Holiday Mailbag: What fights do we hope Santa brings us for 2025?

The vacation season is upon us, and you realize what which means: it’s time to get bizarre.

There’s no MMA for the subsequent three weeks (nicely, there’s nonetheless MMA, however not one of the main organizations over right here in america have reveals), so we will stretch out our wings and discover another fertile floor ripe for MMA dialogue — living proof: Christmas.

As a smart man as soon as mentioned, I’m a peacock; you’ve bought to let me fly! So that we are going to do, hovering right into a seize bag of holiday-themed questions.

Christmas presents

“When you may ask Santa for one struggle (apart from Jon Jones/ Tom Aspinall) to be made in 2025 what would it not be?”

That is precisely the kind of query I hoped to get, as a result of there’s no flawed reply, however there are fairly just a few proper ones.

As an illustration, there are a variety of fights already on the books for the approaching months which can be very, superb. Islam Makhachev vs. Arman Tsarukyan 2 is without doubt one of the finest fights that may be booked, and Merab Dvalishvili vs. Umar Nurmagomedov ain’t far behind. Dricus du Plessis operating issues again with Sean Strickland isn’t precisely thrilling, however it’s undeniably an excellent struggle, and Zhang Weili vs. Tatiana Suarez is phenomenal. That’s all premium fisticuffs that I would usually choose, besides they’re already on the books, and also you don’t ask Santa for what you have already got.

And alongside these strains, you ought to be affordable along with your requests of the St. Nick. He’s bought loads on his plate and when you come out demanding a Porsche, nicely, that’s in all probability not going to finish nicely.

And on that be aware, who asks Santa for one factor? Certain when you’re going to the mall and don’t wish to take up an excessive amount of time on the outdated man’s knee, possibly then you definitely simply hit him with the most-wanted merchandise, however when you’re asking for one factor, you’re doing it flawed. You’ve gotta ship Santa an inventory, my man, that means he has choices. And who is aware of, possibly he helps you out with multiple factor.

So with that in thoughts, I did the wise factor and I made an inventory, and whereas I FedEx’d Kris Kringle a replica, I’ll go away one other right here, simply in case he’s a reader.

1. Eddie Corridor vs. Marius Pudzianowski. Look, I’m not going to vary who I’m, not for you or anybody. And whereas I like high-level MMA, I would love carnival sideshows extra. Because the second I watched Eddie Corridor beat two dudes in an MMA struggle by powerbombing one in every of them, I’ve hardly been ready to think about every other struggle. How KSW hasn’t already booked that is past me as a result of I’d pay a king’s ransom to look at this struggle.
2. Dricus du Plessis vs. Jiri Prochazka. On the one hand, this may be like watching my two giant grownup sons struggle; alternatively, this may be watching my favourite two violence idiots struggle. Are you able to even think about how foolish this struggle could be? Nobody would have any thought who’s successful till one in every of them all of the sudden knocked out the opposite, in all probability in very ridiculous vogue. I want it to occur earlier than I die. Additionally, as a result of I mentioned this one, I’m banning each from future fights, as a result of in any other case I’d simply have 30 completely different matchups for every.
3. Charles Oliveira vs. Max Holloway 2. Their first struggle occurred a lifetime in the past at featherweight and we had been robbed of what ought to have been an excellent scrap. Now, the matchup is even higher and we will put a pleasant bow on The 4 Violence Kings period (Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier, Max Holloway, Charles Oliveira). Plus, this one requires minimal effort to ebook.
4. Ilia Topuria vs. Diego Lopes. Hopefully this struggle does finally occur, however with Topuria being tremendous annoying about transferring to light-weight, and Alexander Volkanovski getting first dibs on Topuria anyway, you by no means know. We may find yourself lacking this matchup, which might be a disgrace because it’s wonderful.
5. Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev. Screw you, that is each the struggle that ought to occur and a terrific struggle that I wish to see.
6. Alexandre Pantoja vs. Kyoji Horiguchi. I actually thought Kyoji was going to signal with the UFC and get a right away title shot however as a substitute it was Kai Asakura. That doesn’t imply it might probably’t nonetheless occur although and that’s possibly the most effective flyweight struggle doable proper now.
7. Jose Aldo vs. Deiveson Figueiredo. There’s one thing charming concerning the former featherweight champion combating the previous flyweight champion, and doing the factor in Brazil would make an excessive amount of sense.
8. Joel Alvarez vs. Jalin Turner. One other matchup of two of my boys, however it might be the most effective variety. Two gigantic, no-defense-or-wrestling-having dudes who pack predatory offense. It is a Battle of the 12 months contender, I’m satisfied.
9. Valentina Shevchenko vs. Dakota Ditcheva. It will by no means occur as a result of the UFC won’t ever co-promote (nor ought to they) however all of the sudden it’s a matchup I’m deeply fascinated with.
10. Francis Ngannou in a 2-on-1 struggle in PFL. I’m not remotely kidding. PFL must do one thing to get folks , and I can’t consider anything they may do that will draw as a lot consideration as this may. Plus, it might be superior.

Come one, Santa! One time!

White Elephant

“What would you convey to a white elephant understanding full nicely Jon Jones could be in attendance? How would you make sure that he ended the night time along with your rigorously chosen reward?”

There’s clearly a whole lot of methods to take this. Will we go together with one thing generically pointed like a Tom Aspinall t-shirt? Or one thing extra immediately imply, like an Uber reward card? Maybe a USADA jacket? Or one thing somewhat intelligent like a star maps of all of the instances he’s been arrested? There’s a whole lot of methods to go, however I feel the most effective technique is playfully pointed. That means the opposite members all know the rating and collectively work collectively to verify Jon will get the reward.

So with that in thoughts, my selection is a life-size cutout of Tom Aspinall, sporting a “Chickens Can’t Be GOATs” t-shirt. Jon standing with that will instantly change into my new profile image.

“1. Which UFC fighter is most definitely to steal Christmas?

“2. Who’s the most effective sledder within the UFC?

“3. Which UFC fighter could be finest to have in a snowball struggle?

“4. What would Alexander Volkanovski cook dinner for Christmas meal?

“5. Is Roy Nelson Santa?”

I like all of those.

1. Dana White is clearly probably the most acceptable, however because you mentioned fighter, I’m going with Jon Jones. As a result of whereas Merab Dvalishvili and Ilia Topuria (and even Alex Pereira somewhat bit) are attempting to steal Christmas from their divisional counterparts (desirous to not defend the title in opposition to the subsequent individual in line) solely Jones has efficiently pulled it off. I nonetheless don’t totally perceive how Jones was allowed to defend his title in opposition to a 42-year-old retired fighter who had not competed in nearly 4 years as a substitute of being pressured to struggle the interim champion, however he did it.
2. If we’re speaking common sledding, it’s in all probability Serghei Spivac. He’s bought the load and with a reputation like “Polar Bear” we will assume he is aware of his means across the snow. But when we’re speaking Olympic bobsled, Alonzo Menifield. For that you really want massive, athletic fellas who can generate energy however not be too heavy/clumsy. Menifield performed skilled soccer, he’s monstrously athletic, and needs to be fast to learn the way the requirements of bobsledding, if he doesn’t know them already. Dominick Reyes would even be an honest selection right here, although his peak makes him much less optimum, I feel.
3. Once more, going with a man named “Polar Bear” in all probability isn’t a nasty thought, however neither goes with a man who performed faculty baseball; give me Stipe Miocic. He’s positively not in his bodily prime, however one thing tells me Miocic is aware of his means round a snowball struggle.
4. When you go and take a look at Volk’s YouTube, you’ll see that the person primarily is cooking grill fare; a whole lot of meat, burgers, and so on. So it looks like he’d be a traditionalist relating to Christmas and do both a turkey, a ham, or a beef or pork rib roast. We all the time did the latter in my home, and that additionally feels probably the most up Volk’s alley, so I’ll say that.
5. Have you ever ever seen Roy Nelson and Santa in the identical place? There’s your reply.

Thanks for studying, and thanks to everybody who despatched in tweets (Xs?)! Do you might have any burning questions on issues a minimum of considerably associated to fight sports activities? You then’re in luck as a result of you may ship your tweets to me, @JedKMeshew, and I’ll reply my favourite ones! It doesn’t matter in the event that they’re topical or insane, simply as long as they’re good. Thanks once more, and see y’all subsequent week.