Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted July 3, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted July 3, 2021 (edited) Houston…we have an interim. It’s no 264 but this is pretty good. Back in Texas and the hometown boy’s going for gold. PPV MAIN CARDDerrick Lewis vs Ciryl Gane - Interim Heavyweight Title Jose Aldo vs Pedro Munhoz Vicente Luque vs Michael Chiesa Angela Hill vs Tecia Torres Song Yadong vs Casey Kenney ESPN PRELIMSBobby Green vs Rafael Fiziev Drako Rodriguez vs Vince Morales Ed Herman vs Alonzo Menifield Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs Jessica Penne ESPN+/FIGHT PASS PRELIMS Manel Kape vs Ode Osbourne Miles Johns vs Anderson Dos Santos Victoria Leonardo vs Melissa Gatto Johnny Munoz Jr vs Jamey Simmons Not bad at all. Bit of a letdown because we were meant to get Ngannou defending his belt here but I’m sure we’ll get into that. Not sure if this’ll be the actual bout order or if there’ll be any late additions. I’d assume that main card is pretty much set. Looks about right. Derrick Lewis vs Ciryl Gane headlines. For an interim title nobody was expecting or asking for. What a strange turn of events here. I’ve seen reports that this is largely to do with a new deal the UFC have signed to hold multiple events at the Toyota Center in Houston, this being the first. They want Lewis in the main event because he’s from Houston. I get that. But as much as I like Gane, this wasn’t his fight. That’s your Heavyweight champ right there. Francis Ngannou earned that strap in March, knocking out Stipe Miocic after a brilliant performance. How we’ve gone from the much talked about Ngannou vs Jones clash to Lewis vs Gane I don’t know but let’s blame Dana ‘Pockets Are Tight’ White. You know he’s at the centre of this mess. He’s right as well. Back when Stipe and DC were fighting each other once a year and Ngannou was bulldozing fuckers in seconds, there wasn’t even a suggestion of creating an interim belt for Ngannou. It’s all a big power play. All signs were pointing towards a Ngannou vs Lewis rematch here for the gold. Now there’s an interim belt just 3 months after Ngannou became champion? Ngannou’s manager Marquel Martin told Brett Okamoto that it came as a shock to them and, like clockwork, Dana fired back and went off on one calling him “full of shit” and saying Ngannou’s management were incompetent and that he should look for different representation. Martin wasn’t having it. This could get messy. Seems the UFC are just gonna call Ngannou’s bluff and crack on with this interim bollocks but, so far at least, this Marquel Martin chap doesn’t seem like he’s planning on backing down anytime soon. Could we be seeing this become reality soon? I’ve got to admit, as gutted as I am about this whole Ngannou situation, and the Jon Jones situation, the thought of seeing the old ‘Black Beast’ with UFC gold, even if he loses it on his first defence, fills me with joy. I’d love to see the big man with the belt. Granted, he’d only be keeping it warm until Ngannou or Stipe or Jones re-emerge but whatever. He’d join that group of feel-good title wins that you thought you’d never see along with Charles Oliveira and Brandon Moreno. He might do it as well. I’ve said for a while that I actually think Lewis is slightly underrated in a way. People often disregard him as a bit of a novelty act but the man can fight. He’s beat too many good fighters for it to be chalked up as luck. Knocked the bollocks out of Curtis Blaydes in his last fight in February. Just a vicious uppercut that was timed to perfection as Blaydes ducked for a takedown. It’s weird because on paper he is a bit of a one trick pony. He’s not a technical marvel, he’s not that quick, not particularly athletic and his ground game seems to consist of ‘just standing up’ when an opponent takes him down. There’s been a few fights where he’s literally just stood up from underneath a guy. No MMA coach would train you to fight like Lewis but it works for him more often than not, and more than it really should. Gane’s a different type of test though. He’s all about the technical side. Which is rare at Heavyweight. His climb has been so rapid. This time last year he was struggling to get a fight booked after 4 or 5 opponents pulled out. Because of that, at just 6-0, he was thrown in with Junior Dos Santos in December. A big jump in levels but he passed the test and put JDS away in the second round. Since then he’s won clear decisions over Jairzinho Rozenstruik in February and Alexander Volkov in late June. So he’s gone straight back into camp for this title fight. Crazy how quick he’s ended up in this position but a combination of him not being able to get the mid-level HWs in there and the messy Ngannou situation means he’s jumped the queue by default. It’s far from ideal but it’s still a fight I’m interested in watching. Gane’s going to be the sharper of the two, he’s fought more recently and he’s gone 5 rounds twice this year already. Lewis has never gone a full 5 rounds. But the Beast brings that x-factor where it feels like anything can happen. He’s never out of a fight until it’s over. I hate that one of these two has to lose but it could be a fun one all the same. Jose Aldo vs Pedro Munhoz is ***WAND’S ONE TO WATCH*** this time. What an incredible fight this should be. I feel like I’ve been saying it all the time lately but Bantamweight is so good these days. So many exciting fights and styles to mix and match. This should be a barnburner. I can’t see any way it’s anything less than ‘fun’ and has the potential to be so much more than that. Remember those days? What a reign. Aldo is a fucking legend. Goes without saying. Enjoy him while he’s still here. The talk of his demise has been overstated, in my opinion. Don’t get me wrong, he’s definitely lost a step. I’m not delusional or in denial. But he’s far, far from shot like some try to make out. You look at his losses over the last few years. McGregor at his peak, Holloway at his peak, Volkanovski, Yan. The only one that isn’t one of the absolute elite is Marlon Moraes but that loss is debatable and was Aldo’s first time cutting to 135. Aside from those losses, he’s outclassed or wrecked really good fighters like Vera, Moicano and Stephens. He schooled Frankie Edgar in his next fight after the McGregor knockout as well. To come back from an embarrassing 13 second KO to put in a performance like that was something else. Even the Yan fight last year, he gave Yan a good ruck. Yan bashed him later on but Aldo made him earn every bit of it. He’s class. One of the best ever for me. When you factor in his overall skillset, his striking was some of the best we’ve seen in MMA, his ground game when he showed it was on point, his takedown defence was among the very best in MMA history. Absolute animal. He’s actually the younger man here as well. By 2 days anyway. They both turn 35 a few weeks after this fight. Munhoz doesn’t have quite as many miles on him as Aldo though. But he’s had some wars himself. He’s 19-5-0-1 and coming off a decision win over Jimmie Rivera in February in one of the best fights so far this year. He’s also knocked out Cody Garbrandt, won another slobberknocker against Brett Johns and I thought he was unlucky to not get the decision against Frankie Edgar last summer. He’s a really tough, scrappy little sod. I think Aldo’s skills and techniques are sharper but Munhoz might be the more durable of the two at this stage. Should be a hell of a fight whatever happens. Can’t wait. Vicente Luque vs Michael Chiesa. This is quality. Love this pairing. Bit of a contrast in styles but both are on top form at the moment and are just outside that little bubble of contenders at the top of the Welterweight division. Luque’s been great to watch forever. It’s nice to see him finally getting some acknowledgment and respect recently. He’s 20-7-1 and has won 13 of his last 15 fights with the only defeats being to Wonderboy and Leon Edwards. He’s coming off a first round submission over Tyron Woodley in March and knocked out Niko Price in a banger not long ago. He’s still not even 30. And Chiesa’s been on fire since moving up to 170. To the point you wonder where he’d be now if he’d made the jump sooner. His first couple of wins at 170 were over faded versions of Diego Sanchez and Carlos Condit, he looked good but it didn’t tell us all that much. But he’s followed that up with impressive wins over Rafael Dos Anjos and Neil Magny. And he looks so strong and natural as a Welterweight it makes you wonder how he made 155 for so long. There’s former 155er Chiesa next to former Heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier. Sadly, the winner of this fight won’t be getting a shot anytime soon with that logjam of challengers waiting outside Usman’s door. But a win here for either man puts them in a nice position to bag a big fight and possibly even a title eliminator. Wasn’t long ago Usman was actually mentioning Chiesa as a potential opponent so who knows? Angela Hill vs Tecia Torres 2. The highly anticipated rematch. OK I’m taking the piss but it’s an alright pairing. I usually always enjoy watching Hill, to be fair. Their first fight was back in 2015 at UFC 188 in Mexico City. That was the same night Werdum gave Cain a spanking. Torres won on points and I have no memory of it at all. Didn’t even remember they’d fought before until looking up their records just now. Hill’s really grown on me over the years. 13-9 record but she’s really turned a corner the last couple of years. She had those 2 razor close decision losses to Michelle Waterson and Claudia Gadelha but I had her winning both. Had those decisions gone her way, she’d be on a 6 fight winning streak now and possibly looking at a title shot. Torres is 12-5 and has been in with pretty much all the top Strawweights at one point or another. Not the most exciting to watch but I reckon ‘Overkill’ can drag something watchable out of her. Song Yadong vs Casey Kenney. Really good fight here. Bantamweight is on fire at the moment. You know a division is in a good spot when you see matchups of this quality way down the pecking order that are nowhere near the title mix. Song’s 16-5-1-1 and fights out of Team Alpha Male. He’s been being bigged up for a while as someone to keep an eye on and he’s certainly shown flashes of real potential. Highlights so far have been his points win over Marlon Vera and his quick knockout over Alejandro Perez. I don’t think he’s quite the killer the likes of Urijah Faber tried to sell him as but Faber’s gonna hype him up. He lost to Kyler Phillips in a real good scrap in March so this is his attempt to redeem himself. Still only 23 so he’s got time. Kenney’s no soft rebound though. He’s 16-3-1 and lost a split to Dominick Cruz last time out but he was on a little streak before that and holds wins over Nathaniel Wood, Louis Smolka and Brandon Royval. Perhaps the sleeper FOTN for me this. Bobby Green vs Rafael Fiziev. Really like the sound of this. Was wondering when Fiziev would be back. One of the more exciting up and comers in the Lightweight division for me. I don’t see him climbing too high, just because I’ve still got doubts on his overall MMA game and his grappling needs some work. But he’s great to watch. I post this every time he fights but sod it… I love it. He’s obviously got the Muay Thai background but he’s also 9-1 in MMA now, coming off 3 wins, got bonuses for his last 2 fights and put Renato Moicano away inside a round last time out. Bobby Green’s a crafty veteran though. This’ll be his 40th MMA fight and he’s mixed with some of the best in the game over the years. He’s been a bit hit and miss in the UFC and he lost his last fight to Thiago Moises but he was on a decent little 3 fight win streak before that. On paper, he’s got the tools to ask some questions of Fiziev. I’d like to see him push Fiziev in the grappling in this one, see if he’s made any improvements there. Drako Rodriguez vs Vince Morales. Can’t say I recall either man. Looking them up, Rodriguez is 25 years old, 7-2 with 6 finishes. Got done in a round by Aiemann Zahabi in his UFC debut in February. Morales is 30, record of 9-5. He has a win over Zahabi so if you’re into MMA maths, you’d favour him here. He’s coming off a couple of losses and over a year of inactivity though. Fuck knows? Ed Herman vs Alonzo Menifield. Solid enough piece of matchmaking here. Herman’s been around forever. Think Jim confirmed in another thread recently that he’s the longest serving fighter on the roster now since Diego Sanchez left the promotion. He’s been around since TUF 3 in 2006, for fuck’s sake! He’ll be 41 this year and, despite the long UFC tenure, it’s never quite panned out for him. A bunch of losses, a lot of injuries. He’s doing OK at the moment though, in fairness. He’s won his last 3, including a comeback submission over Mike Rodriguez in a fun one last time out. Menifield’s a likeable chap. He was looking like a bit of a prospect for a while, going 9-0 with 9 finishes initially, with a first round knockout over Paul Craig in there. He got derailed big time in 2020 with back-to-back losses to OSP and Devin Clark but he bounced back with a submission over Fabio Cherant in March. Timing-wise, it’s a fight Menifield should probably be winning at this stage of both of their careers but Herman is a crafty, tough veteran and on decent form at the moment. Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs Jessica Penne. We haven’t seen ‘The Polish Princess’ since February 2020. And that’s probably a good thing. She’d lost 4 fights in a row and her last fight with Xiaonan Yan was particularly rough on her. Her eye got messed up early in the fight and it was all downhill from there. “Hi guys. Thank you for your support. First time in my life after fight I cannot say that I’m okay. In the beginning of first-round I have broken small bone here (below right eye). I couldn’t see nothing. My vision was double. After fight I spent all day in hospital. Today I am going to specialist and they will make decision. Because I need operation, I am waiting for decision here. I come back to Poland and make operation in Poland.” - Karolina Kowalkiewicz Thankfully the op seemed to go well but whether her break from fighting was due to that, or the whole COVID situation or whatever, it was probably for the best. At one point she was one of the best in the Strawweight division. She holds a win over Rose Namajunas in an excellent fight back in 2016 and went 5 rounds with prime Joanna Jedrzejczyk at MSG. Her last few fights were becoming a bit uncomfortable to watch though. She’s 35 now. If she’s got another run in her, now’s the time to make something happen. Hopefully the layoff has done her good and she comes back refreshed. Penne’s nothing special. 38 years old with a 13-5 record. Barely fought over the last few years but she squeaked out a decision over Lupita Godinez in April. If Kowalkiewicz is anywhere near on form she should win this. All depends on what she’s been doing in her time away, I guess, and if the old ring rust will be a factor. Manel Kape vs Ode Osbourne. Hopefully Kape can get on track here because he badly needs a win. He came in with some buzz and expectations. He was the RIZIN champ, knocked out Kai Asakura in under a minute etc. I was really happy to hear the UFC signed him. But his run on the big stage so far has been a major disappointment. He was given a tough debut against Alexandre Pantoja and lost on points. Then dropped a split decision to Matheus Nicolau in his next fight in February. I think I had him nicking that fight but it wasn’t like it was a robbery and Kape did himself no favours by kind of taking his foot off the gas for spells. As you can see in that gif there, when he’d let his strikes go it was beautiful to watch. But he allowed Nicolau into the fight too much and paid the price on the scorecards. Osbourne, AKA ‘The Jamaican Sensation’, is 9-3-0-1 and coming off a 26 second KO victory over Jerome Rivera in February. Can’t say I remember much else about him. This’ll be his Flyweight debut. Miles Johns vs Anderson Dos Santos was supposed to happen on one of the recent Fight Nights but got scrapped last minute. Haven’t seen enough of either to give a bollocks really. Johns is 11-1 and comes in off a POTN winning knockout over Kevin Natividad. Dos Santos is 21-8, a BJJ black-belt and submitted Martin Day in his last fight. I know I’ve seen both before but I can’t remember shit about them. Not saying it’ll be bad, maybe they’re better than I’m giving them credit for. But it’s just there. Victoria Leonardo vs Melissa Gatto. Not a clue. I’ve seen a grand total of one fight from Leonardo and it was her UFC debut in January where she just got bashed about by Manon Fiorot. She’s Venezuelan, 8-3 with 5 finishes and fought in Invicta, Bellator and LFA before getting on DWCS and into the Octagon. I’ve never seen Gatto. She actually signed with the UFC a few years ago but her debut has been delayed a bunch of times, including a USADA suspension somewhere in there. Good start. She’s from São Paulo, 25 years old with a record of 6-0-2. She’s not fought since 2018. Johnny Munoz Jr vs Jamey Simmons. Dunno. Don’t recall seeing either of these two before. Once again, Sherdog is my friend. Munoz is 10-1 with 8 finishes, mostly submissions. He’s a California based fighter and fought solely in the King Of The Cage promotion there before making his UFC debut last August. It wasn’t a successful one though, he dropped a decision against Nate Maness. Simmons, AKA ‘Afro Samurai’, is 7-3 with 5 finishes and got stopped inside a round in his Octagon debut by Giga Chikadze in November. Edited August 2, 2021 by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panhead Posted July 29, 2021 Share Posted July 29, 2021 Ariel Helwani tweeted that Nunes vs Pena is off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted July 29, 2021 Author Paid Members Share Posted July 29, 2021 (edited) Yeah, Nunes has COVID. See what I’m saying @Zebra Kid Mark? We’ve jinxed it. Hopefully she makes a full and quick recovery. Wouldn’t be shocked if Pena claims again that Nunes is ducking her but, let’s be honest, she’s had a lucky escape here. Basically how Nunes vs Pena would’ve played out… Edit - Ah man, Nina and the little one have got it as well. Edited July 29, 2021 by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebra Kid Mark Posted July 29, 2021 Share Posted July 29, 2021 Damn it. I should have kept my mouth shut. That card has taking a bit of a hit there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted July 29, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted July 29, 2021 (edited) "Nina Nunes" puts the image in my head that they have some kind of Mork & Mindy American sitcom life at home. Edited July 29, 2021 by Carbomb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted July 30, 2021 Author Paid Members Share Posted July 30, 2021 I love this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kfogg1991 Posted July 30, 2021 Share Posted July 30, 2021 For fucks sake I'm done with fucking covid man. Absolutely gutted about the news about nunes. What the fuck are they going to put in that place because with all the respect in the world Aldo vs munhoz isn't a great co main event for a ppv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted July 30, 2021 Author Paid Members Share Posted July 30, 2021 3 minutes ago, Kfogg1991 said: For fucks sake I'm done with fucking covid man. Absolutely gutted about the news about nunes. What the fuck are they going to put in that place because with all the respect in the world Aldo vs munhoz isn't a great co main event for a ppv Sorry to disappoint you Aldo vs Munhoz is the co-main. It’s been confirmed. Still a 3 rounder as far as I can tell. On a week’s notice, they weren’t gonna find any big names willing to jump in. I saw some people suggesting stuff like Pena vs Aspen Ladd for an interim belt but that’s crackers to me. For one, why do we need an interim belt when Nunes has been an active and defending champion and probably won’t even be out long? I mean there’s always a chance she has it really rough with COVID like Chimaev did but fingers crossed she’ll be like the majority of fighters who’ve had it and make a speedy recovery and they can just rebook her vs Pena on one of the upcoming cards. Also, in what world does a fight like Pena vs Ladd make a jot of difference to either the quality of this card or how well the show does? If Pena vs Ladd got announced as a Fight Night main event people would moan, and rightly so really. Having it co-main a PPV would be rotten. Fuck, we’ve already got one unnecessary interim title in the main event on this card. We don’t need another one. Aldo vs Munhoz doesn’t scream PPV co-main in 2021 but what can you do on this notice? It’s still a quality fight and will almost certainly be a way better and more competitive fight to watch than Nunes mauling Pena would’ve been anyway. And it’s definitely better than Pena vs someone for a bullshit interim belt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kfogg1991 Posted July 30, 2021 Share Posted July 30, 2021 1 minute ago, wandshogun09 said: Sorry to disappoint you Aldo vs Munhoz is the co-main. It’s been confirmed. Still a 3 rounder as far as I can tell. On a week’s notice, they weren’t gonna find any big names willing to jump in. I saw some people suggesting stuff like Pena vs Aspen Ladd for an interim belt but that’s crackers to me. For one, why do we need an interim belt when Nunes has been an active and defending champion and probably won’t even be out long? I mean there’s always a chance she has it really rough with COVID like Chimaev did but fingers crossed she’ll be like the majority of fighters who’ve had it and make a speedy recovery and they can just rebook her vs Pena on one of the upcoming cards. Also, in what world does a fight like Pena vs Ladd make a jot of difference to either the quality of this card or how well the show does? If Pena vs Ladd got announced as a Fight Night main event people would moan, and rightly so really. Having it co-main a PPV would be rotten. Fuck, we’ve already got one unnecessary interim title in the main event on this card. We don’t need another one. Aldo vs Munhoz doesn’t scream PPV co-main in 2021 but what can you do on this notice? It’s still a quality fight and will almost certainly be a way better and more competitive fight to watch than Nunes mauling Pena would’ve been anyway. And it’s definitely better than Pena vs someone for a bullshit interim belt. No dude your 100% right on the mark here in 8 days notice they were never going to be able to find a big fight to replace the nunes fight. I'm not like completely against Aldo vs muhnoz being bummed up and it rightly so should remain a 3 round fight at such short notice. I'm not the biggest fan of none title fights being 5 rounds anyway bar the Diaz Brothers they could fight the first ever 10 round fight and I would be all in on that shit haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted August 3, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted August 3, 2021 never knew a young Black Beast was once managed/trained by George Foreman: here's the story: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted August 3, 2021 Author Paid Members Share Posted August 3, 2021 The side of Derrick Lewis we don’t hear about much. Top bloke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted August 4, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted August 4, 2021 gonna be some scene if Lewis' KO's Gane in front of his home crowd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted August 5, 2021 Author Paid Members Share Posted August 5, 2021 Lewis photobombing Gane during Embedded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 It's just a shame that whoever wins gets an embarrassment of a belt wrapped around their waist. Everyone knows who the real champion is. Except Uncle Dana, of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted August 5, 2021 Author Paid Members Share Posted August 5, 2021 If they don’t get the Heavyweight mess resolved soon we’re really heading for bleak times. Ngannou, Miocic and Jones all sitting on the sidelines is madness. I’m sure Ngannou will be back. As far as I can tell he was up for fighting Lewis, just not on this card for whatever reason, and Dana got the hump and here we are. I saw Stipe hinting at fucking off to fight in ONE recently on Twitter. I doubt it comes to that but can you imagine? Fuck knows when Jones is coming back. It’s a right mess. Heavyweight’s never been the deepest division as it is but with those three active, things would be ticking over nicely for the next couple of years at least. Ngannou vs Miocic 3 would be a no brainier and either against Jones would be really interesting matchups. I actually like Lewis vs Gane as a fight, and I’m a fan of both, but it’s no substitution for what we should be looking forward to right about now. It’s not as bad as the ‘Tim Sylvia - UFC Heavyweight champion’ era but without Ngannou, Miocic and Jones it’s the weakest the division’s been since then for me. Anyway, the UFC have been tweeting this poster, which someone who goes by @pinchemoreno on Twitter made. Looks ace. Looking forward to this fight the closer it’s getting. Every bit of logic in me is telling me Gane is just gonna be too skilled for Lewis and probably outpoints him widely on the scorecards. But I can’t shake this feeling that Lewis is gonna connect with something big at some point and shut the lights out. I know it’s just ‘punchers chance’ talk and not how you should predict a fight, and Gane’s really given us no reason to expect him to get sloppy out there and get clipped either. But it’s Heavyweight MMA, mad things happen and Lewis has form for it. That Aldo vs Munhoz fight should be class as well. As should Luque vs Chiesa. Then there’s Yadong vs Kennedy, Manel Kape’s return in what’s really a make a break situation for him in the UFC at this point, Green vs Fiziev etc. It pales in comparison to 264 but it’s still a really nice card, in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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