In what should have been a milestone event, UFC 250 seems to have flown under the radar. I don't blame the causal fan for not caring much about the card, but as a sports-starved MMA fan, I think there's enough to get excited about to fork over my $60 to Dana and Co,
The female GOAT returns in the main event to defend her Featherweight Title against 8-1 Felicia Spencer. Spencer's lone loss came again Cris Cyborg at UFC 240 last July. Nunes quite frankly shouldn't see much of a struggle in this contest.
In the co-main event, former Bantamweight Champ Cody Garbrandt has the most to lose on this card. After defeating Dominick Cruz at UFC 207, Cody was geared for superstardom, However, consecutive TKO losses to TJ Dillashaw and another KO loss to Pedro Munhoz at UFC 235 leaves No Love staring down the barrel. Another knockout loss would be devastating for Cody and may even be his last appearance in the Octagon. His opponent, Raphael Assuncao has only four knockout in his professional career and is riding a two fight skid himself. I think the time off should help Garbrandt and I see him picking up the win.
In addition to the co-main event, this is a night for the Bantamweights to shine. Top contenders Aljimain Sterling and Cory Sandhagen do battle as well as hot prospect Sugar Sean O'Malley fighting in the PPV opener against veteran Eddie Wineland. After Henry Cejudo retired and dropped the belt in his postfight interview following a win against Cruz at UFC 249, an impressive performance tonight can mean a shot at gold for one of these fighters. The rumored plan is for Petr Yan to face Jose Aldo for the title, but that's never guaranteed in the MMA world.
Pick 5 Challenge (5-9
-$315)
A few weeks ago I had some of the worst luck I've ever had gambling on MMA. My first four bets all went to split decision, and my pick lost all four. Getting back on the horse this weekend for UFC 250.
UFC 250 (3-3 +$20)
Jussier Formiga +108
Brian Kelleher +205
Gerald Meerschaert +105
Neil Magny -145
Aljimain Sterling -120
BONUS: Pointsbet Odds Booster - Nunes/Garbrandt +120
Overshadowing the action in the cage Saturday was the war of words between Jonny Bones Jones and Dana White. To make a long story short, Jones tweeted that the UFC wanted him to move up heavyweight for a dream fight against the scary motherfucker Francis Ngannou. During a press conference last weekend, Dana White said Jones was looking for a raise six times his normal purse for the fight and wanted for $30 million. This led to a lot of back and forth and at one point Dana took aim at Jones' outside the cage issues "In one of his tweets, he said I tarnished his name. I tarnished you? You've done a very good job of tarnishing you."
After all the dust settled Sunday, Jone tweeted out the following:
Reyes vs Jan For the UFC light heavyweight championship of the world. As of right now, I got nothing to really gain fighting either of them. Let me know if you guys want to set up a day in 2021 for that Izzy fight. Hopefully you guys will be willing to pay by then. Bones out, when you see me in the streets just call me JJ. To the light heavyweight title Veni, vidi, vici
Neither man has a great track record when it comes to telling the truth, so I'm sure the truth falls somewhere in the middle. However, that dustup was followed today by one of UFC's other top stars, Jorge Masvidal, sending out a series of tweets to the UFC brass about his pay regarding a future title shot againt Kamaru Usman.
Shouldn’t be this hard to get a deal done #fuckery
History lesson for all the new fans that might have just started following my beautiful sport: 16 yr been at this. Never once turned down a fight. Asked to go fight #3 at the time in his hometown across the pond after a year off. Ko of the year nominee. Asked to fight #5 At the time and lets be real didn’t have to fight him. Fastest Ko in the history of ufc. Msg I am asked to fight 3 different guys and I said yes to all three. I fought in backyards and those dudes never disrespected me the way I’m being now
@espn
It's not unusual for fighters to threaten walking out of the UFC as a negotiating ploy, but this time it's two of White's biggest stars teaming up against him. Without a gate for possibly the remainder of 2020, UFC can potentially lose out on $100 million. Despite that, reports in
The Athletic say that UFC fighter pay of 18% revenue is much lower than any other professional sport.
I don't see how UFC and ESPN will sustain $60 monthly PPVs without their biggest stars until fans can fill the arenas again. Dana's already said he can't afford to let McGregor to fight on UFC Island without a crowd and now Jones and Masvidal are speaking out. This will be a potentially huge story to watch unfold over the next several months.
