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UFC on FOX: VanZant vs Waterson - Dec 17


wandshogun09

Who wins and how?   

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Really enjoyed this. The main card was great. Wasn't keen on the prelims apart from a couple of exceptions but on the whole it was a good show with some talking points coming out of it.

 

Waterson vs VanZant ending in that fashion was a mild surprise. But I really think too many people were sleeping (pun intended) on Waterson. All I read or heard about in the run up to this fight was Paige this, Paige that. It was like everyone completely forgot that she's only one fight removed from the total mauling Rose Namajunas gave her, and Waterson is a skilled, experienced and well rounded fighter. Everywhere I read it seemed like nobody was even talking about Waterson. Even Luke Thomas' live chat this week, he barely even touched on the fight other than to talk about Paige's marketability etc.

 

Saying that, although I was picking Waterson going in, I never expected her to win so early and decisively. Don't know where Paige goes from here. We have a new contender in Michelle Waterson though. Wouldn't be that surprised if Waterson is fast tracked to the title shot next. Sounds mad but challengers are thin on the ground for Jedrzejczyk right now and Waterson is coming off a big win over a hyped opponent on FOX. If not that, if Waterson fancies a quick turnaround then Jessica Andrade is listed for 207 in a couple of weeks and is without an opponent. Probably not worth the risk though.

 

Gall vs Northcutt was good stuff. Nice to see Gall tested a bit, he definitely didn't have it all his own way in there. He got dropped and was in a little bit of bother at times and he responded how you'd want a fighter to respond. Showed real good finishing instincts as well, as soon as he hurt Sage he was on that rear naked choke quick.

 

Interesting that he's dropping to 155 next, and I liked the callout of Dan Hardy. I wondered who he'd call out next and Hardy wasn't a name I even considered. Hardy has made noises about fighting again recently but I'm not sure how likely this is to actually happening.

 

I kind of liked Sage showing a bit more attitude in the fight. It didn't help him but I still liked seeing that from him. Shows he's not just some lab created robot at least. Apparently Gall said that Sage was trash talking him when they were on the ground in the first round, and when he cut Gall he said something like "There's about to be another one".

 

Oh and Sage bumped into the Diaz brothers backstage...

 

DEZFW.jpg

 

To be a fly on the wall for that, eh? I can't even imagine what that conversation went like but I bet it was gold. Sage's face there. He's got that 'Oh shucks, they're gonna take my lunch money' look about him.

 

Faber vs Pickett was fun. Strong performance for Faber to go out on. I thought he'd probably get the finish but regardless he looked sharp. Didn't really look like a retiring fighter in there but it's refreshing to see a guy go out on his own terms, healthy and with his marbles intact. Glad they showed his final walkout as well.

 

There was a little moment on the post fight show where him and Cruz kind of squashed their beef and Cruz even gave him the poster that started their feud back in WEC, but without scribbling all over Faber's face.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=sOIytgTQ-y8

 

Love the way they had that nice little moment then immediately revert back to having little digs at each other about the Garbrandt fight.

 

Jouban vs Perry was a good main card opener. Really pleasantly surprised by Jouban's performance. I expected that once he took a dig, he'd do what he usually does and start trading. That probably wouldn't have ended well for him and he recognised that and put in probably his best and most intelligent showing of his career. A few dicey moments aside, he really picked Perry apart like he said he would in the pre fight video. Perry's dangerous as fuck but he had nothing for Jouban by the third round. He'd run out of ideas and looked like he'd pretty much stopped even trying by that point.

 

Like I said, I wasn't that into the prelims. Thought Cole Miller in particular looked terrible. He really looked like a fighter who is disillusioned with his career and after that recent interview where he was saying he doesn't know if he even wants it anymore, I wouldn't be surprised if this was it for him. Sure he said it was the last fight on his contract as well.

 

Leslie Smith vs Irene Aldana was a hell of a scrap though. If you're going to watch anything off the prelims, make it that fight. It was a nice contrast of Aldana's boxing vs Smith's craziness. Aldana showed real heart and toughness to survive that big knockdown in the first round and Smith never let up the whole 15 minutes. She's basically Diego Sanchez with a fanny.

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Yeah, also only watched the Main Card but was quite impressed.

 

Jouban had a really nice performance. Kept drilling Perry with the body kicks, and kept him at a good distance throughout. Perry's chin looked really suspect though, which is odd considering he took some really hard shots against Danny Roberts. Looked as though the confidence was sapped out of him for real when he got dropped in the 2nd round, meaning Jouban had little to worry about in the 3rd. 

 

Good performance by Faber. Given how Pickett got taken to pieces back at UFC 204, I wasn't expecting much and the first two rounds solidified my opinion in that, but him dropping Urijah in the final round shows he still packs a hell of a punch. I was initially surprised when the fight wasn't stopped in the 1st to be honest, the shot that dropped Pickett looked like he knocked him silly, and I thought Faber was going to just ground and pound his way to victory rather than look for the submission. Not much to add to this one really, happy that Faber got the send-off he deserved.

 

Sage and Gall was a hell of a lot of fun. Two immensely entertaining characters going at it. Gall dragging Sage to the dark side, and encouraging him to engage in shit talking was hilarious to me. Imagine what he must have been saying? "Come on sir, please stand up so I can continue the beating, sir". I thought Gall looked comfortable enough on the feet for the majority of the fight. He's obviously got some power because he wobbled Sage a few times. Northcutt's ground game though, holy shit. He should spend his next camp drilling BJJ - all the physical attributes are obviously there, but he needs to fix that aspect of his game immediately or it's going to turn into a real issue for him. 

 

And then the main event! Superb performance from Waterson, gorgeous takedown, crisp transitions onto Paige's back and then as soon as she applied the hooks there was no chance that fight was lasting long. Waterson is a fighter I can see causing JJ some serious problems providing she keeps her on the floor. I don't think anybody in that division has a chance on the feet with Joanna, but if Waterson can take her down and keep her there, she could be a proper contender. Maybe throw her in next with Gadelha in a #1 contendership match.

 

Also did anyone catch the interview with Cruz and Cody? I've never felt so awkward watching UFC programming, holy shit. Garbrandt came off like the biggest moron on the planet, asking Cruz "who have you beat?!" and seemingly forgetting in the process Cruz has two victories over the guy Cody was playing up as his mentor. Idiot. I hope Cruz smashes him. 

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I was very impressed with Gall. For most of the fight he had complete control and when Sage managed to get some striking in, Gall not only survived but got the significant blow to end it. Trash talk Sage is tremendous. No doubt you'll get a lot of nutters saying Sage is overhyped shite and what not but, again, he's only 20/21.

The Dan Hardy call out was a bit of an anti climax because I'm not sure it will happen.

 

Page getting exposed is always going to happen in the coming years. She's still only 22 and what not. A doing here.

 

Faber's retirement was lovely to watch. Faber is still clearly a good fighter, but this is the way you should be doing it.

 

Oh aye, the Cruz/Cody trash talk segment is another reminder that not everyone is up to it. Cruz was trying but Cody sounded like a 10 year old in the playground when he was shouting over the top of Cruz with nonsense was the way to go.

Cruz's "you look like Pee Wee Herman with that tie" at the end was decent and Cody's retort was unsurprisingly witless.

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Jouban vs Perry was a good main card opener. Really pleasantly surprised by Jouban's performance. I expected that once he took a dig, he'd do what he usually does and start trading. That probably wouldn't have ended well for him and he recognised that and put in probably his best and most intelligent showing of his career. A few dicey moments aside, he really picked Perry apart like he said he would in the pre fight video. Perry's dangerous as fuck but he had nothing for Jouban by the third round. He'd run out of ideas and looked like he'd pretty much stopped even trying by that point.

 

yeh, struck me that Perry's probably the kind of guy who's had things go so well for him over his career up until this point that he's not really had to adapt mid-fight. I gave Perry round 1 but after that Jouban just relied on smart movement and stayed out of range, Perry's got work to do.

 

Quite fitting that Faber went out looking so good. He's always been seen as one of the smarter guys in the game in terms of business, and to retire when he's clearly still able to compete at the top level is something not many fighters do. He's got out with his faculties and bank account in tact, good on him.

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Waterson is a fighter I can see causing JJ some serious problems providing she keeps her on the floor. I don't think anybody in that division has a chance on the feet with Joanna, but if Waterson can take her down and keep her there, she could be a proper contender. Maybe throw her in next with Gadelha in a #1 contendership match.

Where I see Waterson running into problems is her size. Skill for skill I honestly think she gives everyone in the division at least a hard night's work, but she's fucking tiny. There were a couple of times in the striking exchanges last night where she got tagged coming in and seemed to have a little bit of a problem timing her entries into grappling range. I think Jedrzejczyk would really make her pay for that. Plus Jedrzejczyk is a nightmare to take down. Only Claudia Gadelha has really had any success with grappling against her so far. And she's a tank for 115. Waterson has the technique but I don't think she has the physicality to do the same. Still, I think she beats everyone in the division bar Jedrzejczyk, Gadelha and maybe Kowalkiewicz and Andrade. I'd love to see her prove me wrong though.

 

As for the Cruz/Cody bit, I thought they both came off pretty shit to be honest. Just playground level bickering over each other and I could barely make head or tail of it. Garbrandt was one step away from saying 'I know you are but what am I?' And Cruz keep saying Cody had a glass chin, what was that based on? Has Cody ever been rocked yet in a fight? I don't recall one time where he's looked chinny. And it's not like Cruz is some big puncher anyway. I get they're trying to hype the fight but this is proof like C-Bollocks says, that just because it works for some fighters doesn't mean everyone should do it.

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Waterson is a fighter I can see causing JJ some serious problems providing she keeps her on the floor. I don't think anybody in that division has a chance on the feet with Joanna, but if Waterson can take her down and keep her there, she could be a proper contender. Maybe throw her in next with Gadelha in a #1 contendership match.

 

As for the Cruz/Cody bit, I thought they both came off pretty shit to be honest. Just playground level bickering over each other and I could barely make head or tail of it. Garbrandt was one step away from saying 'I know you are but what am I?' And Cruz keep saying Cody had a glass chin, what was that based on? Has Cody ever been rocked yet in a fight? I don't recall one time where he's looked chinny. And it's not like Cruz is some big puncher anyway. I get they're trying to hype the fight but this is proof like C-Bollocks says, that just because it works for some fighters doesn't mean everyone should do it.

Yeh, it was childish stuff. I like Garbrandt though, im hoping he pulls off the upset.

 

The glass chin thing refers to Garbrandt being KO'd in a pre-UFC fight.

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For those who didn't watch the prelims, I advise watching the Paul Craig fight. There's a bit of bias there being Scottish but it was genuinely a good scrap and he looked great in there.

 

Just about to say that, the big man done really well in his first fight and has already called out either Shogun or little Nog!

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That's cause it was the only fighters he knew! He admitted he doesn't really know who to call out as he doesn't watch UFC. It was a hilarious and refreshing interview actually.

 

I'll tell you what, I'd give him a decent chance against either Nog or Shogun at this stage. He's got the physical tools to go far I reckon.

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