UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs Arlovski - May 8th

[David]

The UFC really need to come to an agreement with him for one last fight in Brazil, and make it against someone who he has a realistic chance of beating.

 

He needs to retire, but I wouldn't want to see him go out on a loss like that.

[wandshogun09]

He needs to retire, but I wouldn't want to see him go out on a loss like that.

 

Neither would I but at this point who do you put him in with? Chasing that last win is dangerous. And even lower level guys like Mitrione, Rothwell, Vera, Palelei etc are dangerous strikers. It could end the same way. Then what? We'd be saying this again that we wouldn't want to see him go out like that. I think Nog could beat them of course, but I'd be about 50/50 on Nog vs any of even the lower tier heavies now. I'd hate to see someone like Shawn Jordan catch him. At least Nelson is a big name. If you're in Nog's camp, you've got to draw the line somewhere.

 

In fairness, Nelson was always a bad style match for him. There was never an obvious route to win for Nog. And Nog did look decent against Werdum early. But why keep going at this point?

 

I've got absolutely no doubt that he'll want to carry on though. He's like Hendo. Guys like that won't accept that their better days are gone and they always think they can go on one last title run. Even if Nog had one last winnable fight in Brazil and won, do you think he'd retire then? I hope he would but he'd probably see it as proof that he's still got it and he'd call out Overeem or someone like that.

 

He's already calling for a third Mir fight before he hangs up the gloves. Nog's manager said this last night;

"Maybe a last fight against Frank Mir to square off and retire. He mentioned that way before his fight against Roy Nelson was scheduled. He just can't live without avenging these losses."

 

At this point, Mir's on his last legs as well, I could see Nog beating him. But I could see Mir going 3-0 as well. There's no guarantee hanging on for one more fight will give him the career ending he wants.

 

The wording there does suggest that Nog's next fight will probably be his last at least. Nog vs Mir 3 in Brazil?

[David]

The wording there does suggest that Nog's next fight will probably be his last at least. Nog vs Mir 3 in Brazil?

I'd be happy enough with that.

[wandshogun09]

Ha. If it happens it's either going to be the most satisfying MMA fight I've ever seen (watching Nog twat Mir, in Brazil, then retire), or the most depressing (Mir going 3-0).

 

I'll say this though, if it happens and Nog does win, I can't think of a better way to end on.

 

Josh Barnett wants a third Nog fight;

Josh Barnett @JoshLBarnett

So Big Nog says he wants to fight Mir then retire? Why not finish what we started? Because he knows he layed & prayed that last fight we had

 

I don't really feel like he won the 2nd fight. I did all the damage, sub attempts, & aggression. Let's see who finishes this best of 3.

 

I think Nog would lose that pretty decisively at this stage. Barnett has to be trolling with the 'lay & pray' bit though. If I'm remembering right, the second fight was more standup than the first, and I remember Nog outboxing him pretty clearly. I really need to rewatch those two fights though. I wouldn't be hugely against a rubber match but Nog is so far past his prime now I don't think it'd hold up to how awesome their first two were. At least if say, Hendo and Wand had a rubber match, they're both on the way out. Barnett could still be a contender and Nog is as good as done.

 

If not Mir, Nog vs Barnett or even Struve would be the best choices I suppose. But personally I'd rather see him just stop now.

[David]

Nog vs Barnett would be awesome! Even if he lost, it would be a fitting way to go out, both him & Barnett standing in the cage together at the end.

[Rey_Piste]

To be honest I'd be happy for either of those fights to be the end of big Nog's career. I do think we're all in agreement that Big Nog needs to give it up soon.

[wandshogun09]

 

Clay and Tatsuya post-fight.

 

I meant to mention how much I enjoyed the commentary as well. John Gooden got a bit of flack for his bit on the BT Sport panel during October's Manchester show. Justifiably I felt, he was crap in that role. He is miles better as a commentator though. He was good in Cage Warriors as well and I think Dan Hardy is doing really well considering he's still very new to the job. Can't say I'm a fan of Andy Friedlander in the Buffer role though. I'm sure he's a nice enough chap but his voice goes right through me like a bad curry.

[wandshogun09]

I'll skip Wednesday's Bisping vs Kennedy TUF Nations finale card because we've already got a thread for TUF Nations here;

 

http://ukff.com/index.php?showtopic=134073

 

I assume we'll just discuss the finale in there like normal? So let's jump ahead in here to the FOX show on April 19th.

 

 

FOX MAIN CARD

Fabricio Werdum vs Travis Browne

Miesha Tate vs Liz Carmouche

Donald Cerrone vs Edson Barboza

Yoel Romero vs Brad Tavares

 

FOX SPORTS 1 PRELIMS

Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Rafael Dos Anjos

Thiago Alves vs Seth Baczynski

Pat Healy vs Jorge Masvidal

Estevan Payan vs Alex White

Caio Magalhaes vs Luke Zachrich

Jordan Mein vs Hernani Perpetuo

 

FIGHT PASS PRELIMS

Dustin Ortiz vs Ray Borg

Mirsad Bektic vs Chas Skelly

Derrick Lewis vs Jack May

 

I love this card. Well everything from Healy vs Masvidal up anyway.

 

Werdum vs Browne is a good main event with high stakes. The winner gets the next shot at Cain Velasquez and the UFC Heavyweight title. Should be a good fight as well, and I can't see it going five rounds.

 

Werdum hasn't fought in what seems like forever. He submitted Big Nog last June to become #1 contender then waited for Cain vs JDS 3 to play out. Unfortunately Cain suffered an injury and Werdum has had to take another fight. And it's a dangerous one. In the time Werdum has been sitting out waiting, Travis Browne has skyrocketed up the ranks with back-to-back stoppage victories over Alistair Overeem and Josh Barnett. Add in a TKO over Gabriel Gonzaga before that and Browne is arguably more deserving than Werdum of a title shot now.

 

There's no other clear contender right now so there's a lot on the line here. It's a great fight but I think Browne is a tough style match for Werdum. He's bigger, younger, been more active, he's quicker, hits hard, moves well for a near 7 footer. Werdum has the best BJJ in the division but can he get Browne to the ground? Barnett tried and got put to sleep in one minute. If you shoot on Travis Browne you better make sure you can take him down or you'll be eating those elbows. Barnett has better takedowns than Werdum as well. Werdum's striking has improved but I don't see him winning the standup battle with Browne. Just a rough fight for Werdum. If he does get Browne down though, Werdum will have a huge advantage.

 

Tate vs Carmouche was supposed to happen on last July's FOX show, back when Cat Zingano was set to coach TUF and fight Ronda. This could be a hell of a fight. Miesha Tate has become one of the most exciting fighters in the division. Win or lose. Her last five fights - Rousey 2, Zingano, Kedzie, Rousey 1 and Coenen - were all fantastic. She's in the Rich Franklin role now though, having lost twice to the champion Rousey.

 

Carmouche just lost to Alexis Davis, who is now challenging for the title. She's a tough, aggressive fighter. She's had her moments in big fights but came up short. She almost got Ronda in a full choke in their fight, and she was handing Marloes Coenen a beating until getting caught in a triangle. It'll be interesting to see how this one plays out. They both lost to the champion and top contender in their last fights respectively, but they both badly need a win here.

 

Cerrone vs Barboza, do I need to say much here? This is going to be wild. Both stupidly aggressive strikers, both have shown vulnerability, neither afraid to throw in the flashy shit. It's got all the ingredients of an absolutely killer fight.

 

Romero vs Tavares is one I'm looking forward to. I really like Yoel Romero. He's a great contrast between looking like a beast, fighting like a beast and being a soft spoken nice bloke outside the cage. Olympic medalist wrestler, likes to trade strikes, can take a shot (remember that headkick he just ate last time?). And Tavares is one of the more overlooked guys at 185, I think. He won't trouble the top guys but he's a really solid fighter. Should be good.

 

Khabib vs Dos Anjos is the fight I'm most looking forward to on the whole card. Well, this and Cerrone vs Barboza. Two guys who aren't seen as big names at 155 but they're winning fights consistently.

 

Khabib is undefeated at 21-0. In the UFC he's beat the likes of Pat Healy, Abel Trujillo, Thiago Tavares and Gleison Tibau. I've been calling Dos Anjos a darkhorse at 155 for years now. 20-6 overall. He's 8-2 in his last 10 fights and the two losses - one was a split decision, the other was through a jaw injury. He's beat Cerrone, Dunham, Bocek, Njokuani, Etim and Sotiropoulous. This is a fucking tremendous fight on paper. And the winner has to be right in the title mix.

 

 

Thiago Alves is finally back! Former title contender and one of my favourite fighters to watch. But he's been plagued by injuries. He hasn't fought in over two years. And he's 2-4 in his last 6. He desperately needs to get back on track here. Seth Baczynski is no pushover either. Tall and lanky with good striking. It should be a good fight. Hopefully Alves doesn't come in too rusty but it's hard to see how he won't.

 

Healy vs Masvidal is another excellent looking fight. A Strikeforce throwback fight. Again, both coming off losses so there's a must-win feel to this. Especially for Healy coming off two losses in a row.

 

Rest of the card, can't say I'm arsed. Not to say some of those fights won't be a pleasant surprise, but I'm either unfamiliar or have straight never heard of at least one of the fighters in those bottom six fights. The Fight Pass prelims I've only heard of one of the six guys on there.

 

Still, a very good card from Healy vs Masvidal on up. Really looking forward to it. There was a Road To The Octagon special on in America last night so look out for that as well, they're usually really well done and with Primetime on hiatus they're probably the best pre-fight hype content the UFC puts out at the moment.

[Magnum Milano]

Rest of the card, can't say I'm arsed. Not to say some of those fights won't be a pleasant surprise, but I'm either unfamiliar or have straight never heard of at least one of the fighters in those bottom six fights. The Fight Pass prelims I've only heard of one of the six guys on there.

Zachrich was on of the TUF seasons although I struggle to remember which as from about Season 6 onwards (with the except of TUF 8 and the Kimbo one) they all tend to blur into one.

 

Oh, and Browne by KO, Tate by Decision (rooting for Liz though) and Cerrone by Decision.

[Chunk]

Anyone know who else called out Connor McGregor? Clay Guida mentioned it in his post fight interview, but looking at the card I can't see who it would've been.

[cleslie92]

Anyone know who else called out Connor McGregor? Clay Guida mentioned it in his post fight interview, but looking at the card I can't see who it would've been.

 

Jim Alers. The two were meant to fight for the Cage Warriors belt last year.

[wandshogun09]

Oh, and Browne by KO, Tate by Decision (rooting for Liz though) and Cerrone by Decision.

 

I've gone Browne by KO, Tate by Decision and Barboza by KO. Although I'm not sure about Barboza vs Cerrone. It might depend on which Cerrone shows up but I think Barboza will win. Maybe points but I voted KO.

 

I wouldn't be that surprised if Carmouche upsets Tate either, to be honest. Tate is a solid fighter but I think people overrate her because they think she's fit. If you look at her last few fights, forget the Rousey fights, Zingano took everything Miesha could dish out and came back to smash her with knees. Before that, Julie Kedzie, who has since shown to be on the decline to the point she's now retired, almost stopped her with a headkick and Tate barely hung on to win. Credit to Tate, she's tough and she fights hard. But I'm not that sold on her as a fighter. She's OK at everything but not great at anything. She's vulnerable on the feet. She's got a solid grappling game but nothing amazing. The only thing making me really pick against Carmouche is the size difference. Not that it's a huge one, but she's short for the division and I think Tate can use that to her advantage in the standup and the grappling. We'll see. I wouldn't be shocked if Carmouche nicks a decision or even stops her. But I've gone Tate on points.

[Chunk]

Anyone know who else called out Connor McGregor? Clay Guida mentioned it in his post fight interview, but looking at the card I can't see who it would've been.

 

Jim Alers. The two were meant to fight for the Cage Warriors belt last year.

 

Thanks. That'll be why then .. not heard of him before. Seems pretty bold to call someone out after a split decision win on your UFC debut.

[Egg Shen]

bit late to the party but echo everyone regarding Big Nog. Just a horrid way to see him lose. I just couldn't understand the way he was fighting, Nog has decent hands but he was plodding forward inviting Roy to throw that right hand at him, the early shot that dropped him probably left him on queer street for the rest of the fight but that final shot was just horrific, a sitting duck for that right hand. Sad to see.

 

Kawajiri/Guida was fantastic, i did expect it to be more of a standup fight but that was one of the better grappling based fights in a while. Anyone have a problem with the scoring? i was leaning towards Kawajiri, mainly because when they found themselves in that position against the cage where Guida was behind Kawajiri it was Kawajiri that was in control there, he was the guy constantly threatening to finish...i accept that judges always seem to side with the guy in the more dominant looking position though.

[hbk4life]

This show has come out of nowhere for me, I knew it had Browne/Werdum and Tate/Carmouche on it but there's loads more that I didn't realise was happening until a few days ago.

 

Like wand, Nurmagomedov/Dos Anjos & Barboza/Cerrone are the two fights I'm looking forward to most. I knew they were happening but with all the shows lately I had no idea they were so soon. I actually fancy Dos Anjos to win, Nurmagomedov is the betting favourite but I like Dos Anjos to take it. Nurmagomedov has impressed the hell out of me so far, but I'll be a bit surprised if he can dominate Dos Anjos the way he has other guys. Barboza/Cerrone is a close one, it should be a fun fight to watch.

 

I didn't realise Thiago Alves was back on this card neither, I always used to look forward to his fights so I hope he comes back with a win.