I got myself an early Christmas present - a ticket for Bellator Dublin on the 22nd of February. 51 weeks on from the first time I attended a mixed martial arts event, which was also Bellator Dublin on the 28th of February 2019. The fight that was originally supposed to be the main event in September is rescheduled to be the main event in February: Gallagher v Ellenor. I haven't been paying much attention to who else is on the card but I know Will Fleury is back on. Looking to bounce back from his loss in September. The guy that beat him, Novenyi Jr., is one to watch I'd say. He caught Fleury with an overhand right early, rocked him and Fleury's reaction time wasn't the same for the rest of the fight so he kept getting his brain scrambled by that overhand. But I digress. I hope Will gets back to winning ways next time out. I think Danni Neilan is on the card as well. She made her pro debut in September and dominated her opponent to a unanimous decision victory. What a big stage to make your pro debut on. She's one to watch too if she can maintain that level. I must check out who else is on the card and follow the announcements as it fills up. There were still loads of tickets available when I was buying mine but maybe it's because people are waiting until after Christmas to purchase, when their finances are in order.
The other big announcement, in terms of Irish MMA, is that Conor McGregor will be fighting Donald Cerrone next month. I'm surprised it's at welterweight. Now I know Conor has gone five rounds against Nate Diaz at 170lbs before but it is still surprising because I wonder if Conor has the stamina for it. I think people are underestimating Cowboy. It might be seen as a tune up fight for Conor but it's certainly no "gimme" fight. Cowboy has better wrestling and is bigger than Conor. Although he has stuffed take downs from known wrestler Eddie Alvarez and the much bigger Nate Diaz before. Cowboy has better jiu jitzu although Conor is no slouch in the grappling department. He is supposed to be superior on the feet but Cowboy has dynamic kicking in his arsenal. Also, Conor was supposed to have a clear edge on the feet against Khabib but he got rocked by an overhand right and couldn't stop the relentless pressure from Khabib using his boxing. I hope Conor wins but it's no certainty that he will. Conor says he wants to fight regularly again next year but let's see how the outcome of his first one affects that goal.
One more thing I wanted to mention is I'm starting to lean towards Khabib in his fight with Tony. Tony is driven and I said in the last blog post that it's like the unstoppable force against the immovable object. But I heard Tony reference Khabib's fight with Tibeau in an interview recently and how Tony himself destroyed Tibeau. Well Khabib has improved immensely, not only since then but even in the last three fights. So I don't think referencing a fight that far back is as relevant as Tony might think, which makes me wonder if Tony is too cocky going into the fight. That's why I'm leaning slightly towards Khabib at the moment.
All in all it looks like, the first half at least, 2020 is going to be a good one for MMA.
The other big announcement, in terms of Irish MMA, is that Conor McGregor will be fighting Donald Cerrone next month. I'm surprised it's at welterweight. Now I know Conor has gone five rounds against Nate Diaz at 170lbs before but it is still surprising because I wonder if Conor has the stamina for it. I think people are underestimating Cowboy. It might be seen as a tune up fight for Conor but it's certainly no "gimme" fight. Cowboy has better wrestling and is bigger than Conor. Although he has stuffed take downs from known wrestler Eddie Alvarez and the much bigger Nate Diaz before. Cowboy has better jiu jitzu although Conor is no slouch in the grappling department. He is supposed to be superior on the feet but Cowboy has dynamic kicking in his arsenal. Also, Conor was supposed to have a clear edge on the feet against Khabib but he got rocked by an overhand right and couldn't stop the relentless pressure from Khabib using his boxing. I hope Conor wins but it's no certainty that he will. Conor says he wants to fight regularly again next year but let's see how the outcome of his first one affects that goal.
One more thing I wanted to mention is I'm starting to lean towards Khabib in his fight with Tony. Tony is driven and I said in the last blog post that it's like the unstoppable force against the immovable object. But I heard Tony reference Khabib's fight with Tibeau in an interview recently and how Tony himself destroyed Tibeau. Well Khabib has improved immensely, not only since then but even in the last three fights. So I don't think referencing a fight that far back is as relevant as Tony might think, which makes me wonder if Tony is too cocky going into the fight. That's why I'm leaning slightly towards Khabib at the moment.
All in all it looks like, the first half at least, 2020 is going to be a good one for MMA.
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