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wandshogun09

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Everything posted by wandshogun09

  1. Doesnā€™t seem like 5 minutes since Mark Coleman was running into fire and saving his parents lives. Heā€™s already back in the gym!
  2. Yeah, the fight itself is probably gonna be a lot of fun. Especially if they decide to trade leg kicks. Martinez has been great to watch recently so, looking at it from his point of view, Iā€™m happy for him that heā€™s getting a big fight like this. But from the POV of being an Aldo fan, and Iā€™m much more of an Aldo fan than a Martinez fan, itā€™s definitely not the fight Iā€™d have chosen for Aldoā€™s comeback. Like you, Iā€™d rather he stayed retired but if he insists on coming back, this isnā€™t a fight I was clamouring to see. Apparently Cruz was the rumoured opponent at some point. Iā€™d have been more up for that, to be fair. Both are at a similar stage in their careers, both legends of the lighter weight classes, both former UFC and WEC champs that never crossed paths etc. Even at this point, I think itā€™d have been a cool fight. Kind of like when Big Nog fought Randy Couture years ago.
  3. Well fuck. Not sure how to feel about this oneā€¦
  4. I donā€™t know. Would it really shock you if they didnā€™t tell him that? This is a company where fighters have found out theyā€™re challenging for a world title via social media. They donā€™t always bother to clue the fighters up. Mokaev tweeted this last night though; I think this is what weā€™ll see now.
  5. Couple of things I like on this card but, on the whole, even the Euro friendly start time isnā€™t polishing this turd.
  6. It is but itā€™s not surprising either. Not saying I agree with Erceg getting the shot over Mokaev, by the way, just speculating on why they went that route. And I do think it mightā€™ve been as simple as looking at both their last fights and going with the guy who got a highlight reel KO over the guy who won a lacklustre decision. Right or wrong, oneā€™s gonna look better in the promo than the other. Another factor could be that they probably wanna have Mokaev in a prominent position on that Manchester card. Itā€™s only a Fight Night so thereā€™s every chance he might headline that one, which would be big for him on home soil. And say he headlines against a Royval in a title eliminator and wins, heā€™d likely be getting the winner of Pantoja/Erceg by the end of the year anyway. At 23, thereā€™s really no big rush with Mokaev. If anything, I think the more fights he gets in before the title shot the better. I know he wants to break that record as the youngest UFC champ and I get that, but based on what weā€™ve seen in his last few fights, I donā€™t think heā€™s anywhere near ready for Pantoja. A 5 rounder against Royval or something, with home support in Manchesterā€¦itā€™s only one fightā€™s worth more experience but I think it could benefit him. If he could finish a guy like Royval (who just beat Moreno) itā€™d be a big boost. Even if he wins a decision, heā€™s got that first taste of 5 round experience. Could actually work out better for Mokaev this way. If Pantoja beats Erceg (I expect he will but weā€™ll see) then Mokaev challenging Pantoja towards the end of the year is probably gonna go down in Vegas and heā€™ll have had more prep time. If he got the call for this 301 card heā€™d be going into hostile territory and facing Pantoja in Brazil in just 6/7 weeks from now. Time is on Mokaevā€™s side here.
  7. Yeah possibly. Might just be as simple as they like Erceg as well. Then Mokaevā€™s last fight being a bit crap made the matchmakers decision easier. Mokaevā€™s mentioned fighting Royval a few times on the rumoured Manchester card, Iā€™d be up for that. Although it might make more sense to put that on the same card as Pantoja vs Erceg incase someone pulls out. While weā€™re on the subject of that Brazil PPV, I canā€™t remember who it was but it was a well known journalist tweeted that thereā€™s rumours of a co-main for that card which ā€œeveryoneā€™s gonna loveā€. Weā€™ll see. But looking at the card in its current form, yeah, it definitely needs somethingā€¦
  8. I thought itā€™d be Mokaev next given heā€™s higher ranked, undefeated etc and Mokaevā€™s taken to Twitter to complain about it. But I think this all comes down to how both looked in their last fights. Erceg got the one punch KO over Schnell whereas Mokaev won a dull and unconvincing decision over an Alex Perez who was coming off a long layoff. I could swear Mokaev was calling out Royval on social media after that fight as well.
  9. I like Chito and I dislike Oā€™Malley but this is fucking weak from Chito and Parillo. ā€With no clock? Chito goes to jail for murderā€. Based on fucking what exactly? šŸ¤£ I kind of get the delusion from Chito because heā€™s the guy in there and I guess some fighters almost have to lie to themselves in these situations. But Parillo as the coach should be the level headed one talking sense yet all heā€™s got is his ā€˜well if this was a street fightā€¦ā€™ shite as a coping mechanism.
  10. Never saw this one comingā€¦ I actually like it though. No doubt thereā€™ll be some moaning because Erceg isnā€™t that well known but those same fans are also always moaning that the Flyweight title picture is constant rematches. At least this is a fresh fight and Erceg has looked good in the fights Iā€™ve seen. Sod it. It is gonna be a bit weak if this ends up headlining 301 but, by throwing Alex Pereira on 300, they havenā€™t left themselves with a lot of options. Good fight though.
  11. Yeah Iā€™ve said it before on here but when you look at the range of different personality types heā€™s had dealings with in MMA, and not all of them were known for being easy to deal with, itā€™s actually amazing that not one of them seem to have a bad word to say about him. From Diaz to Rousey to Fedor to Semtex to Tito to Kimbo to proper old schoolers like Shamrock and Gracie etc. Then you see this and realise heā€™s had this long standing relationship with Melendez dating all the way back to the very first Strikeforce show in 2006! Iā€™m sure he has his moments behind the scenes but, by fight promoter standards, the manā€™s pretty much a saint. For him to be around so long and deal with so many established names and some difficult characters and not really have any bad stories attached to his name tells you how respected he must be.
  12. I couldā€™ve gone to that Magnificent 7 card. I was at the first one in 2010 or whenever it was, the night Enzo got ironed out by Frenkel in horrifying fashion. A couple of mates are going to tomorrowā€™s show and I kind of wish I was as well now but family stuff scuppered it.
  13. Yeah just saw that myself. Sadly his dog died but what a man. A genuine hero.
  14. Also might be a case where Masvidal isnā€™t free to fight MMA anywhere else. Not sure what his contract status was with the UFC when he ā€˜retiredā€™ but he might still technically owe them fights if he wants to do MMA again. No interest in it myself.
  15. Yeah heā€™s what youā€™d get if Millhouse cosplayed as Krusty The Clown.
  16. Definitely had a touch of the Oliver McCall breakdown vs Lennox Lewis. Bizarre.
  17. The Suga Show has been recommissioned for another series then. One way traffic this. Chitoā€™s tough as shit but he got battered here the whole 5 rounds. I like Chito but, after rewatching the first fight the other day, I got the feeling the first fight was heading towards looking something like this had Oā€™Malley not got injured. I think heā€™s just a bad matchup for him and I think he knew it, which is why he campaigned for this rather than defend against the likes of Merab or Sandhagen. Chitoā€™s a fun fighter but heā€™s always had a tendency to let big chunks of rounds slip by just waiting for that one opening to do his damage. Oā€™Malley did a good job here of making sure those openings just never came. Chito landed some good shots here and there but on the whole he just never did enough and that allowed Oā€™Malley to just get comfortable and let his strikes flow. How Chito ate this knee, I donā€™t knowā€¦ The sound it made was disgusting as well. Chito just got picked apart for 25 minutes and wasnā€™t really equipped to do much back. Like Oā€™Malley or not, and I donā€™t, it was a strong performance. I donā€™t think Iā€™ve ever seen Chito beat up as much as he was in this fight. BUTā€¦itā€™s gotta be Merab next. I donā€™t wanna hear anything else. Itā€™s clear Oā€™Malley doesnā€™t want that but fuck that. Iā€™ve always believed a champion shouldnā€™t really get to decide whoā€™s next. A champion should defend against whoever the next in line is. And Merabā€™s that guy right now. Why he wants to get ironed out by Topuria, I donā€™t know. But even though I think both Merab and Topuria batter him, I guess heā€™d rather the Topuria fight because itā€™s got the ready made excuse of ā€˜well I went up in weightā€™. Whereas Merab ragdolling him in his own division would be harder to live with. Iā€™ve got very little interest in Oā€™Malley vs Topuria right now though. Iā€™m over this division hopping shite the champs all wanna do now. Sounds like Topuria vs Volk 2 is next at 145 anyway. If not that then Topuria vs Holloway would be class. Oā€™Malley should be defending against Merab, end of. Also sick of hearing about how much of a ā€˜starā€™ Oā€™Malley is. Iā€™m not denying heā€™s popular and has a fanbase. Fine. But just the fact that Oā€™Malley and the UFC have to keep telling us heā€™s a star, itā€™s all a bit forced. The funny hair colours and pink shorts and all that feels like overcompensating because when you actually listen to him talk, thereā€™s not much substance to it. The comparisons to Conor McGregor donā€™t help either. Anyone who was actually a MMA fan at the time of McGregorā€™s rise knows this Oā€™Malley thing doesnā€™t compare. Fuck, this fight week alone it felt like Chito was actually the more popular of the two to me. I donā€™t know, something about it all just feels a bit desperate with Oā€™Malley. Very good fighter and if walking around looking like a bag of Haribo is working for him then great. But Iā€™m not really buying him as some massive star. Maybe he will be in time. For what seems like the millionth time in his career, Dustin Poirier stole the show. What an absolute badass. I ended up picking Poirier to win after rewatching some of Benoit Saint Denis other fights before 299 over the weekend. As exciting as he is to watch, I forgot how wild and hittable he was and I fancied Dustin to catch him at some point. I also felt like too many people were counting Dustin out, and it felt like it was mostly because of the loss to Gaethje last time. But it was still a fight I was unsure of. It was always gonna be a dogfight. Benoit was giving Poirier hell in that first round and you could tell who Rogan was rooting for. He was almost cheerleading BSD at times and kept talking about Poirier getting tired and how Saint Denis was ā€œforcing him into a warā€. What? Poirier doesnā€™t do anything but wars. Saint Denis didnā€™t need to ā€œforceā€ him. Yep. Poirier just outlasted him. Took everything BSD could throw at him for a round, then chinned him in the next round. Lovely stuff. Saw Poirier talking about it on Helwaniā€™s show today and he said that when he went over to the cage after the KO he was saying to Dana ā€œYou want me to fight these young motherfuckers? This is what happensā€ šŸ¤£ seems like there were some issues with Poirier and his management vs Dana and the UFC behind the scenes going into this one. There was that whole thing with the fight getting cancelled then it was suddenly back on and then one of the first things Dustin does after the knockout is to go and rub Danaā€™s nose in it? With all that and then the way company man and Danaā€™s boy Rogan kept banging on and sucking Saint Denis off and talking about Poirier being tired and stuff, it definitely had a feel to me like the UFC thought they were ā€˜feedingā€™ Dustin to BSD here and using him as a stepping stone. Poirier wasnā€™t having it. He really needs to lay off them guillotine attempts though! I donā€™t think Iā€™ve ever seen him lock one in successfully in a fight. Itā€™s becoming his version of when Ted DiBiase would try that fist drop from the middle rope and he missed it every single time. Dustin actually posted this on Twitter! I could swear that when Dana announced that Oliveira vs Tsarukyan fight he said the winner would challenge Islam Makhachev for the gold later in the year. Obviously plans can always change and especially when it comes from Danaā€™s mouth. But they might not wanna have Dustin face those guys. Anything could happen. I can see a scenario where the winner of Oliveira vs Tsarukyan is hurt and Dustin swoops in and goes straight to a title fight with Makhachev. I could see Poirier vs Gaethje 3, although it seems a bit soon for that. And I could see McGregor fucking Michael Chandler over and choosing to do a 4th fight with Poirier instead. Thereā€™s a bunch of ways it can go. Iā€™d like to see Saint Denis against Fiziev if heā€™s gonna be healthy soon. Or Dan Hooker maybe. Last thing on Poirier, I loved his post-fight interview talking about why he accepted the fightā€¦ ā€œI took this fight because he finished his last 5 opponents. He wasnā€™t a name that the world really knows, heā€™s on his way up, but he finished his last 5 opponents and heā€™s dangerous. Every win on his professional career heā€™s finished. And he has a ā€˜never say dieā€™ attitude. When I saw that and I watched some of his fights, he fought one of my friends, I said Iā€™ve gotta take this fight because I honour this game that we do. Eddie Alvarez gave me my shot in Dallas, when he was a former champ and I was on my way up. So you gotta pay it back. Hold your position or lose it man, thatā€™s the nature of the beast, thatā€™s what we do.ā€ - Dustin Poirier Refreshing to hear a top name talk like that. The risks outweighed the rewards for him in this fight but he went in there and did a job on BSD regardless. Thought MVP vs Holland was arse but it always felt like a coin flip to me whether it would end up being some mad video game fight or what we got. So I wasnā€™t surprised it went how it did. Itā€™s the way MVP rolls. Heā€™s in dull fights just as much as he creates highlight reels. If not more. Seems more bothered about his walkouts than anything. Seen mixed reactions to this fight since Saturday night, with some going on like it was great. I donā€™t get it myself. It wasnā€™t MVPā€™s worst fight, weā€™ve seen much worse, but it wasnā€™t much good either. And letā€™s face it, this was one of the more favourable matchups they couldā€™ve given MVP for his debut. Doesnā€™t exactly bode well for his future. Guessing heā€™ll be on that UK show next. No clue who against. The obvious opponent has always been Wonderboy but MVP himself has said heā€™s not keen on that as theyā€™re too similar and he thinks itā€™d be a boring fight. I think thatā€™s spot on, to be honest. Jack Della Maddalena passed his toughest test to date but Burns made him earn it. Burns was up 2-0 on 2 of the judges scorecards going into that last round and, although Maddalena was competitive throughout and did show flashes of real quality in the striking and some solid defensive grappling, by the time the third round was getting underway I definitely felt like he needed a finish to win the fight. He found it. The gif really doesnā€™t do it justice. First of all, that sequence that started it all where he escaped back to his feet and hit that knee was beautiful. Then the follow up elbows and punches on the ground were just brutal. Way worse than the gif makes it look. Like always, Iā€™ve seen twats calling this a lucky finish but itā€™s complete shite. He was always in the fight, even 0-2 down on the scorecards and when he was in bad positions, he never just accepted it. He was always trying to make something happen and when the opportunity came, he pounced all over it. If anything, I think this was a very encouraging performance from him. Calling out Shavkat was ballsy as well. Iā€™d love to see that fight. Only negative I can find on that fight is it eliminates one of them from the title race but I wouldnā€™t be against seeing it. Fuck it. I enjoyed the Petr Yan vs Song Yadong fight. Itā€™s a shame we never got 5 rounds of it because I think an extra 2 rounds might well have tipped it from ā€˜very goodā€™ into ā€˜greatā€™ territory. Yan got off to a slow start like heā€™s been known to do in the past and Song had a strong opening round. After that first round I really thought Yan was heading for yet another loss. But he came out with more urgency and got back into the fight well in the second. I had him winning that and the last round. I think it couldā€™ve been a better fight, it never quite caught fire like I thought it would. But I think a lot of that mightā€™ve been down to Yan being inactive so long plus the pressure to snap that losing streak. Now heā€™s got that first win back out of the way, I think thereā€™ll be more great fights to come. Looking at the rankings, Yanā€™s already fought all the guys above him and I canā€™t see him rematching any of them just yet. So I think heā€™s gonna have to fight down in rank next. Iā€™d be up for him facing the winner of Figgy vs Garbrandt myself. Thatā€™s an exciting fight either way. And Iā€™d do Song vs Chito 2 next. The first fight is one thatā€™s been debated and Chitoā€™s always claimed he was robbed. With both coming off losses here, now seems as good a time as any to run it back. Like others, I found myself quite pleased to see Curtis Blaydes get the win over Jailton Almeida. Blaydes has grown on me a bit in recent years and, while I had high hopes for Jailton initially, that fight against Derrick Lewis was rotten. This was always a really intriguing test for him because of Blaydesā€™ wrestling. He did well in the first round but more from a control standpoint than actually inflicting damage. It was impressive he was able to keep taking Blaydes down and control him but, because thatā€™s all he did, Blaydes really took no punishment. By the end of that first round it kind of felt like Jailton couldā€™ve done that all night. But it was such a one note approach and almost as soon as the second round startedā€¦ Blaydes knew exactly what he was gonna do, anticipated it and made him pay the price. Blaydes looked so bored the whole time Almeida was ragging him about in the first round, he looked genuinely pissed off as he just unloaded with all those hammerfists at the end šŸ¤£ donā€™t know what the fuck Rogan was watching or why he was insisting an uppercut happened when the replays clearly showed it didnā€™t. Good use of Blaydes mic time in the post-fight interview though. I liked him calling out Aspinall. We all know itā€™s bollocks and that Aspinall should be fighting Jon Jones next but what can you do? With that not happening, Aspinall vs Blaydes 2 makes sense to me. Unfinished business. Skimmed through the Maycee Barber vs Katlyn Cerminara fight. I didnā€™t completely skip it because Barberā€™s been alright to watch in recent fights and I thought she might be able to drag something decent out of this. But it didnā€™t look much good from what I saw. Like I said the other day, I feel really bad for Katlyn after hearing what sheā€™s gone through lately. But even with that said, Iā€™ve just got no desire to sit through her fights. For that reason I was happy to see Barber get the win at least. Sheā€™s climbing the rankings now. Jessica Andrade is fighting Marina Rodriguez at UFC 300, maybe give Barber the winner of that? Yeah, Gamrot got his cleanest high level win here over RDA. I find him so frustrating to watch though. Clearly heā€™s got skills, his wrestling is relentless and heā€™s obviously really well conditioned. But like Al said above, he gets opponents down but there doesnā€™t seem to be any serious consequences to it. He was finishing fights early in his UFC run but as heā€™s gone up in levels and heā€™s facing tougher guys, he definitely seems to lack that finishing ability. RDA has clearly lost a few steps but it was nice to hear the commentators give him some praise for his longevity. The manā€™s granite. He had Gamrot hurt in that first round as well. Got my hopes up but it wasnā€™t to be. Not a clue who Gamrot fights now. The guys above him in the rankings, youā€™ve got Chandler still waiting on McGregor, Gaethjeā€™s tied up with Holloway and Poirierā€™s his teammate at ATT so Iā€™m not sure if theyā€™d even fight each other. And again, Iā€™m sure Dana said the winner of Oliveira vs Tsarukyan is getting the shot at Makhachev so thatā€™s out. Gamrotā€™s best bet might be to go after the loser of one of those big fights. Heā€™s definitely not gonna get the title shot next though. Thought Kyler Phillips looked phenomenal in his fight. Granted, Pedro Munhoz is getting long in the tooth now and on the home stretch of his career, but I thought Phillips put on a bit of a clinic here. All that was missing was a finish but thatā€™s probably more to do with Munhoz being crazy durable than anything else. Iā€™ve liked what Iā€™ve seen of Phillips in some of his previous fights but his progress had stalled a bit. This win should earn him a spot in the rankings though and I thought it was probably his overall best performance so far in the UFC. So many fun fights to make with him in the Top 15 at Bantamweight. Love the idea of a fight with Font or Martinez like WeeAl mentioned there. Lins vs Cutelaba was better than I expected. Think I said in the opening post that Lins does nothing for me but he was fine here. Whether it was Cutelaba being such a nutcase forcing Lins to scrap or what, I quite enjoyed it as a prelim filler brawl. In fairness to Lins as well, I didnā€™t realise that all his previous UFC fights were either in the Apex or empty venues during COVID. Maybe actually getting to fight in front of a crowd gave him a boost. Michel Pereira pissing straight through Oleksiejczuk in about a minute was a buzz. Although this was a darkhorse fight for me on the undercard and I was hoping itā€™d last a bit longer than it did. Pereira crushed him though. Those body kicks that set up the finishing choke were horrible. Love watching Pereira. Mad sod. I know heā€™s got his detractors and Iā€™m not claiming heā€™ll ever make a dent in the title mix. But man, heā€™s entertaining to watch. Heā€™s looking a beast since moving up to 185 as well. Shouldā€™ve sacked to the cut to 170 off years back. Robelis Despaigne couldnā€™t have had a more impactful and memorable UFC debut. 18 bastard seconds! Yeah it was only Josh Parisian he squashed but, still, it was quite a first impression on the big stage. Obviously thereā€™s a ton of questions to be answered and at 35 and coming from a purely striking background, his ceiling mightnā€™t be very high. But itā€™s a new Heavyweight that stands out and is actually worth talking about. We havenā€™t had many of them come along in recent years. At the very least, hopefully heā€™ll squash a few more of these fat jobbers that have been stinking up the division for years. If he was younger Iā€™d say just feed him these no hopers for a while. But given his age and the lack of depth at Heavyweight, I reckon theyā€™ll try to fast track him and that could backfire. Still, regardless of the opposition, the fact his last 4 fights have lasted a combined 37 seconds is insane! Was chuffed to see Joanne Wood go out on a win. Turned out to be a decent fight as well. Not a barnburner but decent and Wood really turned it up in that last round. That late onslaught is what won her the fight in the end. I was really hoping sheā€™d get the finish when this landed but Moroz just about survived it. Still, it was nice to see Wood go out on a positive note. I get the feeling her retirement will stick as well. Seems like sheā€™s more focused on family now. You could see it in her post-fight interview, Rogan asked her about the fight and she immediately just started talking about being happy her step son was in attendance. Yeah, this card didnā€™t quite live up to the potential it had. I enjoyed it mostly though. It just looked like a Best Card Of The Year type thing on paper and it fell a bit short of those expectations. Wasnā€™t bad though and it definitely had a few real standout moments. Onto 300!
  18. Yeah, it was listed as being on TNT Sports 2 all week. Apparently they moved it to TNT Sports 1 not long before show time. Iā€™m guessing it fucked a lot of people up. If youā€™ve got the Discovery+ app itā€™s all on there. Main card and prelims.
  19. Main card confirmed. And the official (made by me in 2 mins) poster.
  20. By far the worst part about Ngannou getting knocked out, this was Danaā€™s face when asked about it at the UFC 299 press conference last nightā€¦
  21. Has everyone forgot about this? šŸ¤£ Itā€™s kind of an alright card you know. Anywayā€¦ Didnā€™t think Iā€™d get around to revisiting this one but the kids are in bed and the Mrs is sick and asleep so itā€™s either this or drinking on my own. Saturday nights used to be better than this. Sod it. I actually barely remember this fight. Obviously I know how it ended but thatā€™s about all I can recall of it. So yeah, these two met back in the summer of 2020 as co-main under the Stipe vs DC rubber match. Oā€™Malley was pretty untested at the time but had just about scraped into the rankings. I donā€™t think Chito was even ranked. So it was a curios choice as co-headliner but just shows how highly the top bollocks behind the scenes at UFC HQ rated Oā€™Malley. He was undefeated at 12-0 and 9 finishes coming in and was one of the first DWCS guys the UFC machine got behind and really pushed. Chito was a step up from the guys Oā€™Malley had been facing but he was coming off a decision loss against Song Yadong in his previous fight, taking him to 6 losses overall at that point in his career. So a step up for ā€˜Sugaā€™ but not an outrageous one. The pre-fight video is all about how Oā€™Malley is gonna be this mega star. Again, bear in mind his best win at this point is a KO over a badly fading Eddie Wineland who was close to retiring. But heā€™s sat there on some makeshift throne with a jazzy gold robe on like heā€™s Hugh Hefner, and a dog on his lap, name dropping the likes of Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali and Conor McGregor in comparison to himself. šŸ¤£ Chito comes on and heā€™s the complete opposite. Heā€™s got a chip on his shoulder and heā€™s all pissed off about the Song Yadong decision going against him. Sean Oā€™Malley vs Marlon Vera UFC 252: Miocic vs Cormier 3 August 15th 2020 Las Vegas, Nevada Commentators are Jon Anik, Joe Rogan and Dominick Cruz. Ugh. Rogan and Cruz is an abysmal combination. Iā€™m not the biggest fan of DC on commentary but Iā€™d even rather him than Cruz. Obviously DC had other things to do on this card though. Fight is at the shitty Apex because itā€™s 2020 and COVID is still in the relatively early stages of going in dry on the world. Herb Deanā€™s on reffing duties. And weā€™re offā€¦ Round 1: Oā€™Malley comes out right away throwing leg kicks. And after literally one or two of them Chitoā€™s switching stances. Oā€™Malleyā€™s kicking the legs on both sides though, regardless of Veraā€™s stance. Body kicks now from ā€˜Sugaā€™ and Chitoā€™s having a hard time getting close to get in punching range. Oā€™Malleyā€™s throwing a lot of feints but pretty much all his offence so far has been kicks. Very few punches. About midway through the round now andā€¦something just happenedā€¦ Yep. Oā€™Malleyā€™s leg appeared to buckle and at that moment his whole demeanour and body language changes. The commentators donā€™t even mention it, it seems like they completely missed it. Chito didnā€™t though. Heā€™s immediately upped the aggression. Oā€™Malleyā€™s gone from being very active to just retreating now. Again, Oā€™Malleyā€™s having trouble putting any weight on the right leg and now the commentators have finally twigged that somethingā€™s wrong. Chito advancing now and putting the pressure on. He smells blood. Chito kicking Oā€™Malleyā€™s good leg now. Oā€™Malley still moving but it seems like heā€™s literally just trying to survive the round at this point. Final minute of the round and Oā€™Malleyā€™s trying to throw heavy punches. He knows his ankle is done and he needs to just end the fight. But his balance is gone and he falls on his arse after whiffing on a right hand. And Chitoā€™s all the fuck over him. Itā€™s over. That first elbow was absolutely brutal. The sound of it was sickening, especially in the empty Apex. The commentators start saying the stoppage was ā€œquickā€ but Cruz rightly shoots that talk down. Oā€™Malley was toast. Of all the bad Herb Dean stoppages to complain about, this wasnā€™t one of them. And even if heā€™d let it go, thereā€™s no way Oā€™Malley was coming out for the second round with his leg in the state it was in. Winner - Marlon Vera by TKO. Round 1 - 4:40. Really unfortunate ending. Iā€™m no fan of Oā€™Malley but it must suck to suffer your first defeat like that. Of course Chito got a legitimate finish there. Itā€™s a TKO win for him. But watching this back now, itā€™s hard to really take much away from this. It was early in the fight but Iā€™ve gotta say Oā€™Malley was well in control before the injury. Chito couldnā€™t get near him and got nothing done until Oā€™Malley rolled his ankle or whatever he did. Then from that moment on, Oā€™Malley wasnā€™t the same fighter. I know it can sound like excuse making and Iā€™m the last one whoā€™s gonna make excuses for the Skittles headed prick. But fairā€™s fair, that injury was a massive factor in why the fight played out how it did. You never know how it wouldā€™ve gone had the injury not happened because, although Oā€™Malley was winning, Chito is known to let 3 or 4 minutes of a round slip by before he wakes up and inflicts a bunch of damage in the last minute or whatever. There was a lot of time in the fight to play out so maybe he wouldā€™ve warmed into it. But just looking at the less than a round it lasted, itā€™s undeniable that the injury was a huge momentum shifter and completely altered the course of the fight. Hopefully nothing like this happens tonight and we get to see the unfinished business settled between these two with no controversy. Thereā€™s a cracking fight to be had here if theyā€™re both coming in on good form. I think a lot of people mightā€™ve just looked at the records, seen Chito got a first round stoppage the first time and assumed heā€™s gonna cause all sorts of grief for Oā€™Malley but you look back at that fight and ALL his success comes from Seanā€™s injury. Even when he ended up on top of him dropping the fight ending elbows, itā€™s not like he successfully took Oā€™Malley down. They ended up in that position solely because Oā€™Malleyā€™s leg gave out and he fell to his back. Thereā€™s honestly pretty much nothing from that first fight that I think has any real bearing on how this rematch goes. Guess that makes this post pretty pointless really. Although itā€™s a rematch, I think itā€™s basically a fresh fight. Oā€™Malleyā€™s grown a fair bit since 2020. Heā€™s proven himself against the likes of Aljo and Yan, won the title and heā€™s got that bit more experience and legit confidence now that only comes with time and fighting at a higher level. But Chitoā€™s tough and scrappy and he does have that 5 round experience whereas Oā€™Malleyā€™s never gone longer than 3 rounds. Youā€™ve got to imagine theyā€™re both gonna be bang up for this as well. Oā€™Malley is looking to avenge his only loss and for Chito, letā€™s face it, this is almost certainly the best chance heā€™s ever gonna get to win UFC gold. I think Oā€™Malleyā€™s winning but much stranger things have happened. See you on the other side of this beauty.
  22. PFL on Thursday, Joshua vs Ngannou on Fridayā€¦feels like the build up for this has taken a little bit of a hit. But this is a proper stacked card tonight. Just hours away now. šŸ”„šŸ”„šŸ”„
  23. Is itā€¦maybeā€¦that Tyson Fury fights to the level of his opponents?
  24. Yeah the pacing was rotten as always. AJ vs Ngannou were meant to be in there by 11ish werenā€™t they? Which is already late for a main event to start. Donā€™t think they were in the ring before 12:30 in the end. Too much waffle between fights. Any show starting at 3pm and not ending until after midnight is too much. Card was good though. I enjoyed most of the undercard but was a bit underwhelmed by Parker vs Zhang. Hilarious to me how Zhang was acting shocked when Parker was announced the winner. Aside from the knockdown I thought he looked pretty bad last night. Ball vs Vargas was fun as expected. Enjoyed Huni vs Lerena as well, Lerenaā€™s tough as old boots and I was really rooting for him after they said his mum had just died this week as well. He fought his arse off in defeat. Louis Green first round stoppage of Jack McGann was brutal as well. Just smashed him.
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