UFC 262: Oliveira vs Chandler - May 15 🇺🇸

[Egg Shen]

bonuses gone up:

 

[wandshogun09]

These’ll be wrong but whatever.

Charles Oliveira vs Michael Chandler - We’ve gone into this at length already. What a fight this should be though. A year ago if you’d said this fight would main event a UFC PPV in 2021, and would be for the title, you’d have sounded nuts. But here we are. And it feels big. You wouldn’t have thought so when it was announced but this feels every bit like a worthy title fight topping a PPV. They’ve obviously done their bit in the cage to earn this and the face-offs at both the press conference and the weigh in were the seasoning on the steak for me. If you’re not buzzing for this fight by now...

I’m going Oliveira by submission. It’s either that or Chandler clobbers him for me. I’m probably jinxing it now but I just don’t see this going the distance. You look at these guys careers and it’s not often they go to decisions. Between them they’ve won 52 fights and finished 44 of them. My gut is telling me Oliveira catches Chandler in a sub. I’m thinking guillotine. If Chandler wins it’ll most likely either be by whacking him early or if the fight goes long and gets nasty, I could see Oliveira wilting and Chandler swarming on him later on. Either way, I’m having a hard time picturing this going the full 25. 

Tony Ferguson vs Beneil Dariush - I’ve got a good feeling about this one. After the way his last couple of fights went you know Ferguson is coming in to prove a point. And I’m made up to see Dariush finally getting his big break against a top name in a PPV co-main. He’s been great to watch forever and he’s really earned this opportunity with his recent performances. On top of all that, just stylistically this is a banger of a fight. If they grapple a lot it’s gonna be ace and on the feet it’s gonna be wild. Can’t wait for this fight. 

Tough one but I’m fancying Ferguson on points in a bit of a war. I’m not ready to completely write him off like so many seem to be. He lost to Gaethje and Oliveira. Two of the very best fighters in perhaps the strongest division in the entire sport. That doesn’t mean he’s shot. I think the Gaethje fight, and the accumulation of damage from all the wars he’s been in, has definitely taken something out of him. But to listen to some, you’d think fucking Wayne Weems off TUF 5 would beat him now. All that said, I’m rooting for Dariush here. I’ve never warmed to Ferguson outside the cage and I’m a big fan of Dariush. It’ll kind of suck to see Ferguson go 0-3 but I don’t want him winning at the expense of our Benny. I think he can get it done as well. Pretty much 50/50 on this, to be honest. 

Matt Schnell vs Rogerio Bontorin - Good fight. Looks a bit out of place on the PPV bit but I’m not against it. Anyone who’s familiar with Schnell knows he’s great to watch. I don’t see him going too far but he always brings it and he’s had some cracking fights on the undercards over the last year or so. I haven’t seen as much of Bontorin but from what I have seen he kind of looks like he’s from similar cloth. His last fight with Kai Kara-France was a lot of fun. He’s coming off a couple of losses now so his back’s against the wall a bit here. 

Schnell by sub for me. Just think he’s got a bit more about him from what I’ve seen of both. Could be the sleeper on the whole card though, I think. 

Katlyn Chookagian vs Viviane Araujo - By far the fight I’m least arsed about on the main card. Genuinely don’t get why it’s even on the main card over fights like Jacare vs Muniz and Lando vs Grundy but whatever. I’ve quite enjoyed watching Araujo, to be fair. But Chookagian does nothing for me unless she’s getting walloped by Jessica Andrade or something. 

Chookagian. Probably by lifeless decision. Maybe I’m wrong. After that RVD comparison maybe she’ll bust out a 5 Star Frog Splash or something. Nah I don’t have high hopes for this one. Reckon Chookagian shuts her down and plays the points game. Then it’s back to Twitter and liking all that BBC porn the dirty mare. 

Shane Burgos vs Edson Barboza - One of the obvious frontrunners to bag FOTN. I think this or Fergie vs Dariush. Win or lose, Barboza always brings the heat. I love his style. But there’s been something missing there for me since he dropped to 145. Still looks good, he arguably should’ve got the decision against Dan Ige from my memory of that fight. But I don’t know. He hasn’t looked quite as explosive so far at Featherweight to me. Although maybe he was still acclimatising to 145. This is only his third fight at the weight. Now he’s presumably more used to the cut, maybe we’ll see a better Barboza. Part of me thinks Burgos is tailor-made for him as well. Burgos goes for it, he’s mega aggressive. It usually pays off for him but he’s come off worse a couple of times too. His scrap with Josh Emmett was one of the best fights of last year but seemed to get quickly forgotten with a show every weekend going on. 

I’ll have Burgos on points. There’s something niggling at me saying Barboza lands a highlight reel KO but I think that’s just me wanting him to return to that kind of form more than anything. I can see it being a back and forth barnburner but I’m lacking confidence in Barboza for whatever reason. Hope he proves me wrong. Either way, this should be a fantastic way to open up the main card. 

Full predictions;

Charles Oliveira by Submission.

Tony Ferguson by Decision.

Matt Schnell by Submission.

Katlyn Chookagian by Decision.

Shane Burgos by Decision.

Jacare Souza by Decision.

Mike Grundy by Submission.

Antonina Shevchenko by Decision.

Jordan Wright by KO/TKO.

Priscila Cachoeira by KO/TKO.

Kevin Aguilar by Decision.

Christos Giagos by Decision.

Lets go! 

[jimufctna24]

9 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

My gut is telling me Oliveira catches Chandler in a sub.

My gut is telling me that Chandler is going to catch him early. It's based on a hunch. Nothing more. 

I hope to be wrong. 

[RancidPunx]

Is it me or does Chandler seem like a bit of a cock ?

[jimufctna24]

1 minute ago, RancidPunx said:

Is it me or does Chandler seem like a bit of a cock ?

I don't find him to be particularly likeable. 

[wandshogun09]

1 minute ago, RancidPunx said:

Is it me or does Chandler seem like a bit of a cock ?

It’s weird because he does give off that vibe a fair bit of the time for me but then you see him in stuff like that video with Din Thomas earlier in the thread and he seems alright. I’m not keen though. Never really have warmed to him. He reminds me of the Team Alpha Male lot and I always found most of them annoying as well. 

[RancidPunx]

I get it, he adopted a child and all that but fuck me, you’ed would think he was the first person in the world to do it.

That seemed to be the most interesting thing about him in the Countdown show.

 

[wandshogun09]

Oliveira’s got a way more interesting story. In both his journey to the title shot and out of the cage. 

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

Really looking forward to this. It's a weird one for my normal watching dynamic for UFC PPVs- I normally get my uncle and brother to come around to watch. Brought this show up and they weren't keen on it, but I'm still getting the PPV and making a day of it.

I've been a fan of Oliveira since 2010. The first fight of his I actually saw of his was the Efrain Escudero fight. He got booted in the nuts, took a moment to recover and came back pissed off. He submitted Efrain moments later. He was almost like he went Super Saiyan or something. So I was hooked from that point. He's had his ups and downs, but the last couple of years it seems like it's really come together for Oliveira. So while he might not have the "casual" appeal, this feels as big as almost any event to me. And Chandler's being a great foil and feels fresh/exciting, being new to the UFC.

Also hoping Ferguson can rebound from his loss to Oliveira.

[wandshogun09]

I know it won’t happen but I’d be well happy if Oliveira and Dariush both won tonight and that was the next title fight. They were meant to fight last year and I was gutted it never happened. Getting it over 5 rounds for the gold would be quality. But it won’t happen. It’ll almost certainly be the Poirier vs McGregor winner against whoever the champ is after tonight. Hopefully Poirier. 

[Egg Shen]

enjoy the fights lads, its bedtime.

[wandshogun09]

19 minutes ago, Egg Shen said:

enjoy the fights lads, its bedtime.

I think I’m up for the night. I’ll regret it tomorrow when I’ve got cauliflower face for half the day but whatever. If I lie down now I’ll just be staring at the ceiling anyway. Mrs is conked out. Kids are asleep. I’m gonna have a few rums and watch the violence unfold. I’ll probably fall asleep in the Chookagian fight though and defeat the whole purpose of staying up at all.

Edit - yeah, I’m out. No live chat or spoilers but this show’s already off to a wild start. Goodnight. 

Edited May 15, 2021 by wandshogun09

[jimufctna24]

Nice.

Great fight too. 

[Panhead]

That Burgos KO was crazy. I've never seen that from a head punch. 

[BrodyGraham]

1 minute ago, Panhead said:

That Burgos KO was crazy. I've never seen that from a head punch. 

Just showed it to a lad at work whose response was, "Fucking hell there's some lag on his network!"

Bonkers.