Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted October 14, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted October 14, 2021 (edited) Just over a week away. ESPN+ MAIN CARDPaulo Costa vs Marvin VettoriĀ Grant Dawson vs Rick GlennĀ Jessica Rose Clark vs Joselyne EdwardsĀ Alex Caceres vs Seung Woo ChoiĀ Dwight Grant vs Francisco TrinaldoĀ Nicolae Negumereanu vs Ike VillanuevaĀ ESPN+/FIGHT PASS PRELIMSĀ Jun Yong Park vs Gregory Rodrigues Mason Jones vs David Onama Tabatha Ricci vs Maria OliveiraĀ Laureano Staropoli vs Jamie PickettĀ Khama Worthy vs Jai HerbertĀ Jeff Molina vs Daniel Da SilvaĀ Livia Renata Souza vs Randa MarkosĀ Jonathan Martinez vs Zviad Lazishvili Ā Not an amazing card or anything but I like it a lot better than the Fight Nights weāve had so far in October. Stronger main event and a couple of little gems on the undercard. Ā Paulo Costa vs Marvin Vettori tops this card then. A battle of nutters. Itās a shame they havenāt been able to do those big press conferences lately, with all the fighters in the upcoming main events, because these two interacting and talking shit to each other couldāve provided us with some unintentional comedy gold. Theyāre both coming off losses to the champ Israel Adesanya, so this is the logical fight to make, I suppose. It should be a fun one anyway. Costaās loss to Adesanya was last September, so heāll have been out 13 months by the time this goes down. Not ideal. He was supposed to fight Robert Whittaker in April but pulled out. Canāt remember the reason why now but there were rumours it was because he was having a hair transplant and needed time to heal. Iām not joking. āI made a transplant hair, you know. We removed some part of hair here, back, and put some hair where you need to grow. Three days and I was back on the walk. But I hope when I fight Marvin Vettori, my hair will be better, you know, beautifulā. - Paulo Costa Makes sense. Despite his weirdness, heās a very dangerous fighter. The Adesanya defeat was his first. Heād gone 13-0 before that with 12 finishes and wins over Yoel Romero, Uriah Hall and Johny Hendricks in the UFC. Romero is the only opponent who took him the distance. Heās predicting a return to form here as well. āIt will be a wild fight. You understand? Savage. Everybody will see the old savage Paulo Costa. Going forward, so aggressive and soberā. - Paulo CostaĀ Sober? š Vettori has been much more active recently. Heās fought 3 times since we last saw Costa, and scored pretty big and dominant wins in main events over Jack Hermansson and Kevin Holland.Ā He lost to Adesanya in June and this is his attempt to rebound. Heās in a weird spot now though because even if he can beat Costa, heās already 0-2 down to Izzy. So heās got to be rooting for Whittaker to beat Adesanya in their rematch in early 2022. Itās the only way heās getting a sniff of a title shot anytime soon. If Costa wins though, I think heās immediately back in the conversation. Heās got a fan friendly style and him against Adesanya is always gonna be a fun pairing, in the cage and in the media. Not sure how I see this going. Youād think if Vettori can drag Costa into the later rounds his chances are good but Costa has the type of power where he can drop anyone and itās quite a storm to have to weather. Looking forward to it either way. I just hope it actually happens. Costaās got a history of pulling out of fights and Vettoriās had a few opponents drop out on him in the past. Hopefully this one doesnāt follow suit because it should be highly entertaining if it goes ahead. Ā Grant Dawson vs Rick Glenn - co-main event. OK then. I donāt hate the fight at all though, itās actually pretty good and I could see it potentially stealing the show. Dawsonās 17-1 and on a nice 8 fight streak now. Heās really flown under the radar but you look at that streak and heās beat Julian Erosa, subbed TUF winner Mike Trizano, subbed submission artist Darrick Minner and knocked out Leonardo Santos in his last fight in March. His slow progress is probably mostly down to his attempt to go down to 145 where he struggled with the weight cut. The Santos fight was his first back up at 155 and it was probably his best win to date. Glennās been a bit up and down. Heās got wins over Dennis Bermudez, Gavin Tucker and Phillipe Nover, all of which had some high expectations at one time or another. But theyāve always been mixed in with losses so heās never made any kind of headway. His 37 second knockout of Joaquim Silva in June was a real highlight though and itās bagged him this fight. Have to favour Dawson, on skills and consistency. But Glenn is a tough little sod. Ā Jessica Rose Clark vs Joselyne Edwards. Might be decent, although Iām not sure why itās so high up the card. Aussie Clark is 10-6-0-1 with notable wins over Paige VanZant, Bec Rawlings and Carina Damm. Some OK names there but they werenāt hugely convincing performances. She beat Sarah Alpar in her last fight and I seem to remember it being a much more dominant showing and she did get the finish. But I donāt exactly rate Alpar so Iām not sure who that win said more about. I like Clark but Iāve never been convinced sheās that good. Canāt remember much of Edwards but from the vague, fuzzy memories I do have she seemed alright. Sheās 26 years old from Roberto Duranās neck of the woods in Panama, 10-3 with 8 finishes, trains at Kings MMA. She beat Wu Yanan in her UFC debut and I recall her looking decent in that one but she dropped a decision to Karol Rosa next time out. Ā Alex Caceres vs Seung Woo Choi. Just filler really and, again, looks a bit weird being billed so high up on the card but itāll probably be entertaining so whatever. Caceres has been on the roster since 2011 now. A fucking decade long run! Crazy when you think about it, especially considering he had a near 50/50 record not too long ago. Heās had some really fun fights on the undercards over the years though and heās probably not putting much of a dent in the UFCās budget so if youāre Dana and the higher ups, why not keep him around? And in fairness, heās coming into this fight off a nice little 4 fight win streak. Heās also got a submission win over Sergio Pettis, which is mostly forgotten now, and went to a split decision with Yair Rodriguez in a 5 rounder in 2016. Heās had his moments. Choi should probably be winning at this stage though. Heās 5 years younger, 10-3 and coming off a vicious first round stoppage over Julian Erosa back in June. Ā Dwight Grant vs Francisco Trinaldo is a bit of a weird one for me. Grantās been in the UFC for a few years now but hasnāt been that active. He scored a crazy KO against Carlo Pedersoli back in 2019; ā¦and beat Alan Jouban after that, so he was well on my radar then. But then he disappeared for a year and resurfaced only to get stopped by Daniel Rodriguez. Donāt really know what to make of him. And Trinaldo is no joke. Heās basically what Gleison Tibau used to be. The badass gatekeeper of the lighter weight classes. Although heās up at 170 these days. I donāt think many realise the resume Trinaldo has. Heās beat the likes of Paul Felder, Jim Miller, Bobby Green, Ross Pearson among others over the years. Yeah heās lost a bunch as well but heās a tough cookie and if youāre having an off night, he can find you out quick. Heās 43 now, itās coming to an end. But heās been one of the unsung undercard hardcases for years now. Ā Nicolae Negumereanu vs Ike Villanueva. This has the makings of a real banger actually. Romanian Negumereanu is 27 years old, 10-1 with 9 finishes. āHurricaneā Ike is 37 with a cack 18-12 record but heās only been the distance 4 times in those 30 fights. Generally, he either stops you or you stop him. At 37 with that kind of record, heās never gonna become a contender. But thereās always room for a mad slugger, and theyāre especially welcome on these Fight Night cards. Negumereanu has a loss to Saparbek Safarov whoās a bit of a useless slug so, unless he just had a really, really, really off night, I canāt see him amounting to much either. But itās got the ingredients of a fiery scrap. Ā Jun Yong Park vs Gregory Rodrigues. OK fight. Havenāt been blown away by Park so far but heās doing alright. 13-4 and has beat Tafon Nchukwi, John Phillips and Marc-Andre Barriault in his last 3 outings. Rodrigues is the pull here for me though. Baddest Barack Obama lookalike on the planet. He mustāve been getting the comparison a lot because he even addressed it on Twitter himself. Yes Gregory. Yes we do. Itās uncanny though, isnāt it? Anyway, he can scrap a bit. Heās 10-2 with 8 finishes and got the decision over Dusko Todorovic in a bit of a bombfest in his UFC debut a few months back. I liked what I saw in that one. Should be plenty of slobberknockers for him in the Middleweight division. Ā Mason Jones vs David Onama then. Originally supposed to be Jones vs Alan Patrick in a rematch but that went tits up so here we are. To be honest, as much as Iād have liked to have seen Jones clear up the unfinished business with Patrick, Iām not that arsed itās not happening. Jones was giving him a proper pasting in the first fight before the unfortunate eye poke ending and it was pretty apparent who the better fighter was. Itād still be nice to see them rematch at some point, just for Jones to kind of erase that asterisk next to the first fight, but itās not a must or anything. This sounds like fun though. Iāve never seen Onama fight but from the little bits and pieces Iāve caught since this fight was announced, he looks like he brings the violence. Heās 27 years old, Ugandan, or āUgandeseā as some might say, and has a record of 8-0 with 7 finishes. This might well be a better fight than the Alan Patrick rematch anyway. Fair play to Jones as well. Taking on an undefeated fighter like this on short notice is risky. Especially after the less than ideal start heās had to his UFC run. Ā Tabatha Ricci vs Maria Oliveira. Donāt know much about Ricci and nothing about Oliveira so Iām going in blind on this one. I did see Ricciās UFC debut but it didnāt exactly give us a good read on what she can do because she took it on a few days notice and got fed to Manon Fiorot who just bullied and stopped her. Ricci was 5-0 prior to that though. Maybe sheās better than she showed or maybe she just got exposed by the first legit opponent she came up against. Oliveira is making her debut here. 24 years old with a 12-4 record and 8 finishes. Only name I recognise on her record is Marina Rodriguez back in 2018 and Rodriguez put her away in a round. Ā Laureano Staropoli vs Jamie Pickett. Dunno. At one point Staropoli was looking like he had a bit of promise. He went 9-1 initially and beat Thiago Alves in 2019. Granted, Alves had lost a couple of steps by that point but it was still a strong win for a young guy with less than 10 fights under his belt. Heās lost 3 in a row since though. All against solid opposition but a losing streak is a losing streak. Heās only 28, thereās still time, but Iām not sure heās got enough about his game to really make waves on a consistent basis. Pickettās 11-6 and has beat nobody of note really. Not even sure Iāve seen him fight but heās also coming off a couple of losses so the loser of this one could find themselves on the chopping block. Ā Khama Worthy vs Jai Herbert might well wind up being a āloser leaves townā match. Worthy got off to a flying start in the UFC with finishes over Devonte Smith and Luis Pena but itās all gone to shite since and heās been sparked inside a round in both of his last two fights. And Herbert came in with high hopes, a former Cage Warriors champ who was on a winning streak, and heās gone 0-2 in the UFC so far. Got TKOād by Francisco Trinaldo in his debut, then got subbed by Renato Moicano. Style-wise, I like this pairing a lot actually. They both like to strike, both have fight ending power but both also have that bit of vulnerability as well which adds to the unpredictably of it. Thereās always a chance they come in mindful that they might be fighting for their job and fight more cautiously but I can see it just becoming a firefight once one of them gets tagged. Either that or itās over right there. Ā Jeff Molina vs Daniel Da SilvaĀ is ***WANDāS ONE TO WATCH***Ā and Iāve never even heard of Da Silva. Itās all about Molina for me. And all on the strength of one awesome fight. That being his UFC debut back in April. He took on fellow Octagon newcomer Aori Qileng on the prelims of a stacked UFC 261 card and they tore the house down. Iām not sure how many people actually saw it because it was tucked away on Fight Pass, but fuck me. If you didnāt see it, get it seen. Yesterday. On a card featuring names such as Usman, Masvidal, Namajunas, Zhang and Shevchenko, these two little bastards got FOTN and for me, itās well in the conversation for FOTY. Considering Iād never seen either of them fight going in, it was a hell of a first impression. I think I remember @Zebra Kid MarkĀ hyping Molina a bit from his appearance on DWCS before this, and that was the main reason I even bothered checking his fight. I was glad I did. Heās 9-2 now, on a 8 fight streak and still only 24 years old. Not sure how far he can rise but just off that debut, I can tell heās gonna be great to follow. Da Silva is 25, from Rio de Janeiro and has a record of 11-1, all finishes. His only loss came via shoulder injury apparently. Trains with Alex Oliveira. Just from the little info on him, he sounds like another perfect opponent for some fireworks with Molina. Ā Livia Renata Souza vs Randa Markos. Nothing special but not a bad fight. Souza is a former Invicta champion with a 14-3 record, BJJ black-belt etc. Not a bad record overall but sheās lost against most of the names UFC fans would be familiar with and she comes into this one off a first round TKO loss to Amanda Lemos in March. As for Randa, Iāve always been a fan and not just because I find her easy on the eye. She made a fan of me on TUF years ago when she beat and momentarily humbled Felice Herrig. Her UFC run has been arse though, thereās no getting around it. Sheās gone an abysmal 6-10-1 since signing with the UFC. 6-10-1! She had some decent wins sprinkled in there but she was on a win one/lose one run for the longest time before the wins just stopped altogether. Sheās lost 4 on the bounce now, although the last one against Luana Pinheiro was by DQ due to an illegal upkick that many felt Pinheiro milked. I canāt even remember properly now but the weird way it ended is probably the only reason Randaās getting another shot here. Itās last legs stuff this. You have to think another loss sees her out the door. At this point sheās just a better looking Sam Alvey. Ā Jonathan Martinez vs Zviad Lazishvili. Was meant to be Martinez vs Aaron Phillips but Phillips is out. I like this better actually. Martinez usually always brings it and is coming off a barnburner with Davey Grant. It was a losing effort but a hell of a scrap. And if Lazishviliās name rings a bell itās because he was briefly linked to a fight with Jack Shore last month but got injured. He sounded like a solid opponent so Iām looking forward to seeing what heās about here. Heās from Georgia, unbeatenĀ at 12-0 and was the LFA Bantamweight champion. Could be good this. Ā And thatās that. Iāll be watching it aggressively but probably not sober.Ā Edited October 21, 2021 by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebra Kid Mark Posted October 15, 2021 Share Posted October 15, 2021 I'm glad you like Molina and see the upside in him. The kid can scrap. Very solid main event here with a weak undercard. I'm starting to feel a bit like a broken record now complaining about the Fight night shows. They weren't this weak 3 months ago I am sure. Every apex show used to have at least 4 or 5 must see fights on there. They have really dropped off a cliff now. The sooner they leave the apex and start touring smaller cities the better. Dana has given no indication that will happen anytime soon, they are definitely in the Apex for the rest of 2021, whether that changes in 2022 we do not know yet. Bruce Leroy being on the main card says it all, he has been prelim fodder his entire career. I can't say I remember watching any of the two guys in the co-main. They both have decent records though. Costa vs Vettori will be wild, but Costa has pulled out of way too many fights for me to get excited just yet.Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted October 15, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted October 15, 2021 Jones/Patrick is off. Sorry wand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted October 15, 2021 Author Paid Members Share Posted October 15, 2021 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted October 15, 2021 Share Posted October 15, 2021 (edited) 9 hours ago, Zebra Kid Mark said: Bruce Leroy being on the main card says it all, he has been prelim fodder his entire career. He's put together four wins on the bounce, maybe he deserves the main card slot? He looked very good against the much-vaunted Chase Hooper during that run, giving the lad a lesson in MMA striking if I recall correctly. You're right, his record has been patchy for most of his UFC run, but since early 2019 he's been on a roll and surely deserves to move up the rankings and the card to reflect that? A win here and he must be in line for a top 15 opponent next? Edited October 15, 2021 by David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted October 16, 2021 Author Paid Members Share Posted October 16, 2021 Yeah, heās had better individual wins in the past but Caceres is on probably the best little run of his career at the moment. This card really, really couldnāt afford to lose that Mason Jones fight. Just read that the Jonathan Martinez vs Aaron Phillips fight is off as well. Not a huge loss but, again, Martinez is a guy who brings it and couldāve provided one of the cardās highlights. Saw a tweet from Jones last night saying heās still trying to stay on the card so hopefully they find him a new opponent quickly but on this kind of notice itāll probably be an unknown making their debut.Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted October 16, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted October 16, 2021 Yeah im hoping they keep Jones on, hes in America so he'll be ready. I really cant predict Costa/Vettori, no ideaĀ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted October 17, 2021 Author Paid Members Share Posted October 17, 2021 Another early one this. BT coverage of the prelims starts at 7pm with the main card from 9.Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members WeeAl Posted October 17, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted October 17, 2021 Until Costa steps in the cage, I'm anticipating a pullout any day now. However, should he make it all the way to Saturday night, I think he KO's Vettori. Should be a fun one though.Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted October 19, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted October 19, 2021 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted October 19, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted October 19, 2021 "Ugandese"š Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 Another decent enough Fight Night card for me. There's five fights on this card I'll be watching. The main event, and the Caceres, Trinaldo,Ā Villanueva, and Molina bouts. Zero interest in the others, but I'll give them the customary 90 seconds of round one viewing to decide if it's worth watching further before forwarding them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted October 20, 2021 Author Paid Members Share Posted October 20, 2021 The Ugandese Giant.Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted October 20, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted October 20, 2021 No Mason Jones @David? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members SBD Posted October 20, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted October 20, 2021 It's not a pull out but....Ā Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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