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UFC 234: Whittaker vs Gastelum - Feb 9 🇦🇺


wandshogun09

Who wins and how?   

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On 1/12/2019 at 12:21 PM, wandshogun09 said:

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Rani Yahya vs Ricky Simon is one I’ll be keeping an eye on. Actually I’m hoping this gets on the main card and they fuck Buren vs Martinez down to Fight Pass instead.

Common sense prevails. 

Yahya vs Simon has been bumped up to the PPV main card, Buren vs Martinez is now on Fight Pass. And they’ve added Lando Vannata vs Marcos Rosa and Dong Hyun Kim (not ‘Stun Gun’, the other one) vs Devonte Smith. 

Still not the best card, beneath the main and co-main, but it’s looking a bit better than it was. 

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I just checked. Yahya has been on a UFC main card but you’re going all the way back to March 2013 on the Wanderlei Silva vs Brian Stann show in Japan. But even then it was only FUEL TV. That’s the only time he’s been on a main card. He’s been on Fight Pass his last 2 fights. This is his first PPV main card. 

I mean, I get he’s not going to add to a buy rate, whatever. But the fact he’s not even been on a free TV Fight Night main card in nearly 6 years is a bit harsh. 

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On 1/12/2019 at 11:21 PM, wandshogun09 said:

Saturday 9th February (Sunday 10th if you’re Down Under) the UFC returns to Melbourne, Australia with UFC 234.  

PPV MAIN CARD
Robert Whittaker vs Kelvin Gastelum - Middleweight Title

Israel Adesanya vs Anderson Silva

Rani Yahya vs Ricky Simon

Dong Hyun Kim vs Devonte Smith 

Jim Crute vs Ryan Spann

ESPN PRELIMS
Austin Arnett vs Shane Young

Montana De La Rosa vs Nadia Kassem

Kai Kara-France vs Raulian Paiva 

Teruto Ishihara vs Kyung Ho Kang

FIGHT PASS PRELIMS
Lando Vannata vs Marcos Rosa

Jalin Turner vs Alex Gorgees 

Wuliji Buren vs Jonathan Martinez 

Shit. When tickets went on sale I didn't have the cash flow to go to this event, I had actually just gotten back from Melbourne not too long before as I made the trip inter-state for WWE Super Show-Down. If I was really keen, I could have withdrew my term deposit, and as the biggest Whittaker fan around here, I was a little tempted. Especially when I went to UFC 222 in Perth only for Whittaker to pull out of the fight a couple of weeks before the event.

UFC clearly thought Whittaker, Adesanya and Anderson Silva were enough to sell this card. Australia, loving UFC as we do, have made this event sold out anyway. But this is a paper-thin card. The point about scheduling is a decent one, but if UFC were really arsed, they could have ponied up some extra dough for some fighters to make a quick turn-around. Tuivasa, Matthews and Volkanovski would have been nice additions to that main card. Volko in particular got out of the Mendes fight relatively unscathed.

Cool to see Lando Vannata in the prelims there, even though I have no idea who the fuck Marcos Rosa is. And I can't say enough good things about the debut Kai Kara-France had. Actually, he was on that Adelaide card in December, furthering my point about fighters making a quick turnaround if UFC wanted it. The only one that probably couldn't do it medically is Pedro, Shogun did a real number on him.

But yeah, not regretting not buying a ticket one bit. It'll be a decent afternoon watch in a couple of weeks, I'll have a little PPV party at my place with the family to watch Whittaker do his thing.

If Whittaker and Adesanya both win, and they do the big title match in Sydney as has been rumoured... I'll move mountains to be at that, ringside if I can get enough work to start the year off. Seeing a UFC event at ANZ Stadium, Sydney's Olympic Park... it'd be fucking immense!

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Not sure about Volkanovski getting out of the Mendes fight unscathed. He got tagged with big shots a few times and was hurt and dropped at one point. He seemed fine post-fight but you never know. Always best to err on the side of caution. It was a bit of a war and although he got the better of it he definitely got buzzed and might’ve had his bell rung. With the run he’s on, he’s not far off a title shot. So while it’s frustrating that he’s not on this card, it’d be a shame if they rushed him back in there and he lost due to the turnaround and/or overtraining or whatever. 

Then there’s Tuivasa who just went a hard 5 rounds with JDS. I think Hunt’s gone now, isn’t he, so he’s out. Pedro, as you say, got stopped by Shogun plus he hurt his leg in the fight. I think this show just came around a bit too quick to get these guys back in there. 

The only Australian name who probably would’ve been a real option is Megan Anderson because her fight with Zingano was over before it even got going and I don’t remember Megan even taking a shot of any note. 

It’s no excuse for a card so shallow though. Even if they didn’t have any more locals to throw on there, they could’ve still beefed this up a bit. All you need is say two more solid name fights for the main card and the whole show takes a different look. It’s not like Aussie fighters are the only option for these cards. Fuck, the first time they went to Australia the main event was Cain vs Big Nog and the co-main was Wanderlei vs Bisping. Of course G-Sot was on there but it wasn’t like the Aussies made or broke that card. It was about the Aussie fans getting the UFC experience. If they’d stuck, I don’t know, off the top of my head something like say Overeem vs Oleynik and Weidman vs Brunson on there, not massive fights but strong additions, you’re looking at a totally different looking card. 

Whittaker vs Gastelum

Adesanya vs Silva 

Overeem vs Oleynik 

Weidman vs Brunson 

Yahya vs Simon 

Even with the same prelims, the whole card takes a different shape. Just by adding two semi-relevant names fights. Doesn’t have to be those particular fights, just an example I’ve made up. But you get my point. 

Like you say though, the crux of it is that they know they’ll sell out with a subpar card anyway so fuck it. I actually quite like the card but I would be disappointed if I was an Aussie who’d bought a ticket. The top two fights would make the experience worth it overall though. 

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Is this fight with Crute is at 205? He should stay there, for me. His chances of ever having a sniff of a title shot are dead now, especially at Middleweight.At 205 he could make the top 15 by stringing a few wins together. 

Crazy to think that he was calling out Bisping a few years back and it seemed like a sensible match-up! 

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