per View percentage will be split. Then Dana has to negotiate with the Mayweather team and discuss the same things. However, in boxing there is much more up for negotiation such as the arena, the referee, also the weight will be negotiated.

The Issues

Most of the issues to work out are ego and money. Floyd Mayweather has said he wants $100 million and McGregor is expected to get around $70 million. Mayweather wanted more than McGregor because he claims that he's the 'A' side. In boxing this means that he's the most important one in the match up so he should get more money. However, this has been disputed. McGregor is the more exciting fighter, he is a huge draw and except from the Pacquiao fight, every recent McGregor performance has had a higher PPV buy than the Mayweather fights.

Another issue to be tackled in these negotiations are the television and Pay-Per-View rights, this issue also links to another issue, would it be a UFC show with the boxing main event or would it be a boxing show. This is because boxing is linked with HBO in America (which is where the bout will take place) and the UFC has it's prelims on Fox Sports 1 and owns it's own PPV production. There are interesting arguments for both sides, Dana has said that he would like it to be on a UFC card, they'd put together a huge main card and prelims for the event and the UFC know how to promote a huge event perfectly, whereas a boxing event would be less desirable even for the boxing fans, they only really tune in for well promoted fights or the big ones. Dana and the UFC will earn a substantial amount from this because Conor is under contract with them. However, it is very likely to just be a boxing show due to the logistics of the ring and the octagon, although we may see a mix of MMA and boxing fights or a few of the UFC fighters who are more boxing proficient compete in the ring against boxers.

There are other small issues in this matter such as who would be the play by play commentators and the desk team for the PPV, if it is an entirely boxing card then we are likely to the HBO/Showtime desk team and commentators but the point has been made by the MMA side that we'd need someone to explain Conor's history, fighting style, the difference in range and movement, potentially commentate on the size of the ring vs the octagon and that MMA fighters wear the small 4oz gloves to enable grappling but also the enable more knockout due to the decreased amount of padding, increasing power in the punches. UFC's staple play-by-play commentator Joe Rogan would be perfect for this job, he has years of experience commentating, is exciting to listen to, has a black belt in Taekwondo and a knowledge of boxing.

The Money

The money is the big talk of this deal amongst the public. Dana White in an interview said that Conor would make $75 Million and Mayweather would make just north of $100 Million. This would be McGregor's biggest pay day by far. This could potentially break the record for PPV buys, breaking the previous Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao fight. The companies could be in for a huge pay day and the prices of the tickets will be insanely high. The lead up to the fight and the level of the promotion for this fight will be something to look forward to and likely to be looking at the backend of 2017 for the fight.

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CONOR MCGREGOR DESTROYS ALVAREZ! TWO WEIGHT WORLD CHAMPION!!

For the first time ever, we have a 2 division world champion and his name is Conor McGregor. This was an insane card with a spectacular finish!! It was a long build up as the UFC constructed their mega card for the first ever MMA event in New York, they of course choose MSG.

This fight happened exactly as every Conor fan dreamt it would. Conor came out composed and loose with hands ready. I'm trying to think of a way to hype this up but straight up this was men against boys.

In the first round Conor dropped Eddie with a big left hand and there was a little scramble then Eddie got back up. Conor still looked cool calm and collected, Conor preceded to look for the shots and found another left hand which dropped Alvarez again and then he dropped him another time!! Yes you did read that correctly, McGregor dropped him 3 times in the first round and Eddie offered almost no offence. That's a 10-8 round.

In the second round it was more of the same, he dropped him early but Eddie recovered then McGregor hit him with a ridiculous combo of killer after killer as he fell to the canvas. He was out, John McCarthy stops the fight and saves Eddie from himself.

History is made. An incredible event. A great venue. Incredible performances. SUPERB.

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UFC 205: THOMPSON VS WOODLEY CO-MAIN EVENT BREAKDOWN!!

Tyron 'The Chosen One' Woodley sets on to defend his newly claimed welterweight title, this Saturday against the number two contender Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson. I have already made my pick for this fight. However I'm going to keep this as unbiased as possible. If you want to see mine and Caleb's picks click on the link at the bottom of the article.

I'm going to start of with the champion The Chosen One. The number one thing for Tyron to use is fakes. Everyone talks about the blitzing speed he poses it is nothing new for Wonderboy. So Tyron needs to get around his side kick by faking the blitz to get a reaction out of Wonderboy then blitzing in afterwards. Secondly he can not let it be a chess match like Rory MacDonald did. He has to take a page out of Matt Browns book and make it an ugly dirty fight and just grind Wonderboy into positions he isn't comfortable with. Although Tyron only has three takedowns in the UFC all coming from when he fought Condit. Tyron is a decorated wrestler he needs to use it during this fight or at least he has to threaten Wonderboy with the takedown. Finally he can't be scared of Wonderboy's leg most of Wonderboy's opponents lose as soon as he lifts his leg. Tyron has to shut his leg down before Wonderboy gets his timing because once he does it will be difficult to shut down.

Right now on to the number two contender. I think it is pretty obvious what the game plan if for Wonderboy and that is to keep the fight at his range and distance. He needs to keep the fight a clean pretty fight. So that he can slow Tyron down and keep the fight at his pace. He needs to stay on his side kick once Tyron has blitzed in to a couple of them Tyron will start shooting in for desperate takedowns. When Tyron starts to lower his hands to protect his body that is when Wonderboy needs to go head hunting but keeping the head kicks diverse throwing everything he has from hook kicks to axe kicks. Wonderboy needs to keep his back off of the cage he can not allow Tyron to settle in to the fight and built his confidence making him charge in. Wonderboy needs to be the one to back Tyron up against the cage just like when he fought Hendricks allowing him to tee off and pick his shots still keeping it a clean and pretty fight.

Mine and Caleb's picks: http://themmagenius.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/ufc-205-full-card-picks.html

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HOW DID THE BRITISH FIGHTERS DO? UFC 204 Report - Danny Roberts VS Mike Perry

Danny Roberts VS Mike Perry
Up first on the UFC Fight Pass prelims was Englishman Danny 'Hot Chocolate' Roberts. Roberts faced knockout king Mike Perry, Perry's record was 8 fights, 8 wins, 8 knockouts, 6 in the first round. Roberts has spent a lot of time at American Top Team in Florida and has become a more well rounded fighter as a result.

Danny's gameplan seemed to be overwhelm Perry and land a few big shots to wobble him and he absolutely executed that game plan, the issue was that needed to dodge almost every punch to execute this gameplan due to a combination of Danny not having a strong chin and Perry's massive one punch power.

The first round was going quite well for Danny he was landing a high volume of good technical striking and his movement looked good and also demonstrated high power in a few strikes that seemed to bother Perry only slightly due to his rock solid chin. Perry seemed to be just missing the clean contact he needed for the big shots, towards the end of the round Perry waited patiently for the big shot that dropped Roberts but Perry was unable to finish him.
MMA Genius Scorecard:
Round 1: 10-9 Perry

In the second round Roberts has fully recovered and comes out looking much better and Perry starts to look a little more laboured. Roberts stands landing clean often, Perry lands very very few shots. Towards the end of the round Roberts is on fire landing huge power shots again and again and again fully rocking Perry's head back, which would have dropped 95% of the division and finished most of them. He also frequently landed hard head kicks andstarted working on Perry's front leg mainly with outside leg kicks. At this point with about a minute to go I have it scored extremely close to a 10-8 I was just waiting for Perry to drop, Roberts was putting on a striking clinic against the tired and rocked Perry. With 20 seconds to go Perry lands one big shot and drops roberts but can't capitalize before the bell goes for the end of the round. Scoring wise this is very difficult as Roberts dominated 4:40 of the round but Perry dropped him. You could score ot for Perry on damage but Roberts controlled so much of that round and landed very powerful shots definitely causing damage to Perry.
MMA Genius Scorecard:
Round 2: 10-9 Roberts
Total: 19-19

Credit: MMAFighting

All even going into the third but also potentially 2-0 to Perry, regardless Roberts had to pull out a good round to get the win. Roberts came out looking like he knew that information, he did more of the same in the third, looking quite dominant and winning the round. This is the story of the fight, Roberts was 30 seconds away from the end of the fight and potentially winning, on my scorecard it would've been 29-28 Roberts. With under 30 seconds to go Roberts gets caught with a big right hand which wobbles him and he bends over and gets caught with a big knee which basically knocks him out and he catches another punch on the way down. Referee Marc Goddard was very lenient on the stoppage because Roberts seemed to show some life after hitting the ground before taking more heavy punches but also because he was seconds from winning at home.

Result: Perry wins via KO (Knee and punches) Round 3 (4:40)
UK 0-1 Rest of the World

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UFC 204: Michael Bisping Vs Dan Henderson Breakdown

Early Sunday morning, Michael Bisping aged 37 will defend his Middleweight championship for the first time in hi hometown of Manchester, England. His opponent is 46 year old Dan Henderson who has the chance to win the only belt he's not been able to get, the coveted UFC belt in his last fight before retirement. Yes all of that information is correct and this is going to be an incredible athletic battle which you will only see in the sport of mixed martial arts, in any other sport after 30 you're done, welcome to MMA.

As many of you will know this fight has happened before, at UFC 100 in 2009 Bisping was set to face Dan Henderson with the promise that if he beat Dan he would be given the title shot next. We all know what happened that night...

This is a photo just after Dan Henderson knocked out Michael Bisping stiff with 1 right overhand. The image of Dan Henderson flying through the air was an iconic one, one that he used as his logo ever since. Milliseconds after this photo Dan lands another full force right hand to the head of a clearly unconscious Bisping.

On Saturday night these to men will meet again and Bisping looks to get another loss back. In order for Bisping to win this his job sounds very simple but its actually extremely difficult, as shown in the photo above. Henderson is known for his tremendously strong right overhand punch, to the point where it has a name, the H-bomb. If Bisping can avoid this punch then winning is almost guaranteed, Bisping will outwork Henderson and could potentially knock Henderson out in the later rounds maybe 3,4 or 5. For Bisping he must establish his jab and more importantly movement, Henderson is extremely old for such a high level of competition and he is a lot slower than Bisping, Bisping has to tire Hendo out and watch for the power shots. For Henderson it's simple, try not to take too much damage through volume and land the H-bomb early and often.

The implications of this fight are huge. If Bisping wins then he gets back the most devastating loss in his career and solidifies himself as champion by defending it. He would also continue to go undefeated in the UK. For Henderson if he wins and keeps to his promise he would retire with the only belt he could never get his hands on until the last fight of his career and solidify him in the hall of fame. He would leave the division without a champion but in an almost beautiful and elegant way.

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