UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs Arlovski - May 8th

[jimufctna24]

MMA will not exist to me this weekend. Froch vs Groves is going to be my combat sport fix

Why not watch both?

Only so much combat sport I can watch in such a small space of time

 

I might track down Stipe vs Fabio though, could be a fun brawl. I like Mousasi, but I am not chomping at the bit to see him face Munoz. Nothing much else really interests me if I am honest.

[wandshogun09]

I like the two main events.

 

There's stuff of interest on both shows but neither card looks great. I love watching Maia so I'm looking forward to that. I think Rony Jason vs Peralta could be the sleeper fight of the whole weekend. Dollaway is on a nice little run of exciting fights so we'll see if he can drag something enjoyable out of Carmont. And Barnatt's fight is one I've got my eye on. I'm not convinced by Barnatt yet and even at this level I keep expecting him to get decked. So there's intrigue to see how he gets on in that sense for me.

 

Not great cards but between the two, some decent stuff.

 

Dave - did you watch TUF Brazil to the end? What's this Warlley Alves bloke like? He certainly looks impressive physically and they were bigging him up something fierce at the weigh in, saying Chael was really high on him and stuff. It's piqued my interest.

[David]

Dave - did you watch TUF Brazil to the end? What's this Warlley Alves bloke like? He certainly looks impressive physically and they were bigging him up something fierce at the weigh in, saying Chael was really high on him and stuff. It's piqued my interest.

Of course I did!

 

Warlley Alves, 6-0, 23 years old.

 

His first fight proper when he got into the house was one of the meanest looking knee combo's I've seen. He basically wiped out his two opponents, one via KO and one via submission.

 

He looks good, but we've heard that shit before coming off a TUF show, right? Let's see how he does in the UFC proper.

 

Here's a video highlighting his time in the TUF house.

[seanz25]

Watched the first 3 fights on the main card of the Berlin show. Good stuff all round really. Although I thought the Barnatt scoring was awful, I had Barnatt winning at least 2 rounds, if not all 3, one judge scoring it 30-27 to Strickland is beyond crazy to me.

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

I can't remember the last time I was so underwhelmed with a fight, to the extent that I was with Miocic vs. Maldonado. I really expected that to be a barnburner, so I sat through the average fights between guys I didn't know, figuring that the wild brawl of a main event would save it.

 

I'm surprised Miocic could hurt Fabio so badly. Always thought Fabio had a better chin than that, and the size difference wasn't that much.

 

And finally, has this whole UFC 175 debacle actually turned Brazil against Wanderlei Silva?

[Supremo]

And finally, has this whole UFC 175 debacle actually turned Brazil against Wanderlei Silva?

I've only watched the show from Berlin thus far, but supposedly when somebody mentioned Silva during a post-fight interview on last night's Brazil show it causes the crowd to erupt into boos. Crazy.

[wandshogun09]

Yeah it was after the TUF heavyweight final. During Antonio Carlos Jr's post-fight interview he was thanking all his coaches and he mentioned Wanderlei and the arena broke it in loud boos. Before this TUF that'd have been unthinkable. Like imagine now if someone told you that Cain would get booed in Mexico, or Gustafsson booed in Sweden. You'd never have called it before TUF Brazil.

 

I haven't seen the Germany show yet, but I've already had it spoiled by a mate I'll watch it later or tomorrow. Was it true that there were no ads on the canvas? I read that some pillock sent the canvas for Germany to Brazil. Haha. That person is probably re-doing their CV as we speak.

 

TUF Brazil finale wasn't anything special. Couple of good fights though. I really enjoyed Souza vs Eddiva and Jason vs Peralta. Scoring for Jason vs Peralta was weird, with one two judges giving 30-27's to opposite guys.

 

Maia looked great at times but he still doesn't seem to have that good conditioning. That lets him down quite a bit. Still a pretty dominant performance but you feel like he should look better when you compare that fight to how he breezed through Story, Fitch etc.

 

The two TUF finals were good and both winners were impressive. Always hard to gauge with TUF though because we don't know enough about the level of guys on the show until they start fighting regularly in the big show. But on first impressions, so far so good. I like Warlley Alves. Think I heard he's planning to drop to 170 now, he could potentially be a beast there. Carlos Jr looked good as well, and seems like a nice chap. Trains with JDS apparently as well.

 

The main event was always a mismatch. You have to admire Maldonado's guts to step in on late notice, up a weight class and against a really talented heavyweight, but there's got to be a limit. This was asking a bit much. I love Maldonado but let's be honest, he's lower level and flabby at 205, he's got no business at heavyweight. It might not have looked like a huge difference in size but it's a fact that one was a natural heavyweight and one was a flabby 205er (who probably should be at 185). I saw people going 'well, he made the weight so it's fine'. But that's silly talk. If I ate myself silly for the next two years I could probably make 205 technically. Doesn't mean I should be in there with Glover or someone. If you looked at them at the weigh in, yeah they weren't that far off in weight but Miocic was a fucking solid 238, Fabio was 225 with love handles and at least B-cup man tits. He had as much business at heavyweight as Ninja Rua did when he fought Kharitonov and effectively killed his career. Thankfully this was nowhere near that fight in terms of brutality and punishment but I would love to see Maldonado really commit himself to dropping to 185 now. With his lack of grappling he could benefit from fighting slightly smaller guys, not that he'd be a contender, but at least he'd be giving himself a better shot by coming in in better condition.

 

Only slight surprise for me was how easily and quickly Miocic hurt him standing. I thought Miocic would just batter him on the ground. But then, that extra close to a stone in weight is big when punches are flying, especially with the little MMA gloves. Maldonado's chin is granite, he proved how durable he is against Glover. But there's weight classes for a reason. And Miocic is no joke.

 

I think Maldonado has bagged another fight though, considering he stepped in for the UFC when they needed him and had all the odds against him. Maldonado vs Manuwa could be fun. If he drops to 185 (which I doubt he will) then him and Philippou, Boetsch or Larkin would be good.

[Supremo]

Was it true that there were no ads on the canvas? I read that some pillock sent the canvas for Germany to Brazil. Haha. That person is probably re-doing their CV as we speak.

Yeah. I thought I was weird for noticing that, so I'm glad others did too, but it looked really odd during the Berlin show to have a canvas with no ads on it. Just the UFC logo in the middle.

[seanz25]

Was it true that there were no ads on the canvas? I read that some pillock sent the canvas for Germany to Brazil. Haha. That person is probably re-doing their CV as we speak.

Yeah. I thought I was weird for noticing that, so I'm glad others did too, but it looked really odd during the Berlin show to have a canvas with no ads on it. Just the UFC logo in the middle.

 

Yeah, apparently Germany have odd advertising laws, but it doesn't add up to me, the fighters had them on there shorts, and the usual banners behind each fighters corner when there name is being read out pre-fight was all still there full of adds. Just not the canvas.

[wandshogun09]

Yeah, the reason was apparently that someone cocked up and sent the Germany canvas to Brazil. Dana tweeted about it.

 

@danawhite:

[wandshogun09]

Caught up on the Germany show. Mousasi looked very impressive. I'd like to see him fight the winner of Bisping vs Le. And I had Barnatt beating Strickland fairly comfy, 29-28. Bit surprised at that result.

 

 

FOX SPORTS 1 MAIN CARD

Benson Henderson vs Rustam Khabilov

Diego Sanchez vs Ross Pearson

John Dodson vs John Moraga

Rafael Dos Anjos vs Jason High

Yves Edwards vs Piotr Hallmann

Erik Perez vs Bryan Caraway

 

FOX SPORTS 1 PRELIMS

Sergio Pettis vs Yaotzin Meza

Bobby Voelker vs Lance Benoist

Scott Jorgensen vs Danny Martinez

Jon Tuck vs Jake Lindsey

 

FIGHT PASS PRELIMS

Patrick Cummins vs Roger Narvaez

 

This is next Saturday. And it's definitely a step up for me, from the last couple of Fight Nights. The main card in particular looks pretty excellent to me.

 

Bendo vs Khabilov is a solid main event. Bendo is in a very odd position. He's 0-2 to Pettis so a title shot is a bit of a way off. He also doesn't help his cause by having ridiculously close fights and controversial decisions almost every time he fights. The only time he hasn't gone to the cards in the UFC was when Pettis blitzed him last August. That fight aside, he's 8-0 in the UFC with wins over Edgar (twice), Melendez, Thomson, Diaz, Guida, Miller etc. That's a lightweight who's who. But they're almost always stupidly close and sometimes even dodgy decisions. Personally I had him losing the Melendez, Thomson and second Edgar fights.

 

This is actually a step down for Bendo so it'll be interesting to see if he looks more impressive. Not that Khabilov isn't a really talented fighter, but compared to Bendo and the opposition Bendo has been mixing with, he's relatively unproven. It's a huge opportunity for Khabilov to put himself on the map. If he wins this fight, and especially if he finds a way to finish it, he'll put himself right into the title mix.

 

He might just be good enough to do that but we don't know until he actually proves it. He's only lost once and that was a split decision. But his biggest win to date was Masvidal. This is another step up from that. It should be a good technical fight but I fancy Bendo's big fight experience, and 5 round fight experience, to pull him through.

 

Co-main event;

 

Sanchez vs Pearson. You really can't go wrong with these two. They both don't know how to have crap fights so matching them together must've been a complete no-brainer for Joe Silva. Two of the most aggressive and fan friendly fighters in the division. Neither guy has a title shot on the horizon or anything but it's pretty much a guaranteed FOTN candidate. Really excited about this.

 

Dodson vs Moraga will probably be one of those million miles an hour type fights. Motion sickness level stuff. I think Dodson's on his way back to title contention and if he wins this, with Mighty Mouse vs Bagautinov the following week, the timing works out perfectly. One thing the flyweights really lack which hurts the division is that none of them are vocal enough. If Dodson wins this he should be on the mic demanding his shot. There's a saying 'the squeaky wheel gets the grease' and Dodson can be a right squeaky little bastard. The best thing he could do to separate himself from the pack at 125 would be to knock out Moraga then call out the Mouse-Baghggfhbtookhrrcshjhbv winner.

 

Dos Anjos vs High should be a good one. I like both but I'm more a Dos Anjos fan. He's improved a lot over the years and he's really good everywhere now. He just ran into Nuramgomedov last time who's chewing everyone up. Looking forward to these two matching up though. Always got time for Yves Edwards as well.

 

Erik Perez vs Mr Miesha Tate will be a lively main card opener, no doubt. I like Perez. He's a scrapper and he just seems impossible to dislike. Always a big fuck off grin on his face, when he's not wearing his Lucha mask, that is. And I've never really liked Mr Cupcake. He has some exciting fights though and I think him and Perez match up nicely for another one.

 

Miesha Tate with her wife;

 

Really looking forward to seeing Sergio Pettis back in there. He's coming off his first loss in a cracking fight against 'Bruce Leroy', where he was winning and got dropped and submitted late in the fight. Lots of potential still though, at just 20 years old, with a Tae Kwon Do black-belt and improving grappling. Interestingly, given his brother's history with Benson Henderson, he's fighting Yaotzin Meza, who's a team mate of Bendo.

 

Pat Cummins goes from a co-main event on PPV against Cormier, to the lone Fight Pass fight on a FS1 show. We'll see what he can do at a lower level and with a full camp.

 

Good show, I reckon. I really can't wait for Sanchez vs Pearson especially.

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

I've looked up the fight cards for the next few UFC cards, and over the next couple of months, there's a ton to keep me interested. I'll probably be a lot more involved in MMA discussion again from now. Apart from the obvious big events and fights, there's a few fights coming up that I had no idea were booked, like Hatsu Hioki vs Charles Oliveira, Cub Swanson vs. Jeremy Stephens and Edson Barboza vs. Evan Dunham. Beautiful stuff.

 

Anyway, this next Fight Night kickstarts some real UFC awesomeness for me.

 

Not keen on the main event though. Bendo's one of the few UFC fighters I can't stand. Pretty sure I mentioned it last time Bendo fought, but he's such a smug prick, and unlike guys such as Bisping and Mir, who seem to embrace or at least understand the dislike, he puts on this nice guy act and in some ways seems oblivious to the fact he comes across so dickish. Those close fights didn't help his cause either, and the last really entertaining battle he was in was against Guida about three years ago. Khabilov is a bit of an unknown commodity too, I know I've watched him fight, but like Henderson when he accepted the fight, I get him confused with Khabib Nurmagomedov.

 

That aside, the two fights below that look like showstealers. Sanchez vs. Pearson should be ridiculous. Pearson has the style to go head on with Diego, who should be motivated as hell, being in Alberquerque. Should be a refined brawl, I do think Sanchez is on the decline and Pearson will shine.

 

Dodson vs. Moraga- flyweights with power, like Road Runners on roids. As far as cardio goes, both men could battle at a frenetic pace for 3 rounds, but they've also got the ability to end a fight with one or two well placed shots. Can't imagine either being tentative for a moment.

 

Perez vs. Caraway- Erik Perez reminds me a bit of Erick Silva's early days as far as potential goes. Mr. Miesha Tate is tough, but I think Perez gets a spotlight in this one.

 

To watch for on the prelims; Pettis Jr and Scott Jorgensen. I like Scotty, hopefully he can get a victory and keep his UFC career alive. Flyweight hasn't been good to him so far, and he's gone from a fighter who only loses to the elite to a man desperately in need of a win.

[wandshogun09]

Bendo has had some great fights post-Guida. The first Edgar fight was excellent, as was the Melendez fight. But I get your point. You just get the feeling going into his fights that you know exactly how they're going to play out. Tit-for-tat in the striking, lots of clinches, some decent scrambles, but never really a hint of a finish - and ultimately he wins by the skin of his ballbag. It's the same almost every time. It's what made the second Pettis fight so sweet. Pettis wasn't going to be dragged into playing the points game.

 

It's frustrating because he wasn't like that a few years ago. If you watch his WEC fights with Cerrone and Varner, his early UFC fights with Guida and Miller and his first UFC title fight with Edgar - there's a different urgency about him. He was still going to decisions but he was constantly trying to end fights and making stuff happen. Once he won the belt I think he became a little bit too risk averse. Aside from the odd spell like the Diaz fight, he's seemed content to eak out close decisions.

 

I don't know what it is with Benson but I find him insanely irritating and unlikeable. He's undeniably a very skilled fighter, and he can still have cracking fights with the right opponent, but there's just something about him that bugs me. I don't even think it's the God Squad stuff either. It's probably a combination of that, his smugness, them fucking wings tattoed on his back, his stealing DDP's diamond hand gesture thingy, his freakily long Daschund-like torso - it all adds up.

 

Another thing for me is the little things he does during fights that make me think 'you cocky shitcunt'. That pissing about with the toothpick in his mouth against Diaz, the fixing his hair when he's in a submission, the wiping his foot after being knocked down as if he slipped. If it was someone I liked doing stuff like that, I'd probably not be bothered at all. I remember loving a bit of Rashad's strut against Jones for example...

 

 

But because it's Benson, I think 'agh fuck you, you oblong twat'. Can I get an AMEN?

[lambyUK]

I'm like you Wand. I'm a big Rashad fan and love some show boating. However, there's a distinct difference between showboating and simply being a snug cunt. Benson is the later.

[Egg Shen]

ive never really understood the Benson hatred, ive been a fan since the WEC days and ive never really saw why he gets to people to so much? he fights with a bit of a swagger but i don't see anything wrong with that, he always comes across as a good guy to me.