UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs Arlovski - May 8th

[wandshogun09]

Only just got around to watching Thursday's Fight Night.

 

Fuck me, poor Paige. I had a feeling Namajunas was going to be too much for her but I never expected it to be that bad a domination. How Paige survived some of those submissions amazed me, especially that armbar in the fourth. Jesus Christ that was nasty. Can't fault her heart but she just doesn't quite have the skills to hang at that top level yet clearly. Nothing wrong with that and she's still got time at her age. Too much, too soon. Should be a good learning experience for her.

 

I want to see Namajunas vs Waterson now. That's a killer fight right there.

 

The other fights I saw were good as well.

 

- Chiesa vs Miller was great while it lasted. Huge win for Chiesa. No-one really talks about him but he's one of the better TUF winners in recent years for me. Really exciting to watch as well. Sad to see Miller forced to tap. He's one of my favourite mid-lower card fighters on the entire roster but he's kind floundering now. Can't seem to find a run of consistency. Lightweight is such a deep and fast moving division.

 

- Northcutt did well to come back from a rough start and get the finish. Like Ebb says, as fun as the quick blowout in his debut against Trevino was, this was better for him in terms of gaining experience and showing he can get through a bit of adversity.

 

Santos vs Theodorou was a good fight and I enjoyed Kailin Curran's win and emotional reaction on the prelims. Good little show all in all. What a weekend of fights it was altogether.

[Egg Shen]

Chiesa is a bit of a weird case, he seems fairly popular but i don't think anyone's ever really marked him down as a guy who may actually become a contender, he's getting there though, great to see a guy grab the mic and lay out his intentions post-fight though. Good move.

[wandshogun09]

OK, last UFC of 2015, and it's a good one. Dec 19th on Big FOX is this beauty...

 

 

FOX MAIN CARD

Rafael Dos Anjos vs Donald Cerrone - Lightweight Title

Junior Dos Santos vs Alistair Overeem

Michael Johnson vs Nate Diaz

Randa Markos vs Karolina Kowalkiewicz

 

FOX SPORTS 1 PRELIMS

Charles Oliveira vs Myles Jury

Nate Marquardt vs CB Dollaway

Josh Samman vs Tamdan McCrory

Danny Castillo vs Nik Lentz

Cole Miller vs Jim Alers

 

FIGHT PASS PRELIMS

Leon Edwards vs Kamaru Usman

Hayder Hassan vs Vincente Luque

Luiz Henrique vs Francis Ngannou

 

Really loving the look of this. Following 194 isn't going to be easy but this should make a good stab at it. The main card especially is fantastic.

 

 

Dos Anjos vs Cerrone 2 is a killer main event. It's a fight that's been lost in the shuffle, understandably, with all the hype and excitement surrounding UFC 193 and 194. But it really is a tremendous fight and a very interesting rematch.

 

It's also Rafael Dos Anjos' first title defence. What an amazing journey he's taken to the title. The first time we saw Dos Anjos in the UFC was him getting wiped out by a Jeremy Stephens uppercut...

 

 

It was November 2008, UFC 91 on the prelims of the Randy Couture vs Brock Lesnar fight. It seems like a lifetime ago. Dos Anjos was winning the fight from what I remember, only to get laid out late in the fight. That was the first impression we had of him.

 

7 years and 17 fights later...

 

 

You wouldn't have called it back in 2008. But he kept plugging away, improving and slowly climbing his way through the ranks. By late 2014 he'd racked up wins over Benson Henderson, Donald Cerrone and Nate Diaz. That earned him a shot at Anthony Pettis' title. And in a fight very few gave him a chance in he went out there and beat Pettis everywhere for the full 25 minutes. He looked awesome. Had his best career performance in the biggest fight of his career.

 

And here we are. He's now faced with a familiar foe in the Cowboy. Their first fight was a three rounder on a Fight Night in 2013. Again, it was a fight hardly anyone was picking Dos Anjos to win. In fact, I remember the fight being discussed on the MMA Beat at the time and the consensus seemed to be that if Dos Anjos stood with Cerrone he'd get murdered.

 

 

RDA did just fine in the standup, even dropping Cerrone with a right hook. It was a competitive fight but RDA took the decision fairly clearly.

 

It was a decent fight but I really think this rematch could be something special. They're both in a different place now than they were the first time. Dos Anjos is the champion now and his confidence coming off the Pettis win must be sky-high. And Cerrone's in the best form of his career, easy. He was still rebounding from getting crushed by Pettis when he fought RDA in 2013. Now he's riding an 8 fight win streak.

 

The interesting thing for me as well is, the loss to Dos Anjos was Cerrone's last loss. He seemed to really turn the corner after that loss and he's looked phenomenal ever since with wins over Eddie Alvarez, Benson Henderson, Jim Miller and Edson Barboza included in his streak.

 

 

Awesome fight. I really can see this being a late FOTY contender. It's just got that feel of a fight that's coming at the prefect time for both guys. Kind of reminds me of the Robbie Lawler vs Rory MacDonald thing. The first fight was good but the rematch came with both guys in a different place mentally and the rematch blew the first fight out of the water.

 

RDA vs Cerrone 2 promo;

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=bAMWX9z1YEA

 

Badass. I feel like I've been saying this all year but I can't wait for this fight.

 

Rest of the card ain't too shabby either.

 

 

Dos Santos vs Overeem is the co-main event. It's about the 95th time they've tried to make this fight so I'm trying not to get too excited this time. Trying and failing because I am excited as fuck.

 

It's been three years in the making. Seems like longer, doesn't it?

 

1st attempt:

They were originally first supposed to fight at UFC 146 in May 2012 for the UFC heavyweight title. JDS was the champ having knocked out Cain Velasquez the previous November. Overeem was coming off battering Brock Lesnar into retirement. Just when the hype was really starting to pick up for JDS vs Overeem, the UFC held a big press conference and surprised the 6 fighters in attendance with a random drug test. As the story goes, Overeem shat himself and legged it. Keith Kizer had to chase him through the MGM car park and bring him back and, surprise surprise, his piss was hotter than a Paige VanZant/Miesha Tate naked grappling match. He was suspended and JDS ended up slapping Frank Mir about at 146 instead.

 

2nd attempt:

They tried again a year later. UFC 160 in May 2013. Maybe it's a May thing? This time it was in the co-main spot. JDS was no longer the champion, having lost the rematch to Velasquez in Dec 2012. Overeem was coming back from his drug test suspension and a shocking KO loss to Bigfoot. This time, Overeem pulled out with a rib injury. JDS ended up knocking out Mark Hunt with a spinning back kick at UFC 160.

 

Those were the only two times the fight was actually officially signed and announced. But there were a bunch of other times that Dana talked about trying to get the fight booked and it kept falling through. Dana even threw Overeem under the bus publicly saying Overeem was doing everything he could to get out of fighting JDS. Usually I'd call bullshit when Dana does this but there were a few weird things Overeem did around then.

 

One that sticks out for me was in early 2014. At that point JDS was coming off a second mauling at the hands of Cain Velasquez. A brutal beatdown. Overeem beat Frank Mir in February 2014 at UFC 169. After the fight he called out Brock Lesnar for a pointless rematch. But at the post-fight press conference a journalist asked Overeem about fighting JDS next and he started saying he wanted to take a break and go on holiday. Yet every time JDS was out injured, Overeem would start mouthing off about him. It was the MMA equivalent of the prick in your class at school slagging off the sound but solid hardcase when he knew he was at a safe distance.

 

It's funny that now Overeem seems up for the fight. Now JDS has been softened up by 9 rounds of attempted murder from Cain, a 5 round war with Stipe Miocic and a big fuck off list of injuries.

 

 

I really hope it happens this time. And I really, really hope JDS fucking flattens the twat. Bollocks to what result would be better for the division, this is good vs bad, it's McClane vs Gruber, it's Rocky vs Drago, it's Lee vs Han, it's you vs the taxman on payday. Never has the good vs bad divide been so clear in MMA. Fuck Overeem.

 

JDS vs Overeem promo;

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=TcQKcgHLQls

 

Come on Junior!

 

 

Johnson vs Diaz should be a belter. Both have strong skills and meanstreaks and both really need to get back in the win column if they want to stay relevant in the deep lightweight division. Johnson has been improving a lot over the last couple of years but he's coming off a loss to Beneil Dariush in August.

 

As for Nate, fuck knows what's going on with him. He's only fought twice in the last two years - a KO win over Gray Maynard in late 2013, then he was inactive for a year, lost to Dos Anjos in December 2014...and has been out another year since then! I know he's been moaning about money and being unhappy with the UFC and stuff so you'd think if anything he'd want to fight more. If not for the money then to hurry up his contracted fights so he can fuck off to Bellator or wherever. It's not like he's making the kind of coin Nick was for the GSP and Anderson fights either. Nick can afford to fuck off for 12-18 months at a time on those paydays.

 

Regardless, really like this fight. I fancy Johnson to win at this point but you never know which Nate's going to show up. If he's on he can beat a lot of guys.

 

 

Markos vs Kowalkiewicz opens the FOX main card. I'm interested in this one because a) I've become a fan of Randa Markos since her stint on TUF 20. She's hard to dislike, has a feel-good backstory and she's a good fighter. And b) I'm intrigued to see the debut of Karolina Kowalkiewicz.

 

It's a bit of a question mark fight because I don't know much about Kowalkiewicz. I've read that she's legit and even read comments that she should be the favourite for this fight. She's Polish, undefeated at 7-0 and has fought in Invicta and KSW. She beat Mizuki Inoue who I know is good so she must be decent.

 

Not exactly rough on the eyes either...

 

 

 

As Shaggy once said - Oh, Karolina!

 

Tough debut against Randa though. Randa's gnarly as fuck. She showed that on TUF and her fight with Jessica Penne was pretty great as well. Should be good.

 

Prelims look alright. Nothing outstanding but there's some definite points of interest there.

 

Oliveira vs Jury could be good. Can't really get into Jury but I love watching Oliveira.

 

Marquardt vs Dollaway could be the sleeper on the card actually. Can see this being a right old scrap. Marquardt looked done against Gastelum though so I'm not sure how much he's got left in the tank.

 

And Tamdan McCrory is back. Always liked the old 'Barn Cat'. Weird lanky streak of piss and glasses that he is. Loved his nerd fight with Dustin Hazelett years ago. He was out of MMA from 2009-2014 then just casually rattled off two quick wins in Bellator and here he is back in the UFC. Pretty cool.

 

Not the worst way to end the year, is it?

[d-d-d-dAz]

What I find particularly interesting about Donald/RDA is that there's a very real chance the winner could be facing Conor.

 

Obviously, from a marketing perspective Cerrone would be a better fit but either way it'd be a weird fight to predict.

[seanz25]

Terrific write up as always...

 

CCan't wait for this one. Top 3 on the card for me are unreal. Will be pulling a late one again for this.

 

Fair play to the ufc for starting to really stick with solid main cards top to bottom in recent months.

[lambyUK]

I just can't see anything but a Dos Anjos win again. I think the pace and pressure will be too much for Cerrone.

The co main, I unfortunately want the bad to win wand as for the very reasons you state, the heavyweight division is in dire need of a new challenger. I'm happy to see Overeem blasted, but preferably in a title fight.

That said, I can't see him beating JDS with seemingly possessing a glass jaw.

[Chunk]

I almost don't want to watch RDA / Cowboy!

 

If Cowboy beats RDA and he goes on to face Conor, who the hell am I meant to want to win!? 

[wandshogun09]

The co main, I unfortunately want the bad to win wand as for the very reasons you state, the heavyweight division is I'm dire need of a new challenger. I'm happy to see Overeem blasted, but preferably in a title fight.

You wrong'un.

 

Nah I get what you're saying. But even still, he's not even an interesting title challenger really anymore, is he? While he's 1-1 with Werdum, Werdum has moved on so far from Overeem at this point it's not much of a rubber match now. And I can't see him lasting a round with Cain either. If Ben Rothwell can put him out in a round, how interesting would fights with the likes of Werdum or Cain even be now?

 

At least, JDS has the history with him. JDS sparking Overeem is long, long overdue.

 

That said, I can't see him beating JDS with seemingly possessing a glass jaw.

Me neither. Don't get me wrong, you can't count Overeem out against anyone who will stand with him. He's got ridiculous power in his strikes and JDS has taken a lot of damage over the last few years.

 

But a mixture of Overeem's chin, him unravelling if the opponent doesn't fuck off early and JDS' speed and combinations, I can't see it ending well for Overeem. I thought that in 2012, 2013 and I think the same is true in 2015. Overeem's more of a one big strike at a time fighter. Very rarely do you see him string together a flurry. If JDS tags you there'll be a bunch of punches to follow. I can't see Overeem coping well with that at all.

[jimufctna24]

If both Cain and JDS win their upcoming fights, they can just insert the winner of Arlovski vs Miocic as the number 1 contender.

 

In a perfect world, JDS chins Overeem (which he should do for reasons mentioned), and Werdum beats Cain in the rematch. Setting up Werdum vs JDS 2!

[Egg Shen]

The sleeper on this card is Samman/McCrory, they should have given that the 4th main card spot. FOTN written all over it.

[lambyUK]

The sleeper on this card is Samman/McCrory, they should have given that the 4th main card spot. FOTN written all over it.

 

Samman has really done a face turn for me. He didn't come across on TUF that well, but after the personal tragedy he went through, and came back, he's now fantastic. His articles too are fantastic and in particular his work during the Nick Diaz/NAC saga was incredible. 

[wandshogun09]

Yeah Samman's story really makes him hard to root against. Despite him seeming a bit of a dick on TUF. His come from behind headkick KO against Eddie Gordon was nuts as well.

 

[lambyUK]

What's great about that kick is that he instantly knew Gordon was out cold. He doesn't even wait till he hits the floor before turning around and celebrating.

[Egg Shen]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yqavPWkqZw

[WyattSheepMask]

Christ that kick is like a KO from one of the UFC games