Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted May 12, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted May 12, 2019 (edited) OK then, this oneâs only a few weeks away. Saturday 8th June in Chicago... PPV MAIN CARDHenry Cejudo vs Marlon Moraes - Vacant Bantamweight Title Valentina Shevchenko vs Jessica Eye - Flyweight Title Tony Ferguson vs Donald Cerrone Jimmie Rivera vs Petr Yan Tai Tuivasa vs Blagoy Ivanov ESPN PRELIMSTatiana Suarez vs Nina Ansaroff Aljamain Sterling vs Pedro Munhoz Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs Alexa Grasso Ricardo Lamas vs Calvin Kattar ESPN+ PRELIMSAngela Hill vs Xiaonan Yan Darren Stewart vs Bevon Lewis Eddie Wineland vs Grigory Popov Joanne Calderwood vs Katlyn Chookagian  I actually think this card has been massively slept on. Iâm as guilty of it as anyone. The addition of Ferguson vs Cowboy this week got everyoneâs attention though and it made me look at this card again and realise how good it actually is. Completely overlooked it. It doesnât have that huge blockbuster fight but for top to bottom quality, itâs a proper strong card, I think.  Henry Cejudo vs Marlon Moraes headlines. Should be a tremendous fight. This is the real silver lining for me of TJ Dillashaw getting spectacularly popped by USADA recently. Without that, this fight almost certainly wouldnât be happening now and weâd be getting Cejudo vs Dillashaw 2 instead. Maybe some wouldâve preferred that but, for me personally, Iâm all about this fight. This all started when Cejudo shocked the MMA world by ending the flyweight reign of Demetrious âMighty Mouseâ Johnson at UFC 227 last August. With that win he avenged his previous defeat to DJ, beat maybe the #1 pound-for-pound fighter in the sport and became the 125lbs champion all in one fell swoop. He also made history. As it stands today, heâs the only person on the planet to ever hold both Olympic and UFC gold. Canât see that accomplishment being matched for a long time. After that it was either a rubber match with DJ or a âsuperfightâ up at 135 with the bantamweight champ TJ Dillashaw. The curveball came when DJ signed with ONE. Shortly after that news dropped, it was announced that we would be getting a Cejudo vs Dillashaw champion vs champion fight, on Januaryâs ESPN+ debut card in Brooklyn. But there was a twist. It wouldnât be at 135 like everyone thought. TJ was coming down to flyweight with plans to take a second belt and kill off the 125 division altogether. The assumption was that the UFC wanted out of the flyweight business and were using Dillashaw as sort of a âhired gunâ to take the title and just go back up to bantamweight, essentially dissolving the flyweight strap. Didnât exactly work out. Henry done him in. 32 seconds is all it took. TKO. Dillashaw cried early stoppage but the majority of the MMA fighters, media and fans thought the stoppage was good. Turned out that was the least of TJâs worries but weâll get to that in a minute. Cejudo remained the 125lbs King. And coming off back-to-back wins over Johnson and Dillashaw, and with no obvious next challenger at flyweight, he could pretty much call his next shot. The thinking was heâd move up to 135 for a crack at Dillashawâs belt in a rematch. Turned out TJ had been a busy boy though. USADA came knocking and popped him for a bunch of dodgy shit, including EPO. And that was it. Done. A wrap. Just like that heâs gone for the next 2 years. While all this was going on, a new bantamweight contender had emerged. Although he wasnât actually ânewâ. Marlon Moraes had been knocking around for years. He turned pro in 2007 and after a hot and cold start to his MMA career, he found a home in the World Series Of Fighting promotion in 2012 and never looked back. His first big break came in his WSOF debut when he won a decision over UFC/WEC veteran Miguel Torres, who was a real pioneer of the lighter weightclasses. He won 4 more fights before becoming the first ever WSOF bantamweight champion in 2014. From there he went on a 6 fight winning streak, with 5 finishes, and by the end of 2016 heâd successfully defended his title 5 times. Safe to say that after a rocky start to his career, heâd found his form. He came into WSOF with a 7-4-1 record. By the end of 2016 heâd gone 11-0 in WSOF, and was 18-4-1 overall. It was only a matter of time before the call came. Moraes made his Octagon debut on the undercard of Aldo vs Holloway 1 in June 2017. He was matched with crafty vet Raphael Assuncao and lost a controversial split decision. I had Moraes winning, as did pretty much all the MMA media who scored it. But whatever. Moraes bounced back with a points win over John Dodson, then it began. Moraes went on a tear. First he did THAT to Aljamain Sterling. In just 1:07 of the first round. He followed that up with a 33 second KO over Jimmie Rivera. A man who was coming in on a 20 fight winning streak and had never been stopped. 33 seconds. Then in February this year, Moraes got a rematch with Assuncao, the man who ruined his UFC debut. In a little over 3 minutes, Moraes dropped him and had him tapping to a guillotine choke. Assuncao hadnât been finished in 8 years and hadnât been submitted in 9, going all the way back to his WEC days. Moraes made it look easy. To submit a BJJ black-belt like that was very impressive. If there were âOctagon jittersâ in his first couple of UFC outings, heâs clearly shaken them off based on his last 3 fights. So with Dillashaw on the naughty step and out of the picture for the foreseeable future, the 135 gold was now vacant. As the man whoâd just beat TJ and was likely next in line, Cejudo made sense to challenge for it. And nobody deserved the opportunity to be in the other corner more than Moraes. The fight got made official and itâs on. Clearly donât like each other very much, do they? This is an amazing fight on paper. There are only 3 ways I can envision this - a quick finish for Cejudo, a quick finish for Moraes, or all-out war. Theyâre both that perfect mix of speed, power, technique and aggression. Iâd love to see Moraes crack Lego Henry and put the cringey, cocky little fuck out but heâs going to be a hard puzzle to solve and he always has that x-factor in the Olympic gold winning wrestling in his back pocket.  Valentina Shevchenko vs Jessica Eye is a bit of a weird one to me. Womenâs flyweight is a division with some good fighters in it but just not enough depth. Jessica Eye is a pretty good fighter, but letâs be honest, sheâs getting this shot because thereâs a lack of contenders at 125 at the moment. Iâm a huge fan of Shevchenko though so Iâm into it on that level. Sheâs a stone cold killer. Her fighting abilities speak for themselves. Black-belts in Taekwondo and Judo, âMaster Of Sportsâ (that always sounds cool) in Muay Thai and Boxing, a 56-2 Kickboxing record, a 2-0 Boxing record and currently holds a 16-3 MMA record. And the UFC flyweight title. She beat Joanna Jedrzejczyk in December to win the vacant title. Sheâs also beat Holly Holm and has taken Amanda Nunes the distance twice in close fights. Sheâs the only woman Nunes hasnât been able to finish in the UFC. On top of all that, the way she carries herself is badass as fuck. She doesnât really talk shit, but she damn well doesnât take any either. Hello. Jessica Eye hasnât had the best of UFC careers. She signed in 2013 and came into the UFC bantamweight division with a tidy 10-1 MMA record (as a flyweight). But to say she floundered on the big stage would be a gross understatement. She went a miserable 1-5-1 in her first 7 UFC fights between 2013 and 2016. A couple were close decisions where she arguably got a raw deal with the judging but regardless, she was sinking fast. She was always a decent fighter skills-wise and for that reason I often said on here that I thought she was better than her record showed. But something just wasnât working for her in terms of getting results to go her way. She didnât fight at all in 2017 and by the time she returned, the UFC had added a womenâs flyweight division. Eye dropped back to her natural weightclass and immediately found success. As a flyweight again, Eye went 3-0 in 2018. She didnât look amazing in these decision wins but it was a massive leap in the right direction considering where she was at 135. Like I said though, I just canât see how Eye wins this. Sheâs got decent boxing and sheâs tough but itâs nothing Shevchenko wonât have seen countless times before. Eyeâs talking a good game though; âIâm not a pushover. We all know Valentina is an incredible Muay Thai specialist. We know she loves to kick, we know she loves spinning techniques. Weâve seen her grind people up against the cage, weâve seen her on the ground, weâve seen her finish someone on the ground. Sheâs very versatile in that way. She brings years of experience to it. The difference between me and her is Iâve taken my weaknesses and made them my strengths. She has just taken her strengths and tried to make them stronger, she doesnât take what sheâs not good at and make it stronger.â âOne of her biggest weaknesses is her ability to adjust to the fighter sheâs fighting and do something different. I think being versatile and being a true martial artist wins this flyweight title and keeps me champion for a really long time.â That didnât fall on deaf ears. Shevchenko heard it and she isnât having it; âI think she doesnât know what sheâs speaking about. Because itâs like, not make sense. To lack to adjust? It doesnât make sense at all. If I need to go hard, I can go hard. If I need to wait a little bit, I will wait. If I have to go striking, I will go to strike. If I have to go down, I will go down. So this is my version of adjustments. I have a lot of techniques to choose what I will play against you. This is, in my mind, the adjustments. That you are not just adjusting because you donât have the opportunity to do something else. No. Youâre just choosing the right weapon against your opponent. And this is what, every time, I am doing. Maybe sheâs saying words, but she doesnât know what exactly this means.â Boom Roasted. Yeah, I think Eyeâs getting battered here. Sheâs not a bad fighter and sheâs tough so I could see her lasting a bit but is that good news? Remember the mauling poor Priscila Cachoeira took when she âlasted a bitâ against Shev?  Tony Ferguson vs Donald Cerrone is ***WANDâS ONE TO WATCH***, thereâs just no getting around it. Pretty much any card this landed on itâd be my one to watch. Itâs just one of those fights that gets announced and you instantly cancel any plans you might have had for that night. It does seem quick for Ferguson to be back in there after those scary recent stories about his personal issues though. Hopefully thatâs under control because if heâs in a good place now this could very well be the FOTY and itâs all there for the taking for Ferguson to finally get himself into an undeniable position as the next challenger for the Khabib vs Poirier winner, or whatever theyâve got cooking. Heâs got to get past the best version of Donald Cerrone weâve ever seen though. Cowboy has been a different man since his son was born. It really seems to have given him that kick up the arse to go and get that belt. Heâs looked better than ever lately. His performance against Al Iaquinta the other week was one of his career best by far. This is going to be nuts. Itâs a shame really that this fight is going to eliminate one of them from the title race for a bit, because theyâve both worked so hard to get there.  Jimmie Rivera vs Petr Yan is a real darkhorse potential show stealer, IMO. Rivera really needs a win here as heâs lost 2 of his last 3 fights. Like I said earlier though, he was riding a 20 fight win streak not too long ago with wins over Urijah Faber, Thomas Almeida and Pedro Munhoz among them. Iâm pretty high on Yan though myself. Think heâs ace. Heâs 12-1, former ACB champ, has won 7 in a row and heâs gone 4-0 in the UFC in less than a year. Quality striker, looks to have a solid ground game from what Iâve seen and heâs got that cool stoic mini Cro Cop vibe about him.  Tai Tuivasa vs Blagoy Ivanov should kick off the PPV with a bang. This has no right going to a decision really, does it? Two big heavy hitting sluggers throwing hands. If it does go to the cards itâs probably going to be one of those ugly heavyweight brawls where they both gas and just keep trying to take each othersâ head off. Tuivasa is coming off his first loss to JDS, so itâll be interesting to see if that effects his approach here. Ivanov is a tough rebound fight as well.  Tatiana Suarez vs Nina Ansaroff wouldâve been my âone to watchâ if Ferguson vs Cerrone wasnât added to this card. Really looking forward to this one. Ansaroff I can take or leave. Sheâs decent and sheâs on a good 4 fight streak with wins over Claudia Gadelha and Randa Markos in her last 2. Itâs Suarez Iâm excited about though. Sheâs probably the best wrestler in the womenâs game right now. She was all set to go to the London Olympics in 2012 but a neck injury took her out. Since then sheâs won TUF and is undefeated at 7-0 with wins over Carla Esparza, Alexa Grasso and Cancer. Thatâs not a typo. She fought the Big C and won! Sheâs been called âthe female Khabibâ a fair bit due to her relentless and non-stop grappling style. I really think sheâs going to be a problem for a lot of fighters. We havenât had a wrestler of her quality in the womenâs game yet. Only Sara McMann but she was arguably past her physical prime a little bit, Suarez is still only 28. I think sheâs going to force the bar to be raised a bit in terms of grappling.  Aljamain Sterling vs Pedro Munhoz is another cracking battle of bantamweights. This might actually be the âbackupâ fight. Munhoz has said that if Cejudo or Moraes drop out, heâs stepping in. Whether thatâs something heâs been told officially from the top or what, who knows, but it would make sense. Heâs coming off 3 wins, including that big knockout win over Cody Garbrandt so heâd be the frontrunner. Sterling has won 3 in a row himself, outpointing Jimmie Rivera last time out. Expecting a good fight here. Not sure which way it goes. Sterling is a handful when heâs on but I think Munhoz is a bit more consistent in his performances.  Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs Alexa Grasso could be fun. Poland vs Mexico. These 2 came into the UFC with a lot of promise but theyâve both struggled of late. Kowalkiewicz has had her moments. She beat Rose Namajunas and got a title shot against Joanna Jedrzejczyk and managed to drop Joanna at one point. But sheâs had some bad losses since then. The KO she suffered against Jessica Andrade was vicious. Grasso has really flopped though. She came in from Invicta as a 23 year old unbeaten Mexican prospect at 8-0. Sheâs gone 2-2 since. I mean, sheâs still young, she still has time and could make something happen. And one of those losses was to Tatiana Suarez. But she fizzled out quick after the initial bit of buzz when she signed. I expect Kowalkiewicz to win this. Sheâs mixed at a higher level and done well and Iâm just not convinced by Grasso yet. Hopefully itâs a good fight either way, the last thing either of them need now is a dud.  Ricardo Lamas vs Calvin Kattar is another potential sleeper on a card pretty full of them. Iâve felt like Lamasâ best days have been gone for a while and at 36, they probably are. But on a given day he can still turn it on. He stopped the insanely tough Darren Elkins in his last fight so heâs still got some ammo left. Kattar has a bit of the Carl Frochâs about him, doesnât he? Or is it just me? Heâs a bit underrated, I think. 19-3 record with finishes over Chris Fishgold and Shane Burgos in the UFC. Could be a good one, this.  Angela Hill vs Xiaonan Yan Iâm neither her nor there on really. Hill I mostly remember for her war with Jessica Andrade a couple of years back. She hasnât had the best run of results though. Currently 9-6 and has lost most of the times sheâs faced someone whoâs any good. Yan is doing well at 10-1, I just havenât seen enough of her.  Darren Stewart vs Bevon Lewis could be an exciting one. Stewart is usually in good scraps. His fight with Julian Marquez in 2017 is one of the best forgotten wars of the last few years. Lewis is 6-1 out of Jackson-Wink. Made his UFC debut in December and was beating Uriah Hall before Hall scored a comeback KO in the last round. Potential fireworks here.  Eddie Wineland vs Grigory Popov is a mystery to me. Wineland hasnât fought in almost a year and he lost his last 2. Popov is making his debut. From what I read heâs 14-2 out of Russia and as you can see there, collects titles for fun. Just watched a little clip of his last fight and he murdered some poor cunt with leg kicks until he tapped out. Iâll check this out.  Joanne Calderwood vs Katlyn Chookagian, like Sterling vs Munhoz, might be here serving as a âbackupâ plan in case Shevchenko or Eye get injured. Calderwood would be the obvious choice to throw in there. Sheâs coming off 2 solid wins since moving up to 125 after struggling at 115. Iâd fancy her to beat Chookagian but Iâm not exactly confident as Calderwood has been hit and miss and Chookagian isnât the easiest to look good against. I like what Iâve seen from Calderwood at flyweight so far though so hopefully she keeps it going.  I think thatâs a real gem of a card. Ferguson vs Cowboy goes without saying but I also love the little unofficial bantamweight tournament theyâve got going. And theyâve done a good job of making sure there are backups for both title fights if they need them by having Pedro Munhoz and Joanne Calderwood on the undercard. Good stuff. Iâm into almost every fight there on some level. Edited June 6, 2019 by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members WeeAl Posted May 14, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted May 14, 2019 (edited) This is a really nice looking card with some real potential to deliver several great fights. The main event could be brilliant. The Co-Main is likely to be a Valentina showcase. Ferguson Vs Cerrone is madness. Rivera Vs Yan is unlikely to be a tepid affair. If Tuivasa brings the heat, then I'd imagine Ivanov will be happy to repay in kind. That could be a HW borefest, depending on how fast Tuivasa comes out of the blocks though. If he starts like he did against JDS, then one of them will go to sleep early. Edited May 14, 2019 by WeeAl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted May 14, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted May 14, 2019 Lots to like here. Still dont know why they aint going with Tuivasa/Willis though, that fight has made itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted May 19, 2019 Author Paid Members Share Posted May 19, 2019 Nice Ferguson vs Cerrone promo here that aired on the RDA-Lee show last night; Still havenât quite wrapped my head around the fact that weâre seeing this fight in just 3 weeks time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted May 24, 2019 Author Paid Members Share Posted May 24, 2019 As always, I feel dirty linking to Shit For Brains Schaub but this is really good. Food Truck Diaries with Tatiana Suarez; If youâre not familiar with her story itâs really worth giving this a watch. Amazing that sheâs bounced back from a severe neck injury and cancer to where she is now. Even if you knew all that, itâs worth your 30 minutes. Really interesting and she comes off really cool and likeable. If she gets past Ansaroff here I canât wait to see how she matches up with the likes of Jedrzejczyk, maybe Namajunas, Waterson and eventually Andrade. Sheâs inexperienced compared to the others but I think her wrestling kind of negates a lot of that and sheâs bringing something that the rest of the division doesnât really have yet in that mauling grappling style. You know itâs a good interview when Iâm linking to Schaub. These Food Truck Diary interviews are the best things he does by far, IMO. The Ngannou one was class as well and Iâve just seen his got one with Dustin Poirier up now as well. He needs to do more stuff like this and keep his gob shut when it comes to things he clearly knows sod all about. Like Boxing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted May 26, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted May 26, 2019 yeh hes a decent interviewer, hes done a few of those Food Truck Diaries with boxers too, its good stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted June 3, 2019 Author Paid Members Share Posted June 3, 2019 Days away now. Days away from Ferguson vs Cowboy! That really is the âpeopleâs main eventâ on this one, isnât it? As good a fight as Cejudo vs Moraes is, and as solid as this card looks throughout, Ferguson vs Cerrone is the one I keep thinking about. How do you lot see the top 3 fights going? Of the 3, I think obviously the womenâs fight is the easiest to call. Just canât see Shevchenko having too much hassle with Eye. But Cejudo vs Moraes, Iâm close to 50-50 on. And Ferguson vs Cerrone...fuck knows. If it happened a year ago Iâd be leaning heavily to Ferguson. Still probably give him the edge now, to be fair. But with his time out and personal problems plus Cowboy really hitting another level lately, itâs a more interesting fight now that itâd have been at any other time for me. Iâm going Moraes (just a gut feeling), Shevchenko and Ferguson. Today anyway. Iâll probably change my mind 2 or 3 times before Saturday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 With some trepidation, I am picking Ferguson. I doubt it will go the distance. Both are no strangers to getting buzzed in fights. And both are strong finishers. I just think, despite Cerrone's momentum, that Ferguson is more likely to get the better of the exchanges and finish the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members WeeAl Posted June 3, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted June 3, 2019 We're moving house this week so we have our hands full, so I won't get taking in any of the build up for this one most likely. However, on Saturday I'm running a marathon in the Mournes, so come Sunday I plan on doing the sum total of fuck all and I shan't be getting disturbed on Sunday morning, while I soak this bad boy in - along with a proper fry up for the inevitable hangover. Anyway. . . . . . Moraes is so hot at the minute that I can't pick against him, at his weight class. Marlon by devastating KO. Having said that, Lego man has that undeniable Olympic Gold medallist will to win and is getting better at an alarming rate. As well as that, I only give value to his loss to DJ. I haven't the faintest clue how he didn't get the decision in the Benavidez fight, I thought that was clear as day a win for Cejudo at the time. It's a crazily close fight on paper I think, but I'm still picking Marlon. Shevchenko, and without much difficulty. Ferguson by decision. Being a three round fight, I think it'll go the full way. If it was a five rounder I might actually be more inclined to pick Cerrone, with how active he has been while Ferguson has been dealing with his injury and personal issues. Over three rounds though, if Tony starts strong against the usually slow to get going Cerrone, then he should win - if he is still the man that he has been during his ridiculous run. I agree with @wandshogun09 with this one though - it's a lot harder to call than it would have been a year ago when Cowboy was having mixed results at WW.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted June 6, 2019 Author Paid Members Share Posted June 6, 2019 Brett Okamoto bringing the heat again with the sitdown interviews. Donald Cerrone; Tony Ferguson; This fight has completely overshadowed the two title fights on this card. Should serve as proof to the powers that be that there doesnât have to be a title on the line for a fight to resonate. Thereâs no way of knowing for sure but I bet, however this does on PPV, more people will be buying this to see Cerrone vs Ferguson than the 2 title matches combined. And I love the Cejudo vs Moraes fight. Cowboy vs Ferguson is the unofficial main event though. Bit gutted they donât have 5 rounds, to be honest. But yeah, watch these. Okamoto is the best thing about this ESPN deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted June 6, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted June 6, 2019 Cejudo is out of control... Â Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted June 6, 2019 Author Paid Members Share Posted June 6, 2019 Yeah. The cringe is strong on this one. Hereâs Jessica Eye trying to outdo Cejudo. And realise she tweeted this herself. May be even more brutal to watch than the beating sheâs about to catch from Shevchenko. Takes some doing to be on the same card as Henry Cejudo and be as facepalmy as that dork. But sheâs managed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted June 6, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted June 6, 2019 i want Shevchenko to win purely off the back of that video. Holly Holm started a horrible trend with the open workout dance thing she did a while back, now all the women do kooky shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted June 7, 2019 Author Paid Members Share Posted June 7, 2019 More from Brett Okamoto. Interview with Dana; Interview with Tatiana Suarez; And a bonus Valentina Shevchenko interview from MMAJunkie;  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ColinBollocks Posted June 7, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted June 7, 2019 Cejudo appears to exists solely to wind up David. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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