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UFC 214: Cormier vs Jones 2


wandshogun09

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Preview shows of 3 different flavours.

MMA Fighting with Ariel Helwani and Marc Raimondi; 

Sirius with Luke Thomas and Marcos Villegas;

And BT Sport with Caroline Pearce and Dominick Cruz; 

The amount of shit I've still got to watch! Every time I think I'm caught up there's a load more stuff popping up. 

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This is easily the biggest deal UFC have got going on this year. Unless they have Conor rock up, nothing comes close to eclipsing this. It's the two best fighters in their division by some distance squaring off in an incredibly promoted rematch. The fact they despise one another is just a cherry on top. The fact it plays into the story of Jones making his comeback having watched DC take over his division is the icing on the cherry.

I'll make some fairly optimistic predictions:

Cormier to win via Submission, Woodley via UD, Cyborg via KO, Lawler via KO, Oezdemir via KO.

Can't remember a time I've been so invested in a fight in terms of a babyface/heel divide. I'm going to be made up if Cormier wins. I don't think there's been a fight where I've felt my enjoyment will be determined by the winner of the fight so much.

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The next 12 hours or so are going to be nerve wracking- I mean, I'll be asleep for most of it, but last time there was a numbered UFC event I woke up to the news of Nunes pulling out of her fight on the day of the event. I won't be able to relax completely until Bruce has finished the intros for Jones and DC.

Going with Jones, Woodley, Cyborg, Lawler and Manuwa on the main card. I actually want Jones to win- he might be a dickhead, but Cormier hasn't exactly looked like the best person in all of this either. DC's a big wrestling fan, he should understand that trying to dictate to the audience who they should support, or push themselves as being "a really nice guy", is the way to fast track themselves to being the villain. I actually enjoyed when he embraced the heel role at UFC 210.

Another reason I'm on Jones' side for this- the guy is 30, and has lost a couple of his prime years to stupid decisions. He hasn't been injured at all, he's just been out of the game. He needs to put this shit behind him to get the focus back on his talent and career. If he takes a loss here, the downward spiral continues, he might end up fucking up again due to the mental factor in taking a loss (we have no idea how Jones would respond to that). A win here will be redemption, and we won't have to ask "what if?" about Jon Jones' place in history.

-----

The weigh ins made me aware of the prelim fights that naturally went under the radar given the stacked card- fuck me, there's a few gems on there! Burkman vs. Dober, Ortega vs. Moicano, Sterling vs. Barao and Lamas vs. Knight (that last one I knew about) should all be barnburners given the styles of the fighters involved.

Easy card of the year as far as I'm concerned. It's a terrific time to be a UFC fan.

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Just watched the Weigh In. Hadn't really thought much about predictions for this one until now. I've had a busy-ish week and, to be honest, I was just hoping this card would stay together more than anything. 

Now they've all weighed in though...

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Jon Jones by decision again. And that shit saddens me. Just got a sinking feeling that Jones is winning again. Not selling DC short. He's a great fighter. And he gave Jones, what I'd consider, his hardest fight besides the war with Gustafsson. Those first 3 rounds were proper battle. So it's not like this is a particularly easy one to call. Cormier has the tools to give Jones some problems. It's whether or not he can move the right pieces at the right times. If he can do what he did last time but keep it going for the full 5 rounds, plus avoid getting gouged in the eyes, plus find a way to get on the inside without taking too much damage...yeah, he's got his work cut out. 

If Cormier was ever going to beat Jon Jones, surely now is the time. DC is in the absolute best form of his career, the best shape of his career, he's got momentum coming off wins over Rumble and Gus. And, theoretically at least, he's had time to get over the result of the first fight and rebuild. All that and Jones' inactivity and outside the cage issues. On paper, there's never been a better time for DC to catch him. If he doesn't beat Jones now, he never will. And at 0-2, he almost certainly won't even get the chance of a third fight unless there's some unlikely circumstances. 

In the end, as confident as Cormier seems and he's making all the right noises, I just can't shake the feeling that Jones is too deep in DC's head. Cormier seems to be handling it better now than he used to but it's there. It feels like Jones can always get to him with something as minor as a smirk or a sly comment here or there. And he knows it. I think that added to Jones being so ridiculously skilled, being younger and having the obvious physical advantages...it all combines for another miserable night of tear soaked Popeyes chicken for DC, I reckon. 

:( 

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Tyron Woodley by KO/TKO. Again, not the result I want but it's how I see it going. I can't stand Racecard Woodley but I think he's got this one. I just struggle to see Maia making his game work. I've said loads of times on here that I feel like Maia's takedown game is underrated and we've seen him steamroll some really good wrestlers in the past. But I don't think he's ever faced one like Woodley. Even the 'wait for Woodley to fade' thing mightn't be a good strategy because Maia isn't exactly a cardio machine himself. I hope I'm wrong and Maia surprises me. There might not be a nicer man in the sport and I'd love to see him win the belt and get that GSP payday. If Maia does do to Woodley what he's been doing to everyone else though, fuck me, that's a scary thought for any man weighing 170 and that GSP fight becomes VERY interesting. I think Woodley manages to keep this standing though, and if that happens I see him catching Maia with something devastating and that will be that. 

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Yeah, Cyborg by KO/TKO, innit? Evinger is tough and experienced but I really can't see a path to victory for her against Cyborg. Standing with her is a death sentence and I can't see her having much luck grappling either.  Evinger is putting a brave face on it but she's outsized and outgunned and I think deep down she knows she's in for a hiding here. Even the Weigh In staredown there, she just looked so feeble and timid the way she put her hands up for the face-off. And anyone who's familiar with Evinger knows she's usually anything but feeble and timid. It's not going to be pretty and it's not going to end well. 

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Robbie Lawler by KO/TKO is what I'm feeling. And what I'm hoping for. Really can't wait for this. I've missed Lawler. It's been a fucking year already since he lost the title to Woodley. Good to have him back.

Lawler, even more than usual, looked like he couldn't have given less of a fuck at the Weigh In. He was doing the old fake yawn and all sorts. Usually I'd be worried seeing a fighter behave like that before a fight and wonder if they're up for it but with Lawler I think he's just not a fan of the fight week bollocks and he's here solely to knock heads off. Like someone else said as well, I get the impression he's not too keen on Cerrone for whatever reason. Every time they've been near each other this week, Lawler's looked like he's had no time for Cowboy at all. 

As for the fight itself, it's going to be wild. Whether it lasts a minute or the full 15 I can't fathom a Lawler vs Cerrone fight not being chaos. Ultimately I think Lawler is going to overwhelm him. I think he's tougher and more powerful and in a fight like this, which is likely to be a shootout, I think logically you back the guy with the bigger punch and more durability. And Lawler ticks both those boxes in this one for me. But there are a couple of x-factors. Lawler being a slow starter for one, and it only being a 3 rounder. That could potentially be a factor. Also, Cerrone being a great kicker and knee-er. We've seen guys like Carlos Condit and Rory MacDonald give Lawler problems with a heavy kick/knee attack.

I think Cowboy starts strong but somewhere along the line he awakens the beast in Lawler and that's something nobody needs in their life. Lawler wakes up and Cerrone folds in the second or third in a barnburner. Probably my frontrunner for FOTN. 

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Jimi Manuwa by KO/TKO. But I'm not sure about this really. I feel like we don't know enough about Oezdemir, even though he's been knocking around a bit now. 14-1 record but he really didn't get on everyone's radar until he scored that quick KO on Cirkunov on the Sweden show a few months back. I still think Manuwa has more firepower and better striking so I fancy him to win again here. Could bag himself a title shot with this one as well. 

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Jason Knight by submission. Yeah, fuck it. I'm probably off base on this one but it's a gut feeling. I think Knight is one of those gritty hard nosed fighters who can beat a lot of guys on a good night. He's looked really on point recently. This is a step up, no doubt. But I find Lamas to be a bit hit and miss and that combined with Knight on a good run and being more active over the last year, I'm fancying the upset. 

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Aljamain Sterling by decision. It seems weird picking against Barao here considering he was legitimately one of the very best on the roster not that long ago. But there we are. He's not the force he was, and with each lacklustre performance from him my confidence is dwindling. And Sterling seems like he's putting everything together now and I thought he looked very solid in his last fight. Not really sure he's ready for Barao but it's a great opportunity for him to score a huge win over a former champ and P4Per. Can see it being a close one but I like Sterling to outwork him. 

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Brian Ortega by decision. I think I've said this a few times but this might be the best fight nobody is talking about. I really like this Ortega. Such a fun fighting style and I think he's got real potential. And Moicano is unbeaten and outpointed Jeremy Stephens in his UFC debut so he's no joke himself. My prediction here is more of a shot in the dark because I haven't seen enough of Moicano to really form an opinion yet. But I really do like what I've seen of Ortega so I'm hoping he pulls it off. 

Full predictions; 

Jon Jones by depressing decision 

Tyron Woodley by KO/TKO 

Cris Cyborg via attempted murder 

Robbie Lawler via beast mode KO/TKO 

Jimi Manuwa by KO/TKO 

Jason Knight by submission 

Aljamain Sterling by decision 

Brian Ortega by decision 

Andre Fili by decision 

Kailin Curran by submission 

Jarred Brooks by KO/TKO 

Josh Burkman by decision 

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Yeah, I don't see this night ending well for most of my favourites.

I'm guessing,

Jones via decision.

Woodley getting the TKO late on.

Cyborg via mauling.

Lawler via being mental. About the only time I expect to smile on this show.

IDK, Oezdemir is on an impressive run and I fancy an upset.

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Lawler definitely isn't a fan of Cerrone. Watch Lawler's pre-fight interview with Helwani here. Cowboy shouts something over to Lawler during the interview. Something like "Come on, you're supposed to be hyping the fight". Well, the look on Lawler's face. 

Lawler is a fan of John Cena though, apparently. Even if he won't admit it to Ariel. 

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There is something terrifying about how cool Lawler always is. Even more so when he breaks his laid back nature with the look after Cerrone poked the bear.

Also, he answered the Cena question perfectly. As we all know, getting outed as a proper wrestling fan can be traumatic, but being a grown ass dude that walks around in their merch is next level.

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