UFC Fight Pass: Holm vs Correia - Jun 17

[wandshogun09]

The UFC comes to Singapore on Saturday 17th June. 

 

 

FIGHT PASS MAIN CARD
Holly Holm vs Bethe Correia

Andrei Arlovski vs Marcin Tybura

Dong Hyun Kim vs Colby Covington

Rafael Dos Anjos vs Tarec Saffiedine 

 

FIGHT PASS PRELIMS
Takanori Gomi vs Jon Tuck

Walt Harris vs Cyril Asker

Alex Caceres vs Rolando Dy

Justin Scoggins vs Ulka Sasaki

Li Jingliang vs Frank Camacho

Russell Doane vs Kwan Ho Kwak

Naoki Inoue vs Carls Jon De Tomas

Lucie Pudilova vs Ji Yeon Kim 

 

 

OK then. Bit of a mixed bag this one. Some good stuff there though. 

 

 

I'm not in love with Holm vs Correia. Especially as a headliner. Even on this card, I think there's one or two other fights that are more worthy of top billing. I just can't really get into Correia's fights. She's intense as fuck and she's often quite vocal in the lead up to her fights, but then the bell rings and it's all pretty shit. I don't think she's very good and I haven't been interested in her since she was feuding with the Four Horsewomen and Ronda Rousey.

Holly Holm is currently on a 3 fight losing streak. She hasn't won since she stopped the Reign Of Rousey back in 2015. You get the sense they're trying to throw Holm a bone here because although Correia is tough, she's a clear step down and a favourable matchup for Holly in that what she does is very basic. Holm by all rights should be able to make her look stupid. She's way more skilled. I guess it's a question of where her head's at coming off 3 consecutive losses. This should be a good rebuilding fight for her but we'll see. 

I hope Holm wins, and in spectacular fashion. She's too nice a person, I don't want to see her go 0-4. And if she loses to Correia, at 35 years old and out of the title picture in two divisions for the forseeable...it might be over for her. 

 

 

Arlovski vs Tybura is a funny one. I'm not sure if they're trying to rehab Arlovski or if they think big Andrei's shot and they're seeing an opportunity to build Tybura off whatever's left of AA's name value. Maybe either/or.

Arlovski returned to the UFC in 2014 and surprised everyone by going 4-0 in his first 4 fights back. But in typical Arlovski fashion, he then followed that up by going 0-4 in his next 4. And that's where we are now. He just got bashed in a minute by Francis Ngannou and we're back to thinking of him as Strikeforce Arlovski again. Tybura's coming off a pair of KO wins, including a savage headkick knockout on Viktor Pesta last August. He seems alright for a middle of the pack heavy but nothing amazing. Arlovski doesn't usually lose to guys at this level, so if he does lose this, like Holm, it might mean the writing is on the wall. 

 

Stun Gun vs Covington is an interesting clash of Judo vs Wrestling. Kim is the more unpredictable but I don't know if that's going to work for or against him here. Can see Covington just shutting him down but I hope Stun Gun drags him into a dogfight. 

 

 

Dos Anjos vs Saffiedine is this card's ***WAND'S ONE TO WATCH***. I really like the sound of this. In fact, I'd have probably have gone with this as the main event. It's the best fight on the card by miles for me and it's Dos Anjos' welterweight debut. Way more interesting than Holm-Correia.

RDA isn't far removed from being lightweight champ and people thinking him maybe the best 155er ever. Amazing how quick things can change in the snakepit that is the 155 division. High hopes for this. Two of the best leg kickers in MMA. I could happily just sit and watch these two just trade leg kicks until one of them gives up. If it goes to the ground RDA should have his way. On the feet, Saffiedine can hang with pretty much anyone. Should be good. 

 

 

Gomi vs Tuck is another fight featuring one of the old guard who could be reassessing their career options if they lose. Seems to be the theme on this card, doesn't it? I love Gomi. When I got into MMA he was king of the Pride lightweights and killing his prey in vicious style on the Bushido shows. Those days seem like they were in black and white now though. It's been a while since Gomi looked like the 'Fireball Kid' of old. He's coming off 3 first round KO/TKO losses now  the most recent of which was at UFC 200 against Jim Miller. Like with the Holm and Arlovski examples, they've given him a step down in opposition here. If he loses this as well it could be sayonara. 

 

Bruce Leroy vs Wang Guan I'm highlighting just because it's Bruce Leroy and I'll always shine the light on him in these event preview posts. Always worth tuning into a Caceres fight. 

 

The rest doesn't do a whole lot for me. So yeah, main event's a bit shit but there's a few old favourites on this one, and I have a good gut feeling about RDA vs Saffiedine.

[wandshogun09]

Heads up....

The main card for this is on live at 1pm next Saturday on BT Sport 3. 

[OzExile]

Pales into insignificance this week doesn't it? But its a healthy card. 

Hoping Holm can get the 'W' because her fights are always fun.  Think there are still some big fights for her at 135 and 145.    I don't know much about Tarec Saffediene? What can we expect? 

TBF to RDA - he came up against a red hot Tony Ferguson in his last L.  Put in a performance good enough to most fighters in the UFC that night in Mexico, but El Cucuy was something else.  

[Noah Southworth]

On 15/05/2017 at 3:30 PM, wandshogun09 said:

Naoki Inoue vs Carls Jon De Tomas

This fight may not happen as Carls came in a whopping 5lbs over the weight limit.

[ColinBollocks]

Brilliant card considering the event. The start time makes it even more enticing.

I think this fight shows if Holm is done or not. She's had a nightmare.

Although the big hook for me is seeing RDA back in action. Similar to Holm, the boy has had a rough go of it recently - missing out on the Conor payday and losing twice.

[Egg Shen]

card is on at mid-day tomorrow for those that don't know, suits me fine.

[Bus Surfer]

What time are we looking at the prelims kicking off? 

[Noah Southworth]

11 minutes ago, Silky Kisser said:

What time are we looking at the prelims kicking off? 

Fight Pass says 9:45am but that may change to a little later if the Naoki Inoue vs Carls Jon De Tomas fight doesn't go ahead.

[Egg Shen]

shit that early, i like it.

[Noah Southworth]

Full predictions;

Holly Holm by Decision
Marcin Tybura by KO/TKO
Dong Hyun Kim by Decision
Tarec Saffiedine by Submission
Jon Tuck by KO/TKO
Cyril Asker by KO/TKO
Alex Caceres by KO/TKO
Ulka Sasaki by Decision
Li Jingliang by KO/TKO
Kwan Ho Kwak     by Submission
Carls John de Tomas by Decision
Lucie Pudilová by Decision

[Noah Southworth]

Ji Yeon Kim (136lbs, 6-0-2) vs. Lucie Pudilová (134lbs, 6-2) was mainly a boxing fight, and fairly good one, before Pudilová tried to make it a grappling battle which, for the most part, consisted of Pudilová holding Kim against the fence and doing nothing with it for the most part. Pudilová did try to work for a guillotine in the third but her technique needs a little work, shall we say, and Kim’s touted ground skills didn’t really seem apparent. The first round was close but the second and third rounds were a lot clearer, but all three judges had it 29-28 for Pudilová.
Five-Word Review: Fine opener to the card

Naoki Inoue (124lbs, 10-0) vs. Carls John de Tomas (131lbs, 6-0) was a virtual showcase for Inoue, who looked so freaking great on the ground. His movement, transitions, back control; he was awesome for a kid who is still only 20 years old. And as much as Inoue obviously has room to grow, being so young, if he looks this good at 20, he should be a killer by the time he’s 25. Unless he plateaus early, I’m calling it now; Inoue is a future UFC flyweight champion.
Five-Word Review:  Naoki Inoue looked absolutely sensational.

Kwan Ho Kwak (136lbs, 9-1) vs. Russell Doane (135lbs, 14-7) was short and fairly good, with a lot of movement and swinging before Doan cracked Kwak and got a finish with less than a minute to go in the first round
Five-Word Review: Kwak ‘Doan’ and got kwaked.

Li Jingliang (170lbs, 12-4) vs. Frank Camacho (169lbs, 20-4) saw Jingliang weather an early storm, getting rocked, to have Camacho ready to tap right as the first round ended. After that, Jingliang got more and more into the fight, and he put a real beating on Camacho in the second and third rounds.
Five-Word Review: An entertaining if one-sided beating

Justin Scoggins (126lbs, 11-3) vs. Ulka Sasaki (125lbs, 19-4-2) was a fairly one-sided fight for a a round and a half, with Sasaki having no real answer for the grappling of Scoggins, including being on the receiving end of a German suplex in the first ten seconds. And then in a scramble on the ground, Sasaki got the back of Scoggins and quickly got a rear naked choke and Scoggins tapped out. This was real come from behind win for Sasaki because he just wasn’t in this fight at all until he won it.
Five-Word Review: Genuine ‘come from behind’ victory.

Alex Caceres (146lbs, 12-10) vs. Rolando Dy (146lbs, 8-4-1) was another entertaining fight that was mostly one-sided, with Caceres dominating and Dy providing modest resistance. At some point in the first round, Dy took a punch or a glove to the eye and it hampered his vision, and in between the second and third rounds, the fight was called off because he couldn’t see properly.
Five-Word Review: A fine showing from Caceres.

Cyril Asker (245lbs, 8-2) vs. Walt Harris (249lbs, 9-5) was a short brawl, just over a minute; both guys were landing but Harris landed harder. Asker was dropped and some vicious ground-and-pound later and it was all over.
Five-Word Review: A mildly entertaining heavyweight brawl

Takanori Gomi (156lbs, 35-12) vs. Jon Tuck (156lbs, 9-4) saw Tuck walk right through Gomi, taking the wind out of him with a kick to the body and then taking him down and choking him out. The announcers pushed this win for Tuck for all it was worth but it really doesn’t mean much; Gomi has been done for far too long for beating him to mean anything.
Five-Word Review: Tuck walked right through Gomi.

Tarec Saffiedine (170lbs, 16-6) vs. Rafael dos Anjos (170lbs, 25-9) was a fine fight, neither tthat good nor thay bad. RDA looked good and didn’t appear to be too much slower at the higher weight class. Saffiedine is a funny one because it feels like he has all the tools but he just can’t seem to pull the trigger on putting in all together. RDA looks like he’ll do well at welterweight but is perhaps a little on the small side for the division.
Five-Word Review: RDA with a workmanlike performance.

Dong Hyun Kim (171lbs, 22-3-1) vs. Colby Covington (171lbs, 11-1) was a terribly boring fight, with Covington content to use his superior wrestling to smother Kim and not do much else. It was a case of takedown, hold down, lather, rinse and repeat. It was a good win for Covington but anyone who watched the fight rather than just heard the result will not be inspired to watch Covington fight again.
Five-Word Review: Wrestling and smothering; nothing else.

Andrei Arlovski (243lbs, 25-14) vs. Marcin Tybura (242lbs, 15-2) had a good first round, Tybrua controlling Arlovski on the ground, pounding away from the mount position before Arlovski managed to get to his feet and unload on Tybura as the round ended. The second and third rounds didn’t live up the first, with plenty of smothering and grappling but not a lot of excitement.
Five-Word Review: Tybura wins a laborious battle.

Holly Holm (135lbs, 11-3) vs. Bethe Correia (136lbs, 10-2-1) was a tedious glorified sparing session until Holm landed a head kick one minute into the third round, knocking Correria down and out with a follow up punch finishing the job. It was actually a stop-start kick; Holm threw the kick and when Correria went to block it, Holm paused for a second and then changed trajectory to crack Correria flush. It was a great finish but up until then, this was a pretty terrible fight, neither fighter really doing anything, even after the referee warned them for timidity.
Five-Word Review: Great finish to tedious contest.

This was a decent event overall; the preliminary card was pretty good, but a rather lacklustre and at times tedious main card dragged things down.

[d-d-d-dAz]

Arlovski's gameplan was insane. He seemed to win every exchange on the feet, but even after being half beaten to death on the found in the 1st, he still seemed to want to wrestle.

Weird.

He looked dejected at the end, too. I can't see him going on after this.

[wandshogun09]

Only caught the main card. Wasn't keen. 

Literally, my favourite bit was Dos Anjos coming out to 'Fight To Survive' from Bloodsport. 

Kumite. Kumite. Kumite. Kumite. 

[Noah Southworth]

3 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said:

Only caught the main card. Wasn't keen. 

 

Catch the preliminaries if you can. They're good and you really need to see Naoki Inoue. The kid is really, really great on the ground. Just turn off after the heavyweights. Watching Gomi is very sad and depressing.

[WyattSheepMask]

What the fuck happened to Gomi. Even though he lost two fights after PRIDE he was still a credible fighter, but it all seemed to go to pot the second he got the UFC. Four first round defeats in a row, he must be done now surely