Jump to content

UFC 198: Werdum vs Miocic


wandshogun09

Who wins and how?   

13 members have voted

You do not have permission to vote in this poll, or see the poll results. Please sign in or register to vote in this poll.

Recommended Posts

  • Paid Members

Next PPV is May 14th in Curitiba, Brazil. And it's a belter.

 

aljH5.jpg

 

PPV MAIN CARD

Fabricio Werdum vs Stipe Miocic - Heavyweight Title

Jacare Souza vs Vitor Belfort

Cris Cyborg vs Leslie Smith

Shogun Rua vs Corey Anderson

Warlley Alves vs Bryan Barberena

 

FOX SPORTS 1 PRELIMS

Demian Maia vs Matt Brown

Nate Marquardt vs Thiago Santos

Francisco Trinaldo vs Yancy Medeiros

John Lineker vs Rob Font

 

FIGHT PASS PRELIMS

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs Patrick Cummins

Sergio Moraes vs Luan Chagas

Zubaira Tukhugov vs Renato Moicano

 

Stacked! Usual disclaimer that this could well fall apart. And judging by some of the names on there, I'd say that's pretty likely given their track records. But let's roll with it and try to remain positive.

 

As always, that lineup might change. I'll edit this as and when that happens. Judging by the poster, I think the main card's right anyway.

 

FNRC8.jpg

 

The big boys top this one. Werdum vs Miocic is a really quality fight. The heavyweights are often thought of as just big sluggers but these are two of the more technically skilled guys in the division. You've got Miocic who is a really good all-rounder. He's relatively young for the division he's in. He's got solid boxing, good takedowns, nasty ground and pound, he's tough, pretty fast and agile for a man of his size and he's got a bit of a mean streak to him. Then you have Werdum. Probably the best heavyweight grappler in MMA, excellent Muay Thai, he's a threat in all areas, experienced and crafty and in his prime right now. He's submitted Fedor, Cain and Big Nog and knocked out Mark Hunt with a flying knee. That says it all really.

 

cyvqo.jpg

 

It's not exactly a blockbuster fight. I'm not expecting this to shatter any records business-wise. But purely on fight quality and an intriguing matchup of guys' skillsets, it doesn't get a lot better than Werdum vs Miocic at heavyweight.

 

Difficult one to call as well. It took me a while to see Miocic as a legitimate top heavyweight. But seeing him go five rounds with JDS, then seeing him beat down Mark Hunt, then seeing him knock out Andrei Arlovski...I'm sold. I just don't know if he has the answers for Werdum's game though. That's why they fight though, right? We'll get the answers in a few weeks.

 

u7QS.jpg

 

Jacare vs Belfort co-headlines. Good fight. They could've easily had this main event a FOX Sports or Fight Pass card. It kind of feels like they're feeding Belfort to the lions here but who the fuck knows with Belfort anymore? Despite his post-TRT saggy raisin-like physique, you just don't know with him. He's always been a bit of an enigma. Coming off a KO win over the empty husk of Dan Henderson isn't a great boast but it did show what we always knew, that Belfort is always dangerous early. Even in defeat to Weidman he showed that was true, he had Weidman on the ropes early on and it was only Weidman's toughness and ability to take the fight to the ground that allowed him to weather the storm and get him out of hot water.

 

Jacare lost a razor thin decision to Yoel Romero in his last fight in December. And Romero was embroiled in a PED controversy immediately following that fight so Jacare shouldn't have dropped too far down the pecking order at middleweight. A win here over a name like Belfort would put him right back on track. Especially as he holds a win over the current champ Rockhold.

 

UNasn.jpg

 

I don't know. I'd think Jacare should win this. But I don't know. If it goes past a round I see Jacare overwhelming him. But I just can't count Belfort out. If I had to put money on it I'd definitely favour Jacare though.

 

rUu5V.jpg

 

Silva vs Hall, again, could've easily headlined a Fight Night. This is a weird one in that I could see it being a crazy Tekken/Matrix style battle of striking wizards. Or the most awkward staring contest since my wife's friend started breast feeding in our livingroom while I was talking to her. And I daren't look anywhere but in her eyes, as if I hadn't even noticed.

 

j5pgs.jpg

 

So...let's roll with the first scenario and hope that we're in for some Neo-like ninja shit. They could both do with a big win here and that could either light a fuse under them or make them go the other way and fight overly safe and cautious. We'll see how it pans out. Usually I'd be fully and confidently predicting an Anderson Silva win here but the loss to Bisping has really knocked my confidence in the Spider. As good as Bisping is, I always felt like he was a great style for Anderson to shine against. It wasn't like Anderson never had his moments and it was a great fight (probably my FOTY so far in 2016 actually, either that or Lawler vs Condit), but he just didn't look as sharp and seeing him get knocked down by Bisping, I'm finally ready to accept that he's declined significantly. I'm hoping he pulls something out of the bag here but at this point I'm not confident in picking him at all.

 

r4KAs.jpg

 

Shogun vs Beastin' 25/8 is probably going to be the low moment of the night. It's probably going to be a crap and depressing fight. Shogun's probably losing. To the man with the shittest nickname in MMA (and that covers a lot of ground). I guess by now you're picking up that I don't like this fight much. It's clearly here to use whatever's left of Shogun's name to give Shitehawk 26/9 the rub of beating a legend. Hopefully Shogun avoids being a stepping stone for this chump and knocks him out cold, something like the Te Huna KO would be lovely. But I can't see it. Boring Corey's gonna win. Whether I want him to or not. And we're all going to be in here on the 15th, once again calling for Shogun to hang 'em up.

 

yKzeJ.jpg

 

Maia vs Brown is a wicked clash of completely opposite styles. Maia the patient but lethal grappling master vs Brown the aggressive buzzsaw of striking and submissions. Looking at how they match up and assuming they'll both be in their best form, I like Maia in this one. Much lesser grapplers than Maia have submitted Brown over the years and, while Brown's improved, if he's taken down he's so aggressive and active off his back that it'll give Maia the openings and opportunities he needs to take advantage and trap Brown in something. Brown's key to win this fight is to make it a striking match but I can't see how he avoids the ground for long. Should be good while it lasts but I'm expecting a bit of a Maia masterclass, to be honest. Not unlike his win over Neil Magny last year.

 

EbarR.jpg

 

Cyborg finally, FINALLY steps foot in the Octagon. It's been years in the making and there's been roadblock after roadblock but it's finally here. She's fighting Leslie Smith which kind of saddens me as Smith is too nice for the absolute twatting she's about to get. Don't get me wrong, Smith wants no-one's pity and she'll be well game for this. She had half her ear ripped off against Jessica Eye and wanted to fight on. She doesn't give a fuck. She trains with the Diaz brothers so she's going to be a bit nuts just by osmosis. But Cyborg's going to destroy her. It won't be pretty and it won't last long. It's going to be a slaughter. In that sense, it's the perfect UFC debut for Cyborg.

 

3snTS.jpg

 

Despite all the debate we've had about her and the criticism she's received on here over the years, it'll be nice to see Cyborg finally grace the Octagon. She's too good a fighter to go down as the female Fedor and never fight in the UFC.

 

mRnuT.jpg

 

Lineker vs Font on the prelims is ***WAND'S ONE TO WATCH*** on this one. Lineker's fights are always worth tuning in for. Always exciting to watch. You know someone's got something when they can miss weight about 87 times yet still keep their UFC contract. The man's got to be one of the most fun fighters to watch pound-for-pound on the entire roster. Font's a decent fighter as well, 12-1 coming off a run of stoppages. Should be a lively one.

 

Alves vs Barberena should be fun. I've liked what I've seen of Warlley Alves and it'll be interesting to see if Barberena can build any momentum off his win over Sage Northcutt.

 

Marquardt vs Santos will be a good one as well, I reckon. Marquardt's a real veteran who's been everywhere and pretty much seen everything. He's been up and down in this UFC run but he's had his high points, including his KO win over CB Dollaway in a good fight last time out. I think Thiago Santos is going to derail him again though. Santos is a guy who doesn't get much love but I think he's a bit of a beast myself. Big lanky bastard with dangerous striking. It should be good but I'm not really liking Nate's chances in this one.

 

Little Nog vs Pat Cummins, I think, is on Fight Pass. Not really arsed if I miss that one, to be honest. I love the Nogs but, like with Shogun vs Anderson on the main card, I see this being a dull shutout for the opponent. I've got no desire to watch Nog getting ragdolled by Cummins. I'll look up the result, if Nog wins I'll track it down.

 

Fantastic card.

 

GROUP SHOT!...

 

fv3eJ.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 100
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Nice to see the UFC finally see sense and do what I've been saying they should do for years. 140lbs is where Cyborg is able to compete and still be healthy.

 

If and when she destroys Smith we'll see moves being made to bring her into the fold full-time, and they'll accommodate her at over 135lbs I believe.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members

What's 140? Light featherweight? Super bantamweight?

 

I went for Werdum over Miocic, although that's more down to what I'd rather see than what I think we'll see. It's too tough to call, I think, for all the reasons wand stated earlier. I'd like to see Werdum hold on to the belt for a while, especially as a rubber match with Overeem could be a big deal. Also would like to see if he can avenge his losses to JDS and Arlovski.

 

Jacare over Belfort, I think. Wise to never count out Belfort, but I think Jacare's got too much for him. I had him down as winning over Romero (although I can see why the judges went with the opposite result). But if Romero's not likely to be facing Rockhold any time soon, I'd certainly like to see Rockhold/Jacare II.

 

Silva/Hall - if it weren't for Hall's inconsistency, I'd be betting on him to beat Silva, who, unfortunately, does look a shadow of his former self. As it is, I'm confident he beats Silva, but I would not swear to it; he's on a decent run with some good scalps, but he's choked too often before for me to think he's a lock for the win here. I hope he has found consistency though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members

What's 140? Light featherweight? Super bantamweight?

There's no such division at the moment. This fight is being billed as being at a 'catchweight of 140' as it falls between Cyborg's weight of featherweight (145) and Smith's weight of bantamweight (135). I guess they'll see how things pan out then decide where to go next with Cyborg after she steamrolls Smith.

 

I'm actually glad to hear that fight is replacing Maia vs Brown on the PPV. A quick Cyborg showcase sounds like the ideal main card opener to me. And Maia vs Brown is more of a quality 'prelim main event' whereas Cyborg vs Smith is going to be a brutal mauling that I'm expecting to resemble Vader's squash matches on early 90s WCW Worldwide.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members

At this point they might as well. If the last year or so of watching MMA has taught me anything, it's that I realise I don't give a fuck about weightclasses. I just want to see the fights that interest me. It didn't harm my enjoyment one bit that McGregor vs Diaz took place at 170 rather than 155 (although, in hindsight, it probably would've been wise of McGregor to stay at 155 or lower). And it won't make a dent in my enjoyment if we see Cyborg vs Holm or Tate or, dare I say it, Rousey at 140 rather than 135. I'm past caring. If they can make any of those fights, even just one of them, that we wouldn't have seen otherwise, I'm all for it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members

The thing with the Ronda vs Cyborg mess for me though was that Ronda was the UFC champion when all that was going down. The UFC would've been mad to book Ronda vs Cyborg at a catchweight back then because Cyborg was publicly saying she was only going to make 135 once, beat Ronda then fuck off back to 145. So the UFC could've potentially killed their golden goose in Ronda (McGregor wasn't the superstar he was going to become yet) and they couldn't even have capitalised on Cyborg as they didn't have a 145 women's division. It wasn't worth the risk.

 

Now Ronda's lost the title, there isn't that obstacle. They'd still have to negotiate the weight but she's already lost the title and her undefeated '0'. From that POV, there's less risk for the UFC to book that fight now. Plus they now have Cyborg in the fold so even if she destroyed Ronda in seconds, they wouldn't be happy but they can benefit from promoting Cyborg.

 

It's a different ball game now. Before, Cyborg was basically saying 'I'm gonna come in, kill your biggest star then piss off back to Invicta'. They didn't have enough depth back then either to justify another women's division and 135 was the title that Ronda already had when Strikeforce folded.

 

All this means fuck all because I've still got a feeling the fight may never happen. But even if we just get Cyborg vs Holm or Tate or Nunes or Zingano, that certainly beats watching Cyborg twatting no-hopers in Invicta like she's been doing up to now. At the very least, we get to see her against better opposition now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bellator has signed most of the featherweight division and Cyborg has beaten most of them.

 

Conor got choked out in his one and only fight above 145 (in the UFC) and there was a fight this weekend that reinforces the need to fight at your own weight class.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members

I get all that. And I fully understand why there are weight classes and that they're important. I'm just saying I'm not that arsed about them personally when it comes down to it. Like if a superfight between Anderson Silva vs Georges St Pierre was signed in 2009, I wouldn't give much of a fuck if it was at 170, 185, somewhere in between or they just let them turn up whatever weight they like. Because it would've still been Anderson Silva vs Georges St Pierre. Obviously it'd be better if guys compete at or close to the best weight for them, of course it would, but if it's a thing where I could see say, Jones vs Rockhold either at a silly catchweight or not at all, I'll be all over that catchweight. If it wasn't for fighters being willing to fight outside their optimal division we'd never have seen BJ Penn vs Georges St Pierre, Anderson Silva vs Nick Diaz, Daniel Cormier vs Josh Barnett, Mark Hunt vs Wanderlei Silva or Dan Henderson vs Fedor Emelianenko. I'll take a bit of stupid division jumping every now and then.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I get that, it was more about yeah just make a division for one woman.

Look at the top 10, most of them have terrible records and the others Cyborg has beaten, sometimes twice. Any of the top 5-10 could jump up to 145 and be ranked and all it take is beating some 4-6 woman, who is only ranked because she is one of the few girls fighting there.

 

 

Rhonda could jump up but she still had big fights left at Bantamweight, I guess I don't want titles involved in catch weight shit like Boxing.

 

Canelo is fighting Khan for 160lb belt but both are coming in at 155 and it's ridiculous, I understand Canelo is much bigger and the WBC or whoever it is are allowing it cause they get a cut, if Khan wins does he make all his opponents fight at 155? Why not make it 154 at least that's a division.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

What's 140? Light featherweight? Super bantamweight?

There's no such division at the moment. This fight is being billed as being at a 'catchweight of 140' as it falls between Cyborg's weight of featherweight (145) and Smith's weight of bantamweight (135). I guess they'll see how things pan out then decide where to go next with Cyborg after she steamrolls Smith.

 

I'm actually glad to hear that fight is replacing Maia vs Brown on the PPV. A quick Cyborg showcase sounds like the ideal main card opener to me. And Maia vs Brown is more of a quality 'prelim main event' whereas Cyborg vs Smith is going to be a brutal mauling that I'm expecting to resemble Vader's squash matches on early 90s WCW Worldwide.

 

 

From the breakdown shown on UFC 197, the Cyborg fight will be the second fight in, while your beloved fight of Shogun vs. Wanking 27/10 will be the main card opener. So you could probably get away with watching something else, taking a toilet break or cooking up some food for the first half hour of the PPV.

 

About Maia vs. Brown, the quality of that fight will greatly depend on Brown's takedown/ground defense. Name wise, yeah it's the perfect prelim main event, but it'd be a little deflating to see an all-action fighter like Brown stifled completely by grappling. Little bit like the Shogun fight.

 

Credit where it's due though, Maia's grappling masterclasses are often entertaining. Unlike Jon Fitch, who was always a position over submission guy, Maia's a shark that will hunt for any opportunity he can find on the mat. Like I enjoyed the Gunnar fight, even though it was complete domination and we could have looked at two 10-8 rounds in there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members

...while your beloved fight of Shogun vs. Wanking 27/10 will be the main card opener. So you could probably get away with watching something else, taking a toilet break or cooking up some food for the first half hour of the PPV.

Ah right. Babestation it is then.

 

Nah, I could never miss a Shogun fight. Even though I'm fully expecting him to lose in the most deflating and frustrating way possible, I'll have to watch it just incase he has one of his (all too rare these days) good nights and flattens Mr 25/8. I'd be gutted if I fucked off to make myself a toastie or something and missed that. If Shogun wins it'll be one of the most satisfying fight results in ages for me. Not just because it's Shogun winning or Beastin' Corey losing, but the combination of Shogun beating Beastin' Corey and ending his reign of mediocrity...I might just cry tears of joy.

 

Credit where it's due though, Maia's grappling masterclasses are often entertaining. Unlike Jon Fitch, who was always a position over submission guy, Maia's a shark that will hunt for any opportunity he can find on the mat. Like I enjoyed the Gunnar fight, even though it was complete domination and we could have looked at two 10-8 rounds in there.

Yeah, I loved Maia vs Gunnar. As one-sided fights go that was brilliant to watch, I thought. Gunnar never stopped trying and Maia never stopped working for the finish with Gunnar just doing enough to keep his head above the quicksand. Great fight.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...