UFC Vegas: Overeem vs Volkov - Feb 6 🇺🇸

[wandshogun09]

Saturday 6th February for this one. Location hasn’t been confirmed yet but you know the score by now. It’ll either be Fight Island or the APEX in Vegas.

ESPN+ MAIN CARD
Alistair Overeem vs Alexander Volkov

Cory Sandhagen vs Frankie Edgar

Michael Johnson vs Clay Guida

Alexandre Pantoja vs Manel Kape 

Carlos Diego Ferreira vs Beneil Dariush 

Mike Rodriguez vs Danilo Marques

ESPN+/FIGHT PASS PRELIMS
Devonte Smith vs Justin Jaynes 

Karol Rosa vs Joselyne Edwards

Molly McCann vs Lara Procopio

Youssef Zalal vs Seung Woo Choi

Timur Valiev vs Martin Day 

Ode Osbourne vs Jerome Rivera 

 

Bit of a 50/50 card for me that. Some dross on there but all I really want from these Fight Nights is 3 or 4 fights I’m into and Reem vs Volkov, Sandhagen vs Edgar, Ferreira vs Dariush 2 and Pantoja vs Kape more than provide that. Couple of decent fights beyond those as well. It’ll do nicely.

 

 

Alistair Overeem vs Alexander Volkov then. This was actually supposed to happen in April 2019. They were all booked to headline a Fight Night in Russia but Volkov pulled out and Overeem TKO’d Alexey Oleynik that night instead. It’s an interesting fight given their styles and Volkov’s size. But it’s not like Volkov really capitalises on his height and range like you’d think someone of his frame would do. Reem’s still going to be the more experienced striker/fighter in there. But every Overeem fight from here on out is going to be must see.

He’s made a lot of this ‘one last run’ thing over the last year. He’s been regularly tweeting it and been fairly vocal that he’s only going to fight a handful more times. He’s going for UFC gold, the one belt that’s escaped him all these years. So he’s either going to become UFC champ or his next loss will be it for him. Every fight now really could be his last. If Volkov wins here, Reem’s quest for the belt goes up in smoke and he probably hangs it up. I think Reem’s the type who will stick to it as well. Nobody was really clamouring for him to retire before he started this #onelastrun thing. He’s the one who’s really initiated that talk so it’s clearly something he’s been thinking about. Truthfully, he’s done more than enough already to be proud of. There really isn’t another Heavyweight with a resume quite as extensive and varied as his. This’ll be his 67th MMA fight! There’s fuck all left to prove. But finally getting the UFC strap would be the perfect way to go out. He’s looked really good in recent fights as well.

That’s Augusto Sakai after Overeem got done with him in September. That was a really enjoyable fight. He also weathered a hell of a storm to come back and stop Walt Harris before that. Sadly, I think the chances of him getting that crack at the title anytime soon are slim though. We don’t even have a date for Miocic vs Ngannou 2 yet and Dana’s already said that Jon Jones is most likely getting the winner. So the way it stands, Overeem’s probably not getting a look in this year. Which means he’s likely going to have to fight a couple more times after this, keep winning and just hope something opens up. But you never know. Someone gets injured, or USADA or COVID intervenes...Reem could slide in and get his shot. I just hope he beats Volkov. If he’s going to go out on a loss I’d prefer it to at least be in a bigger fight than this against one of the top boys.

 

Cory Sandhagen vs Frankie Edgar. This could be a tremendous fight. Sandhagen is 13-2 and, aside from getting tapped out quick by Aljamain Sterling in June, he’s been on fire the last few years. He beat John Lineker and Raphael Assuncao going into that Sterling fight. And after losing to Sterling, he’s since rebounded with a TKO over Edgar’s teammate Marlon Moraes in October. Edgar’s had a rough couple of years but he finally made his Bantamweight debut in August and got the win over Pedro Munhoz after a 5 round battle. Personally, I had Munhoz winning that one but it was close and Frankie fought well, especially considering it was his first time at 135. Mad thing is, Sandhagen is going to dwarf Frankie here. And Frankie was a champ two divisions higher. He probably should’ve been a Bantamweight his whole career really. Cracking fight this. When it was announced, social media was full of ‘the UFC are trying to get Frankie killed’ type posts. I’d probably favour Sandhagen at this point but I certainly wouldn’t just write Frankie Edgar off. It’s going to be a tough one but he showed against Munhoz he can cut to 135 and still go at a high pace for 25 minutes. And this’ll only be 3 rounds. It’s far from outrageous to think Frankie could outwork Sandhagen enough to take at least 2 of the 3 rounds.

 

Michael Johnson vs Clay Guida. What year is it again? Seriously, this would’ve been a hell of a fight once upon a time. Probably around 2011. In 2021 though? Not so much. I don’t think it’ll be bad or anything but both of these two have seen better days. It’s hard to believe now but Johnson was a legit fringe contender at one point. This is a guy with wins over Tony Ferguson, Joe Lauzon, Edson Barboza and a first round KO over Dustin Poirier. It’s all gone downhill fast since around the time of the Khabib fight though. He’s 19-16 now and can’t seem to buy a win these days. He’s had fights that I’ve thought he won and the decision went the other way, then fights he’s been winning then got stopped out of nowhere. That happened in the Josh Emmett fight and his last fight against Thiago Moises. He’ll be looking good, leading on the scorecards then...oh he’s been ironed out/submitted. It’s like something’s telling him to jack it in. Poor prick would probably win the lottery then die the next day. Guida’s not what he was either. How could he be? The dude was a wildman. He’s 39 now and he’s been in some of the craziest wars ever. Some of my favourite fights of all time, as I went into at length in that Top 50 thread recently. But it’s last legs stuff now. He could probably cling on for a few years yet fighting at a lower level but he’s 35-20 now and has lost 3 of his last 4. His only win in the last 3 years was the hollow husk of 2019 BJ Penn. I don’t know what this fight even is, to be honest. I’m glad they can both still make some coin but time’s probably about up for both.

 

Alexandre Pantoja vs Manel Kape is ***WAND’S ONE TO WATCH*** hopefully it happens this time. The long awaited Octagon debut of Kape. It was supposed to happen back in August at UFC 252, he was all set to face Rogerio Bontorin but an ankle injury cocked things up. Then this fight with Pantoja was booked for the December 19th card but Pantoja ended up pulling out. I’m glad they stuck with this pairing though. It’s a tougher fight than Bontorin would’ve been and I’m really interested to see how it plays out. Kape is 27 years old, from Angola, 15-4 record with 14 of his wins coming inside the distance. He was also the RIZIN Bantamweight champ.

He lost to Kyoji Horiguchi back in 2017 but, in his last fight on New Year’s Eve 2019, he knocked out Kai Asakura, who had previously KO’d Horiguchi in a minute. He also holds stoppage victories over Takeya Mizugaki, Ian McCall and Erson Yamamoto (KID’s nephew). There’s some real buzz around Kape and, like Jiri Prochazka, he’s a great acquisition from RIZIN. Pantoja can be a tricky customer though. He’s 22-5 with 16 finishes, trains at American Top Team and has wins over Brandon Moreno, Wilson Reis and Matt Schnell. He’s also one of the few who’s survived to the scorecards against Figueiredo. Love this fight. Way better than the original with Bontorin and should give us more of an idea on where Kape stands in the Flyweight landscape. I know I’m jumping the gun but if he can make a splash here, fights with the likes of Royval, Moreno and maybe even Figgy down the line could be incredible. Flyweight just keeps getting stronger.

 

Carlos Diego Ferreira vs Beneil Dariush 2. The rematch! Honestly, I have no recollection of these two fighting before and I’m a big fan of both. Turns out they opened up the main card of UFC 179 in October 2014. The night Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes tore the house down in Brazil. I must’ve seen it if it was on the main card but that Aldo vs Mendes classic would’ve rendered most fights forgettable. I’ll have to revisit Ferreira vs Dariush 1 though. I see Dariush won by decision and it was Ferreira’s first loss. So that’s a cool little wrinkle to this rematch. They’ve definitely both improved since 2014. Dariush has won his last 5 on the trot, most memorable being his brutal knockout of Drakkar Klose...

And Ferreira has won his last 6, most notably submitting Anthony Pettis in his last fight. Well into this. Two of my long time ‘under the radar’ favourites who are finally getting some love. Both on top form as well so this could be the perfect time for them to meet again. Great fight between two of the real darkhorses of the Lightweight division.

 

Mike Rodriguez vs Danilo Marques. Never been too fussed about Rodriguez. He’s 11-5-0-1 now, coming off a submission loss to Ed Herman. Always just found him very average but, in fairness, I recall him looking good in that Herman fight until some controversy surrounding a phantom low blow or something. I’m pulling for Marques here though. He’s 10-2 with 8 finishes and beat Khadis Ibragimov on points in his UFC debut in September. I don’t even think I saw that and I don’t know much about him but he trains with Shogun and Demian Maia so he’s alright in my book.

 

Devonte Smith vs Justin Jaynes. Looking forward to seeing Smith back in action. He was looking like a fairly exciting prospect for a while. Came off DWCS in 2018 and stopped Julian Erosa and Dong Hyun Ma, both the first round. He was 10-1 with all his wins being finishes and had a bit of a swagger that I liked. But he ran into Khama Worthy and got done in a round and that was him derailed. That was August 2019, so he’ll have been inactive about 18 months by the time this fight rolls around. Hopefully he’ll be good to go. Jaynes is filling in for Alex Da Silva. He’s 16-6. He had quite a UFC debut back in June, knocking out Frank Camacho in 41 seconds. But it’s gone tits up since and he’s now coming off getting finished in back-to-back fights. 

 

Karol Rosa vs Joselyne Edwards. Can’t say I’m too fussed but maybe it’ll exceed my expectations. Rosa is 25 with a record of 13-3. She’s won her 2 fights in the UFC so far but against fairly weak opposition. Edwards is filling in on late notice for an injured Nicco Montano. She’s new in the UFC, made her debut on the Holloway vs Kattar card in January and beat Wu Yanan on points. She took that one on short notice as well and she looked good. She’s 25 years old from Panama with a record of 10-2 with 8 finishes. 

 

Molly McCann vs Lara Procopio. Not sure what to make of this because I’ve never seen Procopio before. She lost her UFC debut against Karol Rosa by split decision but she was 6-0 prior to that. 25 years old, trains at Nova Uniao. I don’t know. She might be better than she showed. McCann’s had a bit of an up and down UFC stint but she was starting to string some wins together and racked up 3 in a row before Taila Santos put a stop to her little streak in July. But I rate Santos so McCann going the distance with her was nothing to be ashamed of. Not too arsed about this but I usually enjoy Molly’s fights so if Procopio comes to scrap this could be a fun one.

 

Youssef Zalal vs Seung Woo Choi. Third different scheduled opponent for Choi. Originally it was Steven Peterson, then UFC newcomer Collin Anglin. They both dropped out and here we are. Fair play to Choi for staying on the card despite all the disruption. This might be a tougher fight than either of them would’ve been as well. Zalal seems to be a bit of a scrapper. I’ve really enjoyed the limited footage I’ve seen of him so far. He’s 24 years old from Morocco, 10-3 record and was on a nice little 3 fight streak in the UFC until he got derailed by Ilia Topuria in his last fight in October. Topuria looks like a real standout though and Zalal did go the distance with him. No shame in that loss and I have a feeling it’ll age well. Very vaguely recall Choi. He’s 28 with a record of 8-3. Nothing amazing from what I recall and he’s lost the couple of times he’s stepped up a level in the UFC.

 

Timur Valiev vs Martin Day. This was supposed to be Valiev vs Julio Arce and I was really looking forward to that but Arce withdrew. Valiev is from Dagestan, 16-2-0-1. He’s a teammate of Zabit, Frankie Edgar, Marlon Moraes and that lot and when he signed with the UFC, Zabit posted this on Instagram...

The Wet Bandits! 😂

He got stopped by Trevin Jones in his UFC debut in August but it got overturned to a No Contest when Jones got flagged for weed. So yeah. Not the best of starts for Valiev but I’m interested to see more of him. Day is a tough little Hawaiian and he’s been fun to watch from what I’ve seen of him. His fight with Davey Grant on the UFC 251  prelims in July was class. But he’s in a rough spot now. He’s 8-5 and comes into this one off the back of 3 consecutive losses. He was stopped in his last 2 as well. Another loss here probably sees him get his walking papers.

 

Ode Osbourne vs Jerome Rivera. Don’t know much about Osbourne. A quick refresher on Sherdog tells me he’s 8-3-0-1 with 7 finishes. He’s fought on Dana’s Contender Series before but I’ve only seen his UFC debut, which he lost quickly by submission to Brian Kelleher. So not much to go on there. Rivera just fought on the Chiesa vs Magny undercard the other week and lost to Francisco Figueiredo. He got stopped by Tyson Nam before that as well. He’s winless so far in the UFC. So he needs to be pulling a W out here if he wants to stick around. 

 

Yeah, with a few exceptions dragging it down, I do really like this card. As it stands currently anyway. 

Edited February 7, 2021 by wandshogun09

[Zebra Kid Mark]

That's a pretty strong main card which I am excited about with a very weak pre lim line up. Aside from Johnson, Guida, Nicco and Molly McCann I can't say any of those names were familiar to me. It was only reading your write up that I realised I have seen some of them fight before.

The main event seems like a fight that has happened before, I guess Overeem has kind of fought everyone and Volkov has been about a while, it took me by surprise that this wasn't a rematch.

I'm looking forward to seeing Michael Johnson vs Guida, I always state this but I love watching the veterans fight despite how past it they might be. It just adds a nice element of familiararity to a card of faceless fighters at times. It's harmless nostalgia and as long as no one is getting seriously hurt I am all for it. No one can make the argument that they are taking the spot of some one else as there are cards every week now that there's plenty of opportunities for everyone.

I think this has a real loser leaves town vibe to it though. With seeing that Clay's record is 35-20, it made me think that 20 loses must be a record right? I can't think of many active fighters in the UFC who have 20 loses on their resume. Reem and Arlovski came to my mind first and they have 18 and 19 respectfully. With out going off topic but can anyone think of fighters who have more than 20 loses on their resume who are signed to the UFC.

 

[Dai]

For a random Fight Night card, I have to disagree with it being very weak. Johnson/Guida is a very solid 'main  event' with two big names, and compared to average Fight Nights over the last few years, knowing 4 fighters on it could actually be above par

[Zebra Kid Mark]

Am I right in saying this is the next card now? There isn't a fight card next week is there? 

[wandshogun09]

Yeah this is the next one. Then 258 with Usman vs Burns the following week. That one’s come around quick. 

[Zebra Kid Mark]

The main card is looking pretty tasty and now the prelims are looking better with the addition of Cody Staman.

Also, for the betters amongst us, Overeem is a 6/4 underdog on Bet365. That's got to be an easy way to make some money surely?

I've lumped £8 on him to win to get £20 back (£12 profit) just in case those odds change in the next week.

[wandshogun09]

Overeem committing murder...

[Egg Shen]

prime Ubereem.

That K-1 run was unbelievable. It only lasted 2 years and in that team he beat Aerts twice, Hari, Spong and Saki. Juiced out of his mind beating the best kickboxers in the world.

[wandshogun09]

Not to mention at the same time he was bossing DREAM and Strikeforce on the MMA side of things. 

[jimufctna24]

From what I have read from Daniel Martin and others who covered Overeem's K1 run, he massively benefitted from K1's oversized gloves. They were a huge part of his defence, as he often utilised a high guard. Moreover, as his opponents used the same oversized gloves, it softened their blows and safeguarded Overeem's weak chin in the process. Cro Cop had success in K1 in the early 2010s for the exact same reason. 

Overeem was also deadly in the clinch, partially because he had a size and strength advantage over K1's heavyweights. He therefore could brutalise his opponents on the inside, as well as drain their stamina by making them work to keep him off them. 

[Panhead]

I wonder how often Overeem wishes he'd tried to go for the knockout rather than the submission on Stipe? There was a couple of occasions in their fight where I thought he was going to stop him. 

[jimufctna24]

Great little piece on Manel Kape by Kyle McLachlan - https://www.thefight-site.com/home/unranked-ufc-fighters-watch-2021

TLDR: McLachlan thinks that Kape was one of the best BWs in the world by the time he left Rizin. He also thinks that Kape will have few issues adapting to the UFC's cage and the 125lbs weight limit.

[wandshogun09]

Mike Rodriguez tweeted this. Pretty cool;

 

[Egg Shen]

according to the MMA Roadshow Podcast, Guida/Johnson is also on the main card now, which is nice.

Ive really slept on this all week, its a great looking card.

[wandshogun09]

That’ll have been bumped because the Marion Reneau vs Macy Chiasson fight got moved to another card.

It is a belting card, I think. Pantoja vs Kape and Dariush vs Ferreira 2 are both really great fights on paper. They’d be my picks for FOTN. Reem’s ‘one last run’ story makes what would’ve been an otherwise so-so main event very interesting. And Sandhagen vs Edgar is a fight that’s been slept on a lot, I think. That could be fantastic depending on what Edgar has left in the tank. I think a lot of people are going in expecting Frankie to get wrecked but, while Sandhagen is dangerous, I wouldn’t write Frankie off. The jury’s still out on him as a Bantam for me. But yeah, this card is quality.