UFC Fight Island: Holm vs Aldana - Oct 3 🇦🇪 🏝

[wandshogun09]

Saturday 3rd October. Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.

ESPN+ MAIN CARD
Holly Holm vs Irene Aldana 

Yorgan De Castro vs Carlos Felipe

Germaine De Randamie vs Julianna Pena

Kyler Phillips vs Cameron Else 

Dequan Townsend vs Dusko Todorovic

ESPN+/FIGHT PASS PRELIMS
Carlos Condit vs Court McGee 

Charles Jourdain vs Josh Culibao

Jordan Williams vs Nassourdine Imavov

Loma Lookboonmee vs Jinh Yu Frey

Casey Kenney vs Alateng Heili

Jessin Ayari vs Luigi Vendramini 

 

Not the best. This card has taken a few hits though. We were supposed to get Thiago Santos vs Glover Teixeira on this. But for the second time, that one’s gone down the shitter. They’ve also moved Andrei Arlovski vs Tanner Boser from this card to November. Worst of all though, Beneil Dariush vs Charles Oliveira got binned. This card took more hits than a bong at the Diaz house. Keep Santos vs Glover and Dariush vs Oliveira intact and this looks like a completely different card. Oh well. There’ll probably be a few fights added yet. Don’t know if Dariush is staying on the card or what. 

 

Holly Holm vs Irene Aldana. Main event. Yeah, I know. Not much of a headliner. It’s even a shade below Waterson vs Hill for me but still nowhere near as bad as Eye vs Calvillo in June. It was meant to headline the August 1st card but got moved here for some reason. Whatever the case, the UFC seem determined for this to main event a card. Holm has had the feel of a fighter whose career is winding down for some time now. Of course she had that huge win over Ronda Rousey in 2015.

But oddly, what should’ve been the beginning of her big run ended up being the start of the downward spiral of her career. She immediately lost the title and dropped her next 3 fights following the Rousey win. Completely killed off all the momentum she had. She’s 3-5 overall since the Rousey fight. And at 38 years old and after 3 failed title shots and a long combat sports career with 78 total fights between MMA, Boxing and Kickboxing...she’s surely on borrowed time.

Aldana is the younger and fresher fighter at 32 years old and 12-5 in MMA. She’s got a nice fan friendly style to watch, good striking and has shown some submission skills. Her last couple of losses were split decisions as well so there might’ve been an argument she should’ve won those. She hasn’t beat anyone who’s proven top level yet so even an ageing Holm will still be a step up for her. But I like Aldana’s style. And no doubt her first round KO over Ketlen Vieira in December is why she’s getting this headline opportunity.

Vieira was undefeated at 10-0 going into that one as well, and considered one of the better prospects on the women’s side of the game. Aldana wiped her out inside a round. One of the cleaner knockouts I’ve seen in a women’s fight so far.

So yeah, it’s not the strongest main event by any means. I don’t dislike the matchup though. Just don’t think it’s ideal on top. I’m guessing the UFC are hoping for an Aldana win here. Like I said, Holm’s on the downswing and, aside from Kelvin Gastelum at 185 and Yair Rodriguez at 145, they don’t really have many Hispanic contenders in any of the divisions right now. Probably a factor in why they rarely went to Mexico after Cain dropped off. A spectacular performance from Aldana would be the best outcome here. Well, until they feed her to Amanda Nunes anyway 😏

 

Yorgan De Castro vs Carlos Felipe is the Heavyweight offering and this card’s ***WAND’S ONE TO WATCH***. It’s slim pickings for fights that stand out on this show but I’ve got a feeling this one will be a laugh if nothing else. Admittedly, I haven’t seen a ton of either of these two lummoxes but from what I have seen, this won’t be the fight to go and grab a drink or blast out a shit. De Castro is 6-1 with 5 knockouts. 4 in the first round. His only loss was a plodding decision to Greg Fuckface Hardy at UFC 249 in May. Really disappointed me that. Was hoping for Yorgan to deliver another one of these...

But he just didn’t pull the trigger and fuck all happened. Felipe is only 25 somehow. Rough paper round. He’s 8-1 with 6 knockouts but he also suffered his first defeat in his last fight, losing a decision to Sergey Spivak in July. With these two both coming off their first loss, no doubt they’ll be looking to redeem themselves here in typical Heavyweight fashion. Either a big KO or they both gas horribly trying.

 

Germaine De Randamie vs Julianna Pena. Not really bothered about this. I’ve just never particularly bought into Pena or enjoyed watching her fight much. She won TUF back in 2013 but I’ve never been that convinced. I remember a few people on here trying to hype her up as the Ronda Rousey slayer at one point. And then when she fought Valentina Shevchenko, I remember people picking her to win. I just never saw it. She’s not terrible but she’s nothing special. She’s 9-3 now and coming off a points win over Nicco Montano last year. Still a tricky one style-wise for GDR though. She actually had her moments against Nunes in December, but she’s still ultimately a striker at heart and Pena is all about the takedowns and top control. I’m not exactly invested in this but I’d rather De Randamie win, just because her Dutch Kickboxer style is better to watch than Pena blanketing fuckers and waiting for the round to end.

 

Kyler Phillips vs Cameron Else. Not familiar enough with either to give much of an opinion but a bit of info on both. Phillips is 25 years old, 7-1 with 5 finishes and beat Gabriel Silva (younger brother of Erick) on points in his UFC debut back in February. Else is stepping in on a week’s notice after Danaa Batgerel pulled out. He’s 29, 7-4 with all his wins being finishes. He’s from the UK but trains at Jackson-Wink in Albuquerque. He’s fought in Cage Warriors and Brave FC but hasn’t been that active over the last couple of years and this is his UFC debut. There you have it. I want Phillips to lose purely because he looks like Russell Brand.

 

Dequan Townsend vs Dusko Todorovic. This one just got chucked on. Don’t know what to expect. Townsend hasn’t shown much so far on the big stage. He’s 21-11 overall but he’s gone 0-3 since signing with the UFC. He’s hit the MMA headlines recently though, his two brothers were both killed in a shooting in August. I know everyone’s got bills but this seems way quick for him to be back in there. It literally just happened 3 weeks ago. Maybe it’s his way of trying to cope and distract himself but if he loses this fight as well then it could only worsen his mental state. And he’s in with a UFC newcomer in Todorovic, who looks dangerous on paper. He’s undefeated at 9-0 with 8 finishes, was on DWCS and he has a first round TKO win over Michel Pereira on his record from 2018. His Octagon debut was supposed to go down on that London card in March that ended up getting cancelled so he’s been waiting a while now. Bit conflicted on this. Todorovic could be good and certainly seems to have more upside. But I don’t want to see Townsend take a beating on top of everything else the poor get must be going through at the moment.

 

Carlos Condit vs Court McGee. Don’t really know what to think. It’s a fight that would’ve probably been great fun back in 2012 but I’m not sure what we’re getting now. Especially from Condit. He’s been flirting with retirement for what seems like ages now, hasn’t he? Truth be told, he’s not been right since that absolute war with Robbie Lawler back in 2016. That fight seemed to drain the last drops of the ‘Natural Born Killer’ away and he’s been a shadow of himself from that fight on. He’s gone 0-4 since then and been submitted in 3 of them. All against strong opposition but that’s the point, Condit used to beat or at least hang with the top guys. Now he just doesn’t even look in the race. It’s a shame. He’s been one of my favourites to watch over the years but the time comes for every fighter, I suppose. McGee’s had a less decorated career and never mixed in that main event company like Condit did. But he did win TUF in 2010 and does have wins over Robert Whittaker and Josh Neer on his record. Like Condit though, he’s struggled in recent years, losing 4 of his last 5. Fuck knows? If this was the best versions of both I’d be predicting a show stealer with Condit eventually getting the finish. In 2020 though, not a clue. Hopefully it’ll pleasantly surprise us but for one of them the rot is just going to continue.

 

Charles Jourdain vs Josh Culibao could be good. I’ve liked Jourdain so far. Looks to be some potential there but he’s not the finished article yet. He’s 24 years old out of Montreal, Canada. 10-3 in MMA and just dropped a split decision to Andre Fili in June. Before that though, he’d TKO’d the ‘Korean Superboy’ Doo Ho Choi in Korea. Culibao is 26 and Australian. 8-1 with 5 knockouts but got stopped by Jalin Turner in his UFC debut.

 

Jordan Williams vs Nassourdine Imavov. Both completely new to me. Williams is 29 with a 9-3 record, 8 finishes. He had 3 goes at Dana’s Contender Series before finally bagging a UFC contract with a first round TKO on the Contender show just last week. Imavov is French, 25 years old and he’s 8-2 with 7 finishes. He’s on a nice little 5 fight winning streak and stopped his last 3 opponents.

 

Loma Lookboonmee vs Jinh Yu Frey. Not amazing or anything but I quite like this matchup as prelim filler. Could be fun. Lookboonmee is only 4-2 so far in MMA. Not the most promising of starts granted. MMA is still new to her but she’s got an extensive Muay Thai background. Turned pro at just 8 years old! She’s a 9 time Muay Thai champion with over 200 fights between Thai, Kickboxing and Boxing. All that and she’s still only 24. She fought in Pancrase and Invicta before signing with the UFC last year and she went the distance in a losing effort against Angela Hill in her last fight. Frey is 35 years old, Korean-American, former Invicta Atomweight champ with a 9-5 record. She moved up to Strawweight for her UFC debut in June and got submitted by Kay Hansen. It’s a fight of no importance or significance but I like it stylistically.

 

Casey Kenney vs Alateng Heili. Can’t say I’m arsed. Kenney’s decent enough from my fuzzy recollection of him. 14-2-1 with wins over Louis Smolka, Manny Bermudez, Ray Borg and Brandon Royval. Not bad going, that. Heili is 14-7-1 out of Beijing. He’s fought twice in the UFC and won both but I don’t remember ever clapping eyes on him. Looking up his record, most of his 7 losses came early in his career. His only defeat in the past 5 years was to Kai Asakura, who also sparked Horiguchi in about a minute, so no shame there.

 

Jessin Ayari vs Luigi Vendramini. I recognise both names but no recollection of their actual fights. Ayari is Tunisian, 28 years old with a record of 16-5. He’s actually been in the UFC since 2016 but has only fought 3 times in the last 4 years. Beat Jim Wallhead in his debut but lost to Darren Till and Stevie Ray. The Till fight is probably why his name stood out. Vendramini is 24 from Rome, Italy. Nicknamed ‘The Italian Stallion’, which must be the least creative nickname a fighter from Italy could use. He’s 8-1 with all his wins coming inside the distance. His lone loss was his last fight, his UFC debut back in 2018, and he got stopped by Elizeu Zaleski Dos Santos.

 

Some alright stuff on there, to be fair. But considering the card we could’ve had, it’s underwhelming. Losing Santos/Glover and Dariush/Oliveira is a right double whammy of disappointment and the main event isn’t the best. Whatever. It’ll do.

Edited October 3, 2020 by wandshogun09

[Carbomb]

Frey's easy on the eye, but I want Lookboonmee to win because she looks exactly like a female Donnie Yen. 

[David]

On 9/18/2020 at 10:48 AM, Carbomb said:

Frey's easy on the eye, but I want Lookboonmee to win because she looks exactly like a female Donnie Yen. 

#SexistBantz

So, this card has kinda approached with fuck all interest, hasn't it? The main is the drizzling shits, the actual main card is poor, and the prelims is where the only fight I'm interested in seeing is taking place.

The shell of Carlos Condit vs the Amish wrecking ball Court McGhee.

[wandshogun09]

Yeah this was actually a really solid card once upon a time. Back when it had Thiago Santos vs Glover Teixeira, Charles Oliveira vs Beneil Dariush and Andrei Arlovski vs Tanner Boser. What we’ve been left with is one of the weakest cards on paper this year. My interest now consists of the potential Heavyweight slobberknocker of De Castro vs Felipe, Condit’s fight and seeing Charles Jourdain back in there. That’s pretty much it. It’s basically just picking through the bones though. 

[Egg Shen]

Kyler Phillips looks like a 10 year old who's run his face through a snapchat filter.

This is weak, i went into Ladbrokes earlier and put a few quid in the machine for this and actually thought they'd forgotten to add a few fights to the card cause no names were leaping out at me.

[Carbomb]

3 hours ago, David said:

#SexistBantz

 

It was a bit, I guess. Unfortunately, I haven't seen them fight, so only have that and wand's breakdowns to go on.

[Zebra Kid Mark]

That main card is pretty dire. I am looking forward to seeing Condit vs McGee, I am a fan of both guys so it will be nice to see them scrap. It's also nice to see a veteran not get fed to a young up and comer with no name value. 

Jordan Williams only fought about 2 weeks ago on DWCS so it's good to see him jumping straight in the mix. His main back story on the show was he has diabetes which means he can't really cut weight and in my opinion he's always going to struggle in the UFC as he will be fighting guys much bigger than him. On the regional circuit you can get away with it because not many people are doing strenuous weight cuts for a couple hundred bucks but in the big leagues it's going to be a whole different story. He will be undersized in his career.

I hope he fairs well though. He has a good personality and a fun style. He's a striker and it's nice to see some one overcome adversity like this.

[Kfogg1991]

I'm glad someone else said it, This main event is fucking dire.

I know the ufc are scrambling to be the most consistent sport and give us shows every week but Christ the quality is really starting to show with some of the fight night cards.

[Egg Shen]

kfogg aint happy with morning 😄

you gotta give them abit of a pass at the moment, the UFC is giving as many fighters work as they can, it should be commended. This card is weak, but you cant deny the quality they put on most weeks, just every now and then a show falls apart and this is what we get left with. Skip and watch next weekends show, its way stronger on paper.

Edited September 30, 2020 by Egg Shen

[Kfogg1991]

hahaha egg maybe i am in a pissy mood this morning my baby is sick and i'm pretty stressed but what i'm saying does have merit.

 

[Egg Shen]

no worries bud 😄

[wandshogun09]

Aldana is usually decent to watch, to be fair. I don’t even particularly dislike the fight, if it was third from top under a Santos vs Teixeira main and Oliveira vs Dariush co-main I’d be perfectly content with that as the top 3. It’s just piss weak as a headliner.

The weird thing was, Holm vs Aldana was always going to main event even when those 2 far superior fights were still on the card. They seem hell bent on Holm being a headliner for some reason. Despite her peaking 5 years ago with the Rousey win and doing little since.

Like Egg says though, this’ll happen now and then when you’re running shows nearly every week. They’re not all going to be great. The next few Fight Nights look class as well with Moraes vs Sandhagen, Barboza vs Amirkhani, Zombie vs Ortega, plus you’ve got Gane, Gamrot’s debut etc. Even Anderson Silva vs Uriah Hall, it could either be awesome or a staring contest but it’s one of those fights you have to tune in for if you’re a MMA fan. Especially as the talk is that it’s going to be Anderson’s farewell. There’s plenty to sink the teeth into over the next few months. How much of it actually happens is anyone’s guess but it’s not for lack of trying on the UFC’s part in fairness. 

[neil]

On 9/18/2020 at 5:48 AM, Carbomb said:

Frey's easy on the eye

She looks like an asian Miesha Tate - and I'm all about it.

Terrible main card, I'll most likely watch the prelims up to the Condit fight and then switch it off.

[Egg Shen]

i know hes long past his best but surely they should have slotted Condit/McGee onto that main card.

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

Name value wise, Condit vs. McGee makes way more sense as a co-main than the heavyweight lads. They may be on the slide, but casuals will definitely recognise Condit, and to a lesser extent McGee.

I'll watch today because free fights, but I'm not particularly excited about any of them. I liked Aldana's last performance, it's rare to get memorable finishes like that in the women's divisions, and of course, Holm had probably the biggest one ever as her career highlight. But most of this card is meh.

Culibao is a training partner of Robert Whittaker, which gives me the slightest bit of investment in that fight. I fear he's getting fed to the wolves though.