UFC Mexico: Rodriguez vs Stephens - Sep 21 🇲🇽

[wandshogun09]

Saturday 21st September in Mexico City. 

ESPN+ MAIN CARD
Yair Rodriguez vs Jeremy Stephens 

Carla Esparza vs Alexa Grasso 

Brandon Moreno vs Askar Askarov 

Irene Aldana vs Vanessa Melo 

Martin Bravo vs Steven Peterson

 

ESPN+ PRELIMS
José Alberto Quiñónez vs Carlos Huachin

Marco Polo Reyes vs Kyle Nelson

Angela Hill vs Ariane Carnelossi

Sergio Pettis vs Tyson Nam 

Paul Craig vs Vinicius Moreira 

Sijara Eubanks vs Bethe Correia

Cláudio Puelles vs Marcos Rosa Mariano 

 

Not the best of cards but it’s OK. The main event is a pretty safe bet to be awesome and there’s a couple of decent prelims there. When this card was announced though, there were rumours of a Yair Rodriguez vs Zabit Magomedsharipov headliner and there was also some talk of Korean Zombie vs Brian Ortega. Shame those fights never got made. A double-header of those two would’ve made this show a must-see. Oh well. 

 

Yair Rodriguez vs Jeremy Stephens tops this one. And what a fight it should be. Yair Rodriguez has long been considered one of the most promising prospects in all of MMA. But he’s been so inactive over the last few years that he’s kind of stifled his own rise up the ranks. He’s only fought 4 times over the last 3 years! He made up for it in his last fight though. He took on Korean Zombie in November on the UFC’s 25th Anniversary show in Denver. And they delivered one of the best fights of 2018. It was a bit of a war and both had their moments. But as the fight drew to a close the Zombie was pulling ahead. Then it happened. 

At 4:59 of the 5th round, ONE second to go in the fight, Yair threw an upward elbow, blind, and knocked Zombie out cold. Talk about snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. Maybe the nuttiest KO in UFC history. If the fight had gone literally one second longer, KZ would’ve almost certainly won on the scorecards. Again though, inactivity, Yair hasn’t fought since. It’s been about 10 months. 

In Jeremy Stephens he faces maybe the heaviest handed man in the lighter weight classes. Stephens puts people to sleep in a way featherweights just don’t do typically. Some of his knockouts have been the stuff of UFC highlight reels for years. And he’s been laying bodies out forever. That uppercut KO on Dos Anjos was 2008, for fuck’s sake. He’s coming into this fight off back-to-back losses to Aldo and Zabit though, so he needs to bounce back in style here. But taking on Yair in Mexico is going to be a challenge. Should be an incredible fight whatever happens.

 

Carla Esparza vs Alexa Grasso is the co-main according to the poster. Don’t really know what to make of this. Esparza is never much fun to watch but she’s generally pretty effective at what she does. She was the first Strawweight champ, former Invicta champ, TUF winner etc. She’s a twat though and I still love seeing the clips of when Joanna Jedrzejczyk battered her. Grasso is the hometown girl in Mexico, of course. She’s got a fan friendly style and she beat Karolina Kowalkiewicz in a really fun fight at UFC 238 in June. She’d had a hit and miss run prior to that but the Kowalkiewicz fight felt like she turned a corner a bit for me. We’ll see. I hope she beats Esparza anyway. 

 

Brandon Moreno vs Askar Askarov is ***WAND’S ONE TO WATCH***. Could be fun. I quite like Moreno so I’m glad he’s back in the UFC. He’s 25 years old with a 15-5 record. And he’s got some solid wins over the likes of Dustin Ortiz and Louis Smolka. He’s had some setbacks with injuries which have held him back but hopefully they’re behind him now and he can crack on. The UFC aren’t giving him a warm homecoming though. Askarov is undefeated at 10-0, all finishes. He’s fought in the ACB promotion, I think. 

 

Irene Aldana vs Marion Reneau is of no relevance really but it’s an OK fight. Aldana usually brings it. She had a crazy fight with Leslie Smith a while back and dragged Bethe Correia to an enjoyable scrap in May. Reneau has had moments herself. She’s got submission wins over Jessica Andrade and Sara McMann on her record. But at 42 and coming off 2 losses, she’s on the slide at this point. Aldana should be winning this really. 

 

Jose Alberto Quiñónez vs Carlos Huachin is just there really. Haven’t seen much of either. Quiñónez is 7-3 and got subbed by Nathaniel Wood on the London card in March. Huachin is 10-4-1 and got TKO’d by Raoni Barcelos at UFC 237 in May. 

 

Polo Reyes vs Kyle Nelson is filler. They’re both coming off 2 losses. Reyes is 8-6, Nelson is 12-3. Reyes is generally in exciting fights though and from bits I’ve seen of Nelson he’s up for a scrap too. Could be alright prelim fodder.

 

Angela Hill vs Ariane Carnelossi doesn’t interest me much. Hill has pretty good striking but I don’t rate her much overall in terms of her all-round MMA game. At 9-7 and having gone 1-3 in her last 4, this could be it for her in the UFC if she doesn’t get the win. Carnelossi is making her debut. She’s Brazilian, 26 years old and 12-1 with 9 finishes. Mostly knockouts. 

 

Sergio Pettis vs Alex Perez isn’t really filling me with anticipation, to be honest, but it could be good. Just can’t into Sergio’s fights in the same way I do for his brother’s. The comparison isn’t kind to Sergio unfortunately but it’s one that will always be there. He’s decent but I just can’t see him ever getting over that hump. Sounds harsh and he is still only 25 but I don’t know, I just can’t see him ever putting it together and making a real run. He’s 17-5 now and has lost 3 of his last 4. Despite his talent, it’s just not panning out for him. Perez is 22-5 and has apparently fought 5 times in the UFC. I have no memory of him at all. He got done in a round by Benavidez so I probably saw that but nothing is springing to mind.

 

Paul Craig vs Vinicius Moreira might be worth a look. After coming into the UFC unbeaten and looking promising, I think it’s clear now that Craig isn’t likely to get very far in the UFC’s 205 division. But he’s certainly provided some moments. His submission wins from the jaws of defeat were nuts. One in the last second of the fight. The submission equivalent of Yair’s KO against the Zombie! Moreira is 9-3 and a big old lump at 6’4”. He’s struggled in the Octagon though. He’s gone 0-2 and Alonzo Menifield and Eryk Anders both stopped him in a round. Can see the loser of this one getting their walking papers, to be honest. 

 

Sijara Eubanks vs Bethe Correia, I’m not arsed about. I’ve never really enjoyed watching either of them. Eubanks is 4-3 and coming off a decision loss to Aspen Ladd in a close fight. Correia is 10-4-1 and hasn’t won a fight in 3 years. She’s mostly remembered for being Ronda Rousey’s last win. 

 

Cláudio Puelles vs Marcos Rosa Mariano. Don’t know either really. Puelles is 8-2 with 7 finishes and won his last fight with a kneebar. I’ve only Mariano once and he got schooled by Lando Vannata. Not much to go on. 

 

UFC Mexico. 

 

Edited September 14, 2019 by wandshogun09

[Cousin Jim Bob]

Its funny I was reading your write up for UFC 230 a few days ago, as I rewatched Cormier vs Lewis. I was reminded off and kind of feel sorry for Sijara Eubanks. She must have been over the moon when told she was going to main event MSG against Shevchenko. Then when its announced the backlash is horrendous, including Rogan saying he has no idea who she is on his podcast. Her title shot is cancelled and she misses weight to make things worse in her replacement fight. Now less than a year later here she is, now fighting halfway down the prelims on a forgettable fight night in Mexico.

With her record thats probably about right but it shows how brutal the sport can be.

[wandshogun09]

Yeah it’s an unforgiving game. She’s done herself no favours with the couple of weight misses at key times. If she’d come in on weight for that MSG fight against Modafferi, maybe they’d have rescheduled her title shot for a later date. Missing weight probably shelved that though. 

In fairness, I remember thinking she might’ve won the Aspen Ladd fight in May but it was scored Ladd’s way. Wasn’t a robbery or anything but I felt like Eubanks was a bit unlucky to not get the nod. She’ll probably beat Correia, I reckon, but that’s more me not rating Correia than any real confidence in Sarge. 

[wandshogun09]

Alex Perez is out of the show with an injury. So the UFC have signed Tyson Nam to replace him and fight Sergio Pettis. 

I’m more into that fight than the original. Can’t say I’ve seen Nam recently but I remember him being quite exciting and he’ll always stick out to me from when he scored a shock KO over then Bellator champ Eduardo Dantas during the Bjorn Rebney regime. 

[David]

Decent little card in my opinion that has snuck up on us somewhat due to the great fights we've had of late.

Obviously I'll be rooting for big Paul Craig, but I don't hold out much hope. I think he could have done with looking into training camps in the US with more established coaches to be honest, because as great as the guys are that got him here, Coatbridge isn't exactly a hotbed of MMA talent. Calderwood has come on leaps and bounds since she decided to make the move from Scotland to Montreal, and I think Craig will look back on it as an opportunity squandered to be honest. 

The main event should be a decent fight, Jeremy Stephens, despite being a complete prick by some accounts, is always exciting to watch.

[Egg Shen]

Paul Craig is the Scottish Sam Alvey. He seems to be on every other card.

[David]

10 hours ago, Egg Shen said:

Paul Craig is the Scottish Sam Alvey.

I'll tell him that. He'll hunt you down like a Scottish Liam Neeson.

[Carbomb]

2 hours ago, David said:

I'll tell him that. He'll hunt you down like a Scottish Liam Neeson.

I didn't know Egg was black

[David]

3 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

I didn't know Egg was black

Craig's Scottish, Ebb's English. That's worse.

[wandshogun09]

I think Ebb’s Welsh, David. 

[David]

Just now, wandshogun09 said:

I think Ebb’s Welsh, David. 

Is there a difference?

[wandshogun09]

[Egg Shen]

😳

[wandshogun09]

Got a bad feeling Stephens catches Yair and puts him out tonight. Really hope I’m wrong because he’s a fucking twat and I like Yair, but it’s a gut feeling. I think Yair is the better overall striker but I don’t know, I can see him getting clipped. 

Did anyone see the Brian Ortega media scrum from Mexico? 

Sounds like that beating from Holloway was a real eye opener to him. Didn’t know the plan was for Yair vs Ortega to headline tonight’s show. I’d heard the Yair vs Zabit and Ortega vs Zombie talk but not Yair vs Ortega. Would’ve been incredible. Sounds like Ortega wasn’t ready though. I actually like that he’s taken some time out after that Holloway loss. That was a bad beating. Rushing back too soon might’ve been the worst thing he could’ve done and been counterproductive. 

I’ve actually been seeing some negativity recently towards Ortega with divs saying he’s ducked the Zombie and stuff. I think people are forgetting that this is a man who knocked out Frankie Edgar on about 2 weeks notice. But yeah, he’s a fanny apparently. Hopefully that Zombie fight gets made soon. 

Pretty solid looking show tonight, I think. Can’t see Yair vs Stephens being anything less than at least exciting. It’s got FOTN written all over it. Then you’ve got Alexa Grasso, Brandon Moreno, Irene Aldana and Paul Craig who are all usually in entertaining fights. Askarov is 10-0 with 10 finishes and Carnelossi is a finisher. Quite interested in seeing Tyson Nam against Little Pettis as well. 

 

[jimufctna24]

Oh dear: