Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted June 6, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted June 6, 2020 (edited) Saturday 13th June back at the UFC Apex in Vegas. Cop a load of this... ESPN MAIN CARDJessica Eye vs Cynthia Calvillo Marvin Vettori vs Karl Roberson Charles Rosa vs Kevin Aguilar Andre Fili vs Charles Jourdain Jordan Espinosa vs Mark De La Rosa Hannah Cifers vs Mariya Agapova ESPN+/FIGHT PASS PRELIMSMerab Dvalishvili vs Gustavo Lopez Julia Avila vs Gina Mazany Tyson Nam vs Zarrukh Adashev Anthony Ivy vs Christian Aguilera Yeah. Bit of an odd card. There are actually a couple of possible under the radar show stealers on there but it’s not really the most mouth watering card, is it? And that headliner... Jessica Eye vs Cynthia Calvillo then. Main event. This has been roundly shat on and I totally get why. It’s all well and good people saying ‘well we can’t complain, under current circumstances...’ etc etc. Nah, not having it. Even with the mayhem the world is currently dealing with, the UFC could’ve and should’ve done better than this. Right off the top of my head, they could’ve pushed Sterling vs Sandhagen back a week from UFC 250, and had that headline over 5 rounds on this card instead. I doubt anyone would’ve been dumping on this card with that on top. This isn’t the worst piece of matchmaking, it’s just terrible card placement. It’s Fight Pass opening prelim level shite. And how is Jessica Eye #1 ranked at Flyweight? She’s only one fight removed from this... The night Valentina Shevchenko volleyed her head off. She‘s won one fight since that mauling. A decision over Viviane Araújo in December, but she also missed weight by 5lbs. I know the division is shallow but the thought of her edging another decision here and being in line for another crack at the gold just fills me with apathy. And the fact she missed weight so badly last time should’ve put her further back. Calvillo is 8-1-1, only loss is to Carla Esparza in 2017. But she barely squeaked a draw with Marina Rodriguez in her last fight too so she’s hardly blowing anyone away herself. If she looks good here I wouldn’t be shocked if she’s fed to Val next. Just because she’d be a fresh opponent and coming off a win over the ‘#1’ according to the UFC. Meh. It would never have been a fight I’d be particularly arsed with but I don’t detest the matchup itself. It just sucks a fat one as main event. Under any circumstances. Not expecting much from this. Eye’s got decent, albeit unspectacular, striking. Calvillo is a pretty slick grappler. So it’ll probably either be a 5 round jabfest from Eye, a submission from Calvillo or a dull, tippy tappy stalemate that goes to a razor thin decision and sends everyone to sleep. I’m anticipating scenario 3. Marvin Vettori vs Karl Roberson. This is the third time, for the third consecutive month, that this fight has been scheduled. Was originally meant to go down on the April 25th Fight Night but the show got binned. Then it was rebooked for the Anthony Smith vs Glover Teixeira undercard on May 13th but Vettori came in overweight and then Roberson got pulled anyway due to health concerns as a result of his weight cut. Vettori was proper kicking off and trying to fight Roberson at the hotel after the second cancellation. If it goes ahead this time it’s an OK fight. Never really rated Vettori. Not a bad fighter and he did take Israel Adesanya to a split decision back in 2018 but he can’t dine out on that forever and aside from that he’s been quite forgettable. Roberson’s had his moments. 9-2 overall and submitted the previously unbeaten Roman Kopylov on the Moscow card in November. Also went the distance with K-1 legend Jerome Le Banner in a Kickboxing bout in 2015. I’d like to see him win this fight. I think he’s better to watch and has a little more upside than our not so Marvelous Marvin. Merab Dvalishvili vs Ray Borg is a decent enough matchup. Not giddy about it but it’s OK. Dvalishvili is pretty fun. Georgian born Serra-Longo guy, 10-4 record and coming off 3 wins in a row. He’s a likeable little Tasmanian devil. Seems a bit nuts but in a good way. Not a big finisher but it’s never for lack of trying. Borg comes fresh off a loss to Ricky Simon on the May 13th card in Jacksonville. He’d won a couple before that. Not sure diving right back in there is such a great idea. I get wanting to get another quick payday in during these uncertain times but I don’t know how I feel about these really quick turnarounds. Fair play to him though. Just went 3 hard rounds with Ricky Mullet and he’s jumped right back in with another tough guy who’s on pretty strong form. Andre Fili vs Charles Jourdain is one of the standout fights on this card for me. Never really been too fussed with Fili but he’s decent enough. At one time he was considered one of the top prospects out of Team Alpha Male but that fizzled out. He’s 29 now with a 20-7 record and comes into this fight off a loss to Sodiq Yusuff in January. Before that he’d beaten Sheymon Moraes and Myles Jury. It’s Charles Jourdain I’m interested in here though. He’s Canadian, 24 years old and has a record of 10-2 with all his wins inside the distance. He was a two division champ for the TKO promotion in Canada, which is where GSP got his start back in the day. He’s 1-1 so far in the UFC. Lost on points to Desmond Green in his debut but rallied back in impressive fashion stopping ‘Korean Superboy’ Doo Ho Choi, in Korea, in December. He’s got an exciting style as well. Very fan friendly. Lots of potential there. I think he could be a bit of a breakout guy at 145/155 over the next few years. Jordan Espinosa vs Mark De La Rosa, again, it’s just kind of there. Not necessarily a bad fight, it’s just filling a space. Espinosa is 14-7-0-1 and got tapped out in less than 3 minutes in his last 2 outings. I know I’ve seen him fight a few times and there’s literally nothing that stands out in my memory of him. Zero. De La Rosa I’ve enjoyed a little more but he’s coming off 3 losses on the bounce himself and got knocked out in his most recent fight in February. He’s not a bad fighter but he’s just not coming through with the results of late. Could well end up being a loser leaves situation. Neither are really going anywhere. It’s kind of sad but the only talking point about De La Rosa is that his wife Montana also competes in the UFC. Not many married couples in the game. They’re like a bargain bucket Miesha Tate and Bryan Caraway. Still not as annoying as the VanZants though. Melissa Gatto vs Mariya Agapova. OK, I’ll be going in pretty much as blind as Bisping for this one. Both are making their UFC debut. Gatto is Brazilian, 24 years old with a record of 6-0-2 with 4 submissions. She actually signed with the UFC last year but ended up getting USADA’d before even stepping foot in the Octagon. Her suspension has just finished so here we are. Agapova is 23, from Kazakhstan and trains at American Top Team in Florida. She’s 8-1 with 6 finishes and just bashed her last couple of opponents in a round apiece in Invicta last year. Only loss is to Tracy Cortez who’s a bit of a prospect herself and just debuted in the UFC last year. On paper, this actually sounds alright to be fair. Charles Rosa vs Kevin Aguilar is a bit of a sleeper actually. Could genuinely see this stealing the show based on what I’ve seen of these two in the past. Rosa is probably more familiar of the two to most fans. He’s been in with the likes of Yair Rodriguez and also just got tangled up in knots by Bryce Mitchell for 15 minutes at UFC 249 the other week. He’s never going to be a top contender but what he is is game as fuck. Never stops trying to win and never seems to break and just fold no matter how bad it’s getting. That was never more evident than that Bryce Mitchell fight. It became clear early on that he was fighting in quicksand that night but he took his arse whipping and went the distance. A one sided loss but moral victory in a way that he was even able to survive 3 rounds of the ‘Thug Nasty’ grappling assault. Aguilar won’t really be known to anyone who routinely skips the prelims. Don’t know if he’s ever been on a main card. I’ve only seen a handful of his fights but he can go with the right opponent. If you’ve never seen it and fancy watching a hidden gem, check out his fight with Rick Glenn from the TUF Finale in November 2018. It never gets talked about because I think about 6 people watched it, but it’s a corker. Thank me later. Julia Avila vs Gina Mazany is a fight I’m invested in solely because of Avila. Love a bit of Raging Panda. I’d never heard of her before she signed with the UFC last year but she instantly won me over doing the fight week media. One of those people who are impossible to dislike. She’s doing the business in the cage so far as well. She’s primarily a grappler, BJJ brown-belt. 7-1 in MMA with 4 finishes and beat current UFC fighters Marion Reneau and Nicco Montano early in her career. The one loss on her record says ‘TKO via hand injury’ as well. Haven’t seen it but that loss might have a big asterisk next to it. She made her Octagon debut at UFC 235 last March and beat Pannie Kianzad comfortably. She’s been linked to a few fights since but they’ve kept falling apart for one reason or another. Hopefully this one actually happens. Mazany I’m hazy on. I know I’ve seen her fight but recall sod all of her. She’s 6-3 but her losses were all against solid opposition (Sara McMann, Lina Lansberg, Macy Chiasson). She was sacked by the UFC and went and got a win in KOTC and now she’s back. If Avila is as good as she’s appeared so far, I don’t expect her to have much hassle winning this one. Ryan Benoit vs Tyson Nam is ***WAND’S ONE TO WATCH*** this time. It was slim pickings on this Mother Hubbard’s cupboard of a card but I’ve got a good feeling about this one. Means nothing in terms of title shots or relevance in the division but I think it’ll be a cracking fight. Benoit has been on a win one-lose one run for his last 10 straight now. He’s the male Randa Markos but I don’t have a crush on him. He’s 10-6 now and hasn’t been all that active. Some big gaps between fights. But from what I remember of him he’s usually in action packed fights. And he’s coming off a loss so he’s due a win now to keep The Streak going. Tyson Nam’s my boy here though. Had a soft spot for him ever since he unexpectedly sparked Eduardo Dantas when Dantas was Bellator champ. At 18-11-1 he’s obviously no world beater. And he’s 36 now so he’s already probably outstayed the average as a Flyweight. But he’s always up for a scrap. He’s Hawaiian so it’s in his DNA, I guess. He’s 0-2 in the UFC so far though so I’m hoping he can claw one back here. Whatever happens, this is my favourite fight on the card on paper. Jordan Griffin vs Darrick Minner. Not massively familiar with either man but I absolutely loved Griffin’s fight with Chas Skelly on the Gaethje vs Cerrone undercard last September. If you haven’t already, get that watched! Trust me. Griffin is 18-7 with 14 finishes, more of a grappler but he mixes it up. Comes in off a February submission over TJ Brown. Minner is 24-11 with 21 subs. Lost his UFC debut to Grant Dawson. That’s all I’ve seen of him. Looking at his win/sub ratio though, and remembering Griffin’s mad scramblefest with Skelly, I’m thinking this could be another grappling war. Anthony Ivy vs Christian Aguilera...yes, Christian. Not Christina. Had to double take that one myself. Two UFC newcomers. Ivy is 30 with an 8-2 record, all finishes. He was the Welterweight champ in the WXC and Fury FC promotions, whatever that’s worth. He was actually brought in as a replacement at UFC 250 and agreed to step in against Gerald Meerschaert on 48 hours notice when Ian Heinisch was initially pulled out. But obviously that got sorted and now Ivy gets his debut a week later. Aguilera is 28 years old, 13-6 with 10 knockouts and has most recently fought in LFA. And that’s that. I’ll end up Sky+ing it and probably skimming through a fair bit of it. Just can’t see me spending hours of my Sunday on this. But there are some good fights on there. I think the prelims are better than the main card. Griffin/Minner, Benoit/Nam and Rosa/Aguilar are the ones I’ve got my eye on. Plus the return of Raging Panda. Main card isn’t doing it for me at all apart from seeing Jourdain back in there. Edited June 13, 2020 by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted June 11, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted June 11, 2020 tiny Dana preview got me hyped for two fights on the main card: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted June 11, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted June 11, 2020 (edited) Ray Borg out: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2020/06/ray-borg-out-of-ufc-on-espn-10-merab-dvalisvhili-now-fights-combate-americas-champ-gustavo-lopez/amp?__twitter_impression=true Dunno if its a weight issue but, Borg has missed weight and still fought 4 times in the UFC. Borg has also pulled out of several fights the week of the fight citing illness (which could also be a weight problem). edit* So far 'personal reasons' is what's been said, if so i hope it isnt to do with his sick kid. Edited June 11, 2020 by Egg Shen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebra Kid Mark Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 It really isn't a great card at all. Wandshogun's write up has got me some what excited for it though like his write ups usually do. Dana's video posted by Egg Shen is also pretty good and made me excited for the 2 fights he talks about. I think the main problem is that main event, if we had any other Fight Night main event from this year with that undercard it would be a card with a good headliner and a lot of exciting fights between not very known potential prospects. I bet any Fightpass prelim from the next PPV could have headlined this card instead of Eye and Calvillo. Still, despite how weak the card looks, I will be waking up at 8am on Sunday ready to watch the recording of the the whole show with a fry up and a glass of orange juice and a mug of tea like I usually do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted June 12, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted June 12, 2020 i'll be viewing the main card, i'll skip the prelims for this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted June 12, 2020 Author Paid Members Share Posted June 12, 2020 On the Ray Borg thing, he tweeted a picture of his son with ‘family first’ above it so that’s likely something to do with it. Hopefully the boy’s OK. The poor kid and his family have been through enough already. Hasn’t stopped twats moaning about him though. This tweet sums it up for me; Thing is, nobody really gave a fuck about the Borg vs Dvalishvili fight before. I saw pretty much zero discussion about it anywhere. But Borg pulls out and now it’s some terrible crime. I’d say people should wait for the reason he’s pulled out before diving in slagging him off but a massive chunk of the MMA fanbase appears to be made up of pathetic, immature, entitled little scumbags. So it doesn’t shock me. This whole COVID situation has really brought out the worst of MMA fans. Giving Rose Namajunas grief because she didn’t suck it up and fight after losing 2 family members to the virus was the worst. Then there was the whole ‘Khabib’s running scared’ after he was told by the UFC to fly to Abu Dhabi then couldn’t get back to the US in time for 249. Then his old man was hospitalised. But yeah, pulling out of fights is a bitch move bro. Leon Edwards is a fanny apparently as well, because he couldn’t get to America on about 2 days notice to fight Woodley while flights were getting cancelled left and right. Funnily enough, I haven’t really heard a peep about McGregor turning down stepping in at 249. For no other reason than ‘I’m not a fill-in fighter’. Rose: 2 relatives die = MMA fans say she’s ducking, she’s a pullout merchant, where’s the proof her family members died? Conor: Refuses fight because he’d be a substitute and his ego is bruised = MMA fans .... but buyrates, Red Panty Night etc. Gone way off on a tangent, I know. But man, MMA fans talking tough like professional fucking fighters are cowards for not being able to make it to fight night, while they’re sat on their lard arse in the safety of mummy’s house, is embarrassing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 You need to bear in mind that Borg committed the cardinal sin of being in the bus that McGregor attacked, and "faked" an injury just to get some publicity. Those types will always have it in for Borg whenever he does something they can latch onto. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted June 12, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted June 12, 2020 (edited) Back onto the card though, Karl Roberson has missed weight again! 4.5lb off this time. Marvin Vettori may very well burst. Not sure if the fights happening? Eye missed weigh too, state of her here 😦: Edited June 12, 2020 by Egg Shen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted June 13, 2020 Author Paid Members Share Posted June 13, 2020 (edited) Even my ‘one to watch’ got buggered on this card. Ryan Benoit is out of the fight with Tyson Nam 😏 his replacement Zarrukh Adashev could be an interesting signing though. Former GLORY Kickboxer (19-3, 16 knockouts) and he’s 3-1 so far in MMA. Lost his debut but has since won 3 in a row in Bellator. Him vs Nam could be a fun one. Might actually be better than the Benoit fight would’ve been. Elsewhere, Joanne Calderwood and Jessica Eye have been getting into it over Eye’s weight miss. Here’s a few snippets; Team JoJo all the way. Even if she is an “incident person”. Edited June 13, 2020 by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted June 13, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted June 13, 2020 This card has been ravaged. That said the replacement they've brought in for Ray Borg looks handy too, Gustavo Lopez, 11-4 with 10 finishes and the current Comate America's 135lb Champ. Gonna check out that Nam/Adashev fight too, always like to see the Glory guys crossover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted June 13, 2020 Author Paid Members Share Posted June 13, 2020 Yeah. There is some decent stuff on this one if you’re familiar with the fighters lower down the card. Fili vs Jourdain, Rosa vs Aguilar and Griffin vs Minner are all fights I’m looking forward to/expect to be fun in some way. Raging Panda is on there, couple of new faces and at a push I guess Vettori vs Roberson is a bit of a low level grudge match. It’s not that bad. Like @Zebra Kid Mark said, it’s the main event that makes this look cack. If they’d stuck something like Sterling vs Sandhagen, Garbrandt vs Assuncao, Edgar vs Munhoz or Andrade vs Namajunas 2 on top of this, it’d look fine. Eye vs Calvillo is just a dogshit headliner, there’s no getting away from it. If that was a prelim on any other card I think most would skip it. If it goes 5 rounds we could be looking at Sylvia vs Arlovski 3 levels of watching paint dry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted June 13, 2020 Author Paid Members Share Posted June 13, 2020 7 hours ago, wandshogun09 said: Fili vs Jourdain, Rosa vs Aguilar and Griffin vs Minner are all fights I’m looking forward to/expect to be fun in some way. And it’s off. Darrick Minner is out after falling sick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators neil Posted June 13, 2020 Moderators Share Posted June 13, 2020 This will either be the shittest card in a long time or somehow have absolute barn burner fights all night. Nothing in between. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted June 13, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted June 13, 2020 what a mess😄 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted June 13, 2020 Author Paid Members Share Posted June 13, 2020 Someone’s done a mashup of Jessica Eye being a cringeball mixed with DMX... This show has peaked already. It’s all downhill from here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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