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UFC 222: Cyborg vs Kunitskaya


wandshogun09

Who wins and how?   

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I should stress that I still rate Jones as one of the best fighters ever. I only made that point to illuminate how impressive Edgar's career has been. You can pick out flaws in any fighter's record. You could highlight GSP's lack of finishes, you could argue that Fedor didn't fight Barnett or Sergei in Pride, you could also note that the middleweight division improved in general after Anderson was dethroned. The list could go on and on. 

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thats true, Edgar deserves huge praise of basically flourishing when he was usually the smaller man in the ring. Crazy to think that Frankie Edgar was seen as just another opponent for BJ Penn the first time they fought. Frankie went on to eclipse BJ's resume in my eyes. Brilliant HOF career. 

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UFC's 205 had natural big guys from Tito's reign until Rashad, outside Vitor's  little spell. Tito, Randy & Chuck were all legit 6ft 2 and much thicker and Forrest was an inch taller as well, Rampage was much thicker but around the 6ft range, none of these guys could make 185 any easier than Jones could, they are all in that 220-230 stage at least in shape they were, Jones couldn't just bulk up to 240 or 250, his brothers can which is why he was skinny and they are in the NFL.

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Guess that also means we'll be getting Cyborg vs Pat McGroin then. Or some other featherweight nobody knows a shit about who somehow warrants a title shot because there's nobody else. Except for Megan Anderson who can't stop campaigning for it but just can't find her pen when it comes to actually signing the contract. 

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Probably stays out, I would assume they have big cards in July  (Cyborg wants on) & November (25th Anniversary) and Conor seems to want to fight in August (although I doubt Conor wants anybody with PPV% clauses on his undercard) 

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bit of a late opinion here but it's been a slow weekend...

Stefan Struve is finished isn't he?

Struve's size is his best and worst attribute. Since the layoff and as he's got older Struve had filled out his frame, his sheer mass now makes him a difficult guy to handle, but it's also turned him into a bit of a massive slug. He moves painfully slow and i know everyone's said but his inability to use his reach is just criminal. Struve needs to channel some Semmy Schilt into his game, Schilt was similar size and he too filled out as he got older but Schilt developed a push kick that would just crush folks in kickboxing, Struve does none of that and he refuses to throw a decent jab. Christ, he's shit.

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I think Struve, including being weathered for his age, lacks the instincts for the very top of the fight game. He's clearly a fighter of some ability, but as you say Egg and as others always point out, his inability to exploit his physical gifts is perplexing. At HW you're always at a higher risk of getting done with a shot, but where as fellow weathered HW's have evolved to get in and out (Ninjareem, for example), Struve just takes it. Granted, he's a little lumbering, but with his reach he should really be better at keeping an opponent at a certain distance, but he never does.

I don't know if he's finished, but he either needs a super coach to break him down and build him up or suddenly have a bit of a better fight brain.

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he's been in some wars for sure and he's been on the receiving end of some horrific damage, but at 30 he should still be considered young for a heavyweight, he seems way past his prime though. On the commentary they tried to give it the 'Struve is entering his phyiscal prime' speech but they seemed almost apologetic as the fight went on because he looked so bad.

The fight weirdly made Arlovksi feel more relevant than he is too because these two guys still inexplicably sit near the UFC top 10. I just think a poor Arlovski beat an even worse Stefan Struve.

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Yeah. I typed on the other page that I'm unsure if Arlovski's performance is him looking rejuvenated or a damning assessment of where Struve is in 2018.

I don't know what's next for Struve. He's probably never besting any of the top 6 anytime soon.

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Im confident in saying he couldn't. It was nice to see him try and incooperate a few takedowns in his game though. The shit thing about Andre is you just know it's gonna lead to him being knocked out again in a fight or two's time.

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37 minutes ago, ColinBollocks said:

He did, but I'm interested to see if he can replicate it versus someone in the top 10 proper.

Personally, I'd give Arlovski a chance against anyone from 10th to 6th, especially Mark Hunt or Derrick Lewis. Beyond the top six? Maybe Overeem? Even Werdum?

Aside from a select few fighters the Heavyweight division is somewhere that's difficult to get a streak going due to the power that almost every guy has. Anyone in the top ten could beat anyone else on any given night aside from Miocic & Ngannou. I don't even know what Cain will be like if he ever comes back after almost two years out and at 35 years old.

We've seen with Overeem what a guy can do if he takes his experience and changes things up a bit. Arlovski could very well do the same.

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Possible but i can't see it, the takedowns were a nice wrinkle but i don't Arlovski has the sort of style to go in and hit and not be hit which is sort of Overeem tries to appraoch things when he's being smart. Like you said, it really is a toss-up at heavyweight though, that's why so many of these guys stay relevant for so long, it does literally take one shot and powers the last thing to go.

 

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