Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted August 28, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted August 28, 2020 (edited) This is fast approaching. Saturday 19th September at the UFC APEX. I’m not buying that talk of Masvidal and his spunk soaked hair stepping in so we’ll crack on with this... ESPN+ MAIN CARDColby Covington vs Tyron Woodley Donald Cerrone vs Niko Price Khamzat Chimaev vs Gerald Meerschaert Johnny Walker vs Ryan Spann Mackenzie Dern vs Randa Markos Kevin Holland vs Darren StewartESPN+/FIGHT PASS PRELIMSJordan Espinosa vs David Dvorak Mirsad Bektic vs Damon Jackson Mara Romero Borella vs Mayra Bueno Silva Jessica Rose Clark vs Sarah Alpar Darrick Minner vs TJ Laramie Randy Costa vs Journey Newson Andre Ewell vs Irwin Rivera Tyson Nam vs Jerome Rivera  Granted, I know good and well the card will no doubt change a million times before the night but Christ how amazing does this look in its current form? Especially for a Fight Night. Honestly, this is better as a complete card than 253 a week later. Stick that main card under Adesanya vs Costa and it would’ve been up there for card of the year for me. I’ve guessed the bout order for now.  Colby Covington vs Tyron Woodley tops this one. Where do you even start with these two? The Welterweight division as a whole actually. They all just seem to constantly be beefing and talking shite about each other. Usman, Covington, Woodley, Masvidal, Edwards. Just endless slagging each other off. And it all seems to be intertwined. Covington and Woodley has been brewing for ages though. Right back to when Woodley was the champ and Colby was climbing the ranks. Of course, Usman wound up getting the first crack at the gold and he’s since beat both of these two. Covington hasn’t fought since. He’s been out since December. While Woodley went on to lose a lopsided decision to Gilbert Burns. Seemed to take some time for the UFC to get this fight over the line and confirmed but we’re finally all set now. If you want the full picture of how this one has came about, just watch this. Hope Woodley chins him. And I’ve never been a much of a fan of MC T-Wood. Covington is an absolute cock though. He’s tweeted something again over the last day or so, some pro cops thing just days after another black man was shot. And he’s been having a pop at Lebron James for something or other. I try not to see his bullshit but there’s always someone sharing it. He’s a fucking arsehole try hard little cringe ball. Sadly though, judging by how Woodley’s been looking and sounding lately, I think MAGA boy wins this one. Love to see him get his jaw cracked again. Woodley has the skills to do it as well. Maybe I’m writing him off prematurely but he really had the look of a fighter who was on the way out against Gilbert Burns. He had a great run but I think it might be about over. He’d probably still school the guys just below that top tier at 170, but like him or loathe him, Colby is top tier and he’s in his physical prime.  Donald Cerrone vs Niko Price is ***WAND’S ONE TO WATCH*** this time but, honestly, on this card we’re spoilt for choice. I love this one though. Can’t go wrong with these two. You know how it goes with Cowboy. Either he comes out guns blazing and puts on a clinic, gets off to a slow start and gets steamrolled, or it’s a slobberknocker. What he isn’t is boring. Ever. Results-wise it’s not been a good spell at all. He’s lost 4 in a row now. But he did fight Gaethje, Ferguson and McGregor consecutively. He had a really good fight with Anthony Pettis last time out in May. Real competitive fight that some even had him winning. He can still go, he’s just not at that elite level. Nothing wrong with that. Niko Price has fast become one of my favourite fighters to watch on the whole roster. The embodiment of kill or be killed. Some guys are just wired different and I think Price is cut from the same cloth as maniacs like Robbie Lawler and Diego Sanchez. This fight comes at an interesting time because it’s definitely a step down from the level Cowboy’s been on recently and it’s also a big opportunity for Price against a popular name. This would be the biggest win of Price’s career to date if he gets it done. Whatever happens it’s going to be action packed and probably ends with a highlight reel finish either way.  Khamzat Chimaev vs Gerald Meerschaert is the latest addition to this monster of a card. Lots of talk about the UFC wanting to do Chimaev vs Demian Maia when they return to Fight Island but he’s got to get past Gerald The Bloodhound first. Feels like they’re kind of disrespecting our Gez here, to be honest. Like they think he’s just some jobber to keep Chimaev’s momentum going before the proper test in Maia. But, while he’s no top contender, Meerschaert’s also nobody to overlook. From the bits we’ve seen of Chimaev so far, I’d expect him to win. 8-0, 8 finishes. And what was that ridiculous stat, he’s only been hit twice or something in his first 2 UFC fights? Looks scary. Still though, that was John Phillips and Rhys McKee. And Meerschaert is quite a step up from them. Also, Phillips and McKee were both stepping in on just a few days notice. This will be the stiffest test Chimaev will have faced so far in his young career. And Meerschaert’s a crafty bugger, a BJJ black-belt himself and a veteran of 44 MMA fights. On paper he’s more than a solid next step for Chimaev and exactly the kind of guy who could be a banana skin for a lot of up and comers if they’re caught slipping or getting the big head.  Johnny Walker vs Ryan Spann has my arse going already. I don’t think my heart can take a third Walker loss on the bounce. We need a big highlight reel KO from him here followed by another worm, that doesn’t dislocate his shoulder this time. The division needs it. It’s clear at this point that there are real flaws in his game and he’ll probably never make real waves in the title picture. But as long as he knocks a few fuckers out every now and then, you have to think they’ll keep a nutter like him around pretty much forever. He’s entertainment on legs, with a mohawk. He’s ace. He had one of the best, most fun starts to a UFC run ever and then Corey Bastard Anderson cocked everything right up. Spann isn’t an easy fight on paper by any stretch though. I definitely wouldn’t write Walker off. He’s caught guys who I felt were more dangerous than Spann and put them away early and in style. But Spann could be tricky. Nowhere near as flashy as Walker, obviously, but he plays to his strengths and he’s been slowly stacking up the wins. He’s won 8 in a row now. Wouldn’t be shocked if he put the nail in for Walker here but I still think we’ll see a few more wild finishes from him yet. If he wins this we need to see Walker vs Jiri Prochazka booked immediately.  Mackenzie Dern vs Randa Markos. Still don’t really know what to make of Dern. She’s got undeniable skills as a grappler but I’ve never been fully convinced on her since she’s jumped into MMA. I mean, she’s 8-1 with 5 submissions. It’s not a bad start at all. But there’s been the weight missing and then Amanda Ribas completely shut her down in their fight last October. She did bounce back with a sweet kneebar sub on Hannah Cifers in May though. So she hasn’t let that first defeat fuck with her too much. Been a fan of Randa Markos since her TUF stint years ago where, along with Joanne Calderwood and others, she was the good vs the arsehole combination of Esparza and Herrig. But she’s 35 years old now with a 10-8-1 record. It’s just not happening for her. She’s had some good performances in there, some not so good, but her lack of consistency has meant she’s stayed stagnant in the same spot forever. Dern probably wins this, to be honest. I could be wrong but I think it’s a good style matchup for her because Markos is primarily a grappler herself but Dern is levels above her in that game. I guess there’s a chance Randa uses her wrestling to keep it standing but nobody wants to see an ugly striking match between these two. I think it’s probably Randa’s only path to victory though.  Kevin Holland vs Darren Stewart sounds like fun. Can’t recall a fight from either of these two that I was bored by. I actually think Holland could go on to be a contender in maybe a year or two if he keeps improving and putting everything together. Really like what I’ve seen of him. He’s 27 years old and 18-5 with 15 finishes. Yeah, he’s had some losses but a few were early in his career and 2 of the losses were to Rafael Lovato Jr and Thiago Santos on short notice. He’s looked tremendous in his last couple of fights. Stopped Anthony Hernandez in 39 seconds in May then got the TKO over Joaquin Buckley on the Lewis vs Oleynik card the other week. Don’t know what it is but I get kind of a Max Holloway vibe off him. Like he improves from his setbacks and one day it’s all going to click and we’ve suddenly got a real title threat on our hands. Could be way off, I have been before, but I’ve got a good feeling about him. Stewart is a guy I’ve enjoyed watching over the years as well. Think he’s slightly under appreciated actually. He’s 12-5-0-1 out of London. Subbed Maki Pitolo quick the other week. Handed Deron Winn his first loss. Stopped Eric Spicely. Had that forgotten war with Julian Marquez. Always got time for a Darren The Dentist fight. High hopes for this one especially.  Jordan Espinosa vs David Dvorak is total filler for me. Can’t pretend to give much of a shite either way. Espinosa’s never really impressed in his UFC stint. 15-7 overall, 2-2 in the UFC and he’s been subbed a couple of times. He outpointed Mark De La Rosa last time out but he’s one of those fighters I watch and then forget literally the second it’s over. Sounds harsh but there’s just nothing about him. Dvorak looks alright, to be fair. He’s Czech, 28 years old and has a record of 18-3 with 15 finishes. He beat Bruno Silva in his UFC debut back in March.  Mara Romero Borella vs Mayra Bueno Silva is a nothing fight really. After an impressive UFC debut back in 2017, Borella just seems like she’s going nowhere at this point. She’s 12-8–0-2 now and she’s lost 4 of her last 5. And she was armbarred in a round by Cortney Casey in her last fight in May. Most interesting thing about Borella isn’t anything to do with MMA. She got done for cocaine distribution back in Italy in 2012 and did a stretch of porridge for it. Naughty. Silva is Brazilian and fights out of whatever remnants are left of Chute Boxe. She’s 5-1 with 4 finishes and has a submission win over Gillian Robertson. She definitely appears to have more upside than Borella.  Jessica Rose Clark vs Sarah Alpar. Just getting it out of the way, Jessy Clark is fit. There. Not a fan of face tattoos but there’s something about her. Anyway, beyond that useless bit of observation, this fight isn’t grabbing me. I did have hopes for Clark when she came into the UFC and beat Bec Rawlings and Paige VanZant but between injury layoffs and a couple of losses, it’s fizzled out. She’s 9-6-0-1 now. Unless she can make some drastic turnaround or start banging out wins every other month like Angela Hill did for a bit, it’s hard to see her making any waves. Alpar is making her debut, 9-4 with 4 finishes and she’s from Amarillo, Texas. Terry Funk country! She was the Bantamweight champ in LFA and got her foot in the Octagon door by submitting Shanna Young on Dana’s Contender Series last year.  Darrick Minner vs TJ Laramie. Fuck knows. I know little about Minner and nowt about Laramie. Looking them up now, Minner is 24-11 with 21 submissions. So a little bit of a grappler it would seem. He was supposed to fight Jordan Griffin recently which I was looking forward to as it sounded like a bit of a grappling war on paper. But Minner pulled out sick at the last minute. I’m kind of curious to see what he’s got here. Laramie is Canadian, 22 years old with a record of 12-3. A quick google tells me he won a UFC contract on Dana’s Contender Series earlier in August. That completely passed me by. I’ve been saying it forever but I really should start watching DWCS. That show is churning out some talent these days, isn’t it? Anyway, Laramie isn’t fucking around. Straight back in action. Little bit more into this one now I’ve done my 30 seconds homework.  Randy Costa vs Journey Newson. This’ll get pretty much zero discussion going in but it could be total fireworks. Costa might just look like Carlos Condit’s kid brother but he can scrap. He’s 26 years old and trains out of Lauzon MMA in the Boston area. 5-1 with 5 knockouts. Got my attention immediately in his fight with Boston Salmon in October. Only went 2 minutes but it was complete chaos before Costa put him away. Can tell he’s going to be a ton of fun to watch going forward, although he’ll have to manage his recklessness more as he steps up. Seriously though, if you’ve got Fight Pass and you need to kill 2 minutes while you’re waiting for your Pot Noodle to cool down, whack Costa vs Salmon on. Newson is 9-2-0-1 with 6 finishes. Don’t recall a great deal of him but he absolutely smashed Domingo Pilarte in 38 seconds in his last fight, only to get it overturned to a No Contest when he tested positive for weed. Between my vague memories of Newson and my vivid memories of Costa, I really think we might be in for a belter here.  Andre Ewell vs Irwin Rivera might be worth a look. Ewell’s been pretty consistently entertaining on the undercards since he signed with the UFC. He’s 16-6 now, beat a fading Renan Barão in his Octagon debut. He’s lost when he stepped up a level against guys like Marlon Vera and Nathaniel Wood but on the whole he’s a decent fighter below that contender mix. Comes into this one off a points win over Jonathan Martinez. Don’t know a ton about Rivera, he’s still new to the UFC, but he took Giga Chikadze to the cards in his debut and beat Ali Alqaisi a few weeks ago. 10-5 record. As a prelim space filler, this isn’t a bad little fight.   Is that a banger or is that a banger? Yeah, a few of the prelims aren’t up to much but, if this stays intact as it is (I know, I know) this feels like a PPV to me in terms of how much I’m looking forward to it. Edited September 19, 2020 by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted August 28, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted August 28, 2020 should they give the FOTN cheque to Cowboy and Price now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted August 28, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted August 28, 2020 (edited) Borella's quite nice to look at. Reminds me a bit of Emily Booth. EDIT: Also, Jessica Rose Clark looks like Joanne Calderwood's dirty sister. Edited August 28, 2020 by Carbomb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted August 29, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted August 29, 2020 Bad, bad night for Woodley this. Given the run of form he's been in i cant think of a worse opponent for him than Covington. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted August 29, 2020 Author Paid Members Share Posted August 29, 2020 This card keeps getting deeper. Miguel Baeza vs Mickey Gall’s been added now. I’ve put a bit on it in the opening post if you give a shit. This is starting to remind me of that Whittaker vs Till card in July. They’re absolutely loading it up with fights. Bit odd though because 253 the weekend after is down to 9 fights from what I can tell and the undercard isn’t that good now. Then there’s this bastard with 14 fights and about 3 quarters of it is quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted August 29, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted August 29, 2020 It won't happen, but I would love it if the Krav MAGA poster boy started losing only to black fighters, starting with Woodley. Unfortunately, I think the analysis is right. Woodley's on his way out, and it seems with a whimper rather than a bang, which is not something such a fighter deserves. Hope Gane keeps this run going, too. An undefeated HW is a rarity; it's why I was in two minds about Ngannou and Rozenstruik. Not that it matters too much, but it's nice to have. Always good to see the madman that is Johnny Walker on a card. I really hope he can put a collection together, but it doesn't look likely with his style. That Miguel Baeza intrigues me, like most undefeated guys. "Caramel Thunder" just sounds like the worst pornstar name ever though. BTW, something shocked me: I don't remember any of the Cerrone/McGregor thing - it doesn't feel at all like McG has fought recently, like he's just been a sideline character for years now. I don't remember the build-up, the fight, the aftermath, anything. Worrying gap in my memory. Fairly sure I'd have kept up with it at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kfogg1991 Posted August 29, 2020 Share Posted August 29, 2020 3 minutes ago, Carbomb said: It won't happen, but I would love it if the Krav MAGA poster boy started losing only to black fighters, starting with Woodley. Unfortunately, I think the analysis is right. Woodley's on his way out, and it seems with a whimper rather than a bang, which is not something such a fighter deserves. Hope Gane keeps this run going, too. An undefeated HW is a rarity; it's why I was in two minds about Ngannou and Rozenstruik. Not that it matters too much, but it's nice to have. Always good to see the madman that is Johnny Walker on a card. I really hope he can put a collection together, but it doesn't look likely with his style. That Miguel Baeza intrigues me, like most undefeated guys. "Caramel Thunder" just sounds like the worst pornstar name ever though. BTW, something shocked me: I don't remember any of the Cerrone/McGregor thing - it doesn't feel at all like McG has fought recently, like he's just been a sideline character for years now. I don't remember the build-up, the fight, the aftermath, anything. Worrying gap in my memory. Fairly sure I'd have kept up with it at the time. Yeah they did 0 hype or build up for the McGregor/Cowboy show and just relied on Conors name and drawing power for it. I remember being so excited for the press conference because it would be Conor back doing what he does best which is talk shit and get the world excited to see the fight and it just ended up being a really dull guy love session where they both talked about the respect they had for each other ext. It really is such a shame with how the McGregor career/story has panned out because he went from being the most dedicated/exciting fighter in MMA, changing the landscape of the sport and becoming a global mega star and household name into someone that completely morphed into a guy that cared more about feeding his ego and cocaine instead of absolutely solidifying himself as the biggest and best fighter in the sport he always claimed to live and breathe. It was because Brock moving over from the WWE back in the day and Connor McGregor why MMA is my absolute favourite sport in the world now but i stopped being the huge fan and caring or being excited about him after he beat cowboy in the fashion he did only too walk away yet again and show he dosen't really care about the UFC anymore apart from a one off multi-million payday every couple of years or so (sorry for the long reply i was having this same discussion with a friend a couple of days ago haha)  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted August 31, 2020 Author Paid Members Share Posted August 31, 2020 Don’t know why I fucking bother. They might as well just sack this fight off the amount of times it’s been booked, cancelled and moved about. It’s been knocked back more times than me at bedtime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members WeeAl Posted August 31, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted August 31, 2020 It might be time to just make sure the series link works before bed, and turn on the fights the next morning with no idea of what's on the show. "Oh, some fucker is fighting template number three CAW on this show? That's surprising." On the other hand you have the possibility of waking up to see "Jon Jones is fighting Rumble Johnson for the interim Heavyweight title? How did that happen then? Doesn't matter, inject it into my eyeball." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted August 31, 2020 Author Paid Members Share Posted August 31, 2020 31 minutes ago, WeeAl said: inject it into my eyeball. That’s what she said. At this point these opening posts seem pointless. Might have to just put the card as TBA vs TBA x12 and just fill in the blanks an hour before the show kicks off from now on. Seriously, I thought about starting to knock together the thread for Khabib vs Gaethje earlier but decided to wait until Ferguson vs Poirier and Zabit vs Yair are either confirmed or denied first. Chances are the whole pissing thing will implode anyway. Remember when that Jones vs Hendo PPV got cancelled and it was such a rare thing that we all acted like the world was ending? Now it’s just something that barely registers while you have your Wednesday morning breakfast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members WeeAl Posted August 31, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted August 31, 2020 As much as you can get a sure thing in MMA, those two fights, Zabit Vs Rodriguez and Poirier Vs Ferguson, are sure fire hits. They would be blinding five rounders, you'd imagine. I'm convinced that we get at least one of them as a five rounder sometime in either November or December. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted September 5, 2020 Author Paid Members Share Posted September 5, 2020 Paging @Scott Malbranque, our Gerald’s got himself a fight. Poor Gerald. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Scott Malbranque Posted September 5, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted September 5, 2020 Sweet merciful hour of good Jaysis. Poor Ger, Magic. Imagine getting over Covid and then having Chimaev standing opposite you in a locked cage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted September 8, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted September 8, 2020 anyone else not believe him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted September 8, 2020 Share Posted September 8, 2020 Sriram Muralidaran made an excellent point on Twitter the other day. He argued that Covington is a horrible style match-up for Woodley because the latter struggles against volume strikers. I can only see Covington overwhelming Woodley and perhaps even forcing a late stoppage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.