UFC Fight Night: Swanson vs Ortega - Dec 9

[wandshogun09]

Right then, Saturday 9th of December in Fresno, California for this one. 

 

FOX SPORTS 1 MAIN CARD
Cub Swanson vs Brian Ortega 

Jason Knight vs Gabriel Benitez 

Aljamain Sterling vs Marlon Moraes 

Scott Holtzman vs Darrell Horcher 

Eryk Anders vs Markus Perez 

Albert Morales vs Benito Lopez

 

FOX SPORTS 1 PRELIMS
Liz Carmouche vs Alexis Davis 

Luke Sanders vs Andre Soukhamthath

Carls John De Tomas vs Alex Perez 

Frankie Saenz vs Merab Dvalishvili

 

FIGHT PASS PRELIMS
Iuri Alcantara vs Alejandro Perez

Chris Gruetzemacher vs Davi Ramos

Antonio Braga Neto vs Trevin Giles 

 

Not really very deep this card. But that main event. Oh fuck, that main event! 

 

So yeah, Swanson vs Ortega is going to be nuts. Swanson just doesn't do crap fights and, from what we've seen so far, Ortega most certainly doesn't either. 

Cub Swanson had what I consider the Fight Of 2016 against 'The Korean Superboy' Doo Ho Choi at UFC 206 last December. A batshit crazy fight that blew everyone away. Swanson won that fight and then followed up with a clear decision win over Artem Lobov in April this year. Altogether, Cub's currently riding a 4 fight win streak and hasn't lost since 2015 where he dropped a couple of submission losses back-to-back. Even then though, those losses were to Max Holloway and Frankie Edgar - the current champion and number one challenger. He's 10-2 in his last 12. 

Brian Ortega is coming off a FOTY contender of his own. A third round submission in a great fight against Renato Moicano at UFC 214 in July. I'm a big fan of Ortega. His style is awesome to watch. He's fucking lethal with his BJJ. That's his killer weapon, no doubt. But he's not shy about trading strikes either. He knocked out Clay Guida with a knee last year and stopped Thiago Tavares in another absolute corker of a fight in 2015. He's tough, well rounded and dangerous in all areas. And he's got a certain charisma to him, I think. He reminds me a bit of Rob Van Dam in his ECW days. Really exciting to watch though. He's undefeated at 12-0-1, BJJ black-belt and literally every fight he's had in the UFC so far has been tremendous. Still only 26 as well. Really like T-City. Nice to see him in his first headliner. Big step up this though. Swanson is a huge test for him because he's mixed with the best of the best, I'd say he's the better striker and he's got 5 round main event experience. 

 

Sterling vs Yahya could be good. Really like Aljamain Sterling. I like pretty much all the Serra-Longo guys but I really think Sterling's got a lot of potential. He's had a couple of setbacks dropping split decisions to Raphael Assuncao and Bryan Caraway but he's bounced back since with 2 more wins. And he's looked improved to me. He scored his biggest win to date in July, a decision over arguably the former P4P king Renan Barao. Granted Barao isn't what he was but it's still a good scalp. Rani Yahya's a tricky little fucker though. Seriously good BJJ. His ground game is really off the charts. Sterling is more of a ground fighter but I'm guessing he will probably want to keep this one on the feet if he can. 

 

Carmouche vs Davis could be decent. These two actually fought once before on one of them UFC Fight For The Troops cards back in 2013. Davis won on points and I recall it being a pretty good scrap. Carmouche is probably best known for being involved in the first ever UFC women's fight but she was very much the B-Side in that one opposite Ronda Rousey. Davis, for me, hasn't looked very good since returning from having a baby. She's never been the most consistent fighter but she's really gone patchy recently. 

 

Miesha Tate's Boyfriend is on the card. I don't even know if he's still with Miesha but that's what he's most known for, isn't he? Like Marc Mero is probably still more remembered for being Sable's ex husband than anything he ever did as a wrestler. So yeah, Miesha Tate's Boyfriend. Let's face it, it's his greatest achievement in life, blagging Miesha. He's fighting Luke Sanders who I know I've seen fight before but I honestly couldn't pick him out of a lineup. 

 

Eryk Anders returns to the Octagon. You might not remember Anders, I didn't really either. But looking him up refreshed my memory. He made his UFC debut in July and KO'd Rafael Natal brutally and quickly. He's 9-0 with 6 finishes and he's built like a little brick shithouse. Might be worth keeping tabs on. 

 

Jason Knight, or as Ricardo Lamas dubbed him 'Hick Diaz'  is usually good value on any card he appears on. Scrappy and tough little hillbilly bastard with wins over Chas Skelly, Bruce Leroy and Dan Hooker. He's a good fighter. 20-2 record and his only losses were to Ricardo Lamas and Tatsuya Kawajiri. 

 

Thats about it as far as what I'm interested in on this one. The card as a whole isn't amazing or anything but they could've just had a one fight card with Swanson vs Ortega and I'd have been all the fuck over it. Hell of a fight. 

[wandshogun09]

Aljamain Sterling vs Rani Yahya is off, Yahya is out. Good news is Marlon Moraes is stepping in against Sterling. I actually like that fight better. 

[Egg Shen]

Moraes is on the warpath

[Baigg]

I have been watching Ortega. He has killer submission. Swanson is one tough son of a fighter. He is well experienced. He will keep the fight standing.

I wonder if Ortega can strike as good as Swanson?  

[Egg Shen]

Maybe not as good, but Ortega wont be afraid to stand and attempt striking with Swanson, he's been KO'ing fools and has a granite chin. Ortega is on the cusp of being a bit of a star in the promotion, this may be his coming out party.

[wandshogun09]

That's the thing, he might not be quite as good a striker as Cub but he doesn't necessarily have to be. He's got the raw ingredients there, he's durable and game, doesn't shy away, he can strike pretty well. But if it's not going well on the feet he has that tremendous ground game to fall back on. And if you look at Cub's losses, it's usually on the ground he comes unstuck.

I think it's a really interesting one. So glad they kept this one together rather than plug one of them in against Holloway when Edgar fell out. This feels like a perfect piece of matchmaking to me. The styles obviously make for a fantastic fight on paper. But also the timing of it. Ortega has looked ready for the step up for a while. A win here really puts him on the map. And it's Cub's last fight on his contract, what better way to raise your stock heading into contract negotiations than beating a young undefeated prospect in an exciting fight? I love everything about this fight. 

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

On 11/7/2017 at 5:21 AM, wandshogun09 said:

Miesha Tate's Boyfriend is on the card. I don't even know if he's still with Miesha but that's what he's most known for, isn't he? Like Marc Mero is probably still more remembered for being Sable's ex husband than anything he ever did as a wrestler. So yeah, Miesha Tate's Boyfriend. Let's face it, it's his greatest achievement in life, blagging Miesha. He's fighting Luke Sanders who I know I've seen fight before but I honestly couldn't pick him out of a lineup. 

 

It's the battle of UFC fighters with fit, famous girlfriends, Luke Sanders is currently dating a certain Irish Lass Kicker, Miss Becky Lynch.

99% sure Miesha is single now though.

[Egg Shen]

bit of a shame that this is flying under tha radar after 218, the main event here is gonna be an absolute doozy.

[wandshogun09]

Voted Swanson by decision in the poll then instantly thought 'actually, Ortega might submit him'. It's one of them. Fuck it. I don't have a clue. Can't wait to see this fight though. I like both but I hope Ortega wins. He'd be great new blood in the title mix. If he's up to beating Swanson though, and that's a big if. 

While I'm here, what's up with the Sky EPG before UFC shows? I set this to record a week ago. Looked mid week and it was gone from my scheduled recordings, so I set it to record again. Just looked again now and it was gone again. What the fuck are they playing at? This has happened a few times but usually it's when there's been changes to the card and they've had to update the title of the listing. Understandable. This one hasn't changed though. It's always been Swanson vs Ortega. Why do they keep deleting shit from the planner? 

My main reason for this whinge is that I'm away next weekend and I'm bricking it that the same thing is going to happen with the FOX card next Saturday. I won't be there to re-add it to the planner if it goes missing again. If I miss Lawler vs RDA and Perry vs Ponzy I'm going to...I don't know what I'm going to do. Cry, probably. 

[wandshogun09]

OK, even a week after Ngannou nearly decapitated Overeem's head from his shoulders, I think Marlon Moraes just stole Knockout Of The Year...

Jesus Tittyfucking Christ!!

[jimufctna24]

Very impressive stuff from Moraes.

I would still go with the Ngannou knockout though, purely based on emotion. When Ngannou landed on Overeem, my jaw dropped, and Overeem's was on the way to timbuktu. It wasn't the most fancy knockout, but you could almost feel the power that Ngannou landed with. For a brief few seconds in the aftermath, I was very concerned for Overeem's safety. 

 

[wandshogun09]

You're probably right. Both stunning knockouts regardless. 

Brian Ortega arrived last night as a legit contender. Like in most of his fights he took a lot of shots on his way to getting there but submitting a fighter of Cub Swanson's quality the way he did in 2 rounds was really impressive. You look at the guys who have stopped Swanson in the past - Aldo, Edgar, Holloway - and Ortega has put himself in good company. He's got something about him where you want to see him fight. 

Oh yeah, the Benito Lopez vs Albert Morales fight is well worth going out of your way to see as well. Some of the exchanges were fucking ridiculous. Amazed it managed to go the distance. Granite chins on the pair of them. 

Frank Trigg was on referee's duties as well! Had no idea that was happening...

[OzExile]

Jason Knight's stock plummeted on this one. The guy he fought, Benitez?, looked real sharp though. Wonder where Cub will go now as he's out of contract? The sub was DEEP! 

[Really Big Shoe]

While I'm here, what's up with the Sky EPG before UFC shows? I set this to record a week ago. Looked mid week and it was gone from my scheduled recordings, so I set it to record again. Just looked again now and it was gone again. What the fuck are they playing at? This has happened a few times but usually it's when there's been changes to the card and they've had to update the title of the listing.

Are they set to record on series link at all?. Sky EPG usually seems to forgot to add the next shows so you have to manually add them. Have you had any issues with other recordings or just UFC ones?. I'd recommend a planner rebuild where you don't lose shows etc it just reboots the box and set the recording again. Other than that suggestion, set the recording as close to the time as possible so any EPG changes can be made. 

[wandshogun09]

Nah, I don't bother trying to series link with UFC. No issues with any other recordings. And we record a shitload between me and my wife and the endless hours of my daughter's Disney stuff. It's only UFC it does it with. Like I said, usually it seems to be when there's a change to the card and they update the title or info. So I get that. But this one kept disappearing as well for some reason. Oh well, saw it in the end. 

Thought there'd be more talk about this show by now, to be honest. There were a few underwhelming fights scattered through it but between Ortega's coming out party win in the main event, Moraes' crushing KO vs Sterling and the wicked main card opener of Lopez vs Morales it was way more good than bad.