UFC 205: Alvarez vs McGregor

[AdamTH17]

Can't comprehend that this is only mere nights away. Certainly can't comprehend how a card so jammed with talent has stayed mostly in tact. It's a perfect mix of UFC 200, and 202 - you have the genuine big fight feeling and atmosphere which 200 was lacking, and an insanely in-depth card which was missing from 202. Fingers crossed it lives up to the massive hype it's deservedly garnered.

[jimufctna24]

Rashad vs Kennedy has been re-booked for UFC 206. The 206 card certainly needed it more.

[wandshogun09]

Evans vs Kennedy isn't really a fight of any relevancy in 2016, so it's not a huge loss to the card. Plus at least now we won't have that down moment on the card where Kennedy beats Rashad. If Rashad had won though, it would've been such a feel good moment. Would've kind of been this card's version of Mark Coleman rolling back the years and beating Stephan Bonnar at UFC 100. Like you say though Hacksaw Jim, 206 definitely benefits more from having a name (albeit a fading one) like Rashad added.

 

I've updated the OP with, what should be, the final lineup;

 

PPV MAIN CARD

Eddie Alvarez vs Conor McGregor - Lightweight Title

Tyron Woodley vs Stephen Thompson - Welterweight Title

Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs Karolina Kowalkiewicz - Strawweight Title

Chris Weidman vs Yoel Romero

Donald Cerrone vs Kelvin Gastelum

Miesha Tate vs Raquel Pennington

 

FOX SPORTS 1 PRELIMS

Frankie Edgar vs Jeremy Stephens

Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Michael Johnson

Tim Boetsch vs Rafael Natal

Belal Muhammad vs Vicente Luque

 

FIGHT PASS PRELIMS

Jim Miller vs Thiago Alves

Liz Carmouche vs Katlyn Chookagian

Fantastic. The only change I'd make there is I'd bump Miller vs Alves up to FS1 because balls to Fight Pass. I'd stick Muhammad vs Luque in the dark match spot instead. Miller vs Alves would probably be the perfect opener to the televised part of the show as well. Got a feeling that one's going to be nuts.

[Chunk]

Khabib is on this card!? I'd completely missed that.

[Gcf1997]

does the press conference start at 8 or 9 PM

[Egg Shen]

here's a question...on such a crazy night of fights, which one wins Fight of the Night?

[TildeGuy~!]

For me it'll be one of the title fights for sure.

[Dead Mike]

here's a question...on such a crazy night of fights, which one wins Fight of the Night?

 

Probably the Edgar fight, like usual.

[wandshogun09]

here's a question...on such a crazy night of fights, which one wins Fight of the Night?

Never has that question been harder to answer for me than this card.

 

I'd say Alvarez vs McGregor has a good chance of being fucking awesome given how exciting they've both shown they can be throughout their careers. But I can just as easily see it looking like Alvarez vs Anthony Pettis as I can it looking like Alvarez vs Joachim Hansen. It could go a few completely different ways.

 

When you look at the rest of the card, it's hard to pinpoint one fight that stands out above the others because nearly all of them are amazing on paper.

 

You can probably eliminate Khabib vs Johnson from the FOTN race (watch, now I've said that it'll be FOTY) just because Khabib doesn't really have competitive fights. It's more like a scene from Jaws.

 

Got a feeling Jedrzejczyk vs Kowalkiewicz is going to be competitive but a bit of a beatdown in the end in JJ's favour.

 

I could also see a strong possibility of Woodley going wrestler heavy on Wonderboy and it becoming a bit of a one way traffic thing. Same thing with Edgar vs Stephens really.

 

I'm narrowing it down to...

 

Weidman vs Romero

Cowboy vs Gastelum

Tate vs Pennington

Miller vs Alves

 

That's my Fantastic Four and I'm predicting one of them to steal the show. The talking point after the show will be Conor McGregor and whatever this announcement is, regardless. But I think one of these four fights is the one we'll be jizzing over by Sunday morning.

 

I think Cerrone-Gastelum has really been lost in the shuffle (understandably) on this one but I seriously expect a barnburner. I think Tate-Pennington is a darkhorse FOTN as well. Both are scrappy as fuck and although Tate should outclass her, Pennington is tough as fuck and aggressive with it. Alves-Miller should be quality as well. I don't think either have really had a boring fight plus it's Alves' debut at 155 and I could see him being a beast at the weight if he's got the cut right.

 

BUT...

 

 

I'm thinking that's your FOTN. Chris Weidman vs Yoel Romero is going to be chaos. Two absolute beasts who are trying to redeem themselves. In Weidman's case he's coming off his first loss and he's had pretty much a whole year of inactivity to let that gnaw away at him. He'll be coming in cranky and pissed off with a point to prove. And Romero's a madman at the best of times. If he's not rambling like a Cuban Iron Sheik he's battering his opponents and causing controversy by sitting on the stool too long between rounds, praising 'Gay Jesus' and taking dodgy supplements. He's coming back off the old tainted supplements controversy following his win over Jacare last December and he feels like he's the rightful number one contender. So he's coming into the fight with a bit of a chip on his shoulder and he'll be wanting to knock Weidman's head off into Weidman's dad's lap at ringside while Daddy Weidman cries "THAT'S STILL MAH BOY!!!". Mix all that together and add that they're two of the most skilful, scary and badass middleweights on the planet AND the fact it's going to be in front of Weidman's hometown crowd at MSG...I've just got this feeling this fight's going to go off like a fucking volcano and I can't shitting wait!

[lambyUK]

 

here's a question...on such a crazy night of fights, which one wins Fight of the Night?

 

Probably the Edgar fight, like usual.

 

 

I know he's been in some wars with Maynard and they were entertaining, I've never been a fan of Edgar from an entertainment perspective.

 

His stand up is very stick and move and it's a style I've found more boring than not. When his fights were entertaining were when he was getting his face battered, but that to me was more of his opponents style. 

 

Perhaps Stephens could be that opponent to bring out that out of Edgar, who knows.

 

There's really arguments for so many of these fights to be considered FOTN, and my gut is telling me that Weidman vs Romero will end up taking that accolade. It could be a snooze fest where wrestling cancels out each other and it turns into a plodding stand up fight, but Romero is rarely in boring fights and I expect chaos.

 

On a side note, here's a crazy pre fight interview with Helwani and Khabib where Khabib talks about being used in the Alvarez/Mcgregor negotations and mentally accusing Helwani of keeping info from him.

 

 

 

Edit:- I was writing the above as Wand posted his and bizarrely used the word chaos to describe it.

[Dead Mike]

 

 

here's a question...on such a crazy night of fights, which one wins Fight of the Night?

 

Probably the Edgar fight, like usual.

 

 

I know he's been in some wars with Maynard and they were entertaining, I've never been a fan of Edgar from an entertainment perspective.

 

His stand up is very stick and move and it's a style I've found more boring than not.

 

 

 

See, I love his stick & move style. Constant motion & you never know if a killer blow, takedown or whatever is coming next. His last fight with Aldo was amazing & well overlooked IMO. Especially Aldo's performance which was career best IMO.

[wandshogun09]

Yeah, I love Frankie. I thought his first fight with Aldo was better than their rematch though. His first fight with Bendo, the one in Japan, was a tremendous fight as well I thought. The Maynard wars go without saying. There's the quick KO on Mendes, which was lovely. The first fight with BJ Penn was better than I remembered it as well when I rewatched it a while back.

 

His fight with Tyson Griffin from 2007 is a must-see as well. And that fight kind of kickstarted the new era of lightweights. The division really picked up in 2007 with the influx of talent coming in like Edgar, Griffin, Huerta, Guida etc.

 

Edgar's great. The only fight of his that springs to mind which I was kind of let down by was the Faber fight. That was a legit dream fight for me for years. It wasn't a bad fight by any means, it just never really caught fire like I expected.

[ColinBollocks]

It's quite nearly impossible to run down that card and not think almost everything on it will deliver something exciting. Such is the quality of the card, Weidman v Romero is getting overlooked. It wasn't until wand's post that I realised how barmy it is such a fight is midcard.

 

I've been trying not to elevate my expectations too much, given how 200 ended up, but LOOK! All the major fights, still all there and only a couple of days to go. Please nobody piss hot or break an arse.

[Chunk]

I think there's a good chance Khabib is getting beat. I almost wish he had a higher ranked guy - I think he squeezes past Johnson.

 

That Khabib hype train is getting de-railed. You heard it here first.

[lambyUK]

I think there's a good chance Khabib is getting beat. I almost wish he had a higher ranked guy - I think he squeezes past Johnson.

 

That Khabib hype train is getting de-railed. You heard it here first.

 

Quick change of mind there Chunk.