UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs Arlovski - May 8th

[Egg Shen]

it's on:

 

 

MAIN CARD (FOX, 8 p.m. ET)

 

Travis Browne (245.5) vs. Fabricio Werdum (232.5)

Liz Carmouche (135) vs. Miesha Tate (135.5)

Edson Barboza (156) vs. Donald Cerrone (155.5)

Yoel Romero (185.5) vs. Brad Tavares (185)

 

PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1, 5 p.m. ET)

 

Rafael dos Anjos (155.5) vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov (155)

Thiago Alves (170.5) vs. Seth Baczynski (170.5)

Pat Healy (156) vs. Jorge Masvidal (155.5)

Estevan Payan (146) vs. Alex White (146)

Caio Magalhaes (185.5) vs. Luke Zachrich (185.5)

Jordan Mein (170.5) vs. Hernani Perpetuo (170.5)

 

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 3:30 p.m. ET)

 

Ray Borg (125.5) vs. Dustin Ortiz (125.5)

Mirsad Bektic (146) vs. Chas Skelly (145)

Derrick Lewis (256) vs. Jack May (252.5)

 

quite enthused that Werdum has come in lighter than usual (10lb lighter than when he fought Nogueira), it's kind of been forgotten because he won but i thought Werdum looked horrible in the Nog fight, i think the guys a bit of a slacker but it appears that he's taking this thing seriously. Gonna be good.

[wandshogun09]

Yeah, just watched the weigh in. Werdum looked great. That's half the battle with him sometimes, we've seen him come in all doughy before and he fights sluggish like that. He looks well up for this as well. Just can't really envision a straight forward path to victory. Then again, people are assuming he'll want to take Browne down, that might not be the case. Werdum is a good striker himself these days.

 

Have the UFC forgot that Werdum beat Nog last June or something? A lot's being made of his layoff but it's not that long. 10 months. Yeah, not ideal, but there's been longer layoffs before which haven't even really been brought up at all. Weidman was out a whole year before the first Anderson fight for one. Plus when they run through Werdum's accomplishments they never mention that he submitted Nog in his last fight.

 

Still got a feeling Browne's winning this though.

 

Great to see Alves back and looking in incredible shape. Made 170 and looked full of energy. Hope he can still make one last run at title contention. He got a huge reaction from the crowd at the weigh in as well. It's Florida, so ATT's backyard.

 

Why does Miesha Tate always do that 'sniffing my own armpit' pose on the scales?

[jimufctna24]

Still got a feeling Browne's winning this though.

I have picked Browne.

 

Werdum looked very uncomfortable when Nog backed him up with punches in their fight last year. I feel it is a bad style match-up for Werdum, and Browne should be able to polish him off.

 

Werdum might have to avoid the clinch (which is actually one of Werdum's key weapons if the Nelson fight is anything to go by), as Browne is very dangerous there. The Gonzaga and Barnett fight proves that.

 

I just see too many areas where Browne is more dangerous than Werdum in terms of striking, and I cannot see a safe route for Werdum to score takedowns without Browne causing damage.

 

Browne via TKO.

 

I do want Werdum to win though.

[David]

I do want Werdum to win though.

Fuck that, I have virtually no enthusiasm to see Werdum fight Cain. At least Browne brings the possibility of a big knock out to the fight.

[jimufctna24]

Fuck that, I have virtually no enthusiasm to see Werdum fight Cain. At least Browne brings the possibility of a big knock out to the fight.

Fair point

 

Although I think Cain would polish off both quite handily.

[David]

Fuck that, I have virtually no enthusiasm to see Werdum fight Cain. At least Browne brings the possibility of a big knock out to the fight.

Fair point

 

Although I think Cain would polish off both quite handily.

Most likely, but at least Browne would have a real punchers chance.

[wandshogun09]

Werdum would have a bit of a shot against Cain if Cain was stupid enough to take him down. Unfortunately for Werdum, Cain isn't stupid.

 

The thing I'd find interesting about Velasquez vs Browne would be how Cain would approach it. I'd definitely pick Cain but on paper it's not exactly straight forward. Does he choose to stand with someone as powerful and long as Browne? If not he'd have to be very careful about how he goes about taking him down because we've seen the damage Browne can do when guys go for takedowns, especially against the cage.

 

One of the big questions to be answered on Browne is his cardio though. He's never had to go five rounds and wasn't he fading against Rothwell a while back or am I mixing him up with someone else? I'd like to see this go into the later rounds and see how he looks. But I reckon he probably takes Werdum out within 2 rounds.

[Egg Shen]

the kind of shape Browne appears to be in these days id wager he has amongst the best cardio in the division.

[jimufctna24]

One of the big questions to be answered on Browne is his cardio though. He's never had to go five rounds and wasn't he fading against Rothwell a while back or am I mixing him up with someone else? I'd like to see this go into the later rounds and see how he looks. But I reckon he probably takes Werdum out within 2 rounds.

He never fought Rothwell

 

He did fight Rob Broughton in Denver. I seem to recall that was a bit of a stinker, although I do not recall if Browne gassed to a great degree (I assume as it was held in Denver with high altitude, he did)

[wandshogun09]

He definitely looks to be in better condition than he was a few years ago, yeah. But I dunno. If you base it on appearance you'd never pick Cain Velasquez, with his pasty physique, to be some cardio freak.

 

Cardio mighn't even be an issue for Browne for all I know. But it's not something he's had to show yet either.

 

EDIT - Ah, that's it Jim. It was Browne vs Broughton I was thinking of.

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

the kind of shape Browne appears to be in these days id wager he has amongst the best cardio in the division.

 

Well... guess not. He was completely blown up after the first round and it wasn't THAT grueling.

 

I've never been so entertained by a 5 round one sided beat down. Werdum was the man, talking trash, taunting gestures, dominating every bit of the fight- and that kip up! HBK would be proud. Not many people were giving him a shot with Browne's recent momentum, but he proved to be absolutely a worthy challenger for Cain. Especially with how fresh he appeared in the 5th.

 

Tate vs. Carmouche was fine. Miesha definitely appeared too relaxed in the first round, she seemed in second gear the whole five minutes. Was a much more entertaining fight once she picked up the tempo. Carmouche didn't appear to have much to offer besides the takedown, although nice toughness on the choke attempt.

 

Speaking of choke attempts... Donald Cerro-nay! Beautiful finish. I was hoping Barboza would get it because he'd make a fresh face in the top 10, but he seems to share a common trait with the Cowboy- they both seem to choke when they try to move up a level, but look like absolute killers against the mid-tier.

 

Joe Rogan referred to 36 year old Yoel Romero as a "kid"... must have been blazing before the show. Even Goldie seemed to think that was stupid, emphasising Romero's age in his next line. I'd like to see him move up the ladder though.

 

Really fun show overall.

 

Also, Dana sat with Julianna Pena at the show:

 

 

He either wants to hit that or already is, sly bastard.

 

EDIT: Anyone notice the "UFC Network" sponsorship all over Werdum? UFC already have "Fight Pass", and Dana called the WWE Network stupid when it came out, but it looks like he's had a change of tune.

[wandshogun09]

Thought that was a hell of a show.

 

Werdum was great. I had him winning every round and he beat Browne everywhere. And the kip-up was awesome. He's not beating Cain but it could be a decent fight. You'd have to assume Cain and Werdum will coach TUF Latin America now, leading to their eventual fight in Mexico in November. Works out good as well because Werdum can speak Spanish as well so these two are the ideal coaches for that. Shame there wasn't time to interview Werdum after the fight, but seeing him in the cage going "I don't get an interview? No interview? Nothing?" was pretty funny.

 

Tate vs Carmouche was good. Slow going early on but picked up big style in round three. Carmouche surviving that choke was incredible, I really thought she was a goner.

 

Cerrone vs Barboza was nuts. Barboza was pretty much handing Cerrone his arse before that mental finish. Seemed like that jab just totally caught Barboza off guard and Cerrone just dived on that choke with everything he had.

 

I love Yoel Romero. I've said it before, he's not your typical exciting fighter because there's always long spells where he's not doing much. But whenever he does do something it's usually awesome. That elbow was nasty. The takedowns were amazing as well. The way he just mauls fuckers to the floor like a grizzly bear is great to watch. Rogan talking about him fighting Weidman is way premature though. He's just beat Brad Tavares, a solid fighter but there's a long way to go before he's in with Weidman. I wouldn't mind seeing Romero chuck Tim Kennedy around one day. That wouldn't upset me at all.

 

Khabib was scary. Round one was competitive but after that, he just had his way. And Dos Anjos is a fucking good fighter. No-one controls him or bullies him around like that. Easily the most impressive performance of Khabib's career so far for me.

 

Alves vs Baczynski was my FOTN. Loved that fight and how good did Alves look considering the two years out and all the injuries. Baczynski was always in the fight which kept it entertaining and Alves just kept bringing the pain relentlessly. Really enjoyed that fight and I'm chuffed to see Alves back in style. Be interesting to see who he's matched with next. If only Paul Daley was in the UFC. Alves vs Daley would be all kinds of wild.

 

Really fun show. The rest of the prelims were good as well. Not a bad fight on the show.

[David]

the kind of shape Browne appears to be in these days id wager he has amongst the best cardio in the division.

 

Well... guess not. He was completely blown up after the first round and it wasn't THAT grueling.

Dana said at the post-fight press conference that Browne broke a rib in the first round, which more than likely affected his breathing, his cardio and his whole ability to throw punches. He also broke his hand.

[jimufctna24]

I dislike Cerrone, but as a fighter he is bloody exciting. Another thriller to go in his collection. Only the second fighter to beat Barboza as well. That is a shame for Brazil, as he is one of their top prospects. Brazilian fighters are on the wane as of late, Anderson is no longer Champion, Shogun lost to Hendo, and Nog got spanked by Nelson. Belfort's title shot went for a birdie as well, and Machida is a underdog against Weidman.

 

Prospect wise they do have Erick Silva, who I think has more star potential than their two remaining Champions Aldo and Barao (even he does not possess the skill they have).

 

So, it was nice to see Werdum win. Jordan Breen remarked on Twitter that Werdum is the same fight who "butt scooted" against Sergei Kharitonov in Pride. Watching his diverse and confident striking last night, you would never believe it was the same fighter. Werdum's striking has come a very long way over the years (remember that stinker with Arlovski in 2007?).

 

There was confidence to Werdum's work, and at times it felt if he committed to a decent combo, he could finish Browne. I felt I underestimated Werdum's skills before the fight. Browne was tough as nails throughout, I look forward to seeing him fight in the future.

 

I missed the Bisping show, as I felt 3 shows in a week was a tad too much in the current climate, but I greatly enjoyed the Main Card on this show (I skipped the prelims)

 

Roll on Jones vs Glover!

[wandshogun09]

I'd recommend giving Alves vs Baczynski off the prelims a watch, Jim. Well deserving FOTN. PM me if you have trouble finding it. Really fun fight.

 

I was happy for Werdum as well. When you look at the build up to this fight, it was all about Browne really. And we're as guilty of that as anyone. It was all - 'Browne just knocked out Overeem and Barnett! Browne this. Browne that.' Watching Dana's pre-fight scrum the questions about the fight were almost all about Browne and his recent fights, his attitude, his beard, his mean streak, his interviews etc. The only time Werdum really even got brought up was when Dana sort of criticized him for sitting out so long waiting for the title shot.

 

I think we all underestimated Werdum. He's got to be one of the most consistently overlooked fighters in MMA. Browne's injured rib was probably caused by one of Werdum's body kicks early on so it's not like Werdum got lucky. If Browne did break his hand that's a shame, but still, he got soundly beat, outfought and out-thought at every turn last night. He had no answer for Werdum. It totally went against how I saw the fight playing out going in.

 

So we know Werdum gets Cain now. Some prize, eh? What about Browne, who does he get next? Browne vs Hunt could be great fun, I reckon. Depends how long Browne is out though. Plus I want Hunt vs Nelson more.