UFC Adelaide: Dos Santos vs Tuivasa - Dec 1

[wandshogun09]

Saturday 1st December in Adelaide, Australia. I know the poster says Sunday 2nd but that's Aussie time isn't it? Everywhere else says the 1st. 

FOX SPORTS 1 MAIN CARD
Junior Dos Santos vs Tai Tuivasa 

Shogun Rua vs Tyson Pedro 

Mark Hunt vs Justin Willis   

Jake Matthews vs Tony Martin 

Suman Mokhtarian vs Sodiq Yusuff

Paul Craig vs Jimmy Crute

 

FOX SPORTS 1 PRELIMS
Yushin Okami vs Alexey Kunchenko 

Wilson Reis vs Ben Nguyen 

Salim Touahri vs Keita Nakamura 

Kai Kara-France vs Elias Garcia

 

FIGHT PASS PRELIMS
Mizuto Hirota vs Christos Giagos

Damir Ismagulov vs Alex Gorgees 

 

Obviously a few slots to fill there but it's looking pretty strong to me already. Will we even get this on BT? When does the deal actually end? This might actually be the last UFC show on there before the Eleven thing kicks in. 

 

Junior Dos Santos vs Tai Tuivasa tops the bill. You can't go wrong here. Can't see anyway this isn't just a bomb slinging slugfest. They shouldn't need 5 rounds but it's nice that they're there, just incase they fancy giving us a Hunt vs Bigfoot classic. Only thing I don't like about this is I don't want either to lose. JDS has been one of my favourite heavyweights ever since he burst through the UFC's doors like a big overexcited child and scored the upset KO against Werdum. One of the most likeable fighters ever. And for a time, he was the man. Before Cain ruined him, he was on a heck of a streak. Wins over Velasquez, Carwin, Mir, Cro Cop, Nelson, Gonzaga, Yvel, Werdum etc. And even in later years there was the wins over Hunt, Rothwell and the war with Miocic the first time. One of the best heavyweight fighters in UFC history easy. He's lost a few steps now and he's taken lot of damage but even this version of JDS is too much for most when the cage door closes.

And that's where this fight gets interesting. I've said before I felt like the UFC were kind of moving Tuivasa along a tad too quickly. He's unbeaten in MMA and also has pro boxing and kickboxing fights so I get why they're excited about him. But he's still only 25 years old, which is pretty young for a heavy, and he's only 8-0. He got his first real step up last time out against Arlovski and went the distance for the first time in his MMA career. It was a bit of a war and he took his knocks on the way to a points win but it just further convinced me that he might need a bit more time before he's thrown in with the top boys. If he had such a hard fought fight against an ageing and beat up Arlovski, I'm not sure he's ready for someone like JDS just yet. He's gone from Rashad Coulter and Cyril Asker to Andrei Arlovski and Junior Dos Santos. Just seems like he skipped over a level in between. Fuck knows, maybe he's ready. We'll find out soon enough. 

 

Mark Hunt vs Justin Willis should be fun. This might well be Hunt's last fight in the UFC. It's the last fight on his contract and it's common knowledge that his relationship with the UFC has seen better days. There was actually some talk of a Mark Hunt vs Gokhan Saki fight for this card which would've been perfect as Hunt's farewell. Basically K-1 but with 4oz gloves in the Octagon. They had a little exchange on twitter and both seemed up for it. But for whatever reason, nothing came of it. Hunt is 44 now, he surely won't be fighting too much longer. But if he does leave the UFC after this I can see him going to Bellator and even doing a few Kickboxing fights again. This is a huge opportunity for Justin Willis. He's 31 years old and fights out of AKA, so he's training with DC, Cain and those guys. Has a record of 7-1 and the loss was his MMA debut. His biggest win to date is Chase Sherman. So you can imagine what a win over a legend like Mark Hunt would do for this guy. Even though Hunt's older and winding down, it'd be a big scalp for Willis and something he can use to catapult himself up the card. But sod all that...Hunt by highlight reel walkaway KO please. 
 

Shogun Rua vs Tyson Pedro is ***WAND'S ONE TO WATCH*** for this one. It's Shogun so it's going to be my pick of the card, even though truthfully Shogun should've retired years ago. We last saw him in July, getting annihilated in about a minute by Anthony Smith. Before that he'd cobbled together 3 wins but he's not been right for ages. I still hold out hope that we'll get one last classic Shogun performance out of him but it's soon replaced by the acceptance that it's just never happening. He's fighting Aussie Tyson Pedro here. A 27 year old 7-2 prospect. This is Shogun in 2018. It's that thing you always see in combat sports. If legends hang around long enough they become stepping stones. Pedro is decent, his 2 losses were to OSP and Latifi but I think he shows flashes of real promise. Seems likeable enough too but I can't lie I'm rooting for his downfall here. 

 

Wilson Reis vs Ben Nguyen could be an excellent fight. One of the most interesting flyweight matchups in a while. Both have really good grappling, although Reis is a different level. His BJJ is world class. On the feet, again, both good but Nguyen should have the edge there with his Taekwondo style. Probably favour Reis usually but he's on a 3 fight losing skid. Should be an action fight anyway wherever it goes. 

 

Paul Craig vs Jim Crute, I'm interested in to see if Craig can build back some momentum. He came into the UFC unbeaten at 8-0 and looked really good winning his debut against Henrique Da Silva. But then he suffered back-to-back first round knockout defeats to Tyson Pedro and Khalil Rountree. Obviously that derailed him big time. He bounced back in March this year though on the London card, pulling out a shock submission over Magomed Ankalaev at 4:59 of round three in a fight he was losing. One bastard second to go! That win bagged him a fight night bonus and a new 4 fight contract. What a difference one second can make, eh? Crute might be another tough one though. He's only 22 but he's already 8-0 with 5 stoppages. He's Australian as well so the crowd will be backing him. 

 

Yushin Okami vs Alexey Kunchenko is a fight I'll definitely be keeping an eye on. Thought Kunchenko was pretty impressive in his UFC debut on the Russia card against Thiago Alves. Looked really composed and relaxed. He's unbeaten, 19-0 with 14 finishes and was the M-1 welterweight champ. Okami should give him a different kind of test to Alves. He's not the force he once was but he's a crafty veteran of 46 fights and knows all the tricks. 

 

Salim Touahri vs Keita Nakamura is another prospect vs veteran clash. Touahri is Polish, 29 years old, 10-2 record with 8 finishes. He's up against Nakamura who has a record of 33-9-2-1 and has fought everywhere from a couple of stints in the UFC to Shooto to DREAM to Sengoku to DEEP, over a 15 year career. Very much a journeyman but if you're lacking in any area he'll probably find you out. 

 

SHOOOOEEEEYYYY!

[Egg Shen]

The Eleven thing starts in 2019 doesn't it?

[wandshogun09]

7 hours ago, Egg Shen said:

The Eleven thing starts in 2019 doesn't it?

That's when the Eleven deal starts, January 1st, 2019. But the BT contract runs out on (I think) December 3rd. So it looks like we will get this show live after all. 

But there's a gap of nearly 4 weeks there, from 4th Dec-start of Jan, where the UFC coverage has no home over here. 

And all this falls into that gap...

Max Holloway vs Brian Ortega 

Valentina Shevchenko vs Joanna Jedrzejczyk 

Jimi Manuwa vs Thiago Santos

Kevin Lee vs Al Iaquinta 2

Edson Barboza vs Dan Hooker

Jon Jones vs Alexander Gustafsson 2

Cris Cyborg vs Amanda Nunes 

Carlos Condit vs Michael Chiesa 

Cat Zingano vs Megan Anderson 

BJ Penn vs Ryan Hall

As it stands now, unless they get something sorted for us soon, we're going to miss all that over here because it's between BT ending and Eleven starting. Hopefully something gets figured out so that we get to see those fights still. It's only 3 shows so maybe they'll come to some agreement and BT will show them. 

 

[Egg Shen]

Oooh i didnt know that. They'll probably sort something out for them to run through Fight Pass.

[WeeAl]

If they don't show those cards over here and you don't want to miss them, let me know and I might be able to help with some orienteering tips. 

I think this card looks really good. I'm very interested in those top three fights. I think it might be a little early for Tuivasa, considering I'd have scored the Arlovski right against him.

If Shogun can channel any of what he had in his recent wins (not much admittedly, but wins none the less) then I think experience and know how could get him through against Pedro. I don't see top level potential in Pedro. He's an interesting addition to the division, but he's been moved on very quickly, probably too quickly. If he beats Shogun here I think it tells us more about Rua than it does about Pedro's ability going forward. He needs to win, but I'd be happy to see Rua get the win here. 

Mark Hunt Vs Justin Willis is ending with one of them face down on the floor. I'm not sure who it'll be but I flipped a coin and went Willis, as for a big, heavy dude, he has some fast hands. 

That's 0-3 for the Australasian contingent at the top of the card in my predictions. Only one thing is for certain - that there is no chance I'll have picked all three of them correctly. 

[Egg Shen]

only just realised that both the UFC and Bellator are going back to back with weekend, some fights to get through. This one is the pick of the cards though.

[wandshogun09]

Decent enough show. 

JDS vs Tuivasa was exciting while it lasted. Just had a feeling JDS was going to put a halt to Tuivasa’s progress and he did. I think this was part down to the step up coming a little too soon for Tuivasa and part down to JDS having a bit more left in the tank than many were giving him credit for. Wasn’t looking good for JDS either at the end of the first. That big leg kick really buckled him and I thought it was going to fuck him over as the fight went on. But when he dropped Tuivasa in the second he was all over him. I get why Tuivasa was frustrated at the stoppage because he was clearly still conscious and aware and all that. But when you’re mounted by a guy like JDS, you’re not trying to escape and you’re actually trying to throw punches from there rather than defend or get out, you don’t leave the ref much choice but to stop it. There were over 2 minutes left in the round as well. Sooner or later he was going to get hurt in that position. Hopefully they’ll scale him back a bit now. He’s got potential but I do feel like they rushed him a bit. The warning signs were there when old Arlovski gave him all he could handle last time. Always good to see JDS get a win regardless. 

Shogun winning was nice. I don’t know if it’s good or bad though because a win just convinces him he’s got another run in him. He did well here, toughed out a rough first round, regrouped in the second and got the stoppage in the third, albeit a bit of a weird one due to Tyson’s injury. I just wish he’d stop now though. He looks so old and haggard for 37. He’s aged a fuckload in recent years. Fighting wise he’s shown he’s not as shot as Rashad or BJ Penn or anything. He’s still got something left. But man, it’s hard to watch him these days. Every time he takes a punch I wince. 

Wasn’t much of a fan of Hunt vs Willis. Very rare that you see a lacklustre Mark Hunt fight but this did nothing for me really. Wasn’t terrible but I didn’t enjoy it much either. And to top it off Hunt lost which is always shite. 

Skimmed through a lot of the rest. Highlight of the undercard for me was Kai Kara-France. Really liked the look of him. Shame it looks like the flyweight division is on the way out because I think he might be too small to do much at 135. I’d love to see him fight Petr Yan down the line if he does move up though. That could be a hell of a fight. 

[jimufctna24]

9 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

Fighting wise he’s shown he’s not as shot as Rashad or BJ Penn or anything.

Aye, that's very surprising as well. 

Shogun trained at Chute Boxe in their prime. Has suffered serious injuries in his career. And also been in his share of wars. Prior to his 18 month lay-off in 2013, Rashad had only 23 fights on his record and had only been stopped once in his career (by Machida in 2009). He was never really involved in any wars either. Perhaps that knee injury he suffered in early 2014 was a career-killer and he never recovered from it. Still, I am amazed that Shogun has outlasted Rashad. I would have never put money on that in 2011.

[Guy Bifkin]

Bit of a shit night for the Aussies, they near enough all got merked. 

[wandshogun09]

15 hours ago, jimufctna24 said:

Aye, that's very surprising as well. 

Shogun trained at Chute Boxe in their prime. Has suffered serious injuries in his career. And also been in his share of wars. Prior to his 18 month lay-off in 2013, Rashad had only 23 fights on his record and had only been stopped once in his career (by Machida in 2009). He was never really involved in any wars either. Perhaps that knee injury he suffered in early 2014 was a career-killer and he never recovered from it. Still, I am amazed that Shogun has outlasted Rashad. I would have never put money on that in 2011.

Yeah, Rashad’s decline had to be down to the injuries and layoffs. The knee injury probably effected him more than most because so much of Rashad’s game was centred around explosive takedowns. He seemed to lose so much of that once the injuries started piling up. I’ll never forget how disappointed I was with that absolute dud he had against Little Nog. Two of my favourite fighters and they went out and shat the bed. Then every time he seemed to be finding some form he’d be struck down with another injury. His last few years of fighting were a disaster. He’s the poster boy for what can happen if you outstay your welcome in MMA. He should never have been losing to the likes of Dan Kelly and Sam Alvey. He was better than that. And it’s not just that he lost but how he fought. He just couldn’t pull the trigger. Just seems like the injuries were what fucked him initially, then all the setbacks made it a mental thing as well. It seemed to be more than a physical thing by the end. Somewhere along the line he lost his ‘Eye Of The Tiger’. 

With Shogun I think it’s all physical. Mentally he still seems in love with fighting when you see or read his interviews. But physically he’s completely fucking knackered. He’s 37 going on 65. Most of his kicking game is gone because his knees are wafer, he’s slow as fuck and his once legendary chin has a few cracks in it now. His recent wins haven’t been the best but, all things considered, it’s quite amazing that he’s managed to win 3 of his last 4 when you look at how fucked he is and how a lot of what were his best weapons (leg kicks, knees) are way less effective now. Guys like Shogun are almost more of a worry though because he loves fighting so he’ll stubbornly keep pushing on and won’t accept that the glory days are long over. He’s still talking about title runs and he believes it. I saw an interview the other day and he seemed quite pissed off that people say he should retire. I understand that from his POV. It’s his job and way of life since he was about 20. And in his mind, he’s won 3 of his last 4 so fuck anyone’s opinion. But it’s just getting more and more uneasy watching him. It says a lot about how bad a fighter is looking when people say he should retire when he’s winning. 

[ColinBollocks]

I thought this was a fun show. You can't help but love JDS and Shogun winning.

Paul Craig is proper getting exposed now. The hope was he'd build back some of his momentum after his last win, but in the end it was another convincing trouncing against a dude without a wiki page (the horror, the horror).

The only negative was poor Mark Hunt looking old and slow at his last UFC fight (probably).

[WeeAl]

'twas a bad night for the Aussie lads. Jake Matthews, Pedro, Tuivasa and Hunt all losing on home turf. Fingers crossed Adesanya doesn't end up the same way when he fights old mad Anderson early next year. 

Pedro had his moments but couldn't close out the show. He closed the distance too quickly when he had Shogun hurt, strangely deciding to try and get hold of him and ended up paying for it later in the fight. 

Mark Hunt is done at any kind of high level. He has concrete in his fists and I'm sure he could beat (and lose) to a couple of the old fella's in Bellator, but I don't think if he was staying in the UFC (he won't) that there are many bodies left that he could beat. The older crowd in the UFC's HW division are better than he is and the younger guys are faster and stronger. I wouldn't be against seeing him fight Fedor, Chael, Wandy, Rampage and co over in Bellator though. 

It was great to see Did Santos show that there is still life left in him. He gets hit so often and has suffered tonnes of damage as a result, but his skills, speed and power are still going to be a big problem for the majority of the division.

Tuivasa has time to rebuild and get better, and it's very clear now, even if it was already obvious after the dubious decision victory  he received in the Arlovski fight that they are asking him to run before he can walk. He has loads of room in his future to enhance his game though, and ultimately even if he doesn't develop, he is going to put an awful lot of people away if he does to them what he did to JDS in the first round. Not many will weather the barrage he can deliver, but he needs to learn what to do when he ends up on his back, as well as not to forget when he is rushing in that he isn't the only HW with devastating KO power at his disposal. 

[wandshogun09]

There’s something about a potential Mark Hunt vs Rampage fight that really does it for me. Get it booked, Coker. 

Bellator is surely the destination for Hunt now, right? Although I could see ONE making a play for him, they need heavyweights and Hunt’s a name and a legend. Especially in Asia given his history with K-1 and Pride. But I can see him ending up in Bellator. He probably only has a handful of fights left in him, he’s been at it donkeys years. So a farewell tour fighting some of the names WeeAl mentioned above could be fun. I’d also throw Cro Cop into that mix. They’re still tied at 1-1 so that’s a loose end that they could tie up. In fact, they could even whack that on Rizin’s New Years show. There’s fun to be had with Hunt matched up right. Don’t have him fight Wanderlei though. Not again. As great as the first fight was, I’ve always believed that was the start of Wandy’s decline. The weight difference was too much, especially when you factor in Hunt’s power. For all that Hunt has slowed down in recent years, Wand looks a lot worse to me. Doing that fight in 2019...whoever booked that would be an accessory to murder. 

[Carbomb]

I'd like to see Hunt take Meathead's (meat)head off.

[the_mole]

Meathead is fighting Sergei Kharitonov in February in Bellator according to his now deleted Facebook post. Even though Mark Hunt is moaning about Brock been on roids, I could see him fighting for Rizin but don't know if they run enough shows. Mirko was kept off the New Year card because they will be paying Floyd a fortune but Mark Hunt is popular in Japan and One aren't but they might run Australia/New Zealand or even Singapore were he could draw fans from. I wouldn't mind Overeem-Dos Santos 2, JDS wants it but Overeem seems to want Lewis.