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UFC 245: Usman vs Covington - Dec 14 šŸ‡ŗšŸ‡ø


wandshogun09

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Saturday 14th December. Weā€™re back in Vegas with the last PPV of 2019. And itā€™s a monster of a card.Ā 

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PPV MAIN CARD
Kamaru Usman vs Colby CovingtonĀ - WelterweightĀ Title

Max Holloway vs Alexander VolkanovskiĀ - FeatherweightĀ Title

Amanda Nunes vs Germaine De RandamieĀ - BantamweightĀ Title

Jose Aldo vs Marlon Moraes

Urijah Faber vs Petr Yan

Ā 

ESPN 2Ā PRELIMS
Geoff Neal vs Mike Perry

Irene Aldana vs Ketlen Vieira

Ian Heinisch vs Omari Akhmedov

Matt Brown vs Ben Saunders

Ā 

ESPN+/FIGHT PASS PRELIMS
Daniel Teymur vs Chase HooperĀ 

Kai Kara-France vs Brandon MorenoĀ 

Jessica Eye vs Viviane AraĆŗjo

Oskar Piechota vs Punahele SorianoĀ  Ā 

Ā 

Look at that lot! Love this card. There might still be a fight or two added to the undercard yet but honestly this will do. Incredible card.Ā 

Ā 

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Kamaru Usman vs Colby Covington headlines this bastard. Such an odd one for me in that anytime these two have interacted itā€™s been absolutely awful. Proper cringeworthy attempts at trash talking. Weā€™re talking Tito Ortiz level stuff where you can tell they really think theyā€™re killing it with money promos but itā€™s just crap ā€˜I know you are but what am I?ā€™ school playground shite. BUT...the fight itself is bloody great. There are so many parallels in their fighting styles and the way their careers have played out to this point. Both 15-1, both had a bad loss early in their career and have came back to dominate, both setĀ a relentless paceĀ that might only be able to be matched by each other. It really is a fascinating matchup. Given the mirroring of their MMA careers, I guess it makes sense to go through it year by year.Ā 

2012:Ā Both men make their MMA debuts. Usman only fights once and wins by TKO. Covington fights 3 times and wins them all, 2 by submission.Ā 

2013:Ā Usman fights twice and goes 1-1. In just his second pro fight, he gets submitted in a round by a guy called Jose Caceres. He rebounds with a TKO win in December. Covington fights once and gets a decision win over, guess who? Jose Caceres. The very same.Ā 

2014:Ā Great year for both men as they both go 3-0 with 3 finishes. And the parallels continue as this is the year both men get their foot in the UFC door. Usman scores 3 wins by TKO in the LFA promotion and bags a spot on TUF. He spends the latter part of the year filming the show. Colby wins a fight in May by submission and then makes his UFC debut in August and fights again in November. Wins both. The year ends with UsmanĀ at 5-1Ā and CovingtonĀ at 7-0.Ā 

2015:Ā Usman wins TUF. Submitting Hayder Hassan at the Finale in July. He then beats Leon Edwards on points in December to cap off a very successful year. Covington beats veteran Mike Pyle in May. He then suffers his first defeat when Warlley Alves submits him in a round on the Aldo vs McGregor undercard in December.

2016:Ā Usman goes 2-0. Beats Alexander Yakovlev and...Warlley Alves. OK this is starting to get a little bit spooky. Covington is back on track, he gets 3 fights in and wins them all including strong showings against Max Griffin and Bryan Barberena.Ā 

2017:Ā Both fight twice, both go 2-0. Usman decisions Sean Strickland and knocks out Sergio Moraes. Covington beats Dong Hyun Kim and then scores his biggest career win to date with a boring points win over Demian Maia. Somewhere around this time, Covington starts talking a load of bollocks and developing severe ā€˜X-Pac Heatā€™ with me. As good as he is in the cage, heā€™s just as shitty out of it. Highlight of all this was him mouthing off at Fabricio Werdum and getting a boomerang lobbed off his head.Ā 

2018:Ā Big year for Usman. He goes 3-0 with 3 clear decisions. Scores his biggest career win to date with a boring points win over...Demian Maia. Whereā€™s that X-Files music coming from? He closes out the year with a very impressive decision over former Lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos in November. This was Usmanā€™s coming out party. Up until this point heā€™d been consistently winning but a lot of his performances, while massively effective, were dull to watch. This was an eye opener though. Covington fights once in 2018. And like Usman, he follows up a dull decision over Maia with a tremendous decision over...Rafael Dos Anjos. Of course! Covington became the interim champ with thatĀ win but heā€™s been stripped of that since for reasons I canā€™t remember nor be arsed to check. I just remember Covington going full on with the Trump love and wearing that same MAGA hat and the belt everyfuckingwhere he went.Ā 

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The tit(s).Ā 

2019:Ā Both have fought once so far this year. Both won on points in dominant fashion. Both levelĀ at 15-1 inĀ their careers now. Usman got his title shot at UFC 235 in March. And he completely big brothered Tyron Woodley in what was, for me, one of the single most amazing performances in a UFC title fight that Iā€™ve ever seen. There was no doubt when the final buzzer went that we had a new champ.Ā 

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Totally shut Woodleyā€™s shit down and put a pace on him that just melted him. In August, Covington did pretty much exactly the same to Robbie Lawler. Seriously, watch those two fights and as Mike Goldberg used to say, theyā€™re ā€œvirtually identicalā€. After a load of stop/start negotiations, the fight finally got made. Usman vs Covington is a go.Ā 

And here we are. Honestly, watching Usman vs Woodley and Covington vs Lawler, then imagining Usman and Covington trying to do that to each other...itā€™s a mindfuck. I canā€™t break it down at all. Theyā€™re both so relentless, so non-stop and have such incredible conditioning and pace that I canā€™t see either of them wilting. But something, somehow, will have to give. Someoneā€™s got to break. I think Usmanā€™s physical strength and size could maybe swing it for him but then if Colby gets in his head it could throw Usman off and make all the difference. Yeah, sod trying to analyse this one. I hope Usman fucking batters him though. Colby is arse. I know thereā€™s actually a small section of fans who are all on his dick, because itā€™s cool to like heels I guess, but heā€™s a weapon. A real dickhead. I keep seeing people go ā€˜Bro, heā€™s working everyone. Itā€™s a gimmickā€™ but I think theyā€™re the ones being worked. Heā€™s aĀ nob. Shouting shit at Stipe Miocicā€™s wife for no reason, when there areĀ no cameras there, isnā€™t working anyone. Youā€™re just a trash person. There haveĀ been too many stories, from people within the sport, about him being an actual real life prick now. Itā€™s telling that even his teammates at American Top Team all ended up hating him. Jorge Masvidal, Dustin Poirier and Joanna Jedrzejczyk have all had a pop recently. All former friends and/or teammates. And Iā€™m convinced all these women he takes pictures with are doing it against their will.

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Looks like he went to the Conor McGregor school of picking up women.Ā They donā€™t exactlyĀ look like theyā€™re enjoying hisĀ company, do they?Ā 

Meanwhile, Usman, despite being equally as terrible a trash talker, seems like a pretty good guy away from the spotlight.Ā I was slow to get on board, mostly because he had a few snoozers earlier in his career. But his last two performances blew me away and heā€™s grown on me. Couldnā€™tĀ help but feel happy for him seeing this picture after he won the title;Ā 

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Heā€™s also been a big part of the movement to get the UFC in Africa. Between Usman, Israel Adesanya and Francis Ngannou, itā€™s surely just a matter of time until we see a UFC cardĀ in that part of the world. Which could be a huge deal.Ā Iā€™d likeĀ to see Usman run with the belt for a bit. And if he beats Covington along the way, even better.Ā 

Itā€™s a hell of a fight. Just donā€™t let them near a microphone and everything should be just dandy.Ā 

Ā 

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Max Holloway vs Alexander VolkanovskiĀ is almost as fascinating as the main event for me. Of the 3 title fights on this show, this is probably going to be the best actual fight in terms of excitement. Holloway is the man. Heā€™s been a favourite of mine for years. Right from his prelim days. Thereā€™s something about following a fighterā€™s journey all the way and seeing them climb to the pinnacle of the sport. I think Holloway will always be one of myĀ favourites,Ā for those sentimental reasons plus heā€™s always come off as such a nice bloke. The way he is with his son, you can tell heā€™s a top man. And then the way he flips the switch when he fights is something else entirely. Mad to think heā€™s still only 27 years old. Heā€™s a proper veteran now with wins over Frankie Edgar, Jose Aldo twice, Anthony Pettis, Brian Ortega, Cub Swanson, Jeremy Stephens etc and heā€™s still a few yearsĀ off hitting 30! Volkanovski is one of the most interesting challengers for him though. Heā€™s the real deal. 20-1 record, 14 finishes, comes into this fight on a 17 fight win streak and beat Jose Aldo in his last fight.

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He doesnā€™t get much hype outside the hardcores, probably because heā€™s respectful and doesnā€™t fake trash talkĀ to hype bullshit beefs, but heā€™s a badass. I always had a feeling that a real strong wrestler might be Hollowayā€™s kryptonite but Hollowayā€™s win over Edgar in July showed itā€™s not going to be that simple. I think Volkanovski might be able to make it work a bit more than Frankie did though as heā€™s naturally bigger and stronger than Frankie (he was over 200lbs at one point during his Rugby days!), and also younger and fresher. Iā€™d still favour Max but Volkanovski is a handful for anyone. Canā€™t wait for this.Ā 

Ā 

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Amanda Nunes vs Germaine De Randamie 2Ā is going to get the least discussion of the 3 title fights here. I get why because the other two are phenomenal and the results are in doubt. Whereas this fight, it feels like a Nunes showcase. This is certainly the weakest title match of the bunch but itā€™s still a fun matchup. Even if it turns out to be a complete squash, I canā€™t see it being anything but exciting for however long it lasts.

They first met back in November 2013.Ā Havenā€™t seen it since the night it happened so off to Fight Pass to refresh my memory...

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Nunes vs De Randamie 1

UFC Fight For The Troops

November 6thĀ 2013Ā 

I have no recollection of this. It was a nothing fight, in the very early days of women fighters being in the UFC, and it was tucked away on the prelims on a Fight For The Troops show.Ā 

Round 1: Both kicking to start with but it isnā€™t long until Nunes tries for a takedown. De Randamie defends it well initially but Nunes eventually gets her down and quickly moves into mount. De Randamie survives for a bit and does a decent job of avoiding taking the really big,Ā clean shots but Nunes just keeps raining down the ground and pound and Herb Dean has seen enough.Ā 

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Winner - Amanda Nunes by TKO - Round 1, 3:56.Ā 

Not a great deal to take from that.Ā Nunes is obviously going to be the big favourite here. Not just because she bossed the first fight but what sheā€™s gone on to achieve in the 6 years since has been quite remarkable. Sheā€™s won 9 fights in a row, finished 7 of them. And fuck the numbers, itā€™s who sheā€™s beat and how. She absolutely butcheredĀ Miesha Tate in a round at UFC 200 to win the Bantamweight title in 2016. Then smashedĀ Ronda Rousey to bits in 48 seconds and ranĀ her out of the sport. BeatĀ Valentina Shevchenko twice on points. KnockedĀ Cyborg out in less than a minute to win the Featherweight strap. Then in her last fight she becameĀ the first woman to knock out Holly Holm in MMA.Ā 

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Two belts and wins over all the top names in her weight range. Sheā€™s on fire right now. I actually wouldnā€™t completely write De Randamie off though. Despite how the first fight went and despite Nunes recent reign of terror. GDR is nobody to overlook.Ā At 9-3Ā she hasnā€™t had the most breathtaking of MMA careers but she was the first womenā€™s 145lbs champ, beating Holly Holm. And sheā€™s an experienced striker with a perfect Kickboxing record of 46-0 with 30 knockouts. Sheā€™s no joke. Not fancying her to win, of course. Nunes is in the zone at the moment and I donā€™t see this being the fight to end that. But itā€™s not like GDR is going to be a deer in the headlights out there and, on paper, sheā€™s equipped to compete with Nunes in a striking match. My guess is Nunes takes it to the ground again like the first time they fought. Why stand with GDR and give her a chance when you have the tools to exploit her deficiencies on the ground? But maybe Nunes fancies it on the feet now sheā€™s wiped out some of the biggest names in the game. Should be lively whatever happens.

Ā 

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Jose Aldo vs Marlon Moraes isĀ ***WANDā€™S ONE TO WATCH***Ā and a sure-fire all-Brazilian war! Buckle up for this one. This wouldā€™ve been a crazy fight regardless but what adds to the intrigue even more is this is Aldoā€™s debut at 135lbs. I was a bit surprised when he announced he was dropping to Bantamweight. The talk was that heā€™d always struggled to make 145 so cutting an extra 10lbs doesnā€™t sound like a good idea at all.

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This picture popped up the other day and I mostly saw positiveĀ responses along the lines of ā€˜Wow maybe Aldo can make 135 after allā€™. But looking at how shredded and leanĀ he looksĀ there, where areĀ the excess pounds to cut on fight week going to come from?Ā Iā€™ll be amazed if he doesnā€™t really struggle.Ā If anything, if there was a change in weight class coming I thought itā€™d be aĀ move up to Lightweight. Usually as a fighter gets older, they naturally move up in weight. So this is an odd one. And I canā€™t help feeling itā€™s going to end badly. Especially as heā€™s facing Marlon Moraes. One of the bigger and harder hitting 135ers on the roster. So despite coming down from a bigger division, Aldoā€™s probably not even going to enjoy a size advantage here. But heā€™s still going to have drained himself to make weight. Just feels like a recipe for disaster. And Moraes is an animal. Knocked out Aljamain Sterling in a minute. Knocked out Jimmie Rivera in 30 seconds. Submitted BJJ black-belt Raphael Assuncao in a round. And he was giving Henry Cejudo all he could handle in their title fight in June before it all went tits up. Heā€™s a beast. Aldoā€™s a real legend but heā€™s got his work cut out here. Iā€™d love it if he surprises everyone and has a good run at 135 but I canā€™t see it working out. Canā€™t see any way this isnā€™t bell to bell fireworks though.

Ā 

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Urijah Faber vs Petr YanĀ is another old guard vs new breed fight in the Bantamweight division. Despite looking like your paperboy, Faber turned 40 this year. A legend and pioneer of the lighter weight classes. He was the poster boy for WEC when I got into MMA and heā€™s done it all in the sport except win UFC gold. He retired in 2016 after a string of mixed results and failed title shots. It seemed like the right move at the time. But he announced his comeback earlier this year. It all seemed to come out of the blue but he fought Ricky Simon in July in his return to the cage and I think the MMA world was pleasantly surprised when Faber stopped Simon in just 46 seconds. It was a real feel good moment but I donā€™t think itā€™s going to last and I still think this comeback was a bad idea. I really rate Petr Yan as well. I think heā€™s ace. Heā€™s 14-1 and coming off 8 wins on the bounce. Just beat Jimmie Rivera and John Dodson in his last two fights. And heā€™s only 26 years old. Heā€™s fresh and hungry and mean in a way I donā€™t think Faber is anymore. Iā€™ve got a feeling heā€™s going to give Faber a hiding. I think when we look back on this Faber comeback, itā€™ll be looked at as a mistake. I think the Simon win will be looked at as a brief bright spot that fooled Faber into thinking he still had it. It sounds harsh and I do like Faber but thereā€™s a reason he retired in 2016 and I think Yanā€™s your man to remind him.

Ā 

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Geoff Neal vs Mike Perry has all the potential to steal even thisĀ show. Perry had originally thrown his nameĀ into the hat to step in against Robbie Lawler on this card when Santiago Ponzinibbio dropped out injured. Obviously nothing came of it. There was brieflyĀ some talk of Perry vs Niko Price as well. This one came out of the blue but Iā€™m well happy with it. WeĀ canā€™t have Perry vs Price yet,Ā but now we getĀ Geoff NealĀ who knocked Price out in his last fight.Ā Neal deserves a big fight like this. Heā€™s gone under a lot of radars but you look back and heā€™s 12-2, on a 6 fight winning streak andĀ stopped 5 of them. You know what kind of fight youā€™re getting out of Perry. Itā€™s always either aĀ pure dogfight or he just gets outskilled. Heā€™s kind of found his level at this point but heā€™s always good for an exciting brawl. Heā€™s coming off that loss to Vicente Luque where his nose got fucking smashed to bits. Hopefully thatā€™s all healed now. Canā€™t go wrong with this.Ā 

Ā 

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Irene Aldana vs Ketlen VieiraĀ wonā€™t immediately jump out to you on this card but itā€™s a fight Iā€™m looking forward to. Iā€™ve enjoyed Aldanaā€™s fights so far in the UFC. Sheā€™s no world beater but sheā€™s usually in entertaining fights. She had a stupidly fun brawl with Leslie Smith in her UFC debut in 2016 and even dragged Bethe Correia to something very watchable in May this year. Sheā€™s pretty good. Won 4 of her last 5 and even the loss was a split decision to Raquel Pennington. Itā€™s the return of Ketlen Vieira that makes this fight for me though. Sheā€™s one of the brighter prospects in womenā€™s MMA for me but sheā€™s been off the scene due to a knee injury. It was such shitty timing as well because she was just starting to get some nice momentum going and had beat Cat Zingano, was all set to face Tonya Evinger and then got hit with a knee injury thatā€™s seen her sidelined for the best part of 2 years. Sheā€™s still only 28 years old though, so sheā€™s got some time. Sheā€™s unbeatenĀ at 10-0 with 6 finishes, holds black-belts in both BJJ and Judo and was a Brazilian national Wrestling champion. Beat Cat Zingano and Sara McMann in her last two. We just need to see more of her. Coming off a long layoff, Aldanaā€™s aggressive Mexican style will no doubt put Vieira to the test. Interesting fight. If Vieira can come back with a bang and get a couple of nice wins, sheā€™ll probably be challenging for the belt before too long. Especially with the rate Nunes is burning through contenders.

Ā 

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Ian Heinisch vs Omari Akhmedov is another solid fight that probably wonā€™t get much attention. Heinisch lost a decision to Derek Brunson in his last fight in August but I quite like what weā€™ve seen of him so far. Heā€™s 13-2 now and was on a nice little 5 fight streak before the Brunson loss, including anĀ impressive win over Shoeface. Akhmedov is a gritty, tough Russian with a 19-4-1 record. He comes into this one off a couple of wins over Zak Cummings and Tim Boetsch. Probably not stealing the show or anything but itā€™s a decent little fight this.Ā 

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Matt Brown vs Ben Saunders feelsĀ like a fight lifted fromĀ a card inĀ 2008. Proper old school one here. Both were on TUF back when TUF was worth a shit. Saunders was on Season 6 with Matt Serra and Matt Hughes as coaches. Brown was on Season 7 coached by Rampage Jackson and Forrest Griffin. Takes me back. Theyā€™ve both had their ups and downs since then and neither are making any waves at this point but it should still be fun even in 2019. Brown is coming out of retirement here. NONE of them stick, doĀ they? He stepped away in 2017 after scoring a brutal elbow knockout against Diego Sanchez. Heā€™d had a bunch of losses before that so it felt like a good time for him to call it a day. But heā€™s back. Heā€™s always been one of the most consistently exciting fighters to watch so itā€™s kind of cool to see him back but heā€™s also 38 now and has had some rough losses. Saunders is in a similar boat. Heā€™s lost 5 of his last 6 now and was finished in all 5 losses. Heā€™s been badly knocked out a bunch as well. To the point itā€™s kind of uncomfortable watching him these days. Like I said, itā€™ll be anything but dull. Might even get the FOTN bonus. But Iā€™d actually like to see them both retire after this one. Win, lose or draw.Ā 

Ā 

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Daniel Teymur vs Chase Hooper is a bit of an intriguing one. Swedenā€™sĀ Teymur has been knocking about for a bit now. Heā€™s 7-3 overall and has had very mixed results in the UFC. He beat Sung Bin Jo in June, snapping a shitty 3 fight losing streak. Heā€™s decent to watch despite the patchy record. Hooperā€™s debut is the pull here though. Heā€™sĀ only just turned 20 years old. He appeared on Danaā€™s Contender Series when he was just 18. Heā€™s unbeaten now. Sherdog has himĀ at 6-0-1, other sites say 8-0-1. Whatever the case, heā€™s off to a good start.Ā 

Ā 

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Kai Kara-France vs Brandon Moreno is a bit of a sleeper thatā€™ll no doubt get lost in the shuffle on a stacked card like this. Itā€™s a good ā€˜un though. Kara-France is a New Zealander with a record of 20-7-1 and 12 finishes. He hasnā€™t really wowed anyone with his performances so far but I think heā€™s got skills. Just need to see him against more guys weā€™re familiar with to really see what heā€™s got. And this will provide that as heā€™s in with Brandon Moreno who I love. Typical Mexican scrapper, tough guy and all-round likeable bastard. His UFC career has been a bit stop-start with injuries and layoffs halting his progress but he returned on the Mexico City show in September and went to a draw in a cracking fight with Askar Askarov. I had Moreno winning actually but whatever. This should be good. Kara-France has been really solid technically so far. But Moreno might be able to drag him into a grittier type of fight and I want to see how Kai responds to that. Looking forward to it.Ā 

Ā 

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Jessica Eye vs Viviane AraĆŗjo could be decent. Eyeā€™s had a hot and cold career. Iā€™ve always said I think sheā€™s a little better than her near 50/50 record suggests. A lot of her losses were either razor close split decisions and/or when she was fighting at 135 which was never her ideal weight class. Sheā€™s done alright since dropping back to Flyweight though. But she got predictably destroyed by Valentina Shevchenko in her title shot last time out. This is her chance to rebound. But I donā€™t know. I like this AraĆŗjo. Havenā€™t seen a ton of her but Iā€™ve liked the stuff I have caught. Sheā€™s 8-1 with 7 finishes, absolutely battered Talita Bernardo in her Octagon debut and beat veteran Alexis Davis in her last fight in July. Thereā€™s something about her style that I like, sheā€™s got a mean streak in her. At 32 she doesnā€™t have a load of time so sheā€™s got to get her career moving but I think she has the potential to really make some noise. Until she gets fed to Shev, that is. Got a feeling this could be another bad night for Eye.Ā 

Ā 

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Oskar Piechota vs Punahele Soriano is the fight Iā€™m probably least into on this card but even still I donā€™t dislike it or anything. Piechota looked decent in spells actually against BJJ gorilla Rodolfo Vieira on the Uruguay card in August. I think most expected Vieira to just bulldoze him and while he did eventually get submitted, he put up a better fight than most probably expected. Heā€™s a BJJ black-belt under Robert Drysdale, 11-2-1 in MMA. He needs a win now though, having lost his last couple. Soriano I know fuck all about. He was set to face Adam Yandiev at UFC 243 in Abu Dhabi but was taken off the card when Yandiev pulled out. Heā€™s Hawaiian, undefeatedĀ at 6-0Ā with 5 finishes and was on Dana Whiteā€™s Contender Series. Thatā€™s all I know about him. Doesnā€™t sound like a bad fight on paper, to be fair. I just donā€™t have enough knowledge on both guys to be that invested in it.

Ā 

Fucking fantastic card. Iā€™ll go as far as to say I like this every bitĀ as much as 244.Ā 

Edited by wandshogun09
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As always, an excellent summary there, wand. You really should start a blog with all these, you'd get a lot of followers.

One thing I don't get about GDR - she vacated her title rather than face Cyborg; why would she have a rematch with the only woman who's even more of a monster, and who bludgeoned her easily in their first match anyway?

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7 minutes ago, Egg Shen said:

The thought of Aldo going to 135 this late in his career when he spent the majority of prime nearly killing himself to make 145 is absurd.

It's insane. If there was any time he should've ever done it, it was back when Barao got done by Dillashaw the second time. But he really should've just moved up to LW to face Pettis.

EDIT: What the fuck am I talking about? He was still FW champ when Barao lost. Forget what I said.

Edited by Carbomb
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5 hours ago, Carbomb said:

As always, an excellent summary there, wand. You really should start a blog with all these, you'd get a lot of followers.

One thing I don't get about GDR - she vacated her title rather than face Cyborg; why would she have a rematch with the only woman who's even more of a monster, and who bludgeoned her easily in their first match anyway?

Cheers Carbomb šŸ‘Ā 

Your point there about De Randamie is something Iā€™d not really thought of. It is odd. I think at the time GDR was saying she had an injury, wasnā€™t she? Still seemed odd to just relinquish the belt. I always try to refrain from saying a fighter ducked a fight because who the fuck am I to judge that? It looked like a duck at the time and thatā€™s the story everyone ran with. But like I said, De Randamie is a woman with a 46-0 Kickboxing record. Sheā€™s a seasoned fighter. It seems well out of character for her to try to duck a fight. So I reckon there mustā€™ve been more to that. Maybe she had an injuryĀ that she wouldā€™ve fought through against a lesser opponent but didnā€™t want to go in hampered against someone the calibreĀ ofĀ Cyborg. I donā€™t know. There didnā€™t seem to be any hesitation with her signing on the dotted line to face Nunes here. And Nunes is on a scarier run right now than Cyborg ever was, IMO.Ā 

2 hours ago, Carbomb said:

It's insane. If there was any time he should've ever done it, it was back when Barao got done by Dillashaw the second time. But he really should've just moved up to LW to face Pettis.

EDIT: What the fuck am I talking about? He was still FW champ when Barao lost. Forget what I said.

Yeah, itā€™s looking increasingly likely that weā€™re never going to see Aldo at 155. Itā€™s a real shame because 1) while I doubt heā€™d trouble the LightweightĀ title picture at this point,Ā I think he could have some better performances at 155 due to not having to keep making that weight cut, and it could prolong whatever time heā€™s got left in his career. And 2) there are so many brilliant fights to make with a Lightweight JoseĀ Aldo. The McGregor rematch, Cerrone, Gaethje, Poirier, Barboza, endless possibilities. The PettisĀ fight you mention is the obvious one though. And thatā€™s the fight Iā€™d make immediately if he decided to jump into the 155 pool.Ā 

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Six years overdue. And I actually think it might be a better fight if it happened now than it wouldā€™ve been back then. It wouldnā€™t mean as much now, obviously. If it happened at UFC 163 as planned then it wouldā€™ve been a title fight and both were in their prime. But it also was set to take place at Featherweight and I never liked Pettis at 145. He wasnā€™t the same. So I donā€™t think weā€™d have got the best out ofĀ him. A fight now at 155 would be better, I think.Ā 

All that said, Lightweightā€™s loss isĀ Bantamweightā€™s gain. The 135 division right now is stronger than itā€™sĀ ever been. Youā€™d think having TJ Dillashaw out with a big PED scandal and Dominick Cruz on the bench injured all the time would hurt the division but itā€™s had the opposite effect. Itā€™s allowed the rest of the division time to grow and develop. Youā€™ve got Henry Cejudo on the throne. A proper twat but nobodyā€™s really indifferent to him. People are invested in seeing him get battered, which is good for the division. Then youā€™ve got Marlon Moraes andĀ Petr Yan who have really stepped up this last year or so.Ā Aljamain Sterling, Pedro Munhoz andĀ Jimmie Rivera are all really solid fighters.Ā Cody Garbrandt is looking to get back in the mix.Ā Cory Sandhagen is on the rise.Ā Raphael Assuncao is still knocking about.Ā Song Yadong is one for the future. And now weā€™re seeing 135 get a huge boost in name value with the addition of Jose Aldo, Urijah Faber and Frankie Edgar joining the Bantamweight ranks. Itā€™s a brilliant division now.Ā 

Edited by wandshogun09
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Looking likeĀ Mike Perry vs Geoff Neal is going to be added to this. Great fight. Nealā€™s gone under the radar but I think heā€™s really good. 12-2, won his last 6 andĀ just knocked out Niko Price in July.Ā 

Edited by wandshogun09
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This cut to 135 looks a dreadful idea for Aldo. He usually looks half past dead at the best of times on the scale, at 145. Even if he makes weight here, I can't see how he performs well or absorbs a decent shot, against probably the biggest hitter at 135.Ā 

I can understand Edgar making the cut down to 135, as he's a bit smaller, and also knows he can't go back to 55. It seemed to make perfect sense for Aldo to move up, if he didn't want to stick at featherweight. Instead he's moved down and I can't quite wrap my head around it.

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Yeah, Edgar moving down doesnā€™t seem like the worst idea. He was at the smaller end of 145 (crazy considering how good he was at 155!) and probably didnā€™t cut that much to make the weight. Plus heā€™s from that amateur wrestling background and seems smart about this kind of thing. You get the feeling Frankie will do it the right way or not at all. Whereas thereā€™s always been questions on Aldoā€™s weight cutting methods. Itā€™s not like heā€™s John Lineker missing weight and stuff but it was always the thinking that he struggled to make 145 and that couldā€™ve been partly why he faded in the later rounds in a couple of fights (Hominick and Lamas spring to mind). Him cutting to 135 seemed bonkers from the off,Ā to everyone outside Aldoā€™s team it seems.Ā 

If heā€™s looking this bad this far out from the fight I dread to think what heā€™ll be like on fightĀ week. And like you say, facing an animal like MarlonĀ Moraes in that condition would be a recipe for disaster. Maybe Aldoā€™s teamĀ should reach out to Moraesā€™ team and see if they can come to an agreement on a catchweight or something because I really donā€™t think this is ending well. Heā€™ll eitherĀ miss weight and have to forfeit 20% or whatever it is now, or heā€™ll somehow make it and stumble intoĀ the cage like a mummy and get badly ironed out. Maybe heā€™ll prove us wrong. Maybe itā€™s just a dodgy photo or something. But looking at that, he looks like a fucking zombieĀ and weā€™re nowhere near the worst bit of the cut yet. Not good.Ā 

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More proof Conor McGregor is an evil cretin. Punching old men, sexual assaults, now heā€™s encouragingĀ Jose Aldo to die via weight cutting...

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And once again, Ariel šŸ’• Conor. No doubt heā€™ll completelyĀ change his tune now and be all for Bantamweight Aldo.Ā 

Edited by wandshogun09
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