POST IT NOTES
**Rewind-A-Raw is back tonight with Wai Ting and I reviewing WWE Raw, discussing the news from the past few days, the WWE ThunderDome & taking your questions and feedback at the end of the show. Plus, a look at a packed week coming up.
**Our UFC 252 POST Show is up on the site with Phil Chertok and I reviewing the entire card from Saturday night and breaking down the main event between Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier.
POST SCHEDULE
Tonight: Rewind-A-Raw with John Pollock & Wai Ying
Tuesday: Rewind-A-Wai #67: WWF Royal Rumble 2001 (Patreon)
Wednesday: upNXT with Braden Herrington & Davie Portman
Thursday: The British Wrestling Experience with Martin Bushby & Benno with guest John Lister
Friday: Rewind-A-SmackDown (LIVE at 10:15 pm Eastern for all Patrons)
Saturday: Rewind-A-Dynamite – Special Saturday Night Edition
Saturday: NXT TakeOver XXX POST Show with Braden Herrington & Davie Portman
Sunday: WWE SummerSlam POST Show with John & Wai (LIVE for Double Double, Iced Capp & Espresso Patrons)
MMA NEWS
**Two days removed from UFC 252, Daniel Cormier posted the following statement on the loss to Stipe Miocic:
Thank you all for the love and support. Not what I wanted or expected but it is what it is. Congrats to @stipemiocic on a fantastic fight, was an honor and pleasure to share the octagon with you for 50 minutes. Boy did we give ‘em a show everytime. To my team: I love you all to death, you’ve made so many sacrifices. I hope I made you guys proud. Salina and the kids: thank you for being my motivation. To all the fans: I love you so much. You guys push me to try and be great. To @danawhite and the @ufc: I have loved every minute. Thank you for giving me the opportunity. Been a helluva ride, huh?
**ESPN’s Ariel Helwani reported Sunday that Daniel Cormier sustained a torn cornea in the fight with Stipe Miocic. There is no timetable for a recovery, but doctors have told Cormier he will not require surgery and was released from the hospital Saturday night. Near the end of the third round, Cormier was poked badly in the eye and informed his corner he could not see between rounds but did continue for two more. After the fight, Cormier told Joe Rogan he couldn’t see anything out of the left side and that it was all black.
**Helwani also reports that Sean O’Malley’s X-ray on his ankle/lower leg came back okay with no fractures but needs an MRI in case there is a ligament or tendon tear and will also check the knee but they will have to await the swelling to subside.
**Referee Marc Goddard, who was the official for the Miocic vs. Cormier fight, issued a statement Sunday apologizing that he missed the eye poke to Cormier:
I practice what I preach & as a man I stand tall & head on. If you accept plaudits then you must with mistakes too, that’s proof that you are listening, honest & implore improvement. Rough with the smooth, acceptance & ownership. Immediately after the fight when seeing the replay I apologized to Daniel Cormier & his team & I do so publicly & unreservedly for missing what I shouldn’t have – but I cannot call what I do not see. I don’t have replays & multiple angles, it’s a one shot take in real time. I cannot convey just how much I have both lived & loved this sport for the past 20 years. I truly appreciate all who understand.
**The end of the trilogy between Miocic and Cormier produced a clear-cut winner in Miocic and will likely be the swan song for Cormier. The former two-division champion kept the door slightly ajar when asked by Joe Rogan about fighting again and he responded that he only wanted to fight for titles and didn’t expect another title fight after this one.
Personally, I hope this is it for Cormier who leaves a remarkable legacy behind him as one of the top fighters of his generation but will have to live with the understanding he was not the best fighter of his era. For a competitor that reached the heights he has, that is a tough pill to swallow but Saturday’s fight was evidence to the fact that Miocic was the better fighter. While you never take a retirement promise full stop, Cormier has a burgeoning career outside of the octagon in front of him and earned financial independence from these past five years of big fights.
In this sport, it’s not about burning the candle until the wax is gone, it’s understanding that every fight the window is closing, and the goal should be making as much as one can for the day that window closes. There is a heavy financial aspect to the equation but it’s also an addiction and for an athlete like Cormier who has wrestled his entire life and identified as an athlete, it’s hard to close the door on competition and the day-to-day routine that disrupts by retiring.
For Miocic, it’s clear that the fight to make is a rematch with Francis Ngannou who will enter that fight with the same questions he had asked ahead of the January 2018 fight. The power of Ngannou is unmatched but his durability in a long fight and dealing with Miocic’s wrestling was his downfall over twenty-five minutes in that fight. Since the loss, Ngannou had that horrific fight with Derrick Lewis that didn’t answer anything followed by four fights that lasted a total of 2 minutes and 32 seconds. Again, it’s excellent for the highlight reel but it’s hard to apply that to a rematch with Miocic because we know who has the power edge and that Ngannou could end the fight with one shot.
**While all three judges scored the fight for Miocic, the rounds were all over the place as most were very close. Judge Derek Clearly had it 49-46 for Miocic with the champion winning Rounds 2-5 on his card, judge Sal D’Amato had it 49-46 with Miocic winning Rounds 1-3 and Round 5, while judge Junichiro Kamijo had it 48-47 for Miocic and scoring Rounds 2 and 4 for Cormier. All three judges gave Rounds 2, 3, and 5 to Miocic. On MMA Decisions, 88% of the media scores were for Miocic with 77% of the overall scores being 48-47 for Miocic.
**ESPN’s Brett Okamoto reports that the UFC is attempting to finalize a fight between Dominick Reyes and Jan Blachowicz for UFC 253 on September 26th. Okamoto noted that the fight is nearly finalized but the “stakes have not yet been defined”. The UFC is in talks with Jon Jones, which Dana White mentioned on Saturday, and could play a factor. Jones was tweeting throughout the main event on Saturday and indicated he would like to fight for the heavyweight title stating, “Heavyweight world championships I will be seeing you real soon. Victorious.”
Reyes (12-1) is coming off a very close decision loss to Jones this past February at UFC 247 and was the first loss of his pro career. Blachowicz (26-8) has won seven of his last eight fights and has won his previous three over Luke Rockhold, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, and is coming off a knockout of Corey Anderson this past February.
**Here are the fights for this Tuesday’s edition of Dana White’s Contender Series with the results of Monday’s weigh-ins:
*Louis Cosce (170) vs. Victor Reyna (170.5)
*Cheyanne Buys (115.5) vs. Hilarie Rose (115.5)
*Matt Dixon (170.5) vs. Orion Cosce (170.5)
*Josh Parisian (265.5) vs. Chad Johnson (215)
*Kenneth Cross (155.5) vs. Kevin Syler (156)
**During Saturday’s broadcast, the UFC confirmed that the UFC 253 pay-per-view will take place on Saturday, September 26th but no location was revealed. The event has been pushed back by one week after its initial target of September 19th will now be a Fight Night event. The UFC 253 card will be headlined by UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya defending the title against Paulo Costa with Dana White predicting it will be the fight of the year.
**The UFC has announced that the Fight Night card on August 29th will be headlined by a three-round light heavyweight fight between Anthony Smith and Aleksandar Rakic from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas. Smith (33-15) is coming off a brutal loss to Glover Teixeira where he was stopped in the fifth round with a lot of concern for how long the fight lasted. Rakic (12-2) lost his first professional fight in 2011 and then won his next eight fights before entering the UFC in 2017. Rakic won four fights in a row with the promotion including a 42 second knockout over Jimi Manuwa last year before dropping a split decision to Volkan Oezdemir last December.
**It was also confirmed by the UFC that the October 3rd Fight Night card will be headlined by a women’s bantamweight fight between former champion Holly Holm and Irene Aldana. This card also is awaiting a location confirmation. Holm and Aldana were scheduled to fight earlier this month but Aldana was removed due to a positive COVID-19 test. The fight will take place two weeks before Holm turns 39. The former champion is coming off a unanimous decision win against Raquel Pennington this past January at UFC 246. Aldana has won five of her previous six fights and is coming off victories against Vanessa Melo and Kelten Viera. This will be Aldana’s first fight of the year after fighting four times in 2019.
**The Independent recently spoke with UFC broadcasters Jon Anik, Brendan Fitzgerald, Megan Olivi, and Dan Hardy on their process in preparing for a show, significant moments they have been part of, and reception from fighters and camps including a story from Anik about a team confronting him about his call.
**This weekend is an insane one for pro wrestling and MMA with the following major shows on the calendar:
*Friday: Friday Night SmackDown at 8 pm ET – a live show from the Amway Center
*Friday: Bellator 244 on the Paramount Network & DAZN with Ryan Bader vs. Vadim Nemkov
*Saturday: AEW Dynamite at 6 pm or when the NBA game ends on TNT
*Saturday: NXT TakeOver: XXX at 7 pm
*Saturday: UFC Fight Night on ESPN with Pedro Munhoz vs. Frankie Edgar
*Sunday: WWE SummerSlam at 7 pm
ON THIS DATE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHYfGoSRguk
*****
UFC 252 POST SHOW: Miocic vs. Cormier 3
John Pollock is joined by Phil Chertok to review UFC 252 from Las Vegas featuring Stipe Miocic retaining the UFC heavyweight title against Daniel Cormier.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/08/16/ufc-252-post-show-stipe-miocic-vs-daniel-cormier-iii/
*****
TRMPS #20: “Ballers” Pilot (2015) w/ Stephen Gutteridge & MJ from NJ
This month on The Rocky Maivia Picture Show, Nate Milton welcomes first-time guests Stephen Gutteridge (Mid-South Moments) & MJ From NJ into the theater to review the 2015 pilot episode for HBO’s “Ballers”!
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/08/15/trmps-20-ballers-pilot-2015-w-stephen-gutteridge-mj-from-nj/
*****
REWIND-A-SMACKDOWN 8/14/20: Strowman’s Land, WWE at Amway Center
John Pollock and Wai Ting chat Friday Night SmackDown and WWE’s pending move to the Amway Center, AEW & NXT’s ratings from Wednesday, UFC 252 & your phone calls.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/40476275
*****
upNXT MOVIE REVIEW: Money Plane (2020)
Braden Herrington is joined by friend of the show John Siino to chat all about WWE’s Edge and Kelsey Grammer starring in a ridiculous new action movie: Money Plane!
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/08/13/upnxt-movie-review-money-plane-2020-starring-edge-kelsey-grammer/
*****
UFC 252 Preview Show with John Pollock & James Lynch
John Pollock is joined by MMA reporter & analyst James Lynch to preview the UFC 252 card headlined by Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/08/13/ufc-252-preview-show-with-john-pollock-james-lynch/
*****
REWIND-A-DYNAMITE 8/12/20: “Orange Cassidy and the Sunkist Jacket”
John Pollock and Wai Ting review Tag Team Appreciation Night on AEW Dynamite featuring Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy II. Plus, an update from the NXT tapings, Raw ratings, and Paige VanZant signs with BKFC.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/08/13/rewind-a-dynamite-8-12-20-orange-cassidy-and-the-sunkist-jacket-tag-team-appreciation/
*****
upNXT 8/12/20: “Blinded by the Light”
The BDE chat all about this week’s NXT featuring a “hot and fiery” angle between Karrion Kross and Keith Lee, plus KUSHIDA vs Cameron Grimes vs Velveteen Dream to qualify for the Ladder Match at TakeOver.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/08/13/upnxt-8-12-20-blinded-by-the-light/
*****
POST MOVIE REVIEW: Rocky (1976)
Wai Ting & John Pollock kick off their look back at the greatest combat sports film franchise of all time with a review of Rocky (1976), written by and starring Sylvester Stallone.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/40357529/
*****
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