UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs Arlovski - May 8th

[Guy Bifkin]

Took a while to get going but the last three fights were fun. Thomas Almeida continues to look a beast. The Belfort fight was quite funny...one minute of stalling then bosh, headkick and goodnight Dan.

 

Good to see Glover light up Pat Cummins too and derail that little run. Did anyone watch the prelims?

[d-d-d-dAz]

Dan Henderson needs to be put out to pasture now. He's game as fuck and will probably always have a chance of knocking some curtain jerker out, but there's no enjoyment in seeing a 45 year old bloke with limited mobility getting his head kicked off.

 

Dana should really make the decision for him.

[wandshogun09]

Agree with that.

 

It's been over for Hendo for a while, as a top level fighter at least. He hasn't looked really good since the first Shogun fight really. After that he had that knee injury which fucked up the Jon Jones fight and he's never really got back on track since. The only fight he's looked good in was against Tim Boetsch, who was decent but a noticeable step down. He looked like shit against pretty much everyone else. Even in his win in the Shogun rematch, I thought he looked terrible before that one punch changed the game.

 

To be honest, I was well surprised to hear Kenny Florian picking Hendo to win during the show. I think Yves Edwards did as well actually. I don't know what they were thinking really. I think people picking Hendo were basing too much on the results of Hendo's win over Boetsch and Vitor's loss to Weidman. Which is silly because obviously Weidman is leagues above Boetsch.

 

Like you say, Hendo could fight on at a lower level but that's kind of against what Hendo's career has been about. He's always fought the best. I just don't see Hendo as the type to fight unless he thinks he can get back in the title mix. The sad thing is, I can't see him ever not believing he can get back there. Even in his mid 40s. It's probably going to have to be a decision made for him, sadly. He's like Nog, he'll fight himself into the grave if no-one steps in. Dana's probably going to have to try pushing him into retirement like he did Nog and Chuck. Hopefully he'll agree but Hendo's always marched to the beat of his own drum so I can see his stubbornness causing Dana some headaches.

 

As for Belfort, he did what most people expected. But it really didn't tell us a whole lot about what he has left because Hendo's shot.

 

Took a while to get going but the last three fights were fun. Thomas Almeida continues to look a beast. The Belfort fight was quite funny...one minute of stalling then bosh, headkick and goodnight Dan.

 

Good to see Glover light up Pat Cummins too and derail that little run. Did anyone watch the prelims?

They were decent. Souza vs Skelly was back and forth, Tibau vs Trujillo was short and controversial and Tavares submitting Guida in about 20 seconds was one of the most surprising results in a while IMO. Tavares has always had really strong BJJ but I wouldn't have called him to catch a vet like Guida that quick. Guida's takedowns have become such a go-to thing for him that I guess it made him too predictable for Tavares.

[Supremo]

Vitor vs. Bisping in London then, yeah?

[wandshogun09]

Vitor vs. Bisping in London then, yeah?

I'd buy that for a dollar! And Bisping went to Brazil to fight Belfort the first time, it'd be only fair to do the rematch on Bisping's turf this time.

 

I kind of like the idea of Belfort fighting rematches with the guys he beat in 2013 too. That was the year he was killing everyone but it's all clouded by the TRT thing. He's beat Hendo again, rematches with Bisping and Rockhold (depending on what happens against Weidman) are the way I'd go now. That would nicely tie up the loose ends from the TRT era, with the three guys TRT Vitor destroyed getting another crack at Saggy Vitor. If they beat him, they get to blame their previous loss on the TRT if they want. If Vitor beats them again off the TRT, then they can shut the fuck up. Win-win.

 

If not Belfort vs Bisping 2, I wouldn't be against Machida vs Bisping in London.

[ColinBollocks]

That Rousey video with Marky Mark and Stephanie McMahon was pretty cool. This may be the UFC's best year for all these wee hype videos.

 

Hendo clearly will fight so long as he can breathe - I guess that's admirable. That's exactly why Dana needs to step in and do Hendo a favour. All this damage at such an age is both sad and worrying.

 

I do hope sometime in the future Weidman gets the chance to smack Vitor in his face again. Cock.

[jimufctna24]

I caught the last 3 fights.

 

Almedia is indeed a beast. Glover vs Cummings was actually quite fun. When they were on the feet, it always felt that Glover just needed to put one decent combination together to finish Cummings. He came close to finishing him a few times, only for Cummings to survive through scoring a takedown or the round ending. Glover is still a fun guy to have around. 

 

For the first two minutes, I thought Belfort and Hendo were paying tribute to "The Great Dance". The second that Vitor committed to that high kick, I got the feeling it was over, and it was. I still feel the rubber match was pointless, and my opinion of both has remained static. Both in relation to their current standing, and overall legacy. I guess it provided a good moment for the Brazilian fans though. 

[lambyUK]

I just don't know what the hell Henderson was thinking with his approach? All he landed was two weak looking kicks and just allowed Belfort to pick at will when he landed that kick. I know the build up to kick in the first fight was different with Belfort landing punches first, but last thing you should allow is Belfort time and space to tee off. 

 

He needed to close the distance quickly and press Belfort up against the cage, or alternatively just swing for the fences as Henderson has one punch knock out power. 

[Egg Shen]

I caught the last 3 fights.

 

that's all you needed, it was fairly uneventful until then...thought you should try catching the Cowboy Oliveira KO, nasty.

 

It's another one of those situations where Vitor looks 'back' as they say yet he didn't show much outside of one explosive sequence (poor stoppage aside). MMA legends have weird habits of breaking streaks or having one last burst when they look finished. Still, it keeps Vitor relevant and a rematch with Bisping sounds ideal to me.

 

Thomas Almeida is great. Earlier on the show Corey Anderson dominated Fabio Maldonado in a performance that was good but will do little to raise his stock or have people clamouring to see him fight in such a crowded fight schedule, Almeida did the complete opposite, he's a must-see fighter in the UFC and has star power written all over him. Great stuff.

[wandshogun09]

Yeah, Almeida's an animal. I'm not sure how far he'll go because he seems to have a bit of that Erick Silva thing where he's so aggressive he leaves himself open at times for counters. Brad Pickett hurt him a couple of times early in their fight if I'm remembering right. He's got time to work on his defence though.

 

Bags of potential though. And a really exciting fighter with it. The bantamweight division needs guys like him right now as well. The top end of 135 is Dillashaw (who's rapidly running out of challengers), Cruz (who's always injured), Barao (who can't make the weight half the time and is 0-2 to the champ) and Faber (who's said himself he's not going to be fighting that much longer). 135 needs someone like Almeida to break out of the pack. Badly. Unfortunately that probably means Almeida will be rushed into a title fight sooner than later. Who knows, maybe he's ready for it.

 

Monterrey, Mexico next with the TUF Latin America 2 finale.

 

 

FOX SPORTS 1 MAIN CARD

Kelvin Gastelum vs Neil Magny

Ricardo Lamas vs Diego Sanchez

Efrain Escudero vs Leandro Silva

Henry Cejudo vs Jussier Formiga

 

FOX SPORTS 1 PRELIMS

Erik Perez vs Taylor Lapilus

Hector Urbina vs Bartosz Fabinski

Scott Jorgensen vs Alejandro Perez

Andre Fili vs Gabriel Benitez

 

FIGHT PASS PRELIMS

Valmir Lazaro vs Michel Prazeres

 

There's still the TUF final to be added yet, I'd assume that'll be on the main card.

 

Has anyone watched any of this TUF Latin America? Does anyone give a shit? I completely forgot it was even happening. Like, completely forgot. To the point I even had to Google who the coaches were. They were Kelvin Gastelum and Efrain Escudero. Party. Gastelum, fine but Escudero? Really? Talk about scraping the barrel. Massively underwhelming considering the first TUF Latin America had Cain Velasquez and Fabricio Werdum coaching. And to add to the apathy, Gastelum and Escudero aren't even in the same weight class so they're not even fighting each other.

 

Anyway...

 

Gastelum vs Magny tops the bill. Again, another blow to the card was the original main event falling out. It was meant to be Gastelum vs Matt Brown which would've been all kinds of chaotic awesomeness. Instead we get Neil Magny. For me, he's the antithesis of a fighter like Matt Brown. Brown is exciting as fuck to watch. He's non-stop aggression, all the time, in all areas. Magny is a decent fighter but he's so uninteresting and dull to me. In cage and out. I think Gastelum's aggression will keep it watchable though.

 

 

Second chance for Gastelum here as well. After missing weight against Tyron Woodley earlier this year he was forced to move up to 185. He's back at 170 here though. I think that's the weight class for him. He just needs to sort his weight out. He's a bit too small for middleweight. Looking at him he looks like he carries some excess weight anyway so it really shouldn't be too hard as long as he commits to it.

 

Hopefully it'll be a good fight and Gastelum makes weight.

 

 

Lamas vs Sanchez should probably be the main event actually. Why they didn't move this up to the main event when Gastelum vs Brown fell apart, I don't know. It's two exciting fighters with Mexican blood, it'll probably be one sided but I think it'll also be a fun fight.

 

Like with our earlier discussion about Dan Henderson, I think Diego Sanchez is at that stage where Dana's got to be thinking about having that retirement talk. He's got to be one of the most exciting fighters in the history of MMA easy. He's had incredible war after incredible war over the years. But he's taken ungodly abuse as well.

 

 

 

 

Just ridiculous punishment.

 

No-one in MMA sums up the old Mexican Warrior spirit like Sanchez. He's like the old school Mexican boxers like Chavez, Barrera, Morales etc. Not in skills but definitely in heart and toughness.

 

He's tough as fuck but he's probably going to have to be saved from himself soon because he's nuts enough that he'll keep fighting until he drops.

 

I think Lamas is going to absolutely batter him. Diego for me just has the look of a fighter who's been left behind as the sport has evolved. Lamas is the way more well rounded and technical fighter. He's dangerous and he's got so many less miles on the clock. But Diego will bring it and it'll be entertaining.

 

Another thing to consider is that this is Diego's featherweight debut. Not ideal facing a guy like Lamas on your first time at the weight. Diego's biggest strength is often his pace and cardio, but you have to wonder if the weight cut to 145 might effect that.

 

 

Still, I'll be rooting for the nutter.

 

Escudero vs Silva...couldn't give a fuck, if I'm being totally honest.

 

Cejudo vs Formiga is surely a number one contenders match, right? Formiga is a fun little fighter, great grappler, BJJ black-belt, 3-0 in his last 3. Cejudo is undefeated at 9-0, 3-0 in the UFC and has been dominant throughout. Plus he's got the added marketability of being an Olympic gold medalist and a fairly charismatic guy in a division devoid of them.

 

Here's a pretty cool picture of Henry Cejudo with Mark Schultz and Kevin Jackson. The only three Olympic gold medalists to ever compete in the UFC...

 

 

GOLD! Always believe in your soooouul

 

Really good fight, this. Wrestling vs BJJ but they're both good at everything else too. I think Cejudo would be the more interesting challenger for Mighty Mouse so I'm hoping he wins impressively here. He could really do with a finish as his last 5 wins have been decisions, won't be easy to stop Formiga though.

 

Prelims are nowt special. Erik Perez is back though...

 

 

Always liked Perez. He's been out well over a year with a shoulder injury and he lost his last fight by submission to Bryan 'Mr Miesha Tate' Caraway. Needless to say, he'll be fired up to get back on track here. He was actually born in Monterrey as well so expect strong support for him.

 

 

Come on Diego, you mad bastard!

[Egg Shen]

Sanchez is gonna kill himself getting to 145 surely.

[wandshogun09]

I can see him struggling with that, yeah. I could swear he said before that he was having trouble making 155 during his first lightweight stint in 2009. Either that or he felt drained or weak at the weight or something. I think said it was part of the reason he went back up to 170 after losing to BJ Penn. 145 just seems a cut too far to me.

[herbie747]

Did Magny not just fight at the weekend, filling in for Tom Lawlor?

[Egg Shen]

Nah, that was Corey Anderson.

 

I have no doubt Diego will make 145 because of his crazy dedication levels i just think it may be one of those situations where the cut might just ruin his ability to perform, not forgetting that Diego is fairly shopworn as it is. It's gonna be Kenny Florian all over again.

[Chunk]

Nah, that was Corey Anderson.

 

I have no doubt Diego will make 145 because of his crazy dedication levels i just think it may be one of those situations where the cut might just ruin his ability to perform, not forgetting that Diego is fairly shopworn as it is. It's gonna be Kenny Florian all over again.

 

Yeah, he either makes it or passes out trying!