UFC on ESPN 12 Poirier vs Hooker Pick'em Thread

[KingEpicity]

It was definitely a great fight but hardly the FOTY much less the best fight ever like some have preposterously claimed. Any fight that has someone completely gassed and only grabbing for a single leg to make it to a decision should never be included in any GOAT conversation.

 

I was surprised Hooker gassed in the first place considering the kind of training they do at City Kickboxing to prepare their fighters for 5 round wars seems to work pretty well. Then again, coming off this pandemic it's not too surprising in retrospect that any fighter would not be in pristine shape.

 

Not sure why Conor wouldn't want to fight Poirier now, he is rightfully no. 2 in the rankings and still a pretty winnable fight for Conor despite Dustin being a MUCH better fighter than he was when they last fight. Poirier is a big name who just came off winning the IC against the then Featherweight champ, got smashed by Khabib like everyone else and now coming off one of the best fights of the year during a time where a lot of people were watching because there was nothing else going on in sports. As for the fight itself, Poirier has gotten so good with his combinations, pace and being able to just pour it on whenever a fighter take a break and stops moving BUT he still is very hit-able and cannot take the shots Conor can put on him. Same with Ferguson... but with him coming off a loss I can understand why Conor doesn't want that fight. But while he doesn't need the money fighting the #2 actually makes him a legit contender while the longer he sits on the shelf and the more Cowboy loses, the more that win seems meaningless. Gaethje is actually a much worse match up for Conor for that very reason but he CAN most likely take Conor's shot for awhile while throwing his own bombs.

[Rambo]

Conor fucks up Dustin imo but Tony gives him the business barring a chin checker.