UFC 257: Poirier vs McGregor 2 - Jan 23 ?? ?

[WeeAl]

3 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

Dana thinking he’s hard is hilarious. 

Didn’t realise fight promoters had the authority to watch someone’s house, bug their phonecalls and actually prosecute people themselves. 

What a grade A bell end he really is. If only he had fought Tito Ortiz all those years ago. We could have had a nice gif of White flopping about on his back, strangled until his pink head turned dark purple, with Face the Pain blasting on a loop. Every fighter going through a contract negotiation could have plastered it all over the place for years on end. I think by now, Dana would have spontaneously combusted. 

[Panhead]

31 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said:

Azaitar has been cut from the UFC now. More on it here;

What the shit is going on here? 

MMA never fails to deliver, does it? 

 

Also, Dan Hooker looks to be having the time of his life lately. I'm really looking forward to him and Chandler. 

Edited January 22, 2021 by Panhead

[Egg Shen]

this is happening now out of the ashes of the two fights that fell apart:

 

[Egg Shen]

this is how it pans out now with the changes:

[Kfogg1991]

It's weird now were nearly here I'm slightly excited but not nearly as much as I thought I would be and have been for previous McGregor PPV's 
It might be down to me now being in recovery and not drinking or doing anything else But I've stocked my fridge full of cola and Monster's. I'm just dreading already that alarm going off to wake me up for the show, I'm hoping and praying that this show doesn't go anywhere near the amount of judges decision's.

With that picture of the line up you just posted does that mean the fights start at midnight not 1pm?

[wandshogun09]

11 minutes ago, Kfogg1991 said:

With that picture of the line up you just posted does that mean the fights start at midnight not 1pm?

It’ll be midnight, we’re on US time for this one. BT has the televised prelims starting at 1am so it’ll go;

Midnight - Fight Pass prelims.

1am - Televised prelims. 

3am - Main card.

I expect the Poirier vs McGregor fight to get underway sometime between 4:30 and 5am. 

[Kfogg1991]

5 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said:

It’ll be midnight, we’re on US time for this one. BT has the televised prelims starting at 1am so it’ll go;

Midnight - Fight Pass prelims.

1am - Televised prelims. 

3am - Main card.

I expect the Poirier vs McGregor fight to get underway sometime between 4:30 and 5am. 

Thank you very much for confirming those sir. I had planned to set my alarm for 12:30 get myself wake and sorted which I think I'll stick too. The first half of the fight pass show is usually them talking about the main card anyway so getting up at 12:30 means I should catch at least 1 of those fights if not both. I need to ring sky up just to make sure everything is good and ready with the PPV because weirdly when I go to the box office part and click on the show it says rented but it's not allowing me to record it for some reason which didn't happen for the last PPV I bought on BT sport box office

[wandshogun09]

Just got done with the weigh in. Must admit I’m buzzing for this now. They went back to the old ceremonial weigh ins for this one and it’s done the job on me. Amazing what a few nothing happening face-offs can do. I’ve watched next to nothing in terms of buildup for this show. Mostly because, like I said before, I just can’t be doing with listening to Conor McGregor at all these days. And partly just I haven’t had that much time this week to get stuck into hype stuff even if I’d wanted to.

Poirier vs McGregor 2 - We’ve gone into it at length and I’ve gone back and forth on how I think it’ll go. I think it’ll be a great fight whatever happens though. Really looking forward to it now it’s almost upon us. The worst thing about McGregor fights, I find, is all the shite and hyperbole surrounding it. The way his fans lick his arse and bang on like he’s unbeatable and his opponents are shit scared of him and all that carry on. I’ve caught a bit of that this time but nowhere near as much as usual because I’ve not really dug into the buildup. I’ve managed to avoid a lot of that shite and I think that’s the way I’ll do these McGregor fights from now on. As a fight itself, it’s a cracker. You don’t see either of these two have a boring fight and matched against each other I just can’t see how they can have anything less than at least a good fight. That’s the absolute minimum. Obviously there’s potential for it to be so much more but I don’t want to jinx it or set the expectation too high in my head.

In the end, I’m going with McGregor by stoppage. Hate myself for that but it’s how I see it going unfortunately. It was my initial gut feeling when this rematch was first announced. Since then I’ve flitted between that and Poirier just out-toughing him and getting the better of him later on. But it’s fight day now and I’m back where I started. I think it’ll be a better and more competitive fight than their first meeting though. They’ve both naturally grown as fighters to some extent but I feel like Poirier’s especially matured as a fighter in the 6 plus years since the first fight. A lot is made of McGregor’s wins over Aldo and Alvarez, and rightly so, but I think Poirier’s performance against Holloway is just as impressive. As was the crazy display of heart and the comeback against Gaethje. I don’t think McGregor’s cardio is as bad as some like to make out but I do think it’s apparent that he’s most dangerous in the first couple of rounds. If Poirier gets past that tonight then I think his toughness and the pace he puts on could be bad news for Conor in a 5 rounder. But I just can’t shake this feeling that Conor’s going to get to him before that point. Whatever happens, I’m sure it’ll be a good scrap. Praying for Poirier to put a beating on him though.

 

Dan Hooker vs Michael Chandler - This one really intrigues me. I’ve said a bunch of times that I think this UFC move has come a bit too late in the day for Chandler but it’s still an interesting fight. I’d rather get to see him in there with these guys a little bit late than not at all. He’s up against it though. Coming in the way he did, as the backup for Khabib-Gaethje and all that, he was always going to get a tough first fight. He’s been positioned as a contender right off the bat the way they’ve talked about him and presented him. So now it’s up to him to make something happen. Hooker is a bastard of a debut opponent. Always up for a slobberknocker, game and dangerous, can go at a high pace however long you want. It should be an action packed fight. 

Hooker by decision for me. For the reasons I’ve gone into earlier in the thread. While Chandler has the history of being Bellator champ and the wars with Eddie Alvarez and all that. I actually think Hooker is the more battle tested and proven of the two. He’s gone 10 rounds with Poirier and Felder in his last two fights. That alone trumps any two fight stretch Chandler’s ever had. On top of that he’s beat Al Iaquinta and finished Gilbert Burns, Jim Miller, James Vick and Marc Diakiese among others. It’s undeniable to me that he’s got a better resume than Chandler. Style-wise, I think it could get interesting because we haven’t seen anyone really try to wrestle Hooker that much. But I think overall, the timing of this favours Hooker. I see Chandler lasting the distance but it being a fairly convincing win for the Hangman when it’s all said and done. 
 

Jessica Eye vs Joanne Calderwood - Don’t have particularly high hopes for anything special here. Hopefully it’s better than what I’m expecting but Eye isn’t that exciting to watch and Calderwood is a bit hot and cold herself. It’s most likely going to play out on the feet but Eye isn’t the most entertaining striker. She’s one of the worst for the tippy-tappy sparring session looking fights for me. I like Calderwood’s Muay Thai style but she just doesn’t look at the races some nights so I don’t know which version of her we’re getting here. 

Going Eye on points but I really hope I’m wrong on that. Just got a bad feeling she’s going to outpoint Jojo in a bit of a snoozefest. Hopefully Calderwood brings her A game though. I’d love to see her smash Eye up. 
 

Andrew Sanchez vs Makhmud Muradov - Really happy to see this get bumped to the main card after the whole Ottman Azaitar controversy. Muradov for me is one of the most promising up and comers on the roster. One to watch out for this year, I reckon. Which probably means I’ve just cursed him and he’s about to go on a losing streak. He’s got the tools to do well though. There’s a few of these guys standing out to me who I think could break out in 2021, and Muradov is right up there on that list. For the breathtaking Trevor Smith KO alone (I won’t post the gif again), he deserved to be featured in a more prominent spot on the card. It’s almost a shame it took Azaitar royally fucking up for Muradov to get the bump. 

Muradov by KO/TKO. Sanchez is no cakewalk and maybe I’m getting too swept up in Muradov but I’ve got a good feeling about him. Sanchez is decent and he’s coming off a sweet knockout win himself. But I think Muradov does him. 3 of Sanchez’s 5 losses were by KO or TKO, I think Muradov can get him out of there. Only thing giving me doubt is he’s been inactive for over a year now. 
 

Marina Rodriguez vs Amanda Ribas - Solid little main card opener. Rodriguez is a pretty good striker from what I remember of her. She’s only got one loss and it was a split decision, and a couple of draws. There might be a case to be made that she should still be undefeated. I think Ribas is a cut above though. I’ve became a big fan of her as a fighter and even more as a personality outside the cage. 

I’ll go with Ribas by submission. Like I said, I think she’s just a higher level operator than Rodriguez. She’s on a bit of a roll at the minute so she has the momentum as well as a better overall skill level, in my opinion. And I know MMA maths is a load of old wank but even the women who’ve dragged Rodriguez to draws (Randa Markos and Cynthia Calvillo), I think Ribas is a level above both and she did already school Randa. It’s a different kind of test for Ribas though and if Rodriguez can keep it standing she might do well.

Full predictions...

Conor McGregor by KO/TKO.

Dan Hooker by Decision.

Jessica Eye by Decision.

Makhmud Muradov by KO/TKO.

Amanda Ribas by Submission.

Arman Tsarukyan by Decision.

Antonio Carlos Junior by Decision.

Julianna Pena by Decision.

Khalil Rountree by KO/TKO.

Movsar Evloev by Decision.

Amir Albazi by Submission.

Go on Dustin! ? 

[ElCece]

I've not dug into this at all as I've been working 60 hour weeks recently. A couple of days without having to look at covid vaccines has fallen nicely. 

 

The main event is an absolute pick em for me edge towards Poirer as I he is the more rounded fighter and think he can take over in the last couple of rounds. 3/1 on a Poirer win seems huge to me. I've stuck a bit on him so will be even more  in his camp.

 

[jimufctna24]

2 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

A lot is made of McGregor’s wins over Aldo and Alvarez, and rightly so, but I think Poirier’s performance against Holloway is just as impressive. As was the crazy display of heart and the comeback against Gaethje.

100%

The momentum was with Holloway going in the latter stages of the fight, a period of the fight where Holloway is usually at his strongest relative to his opponent. Yet, Poirier managed to rally. He clearly won the final round, which earmarked him as the clear winner of the fight. 

It's the best win at lightweight in recent years, with the possible exception of Khabib's win over Gaethje. 

[neil]

White vs Streamers - White has come in with a lot of big man talk, he's coming after the "nerds", he's watching them, got fellas sat outside their houses. He wants them the stream, go on have a stream if you think you're hard enough. Streamers though have the power of there always being another one, much like their supplies of Mountain Dew and Hentai porn.

Streamers by overwhelming numbers

[wandshogun09]

I didn’t even bother with that one, clearly the biggest gimme of the weekend. Dana’s talked himself into a fight he can’t win. The real ‘Wand’s One To Watch’.

[WeeAl]

A few predictions from me to look back and laugh at later. 

Poirier by Stoppage, round 4 or 5. 

Dustin is going to have to weather a storm early. Either he does it and wins or doesn't and it's over early doors. What I don't expect is an early Dustin finish, or a decision win by McGregor. If Poirier can show McGregor that he isn't going anywhere and is still there, relatively unscathed, at the start of the second, then I think he'll have gotten to him. Dustin should probably initiate some grappling early, to try and limit the damage he might take, and help sap some of McGregor's early energy. 

Chandler by split decision. 

I Don't feel comfortable with this pick at all! I honestly feel like I could blindfold myself and throw a dart at a board and be just as happy with where it lands. Whoever comes through this one with the win, will have absolutely earned it. Like the main event, I don't see anything other than an entertaining, action packed fight. I'm simply banking on Chandler being able to summon enough left in himself, up to the surface, in order to make a full throttled run at this opportunity that most of us probably didn't expect to come his way. It's do or die for him now, whereas I think Hooker still has time on his side.  

Muradov by KO.

Really glad that this one got moved up to the main card, and the reasoning behind that is Muradov, not Sanchez. He's definitely a prospect, and any huge show like this should always have at least one prospect on the undercard, with a chance to make an impression to as large an audience as possible. I expect him to take the bull by the horns here and stop Sanchez in the first or second. 

Ribas by Submission. 

Speaking of prospects - Ribas has the makings of turning into a bit of a star, in my book. Her fight with Van Zant was a big help in that regard, and making a further step here, against a better opponent, would help in that regard. I think (hope) Ribas has the beating of Rodriguez, and moves onto bigger and better things. 

Eye Vs Calderwood - Really don't care enough to make a pick on this one. 

Edited January 24, 2021 by WeeAl

[Panhead]

I'm hoping Poirier gets the win but I think Conor will catch him at some point for the knockout. Then he'll talk a ton of shit about Khabib. 

[Egg Shen]

if anyone here is unfamiliar with Michael Chandler, here is a decent primer: