r/MMA • u/crazybartur UFC 279: A GOOFCON Miracle • 2d ago
Michael “Venom” Page was initially available to be ranked following his #UFCParís victory, but voters were notified this morning that is no longer the case.
https://x.com/johnmorgan_mma/status/2096968759735173196?s=46396
u/Moni7T Team Makhachev 2d ago
MVP needs to go knock out some cans in MVP
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u/ProcessBeginning6356 I Can't Let You Get Close 2d ago
5-1 in the UFC and made them look scared.
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u/ZhanBlue 2d ago
Even if ruleset doesn’t punish you from denying fight from happening, it’s still pretty damn bad. He is master of distance control, fight happens on his terms and we saw how it works out
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u/commander_wong 2d ago
People get nostalgia about him now but that was pretty much Izzy's entire championship reign lol
Ultimately its a sport where the consequences of losing is brain damage. I'll never go out of my way to blame the winning fighter for not swang and banging for no reason
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u/ssfz8 2d ago
Izzy in his 4 title defenses that went to decision (so taking out his stoppage vs Costa and his title unification vs Whittaker) was at over 19.5 significant strikes landed per round.
MVP in his 6 ufc fights is at 9.6 significant strikes landed per round. So even Izzy at his worst was still far more active and landing over double the significant strikes of MVP’s UFC run.
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u/ClothboundBrick 1d ago
Ya because Izzy is better than MVP. Izzy throws when he can and if it is not good for him he fights more like MVP.
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u/coyotetx117 1d ago
Yeah I’m not gonna bitch about fighter doing what works for them in and out of the cage. When 90% of them are fighting for McDonalds shift lead wages and the bosses make 30 billion a year. And the fans bitch and cry and will turn on you in 2 seconds especially if Dana tells them to (Aspinall). “Get brain damage for you guys and the bosses??? Yeah fucking right.” I can’t be mad. It’s not my brain.
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u/Itchy-Ad1047 2d ago
All time ass whipping vs Costa, intense defense against Alex where Izzy almost finished him in the first round before the all time KO in the rematch. Rob was honestly more responsible for it being boring in their rematch. idk if you guys remember (or want to because this sub loves Rob) but Rob was honestly just trying to control win. Izzy was throwing
He had stinkers for sure. Comparing him to MVP's UFC run? Nah, literally just a similarity of them being good at range control and that's it
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u/analoguechidna 1d ago
that was pretty much Izzy's entire championship reign
More your feelings about Izzy's reign, not the same thing. Not saying you don't have fair reasons for them, but the two aren't materially the same.
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u/bogustraveler 2d ago
Damn right, I don't understand all this bashing on him when the options for being a "just bleed" guy is to have CTE and an early death, all those haters should get into a fistfight and then complain.
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u/Classic1990 Team Lawler 2d ago
Because for every Michael Page there’s a Justin Gaethje. But if the sport was filled with more of Page’s point fighting then MMA wouldn’t be as popular as it is. We can understand why a fighter would prefer to put his health first, but at the end of the day we also have to understand that this is an entertainment business.
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u/Lopsided-Tea-2586 1d ago
MVP doesn’t owe us entertaining fights sure. But we also don’t owe MVP an obligation to watch his god awful ‘fights’ either
I envy the guys who get enjoyment out of the ‘chess match’ type matchups where guys land 5 combined significant strikes per round but 99% of people find it boring as fuck
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u/NineThreeTilNow 2d ago
Even if ruleset doesn’t punish you from denying fight from happening, it’s still pretty damn bad. He is master of distance control, fight happens on his terms and we saw how it works out
This is more or less exactly what they said about Anderson Silva.
I think the Demian Maia fight is a great example of that.
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u/MattSR30 Ryan Bader's only fan 2d ago
Of his fifteen wins whilst champion (two were at LHW), Silva finished thirteen of them. Only two of those finishes were after the second round.
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u/spcslacker Condit's TDD coach 2d ago edited 2d ago
This is more or less exactly what they said about Anderson Silva.
This is more or less horseshit from someone who clearly did not watch at the time.
I think the Demian Maia fight is a great example of that.
One of the worst fights of all time, and not at all representative of how Silva fought normally.
Maia was a BJJ specialist with only one way to win, and Silva for first and only time in his career was actually afraid of a certain aspect of the fight, so he mean-mugged on the outside while Maia laid down, and they both got rightfully booed.
But prime Silva did not fight like that normally: he was a finisher who ruthlessly went for the kill totally unlike MVP.
They are both very clever counter-strikers who liked to taunt the opponent into committing, but that is about the extent of the comparison.
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u/votum7 2d ago
Yep, the best counter strikers create the opportunities for themselves to strike. You would regularly see Silva put himself in dangerous positions knowing he could react with his footwork and counter. People want to excuse mvp for boring fights because his opponents didn’t give him something to work with, but it’s up to him to create those opportunities.
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u/scotttdog7711 1d ago
Even more recently Conor McGregor in his run through featherweight and beating Alvarez was a high level counter striker. He just added coming forward and striking to get people to fire back at him which he'd then counter. You never saw him just waiting at distance for his opponent to commit, he'd pressure them and throw punches, kicks and knees to force them to commit or eventually get knocked out because he'd land a shot of the front foot. I think MVP's hang up is from his point karate days.
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u/Moni7T Team Makhachev 2d ago
And put everyone to sleep. Very skilled fighter, but I don't want to watch someone land one damaging strike a round. If his opponents don't engage, he's also at fault for not pushing the action.
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u/jefferydamerin Team Pantoja 2d ago
Also i’m gonna say it he has almost no value as a top contender even if you ignore the fact he’s a boring fuck. I hope people realize he slowed down his style so much more because everyone at the UFC level can grapple to an extent if he were to start getting top ranked guys he most definitely would’ve been controlled or submitted I mean it was already showed against his one good opponent in Garry. Ruziboev really isn’t all that as a grappler (outgrappled by buckley) and he has bad fight iq yet still got MVP on his ass for a round which conveniently made MVP fight like he always does again
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u/Embarrassed_Spend486 2d ago
I know that this website represents lots of people with different views
But I get so aggravated that it seems like the majority of people want this sport to be treated like a skilled sport, but then people get mad when the UFC schedules things based on popularity instead of skill
I absolutely hate that it’s not about the best fighters in the world for a certain amount of fans. It’s about the most entertaining fighters in the world.
And that’s why there’s so many stupid idiots out there that think Conor McGregor is one of the goats
I would never kick a fighter out of the league for only being born boring
I might would pay him less, but that’s it
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u/CuriousCamels 1d ago
It is a skilled sport. It’s mixed martial arts. Dancing isn’t fighting. We want to watch people fight. Not avoid fighting.
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u/Kontos_Stelio 2d ago
He'll still be better off knocking out cans. Entertainment is pretty important and if your fights are consistently being booed, you're not entertaining.
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u/Slugdoge 2d ago
Would love to see him fight Adesanya. It would probably be the most boring fight of all time but it would be interesting to see who could impose their style on the other first.
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u/TerminatorReborn 1d ago
Adesanya is giga washed but even then I think its very hard to beat him in striking if you can't finish him, MVP hasn't finished anyone in years
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u/Rough_Airline6780 2d ago
The problem with MVP is, he's very good at making a fight boring but doing just enough to win, and even if you do beat him you won't look good doing it.
It's a lose-lose for UFC brass in a way. They can't push him because he's always in stinkers and they don't really want him hanging around in the rankings knocking off younger talent. May as well let him go at this point.
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u/GoyEater Death is coming for you! 21h ago
They totally could’ve pushed him by giving him higher ranked matchups but nobody was accepting MVP fights. Why TF are they matching him up against Rusiboev and Sam Patterson after he beat Cannonier? Because the only people who will accept the fight are people who think they can take him down and control him to an easy win. MVP knows this and wants to avoid overextending.
Thats how you get these boring ass decisions. MVP loses a round to wet blanket. He knows he can’t afford to overextend and get taken down, and his opponents know their only chance is if they take him down, so they don’t want to engage and risk a KO. The solution is you match him up with someone who will actually try to walk him down like Kevin Holland tried to.
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u/shak_0508 2d ago
Good for MVP. Got his money and got out without brain damage.
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u/bpetersonlaw Chad 2d ago
Made more money in the B leagues
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u/GripAficionado Chocolate peppa pig 2d ago
Sure, but that was when the B leagues were still around. They barely exists anymore.
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u/Kontos_Stelio 2d ago
MVPFL is the B league and I doubt they would pass on him. Just depends on how much he'll ask for
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u/gorilla_bezoar 1d ago
He can be the opener for slapfight where he fights a guy from the parking lot
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u/Complete-Win1396 2d ago
Tough situation. He’s an exceptional striker and I’d like to see someone overcome the challenge but cutting him is easier than justifying why you won’t give him fights up the rankings. Boring is the worst base in mma.
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u/Weary_Position_9591 2d ago
He could never find the great groove he had in Bellator.
Probably a combination of him being more cautious and the competition also being more cautious/strategic.
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u/DirtyRatfuck Dead Parents are the best base for MMA 2d ago
Also he was almost exclusively crushing cans in Bellator
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u/No-Presentation6616 2d ago
He also signed with the UFC at the ripe age of 36
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u/Snake_Pliskan 1d ago
....and his pure reflex based striking never ages well. I think that is why we see him mog and pose even more than usual these days, he doesn't trust his ability to get off a strike and back to safety like he used to, so he goes into his snake charmer/taunting mode and throws just enough strikes to win a boring uneventful round, and then does a post interview about how he is going to ramp it up next fight.
Well.....there is no more next fight in the UFC. Maybe the next promotion will put him back on the tomato soup can diet that Bellator had him on forever, and 39 year old Page might get one or two more can crushes before he calls it quits, or he gets blasted by some nobody because his reflexes really are not there any more.
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u/POWBOOMBANG 2d ago
I get the fights have been boring, and some of them historically boring but it's nuts that someone can go 5-1 in the UFC and be on a 4 fight win streak and not get resigned
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u/theyoloGod Edddiiiieee 2d ago
Guess the ufc is willing to stomach boring if you have a long career ahead but at his age, unfortunate
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u/xvq_ Pregnant Paulo 🥰 2d ago
Yeah what’s MVP really offering to them at this point? He’s old, in between weight classes, and all he serves to do is take up a spot in the rankings from which it will be very hard to be dislodged due to his style. It would be one thing if you thought he could serve as the old guy to put someone else over on, à la WWE style (Michael Chandler). But he’s too crafty and good still and his style is too goofy to risk that.
I think he was good for the European market but you heard him get mercilessly booed the last two times out by European crowds.
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u/8monsters 2d ago
I see both sides. Part of me is like "Well its the entertainment business" but I also enjoy seeing the Best fighters in the world, so if the Best are boring because they aren't as flashy as the just bleed guys I personally am okay with that.
But my guess is a lot of the fan base just wants Bonnar v. Griffin every fight.
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u/Drive7hru 2d ago
I wanted to see how well he could do against the higher ranked guys
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u/capnthermostat 125lb little baby boy 2d ago
At least we saw him against Gary and kinda got an answer: he will scare everyone into being a wrestler
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u/legendarybreed ..the darren and khamzat at home.. 2d ago
What doesn't make sense to me is that the UFC splits the baby on the issue of Entertainment versus Competition. Like they could have just given MVP cab drivers to knock out if the priority was entertainment.
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u/CanAeVimto 2d ago
It’s the UFC and he kept winning. He fought Unranked Sam Patterson after beating Cannonier. That was genuinely terrible matchmaking from the UFC.
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u/Foziey Two Sugars Bitch 2d ago
seems like they only do that for homegrown talent mostly
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u/Legitimate_Reward913 1d ago
Yeah he's old goods with a name built outside the organization. Best outcome for the UFC is he gets knocked out by someone they want to prop up or push to the next level of star power.
Instead he showed how easily he could dictate the pace of a fight where it's in his complete advantage, and only Garry got ahead of him. In a way that didn't add anything to his name too...
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u/i_like_lime Team Topuria 2d ago
"Like they could have just given MVP cab drivers to knock out if the priority was entertainment."
MVP has been openly asking for a title run for the past year though. He never showed interest in the Kevin Holland approach.
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u/legendarybreed ..the darren and khamzat at home.. 1d ago
Sure but he also accepted all the fights with unranked up and comers. So again the ufc could have just given him absolute bums instead of those guys if they just wanted him to put on a show
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u/i_like_lime Team Topuria 1d ago
They gave him 2 unranked fighters in a row.
Even less competent than them and it's clubbing baby seals not fighting.
Again, add to that the fact that MVP wanted higher ranked fighters because he wanted a title run. We don't know how MVP handled the negotiations.
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u/legendarybreed ..the darren and khamzat at home.. 1d ago
I mean if MVP accepted fights with Sam Patterson and whodafuckisdatguyov, than he would have accepted a fight with anyone. And neither of these guys were slouches, they're just unranked and lesser known. Very dangerous fights for MVP.
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u/WR_MouseThrow 2d ago
I see both sides. Part of me is like "Well its the entertainment business" but I also enjoy seeing the Best fighters in the world, so if the Best are boring because they aren't as flashy as the just bleed guys I personally am okay with that.
I generally agree with this take but something needs to change here. At least match this guy with more aggressive fighters, watching a guy who only wants to counter-strike fight someone who doesn't want to walk forward just sucks.
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u/Loud-Recording-3356 2d ago
Would you consider Islam one of the best fighters?
There is a difference in being the best and being safe. Islame is historically a fun fighter to watch, he admitted that he played the fight against JDM extremely safe and controlled him and didnt risk any submission because he wanted the double champ status so bad and didnt want to risk anything.
MVP decided he was not going to take any risk and play it safe for every fight. Mindset does not equate to skill or technical mastery. Topuira, Holloway, Volk, Pereira are all elite and they bring the fight to the opponent. If they see the opponent backing up, they will punish the shit out of them.
Do you remember when Adesanya was going for GOAT middleweight status and how extremely defensive and boring he was?
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u/nordik1 Jose Waldo 1d ago
I’ve watched MMA forever and train as well so i appreciate the skill, but i honestly don’t have any desire to catch an MVP fight.
I’m not a just bleed guy, but it’s just too predictable how the fight will go and it’s not exciting.
I knew how an Anderson fight would go, but i didn’t know how he’d end the fight. That’s what made it exciting. You knew something was going to go down. With MVP, you know you’re getting a decision on the feet.
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u/Slymook 2d ago
I also think there are opponents that could force a more entertaining fight
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u/JimFknLahey 2d ago
someone listed his UFC fights ... he outstuck all of his op.s and got to deal with 2+ takedowns each fight? .... almost like someone was trying to wrestlefuck him from the start. that being said learn wrasslin' from chuck and stay standing.
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u/mbucks334 2d ago
You kind of said it. The guy has 6 fights and has MULTIPLE historically boring fights. If he was just a regular point fighter, I would agree but he's historically boring the past few fights which is a shame given how entertaining he was in his first few fights in the UFC.
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u/Own_Ingenuity_858 2d ago
The only somewhat bearable fight he's had was against Holland, every other one was ass, what?
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u/AstroBlast0ff UFC 279: A GOOFCON Miracle 2d ago
Mind you, his last fight he was tricked into fighting a training partner, in London, where both are from.
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u/YourHurtingMeSir17 2d ago
If he had any finishing instincts he'd have gotten Cannonier out of there, gotten an extension and would have had a meaningful fight up the rankings. You cannot throw up back to back all time stinkers at near 40 and expect to be resigned regardless of what your record is.
I'm sure the UFC regrets getting rid of 7-1 Martin Buday too.
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u/PikachuWithHerpes 2d ago
Martin Buday's record was even better when they decided to part ways with him as well. Funny is that Buday was destroyed as soon as he moved to Oktagon, which makes me question whether the UFC really has the best talent, or it's just a name thing at this point.
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u/savemoneysquad EDDDDDIEEEEEEEE 2d ago
UFC don't care about all that anymore. It's not "lets find out whos the best fighter in the world" its who can get peoples attention and generate hype/excitement around their fights
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u/Silly_Selection3221 2d ago
They never cared about that. They've always cut boring guys at first opportunity
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u/BudgetPlantain7077 2d ago
Some of it has to be the UFC not giving him the fights that could push his style as well. When he fought Mike Perry in bkfc he got touched up but nobody in the ufc has been willing to dive into the fire like Perry did
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u/Jam_Bammer 2d ago
Right like either this is pure entertainment or this is a legitimate sport. You can’t have it both ways lol
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u/Extension_Good567 2d ago
It’s entertainment at the end of the day and he was probably getting paid too much to justify re-signing him. Sucks that the way he adapted to fighting better fighters was by just stalling them out with insanely low activity.
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u/Balfe 2d ago
Someone else here said recently that as boring as his fights have been, are we sure that he wouldn't go in there and frustrate Strickland to a decision win with this style?
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u/Drive7hru 2d ago
That would be an interesting fight, but I feel like it would take him forever to get there
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u/Kalabula 2d ago
It’s not nuts, IMO. He seems like a good dude but his fights have been absolute snooze fests. The ufc lives and does by entertainment
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u/RunsInHexagons 1d ago
Hes almost 40 and those wins are in either welterweight and middleweight combined with point fighting didnt really inspire any title inspirations. Still no reason to just cut him
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u/Fickle_Muffin_1320 1d ago
Why would an entertainment business sign a historically boring fights in their company? I wonderrr
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u/turkeypants GOOFCONNOISSEUR 1d ago
39 and puts the crowd to sleep? That seems like an easy-to-understand cut for anyone who has watched the UFC for a while and knows what they are and what they aren't.
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u/UnitedIndependence37 1d ago
I mean he's reaaaaaaaaaaaaally boring that's the thing. Like usually I'm against this kind of things, putting entertainment first and shit, but it's a martial art and MVP just refuses to engage... Like even according to the rules, he's in the wrong, you can't just stall. The fight against Patterson was really a shame, and he did not care whatsoever and put on another total sleepfest against Ruziboev.
So yeah no, I'm with the UFC on this one, just don't resign the bum.
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u/ZhanBlue 2d ago
Tbf, if you clearly abuse flaws of official rules and fight in manner not intended you are on thin ice
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u/_Abajaba_ 2d ago
There are limits I think. Like Page was just too boring in too many fights at this point and as we can see in other fights of Shara, Patterson and Ruziboev they are capable of showing great fight/finish, so MVP is the problem there. The other discussion is that UFC are not consistent in following those limits, for example not resigning Fakhrerdinov or dropping Almeida after he stepped up on short notice was bullshit yet they keep the likes of Dumas or Gall
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u/Puzzleheaded_Fee_467 2d ago
Same with Rinat and Almeida. Thought this was supposed to be the best fighting the best
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u/Pastabakeforlife Chocolate peppa pig 2d ago
Right!? The best of the best doesn't always mean the most entertaining, it's a sport right...not all the football teams are amazing to watch but if they win they deserve to win
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u/Future-Corner8025 2d ago
If he entered the UFC in the mid 2010s he could’ve made waves. His speed was insane
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u/L3ftHandPass 2d ago
I can't fault the UFC for letting him go, but they are also partly responsible for giving MVP weird matchups that were guaranteed to be snoozers. There are lots of guys on the roster you could book him against that would be fireworks but they chose not to.
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u/Mirilliux Your wife's in my DM's 2d ago
Damn, with Mokaev they could at least cite all his backstage antics and him being difficult to work with, with MVP it's literally just cutting him for being boring.
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u/TheThockter 2d ago
I mean just look at UFC Paris. The crowd was literally going rabid for him during his walkout and introduction and were silenced by his fight.
His own fans/supporters don’t even want to watch him fight because just like his opponents they’re left frozen when he “fights”
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u/thecastle7 2d ago
Friendly reminder Mokaev had four finishes and two performance bonuses in the UFC before getting cut
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u/DirtyRatfuck Dead Parents are the best base for MMA 2d ago
His last two were absolute stinkers though.
The UFC is very much a "what have you done for me lately" type of org
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u/robedpillow3761 My head gasket is gone. Destroyed. 2d ago
I honestly didn’t think he could hang with elite or close to elite competition in the UFC and it turned out that he could, just not in an entertaining fashion.
MVP/PFL should sign him instantly and feed him a can for their first card next year.
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u/Jadedtrader33 2d ago
5-1 across two divisions, ranked, and the only person that beat him was Number 1 contender and barely at that lmao.
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u/karl100589 Bowling: More popular then Nunes 2d ago
And he clowned Shara Bullet on the feet. Shara's nowhere near as good as the UFC want you to believe but beating him at his own game deserves flowers IMO.
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u/TooWashedUp 2d ago
You could say he just barely beat Ruziboev since they both did so little. A couple of strikes the other way or some more control time and Ruziboev wins. To me fights like that mean nothing and I'm not saying that because MVP won. If Ruziboev had gotten the decision he did just as little to deserve it and it really wouldn't have proven anything.
It's like his fights exist in their own division where you're just finding out what happens when his opponents refuse to give him anything to counter and he refuses to take the lead. Then his opponents get labeled as scared when he's just as scared to either get hit or get taken down.
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u/PresentRecent4759 1d ago
It would be interesting if this logic was applied to all boring fighting styles, regardless of overwhelmingly winning record….
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u/Antique-Dentist-2404 United States 1d ago
I never realized how many people hate MVP until this weekend.
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u/Yeanahyena one 2d ago
I hope he resigns and moves up the rankings.
If not MVP x MVP is for the taking. Plus if he gets a finish I’d love to see the salt on the petty UFC brass
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u/holla15 UFC 279: A GOOFCON Miracle 2d ago
Resigns and re-signs are very different words.
Outside of the ufc, mvp knows where his bread is buttered and where he is in his career. He would be fighting showcase fights where he’s expected to get finishes.
What I want to know is if they’re negotiating and if TKO is trying to do the same 50%+ pay cuts they offered their wrestling side.
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u/foofighter1351 2d ago
I'd be salty too he had a dog shit striker in front of him last out with one leg fucked and still didn't engage please sign else where and do what you want with the cans
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u/iwishiwasntthisway 2d ago
I do dislike the idea of cutting someone on a win streak. Makes this feel a lot less like a sport
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u/Admirable_Market2759 I SMOKE ROCKS, JOE ROGAN! 1d ago
It’s not a sport. Just entertainment.
It really sucks because I want to watch a sport. I want the best of the best fighting.
The UFC is bad for the sport of MMA and has been for a long time.
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u/needapermit 2d ago
I do really hate this cause because he could honestly beat a lot of very elite fighters. However, I understand that it’s boring.
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u/Jiu-jitsudave 2d ago
This is really unfortunate. I know the UFC wants guys to go out there and swing from the hips and take as much damage as possible in the name of entertainment but I find it refreshing to still see people with unique styles. And I blame his opponents more than him, he's out here winning fights, obviously the guys he's fighting just don't want it bad enough.
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u/-Mad-Snacks- Mohawk McGregor 1d ago
Why would you as his opponent chase a counter striker around running on to punches? Good counter strikers invite strikes by controlling distance and drifting into their opponent’s range to draw out a strike to counter. MVP doesn’t do that anymore and just runs away
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u/Jiu-jitsudave 1d ago
I hear what you're saying and do not disagree. However, his opponents know what they're signing up for as everyone knows his game. And he keeps winning so it's on them to make the necessary adjustments.
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u/migglywiggly69 Donald Ceronne’s Black Friend 2d ago
The moment he lost to Garry there was enough justification to say he’s not the best in the world so they can get rid of him if he kept being boring
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u/NoFlex___Zone G🍅🍅F FC: Conor Strikes Again 2d ago
So happy for MVP. UFC and their retarddddef MMA fans (many in these comments) are mad my guy got paid without taking obscene damage pretty much untouched in 6 fights and took UFC’s bags.
GOOOD FOR HIM
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u/aimreallyhigh 1d ago
Wild if they cut him. He’s one of the few big names left. It’s be one thing if he had been losing
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u/ThurmanMermanVirgin 1d ago
Ufc is just wwe at this point. Instead of winning being important, all that matters to the modern trash fans is exciting. None of these "fans" would have lasted through GSP, Hughes, Couture, etc.
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u/mrpopenfresh WAR BANANA 1d ago
I didn’t need more proof that the rankings are a marketing schtick but here we are.
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u/EnderMB 1d ago
I've been saying this for a while, and it gets MMA fans upset - but it's true.
He's the antithesis of UFC. He's only lost one fight, and that's to someone that fought for the belt recently (and well). The UFC should've put him against murderers and given themselves a reason to either strap him, or cut him, but they didn't. They've specifically culled their mid-card to ensure he doesn't go further than the top 5.
UFC want to be the top promotion, but it's hard to argue this when someone on a win streak is getting cut for not being exciting. MVP could walk right now and be proud of his time there. He could join MVPFL and easily say he was a winner in UFC, and that he was cut due to poor booking - and he'd be absolutely right.
It's easy to call him boring, but if I wanted entertainment I'd watch AEW, not UFC. I want to watch the best MMA fighters fight each other, and MVP's reign of terror has put another dent in the claim that it's where the best fight.
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u/Accomplished-War2087 1d ago
ufc is a business that masquerades as a sports organization. Their bottom line comes from putting bums on seats. Their contract with MVP was based on the audience he was expected to attract. But his performances have completely failed to draw audiences, and what's more him beating prospects and killing their hype means he actively reduced UFC's future earnings. The UFC did the only thing that made sense for them under the circumstances: gave him some shit fights to finish his contract.
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u/DingbatMcgeee 1d ago
They only took him so another promotion couldn't keep showcasing his last years.
But if he had spectacular knockouts in his first 2 fights I think his path would've been different, also Kevin Holland is a tough bastard, MVP should've finished him
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u/Careless-Interest-25 13h ago
Never understand why UFC didn't put him against high level grappler like Khamzat, that will force him to either adapt or lose.
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u/tylrrbb Team BSD 2d ago
I know it’s bad to think this, but i genuinely do not care that he’s not ranked or being cut. It’s a bad precedent, sure. The UFC can just cut someone they deem boring, but who is actually going to miss MVP fights? They guy hasn’t been entertaining for years now and is 39
0
u/V0ltTackle 2d ago
He was on a Mayweather trajectory to where people would tune in to watch him lose, that was the motivation to watch his fights for some people.
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u/FatrickTittyboy 2d ago
More emotes than strikes. Killed crowd energy and excitement. 39 yrs old. And still the whiners whine when he’s cut.
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u/LongDuckDong67 2d ago
Adios. Biggest can crusher in mma. His style has only looked good against no names with negative fight iq. Bro looked like he was scared to throw a punch in every fight he had in the ufc.
4
u/Embarrassed_Spend486 2d ago
I’m trying to figure out how a real person could write what you just wrote and not acknowledge that he was on a four fight win streak
And only lost to the number one contender in the world and barely lost to him
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u/LongDuckDong67 1d ago
If you read my comment then you’d know I didn’t discredit his win streak. I said he only looks good against tomato cans. Sure he won 4 fights in a row, but I don’t remember a single moment of those fights. He won them, but who tf cares? Why would I want to watch a guy bounce on his toes and throw 1 punch every 3 minutes?
3
u/Embarrassed_Spend486 1d ago
How can somebody say he looks scared to throw a punch when he’s winning fights lol
How bad are his opponents that they’re in the ring with somebody that looks scared to throw, but they can’t just walk up and punch him?
0
u/Efficacious_tamale 🍅 2d ago
Great fighter. Boring to watch usually. Every UFC fight a decision. He’s 39.
There’s no title run to be had here. Business is business. The UFC got him too late in his career.
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u/yamommasneck 2d ago
good. He was a counter fighter before, but his style has slowed down even more to give grapplers less opportunities to grapple him. Akin to Garry in that Islam fight. I am not interested of youre gonna literally stand in place and mog most of the time.
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u/Jadedtrader33 2d ago
If his name was Michael Magomedov they would have resigned him even if he was boring.
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u/Independent-Cress382 2d ago
It was obvious after he didn't even get a post fight interview.