UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs Arlovski - May 8th

[jimufctna24]

What I am hearing around other forums and media is that people are confident in a McGregor victory, and no one wants to predict Chael/Shogun due to how inconsistent Shogun is.

 

I like Chael, but his act has peaked now, which it was always going to at some stage. I find his amusing still, but he is not the straight talking revelation he was in 2010/2011. As a fighter he is a safer bet, you know what he is going to bring, being constant pressure, decent takedowns and reasonable boxing. Shogun on his best day can and will knock him for six, you need more than "reasonable" striking to deal with Shogun, even before Rua learned not to "punch like a girl"

 

I am for now wagering on Shogun, but I could change my mind come weigh-in time.

[wandshogun09]

Been watching the presser and they said Steve Collins might corner McGregor. They asked McGregor but he didn't really answer the question other than that he doesn't know if it's happening and that it would be "pretty special".

 

I can't help feeling people are selling Holloway short to be honest. This is no gimme for McGregor. I'd love to see him win because he's a breath of fresh air in the -155lb ranks, but people seem to be talking like Holloway has no chance. I've picked McGregor but it's a bit of a shot in the dark. We don't know truly how good he is yet and I think people might have been swept up in the hype a bit (me included) when prediciting this fight. It should be a cracker either way.

 

Also from the press conference. Chael speaks;

 

"I think he's (Shogun) awesome. He's a top 10 ranked fighter, he's a former world champion, he's a true legend in the sport. And there's not a whole bunch of them out there that are still competing today. I would never underestimate Shogun. I haven't had a big wish to fight Shogun.

 

'Little Nerd' said that he was gonna do this fight, pulled out like he always does, coincidentally after the posters, press releases and free marketing all got done. You know, I'm from a different time. I'm from a time where your word meant something. I'm from a time where you sign a contract, you show up for work whether you feel like it or not. This guy called in sick, like he always does, three weeks in advance. Nobody sitting out there today can call their boss and say 'Hey boss, three weeks from now I'm not gonna feel good.' It can't happen.

 

He comes out two days ago and says he wants to fight Shogun. Well listen genius, you could've fought Shogun. You could've fought him in Winnipeg where you gave your word to the fans, to the promotion and to Shogun that you would fight him.

 

Every time Little Nog or Vitor Belfort sign a contract, I go into training camp, because I know an opportunity is going to open up. And that's just the reality of the situation."

[lambyUK]

I'm guessing BT fucked up with their scheduling last night since the road to octagon didn't air?

[wandshogun09]

I forgot all about that actually. It's going to be on before the prelims on Saturday night last time I checked.

[lambyUK]

I forgot all about that actually. It's going to be on before the prelims on Saturday night last time I checked.

 

I don't think there is a road to the octagon Wand. It would have been advertised on UFC.com by now is there was?

[wandshogun09]

I think you're right. Why did the bastards put it on the listings? It was there wasn't it, I'm not imagining it am I? Can't check my planner at the minute but I definitely saw it listed for Saturday night. As you say, it can't be happening because it would be on YouTube or something by now, or at least mentioned on the MMA sites.

 

Oh well. I think they missed a trick there to be honest. On a card with Shogun, Chael, Overeem, Faber and McGregor, some type of build-up show would have been great. Especially since they're debuting on a new channel with this show.

 

If anyone doubts how much the UFC love Conor McGregor, they did a competition asking people to make an alternative, Conor McGregor themed poster for this event. This won;

 

 

And bagged the guy who made it $2,500 for his efforts.

 

Chael on Shogun's cardio;

 

"I see 'Shogun' get fatigued, but it doesn't seem to affect him. There's a few guys out there like that. They get real tired, but they don't stop. They look like they want to. You start to see the signs, you see their body language change, but they push through it anyway. 'Shogun' is one of those guys. He never stops trying to win, he's never not dangerous, and even when he's breathing hard he doesn't let you off.

 

This is what I was getting at before. Shogun is still dangerous when he's knackered. He knocked out Vera and Coleman while gassed, and almost knocked out Dan Henderson, then went on to dominate the last two rounds after being gassed and beat up for the first three rounds. Most guys when they gas lose all their power, Shogun must lose some but he's usually still got enough to remain a threat. You can't ever just relax and coast with him and Chael obviously recognises that. It's still a tough style fight for Shogun though, Chael has the kind of game that could shut Shogun's strengths down. I hope Shogun has really worked his submissions from the bottom because that might be the key. He usually just goes for heel hooks and omaplatas off his back, which are low success rate submissions, unless you're Rousimar Palhares. He uses them more to sweep and get up, but if he's been tightening up his armbars and triangles he could possibly catch Chael.

 

It's an interesting one and I'm really not sure who I'm leaning towards. I can see Chael coming through a few dicey moments and edging a decision, but I think I favour Shogun. 25 minutes is a long time to not get caught, and Shogun could catch him standing or on the ground. Nowhere is safe for Chael. He's not stopping Shogun, I know anything can happen but the chances of that a very slim. So he'll have to try to wrestle his way to the scorecards and try to stay out of danger for 5 rounds.

 

I'll go with Shogun by KO, round 2.

[lambyUK]

You're definitely not imagining it. I had it set to record on Wednesday night and it simply vanished from the planner.

[wandshogun09]

I bet on the night it will be that 'Story So Far' thing again. Also, I know its been asked before but where is this weekly UFC talk show we were meant to get? I know the channel just launched but I've seen no mention of it since. And I could swear they said we'd get the weigh-ins and all sorts on there as well.

[lambyUK]

I bet on the night it will be that 'Story So Far' thing again. Also, I know its been asked before but where is this weekly UFC talk show we were meant to get? I know the channel just launched but I've seen no mention of it since. And I could swear they said we'd get the weigh-ins and all sorts on there as well.

 

Dan Hardy just taped an inteview with billy bitch tits (GAD) for the show so I'm guessing it will be starting shortly.

[Ross18]

There is a show on BT Sports before the prelims called 'Road to Rio'. So there might of been some mix up there...

 

 

Anyways I think this may be my most anticipated UFC show since getting into it at the start of the year. So many little interesting things here and there that I can't wait to see pan out.

 

Stuff like Sonnen/Shogun being pretty unpredictable, then theres Overeem who has seem to gone under the radar and hadn't even been mentioned in the press conference yesterday till over 30 mins in, then there is the McGregor hype.

 

I also keep forgetting that Uriah Hall is on the card and going to be interesting to see how he bounces back from the TUF finale and all the hype he got there.

 

And thats only mentioning 4 fights on the card, lots more with fighters im more unknown too which im sure will be great.

[wandshogun09]

Nah I saw that Road To Rio thing listed but there was definitely a Road To The Octagon on the EPG as well. It was listed for Wednesday night and Saturday night before the prelims kick off.

 

I keep forgetting Uriah Hall as well. And Lauzon vs Johnson which might just be the sleeper. Joe Lauzon's track record speaks for itself, never a dull moment. And Michael Johnson had an awesome fight with Reza Madadi last time out in Sweden. Should be a lively main card opener and the crowd should be electric for the hometown boy 'Creepy Joe'.

[David]

It's hard to tell but he's still substantially less ripped than he was against Brock. Just watch that vid on youtube of Arriany Celeste's reaction to get a true grasp of just how ripped Overeem was during the weigh in's.

You can't compare how he looks during a weigh-in to how he looks at a photo shoot days before, or even how he looks on fight night. He'll have cut weight to make the limit.

 

Most fighters look ripped as Hell during the weigh in.

[Egg Shen]

i keep forgetting about most fights on the card, it really is the card of the year top to bottom.

[wandshogun09]

Most fighters look ripped as Hell during the weigh in.

 

True.

 

Weigh-in Roy Nelson

 

Fight night Roy Nelson

[lambyUK]

It's hard to tell but he's still substantially less ripped than he was against Brock. Just watch that vid on youtube of Arriany Celeste's reaction to get a true grasp of just how ripped Overeem was during the weigh in's.

You can't compare how he looks during a weigh-in to how he looks at a photo shoot days before, or even how he looks on fight night. He'll have cut weight to make the limit.

 

Most fighters look ripped as Hell during the weigh in.

 

How on earth do you come to that conclusion? Did you even see Overeem at his weigh in for the big foot fight? He wasn't ripped at all.