UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs Arlovski - May 8th

[David]

Not an excuse of course, but there are rumours doing the rounds in Glasgow that Calderwood was suffering some personal issues going into the fight. Apparently her boyfriend/coach ditched her a few days before the fight or something.

[wandshogun09]

April 18th on Big FOX...

 

 

FOX MAIN CARD

Lyoto Machida vs Luke Rockhold

Jacare Souza vs Chris Camozzi

Cub Swanson vs Max Holloway

Felice Herrig vs Paige VanZant

 

FOX SPORTS 1 PRELIMS

Jim Miller vs Beneil Dariush

Ovince St Preux vs Patrick Cummins

Corey Anderson vs Gian Villante

Takeya Mizugaki vs Aljamain Sterling

 

FIGHT PASS PRELIMS

Tim Means vs George Sullivan

Diego Brandao vs Jim Hettes

Eddie Gordon vs Chris Dempsey

 

This has crept up with pretty much no fanfare but it's a good bunch of fights.

 

 

Machida vs Rockhold should be a fantastic five round fight. I was one of those who wasn't completely sold on Rockhold when he entered the UFC. But since get spin-kicked into oblivion by TRT Vitor in 2013, he's stepped up his game with finishes over Costa Philippou, Tim Boetsch and Michael Bisping. He's worked his way back into the title shot conversation.

 

But he's got to get through Machida first, and Machida has looked revitalised and better than ever since dropping to middleweight IMO. Seriously, I think it's probably the best career move he could've made. At 185 he's stopped Munoz and Dollaway in a round and absolutely schooled Mousasi. His only loss at 185 has been to the champ Chris Weidman, but Machida still gave Weidman his hardest test yet. It was a great fight too, which always leaves open the possibility for a rematch.

 

I really like this fight. It's two guys at pretty much their peak, two interesting styles and there's potentially high stakes for the winner.

 

Jacare vs Camozzi 2! The rematch no-one was waiting for. Is your co-headliner.

 

Not ideal but can't be helped. Gutted that the Jacare vs Yoel Romero fight fell apart again. That was a fascinating matchup of styles. Romero's out and, for some reason, they called the guy Jacare already schooled in a couple of minutes in his UFC debut to step in.

 

 

If you're Camozzi you'd be mad to turn this down, he's got nothing to lose. If he loses - he was expected to, he took it on short notice and he did the UFC a favour so he'll get another fight whatever happens. And in the very unlikely event he wins - well, fuck me, that's massive. Can't blame him at all. I just don't really get the thought process from the UFC's end. You have to think there'd be someone else around Camozzi's level who would've taken the opportunity?

 

Stlll, whatever, at least we get to see Jacare do his thing.

 

 

Swanson vs Holloway is my pick for FOTN. Swanson's trying to rebound from the spanking he got from Frankie Edgar in November, so he'll be fired up to go out and make a statement in this one. And this is Holloway's big chance to get a big name on his record. He's plugged away since the loss to McGregor two years ago and he's looked really good since then. But Swanson is definitely his toughest test since the McGregor fight. It's going to be a hell of a fight, I reckon. Their styles should make for a proper crowd pleaser.

 

 

Herrig vs VanZant opens up the main card. Obviously the UFC are hoping for big things from Paige VanZant. With just one fight (on the Fight Pass prelims) she's got people talking and even scored her own Reebok sponsorship. People like her. She's got an exciting fighting style, she's got the look and she seems a fun personality. And at 20 years old, she's got bags of time in the sport if she wants it. They're clearly trying to maximise her chances of catching on with people by sticking her on the FOX main card here.

 

Problem is, is it too soon? I hate Felice Herrig. She's a twat. But one thing she's got is experience. If VanZant wins it's big for her because Herrig is well known. But I'd hate to see Herrig derail her.

 

Prelims are pretty good.

 

Miller vs Dariush will be good. Especially if they end up grappling a lot.

 

OSP vs Cummins I'm not that into. I see Cummins probably shutting him down. Weird fight really. You'd think OSP would've got a bigger name coming off a 35 second KO over Shogun. Guess there weren't many available.

 

Mizugaki vs Sterling is a big step up for Sterling. Really like the sound of this fight actually. Should tell us a fair bit about where Sterling's at currently skill-wise. Mizugaki will be wanting to redeem himself for the absolute steamrolling he took from Dominick Cruz in September.

 

Brandao vs Hettes buried on the FP prelims as well. That should be a decent little fight there.

 

This one should deliver pretty much top to bottom, I reckon.

[ColinBollocks]

Aye, Middleweight Machida is one of my favourite fighters about, at the minute. He seems 10x the fighter in the division and, of course, the way he fights and his technique makes for some anomalistic devastation. Machida is can't miss telly.

 

Another good card from Fight Night too. I used to skip most of these, but the UFC have made it near impossible since the start of the year.

[Chunk]

 

Herrig vs VanZant opens up the main card. Obviously the UFC are hoping for big things from Paige VanZant. With just one fight (on the Fight Pass prelims) she's got people talking and even scored her own Reebok sponsorship. People like her. She's got an exciting fighting style, she's got the look and she seems a fun personality. And at 20 years old, she's got bags of time in the sport if she wants it. They're clearly trying to maximise her chances of catching on with people by sticking her on the FOX main card here.

 

Problem is, is it too soon? I hate Felice Herrig. She's a twat. But one thing she's got is experience. If VanZant wins it's big for her because Herrig is well known. But I'd hate to see Herrig derail her.

 

The bookies have Vanzant as the favourite. It's impossible to dislike Vanzant and impossible to like Herrig (ok, maybe that's a bit OTT), but I can see Felice getting the upset here.

 

Vanzant is only 5 fights into her MMA career. 3 wins outside of the UFC and 1 in the UFC - which I remember as an enthusiastic and entertaining but quite wild and sloppy contest. Meanwhile Herrig has 15 pro fights include some in Invicta and Bellator. She looked decent in TUF and on the finale show too.

 

One for David to stick on his bet-a-thon.

[wandshogun09]

 

ColBollocks - Yeah, I mean we've all had a moan about the absurdity of the practice of weight cutting in MMA but when you look at the unexpected career surges of guys like Machida and Robbie Lawler since dropping a weight class, it almost seems worth putting up with.

 

Chunk - I don't really get why Paige is the favourite really. And that's coming from someone who thinks Herrig isn't that good. No doubt Paige has more potential but surely betting odds should be based on what we've actually seen, not on potential? And Herrig, for all her faults and cuntiness, has the experience, she's got a kickboxing background and a decent ground game from her back, as shown in her sub over Lisa Ellis at the TUF 20 finale. Very active off her back, is Herrig. Dirty mare.

[Egg Shen]

it's a quality card, even down through the prelims. Shame Jacare/Romero dropped off but there's enough there to keep me interested. Dolloway/Swanson is a great fight, Holloway has quietly racked up a 5 fight streak since the loss to McGregor picking up some nice scalps along the way and he's improving. I quite fancy him here for some reason, it should be some fight, expecting a flashy standup battle.

 

Im fancying Rockhold over Machida too, another great fight. I rarely pick against Rockhold, dudes got some dangerous weapons.

[lambyUK]

Aye, Middleweight Machida is one of my favourite fighters about, at the minute. He seems 10x the fighter in the division and, of course, the way he fights and his technique makes for some anomalistic devastation. Machida is can't miss telly.

 

Another good card from Fight Night too. I used to skip most of these, but the UFC have made it near impossible since the start of the year.

 

This is a UFC on Fox card though, and Fox's main channel. Most of the time they have a big fight headlining and a good undercard for as Wand puts 'Big Fox'. I maybe wrong, but I think the last 'on fox' card was the Gustaffson vs Rumble card from Sweden. 

 

For the next on Fox card they've just announced the fights mentioned above for the chicago event so another big card for Fox. Whilst you're right about the fight night card being decent this year, you can normally count on big fox having excellent cards.

 

In regards to the chicago event, you can't help feel Pettis vs Jury is such a massive step down for Pettis. I guess there weren't many other alternatives?

[Chunk]

 

Aye, Middleweight Machida is one of my favourite fighters about, at the minute. He seems 10x the fighter in the division and, of course, the way he fights and his technique makes for some anomalistic devastation. Machida is can't miss telly.

 

Another good card from Fight Night too. I used to skip most of these, but the UFC have made it near impossible since the start of the year.

 

This is a UFC on Fox card though, and Fox's main channel. Most of the time they have a big fight headlining and a good undercard for as Wand puts 'Big Fox'. I maybe wrong, but I think the last 'on fox' card was the Gustaffson vs Rumble card from Sweden. 

 

For the next on Fox card they've just announced the fights mentioned above for the chicago event so another big card for Fox. Whilst you're right about the fight night card being decent this year, you can normally count on big fox having excellent cards.

 

In regards to the chicago event, you can't help feel Pettis vs Jury is such a massive step down for Pettis. I guess there weren't many other alternatives?

 

 

I dunno, he's 15-1. If he'd beaten Cowboy you could make a strong argument for him being top 5 and not far off a title shot. The lightweight division is just stacked to shit. His ranking under Barboza is weird to me too.

[Magnum Milano]

Not an excuse of course, but there are rumours doing the rounds in Glasgow that Calderwood was suffering some personal issues going into the fight. Apparently her boyfriend/coach ditched her a few days before the fight or something.

 

She tweeted the following a couple of days after the fight if anyone doesn't follow her on social media.

 

https://twitter.com/DRkneevil/status/587658493500530688

[lambyUK]

 

 

 

I dunno, he's 15-1. If he'd beaten Cowboy you could make a strong argument for him being top 5 and not far off a title shot. The lightweight division is just stacked to shit. His ranking under Barboza is weird to me too.

 

 

He's 15-1 but who's he faced? The only person of merit to me is Michael Johnson, and even then was way before he was the Michael Johnson we see today. Gomi and Sanchez are both past it for me and Jury was absolutely shocking against Cerrone. Literally did nothing.

 

Personally he's completely overrated. 

[ColinBollocks]

 

Aye, Middleweight Machida is one of my favourite fighters about, at the minute. He seems 10x the fighter in the division and, of course, the way he fights and his technique makes for some anomalistic devastation. Machida is can't miss telly.

 

Another good card from Fight Night too. I used to skip most of these, but the UFC have made it near impossible since the start of the year.

 

This is a UFC on Fox card though, and Fox's main channel. Most of the time they have a big fight headlining and a good undercard for as Wand puts 'Big Fox'. I maybe wrong, but I think the last 'on fox' card was the Gustaffson vs Rumble card from Sweden. 

 

For the next on Fox card they've just announced the fights mentioned above for the chicago event so another big card for Fox. Whilst you're right about the fight night card being decent this year, you can normally count on big fox having excellent cards.

 

In regards to the chicago event, you can't help feel Pettis vs Jury is such a massive step down for Pettis. I guess there weren't many other alternatives?

 

I'm aware of this, chief. My point still stands though. UFC have made these Fight Nights/TV cards (Big Fox or Fox Sports) unmissable. Last year that wasn't the case, for me, with the Werdum/Browne and Henderson/Thomson being two examples of big Fox shows I wasn't bothered about.

 

Dana White could not have been more bang on when he proclaimed "we're back". UFC have really stepped it up this year and it's paying off.

[lambyUK]

I'm aware of this, chief. My point still stands though. UFC have made these Fight Nights/TV cards (Big Fox or Fox Sports) unmissable. Last year that wasn't the case, for me, with the Werdum/Browne and Henderson/Thomson being two examples of big Fox shows I wasn't bothered about.

 

 

 

Dana White could not have been more bang on when he proclaimed "we're back". UFC have really stepped it up this year and it's paying off.

 

 

Yeah, you're right. Those Fox shows you mentioned didn't live up to the earlier Fox shows.

[METAL ON METAL]

Another good card from Fight Night too. I used to skip most of these, but the UFC have made it near impossible since the start of the year.

 

Then you've unintentionally missed a fair amount of shit this year. While it's definitely much better than last year, they've still been half-arsing it with the Fight Night/Fox Sports shows.

 

The Maia/LaFlare card was pretty good but with a shit main-event and a not exactly enticing line-up of fights. The Mir/Bigfoot card was shit top to bottom in both performances and fighters. The Henderson/Thatch show was pretty bland other than the main event - when Patrick fucking Walsh is on the main card y'know its not great.

 

 

For years I used to watch every show from the first prelim right to the main event and know every single fighter in the UFC, but now unless something stands out it's pretty much always just the main-card. The sheer amount of shows now has definitely dampened my enthusiasm for events, that and the fact there's so many forgettable and frankly shit people among the roster these days. 

 

I am very excited about this show though.

[Egg Shen]

 

 

 

 

I dunno, he's 15-1. If he'd beaten Cowboy you could make a strong argument for him being top 5 and not far off a title shot. The lightweight division is just stacked to shit. His ranking under Barboza is weird to me too.

 

 

He's 15-1 but who's he faced? The only person of merit to me is Michael Johnson, and even then was way before he was the Michael Johnson we see today. Gomi and Sanchez are both past it for me and Jury was absolutely shocking against Cerrone. Literally did nothing.

 

Personally he's completely overrated. 

 

it's a valid point but it's hard to say really, the Cerrone performance was a shocker but before that Jury was still looking a quality prospect. He may have defeated guys who are 'past it' per se, but the manner in which he breezed past them was impressive. 

 

Seeing how Jury comes back from a set-back and performs here is gonna tell us a whole bunch about the guy. I like the fight.

 

Road to the Octagon...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU6F7ksP7CQ

[David]

I have the feeling that the Pettis/Jury fight is more about getting a win under Pettis belt before moving to put him in for another title shot.