UFC 222: Cyborg vs Kunitskaya

[the_mole]

16 hours ago, Egg Shen said:

It's just bollocks that she's fighting another blown up 135lb'er. The division is a joke.

She already said she was moving up in weight before the fight was even talked about according to the MMA Beat guys, so she may have been a Bantamweight but is tired of cutting weight.

[ColinBollocks]

Make no mistake, originally, Cyborg was never brought in for anything more than to give Ronda her big Cyborg win. It's why the UFC were forcing Cyborg to fight at that daft weight, to see if she could slowly drain herself down to something closer to Rousey. I suspect the UFC were hoping they could essentially dry out Cyborg for a Rousey fight; proper dirty stuff, but not surprising seeing how Dana and some of the UFC employees have treated Cyborg. Rousey getting battered and vanishing killed that, obvs, so now the UFC are left in this position of having a fighter that doesn't fit.

Cyborg is fortunate she has shown herself to be somewhat of needle mover (in an era where almost none exist), because the UFC probably would have cut her otherwise.

[Egg Shen]

3 hours ago, the_mole said:

She already said she was moving up in weight before the fight was even talked about according to the MMA Beat guys, so she may have been a Bantamweight but is tired of cutting weight.

yeh, i noticed she has fought at 145 before as well. Still Cyborg will be the one cutting 10-15lb to make 145 and will have a big size advantage in the fight. 

Kunitskaya is one fight removed from losing to Tonya Evinga as well, and we all saw how much of a mismatch Evinga/Cyborg was. I give her pretty much zero chance of winning this fight.

[wandshogun09]

I give her zero chance as well but who is even out there who we'd actually give a good chance to? I thought Holm had a real chance of beating Cyborg and, although she hung in there and landed shots, she never came close to actually winning the fight. I'm just going to enjoy watching her maul fuckers. 

[the_mole]

Yeah she wrecks anyone at 145 I've ever seen in any organization it's just a poor division most athletic women who cut weight aren't that big, Amanda Nunes probably has the best chance but she's a Bantamweight obviously.

[David]

The build up show has done a reasonable job of making Kunitskaya look at least competitive, and the whole working with Holly Holm who has seen holes in Cyborg's game during their fight angle adds a little bit of intrigue I guess. Still, only one result for me really.

Looking forward to this event.

[wandshogun09]

With all the boxing on this weekend I've neglected this card and I somehow forgot that we're getting Edgar vs Ortega...fucking tomorrow! 

By the looks of the poll it seems like people are done doubting Edgar or expecting this sudden decline or show of age that seems to never come. 9-3 he's leading at the moment, thought it'd be closer than that. But I can't argue it. Edgar is that good that I'd pick him against most on the roster within his weight range. He's a guy I could easily see going back up to 155 and hanging around the Top 5 or even going down to 135 and maybe taking the title there. 

Ortega's an x-factor though. I think he's a brilliant fighter. Skills-wise and in how entertaining he is to watch in whatever direction the fight takes.

It's almost a 50/50, this fight, for me. And that's a testament to how highly I rate Ortega. But if I have to split hairs, I'm going with Edgar. Ortega has looked fantastic so far but whoever he's fought up until now, Edgar is a big step up. Ortega's biggest win to date is his last fight against Cub Swanson. And Frankie Edgar absolutely spanked Swanson when they fought. That's not me doing MMA maths either. That's the scary level of skill Edgar operates on. He can make beating a fighter like Swanson or Yair or Faber look easy. Also, Ortega tends to be losing fights before he rallies and wins them, or at least seems to make a habit of having rough spells in fights. It makes for great fights but I always feel like he's going to come unstuck as his opposition gets tougher. And opposition doesn't get much tougher than Frankie Edgar. If Ortega finds himself behind in this fight like he was against Moicano and maybe Swanson, I can't see Edgar letting him back into it. 

Unless you're something really special you're not beating Frankie. So I love this fight because if Ortega does win, he's a made man. And if Edgar wins we get that Holloway fight we've been promised twice and it doesn't mean Ortega is done. It'd be his first loss and from what I've seen he has the kind of attitude where he'd take the whatever positives he can out of the loss and learn and improve from it. 

Whatever happens, awesome fight. 

[Egg Shen]

6 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

With all the boxing on this weekend I've neglected this card and I somehow forgot that we're getting Edgar vs Ortega...fucking tomorrow! 

 

tell me about it, this may be the most stacked weekend of combat sports i can remember, its just silly.

[Fox Piss]

I've been a fan off Ortega since the awesome Tavares fight but i can't see him getting past Frankie. Unless Ortega comes in with a strict masterplan he tends to trade far too much and receive a ton off damage. To his credit his pulled a couple off wins out off the bag when losing on the feet.

[wandshogun09]

Yeah that's the thing. Ortega always seems to be down on the cards when he magically pulls a submission (or sometimes a TKO) out of nowhere. Stranger things have happened but I can't see him outpointing Frankie. So he probably needs to pull out another finish here. And Frankie has never been finished.

If Ortega wins though it's massive. Especially if he's the first to finish Edgar. Huge. It's a big ask though. 

[Egg Shen]

im favouring Ortega, it's the kind of fight i'd like to see hit the ground though becaue Ortega is one of them rare guys that seem to be still be able to give people fits on the ground. I think i favour him on the feet too, he's wilder than Frankie but he hits hard enough to rattle Frankie, if Ortega sniffs that blood in the water too i think he gets him out of there.

[jimufctna24]

Yes this weekend is insane for combat sport. My hope is that Wilder and Ortiz clock off by about 4:30am, just in time for me to watch Edgar vs Ortega. 

I would post my planned schedule for tomorrow night, but it would sound a bit like the list that Alan Partridge read out when he was having his James Bond marathon, just with fighter's names instead of Bond films. 

[Egg Shen]

due to being trapped at my girlfriends house im gonna go with the Josh Taylor fight live on 5 tonight along with last nights Bellator card. Then hopefully the UFC/Kell Brook/Wilder tomorrow.

[wandshogun09]

Just caught up on some interviews, breakdowns, the Countdown and the Weigh In and for what is undeniably a weaker PPV offering, I'm excited about it now it's here. 

Yeah Cyborg vs Kunitskaya is most likely going to be a slaughter. But when people complain about that, it's not like there's a fight out there for Cyborg that isn't a slaughter. Holly Holm was as equipped a fighter can get to deal with her. A technical boxer with excellent counterstriking, good footwork, good timing and accuracy and the pace and cardio to go 5 rounds. Plus despite coming up from 135, physically she looked the part of a 145er and certainly wasn't dwarved by Cyborg. And even she was pretty much dominated to what might've been a shutout decision. She was competitive but still got soundly beaten. I like the bits and pieces I've seen of Kunitskaya in clips and from the Countdown. She's got a strong striking background, she's got that lanky frame, I like that she's trained with Holm. But I'm just not feeling the upset. Maybe I'm wrong. I don't know nearly enough about Kunitskaya to completely write her chances off. But she's had losses to lesser opponents in the past and even at the Weigh In when Rogan was interviewing her, she seemed nervous, which is understandable for a fighter making their UFC debut in a PPV main event title fight. But there was a vibe like she's grateful just to be there and she didn't seem particularly confident of victory. Meanwhile, Cyborg is clearly in the zone. She's in her prime and has that invincible aura right now that's going to be hard to break. She looked terrifying in the old war paint as well. 

I'm going to be really predictable and go with the Cyborg by KO/TKO here. One day somebody will stop Cyborg. I just don't feel like today is that day, or that Yana Kunitskaya is that somebody. 

 

Edgar vs Ortega we've gone into in detail. I just feel like Edgar's experience, well roundedness, fight IQ, technique etc is going to prove a hard mountain for Ortega to climb. Could easily be wrong and Ortega has looked good enough that it wouldn't massively shock me if he comes out on top, but Edgar is usually in control of most of his fights whereas Ortega always seems to have to snatch a win from the jaws of defeat. That's going to be a difficult thing to pull off if you let Edgar get a lead on you. So I'm fancying the Edgar win. But there's a little doubt there and a thought that maybe this could turn out like Werdum vs Cain. With Ortega's awesome BJJ rendering Edgar's threat of the takedown a bit of a non-issue, forcing a standup fight. I'd still probably favour Frankie in the standup but if his wrestling is made largely redundant it takes away so much of his game in terms of switching things up and setting up strikes etc. It really is a fascinating clash of styles. This being a 3 rounder adds another layer of intrigue too for me. Frankie is a 5 round fighter IMO. Like when Gorilla Monsoon used to say Greg Valentine "doesn't get warmed up until about 45 minutes into a match", I think Frankie is more suited to a longer fight. He can't afford to start slow here. 

I'm sticking with my gut and going Edgar by decision though. 

 

O'Malley vs Soukhamthath is here for the purposes of showcasing Sugar Sean on PPV. Make no mistake. The UFC seem quite high on him. He's only 23 and has a 9-0 record. He's got an exciting style, he's a good finisher and he seems to have a bit of an attitude to him that could see him catch on as a fan favourite or a guy people root against. Either way he's showing a lot of promise. Soukhamthath is decent from what I remember but has had a run of mixed results so far in the UFC. He's 12-5 overall but I think he's faced stiffer opposition than O'Malley so you can't read too much into that. And O'Malley isn't unbeatable. He's got two quick submission losses on his amateur record so if Soukhamthath is any good with his grappling that's probably his smartest route to take. 

Going O'Malley by KO/TKO though. I think his lankiness combined with his striking is going to be a tricky hurdle for Soukhamthath to deal with and he'll get caught with something nasty. 

 

Struve vs Arlovski is a bit of a 50/50 tossup to me at this stage in the game. Man, where do you go with this in 2018? I like both but I actually hope Arlovski wins this. He's put in so many years, he's a true warrior when you look back at the highs and lows and the crushing losses he's come back from. There was a point when he was rock bottom in his career years ago where he admitted he played Russian Roulette for real he got so low. There's a cracking documentary to be made on Arlovski. He's been everywhere and fought through a few generations. You look at him now and his face is just flattened, his nose is pretty much non-existent now. It's like a baby's nose. He's been through the wars. Seems like one of the nicest guys in the sport as well. Struve is heading the same way, to be honest. For a young guy he's got some miles on him when you look back at some of the gruelling and bloody battles he's been involved in. This will probably be a good entertaining fight. I'll be sad to see either lose actually. 

Struve by KO/TKO for me. They're both pretty battered but Struve is definitely the fresher of the two at a decade younger and his size and range could be tricky for Andrei too. 

 

Zingano vs Vieira should be a lively PPV opener. These two had to be separated at the Weigh In. They really got in each others' face and it looked like they were going to proper kick off if they weren't pulled apart. Interesting fight this, and one I think a lot of people have been sleeping on. This is Zingano's return after nearly two years out. If she can get back on track with a win here and build some momentum, you have to think she'll be getting a title shot before long just because Nunes is running out of challengers and Zingano is the last woman to have beaten her. But Vieira is no cakewalk. She's 9-0 unbeaten and looked good submitting Sara McMann last time out. Be interesting to see how this plays out if it becomes a ground fight but I've got a feeling Cat will want a knockout. 

I'll say Vieira by decision though. Two years out is a long time in MMA and coming back against a younger, undefeated fighter who has been active and, on paper, is better than you at your main strength (Vieira's a BJJ black belt, Cat's a purple), it's a big ask for Zingano. 

On the prelims I'm hoping Pedro Munhoz batters that little knob John Dodson. I'm hoping USADA Lombard knocks Dollaway's head off as well, never liked Dollaway. Just has one of those faces. I'm interested to see how Mackenzie Dern does in her UFC debut. Could be the next women's MMA star if she keeps winning. I'll be honest though, for all that's made about Dern's hotness, and she is lovely, I thought Ashley Yoder looked hotter at the Weigh In  What else? Mike Pyle vs Zak Ottow down on Fight Pass might be worth a look. Pyle is usually always good for a scrap. Oh and Bryan 'No Longer Mr Miesha Tate So I'm Stripped Of All Relevance' Caraway is on the card. If anyone cares. Nobody? Me neither. 

Full predictions then;

Cris Cyborg by KO/TKO 

Frankie Edgar by Decision

Sean O'Malley by KO/TKO 

Stefan Struve by KO/TKO 

Ketlen Vieira by Decision

Mackenzie Dern by Submission

Beneil Dariush by Submission

John Dodson by Decision

CB Dollaway by Decision

Zak Ottow by KO/TKO 

Cody Stamann by Decision

Jordan Johnson by Decision

[Egg Shen]

Ortega's hair is shocking there.

Really up for the O'Malley fight, saw his pre-fight with Ariel, real strange guy but there's definitely a star quality ot him of some sort.