Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted January 31, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted January 31, 2019 Saturday 16th March, the Octagonās back at the O2 inĀ London with what is probably the strongest complete card weāve had in the UK in a good few years.Ā ESPN+Ā MAIN CARDDarren Till vs Jorge MasvidalĀ Leon Edwards vs Gunnar NelsonĀ Volkan Oezdemir vs Dominick ReyesĀ Nathaniel Wood vs Jose Alberto Quinonez Claudio Silva vs Danny RobertsĀ Jack Marshman vs John Phillips Ā ESPN+Ā PRELIMSArnold Allen vs Jordan Rinaldi Joseph Duffy vs Marc Diakiese Saparbek Safarov vs Nicolae Negumereanu Danny Henry vs Dan Ige Molly McCann vs Priscila CachoeiraĀ Nad Narimani vs Mike Grundy Ā Like always, donāt know if thatās the proper bout order but thatās how MMAJunkieās got it. Although Iām not sure if Duffy vs Diakiese is official yet, just seen itās in the works.Ā Ā Darren Till vs Jorge Masvidal is a fantastic fight to headline this. Both top fighters but both out of the title picture at the moment. Till is coming in fresh off losing his title shot against Tyron Woodley in September so this is step one towards trying to buildĀ himself back up. He was undefeated before that but it was a decisive loss where he was stunned on the feet and submitted on the ground. Itāll be interesting to see if hisĀ confidence has taken a knockĀ now. Probably not judging from his recent interviews. Masvidal has been a bit of a ghost lately. His name has continued to pop up, mostly because him and Bisping canāt stop having digs at each other. But he didnāt fight at all in 2018 and lost his last two fights before that to Wonderboy Thompson and Demian Maia. He hasnāt won a fight since he beat Donald Cerrone two years ago. He was briefly linked to a fight with Nick Diaz for UFC 235 but that obviously came to nothing.Ā So here we are. Donāt know what Masvidalās been doing during all this time away. He grew his hair long, if that does anything for you.Ā Really goodĀ fight. You feel like bothĀ guys can get back in the mix with aĀ big win or two or a spectacular performance. But theyāre both in a position where they have something to prove. Youād expect this to play out mostly on the feet and I think it should be great to watch. Tillās got that Muay Thai style and Masvidal is a good boxer. Both like a scrap but both can be tactical and patient if need be. With the characters involved though, Iām expecting tempers to flare here and I think at some point over the 5 rounds this one is going to ignite. Canāt wait to see it.Ā Ā Leon Edwards vs Gunnar Nelson is a quality co-main event. ReallyĀ like this fight. Edwards has been after a step up for ages now. Heās 16-3 and coming off 6 wins in a rowĀ including wins over Donald Cerrone, Vicente Luque and Albert Tumenov in there. HeādĀ been quietly putting together a nice little streak but heās recently been getting more vocal. Heās probably the best chance of Birmingham getting another UFC show here now,Ā but I think heās bitten off more than he can chew here. Maybe not,Ā say what you want and he hasnāt looked mega impressive but he finds a way to get the W. But yeah, I think Gunnar is just going to be too much for him. I think Gunnar can hang with Edwards in the striking, but I really donāt see Edwards living with Gunnar in the grappling. Heās a solid ground fighter himself but Gunniās another level for me. He looked great in his return against Cowboy Oliveira last month as well.Ā Ā Jack Marshman vs John Phillips is an allĀ Welsh battle. Marshman might be fighting for his spot on the roster here. Heās 2-3 in the UFC and coming off two consecutive losses. The thing that might save him is heās exciting bell-to-bell. Heās had 5 fights in the UFC and, win or lose, there wasnāt a dull moment to be found. His fights with Ryan Janes and Karl Roberson being the highlights but even his loss to Thiago Santos wasĀ bagsĀ of fun while it lasted. Donāt know if Iāve seen Phillips, think I have but itās hazy. Heās 21-8 coming off two submission losses. Kind of feelsĀ like the UFC areĀ maybe trying to give Marshman a winnable fight here. Iām guessing they like his fighting styleĀ and want to keep him around.Ā Ā Volkan Oezdemir vs Dominick Reyes is definitelyĀ ***WANDāS ONE TO WATCH*** here for me. Even on a card as deep as this, this fight stands out. Iād honestly have been happy with this as the headliner, to be honest. We know the score with Volkan now. Nothing flashy about him, he just hits fucking hard. Was Rumble Johnsonās main training partner for a while and Rumble raves about him. Knocked out Jimi Manuwa and Misha Cirkunov in about a minute combined. 15-3 MMA record, 5-0 Kickboxing record. Heās lost his last two but they were to Daniel Cormier and Anthony Smith. He gave Smith hell as well. Heās clearly not championship material but heās a handful for most of the division and always a threat because of the power in his hands. Reyes is the up and coming prospect just breaking through into that upper tier at 205. Heās 29 years old, 10-0 with 8 finishes. He was mostly on undercards until he gotĀ his big break in his last fight, facingĀ Ovince Saint Preux on the Khabib vs McGregorĀ PPV inĀ October. Not just that, he won in impressive fashion, very nearly knocking outĀ OSP in the dying seconds of the last round. This is a brilliant fight. Both have fight ending power and itās another big test for Reyes, and a different test than OSP was.Ā Ā Claudio Silva vs Danny Roberts could be the sleeper on this one. At first glance itāll probably be overlooked but itās worth takingĀ notice of. Silva is a bit of a weird case. He has a solidĀ record at 12-1, the only loss being his MMA debut, heĀ beat Nordine Taleb last May. Before that fight though, he hadnāt fought since 2014. Heād beat Leon Edwards and Brad Scott in the UFC but thenĀ had a bunch of injuries and missed a huge chunk of his career. Still, to come back after that long out and submit a tough guy like Taleb in a round, is quiteĀ impressive. Danny Roberts is 16-3, from London, won his last two and scored a big KO over Oliver Enkamp on last yearās London show.Ā Ā Molly McCann vs Priscila Cachoeira could be decent. Actually looking forward to seeing this as we didnātĀ really get to see the best of either in their last fights. McCann made her debut on the Liverpool show in May and got submitted in her own city by Gillian Robertson. Sheād been on a 6 fight win streak before that and was Cage Warriors champ. And Cachoeira came in undefeated at 8-0, made her UFC debut lastĀ February and got utterly destroyed by Valentina Shevchenko. Seriously, one of theĀ worst batterings in womenās MMA history. She got fucked up!Ā So Iām hoping we get to see more of both of these twoās games here.Ā Ā Nathaniel Wood vs Jose Alberto Quinonez is a fight Iād have expected to make the main card. Maybe it will if thereās a reshuffle. Woodās from London and heās looking like someone well worth keeping tabs on. Former Cage Warriors champion, 15-3 record with 13 finishes, exciting to watch, still only 25 years old. Heās got a lot of potential. Heās 2-0 so far in the UFC and had an excellent showing in his last fight on the Jones-Gustafsson 2 undercard in December, submitting Andre Ewell then demanding a spot on this London card. Quinonez I know less about but he was on TUF: Latin America, heās 7-2 and coming off 4 wins.Ā Ā Danny Henry vs Dan Ige will probably go under the radar but again, a solid fight. Henry is a guy nobodyās talking about but heās not gotĀ a bad little resume. Heās Scottish,Ā 12-2 with 10 finishes, and comesĀ into this fight off the back of 5 wins. Already in the UFC heās beat Hakeem Dawodu and Daniel Teymur. Not bad at all. Dan Ige is 10-2 with 7 finishes and was on Dana Whiteās Contender Series.Ā Ā Nad Narimani vs Mike Grundy is a little bit of aĀ mystery to me. I vaguely know of Narimani. Mostly because he beat Paddy Pimblett in Cage Warriors for their 145lbs titleĀ a couple of years back. Heās British of Iranian heritage,Ā 12-2 record,Ā won his last 5, fights out of Team Alpha Male. Mike Grundy is 31 years old out of Wigan.Ā 11-1 record and has fought in BAMMA and ACB. Trains at Team Kaobon with Darren Till.Ā Heās a standout wrestler and actually repped Britain and won the bronze medalĀ at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.Ā Ā Arnold Allen vs Jordan Rinaldi is one of the onlyĀ fights on the card Iām not all that bothered about. Donāt know why. Both are decent enough, it just doesnāt grab me for whatever reason. Allen is 13-1, Rinaldi is 14-6. Could be a good fight, just not getting my juices flowing. Watch it be FOTN now. Ā Joseph Duffy vs Marc Diakiese, like I said, hasnāt been confirmed as official yet but Iāve seen it rumoured in a few places as being āin the worksā. I hope it is because itās a cracking fight on paper. Duffy is mostly known for his 2010 submission win over Conor McGregor. Yeah it was ages ago and of no real relevance in 2019 but still, itāsĀ a bit of a claim to fame. Duffy has legit skills though. Heās had some setbacks but I still genuinely think he could get back in the running to be a contender. Heās still only 30, BJJ purple-belt under Firas Zahabi. Has a 16-3 MMA record, a 7-0 Pro Boxing record and a 3-0 Kickboxing record. Has sparred the likes of George Groves, Chris Eubank Jr, James DeGaleĀ andĀ Andy Lee. Heās had a rough year or so though. Got stopped by James Vick on the 2017Ā MSG PPV and missedĀ all of 2018. Hopefully he can make something happen in 2019 because heās too good to just fade away. And Diakiese should match up perfectly with Duffy for an incredible fight. Really good striker, explosive and creative in his attacks. Like Duffy though, heās hit a rough patch. He came into the UFC in 2016 undefeated and won his first 3 UFC fights, moving to 12-0. Heās since lost his last 3 fights in a row. So similar to Duffy, he needs to look good here. If this fight does get made I could easily see it stealing the show. Iād fancy Duffy to win based on being more well rounded and experienced but Diakieseās style could throw him off and make it a bit of a war.Ā Ā ThatāsĀ UFC London 2019 then. Hereās the press conference from tāother day;Ā Ā Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted February 1, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted February 1, 2019 this card is legit. Im at the Wales/Ireland game on the day so ill miss it live. Probably my favorite fight card of the year so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Chunk Posted February 1, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted February 1, 2019 Bloody hell, I'd decided to give this a miss because I can't really justify the cost. Card is the best we've had in London for years though. If that Diakiese fight was confirmed, it would probably change my mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted February 1, 2019 Author Paid Members Share Posted February 1, 2019 I mightĀ be going. I know my sister was trying to get tickets for her, her fella, me and my brotherĀ but she hasnāt got back to me yet. Iāll be a bit gutted if I donāt getĀ to this one now, to be honest. Itās not even like thereās one mega fight on there or even any real big names, but itās the quality of the card throughout. ItāsĀ rare you get a UK card where there are legitimately 3 headline worthy fightsĀ on there but I honestly think they couldāve had any of Till vs Masvidal, Edwards vs Gunnar or Volkan vs Reyes main event this. You could see any of those fights headline a Fight Night, couldnāt you? All 3 together on the one card is even better, of course.Ā Usually when they announce a UK show and the card takes shape the response to the cardĀ is negative a lot of the time. With this one though, Iāve seen nothing but positivity, and rightly so.Ā Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted February 1, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted February 1, 2019 Hey @wandshogun09Ā - if you do go, and you have a bit of time, drop me a line. Will get pints in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted February 1, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted February 1, 2019 Am I searching the wrong sites or is it really nearly Ā£200 a ticket to practically sit on the roof? Jees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted February 1, 2019 Author Paid Members Share Posted February 1, 2019 Definitely will do @CarbombĀ Iāll let you know.Ā Ā Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted February 1, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted February 1, 2019 roof tickets are usually around Ā£40. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted February 1, 2019 Author Paid Members Share Posted February 1, 2019 15 minutes ago, tiger_rick said: Am I searching the wrong sites or is it really nearly Ā£200 a ticket to practically sit on the roof? Jees. My sister is saying the same. She says itās limited to 8 tickets per person and people (scouts) seem to beĀ snapping up 8 at a time and then trying to resellĀ them for extortionate prices. Sheās been in the queue for ages with no joy. Not looking good š”Ā In better news, it looks like that Duffy vs Diakiese fight is confirmed now. Chamatkar Sandhu tweeted this earlier... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted February 1, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted February 1, 2019 3 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said: (scouts) You mean touts? Or scalpers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted February 1, 2019 Author Paid Members Share Posted February 1, 2019 Itās been a long day already, Barcomb.Ā Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted February 1, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted February 1, 2019 Ā on the subject of Marshman/Phillips. I dont think the UFC have given Marshman a gimme so much as given him an opponent that'll make for a fan friendly fight. Dont sleep on John Phillips. Hes limited and had a disastrous debut but he has frightening power for a middleweight. He KO's any 185lb'er in the world if he lands flush, 18 ko's in 21 wins, its a good return. Excellent fight. I also fear for that Safarov fighter against Saki. You cant be walking forward eating shots against Saki. He's getting sent to hell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted February 1, 2019 Author Paid Members Share Posted February 1, 2019 Fucking hell. Didnāt realise Phillips could whack like that! I didnāt think it was a gimme but definitely thought it was more of aĀ winnable fight than some of the guys heās lost to. Not so sure after watching that highlight now though. Chances are theyāre going to just slug it out and based on that highlight alone I donāt think I like Marshmanās chances very much anymore. Should be a wild fight though.Ā And yeah, I think Safarov is getting battered here. Bad. As we saw in the Villante fight, heĀ blocks punches with his face and you canāt be doing that against Gokhan Saki.Ā Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Chunk Posted February 1, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted February 1, 2019 I looked at ticket prices a few days ago and they were saying the cheapest seat was Ā£50. Cheapest seat at the O2 for MMA is looooong way back though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted February 1, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted February 1, 2019 2 hours ago, wandshogun09 said: Itās been a long day already, Barcomb.Ā Very true, Shand Wogun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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