UFC Tampa: Jedrzejczyk vs Waterson - Oct 12 🇺🇸

[wandshogun09]

On Saturday 12th October the Octagon descends on Tampa, Florida with this beauty...

ESPN+ MAIN CARD
Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs Michelle Waterson 

Cub Swanson vs Kron Gracie 

James Vick vs Niko Price 

Mackenzie Dern vs Amanda Ribas

Luis Peña vs Matt Frevola

Eryk Anders vs Gerald Meerschaert

 

ESPN+ PRELIMS
Ryan Spann vs Devin Clark

Thomas Gifford vs Mike Davis

Max Griffin vs Alex Morono 

Deiveson Figueiredo vs Tim Elliott

Marlon Vera vs Andre Ewell

Hector Aldana vs Miguel Baeza

Marvin Vettori vs Andrew Sanchez 

JJ Aldrich vs Lauren Mueller

 

I like that. Some of the prelims are a bit cack but there’s a good 4 or 5 fights there that I’m looking forward to and a couple of interesting debuts from the Contender Series guys. Overall this is a better card than UFC 243 for me. This lot as an undercard for Whittaker vs Adesanya would’ve been ace. Oh well. 

 

Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs Michelle Waterson headlines. Really like this fight. They’ve both been two of my favourite women fighters to watch over the years so it’ll be cool to see them face each other. Jedrzejczyk is back at Strawweight for this one. She went up to 125lbs to challenge Valentina Shevchenko for the Flyweight Title in December but lost a clear decision. 115lbs is where she ruled anyway. She was a dominant champion at Strawweight beating the likes of Jessica Andrade, Karolina Kowalkiewicz, Cláudia Gadelha twice and Carla Esparza. The only blemishes on her Strawweight record are the two losses to Rose Namajunas. Waterson is one of the more experienced women in the game. She’s been around since before the Rousey era when women’s MMA blew up. She’s 17-6 now, former Invicta Atomweight champ and comes into this fight off 3 consecutive wins. With Rose off the scene at the moment and Andrade coming off getting smashed by Weili Zhang in China, the division is wide open and this fight could well determine the next challenger for Zhang’s newly won belt.

 

Cub Swanson vs Kron Gracie is ***WAND’S ONE TO WATCH*** and a fight I absolutely love the sound of. Swanson is 35 years old now and has had a long career full of hard fights. He’s in a tough spot in his career now, having lost 4 fights on the trot. So this is a real must win situation for him. He’s a dangerous guy though and I wouldn’t write him off just yet. Gracie is obviously the new kid on the block but being the son of the legendary Rickson Gracie brings its own pressure that he’s had to deal with all his life. Kron, as you’d expect from a Gracie, is a top class grappler and BJJ black-belt. He’s also 5-0 so far in MMA with 5 submissions, 4 inside a round. He tapped out Bruce Leroy in his UFC debut in February. This is a big step up for Gracie but a logical one. And while Cub’s coming off 4 losses, they were at a high level. He’s been in with the likes of Holloway, Aldo, Edgar, Ortega, Poirier etc. He’s got a massive edge in terms of the level of opposition he’s faced. But it’s a double-edged sword as, in gaining that experience, he’s taken a lot of damage over the years in those battles. Fascinating matchup.

 

James Vick vs Niko Price should be all kinds of chaos. This would’ve been my ‘one to watch’ if it wasn’t for Swanson vs Gracie. Looking forward to this one a lot. Vick is coming off 3 losses on the bounce so there’s always a chance he tries to fight safe. And I wouldn’t blame him. But I’m not sure it’s possible to fight safe against Niko Price. The man’s a maniac. Lost to Geoff Neal in his last fight but Price is so wild and great to watch win or lose. This should be no different. 

 

Mackenzie Dern vs Amanda Ribas will be worth a look. Dern came into MMA with a fair bit of hype due to her looks and her BJJ credentials. In that order. She’s a black-belt and has all sorts of gold medals from her time competing in the ADCC and World Jiu-Jitsu Championships. She made the jump to MMA in 2016, went 5-0 and the UFC signed her up. She barely beat Ashley Yoder in a crappy fight in her UFC debut but subbed Amanda Cooper in impressive fashion in the first round in her next fight. So 7-0 now. She’s recently had a baby, so that’s why she’s been out for a while. But she’s back now. Although, she’s missed weight a few times already. Can only imagine that’s going to be harder now she’s had a baby. Ribas is Brazilian, 7-1 with 6 finishes. Don’t know much about her but she’s got to be the toughest test for Dern to date on paper.

 

Luis Peña vs Matt Frevola could be good prelim fodder. Peña isn’t bad. He was on TUF a while ago, 7-1 record and just battered the returning Matt Wiman in May. At 6’3”, he’s a massive 155er. I haven’t seen much of Frevola but he’s a Serra-Longo guy, 7-1-1, took Lando Vannata to a draw and beat Jalin Turner in his last fight.

 

Eryk Anders vs Gerald Meerschaert could be a bit of a darkhorse one to watch. Anders is 12-4, a heavy hitter, tough guy, former football player. His record is slightly misleading, IMO. I had him winning against both Lyoto Machida and Elias Theodorou. Meerschaert is no title contender but he can be a tricky customer. Trains out of Roufusport, BJJ black-belt, experienced at 29-11. Solid matchup here.

 

Ryan Spann vs Devin Clark is a clash of two of the lesser talked about 205ers. Decent fight though. Spann is 28 years old, a good sized LHW at 6’5” and has a 16-5 record with 14 finishes. He notched the biggest win of his career on the UFC 237 undercard in May, knocking out Antonio Rogério Nogueira in about 2 minutes. Clark is 29 with a 10-3 record. I mostly remember him as the guy who was giving Aleksandar Rakic problems early in their fight before Rakic turned it around. I expect Spann to win here but I think it’ll be alright while it lasts. 

 

Erm...Brok Weaver vs Thomas Gifford then. Just look at these two. It’s like a Poundland Gene Simmons vs Garth from Wayne’s World. From what I’m reading Weaver was on Dana’s Contender Series, he’s 27 years old and has a 13-4 record. Has a win over Charles ‘Krazy Horse’ Bennett which I might have to look for a video of. Apparently he’s got quite a personality and stole the show with an interview or something on DWCS that won Dana over. Gifford is 14-8-0-2 and nearly all his wins were by submission. Lost his Octagon debut to Roosevelt Roberts in April but I rate Roberts. Strangely intrigued to see this fight now. 

 

Max Griffin vs Alex Morono might be decent. Griffin had a cracking hidden gem against Thiago Alves on one of the undercards early this year. Real good fight. He also has a win over Mike Perry. He’s 15-6 now. Morono I’m less familiar with. He’s been about a while though. 16-5-1 record and coming off a couple of wins. 

 

Deiveson Figueiredo vs Tim Elliott should be an all-action Flyweight tussle. I really like this fight actually. Figueiredo is one of the more exciting 125lbers on the roster for me. His striking is vicious. He’s 16-1 with the only loss coming against Jussier Formiga. And Elliott is a handful at the best of times. He’s been in and out of the UFC and has mostly lost whenever he’s stepped up to the elite level but he did give Mighty Mouse probably his hardest defence during his reign as UFC champion. Good fight. 

 

Marlon Vera vs Andre Ewell is another one that might be alright but I’m not really bothered about. Vera is usually pretty good to watch, to be fair. He’s 14-5-1 and riding a 4 fight win-streak. Had a good scrap with John Lineker, retired Brad Pickett etc. He’s not bad. I think I’ve only seen Ewell twice. I saw him beat Renan Barao in his debut and I saw Nathaniel Wood submit him. 

 

Hector Aldana vs Miguel Baeza is a battle of unknowns for me. Aldana is 4-2, has fought in the UFC before and has lost his last 3 fights. Baeza is another DWCS guy, unbeaten at 7-0 and nicknamed ‘Caramel Thunder’. Yeah. Seems like they’re setting old Hector up for a twatting doesn’t it? ‘Caramel Thunder’ though. 

 

JJ Aldrich vs Lauren Mueller is a fight I’m not fussed about. Aldrich is 7-3, training partner of Thug Rose. Lost to Maycee Barber last time out but had Barber in some bother and nearly ended the hype train. Mueller is 5-2 and I think she was on TUF at some point or other. Meh.

 

And that’s UFC Tampa. 

Edited October 11, 2019 by wandshogun09

[Egg Shen]

Weaver was on Helwani's show a week or two ago, it got me interested in him. Hes a big pro wrestling fan and mixed abit of that pagentry with his Native American heritage, interesting guy. Meant to have a bit of a blood and guts style too.

[Egg Shen]

Weavers out.

Main event in jeopardy too, Joanna is struggling with the weight. Waterson has apparently been told she can accept a catchweight fight or move to a fight with Jessica Andrade at 244.

[wandshogun09]

Yeah just seen that. I don’t blame Waterson, or any fighter, for saying no to a catchweight against a fighter who will be coming in heavy. In this case though, it might be a better idea. Fight Joanna on the date you were specifically training for anyway and get 20% of her purse too. Or face a pissed off Jessica Andrade who’s coming off that Zhang loss at 244 a few weeks later. I think I’d chance it against Joanna. But it wouldn’t matter because they’d both kick my arse regardless. 

As for Joanna not making weight, I wonder how much breast implants weigh? 

Edited October 9, 2019 by wandshogun09

[WeeAl]

https://www.mmafighting.com/2019/10/10/20907598/ex-ufc-champ-joanna-jedrzejczyk-addresses-weight-weili-zhang-and-michelle-waterson

Joanna is really flustered by it here in this interview as well. Trying to shut it down as not being an issue, and there's lots of time, but these stories haven't started smoking without flames somewhere. It seems unlikely at this point that she'll make the weight, and then there will be some last minute negotiating to do.

[Egg Shen]

how much would breast implants weigh? if they are a couple of lb each they could be all the difference when trying to cut weight, especially for someone with a history of struggling to make it.

[Dead Mike]

Just now, Egg Shen said:

how much would breast implants weigh?

@Keith Houchen

[wandshogun09]

The main event isn’t dead just yet. 

[Egg Shen]

Joanna made weight, 115.5

[wandshogun09]

And after all that...

Happy about that. Makes me wonder if the whole rumour of Joanna struggling to make weight was bullshit put out by her team, or Joanna herself, to fuck with Waterson a bit on fight week. Where did it all start anyway? In everything I saw from Joanna after the rumour broke, she seemed baffled by it and confident she’d make the weight. All seems odd. 

Tell you what though, this card hasn’t half been slept on. I love the main event but we’re also just a day away from Cub Swanson vs Kron Gracie! Talk about a great fight sneaking up on you. Niko Price vs James Vick isn’t far behind it for me either. 

[Egg Shen]

 

[wandshogun09]

Thought this was class pretty much top to bottom. 

Complete showcase for Joanna Jedrzejczyk in the main event. Aside from the choke attempt in the 3rd (?), it was all Joanna. For all the talk this week that she was struggling to make weight, this was by far the best she’s looked since before Namajunas losses. Waterson never stopped trying but she was just outmatched. It was always going to be tough on the feet but also, Joanna has really good takedown defence and with Waterson lacking the size and physical strength, a grappling heavy gameplan just wasn’t going to happen for her. The top of the Strawweight division is very interesting now. You’ve got the champ Weill Zhang who’s just burst on the scene and looked a beast. Then you’ve got two very different but very skilled challengers in Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Tatiana Suarez. Then you’ve got former champs Jéssica Andrade and Rose Namajunas who could be right back in the mix with one big win. Five really talented fighters, all with completely different styles. You can mix and match that lot for some fascinating matchups. Strawweight has become a cracking little division. 

Cub Swanson vs Kron Gracie was great fun as expected. Best Swanson has looked in some time for me. Maybe it’s something to do with shaving his head. The hair just wasn’t working for him results-wise. Seriously he looked sharp here. He’s clearly still got something left in the tank. As nice as it is having a Gracie in the UFC in 2019, I was happy to see Cub win. Kron showed he’s tough but I guess he wasn’t ready for this step up. His lack of offensive wrestling is going to be a real issue going forward. His game will work to a certain level, and has before now, but not against crafty vets like Swanson. If he couldn’t take Cub down and get his BJJ going, it was always going to be a rough night. And it got to the point he barely even tried to take him down. Fair play to Kron though. He didn’t shy away in the striking exchanges like a lot of the Gracies have in the past. He went for it and did land a fair bit but it was definitely more Cub’s style of fight. Kron just tried to Terminator his way through it. 

Niko Price vs James Vick...Christ! I love Niko Price. Mad bastard. When’s the last time we saw an upkick KO? That’s two people now he’s knocked out from his back. Nutcase. Hard to see a way back for Vick. That’s 4 consecutive losses now, 3 of them by knockout in the first round. Niko will continue to trade wins and losses in barnburners. He’ll probably never go much further up the ladder but he’s so much fun to watch and he’s a likeable, overexcited big kid in interviews. Can’t help but root for him. As for what’s next, Robbie Lawler needs an opponent for UFC 245...

Amanda Ribas vs Mackenzie Dern. This wasn’t the comeback Dern was hoping for, obviously. Suffers her first defeat and basically got shut down and outclassed all night. I liked Ribas’ performance. She clearly had the advantage on the feet and she did a good job nullifying Dern’s BJJ, which I wasn’t sure she’d be able to do. Good stuff. Can’t help thinking Dern might’ve rushed back too soon. She only had her baby 4 months ago. She must’ve pretty much went straight from the maternity ward to the gym. 

Matt Frevola vs Luis Peña was close. Wasn’t paying that close attention to scoring it but kind of thought Peña would get the decision when it was over but it went to Frevola. Only clear round was the second for Peña. I’d have to rewatch rounds 1 and 3, they were close but I felt like Peña probably did enough. Good fight regardless.

Eryk Anders vs Gerald Meerschaert was another close one. I had Meerschaert winning. Anders has had a weird run. Almost every fight he’s had in the UFC that’s gone the distance, I’ve disagreed with the decision. The loss to Rountree was clear cut but I thought he beat Machida and Theodorou but lost to Meerschaert. Whatever. There’s been worse decisions. 

Ryan Spann vs Devin Clark was decent. Nobody talks about Spann but he looks pretty good. His striking could do with improving but he’s got some nice grappling and he’s coming off 5 wins with 4 finishes now. Just another name to add to the pool of fresh names in the 205 division. Clark deserved to lose just because of that shite beard.

What was that?

Mike Davis vs Thomas Gifford was actually hard to watch. Gifford got fucked up bad. He was game early but as the fight went on you could just see Davis was busting him up, especially towards the end of the second round. Then it got so much worse for him in the third. Thought Bisping was spot on with his commentary during this fight when he said the corner should’ve pulled Gifford out of there because he wasn’t going to say he couldn’t continue and he was just getting battered. But they let him go out for the last round and...

That didn’t need to happen. Could’ve been stopped a while before that, I thought. Either by his corner or the referee. He was showing all the signs of being done long before that finishing shot landed. Found it a bit disturbing to watch, especially in light of the tragedies in Boxing this year. That whole third round you just had a feeling something bad was coming. Thankfully Gifford appears to be OK but he took way more damage than necessary IMO. 

Fuck me, who put a quid in Alex Morono then? He’s been on the roster for a while and I’ve never taken much notice, his fights just come and go. But he proper went for it here. Max Griffin is tough as fuck because he got absolutely hammered here and wouldn’t go away. Don’t know how he got through that second round. 

Enjoyed Deiveson Figueiredo tapping Tim Elliott quickly. Elliott is a solid fighter but I’ve always found him a bit annoying. And Figueiredo is my kind of fighter. Proper aggressive little bastard and a real finisher in a division not particularly heaving with them. He’s 17-1 now, with the only loss being on points to Formiga. I can’t see him beating Cejudo but could definitely see him being in the title mix before long. 

Marlon Vera vs Andre Ewell was pretty one sided but it was exciting all the same. Vera put a right beating on him towards the end there. Vera’s a guy who’s been really entertaining to watch forever and he’s been racking up the wins to little fanfare. But he’s won 5 in a row now, all finishes, might be time to start taking some notice of the man. 

One of the better shows this year for me. Very little fat on it. Reminded me a bit of those WEC shows back in the day when you’d get cards just choc-full of action-packed fights. 

Edited October 13, 2019 by wandshogun09

[WeeAl]

What I did see of this show (main card, and Figueiredo Vs Elliott) was excellent. 

A real return to form for JJ. I'm glad to see her get back to her old level of performance as well, as she's too young and too good to be going 1-4 in her last five. This was a really good showing from her. I think she gets the next shot at Zhang now, after that. A real good fight too. 

Swanson Vs Gracie was fantastic. I scored it for Swanson, 30-27. I couldn't give it to Gracie, maybe a round at most. Delighted for Cub that he was able to break the run that he was on, but both men come out of this one looking good. Gracie was able to be in a fight that showed he can hang when everything isn't going his way and that he has tonnes of heart, and that'll stand to him in the future. Both are double tough bastard's for getting through this one still standing. 

Niko Price is a lunatic. You just know you're in for a good time when he's on a show. A brutal KO of James Vick here. I can't help but think that's Vick done in the UFC for now. He's been badly KO'd a few times recently and could probably do with a year away to reassess and heal. I know Dalby wants Perry, and Perry wants Lawler, but if neither of those happen, how about Mike Perry Vs Niko Price for Christmas?

I thought Frevola Vs Pena should have been a draw. I gave Frevola 1 and 3 as 10-9's, but gave Pena round 2 as a 10-8. This was another great fight as well. 

I'm glad Anders got a win, I'd like to see him do well. Though I do think he got a bit lucky with the decision here. It felt like Meerschaert was going to get the nod. Yet another entertaining scrap, on a card packed with them.

Figueiredo Vs Elliott, looked set to be 3 rounds of non-stop action and movement, and then Deiveson did what he usually does, and finished work early. He's a mighty handful in this division. 

[Egg Shen]

Kron appears to have the old age Gracie of not being able to get a fight to the ground and it cost him. That said, i cant recall seeing a show of bravery and willingness to engage on the feet like that from one in a long time, the guys got a sack on him.

[wandshogun09]

On 10/14/2019 at 10:20 AM, WeeAl said:

I know Dalby wants Perry, and Perry wants Lawler, but if neither of those happen, how about Mike Perry Vs Niko Price for Christmas?

Yeah I saw the Perry interview. I’m well up for him vs Lawler at UFC 245 if possible. Niko Price was also saying on the Post-Fight Show that he’s down to fight Perry so yeah that’s another one. I thought Price could maybe jump in against Lawler but Price’s wife is due to give birth in December so him stepping in at 245 is unlikely. Any combination of those three maniacs is perfect though. 

Oh and Karyn Bryant tweeted that Niko’s KO was only the second knockout via upkick in UFC history. First was Fitch vs Alves back in 2006. But I’m pretty sure Niko is the only man in UFC history to have 2 knockouts off his back...