Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted June 18, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted June 18, 2020 (edited) Saturday 27th June. Once again at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas... ESPN/ESPN+Ā MAIN CARDDustin Poirier vs Dan Hooker Mike Perry vs Mickey GallĀ Maurice Greene vs Gian Villante Brendan Allen vs Kyle DaukausĀ Takashi Sato vs Jason WittĀ Sean Woodson vs Julian ErosaĀ Ā Ā ESPN+/FIGHT PASSĀ PRELIMSLuis Pena vs Khama WorthyĀ Tanner Boser vs Philipe LinsĀ Jinh Yu Frey vs Kay Hansen Jordan Griffin vs Youssef Zalal Ā This oneās rolled around especially fast, hasnāt it? Doesnāt seem 5 minutes since Poirier vs Hooker got announced. Now weāre just a fortnight away. That seems to be the finalised bout order as best I can tell, although I can see a last minuteĀ prelim or two still being added yet.Ā I like this card a lot. On paper at least, I think thatās one of the better Fight Night lineups weāve had since COVID hit.Ā Ā Dustin Poirier vs Dan Hooker is a cracking main event. How can you not love this? It was actually meant to go down in May in San Diego but the card got binned with all the craziness going on. Iām really glad theyāve been able to rebook this one. Unlike fucking Eye vs Calvillo, this is the kind of fight you want to see in a headline positionĀ over 5 rounds. We havenāt seen Poirier since he unsuccessfully challenged Khabib for the gold back in September. Before that though, heād been on the best run of his entire career with wins over Anthony Pettis, Eddie Alvarez, Justin Gaethje and Max Holloway. One of the most exciting fighters in the game with toughness and heart off the charts. Before all this COVID madness, I was half expecting Poirier to try to sit out and wait for a biggish name fight but I was pleasantly surprised when the original announcement of him fighting Hooker came out. And I guess now itās a case of Poirier just wanting to get back in the cage.Ā Hooker is on top form right now. 20-8 record and heās won 7 of his last 8. Among them, wins over Gilbert Burns, Al Iaquinta and in February he beat Paul Felder in a bit of a 5 round war. This is a big opportunity for him. Poirier might be coming off a one-sided loss but when that loss was against Khabib it doesnāt diminish your stock too much. This time last year Poirier was the interim champ and just battered Max Holloway. If Hooker can come out of this one with a W itāll be huge for him. Iād favour Poirier myself but you never know and whatever happens it should be a hell of a scrap. With their styles I canāt see how it plays out any other way but pure violence. Ā Mike Perry vs Mickey GallĀ co-mains. Donāt know what to think about this. Both are kind of floundering of late after solid starts to their Octagon careers. Perry has lost 5 of his last 7. The losses were all to legit guys but still, itās 2-5 out of 7. For all the smack Perry talks, heās not backing it up. Fun to watch though so theyāll keep him around. Gall went 4-0 initially in his career and did a stellar job of making a name for himself right out the gate by being the first man standing opposite CM Punk in the cage. He got an easy win then added to his hype by submitting Sage Northcutt a few months later. That was 2016 though. Since then heās gone 2-2. Got dominated by Randy Brown and then got completely old manned and stopped by Diego Sanchez. Heās 28, itās not the end of the world, and he does have some skills. But that momentum heād nicely built for himself early on has totally petered out at this point. Funny old matchup. In 2016/17 this wouldāve been seen as a big prospect fight. Now, not so much but I think itāll be anything but boring. Donāt find either particularly likeable but Perry is a proper bellend so Iāll be pulling for Gall to throttle him. Ā Maurice Greene vs Gian Villante isnātĀ grabbing me by the bollocks. Havenāt been massively impressed with Greene so far. Iāve got vague memories of him being on TUF at some point, heās 8-4 now and got finished by Alexey Oleynik and Sergei Pavlovich in his last couple of appearances. Villante has had his moments as far as being in some slobberknockers over the years but truthfully heās not much good. Heās a Serra-Longo fighter, 17-11 and has lost 4 out of his last 6 fights. I donāt know about this move up to Heavyweight either. He hasnāt looked good at 205 lately and I donāt know whether him moving up is him genuinely thinking heāll do well at the weight or he just swapped training camps for chippy teas and canāt make the cut anymore. Ā Brendan Allen vs Kyle Daukaus is a bit of a mystery to me. Havenāt seen much Allen and Iāve seen fuck all of Daukaus. Doing a bit of homework though, this could be a good āun. Might be some serious potential in both these two. āAll Inā Allen is 24 years old, 14-3 with 13 finishes. Looks fairly promising so far. Comes into this one off the back of 6 straight wins and has already stopped Kevin Holland and Tom Breese in the UFC. Daukaus is the newcomer here, filling in for the injured Ian Heinisch. Heās unbeatenĀ at 9-0Ā with 8 subs, was on Danaās Contender Series and was the Cage Fury Middleweight champ. Of his 8 submission victories, 5 have come by Brabo choke. Didnāt have much of an opinion on this at first glance but Iām quite looking forward to it now. Ā Sean Woodson vs Kyle Nelson. Another fight where Iām not that familiar with either fighter but I think this could be pretty decent actually. Woodson is 28, undefeatedĀ at 7-0Ā and, as I remember, looked quite slick outpointing Kyle Bochniak in his UFC debut back in October. Hasnāt really beat anyone of note but I do recall thinking his striking looked on point against Bochniak. Nelson is 29, Canadian with a record of 13-3. Havenāt seen much of him but he made short work of Polo Reyes on the Mexico City card in September, proper clobbered him. Heās also got a first round knockout overĀ Khama Worthy on his record from 2017. Could be a bit of a dark horse fight, this. Ā Luis Pena vs Khama WorthyĀ isĀ ***WANDāS ONE TO WATCH***Ā here. Absolutely love this. Pena AKA āViolent Bob Rossā is 26 years old, trains out of American Top Team and is 8-2 with 6 finishes. Both losses were split decisions. I remember thinking he shouldāve got the nod against Matt Frevola back in October. Pena has looked pretty good so far. Seems a solid all-rounder and heās got that awkward lanky frame as a 6ā3ā Lightweight. Khama Worthy Iāve seen less of but he made a hell of a first impression on me in his UFC debut last August. He stepped in as a late replacement and battered Devonte Smith (who I rated) in a round. And not only was his in cage performance highly impressive, he had a certain swagger and style to him which I liked. Not saying heās championship material or anything but worst case scenario I think heāll be someone worth keeping an eye out for to spice up the undercards. Heās 33 years old, 15-6 record with 11 finishes, mostly knockouts. Based on what Iāve seen of Pena and the limited footage Iāve seen of Worthy, Iāve got a feeling this is going to a right belter. Ā Tanner Boser vs Philipe Lins.Ā Not especially arsed about this but you just never know with the Heavyweights. Boser is still somehow only 28 despite looking weathered as fuck. Heās Canadian, 17-6-1. Havenāt seen enough of him to have too much of an opinion really. Think I only saw his last fight and he just got outclassed by Ciryl Gane so it didnāt tell us much. Lins is 34, Brazilian, BJJ black-belt, 14-4 record. Fought in Bellator and PFL in the past. Again, think Iāve only watched him fight once and it was his UFC debut in May where he dropped a decision to Arlovski. That was only about a month ago and I recall nothing of that fight. Fuck knows. Ā Jinh Yu Frey vs Kay Hansen came out of nowhere. Octagon debuts for both.Ā Frey was the Invicta Atomweight (105lbs) champ. Sheās Korean-American, 35 now, 9-4 record. Only seen little snippets of her in action, maybe one full fight, but she has some wicked striking I remember that much. How many 105lb women do you see do shit like that?Ā Despite that, sheās not typicallyĀ a KO artist. Thatās her only knockout. But what a knockout! Not sure how sheāll do moving up to Strawweight but I guess weāre about to find out. Hansen is only 20 years old and has a record of 6-3. Pretty much all her fights were in Invicta. Ā Jordan Griffin vs Youssef ZalalĀ could be alright. I keep mentioning that mad scramblefest Griffin had with Chas Skelly last year and Iāll continue to recommend it. One of the best undercard fights of 2019. Griffin is 18-7 with 14 finishes. Trains at Roufusport in Milwaukee. He was supposed to fight Darrick Minner the other week but Minner pulled out sick at the eleventh hour. Good to see him getting back on a card quickly. Zalal is 23 years old with an 8-2 record. Donāt recall seeing him fight before but he won his UFC debut back in February on the Jones vs Reyes undercard. The nicknames alone here are something else. āThe Native Psychoā vs āThe Moroccan Devilā. Ā Plenty to like andĀ sink your teeth into there. Top 2 fights should be good and I really like the sound of Allen/Daukaus, Woodson/Nelson and especially Pena/Worthy. Thumbs up from me šĀ Edited June 27, 2020 by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted June 18, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted June 18, 2020 Mike Perry's posted a video online today with his knuckles all busted up with cuts to his head and nose, says the fight is still happening. Guy's out of his mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted June 18, 2020 Author Paid Members Share Posted June 18, 2020 Yeah I just saw that. The meathead div. Saw someone on Twitter say he had a Lloyd Christmas haircut and I canāt unsee it now.Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators neil Posted June 18, 2020 Moderators Share Posted June 18, 2020 Pumped for the main card. Perry coming off like one of the wrong'uns in your local pub who "loses it" and starts punchingĀ and head-buttingĀ the fruit machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Silky Kisser Posted June 19, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted June 19, 2020 Anyone following this social media beef with Perry and Till? It seemed friendly at first but Till kept winding him up and Perry ended up blocking him. Any of Perry's posts now seem to be greeted with comments about Till 'Raw dogging' his Mrs and other general abuse.Ā All very childish stuff but I wonder how a headcase like Perry reacts. Possibly a reason for the busted knuckles.Ā Both come off as two of the biggest knuckle draggers to breathe air. I wouldn't normally route for Gall or Whittaker but I'll be firmly behind both when the fights happen.Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted June 19, 2020 Author Paid Members Share Posted June 19, 2020 Yeah, I betĀ Perry read a tweet or DMĀ from Till and walloped and nuttedĀ the door or something like the dopey manchild he is. Iād have been rooting for Whittaker over Till anyway. Never fully warmed to Till initially and since then heās done nothing to change my mind and has actually just solidified why I didnāt like him ever since by being a right spanner. Oddly though, everyone seems to love him on social media. Even accounts that are usually all over any kind of dodgy behaviour/tweetsĀ from fighters. I donāt get it myself.Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Silky Kisser Posted June 19, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted June 19, 2020 (edited) Yeah, Till gives me that Dave O'Donnell, meathead, scrap outside the kebab shop vibe of the early days of British MMA. I've never warmed to him either. He seemed to make himself bullying smaller fighters because he could cut the weight they couldn't. I think the final straw for me was him moaning about cutting to 170lbs at some point making it sound like he was being forced, despite being an obvious 85er and above.Ā Fingers crossed he gets a pasting.Ā Ā Ā Edited June 19, 2020 by Silky Kisser Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted June 19, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted June 19, 2020 yeh, always get the impression that Till is likely a bit of a nightmare away from the sport, i hope Bobby Knuckles beat him on the Island. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted June 20, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted June 20, 2020 Ladd/McMann is off. Ladd has done some serious damage to her knee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members WeeAl Posted June 20, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted June 20, 2020 I wonder was that out hiking in the mountains with the dogs or in training? Going by her Instagram, she puts a serious amount of miles in on the hills with the pups.Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted June 20, 2020 Author Paid Members Share Posted June 20, 2020 Ah that sucks. Not going to pretend it was a highlight of the card or anything but I was looking forward to her fight with McMann. Worse than that though, it sounds like sheās really done a number on her knee, sheāll be out a while. Right when she was rebuilding from the GDR loss and itās the last thing 135 needs too as she was the only real legit prospect at Bantamweight for me. Since you brought them up, Al, Laddās dogs are fucking ace as well; Ā Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted June 23, 2020 Author Paid Members Share Posted June 23, 2020 (edited) With Ladd vs McMann and Grasso vs Kim falling out, thereāsĀ been a few fights added.Ā Nothing earth shattering (SatoĀ vs Brahimaj being the pick of the bunch)Ā but some debuts that might be worth a gander. Iāve updatedĀ the opening post.Ā Edited June 23, 2020 by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted June 24, 2020 Author Paid Members Share Posted June 24, 2020 Tell me this isnāt a face that needs a smack... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted June 25, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted June 25, 2020 a Ā£10 double on Hooker/Gall returns close to 100 notes. That's gotta be the most attractive double bet in some time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted June 26, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted June 26, 2020 Mike Perry has had too much sherbert. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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