wandshogun09

2 hours ago, Egg Shen said:

The Matchroom vs. Queensbury press conference is on today at half 5, all five fights will be announced.

Beterbiev-Bivol face-off. Inject this into my veins.

Maybe but when Dana initially announced Oliveira vs Tsarukyan he said it was a #1 contender fight. That lines up with why Tsarukyan was offered the title shot first. With him turning it down and Oliveira losing the only real options were Poirier or Holloway. And I think Holloway is gonna go back to 145 now so that just left Poirier. 

20 minutes ago, Bus Surfer said:

Tsurukyan's manager has said he was offered the Islam fight immediately after backstage but turned it down to the short turn around time. 

Yeah, standard shit from the UFC but it’s bollocks that they hit fighters with that immediately after fights. No doubt Dana will turn on Tsarukyan now and claim he “didn’t want the fight” but who knows what he’s got going on physically and/or in his personal life. For him to pass on a title shot, there must be a good reason. And to be fair, turning straight back around into another training camp isn’t ideal. He’s been waiting to break through in the title mix for a while now and he’s already 0-1 down to Makhachev. He’d be a fool to accept the fight now if he feels like he can’t get a proper camp in. If he said yes and lost the fight, then he’s 0-2 to Islam and who knows when he’d get another shot? You want a full, dedicated and very specific training camp for a guy like Makhachev. And with the show only being about 6-7 weeks away on June 1st, it’s not ideal. Especially if he’s got any injuries from this UFC 300 camp  or the fight itself. Or even just fearing he might overtrain doing back-to-back camps.

But yeah, blindsiding fighters straight after fights to ‘negotiate’ the next fight is bullshit. Here’s my favourite example of that backfiring spectacularly…

I’ll post more when I’ve had a sleep and caught up on the stuff I missed but, fuck me, what a show. Loads of good stuff to talk about but Max Fucking Holloway man! 

It’s on then. McGregor vs Chandler. UFC 303. June 29. 5 rounds at 170lbs.

Well fuck…

And…

I’m going Pereira, Zhang and I’ve come around to thinking Max might pull it off the closer it’s gotten. Admittedly the Pereira and Max picks have a touch of wishful thinking to them, wouldn’t say I’m hugely confident in either getting the W tonight but I’m leaning towards both and hoping they win. Pretty sure of a Zhang win but we’ll see. Further down the card I’m actually thinking Tsarukyan might spoil the Oliveira comeback and Bo Nickal is gonna squash Brundage, obvs. 

On the prelims I’m fancying Aljo to beat Kattar, Jiri to KO Rakic and, fuck it, Harrison to finally put Holm out of OUR misery. Got Yusuff over Lopes as well, Turner over Moicano and Andrade over Rodrigues. Miller vs Green I’m about a dead 50/50 on but I’ll go with Miller because it’s the result I want. And I think Figgy decks Garbrandt in the curtain jerker.

Oh and while I’m here, a fan caught this video last night of Jiri Prochazka just standing there, staring out the T-Mobile Arena. He was out there for at least 20 minutes according to this guy 🤣 Jiri’s a different type of cat. 

I’m late but happy birthday Devon. Hope you had a good one. 

Looks lovely that! Chips look perfect. 

Have it. 

Slaphead Makhachev sighting. 

Just looked back at the UFC 200 thread on here. 74 fucking pages!! Times have changed…

Obviously there was more to talk about with 200. McGregor vs Diaz 2 initially being planned for it, Holm vs Rousey 2 being rumoured at one point, Aldo returning coming off that disastrous 13 seconds against Conor in his previous fight etc. Then there was the whole madness with Jon Jones getting USADA’d and fucking up the Cormier rematch leading to Anderson Silva stepping in at the eleventh hour. There was a LOT going on. And of course, Brock Lesnar coming back against Mark Hunt was a massive talking point on here in 2016. Goes without saying, on this forum, any time a big pro wrestling star makes the jump it’s gonna get more attention.

But still, 74 bastard pages. And here we are on UFC 300 fight day and we’re only on page 2. 

McGregor was on James Corden’s podcast apparently. Genuinely can’t think of much I’d wanna listen to less than this shite.

Turns out Mark Coleman will be wrapping the BMF belt around the winner of Gaethje vs Holloway.

28 minutes ago, Egg Shen said:

Part of me envisions Holly sidestepping around the outside potshotting to a 3 round decision.

Nightmare fuel. Yeah it’s gonna happen isn’t it? Pennington vs Holm 3 here we come. 

Kayla Harrison made 135.

It’s weird but the most intriguing aspect of this fight to me was whether she’d make weight or not. So this fight has almost already peaked for me now. The fight itself, I’m not expecting much from it. Hopefully it’s better than I’m picturing it but the prospect of a 40-odd year Holm who hasn’t had an enjoyable fight in years vs a badly weight drained Harrison…it doesn’t fill me with optimism. Hope I’m wrong and Kayla absolutely bulldozes the dullard but it feels like of all the great fights on this card, this one has the highest chance of shitting the bed. 

Funny timing this thread being bumped. You’ve all most likely seen this already but this popped up in my YouTube recommendations the other day. Matt Cardona and co going through the entire Hasbro line. 

Initially stuck it on in the background while I was doing bits and bobs around the house but quickly got swept up in it. Brought back so many memories. Even touches on the rarities/prototypes and stuff like Rhythm & Blues Greg, Mega Maniacs Brutus and this beauty…

Just noticed that channel has similar episodes on the Jakks Bone Crunchers, LJN, Bend ‘Ems, WCW (not Galoob) and ECW as well. Don’t know when or if I’ll ever get around to watching all of them and they don’t hold the same sentimentality as the Hasbros for me because I never had any of them bar a few of the Jakks BCAs. But I really enjoyed this Hasbro one. 

Again, slow as fuck getting around to this. Between real life shit going on and spending a fair old chunk of the spare time I did have this week watching WrestleMania, this wasn’t high on my list of priorities. Just finally caught up.

Allen vs Curtis 2 turned out to be a very entertaining fight, once again marred by talk about the judging after.

I’ll be honest, I had Curtis winning myself. Wouldn’t call it a flat out robbery like a lot of people are but I felt like he won 3 of the 5 rounds (although I can’t remember which now). I’d have to rewatch, maybe Allen winning 48-47 wouldn’t be an outrageous scorecard. But I felt like Curtis got a raw deal here. And the one judge scoring it 49-46 Allen must’ve been smoking crack because what the fuck? Like I said though, it’s a shame all that shite has detracted from what was a really enjoyable fight.

I said in one of the recent event threads that the Fight Night main events had really been a bit shit so far this year but this was a welcome change from that. And for all my moaning about it in the past, this was actually a Middleweight main event at the Apex that was an exception to the rule compared to the usual dross we get served up.

Allen calling out DDP and Strickland post-fight seems like a waste of time. He’s definitely not getting the next title shot and I can’t see Strickland being interested in rematching him at the minute either. Looking at the rankings, Allen’s at #6 now but he’s been very fortunate to get the win here and I really can’t see his climb up the rankings going much further at all. The logical next fight for him is surely either rebooking that Vettori fight that was supposed to go down on this card, or maybe do Allen vs Cannonier. Those two are ranked just above Allen currently at #4 and #5 so either of them would make sense. Not sure what should be next for Curtis. Wouldn’t mind seeing Allen vs Curtis 3 when Allen inevitably gets derailed and sent back on his way down the ladder a few rungs. They’re 1-1 now and this was close enough, debatable enough and exciting enough to warrant a trilogy decider somewhere down the road, I reckon.

Was well happy to see Damon Jackson and his new Turkey bought hairline get the win over twat face Alex Hernandez. Very satisfying. It was a gruelling, competitive fight but one I felt like Jackson won. I wouldn’t have had a huge problem if Hernandez got the nod, it really could’ve gone either way. But again, how the one judge had it 30-27 Hernandez baffled me. Was he sat cageside with dark glasses, a white stick and a golden retriever?

Had a feeling that Chepe Mariscal vs Morgan Charriere fight was gonna be a fun one and they absolutely didn’t disappoint! There’s a reason I had this highlighted as my ‘one to watch’ even when it was on the prelims. Cracking fight. Was actually pleasantly surprised these two got FOTN. Well deserved, in my opinion, but in situations like this where it’s a choice between a fun main event and a banger prelim, they tend to favour the higher billed fight. I fully expected Allen and Curtis to get the bonus but I’m glad these guys got it. In the short time they’ve both been on the roster, they’ve already cemented themselves for me as ‘must see’ fighters. Not saying either are future champions, or even title contenders, but they’re gonna be can't miss viewing regardless and they’re both great additions to the Featherweight division. Shame this fight was wasted on the Apex. Imagine this in front of a Mexican or French crowd?

Ignacio Bahamondes delivered big time with the only finish on the main card…

Been saying for a while that he’s always worth tuning in to watch. Such an entertaining fighter. If I could choose his next fight, Daniel Zellhuber on the Sphere card for Mexican Independence Day wouldn’t upset me. Almost a guaranteed banger.

Charlie Campbell and Trevor Peek had a fun scrap in the main card opener. Solid performance from Campbell, thought he looked quite sharp here and was clearly the better fighter of the two technically. But what Peek lacks in technique he almost makes up for in toughness. Campbell probably would’ve got the stoppage against most opponents at this kind of level but Peek is granite durable, almost to a fault. Very enjoyable fight.

Alex Morono vs Court McGee just kind of came and went. Didn’t look like the worst fight ever but I didn’t really get into it. Felt like a prelim plucked from a card a decade ago. Just didn’t grab me. Morono won, which seemed like about the result you’d expect in 2024. Saw some talk that McGee should’ve won but I didn’t really take enough notice to keep track of it. McGee just looks done, to be fair. This was his third straight loss on the bounce and he turns 40 this year. Inspirational story with beating heroin addiction and stuff but it’s probably time to start thinking about an exit strategy from MMA.

The Lukasz Brzeski vs Valter Walker fight temporarily cured my insomnia last night when I first tried to watch most of this show. Literally sent me to sleep. I skimmed through it today and thought it was the drizzling shits.

I feel like we got catfished here. Not that I ever expected Valter to take the UFC by storm and rule the Heavyweight division. But he at least looked exciting in the clips I’d seen when he got signed and he seemed to have some of the same wonderful Walker weirdness his brother has. Which is something that the Heavyweight ranks can always do with, in my opinion. He just looked fucking awful though. Genuinely terrible. Mad thing is I thought Brzeski looked even worse somehow. I had Walker winning but it wasn’t pretty and, to be honest, it was such a shitty fight I felt like neither deserved to be called a winner. Can’t wait to not watch both of their next fights.

Norma Cheeks fight was predictably shit. Never expected anything more from this. Dumont gets the W though and moves to #9 in the rankings. Somehow Germaine De Randamie was still ranked going into this fight, despite being inactive for well over 3 years before this fight. That’s the Bantamweight division in 2024 for you! A dull points win over a 40 year old who hasn’t fought in 3+ years gets you a Top 10 spot. Not sure what’s next for either of these two. Maybe Dumont can fight Miesha Tate or something? Although I fear that’s got ‘Apex headliner’ written all over it.

Nice win for Jean Matsumoto in his Octagon debut…

It’s just not happening for Dan Argueta in the UFC though. He came into the UFC undefeated and has gone 0-2-0-2 since. Came into this one off back-to-back No Contests and was giving Matsumoto all he could handle throughout the first and second rounds. Put a frantic pace on him and was wrestling the bollocks off him. Only for Matsumoto to lock in the guillotine and get the tap with literally one second left in the round!

Cesar Almeida got there in the end and it was a nasty finish from him but it wasn’t the most convincing or promising performance for his UFC debut. He was obviously the way better striker and he did manage to keep getting back to his feet when he was taken down. But Budka controlling him so much and taking him down a bunch of times doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence for when he comes up against better opposition. Maybe I’m being harsh. He made the transition from Kickboxing to MMA late and, in fairness, this wasn’t the ideal style opponent for his debut but he got the job done regardless. Calling out Weidman after was a bit surprising. Again, not the best of styles to face if you don’t wanna be repeatedly taken down. Or poked in the eyes.

Wasn’t paying a lot of attention to it but Nora Cornolle wrecked Melissa Mullins in the Fight Pass opener.

Christ. From the bits I was half watching and listening to it seemed like Mullins was doing alright in the first round but that knee to the body just turned it around and all I can say is Mullins was lucky those headkicks landed with the foot instead of the shin, otherwise she’d have been napping on the canvas. Don’t see either amounting to much really and them both missing weight for this fight won’t do them any favours. But it was a good finish.

Mixed bag of a show really but having a couple of fights as entertaining as Allen vs Curtis 2 and Mariscal vs Charriere is better than we usually get on these Apex cards, isn’t it? Few stinkers like Dumont vs GDR and Valter Walker’s fight dragged it down unfortunately but there were a couple of fights and finishes that made me not totally regret giving it a look.

Onto 300 we go!

Akebono and Sakuraba. Sakubono. 

Yeah, I was more familiar with his stints in MMA and K-1 than his Sumo career. Definitely agree with Egg that there did seem to be an element of exploitation to it where they’d routinely roll him out there in fights they knew he had pretty much no hope in. But that was the way they did things over there at the time. I’ll never forget Yuji Nagata basically being used as a human sacrifice and getting fed to Cro Cop and Fedor in his first 2 (and last 2) MMA fights. 

Akebono had quite a mad career when you think about it though. Huge success in Sumo obviously but even beyond that, he fought the likes of Royce Gracie and Don Frye in MMA, he fought in K-1, he competed at a WrestleMania, he wrestled Brock Lesnar in Japan etc. That led me to look up more of Akebono’s pro wrestling section on his Wikipedia page and he did more than I thought in wrestling. He wrestled everywhere from All Japan to New Japan to NOAH to Hustle to Dragon Gate. 

Fight week Kayla Harrison in the UFC kit is something I never really thought we’d see. Will she make 135?

I think so. But the question is at what cost? I really hope it works out for her because Bantamweight is in dire need for something new. And the alternative, a Holm win, probably sees her get another title shot. Especially as she’s already 2-0 over the current champ. Pennington vs Holm 3 anyone? Anyone at all? 

Yeah, thought not. 

7 hours ago, Egg Shen said:

custom shorts

Yep. 

I don’t know. I think it’s absolutely gonna be somewhere in between those extremes. It definitely has the potential to be one of the greatest shows ever but those kind of cards have to have pretty much everything click and go right. The chances of that are always slim just because of the unpredictable nature of MMA. I know MMA fans generally have short memories but for this to be THE greatest show of all time it’s gonna have to beat some stiff competition. 290 last year for example, 189 was an all timer, Pride had some epics etc. But on the other end of the scale, I can’t see it being a complete anti-climax either. Any card that has a crew of routinely exciting fighters like Oliveira, Pereira, Zhang, Miller, Figgy etc on there - not to mention a fight like Gaethje vs Holloway - is gonna be at least very good, if not way beyond that. I would be shocked if it’s a bad card with that lot on there, because none of them seem to know how to be boring. The ingredients for a dud aren’t really there with those lot. 

I think fans going in expecting the GREATEST CARD OF ALL TIME!!! and for every fight to be a Lawler vs Rory 2 thriller is just setting themselves up for disappointment and nothing is gonna please them. My thinking is it’s gonna at least be better than your average PPV. Anything more than that is a bonus.

While we’re speculating, what colour do we reckon the canvas is gonna be this time? Will they even bother with that? Do we see a return of the piss coloured mat from 200? 

7 hours ago, air_raid said:

That's twice in 48 hours I've read this in this context... is the new "people getting flowers"?

If I still allowed myself into the Minor Annoyances thread, that one's getting up there. Everyone speaking in the same voice is really grating in general, but words like props/credit are hardly forgettable. Plus everyone wants to say "discourse" instead of discussion/conversation/debate/argument like it makes them sound smarter. It's the new "revert."