Tag: 2020 Year In Review

JNPO: The 2020 MMA year in review show, pt. 4

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

With the UFC calendar officially kicking off on Saturday with New Hampshire native Calvin Kattar in the main event, it’s time for another Granite Stater to finish his look back on the year that was.

Joined by Paul Fontaine of this website and Fight Game Media, this is the fourth and final part of our four episode look back at MMA in 2020, focusing on October through December.

Among the lengthy headlines we discussed:

  • A tale of two October retirements: Khabib Nurmagomedov and Anderson Silva
  • Did the UFC botch the final few years of Silva’s career?
  • A November to not remember as seven UFC main events got changed due to COVID-19, injuries or visa issues
  • Deiveson Figueiredo making history with two title defenses in less than two months including one Fight of the Year candidate against Brandon Moreno
  • The will they/won’t they road to Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier II
  • The rise of some new faces and the exit of some old ones

Click below to listen for free:

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JNPO: The 2020 MMA year in review show, pt. 2

Posted on by Josh Nason

As we hurtle toward the end of a pretty terrible 2020, let’s not forget that the sport and spectacle that is MMA gave us plenty to look back on, both good and bad. 

In this second installment of a four part series, I am joined by Figure Four Online/Fight Game Media writer and podcaster Paul Fontaine to sift through the last 12 months, one quarter a time.

After working through January through March, Paul and I arrive at April, May and June, aka the UFC’s strange new reality in attempting to put on shows in a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic.

Our discussion includes:

  • The UFC’s aborted attempt at running events at Tachi Palace in Lemoore, CA, that got California governor Gavin Newsom involved
  • The cancellation and revival of UFC 249 which resulted in one of the most entertaining main cards of the year
  • The birth of Fight Island and the accidental birth of the name
  • Florida being Florida, the Jacksonville era and what happened when Jacare Souza tested positive
  • Teeth falling out, a referee accused of smelling like booze and cigarettes, and Jon Jones being Jon Jones.

All that and more awaits your click and listen below:

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JNPO: The 2020 MMA year in review show, pt. 1

Posted on by Josh Nason

Even though 2020 is a year to forget, there was still plenty in MMA that is worth looking back on — some good, some bad, and some that still leaves us scratching our heads.

In the first of a four part series, I am joined by Figure Four Online/Fight Game Media writer and podcaster Paul Fontaine to sift through the last 12 months, one quarter a time.

We kick off with January, February, and March — the calm before the pandemic storm that was to come.

Here’s some of the many headlines we talked about:

  • The return of Conor McGregor
  • The Joanna Jedrzejczyk-Weili Zheng strawweight title classic that left Joanna Champion looking like an alien
  • The controversial Jon Jones light heavyweight title decision over Dominick Reyes and the scorn heaped on the Texas State Athletic Commission for a bad night at UFC 247
  • The UFC stubbornly running an empty arena show in Brazil as the pandemic began its deadly rise in the Americas
  • The 100% batshit crazy March when the UFC was insisting on running shows as the world shut down around them

Join Paul and I for the first of four by clicking below.

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