#they have two phases: PFL and post PFL

[dannidorina]

I hope my rvb mutuals (2017-8 and 2020) understand that I have never left the mainecarwash train and I am always thinking about them. Always.

[defensefilms]

Francis Ngannou Laughs Last...................

Two months ago, Francis Ngannou penned a deal with PFL that many in the sport lampooned as a compromise, even if it made great sense once you looked at the contract.

Well, now it appears that Francis has intitiated phase 2 of post-UFC career by securing a fight deal that will make him the richest active MMA fighter in the world.

On July 11th Francis uploaded a video to his youtube channel to announce a October 28th bout against the reigning undisputed Heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury, in Riyadh Saudi Arabia.

Dana White can not be happy.

Francis securing this payday is something he had every opportunity to be a part of, and had a chance to re-do the success of McGregor-Mayweather but with heavyweights.

I get a lot of joy from watching someone make great business moves in real time, and since Francis first began his negotiations in the run-up to his last UFC bout against Cyril Gane, everything he has done has been sound business.

At every step Francis has done the things that give him the most leverage and it's worked a treat.

First, realizing his value as MMA's most marketable heavyweight. Then his deal the PFL which not only makes him the face of an MMA promotion, but also allows him to extend the promotion's brand into West African territories, essentially creating a pipeline to the American MMA market that goes through him.

Lastly, was securing this Tyson Fury fight, and make no mistake about it, the involvement of the Saudi Arabians makes this a big money affair, and rightly so.

Recently Jon Jones made an appearance at a PFL event and while it made you question whether a cross promotional bout was possible, the UFC have since announced that Jon Jones will be defending his title against Stipe Miocic instead.

It will be quite some time before the coast is clear for a Jones-Ngannou fight and the only loser there is the UFC and it's fans, but once again, going in to the fall season, the most interesting thing in MMA, is a fighter competing outside the sport, and that's less of a commentary about the sport than it is about economics of the sport, and it also makes you question what is in a pro MMA fighter's best interest.

[freelancerfeels]

Damn, an original post? On this blog? Is this real life?? Thoughts on Zero below, there are some spoilers so be warned. This was meant to be my attempt at a critique but honestly it just turned into a long winded rant full of stuff other people have probably complained about already. I apologize in advance for the overall negative tone, but after watching the first 2 episodes twice I’m a little disheartened at the moment.

Alright, so I guess the good things first? The warthog racing scene aside, the visuals are pretty good! The fight scenes, especially involving the villains look impressive. The characters movements are smooth, the physics don’t seem too wild (depending on how you feel about teleportation); so overall I like it.  It’s good to see Wash and Lina again, it seems like the former made a full recovery despite his injuries which I’m a big fan of. Shotgun wielding Carolina in Ep 1 is certified BDE, and my boy copped a sweet promotion to Major in the offseason. So far I’m enjoying our antagonists; they look fuggin sweet, the dynamic between Phase and Diesel is amusing, and Zero gives off a mysterious leader vibe I can get behind. I’m sorry to say that’s about where it ends for me though. I have a laundry list of complaints so if you’re not interested in that I would stop reading here.  

I’m fairly indifferent towards Shatter Squad. The rivalry between East and One just feels like Carolina and Tex all over again, only with less animosity. Axel is the cliche team dad, Raymond is the awkward yet-to-prove-himself rookie, and West is the gritty, battle hardened team leader who doesn’t take any lip but cares deep down blah blah blah. It honestly feels like the writers have forgotten what made RvB so good in the first place. The first five seasons were literally just some idiots fucking around in a canyon with the occasionally plot line thrown in. It wasn’t the most visually impressive thing, but the characters were endearing and that made up for it.  The new cast just feels kind of cheesy and stereotypical, maybe that’s just me though.

Some of things I really hate? How about Wash immediately getting fucked up, tortured, and kidnapped. The poor dude literally just got over a TBI from the last season and they’re already using his suffering to advance the plot again. I’m really worried that we’re going to see either him or Lina get killed off and that would just wreck me. How about the complete absence of the Reds and Blues? I understand that some of the VA’s are gone and the others are busy running the company, but at least mention them. They’re the reason the show has made it this far; to just completely ignore them, especially after the character development Donut went through in S17, is mind boggling. There’s also not even a single whisper about Locus, Kimball, Dylan Andrews, Jax, or the cosmic powers we’ve just spent multiple seasons getting to know. They had so many options to bring back characters people really liked and they just dropped the ball. Like where the fuck is Huggins???

 Another thing that bothers me is the seemingly complete departure from the Halo universe. Have we just completely forgotten about the UNSC? You know, that one organization that PFL and Charon Industries were specifically shown as having ties to for like 11 seasons. What the fuck is AOD? At what point were Wash and Lina recruited into this new super secret squirrel program? There’s no continuity from previous seasons, which is fine if you want to take the show in a new direction, but then why use 2 characters who have been around for the past 12 and 9 seasons respectively? There’s armor, monsters, and weapons that have never existed in the Halo universe suddenly appearing from thin air. For some reason Agent East is able to move at inhuman speeds, not from armor enhancements like Carolina, but due to some unspecified experiments performed on her by some unmentioned till now organization only known as Starlight Laboratories. The  disregard for previously established canon details is just aggravating, and the way they just dumped these new things on us without any explanation feels cheap.

My last gripe for today is about the appearance and movements of the characters when they’re not fighting. The head movements when speaking are stilted and jerky, which didn’t seem to be an issue in previous seasons. One would think that with the fluidity of the fight scenes two characters simply chatting wouldn’t look so stiff and unnatural. The shadows and saturation in some scenes (warthog race) just look awful as well. Not to mention the appearance of the regular “soldiers” in the first episode. ACU-esque digital camouflages were out of style in the 2000′s, let alone the 2500′s.The voice acting also doesn’t really do it for me either, especially for Shatter Squad. In their defense, even Shannon and Jen seem a little off this season. The only characters I’ve enjoyed listening to so far have been Phase and Zero, the rest just don’t seem to mesh with their characters. 

To close this massive bitchfest I guess I’d just like to say it doesn’t feel like RvB anymore. Maybe it’s because RT has grown into such a giant soulless shell of what it once was. Maybe it’s because the people in charge of the show have forgotten where it’s come from and what we as fans enjoyed about it. Maybe it’s because all good things must eventually come to an end. Or maybe it’s just because I’m jaded.  What I do know is that I miss the Reds and Blues, I miss the dynamics that have been established over the past 17 seasons, and I miss how Wash and Lina had become members of their fucked up little family. Part of me wishes they had just pulled the plug and given all of them a happy ending in S17. I’d like to believe that the issue here is just me being cynical about the show going a direction I don’t agree with and that things will get better. At the end of the day, I’m just one salty person behind a keyboard and I hope that you guys are enjoying this season more than I am. 

Also, I still miss CT.