Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted March 27, 2021 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 27, 2021 There’s my picks. Really not sure what’s going to happen with Woodley vs Luque. Part of me thinks this is a much more winnable fight for Woodley, style-wise and in that it’s a step down in levels from the top names he’s been mixing with in his last few. But at the same time, he just looks about done lately. That was probably partly down to who he’s been in there with but he just hasn’t looked there at all to me in a long time. It’s not just like he lost his last 3 fights, he’s been utterly dominated for 14 and a bit rounds straight in those fights. He badly needs to pull something out the bag tonight but if gun-shy Woodley shows up then I think Luque puts a beating on him. Purely on skills, Woodley wins this, but my confidence in him is shot to bits at this point. I’d love to be proven wrong on the O’Malley vs Almeida fight and if this was 2015 Almeida I think I’d fancy him to come out on top. I think Suga gets it done though unfortunately.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pier Six Brawler Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 Will the main card start at 3am BST? I'm confused with the clocks going forwards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members WeeAl Posted March 27, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted March 27, 2021 Looking forward to watching this one tomorrow morning. I'm torn as I don't want to see either man take an L, but them's the breaks. If Stipe wins, he adds another big win to his resume, fights Jones and then I'd say he'll call it a day. Should Francis win I expect he'd face Jones and Stipe would fight the winner down the line. I'm picking Stipe here to get it done, in much the same way as he did it the first time. Anything can happen in that opening round and a half though. If there's a heavyweight alive that can weather an Ngannou bomb or two though, it's Miocic. I don't think Woodley has anything left in the tank at all. I'd expect Luque is going to come at him like a buzzsaw and Tyron will get stopped. Woodley just looks way to gun shy on the feet and too inactive in the grappling that I don't see how he wins at this point against top opposition. Maybe he lands a bomb of a counter right as Luque pushes the action but I wouldn't bet on it. It would be nice if Almeida could find some form again here and beat O'Malley. Suga Sean's resume isn't very strong and he could do with a name like Almeida on it, who has fought and beat much better competition over his years in the sport. It's a close fight to call. One that I hope Almeida decides that the leg kick is the best course to victory in. Batter O'Malley's lower leg, it's failed on him twice on four fights. See if it happens again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzeko10 Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 Ngannou is a bad bad man. He looked fantastic compared to the first fight, poor Stipe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panhead Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 Ngannou's patience was really impressing and terrifying. The lessons he learnt from the first fight were invaluable for him. I can't think of a better way for someone to become the Heavyweight champion of the world. What an incredible knockout. I'm sad to see Stipe get put away like that, they both seem like genuinely good blokes in a sport that lacks them, but that was exactly how you want to see someone become the Baddest Man on the Planet. Utter filth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RancidPunx Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 He seems like such a gentle soul also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted March 28, 2021 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 28, 2021 (edited) Well fuck me. There was always the chance. I’ve been saying it for ages, no matter how good you are, weathering Ngannou’s storm is easier said than done. But this was more than the old ‘puncher’s chance’. We didn’t really get to see his cardio get pushed, it was all over early in the second round, but he definitely looked improved since the first fight. More patient and selective with his attacks rather than just barrelling forward winging haymakers and hoping one connects like the first fight. This was undeniably a better Ngannou than the one we saw 3 years ago. He also threw the jab out a little bit more, threw some kicks in there and actually went to the body a couple of times as well. Showed some solid takedown defence as well, not just in stopping the actual takedown but he made Stipe pay for it with some ground and pound which no doubt would’ve made Stipe a bit more wary of shooting in again. I think Stipe was looking to play the long game and take it into deep waters again but it just never got there. And he just wasn’t able to push the pace enough or land much to sap Ngannou’s energy for later. Ngannou got off to a good start and Stipe just didn’t get into it. In hindsight, Ngannou’s lack of cage time over the past couple of years was an advantage for him because nobody, including Stipe, had much to go on or study in terms of knowing if Ngannou had made any gains. Ngannou’s still got work to do, of course, it’s all a work in progress for him. But this was very encouraging. He’s clearly been making the effort to tighten up the weak areas of his game. What next? From the off it’s been ‘the winner fights Jon Jones’ but since last night Jones has been tweeting about money so fuck knows if there’s still an obstacle there. I’m not saying Jones is shitting himself or anything but I get the feeling there’s going to be a stumbling block in the way of getting Ngannou vs Jones done. Hope I’m wrong. Jones has clearly been packing the extra weight on for a reason and I don’t think he’d have relinquished the 205 belt if he wasn’t serious about a Heavyweight move. But we’ll see what happens. At some point we’ve got to get Ngannou vs Miocic 3 on as well. They’ve both beaten each other decisively now and it’s tied at 1-1. Can’t leave it like that. Whatever Stipe does next, whether he hangs the gloves up or chases the trilogy, his legacy’s set already. How can you not be happy for him? The journey he’s taken, from poverty and being homeless to the UFC Heavyweight champion of the world in, what, 7 years or something? Amazing. I don’t think we realise over here how inspiring this is going to be to kids who are growing up the way he did. In theory this was the best possible result for the division. Now we’ve got Ngannou vs Jones AND Ngannou vs Miocic 3 potentially on the horizon. Watch it all balls up though. Jones will decide they’re not paying him enough and Stipe will retire and we’ll be left with Ngannou vs Lewis 2 for the strap. It’d surely be way better than their dud a few years back but still. Luque vs Woodley was short and sweet. Best Woodley’s looked in ages as well, to be fair. Until it all went wrong for him. As soon as he got wobbled you just got the feeling he wasn’t recovering. Luque’s a fucker when he’s got someone hurt. He wasn’t letting T-Wood off the hook. Nice finish and the biggest win of Luque’s career easy. Wonderboy’s win over Luque is looking better by the month. It’s just not happening for Woodley is it? He finally lets his hands go and gets finished in a round. I think we’ll probably see him again though. O’Malley looked good against Almeida. I don’t think he’s as good as some make out but he looked sharp in spells here and the finish was nasty. Disappointed though. As much as Almeida’s slipped in recent years, I was hoping he’d pull out one of those flying knees like he deaded Brad Pickett with that time. Proper soured on O’Malley over the last 6 months to a year or so. Can’t wait until all his hair falls out from all the chemicals he’s assaulting his follicles with. Enjoyed the Maverick vs Robertson fight. I don’t think either of them are near the level to make a splash in the title picture any time soon but Miranda Maverick has my attention. She’s looked good in both her UFC fights so far and she’s still young enough that she’s got time and the potential to level up over the next couple of years. Hopefully they don’t rush her along too quickly because she’s one of the more promising fighters in the Flyweight division for me. Jamie Mullarkey opened up the main card in style. Less than a minute and Worthy was Flair Flopping into a slumber. Nice to see Mullarkey get that big win. He was 0-2 in the UFC coming in but I’d had a soft spot for him since that wild debut scrap with Riddell. As for Worthy, he looked like a bit of a prospect at one point but this has well and truly scuppered that. Especially after he got done in a round in his last fight by Ottman Azaitar as well. Alonzo Menifield getting back to winning ways ways nice to see. Don’t know how good this Cherant chap was and he was jumping in on late notice but this was just what the doctor ordered for Menifield coming off a couple of losses. I thought throwing him in with William Knight coming off back-to-back Ls was a bit rough anyway. He can build off this. Drifted in and out of most of the prelims but I felt like Bukauskas was unlucky to not get the nod from the judges in his fight. Not a bad card, not the best. Still wounded about Volkanovski vs Ortega, to be honest. Edited March 28, 2021 by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 (edited) Even with the slow pace of the fight, I think the fight would have still swung in Miocic's favour had the fight reached the third round. I think Ngannou would have slowed down and Miocicn would have rallied. Still, Ngannou had clearly improved since the first time they fought. He was more composed, went to the body with straight rights, had clearly worked on his takedown defence, and the shifting punch he used to knock down Miocic in the 2nd round was brilliant. Miocic should probably retire. I think his peak was between the Hunt fight in 2015 and the first Ngannou fight in 2018. Even during that period he was not unbeatable, but he did manage to put together enough high quality wins to make him the best heavyweight in UFC history. He has nothing to prove. Edited March 28, 2021 by jimufctna24 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted March 28, 2021 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 28, 2021 The scenes in Cameroon when Francis won. Love it.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzeko10 Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 Anyone catch Dana on the post fight presser say Derrick Lewis next is the fight to make? I'm guessing he's either baiting Jon Jones or something has happened with that fight. He also mentioned wanting to Conor vs DP 3 in Vegas on the July 10th PPV (264?) with Gaethje maybe as a backup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted March 28, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted March 28, 2021 Yeh, that does seem an odd one, but then again Lewis isn't a dodgy choice either. On a four-fight win streak, he's just beaten Blaydes who'd only ever been beaten by Ngannou previously, and he's the remaining UFC loss that Fran hasn't avenged yet. Not saying that Jones isn't the fight to make (Dana is a cock-end after all), but if Jones hasn't finished preparing for heavyweight to his satisfaction, or if talks have stalled, then Lewis is absolutely the next choice, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dai Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 Great performance from big Francis. All throughout the fight you are on the edge of your seat with him. You know at any moment he can end it. Crazy aura he has. The size difference was alot more noticable last night I thought. Stipe didnt even look like a big light heavyweight last night I thought. The perspective may be off as hes in there with someone who's 265lb of muscle I guess. That 30lb difference, especially in the first few rounds, was a big factor in him being able to stuff the takedown and ragdoll Stipe to the gorund as well. I dont do much on social media, but I assume there must be plenty of steroid talk when it comes to Ngannou. The only other heavyweight who looked like that was Overeem I think. I dont know if anyone can screen grab it, but even the picture they used for him for the tale of the tape was absurd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ColinBollocks Posted March 28, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted March 28, 2021 New era and all that. Absolutely delighted for Ngannou. Genuinely fewer things in MMA more terrifying or chilling than the moment Ngannou stopped the takedown. In that moment you realised Stipe was absolutely buggered and was going to get sparked out. As discussed, the only thing you fancied Stipe had an advantage on was cardio but the fight was never going into the 3rd. Stipe will maybe look back on it and make the excuse that if he never rushed in he maybe could have won, in the end, but the fight wasn't even close up to that point. If Stipe was going to have a stand up fight it was always going to be a matter of time. What do you do against an Ngannou that has takedown defence and more weapons than a left-right tornado? Watch Jon Jones make us all cry again. Knob. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted March 28, 2021 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 28, 2021 (edited) 3 hours ago, Dzeko10 said: He also mentioned wanting to Conor vs DP 3 in Vegas on the July 10th PPV (264?) with Gaethje maybe as a backup. Poirier’s just tweeted this. Back on topic, imagine a card in Africa with these 3 defending their gold in a triple header? Edited March 28, 2021 by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzeko10 Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 2 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said: Poirier’s just tweeted this. Ohh decent, the next few months look exciting on the UFC front then. Still waiting on the Nate Diaz return but yeah seems like the usual bullshit chat to get some news when Conor/DP 2 was happening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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