UFC 169: Barao vs Faber 2

[wandshogun09]

Agree with pretty much all of the above re: Overeem. I really hope that the Mir fight doesn't go the distance. I have visions of Reem/Mir's 3rd round being less like Hunt/Bigfoot & more like Abbot/Some fucker in that blokes garden. Horrible.

 

Scott Ferrozzo is the some fucker in question. And yeah, that was awful. I actually sat through the whole thing. About half an hour of two fat, middle-aged men lying on the grass, grunting and groaning. I watched it with the curtains drawn and deleted my browsing history immediately afterwards.

[Egg Shen]

Tank/Ferrozo II was a classic.

[Dead Mike]

I watched the whole thing too. It was that memorable I couldn't even be bothered to google him when typing the above poxt!

[David]

Agree with pretty much all of the above re: Overeem. I really hope that the Mir fight doesn't go the distance. I have visions of Reem/Mir's 3rd round being less like Hunt/Bigfoot & more like Abbot/Some fucker in that blokes garden. Horrible.

I'd be surprised if it goes past one frame. Either Overeem will knock Mir out, or Mir will get the takedown and the submission.

 

Or Overeem gasses and gets knocked out by a slap.

[wandshogun09]

You pretty much summed up Overeem vs Mir there, Dave. But if we do the process of elimination...

 

Either Overeem will knock Mir out

 

Very likely.

 

or Mir will get the takedown and the submission.

 

Mir's takedowns aren't that good and Overeem's strength could make the takedown hard to come by. Especially early on.

 

Or Overeem gasses and gets knocked out by a slap.

 

Possible. But by the time Overeem gasses what state will Mir be in? He's not known for his cardio himself and if you look at why Overeem usually gasses, it's normally from dishing out a beating that the other guy survives. If Overeem hands Mir a beating to the point he's gassed, then I'm guessing Mir will be done. I just don't see him weathering the storm like Travis Browne did. And as good as Josh Barnett is, if he can plop Mir down with a knee, imagine what Overeem's knees will do? Barnett basically beat Mir using Overeem's MO. It was Overeem 101 - overpower, strike, clinch, knees of doom.

 

I just see Overeem being too much for him early on. I think he'll put him out with a big knee against the fence in round 1. And I wouldn't be surprised if Mir winds up retiring. That'll be 4 losses on the trot and he's mentioned the possibility of walking away recently.

 

I'd like to see the UFC give him a commentary position once he does retire but the way things are it won't be full time. I doubt they'd replace Florian with him and Stann seems to be the go-to guy now when Florian can't do it. I suppose with the increase in shows this year though, there'll be more openings for commentary.

 

Either way, I think Saturday night will be the first time we see Mir knocked out cold. And also the last time we see him fight.

[Egg Shen]

it's very rare that i see a fight on paper and feel 100% confident about the outcome, and that's Overeem via first round knockout. If i had any money, i'd be lumping it down.

 

Dana's said that it doesn't matter who loses, they aint getting cut...and Mir has said if he loses he won't be retiring.

[weevil]

or Mir will get the takedown and the submission.

 

Mir's takedowns aren't that good and Overeem's strength could make the takedown hard to come by. Especially early on.

 

I think if Mir wins it's more likely that Overeem knocks him down and gets caught in a submission while trying to finish.

[wandshogun09]

Dana's said that it doesn't matter who loses, they aint getting cut...and Mir has said if he loses he won't be retiring.

 

Well that's part of my prediction down already. Mir has said recently that if the UFC cut him he'd retire because he wouldn't fight anywhere else. But I kind of expected Dana to say the loser wouldn't be cut. Just because they're both still big names and he won't want Bellator getting them.

 

Mir's left a little loophole though. In the quote I read he said if he gets viciously knocked out he might just walk away because he wouldn't put his health in danger. And I'd say the chance of him being viciously knocked out is high for this one.

 

We'll see what happens but I've still got a feeling Mir will take a battering and end up retiring. He's on a three fight slump but to be fair he's only lost to top guys. But they're losses nonetheless. Two of them he was stopped, and all of them he didn't perform well. With a KO loss here I just can't see where he goes from that. Despite what he says now.

 

I think if Mir wins it's more likely that Overeem knocks him down and gets caught in a submission while trying to finish.

 

That's possible yeah. But I can't see Overeem following him to the ground. I might be remembering wrong and I don't want to watch the fight again to check, but I don't think he followed Werdum to the ground when he knocked him down in the rematch. Plus it's one thing Mir getting knocked down by Nog and pulling off a submission, a knockdown from Overeem is probably going to be harder to come back from. I think after how the Browne fight played out we'll see a more patient Overeem this time, just picking his shots until he has Mir really hurt.

 

Mir's always in with a shot. I've counted him out before and he's proven me wrong. But I just think all the avenues to victory seem to be closed for him in this fight.

[David]

There's no way the UFC are going to cut Overeem, not with the lack of depth in that division at the moment. People can say what they like about him, but he's a star. He looks the part, fights to finish, and whenever he's fighting it seems like a big deal.

 

A couple of wins and he's right back in the mix for a titleshot. Sure, Cain would most likely kill him unless Overeem caught him early, but it would be a title fight with a real heavyweight occasion feel to it.

[wandshogun09]

Yeah and I keep banging on about it but JDS vs Overeem has to happen. I'm completely convinced that that's next if Overeem wins on Saturday night. JDS' boxing coach mentioned it recently and they've tried to put that fight together twice now. It's the perfect heavyweight fight. Two big KO artists. One the ultimate nice guy, the other a cocky cheat. But both huge hitters and finishers. It's what people expect from the heavyweights. And to add to it, they don't like each other.

 

Cain vs Overeem would be huge if Overeem got back in the mix. But the fight itself, I wouldn't have much doubt on the result. With JDS vs Overeem, I'd pick JDS but it's a much more interesting match up style-wise and the result is more in doubt because JDS would stand with him.

 

There's a reason the UFC haven't announced anything for JDS and I think it's that they're waiting on the result of this Overeem vs Mir fight. I'll predict now that Overeem beats Mir by first round KO on Saturday, and Dana announces JDS vs Overeem for the May PPV soon after. Maybe even at the post-fight press conference.

 

Really, they should do JDS vs Overeem regardless of the result on Saturday. JDS is coming off a loss anyway so even if Overeem loses to Mir, you can make the JDS fight whatever happens. I'll be amazed if they go in any other direction.

 

[wandshogun09]

Dana says Aldo vs Pettis at lightweight is possible if Aldo wins on Saturday and Pettis wins his next fight;

 

"The timing has to be right. If he defends his title this weekend, Pettis comes back, Pettis fights his fight, and then Aldo.

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

Yeah and I keep banging on about it but JDS vs Overeem has to happen. I'm completely convinced that that's next if Overeem wins on Saturday night. JDS' boxing coach mentioned it recently and they've tried to put that fight together twice now. It's the perfect heavyweight fight. Two big KO artists. One the ultimate nice guy, the other a cocky cheat. But both huge hitters and finishers. It's what people expect from the heavyweights. And to add to it, they don't like each other.

You know you're an arsehole when even JDS doesn't like you.

 

I'd be really keen for JDS vs. Overeem. It's the biggest heavyweight fight UFC can do, title fights included. Thinking about potential fights in the heavyweight division, and it really highlights how devoid of star power the division is with Brock having left. Neither Cain nor JDS have caught on as stars like UFC hoped, with each fight in their trilogy drawing less viewers, despite the actual fights being arguably better each time. Overeem has "IT", but can't get the results in the cage. Other top guys like Werdum and Browne are highly talented, but have the personality of cardboard. Anyone that thinks personality and an ability to talk doesn't matter only needs to compare the HW division post-Brock to how it was when he was there. Overeem's a dirty cheat, but I hope he destroys Mir like a wood chipper and becomes a top player. He's the shot in the arse the heavyweights need.

 

Aldo and Pettis are probably the exceptions to needing a big personality to catch on, they're that flashy. I think Pettis' legacy is forever set after the Showtime Kick. With the promotional machine behind them, I think Pettis vs. Aldo could be a massive fight.

 

As for Grant, if he's done, that's truly a shame, after years of busting his arse on the prelims, he deserved his break. At least he's got a Mike Tyson endorsed KOTN to his resume.

[wandshogun09]

As much as I know the division could do with a big star and twat like Overeem to become a top player, there's no way I could root for him over JDS. It's a weird situation. If JDS knocks out Overeem then he's basically done what Bendo just did to Josh Thomson, only in a much more satisfying manner. He'll have eliminated a potential big name PPV opponent for Cain and, being 1-2 to the champ himself, he won't be getting another crack anytime soon.

 

JDS clobbering Overeem wouldn't be a good thing for the heavyweight division at all in that sense. But in this case I don't care. I just want to see JDS smack him about.

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

I get that, for sure, if you had to rate the "niceness" of fighters, JDS is at the top end of the spectrum and I'd put Bendo at the other end. One of the things I hate most is when a guy is a complete utter prick, but hides behind a "nice guy" facade. That's Bendo, and I honestly think he's less appealing than the likes of Bisping, Mir and Overeem. At least they seem to have some self-awareness about being douches.

[Marshmallo]

Who does that leave for Pettis? Khabib or Melendez are the only two that spring to mind. I reckon it'll be Melendez, and they'll have another stab at booking Khabib vs Nate. Then if Aldo beats Lamas and Pettis beats Melendez, we could see Aldo vs Pettis around October/November time. Something will balls it up though, either a loss or injuries.

 

I saw a rumour yesterday that they're working on Pettis-Aldo for the July 4th PPV. Could be that because there isn't a standout contender at 155 they'll look to bring Pettis straight back into an Aldo fight. It makes sense, I doubt anything they realistically could make would draw. From there you could have the winner of Penn-Edgar fight Mendes/Swanson/Stephens/whoever else is at the front of the line for the FW title.