Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted September 23, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted September 23, 2020 (edited) Alright then. Saturday 24th October. Fight Island hosts this bastard... PPV MAIN CARDKhabib Nurmagomedov vs Justin GaethjeĀ - Lightweight Title Robert Whittaker vs Jared CannonierĀ Alexander Volkov vs Walt HarrisĀ Phil Hawes vs Jacob Malkoun Lauren Murphy vs Liliya ShakirovaĀ Magomed Ankalaev vs Ion CutelabaĀ ESPN PRELIMS Stefan Struve vs Tai Tuivasa Casey Kenney vs Nathaniel Wood Alex Oliveira vs Shavkat Rakhmonov Da Un Jung vs Sam Alvey ESPN+/FIGHT PASS PRELIMS Liana Jojua vs Miranda Maverick Joel Alvarez vs Alexander YakovlevĀ Ā Look at that! And to think we were meant to get Tony Ferguson vs Dustin Poirier as well on this. Iām still seeing various places reporting Zabit Magomedsharipov vs Yair Rodriguez for this card but itās still not official so Iām not even going to waste my time. If it gets added Iāll update this shite. Some card though. BT Box Office can tongue my bum hole though. And they still wonāt get Ā£20 off me.Ā Ā Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Justin Gaethje. Donāt fucking touch this one COVID. Donāt you dare. I canāt wait for this bastard. What a fascinating clash of styles. Khabibās 28-0 and heās rarely lost a round. Gaethje is 22-2 and a fucking madman. Champ vs Interim Champ. What more can be said about Khabib? Heās the man at Lightweight until someone can prove otherwise. I think heās the Lightweight GOAT at this stage. Weāve had some greats like BJ Penn and Takanori Gomi but even they had their clear cut losses. Khabib never has. Also, Khabib putting away McGregor and Poirier in his last two just strengthened his case even more. Itās crazy that in a division as loaded and scary as 155, that heās been able to dominate the way he has. This time there is a question mark surrounding him though. In July, Khabibās father Abdulmanap died after a battle with COVID and complications stemming from it. He was in a coma in May, then seemed to be recovering, then just like that he was gone. Really sad. He was only 57 as well. Not only that, he was a constant source of support, knowledge and advice for Khabib. You could always tell they were mega close so thereās obvious questions now on how or if this will effect Khabib going forward in his MMA career. Hereās Khabib talking about the loss of his father; āAny challenge either breaks you or makes you stronger. Weāll see what it does to me in time.ā - Khabib NurmagomedovĀ You never know how anyone is going to respond to something like this. But Khabib strikes me as the type who will use it as motivation to work even harder and perform even better to honour his old man. For Justin Gaethje, itās been a wild and turbulent road to get to this point. He turned pro in 2011 and won his first fight with a KO via slam in a minute. Talk about starting as you mean to go on. No wonder he got nicknamed āThe Highlightā. He first got on my radar in his WSOF days. Him and Marlon Moraes were basically the only reason I used to keep up with WSOF at all. And his two batshit barnburners with Luis Palomino, fuck me! Seriously, if youāve only seen Gaethjeās wars over the last couple of years, donāt just assume he started fighting like that when he signed with the UFC. Heās been at it for ages.Ā The Palomino fights are ones you really need to see if you havenāt already though. Both bonkers fights.Ā He came into the UFC in the summer of 2017,Ā unbeatenĀ at 17-0Ā with 15 finishes. And in his Octagon debut, he tore the house down and knocked out Michael Johnson after a crazy slobberknocker. He then hit a blip and had his first taste of defeat.Ā Losing back-to-back fights to Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Poirier. But again, both fucking incredible FOTY contenders. He came back from those losses in style, rattling off 3 first round knockouts against James Vick, Edson Barboza and Donald Cerrone. But where this Khabib vs Gaethje fight really started coming together, was earlier this year. Of course, we were meant to get Khabib vs Tony Ferguson in April, but you know that old story. How many times are we expected to go through this heartbreak? Itās just not meant to be, is it?Ā This time we got to about 2 weeks out from the fight and it all went to bollocks. This thing called COVID came in andĀ Khabib ended up stuck in Russia due to the flight restrictions.Ā Khabib was outĀ and the whole thing ended up gettingĀ pushed back to May. And in stepped Gaethje. Him and Ferguson would battle it out for the interim strap. They went out and had exactly the kind of nutty scrap everyone wanted to see.Ā That 249 show was such a welcome escape, even for just one night, from the constant bad news and doom and gloom in the world.Ā At the height of worldwide hysteria and fear and everything getting cancelled and shut down, to sit back and watch that stacked card topped off by Ferguson vs Gaethje was such a welcome release. But yeah, in the end,Ā Gaethje battered him. Typical. Cheers Justin.Ā Why not just go ahead and completely kill ANY chance of Khabib vs Ferguson ever happening? So here we are. Khabib vs Gaethje to unify the belts. Lost in all the chaotic buildup though, is that this is such an intriguing fight style-wise. Two things Gaethje has going for him that Khabibās past opponents havenāt really, are 1) his wrestling background. And 2) his insane toughness. Some of Khabibās opponents may have had one of these attributes but Gaethje has both. His wrestling could be the key to the whole thing. If he can stop Khabibās takedown, even if he can just make it a real struggle, this could getĀ very, very interesting. And his refusal to quit is off the charts. He wonāt be breaking or pleading that āitās only businessā when things get rough in there. Khabibās going to have to take the fight from him. Then you throw in Gaethjeās power and itās a hell of a fight. Iām still favouring Khabib but when you look at Gaethjeās box of tricks and then add in that Khabibās head might not be in the best place after losing his old man just a couple of months ago, who the fuck knows really? Weāll find out soon enough. If it doesnāt get cancelled eh?Ā Ā Robert Whittaker vs Jared Cannonier. Not sure if this is the co-main or what. Cracking fight wherever it sits. Canāt go wrong with this. Whittaker has proven himself as one of the toughest bastards on the roster. The man went a total of 10 rounds with Yoel Romero and lived to tell the tale. Took Yoelās best as well. I still donāt know how he survived that second fight. He had a shitty end to 2019, losing the belt to Adesanya. And a shitty start to 2020 going through personal issues outside the cage. But he came back on a positive note, beating Darren Till in a really good fight in July. Bobby Knuckles is back on track. Cannonier kind of came out of nowhere. He was a very average 205er a couple of years ago. He was 10-4 and coming off losses to Dominick Reyes and Jan Blachowicz. He was going nowhere and probably not far off getting his walking papers, truth be told. But in late 2018, he dropped to 185, jumped in on short notice and stopped David Branch at MSG. Then he got a win over Anderson Silva in Brazil. It ended in anti-climatic fashion with a leg injury but it was Cannonierās doing so a legitimate win. Then he went over to Copenhagen and bashed Jack Hermansson about. 205 Cannonier vs 185 Cannonier; Heās like a different fighter. Seems a bit out there on social media. Havenāt checked in for a while now but last time I did he was spewing all manner of mad conspiracy shite. Make no mistake though, at 185 heās a force to be reckoned with. The winner of this could be right in the conversation for a crack at the gold as well. After Adesanya vs Costa, thereās no obvious standout next top contender. If Cannonier wins this you have to think heāll get the next shot. If Whittaker wins though, I canāt see them doing him and Izzy again just yet so he might need Costa to get it done at 253. This should be a banger though. Timing and momentum might favour Cannonier but I canāt count Whittaker out. Ā Alexander Volkov vs Walt Harris. Got to get the big boys on there. Not sure how this one pans out. They both really need a win at the moment. Volkov isĀ coming off a really lopsided decision loss against Curtis Blaydes in his last fight. And Harris got stopped by Overeem in a comeback finish after giving Reem a right hiding early on. Volkov is 31-8, Harris is 13-8-1. So the experience is massively on the Russianās side. And, as always, heāll enjoy a height advantage. Iāll be rooting for Big Walt though. I like him more of the two anyway but after what that manās been through over the last year I donāt think I can find it in my heart to go against him ever again. Nothing against Volkov but I hope Walt absolutely smashes him. Sadly though, I think Volkov probably wins this. The experience and size, plus heās beat Werdum, heās better technically etc. I can just see him outworking Harris. But one thing about Harris is heās explosive as fuck and he closes the distance fast when he wants to. And Volkov has typically been more hittable than youād expect a man of 6ā7ā to be. Thereās a decent chance Walt puts the early blitz on him and gets the W but Iām favouring Volkov myself. Ā Phil Hawes vs Jacob Malkoun. OK then. Two UFC newbies here. Never heard of either but Iām not surprised to learn Hawes is off Danaās Contender Series. Almost every newcomer seems to be these days. Heās 8-2, all finishes, and heās coming off a first round stoppage on DWCS in early September which bagged him a UFC contract. Malkoun is either 4-0 or 3-0 depending on where you look. Heās Australian and is a sparring partner of Robert Whittaker. Thatās about it. Iāll give it a look. Ā Lauren Murphy vs Liliya Shakirova. Late change. Cynthia Calvillo pulled out, UFC newcomer Shakirova steps in.Ā Ā Itās doing nothing for me really.Ā Murphy isnāt always the best to watch but sheās won 3 in a row.Ā Shakirova is from Uzbekistan, 8-1 record but hasnāt beat anyone youād know. She might be good but I donāt know enough to give a shite.Ā Especially on a card where itās surrounded by so many greatĀ fights. Ā Magomed Ankalaev vs Ion Cutelaba 2 is ***WANDāS ONE TO WATCH***Ā for this card. Well, if we can watch it this time. The thing seems cursed at this point. They first met back in February and it lasted just 38 seconds. But it was 38 seconds of utter mayhem. You know some mad shite is about to go off when security has to step in during the Bruce Buffer intros, for fuckās sake. Then the fight started and they were both throwing with serious heat and bad intentions. Ankalaev buzzed him with a couple of headkicks and referee Kevin McDonald jumped in and waved it off with Cutelaba still on his feet. Iām all for fighter safety being the main priority and Cutelaba WAS wobbly, but I couldnāt help feeling like the ref didnāt give him much of a chance. The fight had just started and, although rocked, Cutelaba was firing back when the ref stepped in. Youād always rather a referee steps in slightly too early than too late, obviously, but it was no less disappointing and Iām glad theyāre running it back. Or at least attempting to. Again. The rematch was originally supposed to go down at UFC 249 back in May but it fell apart. Then it was pushed back to UFC 252 in August but got scrapped when Cutelaba tested positive for COVID just a few days out. Then it was rescheduled for the Fight Night on Aug 29th but, again, Cutelaba tested positive for COVID. As much as I want to see this rematch, if it goes balls up again they might have to just accept itās jinxed and move both guys onto something else. Hopefully it finally happens this time and we can get this settled. Ā Stefan Struve vs Tai Tuivasa just got added. Nothing fight but could be OK.Ā Maybe. Or really bad. A fight like this speaks volumes about how the UFC just need bodies to fill the insane schedule these days. Struveās looked pretty shot for a while now and they actuallyĀ sacked Tuivasa not too long ago. Ā Now heās back before even fighting again anywhere else. At one point I thought Tuivasa could be something. Not in a āStipe Miocic GOATā way or champion material but more in the mould of a newĀ Mark Hunt. Someone whoād have fun fightsĀ and occasionally mix with the top boys. But heās shat the bed in his last few fights. Heās lost his last 3 and looked pretty badĀ in the process. Struveās lost 4 of his last 5 as well and got stopped by Ben Rothwell last time out. Like I said, just filling a gap. I really like them both but theseĀ two are going nowhere. Ā Casey Kenney vs Nathaniel Wood just got added late in the day. Only a couple of weeks to go. Should be worth a look. Kenney literally just fought on the Holm vs Aldana card. He beat Alateng Heili in a one sided decision. Less thanĀ 48 hours later, he had thisĀ fight booked. He doesnāt fuck about. Heās on a nice little run actually. Heās 15-2-1 overall and heās won 8 of his last 9 with wins over Louis Smolka, Ray Borg and Brandon Royval in there. Wood is one of the more promising UK fighters on the UFC roster. 27 years old, 17-4 record, 14 finishes, former Cage Warriors champ. His only blemish so far since signing with the UFC was that stoppage loss to John Dodson in February but heās rallied back with a win over John Castaneda in July since. Interesting fight and I wouldnāt assume Wood comes out on top. Kenney couldĀ be a bit of a dark horse. Ā Alex Oliveira vs Shavkat Rakhmonov then. I like this. Rakhmonov was originally slated to fight Elizeu Zaleski Dos Santos on this card but thatās obviously gone down the shitter. This might actually be even better though. Been looking forward to Rakhmonovās debut all year now. He was supposed to make his debut way back in March on the London card that got binned. Heās 12-0, 12 finishes,Ā was the M-1 Global Welterweight champ and was the first Kazakh fighter to be signed to a UFC contract. Oliveira is no easy debut opponent and is probably a stiffer test than Dos Santos wouldāve been. Heās experienced, heās been in with some of the best in the game, heās tough, heās crafty, heās a bit nutty and heās coming off a couple of wins. Should provide the perfect barometer to give us an idea on what Rakhmonovās about. Ā Da Un Jung vs Sam Alvey. Canāt say Iām too fussed about this. Itās the Sam Alvey factor for me. Just canāt be arsed with the grinning goof. Heās 34-14-0-1 now and I couldnāt really tell you a fight of his I really enjoyed. Heās not boring and he has had some nice finishes over the years. He just bugs me for whatever reason. He needs a win in the worst way now as well. Heās coming off 4 straight losses, one of them being a stoppage at the hands of the shell of Little Nog. Jung hasnāt looked bad in the limited footage Iāve seen of him, to be fair. He fights out of Korean Top Team and is 13-2 with 12 finishes. 10 by KO. Heās already stopped Khadis Ibragimov and Mike Rodriguez since signing with the UFC last year. Going on current form, youād expect Jung to chin Alvey. And I wouldnāt be at all mad at that result. Ā Liana Jojua vs Miranda Maverick. Nothing special but could be alright. Jojua is Russian, 25 years old with a record of 8-3 and 7 finishes, mostly submissions. Lost her UFC debut but bounced back with a first round armbar against Diana Belbita in her last fight in July. Maverick is making her Octagon debut here. She was supposed to fight on the Poirier vs Hooker undercard in June but got injured. Sheās 23 years old, 7-2 with 5 submissions. All but one of her fights took place in Invicta. Ā Joel Alvarez vs Alexander Yakovlev. Not too familiar with either guy, seen maybe one or two fights of both. Was impressed with Alvarez though. Heās Spanish, 17-2 with all his wins being finishes. Still only 27 as well. He submitted Joe Duffy in about 2 minutes in his last fight in July. Although Duffy hasnāt looked right for some time and retired after that loss so Iām not sure how much to read into that win. Alvarez looks like someone to keep an eye on though. Yakovlevās knocked about a bit. Heās 36 years old with a record of 24-9-1. Most notable names heās beat are Paul Daley and a shot Gray Maynard. Heās also gone the distance in defeat with Kamaru Usman and Demian Maia. So heās at least felt the top level. At this stage Iād favour Alvarez but itās one of those up and comer vs veteran fights that should be a bit of a test for Alvarez at least.Ā Ā And thatās 254.Ā Edited October 23, 2020 by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sukhy Posted September 23, 2020 Share Posted September 23, 2020 I've voted for Gaethje by TKO/KO, but not confident at all in that choice. Such a ridiculously good fight, and it'd be some story if Gaethje were to beat Tony and Khabib back to back. Khabibs chin has held up to some decent shots as well, but whether it can survive a Gaethje shot is a big one for me. Whittaker vs Cannonier could be carnage.Ā Great work as per usual mate!Ā Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted September 24, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted September 24, 2020 you should have made a different fight the one to watch Wand. you've cursed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ColinBollocks Posted September 24, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted September 24, 2020 (edited) I think Khabib is in that rare air GSP/JonesĀ GOAT territory if he gets his hand raised in this. I hope he does too. A lovely moment for him given the few months he's had with his Dad passing. As wand points out, we don't know how he'll handle this going into the fight. By most reports, his Dad was not only a massive positive driving force for Khabib's excellence but he made sure Khabib kept a humble head on him. You only need to look back at the press conference immediately after he went Stone Cold on McGregor's crew. The only thing Khabib was concerned about wasĀ getting home and his Dad skelping his arse. Gaethje is a monster though. The way he bested a great like Tony Ferguson, in the manner he did, was proper terrifying. High level stuff, this. Edited September 24, 2020 by ColinBollocks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted September 24, 2020 Share Posted September 24, 2020 If there's anything to keep us upbeat, it's that the Fight Island cards have seen little by way of COVID drop outs. They're on top of shit over there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted September 24, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted September 24, 2020 yeh, there weren't many at all last time. Could it be a case of more people testing positive on arrival now though? or do they need to be negative before they leave for the island? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members SBD Posted September 24, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted September 24, 2020 6 minutes ago, Egg Shen said: yeh, there weren't many at all last time. Could it be a case of more people testing positive on arrival now though? or do they need to be negative before they leave for the island? From what I have seen its testing prior to leaving and once again when you arriveĀ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted September 24, 2020 Share Posted September 24, 2020 They just seem to be super-stringent with testing for the UFC events from what I've seen. The build-up videos displayed the highest level of testing and precautions I've ever seen. The UFC certainly aren't replicating it in their Vegas shows, that's for sure. But that's probably because the government over there is footing the bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebra Kid Mark Posted September 24, 2020 Share Posted September 24, 2020 WillĀ Cynthia Calvillo be the first fighter ever to win a main event and then fight on the pre lims in their next fight? I can't think of many cases where that has happened. There's probably a few people coming off main event loses fighting their next fight on the prelims (probably most fly weights DJ beat) but I can't think of any winners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted September 24, 2020 Author Paid Members Share Posted September 24, 2020 10 minutes ago, Zebra Kid Mark said: WillĀ Cynthia Calvillo be the first fighter ever to win a main event and then fight on the pre lims in their next fight? I can't think of many cases where that has happened. There's probably a few people coming off main event loses fighting their next fight on the prelims (probably most fly weights DJ beat) but I can't think of any winners. She might be on the main card yet. She shouldnāt be given how many better fights are on this but the official bout order hasnāt been confirmed yet. Iāve guessed it for now.Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted September 24, 2020 Share Posted September 24, 2020 (edited) 20 minutes ago, Zebra Kid Mark said: WillĀ Cynthia Calvillo be the first fighter ever to win a main event and then fight on the pre lims in their next fight? I can't think of many cases where that has happened. There's probably a few people coming off main event loses fighting their next fight on the prelims (probably most fly weights DJ beat) but I can't think of any winners. Kendall Grove. He beat Evan Tanner in the main event of the TUF 7 finale.Ā In his next fight, he beat Jason Day on the prelim portion of the UFC 96 PPV.Ā There are probably a few other examples. I just can't think of them. Edited September 24, 2020 by jimufctna24 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted September 24, 2020 Author Paid Members Share Posted September 24, 2020 7 minutes ago, jimufctna24 said: Kendall Grove. He beat Evan Tanner Just ruined my Thursday reminding me of that.Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted September 24, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted September 24, 2020 theres no way you knew that off the top of your head Jim? here's one i did know, Ricco Rodriguez went from being Champion and losing at UFC 41, to being on the prelims and fighting Pedro Rizzo at UFC 45 (though did fight in Pride in between).Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted September 24, 2020 Share Posted September 24, 2020 (edited) 7 minutes ago, Egg Shen said: theres no way you knew that off the top of your head Jim? Aye, by pure chance I was reading Tanner's record onlyĀ the other week. It popped into my head that his fight withĀ Grove was one of the weaker main events of that era, and there was thereforeĀ a chance that Grove would have been sent to the prelims for his next fight.Ā Edited September 24, 2020 by jimufctna24 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted September 27, 2020 Author Paid Members Share Posted September 27, 2020 The mainĀ card was confirmed last night and itās a 6 fighter. So Calvillo vs Murphy is on the PPV. Like anyone gives a bollocks. Cracking main card aside from that though. And thatās even without the planned Ferguson vs Poirier scrap on there. According to Helwani, the UFC were trying to sort out a fight onĀ this showĀ forĀ Michael Chandler this week but I guess they never got it done. Heās probably going to just stay in shape and hang about as the substitute if either Khabib or Gaethje drop out.Ā No Zabit vs Yair either. That was being heavily rumoured for this card. Iāve seen people moaning that Yairās shat himself and ducked Zabit but I think itās more likelyĀ just been pushed back and targeted forĀ another card. Hopefully as main event over 5 rounds. A couple of the upcoming cards need headliners so it makes more sense to whack it on one of them. Not like 254 really needs it.Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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