UFC 184: Rousey vs Zingano

[wandshogun09]

Feb 28th in LA...

 

 

PPV MAIN CARD

Ronda Rousey vs Cat Zingano - Womens Bantamweight Title

Holly Holm vs Raquel Pennington

Josh Koscheck vs Jake Ellenberger

Alan Jouban vs Richard Walsh

Gleison Tibau vs Tony Ferguson

 

FOX SPORTS 1 PRELIMS

Mark Munoz vs Roan Carneiro

Norifumi 'KID' Yamamoto vs Roman Salazar

Dhiego Lima vs Tim Means

Derrick Lewis vs Ruan Potts

 

FIGHT PASS PRELIMS

James Krause vs Valmir Lazaro

Alexander Torres vs Masio Fullen

 

This card is a shell of what it was originally. There's still stuff worth watching there but the original lineup for me was probably the most stacked card of the year so far, which says a lot when you consider how much they loaded up January and February.

 

All these fights were booked for 184 and fell off for one reason or another...

 

Chris Weidman vs Vitor Belfort - Middleweight Title (Weidman injury)

Jacare Souza vs Yoel Romero (Jacare got pneumonia)

Frank Mir vs Bigfoot Silva (moved to a Fight Night when Glover Teixeira got injured)

 

Then to top it all off, they tried booking a Belfort vs Machida interim title fight but Belfort turned it down.

 

It's gone from one of the more stacked cards in recent times to a pretty thin looking PPV. In fairness to the UFC, they tried to make this card something special. It's not like when they served us a shit sandwich like UFC 174 or 177 last year. They tried. Injuries just bollocksed up their plans.

 

Still...

 

Rousey vs Zingano is a great fight and one that's been a long time coming. This should've happened at UFC 168 in December 2013.

 

Zingano earned the shot by kneeing Miesha Tate's face in. She was then set to coach TUF opposite Ronda which would've been huge for her. Sadly she suffered a knee injury and had to sit back as Tate (the woman she beat) took her place. Then she was on the mend and injured her other knee. And around the same time her ex husband and father of her son committed suicide. A terrible year. She finally returned in September last year, TKOing Amanda Nunes in a fantastic fight.

 

2014 was the year Ronda Rousey proved she's more than just armbars. She fought twice, and both fights combined only lasted about 90 seconds. A one minute body shot TKO over Olympic silver medalist Sara McMann, then a 16 second bulldozing of BJJ black-belt Alexis Davis.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=Wwi42DWrhiY

 

I really like Cat Zingano but I think she's getting fucked up here.

 

Zingano is dangerous on the feet, has solid overall grappling, ridiculous heart and toughness. But she's proven to be a slow starter. And that's a recipe for disaster against a fast starter like Rousey, someone who's 10-0 with 9 first round finishes. Zingano is tough, but is she tough enough to survive Ronda's initial blitz? I'm not convinced she can. I'd love to be proven wrong though. I don't want to see Ronda lose but it'd be great to see her really tested.

 

 

Whatever happens I think it'll be exciting however long it lasts.

 

Ellenberger vs Koscheck is the co-main event as far as I can tell. Yeah, not ideal. Could be decent though. It's a proper must win fight for both. They've both had a seriously rough time lately. Feels like forever since either won a fight. I don't know what to make of this one. Koscheck's older and hasn't fought in two years, but Ellenberger's so inconsistent. Fuck knows.

 

Holm vs Pennington marks the long awaited UFC debut of Holly Holm. This was meant to happen in December but Holm got injured.

 

I'm excited about this. I hope Holm goes on a tear in the UFC. If there's one thing the women's 135 division is missing, it's high level strikers. And Holm is a legit striker. Multi-time, multi-weight pro boxing champion. Kickboxing experience. Trains at Jackson's. She wasn't a KO artist in boxing but with the little MMA gloves and the lack of great strikers in Womens MMA, she could cause some real damage. She's already had a few brutal KOs in her MMA career, and not just with her boxing skills either...

 

 

She needs time to develop though. And that's what I fear because I don't think she'll get it. She'll probably never be ready for Ronda's grappling but I'd hate to see her rushed into a title fight prematurely. She probably will be though. If Ronda just batters Zingano like she's done to everyone else, who's left? And with Holm and Rousey fighting on the same card here, it kind of feels like they're lining them up. We'll see.

 

If Holm KOs Pennington, don't be surprised if they rush her straight into a title fight. It's not ideal but they don't have many options with how Ronda's ravaged the division.

 

Ferguson vs Medeiros should be a lively PPV opener. I reckon Ferguson is just a level higher than Yancy and should win this, but we'll see. It'll be good while it lasts regardless.

 

Mark Munoz hasn't been seen since losing to Gegard Mousasi in Germany last May. He's nearing retirement. Mid 30s, long list of injuries etc. Brendan Schaub said on Rogan's podcast a few months ago that Munoz is basically just hanging on for that UFC Philippines card now. That's his bucket list thing, then he wants to retire. I like Munoz. It'd be cool if he got to fight in the Philippines for the UFC once before hanging them up.

 

And KID Yamamoto lives! I didn't even know he had a fight coming up. Hasn't fought since UFC 144 in Japan three years ago. He was rumoured to be fighting Urijah Faber in September but he's been constantly injured in recent years. He was once one of the pound-for-pound best. Back when sub-155 guys weren't given much coverage in the US. He was wrecking shop in Japan. He's dropped right the fuck off though. A load of injuries have left him a shell of his once great self and he's getting up in age as well now. I don't know what to expect out of him here but I'd like to see him notch up at least one UFC win before it's all said and done.

 

The rest isn't getting my juices flowing. It's not a terrible card but it's basically a decent Fight Night but with a big main event tacked on. Shame considering how deep the card was when it was announced. I think the main card will turn out to be pretty much all action though.

 

[jimufctna24]

Rumour going around on Twitter is that Belfort is open to fighting Munoz on the card.

 

So we might have another re-shuffle.

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

I understand it to a degree, but it's pretty hilarious that Belfort won't take the interim title fight with Machida, but will happily mow down Munoz. Makes him look a bit scared, even though the styles of Machida and Munoz are vastly different.

 

Looks even worse when you consider guys like Cerrone and Bendo willing to do quick turnarounds and jumping up weight classes.

 

Anyway, Wand's post made me sad, I didn't realise how badly this card got raped. I thought we still had that strong card, just with Belfort vs. Weidman missing.

 

I think Rousey destroys Zingano. Yeah, Zingano's tough, and can come back from a shitload, but I don't think she has the technical skills to stop Rousey chucking her on the ground and armbarring her. The only chance she has is to clip Ronda right out of the gate. One thing about that :16 finish of Alexis Davis is that she did eat a clean shot in the exchange, and Zingano has a good amount of power.

 

Holly Holm makes her official UFC debut (even though I've already played as her in the UFC game), and she'll squash Pennington nicely. Based on the graphic UFC put up during UFC 183, this is the co-main. However, that could be a tentative thing until they figure out what's going on with Belfort.

 

I don't like Koscheck or Ellenberger. Is it too much to ask for a double KO?

 

Glad to see Roan Carneiro get a shot in the UFC. He's the guy that won the one-night Battlegrounds tournament and then had half his purse taken off him. I know he got most of it back, but it's nice to see a good result after that drama.

[melina_mma]

It's cliche to say 'Ronda round 1' but more so than any of her other fights i see that as the most likely outcome, No offence to Zingano but she isn't the #1 in the division. Tate was beating her and had a bad stoppage to get to that situation. Ronda is moving into her prime right now.

[d-d-d-dAz]

She's at the beginning of her prime pretty much, which is terrifying. To already be as good as she is without having really dented her late 20's? Incredible. Only thing that might hobble her is being a child judo star. Judokas are all fucked up. That can take years off your career. I bet if you said hello to her whilst she was on the move, she wouldn't be able to hear you over the cracking in her knees.

[wandshogun09]

Yeah, Ronda's said herself that she has dodgy knees and half her toes have been broken. Judo is a fucking brutal sport. I had a dabble in some Judo training before and thought 'fuck this'. It hurts too much. I switched to BJJ. Kinder on my joints.

 

Shane O - I meant to mention that Carneiro stuff in the first post actually. He got dicked around with his money big time on that show. Did he get paid fully in the end? That was that card that had Jim Ross and Chael Sonnen commentating, wasn't it?

[lambyUK]

I think some people are sleeping on Zingano for this one. She's probably the most vicious fighter in the women's division.

[wandshogun09]

She's badass. I'd pick her against nearly anyone else in the division. She's unbeaten for a reason. But I just don't really see her being the one to stop Ronda. Miesha Tate gave her hell for two rounds and Cat had trouble stopping her takedowns. I can't imagine her fending off Ronda's Judo at all. And Ronda's becoming more and more dangerous on the feet as well. Then there's Cat's tendency to start slow - she took a beating early in both the Tate and Nunes fights before rallying back. If Ronda gets her in the positions they had her in I think she's toast.

 

I'd love to see Cat make a fight of it. And I wouldn't rule that out with how tough she is. And she's dangerous enough that she at least has that punchers chance. Tate lacks power so she didn't really even have that. But I just can't see Ronda losing this one.

[Noah Southworth]

 

Shane O - I meant to mention that Carneiro stuff in the first post actually. He got dicked around with his money big time on that show. Did he get paid fully in the end? That was that card that had Jim Ross and Chael Sonnen commentating, wasn't it?

That’s the one. He initially had $15,000 of his $50,000 purse withheld but the commission eventually settled on a $100 fine.

 

I’m picking Zingano to pull off the upset. It’s more a gut feeling than anything else but I think we’re seeing a title change.

[d-d-d-dAz]

I think with Ronda, for me, it's a case of whether she's maintained her drive. This is the first real post-super stardom fight. Since the last fight she's had her modelling campaign in Times Square, she's been in a movie, she's been on talk shows, she has a book coming out etc. etc.

 

If she's still the same Ronda then I think she wins, if her heads been turned even a little bit then I think she could lose.

[Rey_Piste]

Even with everything going on in Rousey's life I think she still has that drive. You don't get to be an Olympic athlete without it. I still don't see anyone beating Rousey in the near future, she has just been so dominant that she has made every one who has faced her look like bums.

[David]

Seeing Koscheck back in the cage, does anyone else think that his chin has gone? 

 

He's been laid out in quite bad fashion in his last two fights, and that kind of thing usually plays a part, especially when a guys creeping up towards his forties.

[Egg Shen]

Yeh Koscheck hasn't looked good, maybe the layoff has done him good though. That said Ellenberger carries big power and this fight will likely play out on the feet.

 

Ellenberger by KO.

[Chunk]

Another change to this card: Ferguson is out of the Medeiros and Tibau replaces him.

[David]

Yeh Koscheck hasn't looked good, maybe the layoff has done him good though. That said Ellenberger carries big power and this fight will likely play out on the feet.

 

Ellenberger by KO.

 

Yeah, if pushed I'd put my house on the fight ending with Kos getting knocked out.