UFC Fight Night: Chiesa vs Lee - Jun 25

[wandshogun09]

Sunday 25th June in Jim Ross Country, Oklahoma City. 

 

 

FOX SPORTS 1 MAIN CARD
Michael Chiesa vs Kevin Lee 

Tim Boetsch vs Johny Hendricks

Felice Herrig vs Justine Kish

Joachim Christensen vs Dominick Reyes 

Tim Means vs Alex Garcia

BJ Penn vs Dennis Siver 

 

FOX SPORTS 1 PRELIMS
Clay Guida vs Erik Koch 

Vitor Miranda vs Marvin Vettori

Carla Esparza vs Maryna Moroz

Devin Powell vs Darrell Horcher 

 

FIGHT PASS PRELIMS
Jared Gordon vs Michel Quinones  

Johnny Case vs Tony Martin 

Jeremy Kimball vs Josh Stansbury 

 

I quite like this card. Nice mix of styles, old names, new names and prospects on there. 

 

Chiesa vs Lee is headlining this one. It'll mostly be talked about because of their incident at the Summer Kickoff press conference a few weeks back but I think it's a great actual fight in its own right too and I'm glad it's getting the spotlight and the 5 rounds that comes with being main event. 

But yeah, they didn't hold back at the Summer Kickoff presser, did they? 

YO MAMA SO FAT, WHEN SHE WAS BORN THE HOSPITAL GOT STRETCH MARKS! 

Something like that from Kevin Lee, Chiesa took offence and it led to this...

Actually, Lee never even got to make a shit 'Yo Mama' joke. Just the mention of Chiesa's mum at all had the beardy sod going nuts. 

It was entertaining in a childish way but at the same time it was pretty cringeworthy all around to be totally honest.

Everything from what they were saying to Lee's outfit was ludicrous. Somewhere in the Serengeti there's a zebra with a Kevin Lee shaped hole in it. 

All that aside, it's a fight I'm excited about. Chiesa is never in a bad fight. He's ultra aggressive, granite tough and all action wherever the fight goes. Lee is primarily a grappler but he can mix it up. He's looked promising but he's also shown weakness and is a right cocky prick who seems to think he's way better than he is. I'm hoping Chiesa brings him down to earth. Should be a good one. 

 

Boetsch vs Hendricks is pure babyface vs heel. Hendricks is an annoying as fuck, high pitched voice having, weight cut balls upping, knob of a hillbilly. He surprised me by beating Hector Lombard in his middleweight debut but Lombard hasn't looked nearly as superhuman since USADA popped him. And Hendricks at 185 just doesn't feel like it's going to end well for him. Boetsch on the other hand, seems like a really good guy and I've always enjoyed watching him fight. So I hope he utterly demoralises this berk. 

 

Herrig vs Kish could be decent. I say it every time she fights, I'll say it again. I can't stand Felice Herrig. I like the little of seen of Kish though. She just fights so infrequently. She's undefeated at 6-0 but it's taken her over 6 years to actually do those 6 fights! She's spent tons of time out injured. Hopefully she can stay healthy now because at 29, she's still got some time to make a splash maybe. She's a really experienced striker and she's pretty fun to watch. Herrig's a tricky opponent though because she's got a strong submission game so we might see Kish's ground game put to the test. 

 

Means vs Garcia is ***WAND'S ONE TO WATCH***. A fight I really like the sound of. Means is one of those gnarly hard nosed types who will go balls out in all positions in a fight. He's always good value. And Garcia is a tank of a man. Explosive, powerful and strong as a bull. He's a bit of a Poundland Hector Lombard. 

 

Penn vs Siver is a weird one. When will this BJ Penn experiment end? He's been done for years now. He's 38, hasn't won a fight since 2010, lost his last 4 fights badly and just got obliterated in January by Yair Rodriguez. Now he's back out again. I suppose the saving grace this time is that he's at least taking a significant step down in opposition. He's fighting another 38 year old in Dennis Siver. A good fighter but he's certainly seen better days. Siver hasn't fought in 2 years, lost his last couple of fights and hasn't won since 2014. It's much more doable for Penn, but he's looked so shot recently who the fuck knows, right? Still, it's lose-lose because even if BJ wins this one, that'll probably convince him he's got another run at the title in him. 

The UFC tried to set this fight up a couple of times last year but it kept falling through. I wouldn't be heartbroken if it falls through again, to be honest. 

 

Guida vs Koch could be fun. You never know how a Clay Guida fight is going to go though. At one time he was pound-for-pound one of the most exciting fighters to watch in MMA easy. His classics with Diego Sanchez, Roger Huerta and Tyson Griffin need to be seen to be believed. If you've not seen them, fire up Fight Pass immediately. You'll thank me later. He then moved to Greg Jackson's gym in Albuquerque and those days were over. He's still capable of some good fights but it's never been the same. The wild crazy caveman style that made him a fan favourite has been replaced by lots of bouncing around, funny footwork and not much else in a lot of his fights. Fair enough if it's getting you wins but in Guida's case, it hasn't. He's lost 4 of his last 6 and hasn't fought in a year now. Erik Koch is a twat but he's usually in good scraps and he's always on the attack. If there's anything of the old Caveman Clay left lurking around in there, I'm hoping Koch can bring it out. 

 

Esparza vs Moroz again, babyface vs heel for me. I fucking loathe Carla Esparza. Her and Felice Herrig being BFF's makes a lot of sense because they're both rotten. But Herrig at least has good fights. Esparza's are so boring I hear Jake Shields sleeps through them. I quite like Moroz anyway but I'd root for my dentist over Esparza. And I hate that wretched old cow after she did a brutal botch job with my wisdom teeth. Moroz, I like though. She's got some solid boxing so if she can find a way to fend off Esparza's takedown, then Esparza is fucked because she has ZERO standup ability as far as I can tell. None. 

 

I'm really not arsed about the rest but there's plenty to like here for me. 

Looks like Kevin Lee's mama's so poor she mugged Pat Butcher of her blouse and gave it Kevin for Christmas. 

[Carbomb]

Quote

But Herrig at least has good fights. Esparza's are so boring I hear Jake Shields sleeps through them.

Oh, lordy, that had me chuckling. It's funny 'cos it's true.

[wandshogun09]

To be fair to Esparza, there was one exception. I did really enjoy her fight with Joanna Jedrzejczyk. 

 

[Egg Shen]

im surprised she even came back after that, a complete mugging.

[David]

Wasn't Chiesa the guy who's father died when he was in the TUF house? If so, it may explain why he's uber protective of his mother. But still, it's not as if Lee said anything insulting, did he? Wasn't it something like "He's here because of me, his whole family are here because of me getting him into the main event, his moma is even gonna be there to see her son main event because of me" or something like that?

[wandshogun09]

Yeah, it sounded like all he was going to say was something like 'even his mom bought a ticket'. And Chiesa just flipped. 

I forgot about his dad dying during TUF. That was Chiesa, yeah. 

Regardless, I'd love to see Chiesa throttle the piss out of Lee. 

[Egg Shen]

it was an odd thing to flip out about but it made for some good viewing and it definitely generated a lot of interest for the fight. Chiesa is a pure, blue-chip type of fighter and he's always in exciting, gritty fights, but Kevin Lee has some genuine break-out star potential, he just needs the platform, this could be it.

[wandshogun09]

I don't think Lee is as good as he bigs himself up as. He's good but I don't think he'll ever be a huge star simply because I don't see him backing his talk up at the top level like McGregor has. We'll see though. 

I love watching Chiesa fight. I'm still waiting on that rematch with Joe Lauzon. First fight was fanbastardtastic and was well on its way to becoming a proper classic but it ended on a doctor stoppage. I really want to see them go again. 

[Egg Shen]

time will tell on Lee, but he definitely has a certain star quality that means if he does piece it all together he can become a bit of a player in the UFC. The Mayweather connection doesn't hurt.

[wandshogun09]

I don't even really see star quality. He lacks...something. I can't put my finger on it. He's trying hard but just talking shit doesn't = a star to me. I don't think he's particularly charismatic, he just spouts off a lot. 

And in the cage, I think he's got a lot of work to do. It wasn't that long ago he got KO'd by Leonardo Santos, who's almost a pure BJJ guy and in his late 30s. Magomed Mustafaev was schooling him on the feet as well before Lee got him down. And this prick was mouthing off about Eddie Alvarez! I think all his talking is actually going to get him into trouble. Because he'll hype things up, they'll give him fights he can't handle.

With guys like Rafael Dos Anjos and Max Holloway, you could see early on in their UFC careers, even despite some losses and setbacks, that they had something. I don't really see it with Kevin Lee. I guess we'll find out soon though because his mouth is writing cheques all over the place. 

[Noah Southworth]

18 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said:

I don't even really see star quality. He lacks...something. I can't put my finger on it. He's trying hard but just talking shit doesn't = a star to me. I don't think he's particularly charismatic, he just spouts off a lot.

It's because he is trying hard that Lee doesn't come off as a star. Real stars don't need to try hard. It just flows; it’s their natural personality and charisma coming out. When you’re trying, it’s obvious you’re trying, and that never works because people don’t connect with something that feels false and forced.

[wandshogun09]

That's it in a nutshell. I think with McGregor's success you're seeing guys try that more. But McGregor had that naturally. Right from his first post-fight press conference after his UFC debut in Sweden you could see it shining through. His fight was only on the Facebook prelims stream but he stole that press conference and he  didn't even seem to be trying to. He wasn't over the top like he is now, it was just natural charisma. Lee just seems like he's playing a part to me, like he's trying to be something he's not. Maybe I'm wrong, I mean I don't know him personally so how do I know what he's really like? But that's how it comes across. Forced. 

It's why I always say when people give fighters shit for not 'playing the game' or whatever, it doesn't do anyone any good for them to fake it because 9 times out of 10 you see straight through it and it comes off terrible. 

[Noah Southworth]

6 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said:

It's why I always say when people give fighters shit for not 'playing the game' or whatever, it doesn't do anyone any good for them to fake it because 9 times out of 10 you see straight through it and it comes off terrible. 

I think that's because people confuse 'play the game' with 'be outrageous'. Playing the game doesn’t necessarily involve being outrageous. It just means not holding back, saying exactly what you think and if that means being rude or disrespectful, then be rude or disrespectful. Obviously, this doesn’t guarantee anyone becoming a star, but you certainly increase your odds if you don’t keep yourself bound by the constraints of what’s considered polite and sporting behaviour. Of course, if that’s you, then be you, and you could still become a star if you get the right personality to play off of.

[Egg Shen]

9 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

That's it in a nutshell. I think with McGregor's success you're seeing guys try that more. But McGregor had that naturally. Right from his first post-fight press conference after his UFC debut in Sweden you could see it shining through. His fight was only on the Facebook prelims stream but he stole that press conference and he  didn't even seem to be trying to. He wasn't over the top like he is now, it was just natural charisma. Lee just seems like he's playing a part to me, like he's trying to be something he's not. Maybe I'm wrong, I mean I don't know him personally so how do I know what he's really like? But that's how it comes across. Forced. 

It's why I always say when people give fighters shit for not 'playing the game' or whatever, it doesn't do anyone any good for them to fake it because 9 times out of 10 you see straight through it and it comes off terrible. 

i ain't putting Lee anywhere near in the same category as McGregor, but he stands above a certain portion of the roster simply by having a bit of a personality.

 

[wandshogun09]

Oh I knew you weren't comparing him to McGregor. Just feels like we're seeing more guys try to force the trash talk now McGregor's made a killing off it. But it's like they forget he's backing it up in the cage as well. If he wasn't he'd just be an Irish Chael Sonnen talking shit and choking in the big fights. I think a lot of fighters see McGregor and think if they gob off they'll become that big but it takes more than delivering at press conferences obviously. And I don't see Lee cutting it as he fights harder opposition. I'm really not sure he gets past Chiesa, to be honest.