UFC 198: Werdum vs Miocic

[wandshogun09]

Fuck all this noise, Shogun and Little Nog won in fights I was sure they were going to be smothered to awful decision losses in.

 

But yeah, not happy with the main event result. Never really warmed to Miocic and I was sad to see Werdum put out like that. Miocic vs Overeem should be good though. I can see Overeem, with his more intelligent fighting style, picking him apart and stopping him within two rounds but you never know. Miocic has heavy hands and he moves well for a heavy. If one or two of those shots get through Overeem's defence he could go night night. He's definitely gotten better at limiting the opportunities for his opponent to catch him, but it'll happen in fights inevitably. Can't make an omelette without breaking eggs etc. Interesting fight, Miocic vs Overeem.

 

Is JDS booked yet? I wouldn't say no to JDS vs Werdum 2 after this.

 

Jacare is an animal. Love watching that bastard. That was the kind of thing he needed. He hasn't had much luck really in this UFC run. He had to fight Chris Camozzi twice, suffered a few injuries himself, lost a razor thin decision to Romero (I had Jacare winning that one) and then Romero failed a test. He's looked fantastic in his wins but Camozzi and even the Mousasi win didn't really move him much further up the ladder, it seemed. This though, for all his faults Belfort is a big name. And Jacare crushed him, within a round to the roars of his home crowd. He looked like a star last night. Exactly what he needed. I don't know what they're going to do next but with Bisping fighting Whittaker now, I'd assume Jacare will probably end up bagging the title shot against the winner of Rockhold vs Weidman 2.

 

On a sidenote, I don't get this Bisping vs Whittaker fight. Style wise it's a great fight and should be really entertaining to watch. But it's the timing of it. Bisping just beat Anderson Motherfucking Silva! The biggest win of his career. Probably the biggest win he'll ever have. He really should be getting a title shot now IMO. Coming off beating Anderson Silva and fighting Robert Whittaker is a massive comedown. And I don't mean that as a knock on Whittaker, he's a good fighter. But to take the momentum Bisping had coming off that Anderson fight, and putting him in with Whittaker...it's a strange choice to me. Fair play to Bisping for taking such a fight. Whittaker's no joke and it's a risky one for Bisping. But I don't get the UFC's thinking on it.

 

Cyborg looked good. It was exactly the type of UFC debut you'd want her in. And she did exactly what everyone expected. Leslie Smith is too brave for her own good, that fight wasn't getting any better for her. She'd basically turned up to a knife fight with a teaspoon. Cyborg's lethal. Be interesting to see what they do with her, the weight thing and stuff, because it's clear she's an attraction. She brings something to women's MMA that none of the others do. She's got that genuine monster aura. Ronda had something similar but she could also scrub up well for the red carpet stuff and magazine shoots and late night talk shows. That humanised her. Cyborg's just a destroyer. I can't see her arsing about on Jimmy Kimmel anytime soon. Nor should she. She's called fucking Cyborg. She should only be released into the public to weigh in and fight.

 

Maia, as Lamby said, is a steamroller right now. When he's in that pure grappler mode there's really fuck all anyone's doing to stop him. Brown did well to survive until late in the third. He was massively out of his depth but you can see he's improved a lot in his grappling since the days when he was being subbed for fun by guys like Chris Lytle and Brian Foster.

 

Shogun winning warmed the old heart. I'd have to rewatch it but I think I actually had Beastin edging the fight. Maybe. But who cares? All that matters is Shogun got his hand raised and stopped Boring Corey's little climb. This is the first time since 2009 that Shogun is coming off two wins in a row! He's back...Get your shit together Jon etc etc.

 

Chuffed to see Lineker get another W. I love watching him, he's like a Tasmanian Devil with his punches. Really pleased with how the Little Nog fight went as well. I feared Cummins was just going to shut him down against the fence or something. Best performance Nog's had since probably his UFC debut against Luiz Cane (whatever happened to him?).

 

Had a feeling Santos vs Marquardt was going something like that. Marquardt still has his moments at times (the win over Dollaway) but I never fancy his chances much anymore against fighters who are in top form. And Santos for me is a bit of a darkhorse in the division. Not saying he's title material or anything like that but he's a bit of a sleeper for me. Big long frame, heavy strikes. I like the way he fights. He could give a lot of guys a shock if they take him lightly, I reckon.

 

Good show, shame about the ending.

[ColinBollocks]

Going in I was hoping Stipe managed to get the win, purely because I like the idea of the heavyweight division being in a constant state of change (plus, fuck that face). Bloody hell, though, what a shot. "I'm the world champ" in that very Stipe way in a silent stadium of Brazilians was surreal - as Stann said "I think Miocic surprised himself". Fantastic. Most seem to disagree, but there is something charming about how oafish Stipe is. I was thinking pre-fight if Werdum wins this then surely you've got to be putting his name in there with Cain and Fedor as best ever, but oh well. "I'm the world champ!". Werdum looked shite, wonder if he had some sort of injury.
 
Why Vitor pulled guard is any ones guess, but nonetheless Souza is a monster. Weidman'd the fuck out of Vitor, only without all that pesky damage from an early Vitor rush. Rockhold/Weidman v Souza is going to be incredible. Obviously Rockhold beating Souza already isn't insignificant, but both men are much better now. Speaking of, I think the fight I'm looking forward to most of all in the next few months is Rockhold v Weidman. I really like both men for different reasons, but they're at the tippy top when discussing combat sports and athletes. Good job with the hype package too. Rogan's line about the Weidman randomly deciding he does wheel kicks now ruining him was bang on. Rockhold murdered him there after, but it was a super close contest before that kick... I should probably discuss all this in wands thread. Silly goose.
 
While I'll always kind of dislike Cyborg because of her shady past, you can't deny she's absolutely terrifying; Chyna voice and all. Crisp, fast and powerful.
I feel sorry for Smith. The ref did stop it well too early, but he also saved her a ton of punishment, so it's hard to criticise the ref too much, you could see what would have happened if he decided to let it go. Interesting that the commentators never made mention of the controversial finish,
 
Nice to see Shogun beat the odds and finally win again, particularly against a fighter so bereft of dynamism in the cage. Shogun in there with a proper striker would probably still struggle, but interesting seeing another war-scarred fighter adopt a more patient and cerebral approach to the striking game.

[Paul2j]

Fun show. 

 

Jacare surely now gets the winner of Rockhold vs Weidman, and Maia has to get a Number One Contender's fight next at the very least.

 

Hugely disagreed with the Shogun vs Anderson decision.  Presumably Round 2 was the only point of contention - and I think other than the late knockdown Shogun did next to nothing for 4 minutes and 30 seconds. 

 

Very surprised that Werdum went running in like he did.  He'll be kicking himself about that for some time. 

 

The main event outcome does free up a couple more obvious fights at Heavyweight at least going into the Summer and Autumn.  Miocic vs Overeem; Werdum vs JDS, Rothwell vs Arlovski and Hunt vs the Velasquez/Browne winner are all co-main events at the very least.

[PowerButchi]

They should give Barnett the title shot because.

[Bus Surfer]

What was Werdum doing just running in like that? Thought he looked pretty comfortable upto that point. Miocic looked as shocked as anyone.

 

Thought the show seemed to be stuck in 2nd gear throughout. Cyborg looked a real star though.. Loved when she hugged the vaseline dude. She was in a fairytale right there.

 

Medeiros / Trinaldo was all kinds of back and forth, batshit crazy on the Prelims. Well worth a watch if you didn't catch it.

[METAL ON METAL]

As bland as Miocic is, it was nice to see the Brazilian fans sad and silenced. Can't stand those mental twats, you just need to watch Matt Brown's walkout to see that they take things way too far.

[herbie747]

hahaha, where's your stupid trollface now, Werdum?

 

Who was the guy in strikeforce who always wore those dangly Roman type shorts? I always thought it was jacare.

[METAL ON METAL]

Apparently this morning a 'fan' ran into the hotel the fighters were staying at, ran up and punched Matt Brown from behind.

 

He tried to run away but one of Brown's coaches caught him. Fucking crazy. The Brazilian fans can take things way too far. I don't know if it's just a Brazilian thing in general with the hot temper but you tend to see a lot of mental Brazilian fighters that don't have thick skin.

[Egg Shen]

hahaha, where's your stupid trollface now, Werdum?

 

Who was the guy in strikeforce who always wore those dangly Roman type shorts? I always thought it was jacare.

Melvin Manheof?

[DJM]

Apparently this morning a 'fan' ran into the hotel the fighters were staying at, ran up and punched Matt Brown from behind.

 

He tried to run away but one of Brown's coaches caught him. Fucking crazy. The Brazilian fans can take things way too far. I don't know if it's just a Brazilian thing in general with the hot temper but you tend to see a lot of mental Brazilian fighters that don't have thick skin.

Apparently is wasn't a fan, but his former Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach Rodrigo Botti, who had been assaulted by a friend of Matt Brown and so then attacked Brown when he saw him!

[jimufctna24]

 

Apparently this morning a 'fan' ran into the hotel the fighters were staying at, ran up and punched Matt Brown from behind.

 

He tried to run away but one of Brown's coaches caught him. Fucking crazy. The Brazilian fans can take things way too far. I don't know if it's just a Brazilian thing in general with the hot temper but you tend to see a lot of mental Brazilian fighters that don't have thick skin.

Apparently is wasn't a fan, but his former Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach Rodrigo Botti, who had been assaulted by a friend of Matt Brown and so then attacked Brown when he saw him!

 

The altercation between Brown's friend and Botti happened after Botti attacked Brown. Listen to the guy in the background towards the end of the video. 

 

[Egg Shen]

bit fucked off that Anderson/Shogun decision cost me my acca (the amount the times ive lost on a single split decision is ridiculous) I thought Anderson had won it clearly 29-28, first round was touch and go but i thought the Shogun knockdown might have pinched it. Round 2 was Anderson's, couple of takedowns and controlled the entire round, i think the 'knockdown' at the end of the round again is what swayed the judges decision but it wasn't even a proper knockdown, even it it was i don't see how that won the round for Shogun. 3rd was clearly Andersons. Bullshit.

 

I felt terrible in a way because i was willing one of my all time favorite fighters to lose a bland prospect, and felt annoyed that Shogun had won against the odds, betting fucks with your head.

 

Main event was weird. My initial reation to how Werdum was acting was that he was waaaaay too relaxed, he didn't look at all like a man headed to defend his heavyweight title, but i thought back and realised that's pretty much how he always is, it was a grander scale but i've probably commented before that Werdum always seems way to relaxed, even when a fight is taking place, he just seems to comfortable and un-afraid of anything coming back at him, so maybe that's just how he needs to be? The actual fight was a bit of nothing until the finish, it was still in the feeling out process phase, what made Werdum go lunging forward like an idiot is anyone's guess but he paid the price for it, brilliant counter right and it was goodnight irene. No fucker can defend that heavyweight title.

 

 

Quite surprised to see all the Miocic hate (hate my be a bit strong) on here though, he's the epitomy of bland but there's not much to dislike about Stipe, just a hard nosed worker who goes about his business, he's not flashy but he does feel genuine. I don't see him beating Overeem though.

[ColinBollocks]

Having watched the main event KO again, Werdum was a proper dummy with his approach. I think Eggs (hey, Ebb) is probably correct in that the way Werdum charged at Stipe showed a lack of caution that was foolish and showed a shocking lack of respect for what Stipe can do with his hands. Fair play to Stipe with how on point his punch was, but Werdum basically charged into it Rousey-style.

 

Overeem has shown recently what can be accomplished when combining skill with a patient and clever approach to avoiding the heavyweight bombs. I can see how he handles his fights now leading to him holding the belt for a couple of fights.

[herbie747]

 

hahaha, where's your stupid trollface now, Werdum?

 

Who was the guy in strikeforce who always wore those dangly Roman type shorts? I always thought it was jacare.

Melvin Manheof?

Ah yes. It is indeed. Thought they were the same guy for years.

[seanz25]

Overeem's gonna win this and go on a bit of a run IMO to. He know's how to handle people charging him trying to land big shots, ala his last fight, similar to what Anderson Silva was very successful with. He also seemed the most technical of the heavyweights I've seen recently.