UFC 228: Woodley vs Till

[Pier Six Brawler]

Belts are worthless in the UFC nowadays, what with this and Covington being stripped of his interim title.

[Chunk]

Is that the most harsh stripping they've done? There's every chance she comes back and fights again before Schevchenko does for the belt. Mental. 

[wandshogun09]

Yeah that is odd. Especially considering how long they've let other champions hold onto their titles while out injured for months on end, and in some cases years. 

It makes me think the UFC think she's just bottled it. Do we know why she's out of the fight, has it been confirmed it was weight cutting issues? Maybe she's done a Karo Parisyan and claimed a panic attack or something, or her stomach cramping up like that guy off TUF recently (McGregor teammate who's name escapes me). I'm just playing devil's advocate though. More likely she's genuinely hurt/sick/severely dehydrated and they don't believe her like when they tried to claim Aldo was faking his broken rib when he pulled out against McGregor the first time. I usually say there's probably more to this story but there probably isn't. We know by now how the UFC are and how they treat their fighters that 'don't matter'. No doubt Dana will be throwing her under the bus publicly now. Or they'll have Rogan interrogate her on the PPV tonight like they did to Barao when he nearly died trying to make weight that time.

They're cunts in situations like this, no two ways about it. I know we don't know all the details yet and I'm sure someone will be along in a minute to jump to the UFC's defence with a load of 'it's a business' talk but stripping her of the belt is harsh whatever the circumstances. They show no concern for the fighter's health when things like the happen and all they seem to want to do is crack the whip and dish out punishments.

The Barao example I mentioned earlier was the worst one IMO. That really rubbed me the wrong way at the time. All the reports about that were that he was in a seriously bad way for a while there and lost consciousness for a significant length of time. Yet the UFC were more concerned that he couldn't fight Dillashaw in their main event so they set aside a few minutes of air time during the show specifically to do an interview where Rogan could Jeremy Paxman the fuck out of him and make him 'explain himself' like he was a naughty school kid who threw shit at the toilet walls or something. I don't care that making weight is unprofessional. In cases like that the fighter's health should be the number one concern, not trotting him out on live TV to grill him and turn people against him. They usually preface their trashing of the fighter by saying 'Fighter safety is always our number one priority here in the UFC...BUT...' then go on to shit all over the guy or girl. They don't give a fuck really, do they. 

Watch now - CONFIRMED - Montano pulled out due to a nasty paper cut  but you get my drift. 

[WeeAl]

https://www.mmafighting.com/2018/9/7/17831920/nicco-montanos-team-releases-statement-on-hospitalization-before-ufc-228-weigh-ins

It seems she was hospitalised for issues related to her kidney function. Essentially, I gather she just stopped sweating and her team knew there was something wrong and the doctor's were called in to evaluate her. It was decided that Nicco had to stop cutting weight immediately and needed to go to the hospital. 

[wandshogun09]

OK, Countdown watched, Embedded watched, interviews watched, weigh in watched. I'm ready for this one now. Even if I'm not massively feeling the buzz for a show (I wasn't really for this one) by the time I've watched all these bits and pieces and the weigh in is over, I'm usually a lot more hyped up and this is no different. Can't wait for this now. 

Tyron Woodley vs Darren Till is a funny one in that, despite all the media and talk about him, we don't actually know that much about Till. We've not really seen his grappling tested. We've seen him go 5 rounds against Wonderboy but it was an odd 5 rounds where not much happened so it's hard to guage his conditioning fully. We haven't seen him have to really overcome adversity in a fight. He talks a great game but until we see these questions answered, at this level, we just don't know. No doubt Till is good, he's very good and he's got a lot going for him with his size advantage and his striking. He also showed against Wonderboy that he's a pretty intelligent fighter. He doesn't just throw strikes for the sake of it, he picks his moments and tries to create openings and set traps before going for the kill. But I don't know, I also think the way he beat Cerrone might've got people overrating him slightly. Before that fight he'd looked good but wasn't blowing anyone away with his performances, and his one fight since he couldn't really pull the trigger against Wonderboy. Granted, Wonderboy's always tricky but we just don't have enough data on Till for me to be confident in him. And Woodley is proven, he's elite, he's legit and he has the capability and power to knock anyone out if he connects and also has the wrestling to fall back on if needed. 

Woodley by Decision for me. Just think he's that little bit ahead of Till at this time in terms of overall skill and certainly in experience in championship fights, and against better opposition. Plus the styles, I think Woodley just has more options and can't help thinking we might see a gun-shy Till again if he's worrying about defending the takedowns. 

 

Jessica Andrade vs Karolina Kowalkiewicz should be a good one. And it likely determines the next contender for Thug Rose. I think Kowalkiewicz is the more technical of the two overall, especially on the feet. But I can see Andrade's physicality and strength being the deciding factor in this one. She's overpowered her opponents in almost every fight since dropping to strawweight from 135, she's got to be the strongest 115lber in the division easy. I don't think Kowalkiewicz has the power to stop her or keep her at bay and if she can't keep her off then Andrade is going to be all over her with swarms of wild punches, takedowns, slams, ground and pound. She's a nightmare at 115. 

Andrade by Decision. Could see a submission but I think Kowalkiewicz is tough enough to go the distance. I'll be surprised if Karolina pulls the win to be honest. If you look at their styles there's not really an obvious route for her. 

 

Zabit Magomedsharipov vs Brandon Davis is a fight I'm giddy about and I can't even recall seeing Davis fight before. That's the rep Zabit has earned already in his UFC career as a must see fighter. Love the weird looking cunt. Of course, Davis is stepping in on short notice here against a Zabit coming in off a full training camp. And even if he'd had a full camp I wouldn't fancy Davis' chances much here. He's nothing special from looking at his record, 9-4 with no standout wins and his losses are to guys who I'd say are inferior to Zabit too. This'll probably be another showcase type thing for old ZM. Hopefully he can get a little step up fight after this.

Going Zabit by KO/TKO. And probably the highlight reel kind. 

 

Jimmie Rivera vs John Dodson is an interesting one to me, mostly to see how Rivera looks. He's coming off that bad KO loss to Marlon Moraes in June. It was the first time he'd been knocked out and he was on a 20-odd fight winning streak before that. So who knows how that loss will effect him mentally. And Dodson is an awkward fucker at the best of times. Fast as fuck, annoying as fuck, fights in bursts then will happily run away for a big chunk of the round. He can be infuriating to watch at times, so I can only imagine how frustrating it is to fight him. He's seemed to have lost a step or two the last couple of years though so hopefully Rivera can catch the little shrunken OJ Simpson looking twat and get that much needed rebound win. 

Rivera by Decision. 

 

Abdul Razak Alhassan vs Niko Price opens the PPV. Fucking love this fight. Can't see it ending with both men awake but stranger things happen in MMA. These two are animals though. Both proper finishers. Of their combined 21 wins, they've finished 20. Both are coming off really impressive knockouts - Alhassan with the uppercut of doom vs Homasi last December, Price with a KO from his back vs Randy Brown recently. Should be a really exciting main card opener this. 

I'll have Price by Submission in a wild one. I'm pretty much 50/50 on this fight but as well as being a dangerous striker, Price is also quite slick with the subs and I can see him jumping on that during a mad exchange. 

Here are my full predictions, but don't place any bets based on these because I am SHITE at this stuff. 

Tyron Woodley - Decision. 

Jessica Andrade - Decision. 

Zabit Magomedsharipov - KO/TKO. 

Jimmie Rivera - Decision. 

Niko Price - Submission. 

Tatiana Suarez - Decision. 

Cody Stamann - Decision. 

Frank Camacho - KO/TKO. 

Darren Stewart - Decision. 

Craig White - KO/TKO. 

Jim Miller - Submission. 

Irene Aldana - KO/TKO. 

Jarred Brooks - Decision.

[David]

3 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

Yeah that is odd. Especially considering how long they've let other champions hold onto their titles while out injured for months on end, and in some cases years. 

It makes me think the UFC think she's just bottled it. Do we know why she's out of the fight, has it been confirmed it was weight cutting issues? Maybe she's done a Karo Parisyan and claimed a panic attack or something, or her stomach cramping up like that guy off TUF recently (McGregor teammate who's name escapes me). I'm just playing devil's advocate though. More likely she's genuinely hurt/sick/severely dehydrated and they don't believe her like when they tried to claim Aldo was faking his broken rib when he pulled out against McGregor the first time. I usually say there's probably more to this story but there probably isn't. We know by now how the UFC are and how they treat their fighters that 'don't matter'. No doubt Dana will be throwing her under the bus publicly now. Or they'll have Rogan interrogate her on the PPV tonight like they did to Barao when he nearly died trying to make weight that time.

They're cunts in situations like this, no two ways about it. I know we don't know all the details yet and I'm sure someone will be along in a minute to jump to the UFC's defence with a load of 'it's a business' talk but stripping her of the belt is harsh whatever the circumstances. They show no concern for the fighter's health when things like the happen and all they seem to want to do is crack the whip and dish out punishments.

The Barao example I mentioned earlier was the worst one IMO. That really rubbed me the wrong way at the time. All the reports about that were that he was in a seriously bad way for a while there and lost consciousness for a significant length of time. Yet the UFC were more concerned that he couldn't fight Dillashaw in their main event so they set aside a few minutes of air time during the show specifically to do an interview where Rogan could Jeremy Paxman the fuck out of him and make him 'explain himself' like he was a naughty school kid who threw shit at the toilet walls or something. I don't care that making weight is unprofessional. In cases like that the fighter's health should be the number one concern, not trotting him out on live TV to grill him and turn people against him. They usually preface their trashing of the fighter by saying 'Fighter safety is always our number one priority here in the UFC...BUT...' then go on to shit all over the guy or girl. They don't give a fuck really, do they. 

Here's the thing though, she didn't pull out of the fight voluntarily, or even on the basis of her claiming she was feeling ill.

She was, according to her team, "taken to hospital on the advice of the UFC’s medical team." which means that if the UFC try to cast doubt on her medical issues they're essentially claiming that their own medical team doesn't know what it's doing.

[wandshogun09]

Agreed but you know that won't stop Dana going all pink and sweary about it. 

[David]

16 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said:

Agreed but you know that won't stop Dana going all pink and sweary about it. 

That's because he's a moron though, and should only be viewed and listened to for entertainment purposes.

[wandshogun09]

We know that but unfortunately he's still arguably the loudest and most influential voice in the sport. If he says she's a fight dodging sick note and that headline gets plastered on the MMA sites then that's what she's going to be labelled as for the forseeable future. A lot of MMA fans don't seem to have the patience or attention span to read beyond article headlines or short tweets. Or they just love giving fighters shit on social media and jump all over stories like this. Even now I still see from time to time the odd mentions of Aldo faking an injury to get out of fighting McGregor. We know Dana's often talking bollocks but to people who don't follow MMA every day like us nerds, that shit can stick for years. 

It's a moot point at the moment in this case because it hasn't even happened here. I haven't seen Dana trashing her for pulling out. Yet. 

[the_mole]

Shevchenko has been saying she won't fight all week and that she's ducking her since she dropped down, she's not big for a flyweight, she made it several times last year on TUF, she should know how to make weight as a champion, maybe she waited until the last minute to start cutting, when she should have been losing weight all week by strick dieting before you attempt a weight cut.

If she complains about her kidneys hurting, that's like telling a ref your dizzy after an illegal blow, you know the fight or the weight cut is getting stopped and if she's now cleared to fight within a few days, I don't see how that could even be possible, if she has kidney problems.

The UFC don't have personal doctors, they pay people from the area to come in and work the shows, then they pay them, they aren't on the UFC's payroll all year long.

[David]

12 minutes ago, the_mole said:

Shevchenko has been saying she won't fight all week and that she's ducking her since she dropped down, she's not big for a flyweight, she made it several times last year on TUF, she should know how to make weight as a champion, maybe she waited until the last minute to start cutting, when she should have been losing weight all week by strick dieting before you attempt a weight cut.

If she complains about her kidneys hurting, that's like telling a ref your dizzy after an illegal blow, you know the fight or the weight cut is getting stopped and if she's now cleared to fight within a few days, I don't see how that could even be possible, if she has kidney problems.

The UFC don't have personal doctors, they pay people from the area to come in and work the shows, then they pay them, they aren't on the UFC's payroll all year long.

From what I've heard, and it could be different depending on the state, the fighters are constantly monitored by doctors during their weight cut. You see them popping in and out during the embedded shows, and apparently they take blood pressure, check vitals, all that kind of shit. It's a commission thing, because the person going through the weight cut often times doesn't actually know there's anything wrong, and someone dropping dead when the UFC is in town would be a fucking catastrophe for both the state and the company.

I really doubt this is a case of her saying "my kidneys hurt" and the doctor sending her off to hospital, I don't think it quite works like that.

Can she be blamed for maybe not approaching the cut properly? Definitely. 

But, as we've seen previously, there are double standards at play, and those standards tend to depend on how much money you can make the company.

[the_mole]

This is Texas, the same state that let Kimbo fight Dada 3000, both nearly died that night, Dada"s heart stopped I think a few times, Kimbo died a few months later. They didn't do a rigorous check on either guy who unless they scored a early knock out, shouldn't have been fighting for 3 rounds as they clearly didn't have the cardio and probably both had pre existing heart problems.

They really should have did a small tournament of say 4, with bigger Strawweights & smaller Bantamweights, pick the 4 biggest names and crowned the champion that way and used TUF to round out the division and perhaps have the winner getting a title shot, nobody thought Nicco would win and that's unheard of from a champion, fair enough a challenger. 

[David]

1 hour ago, the_mole said:

This is Texas, the same state that let Kimbo fight Dada 3000, both nearly died that night, Dada"s heart stopped I think a few times, Kimbo died a few months later. They didn't do a rigorous check on either guy who unless they scored a early knock out, shouldn't have been fighting for 3 rounds as they clearly didn't have the cardio and probably both had pre existing heart problems.

Yeah, which is why they've maybe been a tad overcautious in this instance.

Whichever way you slice it up, she's been sent to the hospital because a qualified medical professional has deemed it unsafe for her to continue, and that goes beyond her telling a doctor that her kidney's hurt most likely.

As always though, MMA discussion on social media is branding her a coward, talking about how she's probably just on her period and needs a cry, and all other manner of deplorable shite.

That kind of nonsense is the audience I was talking about in the McG thread @Carbomb, that's the gallery that Dana plays to most of the time.

[Egg Shen]

3 hours ago, David said:

 

As always though, MMA discussion on social media is branding her a coward, talking about how she's probably just on her period and needs a cry, and all other manner of deplorable shite.

Thatdience I was talking about in the McG thread @Carbomb, 

Shevchenkos statement didnt help matters, it was pretty damning.

[ColinBollocks]

I think after that you can argue that this was far too soon for Till. Aye, Woodley is incredible, but it was a complete shut out of a fight. Till got nowt going, almost playing into the hands of Woodley.

Hilarious how miserable Dana looked before putting the belt around Woodley's waist.