Hi Ant. I'm pretty sure Israel Adesanya is fighter of the year. Who else do you feel is in contention?
Killer of Snakes and Master of two Divisions.
* Why is nobody talking about Connor vs Islam (no, not the religion). It seems the perfect match to make from a narrative and stylistic perspective. You will keep the beef going, and we will see how Connor performes against someone with an almost identical style to Khabib.
* Did you think Whittaker looked bad vs Israel? He barely fainted and didn't mind his p's and q's in the pocket where he is normally so diligent (two areas most thought he'd have an advantage). Instead, he did karate-blitz and wide hooks. Is this a question of Robert regressing, or merely a question of chosen tactics and technique-focus?
* According to Jon Jones turncoat striking-coach, Jones often trains while high. We know of other fighters who reportedly do the same like the Diaz brothers. Ant, as Sherdog's resident drug-expert, the marijuana-master of the internets, the ganja-wizard of the trenches. With all your knowledge of mind-altering hallucinogens and MMA, do you think there is an advantage to training while high?
* Charles Oliveria is set to fight Jared Gordon who is 1-2 in his last 3. WTF?
* Before Tai Tuivasa's fight, all we heard was how he was super-motivated and now took the sport seriously (even awoke before 9 PM!). Then, he goes out there and gets head-and-arm thrown by a Heavyweight. This is a narrative we commonly hear from fighters yet often we do not see the results. Do you think it's just hype-talk to fill air-time or do fighters genuinely seem to believe they've put in the extra gear?