I just reject any inference that Stipe is just showing up for a check and isn’t interested in winning. If that was the case he would have fought a couple easier fights and called it a day.
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Stipe got to cut his hair .that parted down the middle 90’s party of five cut gives off soft vibes.
Gotta go back to the Croatian fade
He would have risked one big payday
Who would you say are the other two?
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Rich Franklin and Rampage
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Fedor is one. Fedor has a very different clinch style but when he gets connection, people get off balanced and taken down
Other is Aoki. If Aoki gets a body lock, his takedown to control percentage is insane.
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Of course, he wants to win, but the odds definitely aren’t in his favor.
He looked like an old man against Ngannou. He’s only going to be older and slower after all these additional years.
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If you had mentally checked out of your job and were offered one last day with one big check or a few smaller ones, what would you pick?
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Yes.
He has to know he cant win without landing the 1 clean shot.
Its a crime the fight is happening
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It depends. Is it one last big check for a project that’s very difficult or a few smaller checks that amount to more for significantly easier tasks?
Oh, and you already know you have an outstanding pension waiting for you from another job.
Easier tasks but there’s a few for less money or one challenging task for a larger total paycheque?
they both are…
He’d make more money for three winnable fights than he would fighting Jon. Stipe is way better than the vast majority of the division.
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But imagine the shine he’d lose after dropping matches to Tom, Blaydes, Gane for example, because we know that aging guys that were at the top become fodder for company backed fighters that need to pad their record with a name. He doesn’t want to go out like Anderson Silva, nobody does.
Unfortunately we don’t know how he did against anyone in the division since hasn’t fought a single person in the entire UFC.
I’m not shitting on Stipes accomplishments btw, just the timing of the entire situation.
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I think Stipe seriously wants to win. I don’t think he’s just doing it for the money. Glory drives these guys also.
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Belated
Hopefully the check didnt bounce.
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OP nailed it
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I think Stipe was wise to wait for jones. He got a huge payday for one fight. I’ll bet he got more in this fight than 5 to 10 years of fireman pay
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