R.I.P. UFC 177

[wandshogun09]

I suppose we should have a thread for this, only two weeks away.

 

To be honest, I'm surprised no-one already made a thread for this blockbuster. You lazy bastards. I mean it's a UFC PPV. They stack those things. They're always full of awesome fights featuring the very best on the UFC rost...

 

 

PPV MAIN CARD

TJ Dillashaw vs Joe Soto - UFC Bantamweight Title

Danny Castillo vs Tony Ferguson

Shayna Baszler vs Bethe Correia

Ramsey Nijem vs Carlos Diego Ferreira

Yancy Medeiros vs Damon Jackson

 

FOX SPORTS 1 PRELIMS

Lorenz Larkin vs Derek Brunson

Ruan Potts vs Anthony Hamilton

Chris Wade vs Cain Carrizosa

 

 

Oh dear.

 

Dillashaw vs Barao 2 is a great fight. It's not the type of main event that can make up for such a weak undercard, but it's an intriguing rematch between two elite fighters at the top of their game.

 

The first fight at UFC 173 in May was a shocker. You had Renan Barao coming in off a crazy 32 fight unbeaten streak. His last loss was a split decision in his MMA debut back in 2005. He'd gone on a reign of terror through the 135lb division ripping through the competition in Brazil, WEC and UFC. Beat Urijah Faber twice, submitted Michael McDonald, spin kick KO'd Eddie Wineland, choked Brad Pickett in a round, was the undisputed UFC Bantamweight champion and looked like he'd rule the weight class for as long as he wanted because there was literally no-one in the division anyone could see troubling him.

 

Enter Tylor Jeffery Dillashaw. Or TJ as he's opted for, to sound cooler. A good fighter, made it to the TUF finals in 2011, only to get knocked out by John Dodson. Trains at Alpha Male, Duane Ludwig's protege. Let's be honest though, he was just a body to feed Barao.

 

 

How wrong we were. Dillashaw battered Barao. Dropped him in the very first round, beat him up for the next four and a half rounds and stopped him in the fifth to become the new champ.

 

Nobody (outside the Alpha Male gym and Dillashaw's own home) called this upset. Which is why it's been called possibly the biggest upset in UFC history and compared to Serra sparking GSP inside a round. It's right up there in that league.

 

Dillashaw's loving being champion as well. Remember when Tim Sylvia used to get the piss ripped out of him for wearing his belt everywhere when he was champ? Stories of him taking the belt to bed with him, wearing it around Asda, wearing it while he cut the grass etc? Well Dillashaw took it a stage further than that.

 

 

Couldn't even put the belt away on his bastard wedding day!

 

As for Barao, call it excuses or reasons, whatever, but he's convinced he'll take the belt back this time;

 

"You always have to bring something new. I accepted the fight on short notice and I wasn't 100 percent ready for it, but this time will be different. I never trained so hard in my entire life, so it's going to be different.

 

The title is coming back to Brazil. I'm hungry to get this title back. I will get what is mine."

Barao reckons he never recovered from that first round knockdown last time;

 

"I remember everything that happened until that point. After (that punch), I only woke up in the locker room. The fight was really close in the beginning, but everything changed after that punch.

 

He landed a heavy punch in the beginning of the fight and I kept fighting on autopilot. I was too slow, I wasn't thinking. (Andre Pederneiras) told me to do one thing and I did another. But I will fight smart this time, I won't let this happen again."

I've said before that I wasn't really into them doing an immediate re-run of this. I'm not a big fan of immediate rematches and this one, with the one sided nature of the first fight, seemed particularly unnecessary. But whatever. That doesn't mean this won't be a great fight. And it's not like 135 is heaving with interesting challengers.

 

So yeah, I'm looking forward to this fight. The rest of the card, not so much.

 

Castillo vs Ferguson is pretty much guaranteed to deliver excitement. Castillo is always usually in good fights. And Ferguson really seems to be putting everything together recently. His headbouncing KO of Kikuno was brutal.

 

But...PPV co-main event? Man. This would be lucky to make the main card on most FOX Sports 1 cards if we're honest. Good fight but the fact that this is the best option on the card to be co-main event speaks volumes about how poor this lineup is for PPV.

 

Baszler vs Correia has a bit of a backstory. It's well known that Baszler is a team mate of Ronda Rousey. Those two along with Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir all train together and, due to Ronda's love of pro wrestling, they've called themselves the 'Four Horsewomen'.

 

 

Correia is undefeated at 8-0. And in her last fight she beat one of the Horsewomen, Jessamyn Duke. That's where it started. According to Correia, after the fight Ronda didn't shake her hand. So Correia sent her a little message to wind her up;

 

 

"I know that they are close friends. They live and train together, and they call themselves the 'Four Horsewomen'. It's like 'one for all and all for one', so I knew that my win would affect all of them."

 

"Ronda didn't shake my hand, so I wanted to show her that I'm going after her little group."

Ronda responded with this;

 

"It's smart. That's what they needed to do. ... The girls are fucking taking a cue by getting people interested."

 

"This chick is undefeated. She's fighting Shayna, so Shayna's UFC debut is either going to be a huge win for Shayna or this girl is going to be still undefeated, and I'm going to have a huge title fight because this girl is going to have fought both of my girls and is coming after me. That's a storyline. That's Shayna's storyline right now. And either she beats [Correia] and moves on and has a bigger name, or it moves on to be my storyline."

 

"I think Shayna can fucking handle it and will shove this shit in this girl's face, but there's no lose in this situation. It's a huge win for Shayna, or it's a huge setup for a fight. If Miesha Tate can get a title shot and she hadn't even won a single match in the UFC, this chick who's undefeated and beat two of my friends could be a very interesting fight for me."

Ruslan Magomedov vs Richard Odoms or as you might call it Some Fucker 2 vs Some Fucker 3. This is on a PPV main card in 2014?! I don't have a clue who these two people are. Looking up Magomedov I see he beat Tim Sylvia in October. By decision. Must be legit then, right?

 

Nijem vs Ferreira might be alright but it's Fight Pass level at best.

 

And that's your PPV main card. Smell them buys! Thank fuck we don't have UFC on PPV here. I would actually skip this one.

 

The prelims aren't much cop either really. Larkin vs Brunson holds some interest just because I like Larkin. Jorgensen vs Cejudo is by far the pick of the prelims, by far. And probably the fight I'm most into outside the main event. Cejudo was an Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling at the 2008 games in Beijing. 6-0 in MMA and he's still only 27. Add to that his Mexican blood, at a time where the UFC is cracking into Mexico, it's the perfect time for him to make a splash. Jorgensen is a tough debut but I like it. I'd rather see him fight someone we know is good because then we'll know what he's got. Sticking him against some nobody would tell us fuck all.

 

That's 177 then. Not great, is it. I can honestly see this bombing even worse than 174 did. At least 174 had a relevant co-main event of Rory vs Woodley and the return of Arlovski (shit as it was). This is the definition of 'one fight show'. They better have Dillashaw and Barao in bubble wrap the next couple of weeks because one injury or badly placed cut to either guy would kill this card stone dead.

 

But the good thing is, once we get this show out the way we've got a steady stream of really good PPVs from 178 right up to January next year at least.

[Noah Southworth]

 

But the good thing is, once we get this show out the way we've got a steady stream of really good PPVs from 178 right up to January next year at least.

 

With the title fights needing to be staggered, and depending on how Velasquez vs. Werdum plays out, there is a good chance UFC will be on a hot run for the first couple of months of 2015. You've got Jones vs. Cormier headlining UFC 182 on January 3rd with the still-alive chance of Rousey vs. Carana in the co-main event; Jones/Cormier alone is enough for 182 to do very good business but adding Rousey/Carano would give 182 enough to do great business. Three weeks later on January 31st is UFC 183 with Silva vs. Diaz, which is another fight that should do very good business, but if you add Hendricks defending against Lawler in the main event, which could happen if UFC want to spread out the big fights, then that's another show doing great business. If  Werdum gets the upset against Velasquez then, depending on how that played out, you could get a rematch between the two for February, and that should be another show doing good business.

 

And those are just the title fights; things could get even hotter when you add the inevitable grudges that are bound to flare up or the fights over who gets a title shot.

[Supremo]

I'd forgotten Shayna vs. The Horsewoman Hunter was on this card. Thank God. At least that makes it a two fight show rather than a one fight show.

 

The trailer for Dillashaw vs. Barao is amazing though. I particularly enjoy Mike Goldberg losing his shit;

 

http://youtu.be/9U1-YoQUWg8

 

It's a super intriguing re-match. Has Dillashaw been training with Ludwig again, does anyone know?

[wandshogun09]

It's a super intriguing re-match. Has Dillashaw been training with Ludwig again, does anyone know?

Not only is Dillashaw still training with Ludwig, Ludwig's fucking moved in with TJ and his new wife to help him train. Madness. I can only imagine the reaction I'd have got if I told my Mrs I was going to move my mate in as soon as the vows were read. She'd have gone straight War Machine on me.

 

From Fighters Only;

Having since left his role as full-time head coach at Team Alpha Male, Ludwig is currently staying with TJ and his wife Rebecca at their home in Sacramento, California to ensure he receives the same attention to detail in his training that helped him capture the title earlier this year.

 

"To see him get the belt, that was just a special moment," says Ludwig. "Barao's always been the goal, we've always had our sights on Barao and, when the fight became official, I knew [TJ] could beat him. Not only beat him but be the best fighter in the world - not at bantamweight, but in the world; pound-for-pound."

 

According to Dillashaw, having his coach so close in the lead-up to a fight has been hugely beneficial - not only in improving his training but also in helping with house care.

 

"Even though I just got married and would love to sit around and enjoy being a newly-wed, Duane moved in instantly because I had this rematch going on," explains TJ. "It's been great, he's been a great house guest. He helps out around the house, he loves my dogs. He helps to clean up and do laundry, and he's as anal about helping out around the house as he is coaching. So it helps out a lot having him here and I hope I can do this for all my fight camps."

That's commitment.

 

I wonder if Ludwig sleeps in their bed as well. I bet Dillashaw's wife's been 'Banged'.

[Carbomb]

Bloody hell, loving that Four Horsewoman storyline, it's pro-wrestling really coming to life! I know it's not possible, but if she could beat Baszler, it'd be perfect if she went up to Featherweight and went through Shafir before going on to beat Ronda Flair, the loudmouth blonde leader of the stable with the submission finish.

[Egg Shen]

if you had a solid co-main and reshuffled the undercard (id move Cujedo to the main card instead of the Some Fuckers fight). It would be a decent little offering but that's not how it goes.

 

They argued the co-main position on the MMA Beat saying does every card have to have a fight titled the co-main event? and that if a fight doesnt warrant that title, it shouldnt be given it...thats the case with Ferguson/Castillo.

 

...the reason that fight has such high billing though is because its in Castillo's home town.

 

Regardless of all that shit, i'll still be watching.

[wandshogun09]

Bloody hell, loving that Four Horsewoman storyline, it's pro-wrestling really coming to life! I know it's not possible, but if she could beat Baszler, it'd be perfect if she went up to Featherweight and went through Shafir before going on to beat Ronda Flair, the loudmouth blonde leader of the stable with the submission finish.

Shafir just got knocked out in less than a minute last week anyway, so she's already been eliminated in a way I guess. Baszler is the last Horsewoman obstacle in the way of Ronda. The Arn Anderson 'enforcer', I suppose.

 

I hope Correia batters Baszler. I can't stand her. Correia could really do with a spectacular victory though. She barely outpointed a half retired Julie Kedzie, and decisioned a Jessamyn Duke who's looked off form in her last few fights. She needs to finish or really put a beating on Baszler to really kick this 'Road To Ronda' up a gear.

 

If she batters Baszler and Cat Zingano loses to Amanda Nunes, I wouldn't be surprised to see Correia get the next title shot. If they can't get Gina Carano signed, of course.

[wandshogun09]

There's been an injury.

 

Don't worry it's not Dillashaw or Barao, or this would be joining UFC 151 and 176 in the bin. It's Richard Odoms. The highly anticipated fight between him and Magomedov is off.

 

Heavyweight newcomer Richard Odoms has been forced to withdraw from his UFC 177 bout against Ruslan Magomedov on August 30 in Sacramento.

 

Magomedov will be moved to an upcoming card to be determined, and a replacement bout is expected to be announced shortly.

 

Moving to the opening bout of the UFC 177 main card is the lightweight meeting between Yancy Medeiros and Justin Edwards.

"A replacement bout is expected to be announced shortly

 

What could it even be on this notice? It's either going to be two local scrubs with 1-0 records or they're moving a fight from another card to fill the gap. Fuck knows. This card is just a disaster. It seems destined to still be canceled.

[Carbomb]

There's only one man who can save this card, and that's...

 

[weevil]

Castillo vs. Ferguson, Correia vs. Baszler and Larkin vs. Brunson were moved from UFC 176, so if Aldo had stayed healthy, it would be even weaker.

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

The main event will obviously be a good one, but if Barao is on his game this time and catches Dillashaw, that effectively kills the intrigue of TJ winning the title in the first place. Bantamweight has always been a vanilla division for me (besides Faber) and a big part of that was Dominick Cruz. His pitter patter, bounce around the cage style really fucking irritates me... wait, getting off track. The point was, Barao getting unseated was the best thing to happen at BW since its inception. A quick recapturing of the title pretty much negates that. On the flipside, there's not a lot of big name challengers at 135, so Barao dropping two fights to the same guy in quick succession isn't good for his standing. Faber got mauled in a title match recently and Cruz is Satan. What will they do after this event, make the rubber match, hope Dillashaw wins, and go on an infinite loop of Barao vs. Dillashaw?

[Egg Shen]

Royston muthafucking Wee! hes fighting Saturday in Macau, im pumped!

[Carbomb]

Wow, I didn't know he was fighting on Bisping/Le. Spooky.

 

Oh, and I'm really hoping Barao takes it back. Not just because he's become one of my favourites, but also because it would be the most interesting thing to happen. Plus, given how awesome he's been, he doesn't really deserve to go 2-0 down against Dillashaw and thus be locked out of the title scene (no disrespect to the guy, but he just hasn't been anywhere near as great).

[pryko]

There's only one man who can save this card, and that's...

 

Slightly off-topic, but who is that ring girl in the background?

[Carbomb]

According to the title of the picture below, she's a Japanese named Nishigaki Azusa:

 

 

(BTW, does anyone else have this thing where it seems all girls with a certain name are hot? All the women I've ever met or seen called Azusa have been gorgeous. Same goes for Heidi, too.)