Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted November 8, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted November 8, 2021 (edited) Last PPV of the year and itās another beast of a card. PPV MAIN CARDĀ Charles Oliveira vs Dustin PoirierĀ -Ā Lightweight Title Amanda Nunes vs Julianna PenaĀ -Ā Bantamweight Title Geoff Neal vs Santiago Ponzinibbio Kai Kara France vs Cody GarbrandtĀ Raulian Paiva vs Sean OāMalleyĀ ESPN PRELIMSĀ Josh Emmett vs Dan Ige Pedro Munhoz vs Dominick CruzĀ Augusto Sakai vs Tai Tuivasa Bruno Silva vs Jordan WrightĀ ESPN+/FIGHT PASS PRELIMSAndre Muniz vs Eryk Anders Miranda Maverick vs Erin Blanchfield Alex Perez vs Matt Schnell Ryan Hall vs Darrick MinnerĀ Randy Costa vs Tony KelleyĀ Gillian Robertson vs Priscila CachoeiraĀ Ā After 267 and 268, they've got two seriously hard acts to follow but on paper this actually looks up to the task. Really love this card. Bit of everything on there. Fingers, toes and pubes crossed that it all stays intact. Thereās already been a couple of undercard fights drop off over the last few days, hopefully thatāll be it. Ā Charles Oliveira vs Dustin Poirier tops the bill. The last title fight of 2021 and it should be a fantastic one. There mightnāt have been a more pure babyface vs babyface battle since Bret Hart vs British Bulldog headlined SummerSlam 92 at Wembley. This is THE fight at 155 for me as well. When Khabib retired late last year, Oliveira and Poirier were the two names that were coming up all the time as the most deserving of competing for a vacant title. This was the fight that probably shouldāve happened then but Dana wanted to get Conor McGregor back in the mix and that sidetracked Dustin for a bit. Weāve got there in the end though and I canāt wait. Charles Oliveira has had such a long and rocky road to get to this point. A great fighter but for years it seemed like he was destined to end his career as just another āalso ranā in the stacked Lightweight division. He came into the UFC all the way back in 2010 and had his ups and downs at Featherweight over the next 6 years. He had really slick BJJ but the knock on him at the time was that he didnāt really have the stomach for a really gritty, hard scrap and would fold if things got too rough in there. Despite being a big fan of him, I kind of bought into that thinking myself back then. But in 2017 he moved up to Lightweight and, aside from a loss to Paul Felder that year, he hasnāt lost since. Heās been on fire for nearly 4 years now. Went on a winning streak beating tough veterans like Clay Guida and Jim Miller along the way before finally getting his big break. 2020 was the year he really separated himself from the pack. He headlined against Kevin Lee in Brazil in the March and got the submission. Then he got the big name fight against Tony Ferguson and completely dominated him from start to finish. That was the one thing Oliveira had been missing, that signature win against one of the top established names at 155. Meanwhile, Dustin Poirier had come into his own as one of the players in the Lightweight mix. Like Oliveira, heād had mixed results and some bad losses at 145 but had gone from strength to strength since moving up to 155 after the devastating knockout loss to McGregor in 2014. Heād go on to rack up wins over Carlos Diego Ferreira, Bobby Green, Jim Miller, Anthony Pettis, Justin Gaethje, Eddie Alvarez and Max Holloway before finally receiving a well earned shot at the gold in September 2019. Unfortunately for him, it was against Khabib Nurmagomedov. It didnāt go well. But he gained a lot of fans during the incredible win streak going in, and the wars with Alvarez, Gaethje and Holloway in particular. And even in defeat against Khabib, he went out on his shield and handled himself like a champ the whole time. In 2020, he bounced back with a points win in yet another crazy barnburner against Dan Hooker and then Khabib retired a few months later. Just like that, the āDiamondā was right back in the conversation. 2021 has been a massive year for both. Of course, with Khabib stepping away the Lightweight landscape completely changed and has had to go through a period of transition. After months of Dana badgering Khabib to continue fighting, he finally accepted that he needed to crown a new champ at 155. Like I said, the logical and ideal fight to do that wouldāve been Oliveira vs Poirier but Poirier was off to the McGregor circus. Knocked him out in January, then beat him up some more and left him one legged in July. Heās spent a big chunk of this year sending McGregor on a physical and mental downward spiral and itās been beautiful to watch unfold. McGregorās tried to put a brave face on it, flaunting his money and buying yachts and shit, but he canāt help himself. Whenever heās been let out into the community, heās made a proper arse of himself. No sooner was he off the crutches, he was embarrassing himself left and right. From the Machine Gun Kelly stuff, to reports of him giving some Italian DJ a slap, to his trusty old āsnort, tweet, deleteā method of coping with the wretched little cretin heās become. Canāt take him anywhere. Khabib screwed him up and threw him away, now Poirierās tying the binliner up and slinging him in the wheelie bin. Itās magnificent. With Poirier busy taking out the trash, that left the title picture unsettled. Oliveira and Michael Chandler would resolve that in May. After a wild back and forth round and a bit of action that saw Chandler drop Oliveira and nearly put him away, Oliveira rallied back to stop Chandler with a sweet left hook. Heād done it. āIt was a wonderful moment, unique moment. Iām sure there are things in our life that we will never forget and this is one of them, that I will never forget. To be able to arrive with the belt for my family, for my friends, for those people that I have never even seen in my life and were celebrating as if it were their title. As I said, this title is ours. It belongs to the Brazilian people. To all the people who cheered, cried and vibrated with me. I will never forget that moment. Never.ā - Charles Oliveira It was one of the real feel-good moments of the year for me. And thereās been a few of them. This along with the unexpected title wins by Brandon Moreno and Glover Teixeira have been great to see. Granted, Oliveira and Teixeira have benefitted massively from the timing of when they got their title shots. Had Khabib and Jon Jones still been active in those respective divisions then itās unlikely either wouldāve ever won the gold. But who cares? Itās been quite a year for the Brazilian underdogs and with how likeable those three are, itās been heartwarming to see. Over the summer, Poirier was briefly being linked to a fight with Nate Diaz. Theyād been booked to fight a couple of years ago and it fell apart so there was some needle there. But Iām glad that talk fizzled out. I get Poirier entertaining the idea of exciting āmoney fightsā at this stage but in terms of the division and ranking-wise it didnāt make any sense. Oliveira vs Poirier, for the title, was the fight to make and thankfully it was made official in October. āCharles is a great champion and has paid his dues. Weāve both been in the UFC for a long time. Iāve been watching him a long time. He is a very dangerous guy. I think heās improving more and more in his striking, putting guys down, heās long especially for that weight class and I think heās probably the best Jiu-Jitsu practitioner on the UFC roster right now. For me, being undisputed world champion was the goal from the beginning. If I can tick that box, Iāve done it all in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts.ā - Dustin PoirierĀ He also hinted at possibly retiring soon. It sounds very much like winning the belt would be the last goal he has in MMA and when asked what would be next after that, he said, āWeāll see. Iāll probably just go and sell hot sauceā. I think heād carry on for a few fights at least. As champion, obviously a lot of doors open and you get figured into the PPV cut and all sorts. Thatās your window to make as much coin as possible so I canāt see Poirier winning the strap and immediately retiring. Itād be some way to go out but itās very unlikely. This is a great fight though. Itās one of those matchups that feels like it shouldāve happened years ago. Even when talk first started of them possibly facing off, I was sure they mustāve fought on some Fight Night in Brazil years ago or something. But no. Here they are, after years of taking the hard path through the toughest division in the sport, finally colliding for the first time. And itās for the gold. Canāt beat it. As always with these babyface matches, itās a shame one of them has to lose and Iām struggling to even decide who Iād prefer to see win. But purely as a fight, this should be tremendous. Ā Amanda Nunes vs Julianna Pena. How many more women have to be sacrificed to the āLionessā? This was supposed to go down at UFC 265 in August but Nunes tested positive for COVID. Now itās back on. Yeah, itās not the most interesting of title fights but what can you do? Theyāve got to keep Nunes active and sheās got to defend the title against someone. Scariest woman on the planet. Sheās 21-4, sheās won 12 in a row, champion at both Featherweight and Bantamweight simultaneously. And has actually defended both belts unlike most so called āchamp champsā. Knocked out Cyborg in a round, twatted Ronda Rousey out of the sport, battered Miesha Tate to a bloody pulp and submitted her, beat Valentina Shevchenko twice, was the first to stop Holly Holm with strikes in MMA, beat Germaine De Randamie twice. Sheās a serial killer. You know a champ is on another level when sheās ending a title defence with an inverted triangle/armbar like she inflicted on poor Megan Anderson in her last fight. Itās like itās too easy for her so sheās having to invent new ways to end these squash matches. Weāre at the point now where the only challenges left for her are probably outside the UFC. A Cyborg rematch that weāll never see, and possibly Kayla Harrison and Claressa Shields somewhere down the road if they both keep winning and improving their overall skillsets. But even theyāre a stretch. Shields especially has just started her MMA journey and has already picked up a loss. Harrison is probably more realistic, sheās just become a free agent, sheās done everything there is to do in the PFL. And she was in attendance at UFC 268 the other night. But weāll see. Itās just as likely that Bellator snap her up for a Cyborg fight. In the UFC, weāre struggling now to find anyone interesting for Nunes. Thereās a third go around with Shevchenko maybe but aside from that? Yeah, not much left. Someone forgot to tell this wally thoughā¦ āAmanda Nunes, I wanna fight you. Sheās fighting a girl whoās only had 3 wins. Nobodyās had a tougher road in the UFC than me. I wanna fight Amanda. Itās time for her to quit ducking. Thatās my fight!ā - Julianna PenaĀ š¤£ That was her post-fight callout after her last win in January. āQuit duckingā. Deary me. Even Jon Anik looks like heās stifling bursting out laughing there. OK yeah, I get what she was doing. Trying to secure the title shot. But I cringed so hard listening to it. Pena had lost her previous fight then beat a 40 year old Sara McMann and was going on like this? Iām sure Nunes, the woman who stood and traded bombs with fucking Cyborg and came out on top, was trembling with fear watching Pena. Nunes and Nina Ansaroff were straight on Twitter after that little promoā¦ Regardless, it did the trick for Pena. Although, I think sheād have got the shot anyway because who else is there right now? She got what she wanted but the phrase ābe careful what you wish forā springs to mind. I think Penaās getting royally fucked up here. I know itās the easy pick to go with Nunes against anyone at the moment but I honestly canāt see where Pena troubles her at all. Sheās not a bad fighter but sheās always been the same. Gets one win and lets it go to her head. Sheās the female Kevin Lee. I remember people saying she was the one to beat Ronda Rousey during her reign on top, I remember people predicting sheād beat Shevchenko when they fought a few years back as well. And no doubt thereāll be some predicting the upset here just so they can act the genius on the tiny, minuscule chance it actually happens. Iāve never really seen it with her though. Even in the grappling, which is supposedly her bread and butter, people talk her up like sheās Demian Maia at times but sheās only one fight removed from getting subbed by De Randamie, whoās a Dutch Kickboxer with an iffy ground game. Sheās got fuck all for Nunes, in my opinion. If she somehow pulls this off, itāll be a bigger upset for me than Serra knocking out GSP. I hope Nunes wrecks her as well. I find Pena annoying anyway but she was insinuating that Nunes was faking having COVID to get out of fighting her when the August fight got scrapped. Sheās due a kicking for that. Ā Geoff Neal vs Santiago Ponzinibbio is another fight that sounds like bell-to-bell fireworks. Neal was starting to turn some heads a while back as one of the better up and comers at 170. He beat Belal Muhammad and stopped Niko Price and Mike Perry in impressive fashion and was looking like a right handful. Itās cooled off since and heās lost two on the trot but they were decision losses against Wonderboy and Neil Magny who are two of the more awkward and hard to look good against guys in the division. This fight wonāt be easy but itās more straight forward and up his alley. You know what youāre getting from Ponzinibbio and itās similar to what Neal will be looking to do. Ponz was on a tear a few years back and was right on the cusp of getting in the title mix. Heād put together a win streak and had just knocked out Neil Magny on home soil in Argentina. It shouldāve been the star-making performance that catapulted him into title contention but he never fought for over 2 years afterwards. He was in a bad way with staph infection for a long time and when he finally returned early this year, he got waffled by Li Jingliang inside a round. A disastrous comeback but he clawed it back in June with a win over the previously undefeated Miguel Baeza in an awesome FOTN corker. This should be a banger. I donāt wanna jinx it but this really has no business going to a decision. Iāll be surprised if the judges are required for this one. Ā Kai Kara France vs Cody Garbrandt. This should be an action packed fight and itās the Flyweight debut for Garbrandt so itāll be interesting to see how he looks, on the scales and on fight night. Needless to say, Iāll be fully hoping for a KKF win here. Preferably by knockout. Fuck Garbrandt and his fetish for mutilating puppies ears. I think Kai has a very good shot of derailing Codyās fresh start at 125lbs before it ever gets going as well. Heās a really good fighter, tough and has a style where I could see him dragging Cody into a slobberknocker, and that always raises the chance of Codyās jaw getting spun because he loses all composure and goes full meathead mode. And depending how the weight cut goes, he might be even more susceptible to getting ironed out here. When Garbrandt first announced he was planning to drop to Flyweight there was a fair bit of talk of him leapfrogging the other contenders and getting a title shot. Despite having never even made 125 before, let alone beating anyone. Itās forgotten now but he was even briefly scheduled to challenge Figgy for the gold late last year but he got injured. I can see this Flyweight experiment blowing up in his face, to be honest. Iām not sure the weight cut is gonna be good for his already questionable durability and while heāll be a bit bigger than the other 125ers and will be naturally more powerful, I think their speed is gonna give him fits. Rob Font was outslicking him and making him miss when they fought in May, a lot of the Flyweights are probably gonna be able to do similar. The Flyweights are probably gonna be harder to hit as well. Ā Raulian Paiva vs Sean OāMalley opens up the PPV. Should be fun. Thereās been a lot of talk about OāMalley ducking the tougher fights in the division and the UFC kind of protecting him. I definitely have felt like thereās something to that. He was meant to fight Louis Smolka in July and when Smolka dropped out, you had guys like Ricky Simon and Brian Kelleher, among others, offering to step in yet āSugaā somehow ended up beating up newcomer Kris Moutinho. Itās all a bit weird but OāMalley has actually embraced the ācan crusherā label. āWhat does Chael Sonnen say? Fight the worst guy on the highest spot on the card. I literally would get paid the same amount if I fight Khabib as I would if I fight Kris Moutinho. I get paid the same amount. What do I do?ā - Sean OāMalley As much as I dislike the Starburst headed pillock, there is actually some logic to what heās saying. If his contract states that heās only getting X amount per fight, you can see why heās not arsed about taking the riskier fights yet. I get his point but itās a battle heās ultimately not gonna win. To be fair, I think Paiva is a solid step up. Heās not that well known but heās got skills, heās game, heās 21-3 and coming off 3 wins in a row and he just beat Kyler Phillips (who was starting to get that hot prospect tag) in a really good fight. Heās certainly the biggest test for OāMalley since he lost to Marlon Vera. Should be a really exciting fight to kick off the main card, possibly a show stealer. Ā Josh Emmett vs Dan Ige. I like this. Could end up being the sleeper on the card. Itās weird but for years I was indifferent to Emmett. Every time I saw him he seemed to be going to dull decisions but then he flattened Ricardo Lamas and it seemed like overnight he realised he could knock people cold. Heās on a nice little streak now, won his last 3, knocked out Michael Johnson and Mirsad Bektic then won that mad slugfest against Shane Burgos last year. Not sure why heās been out so long since but heās right back in another potential dogfight here. Ige is coming off that loss to the Korean Zombie in June but he wiped out Gavin Tucker with a 22 second one punch KO before that. Heās beat Edson Barboza, gone 5 rounds with Calvin Kattar etc. Heās no pushover. Should be a good āun. Emmett will probably have the edge in raw punching power but Ige is a few years younger and probably bit faster and more technical. Ā Pedro Munhoz vs Dominick Cruz. Another really good fight. So many of these couldāve easily headlined Fight Nights. Here itās just a prelim! Insane depth on this card. These guys are on the home stretch of their careers at this point. Munhoz is 35, Cruz is 36. Thatās a good innings for a couple of lighter weight fighters. Theyāre both still hanging in there and looking pretty good and I donāt feel like either have lost too many steps but itās all diminishing returns from here on in. This could be decent though. Munhoz is a hard little bastard, 19-6-1 record and you look at his recent run of opponents and heās been rumbling with some of the very best. He got taken to school by Jose Aldo in August and he was fairly vocal about how disheartened he was by that. Heās right back in with another big name and former champ here though so itās a nice opportunity for him. Iām not really sure what to make of Cruz these days. Heās not shot but his style just doesnāt work like it used to. Heās a bit older and slightly slower, the division is way better than when he was on top and too many guys have taken that fancy footwork style of his and upgraded it. When he was doing that back in the WEC days it wasnāt common and nobody really knew how to tackle it. Heās not unique anymore. Decent fight though. Just not sure where either are going. Iād still like to see Cruz fight Aldo at some point. Just for completionās sake of having two of the last remaining WEC champs square off. But I just donāt see him making waves in the current 135lbs title scene now the likes of Yan, Sterling, Sandhagen etc are about. Ā Augusto Sakai vs Tai Tuivasa bringing the big boy action. You never know how the Heavyweights are gonna look but I actually really like the sound of this. Sakaiās grown on me over the last year or so. Mostly on the strength of his losing effort against Overeem in a really enjoyable fight. Heās lost his last two now though - to Overeem and Rozenstruik - so his back his against the wall a bit here. And Tuivasa will always be a favourite for me now after his last fight in July. Comes out to āWannabeā by the Spice Girls of all songs, and proceeds to knock that sack of shite wifebeater Greg Hardy out. It got overshadowed by Conor McGregor getting stretchered out with his ankle going 7 different directions in the main event, but it was a beautiful moment all the same. I donāt even rate Tuivasa all that highly and the stories and footage out there of his brutal and boneheaded sparring sessions with Mark Hunt donāt fill me with hope that heāll have a long career either. And if that doesnāt kill him, itāll be something he catches from the rancid āShoeyā thing he does. But heās a fun character and seeing him put shithouse Greg on his arse made me a fan for life. Ā Bruno Silva vs Jordan Wright. Iām all over this, mostly just on account of Silva. I donāt think Iād ever heard of him before this year but heās quickly becoming an undercard/Fight Night favourite of mine. Heās 21-6 with 18 knockouts. Absolutely pulverised Wellington Turman with some of the most sickening ground and pound Iāve ever seen in his UFC debut in June. Then he got the late KO against Andrew Sanchez in October. Bashed up former Bellator champ Alexander Shlemenko on a M-1 card in Russia a few years ago as well. He doesnāt fuck about and seems to have a serious vicious streak. Great to watch so far though. And Wright might look unassuming but heās 12-1-0-1 and has ended all 12 of his career wins inside the distance. His only loss so far has been against Joaquin Buckley. Sounds like a bit of a bombfest. Ā Andre Muniz vs Eryk Anders. Alright fight. Muniz is on a nice little run, to be fair. Iāve just grown to be a bit indifferent to Anders. Heās had his moments during his UFC stint and has had a bit of bad luck along the way. I think I had him winning the Lyoto Machida fight a few years ago for example, which wouldāve been a big name scalp for him. But he just never put it all together. Heās coming off a win over Darren Stewart but even that was surprisingly dull. Muniz is looking good though. 21-4, on a 7 fight winning streak and just pulled off the performance of his career in May, breaking Jacareās arm with an armbar, in whatās ended up being Jacareās last fight. Not sure how much of that was down to Jacare just being on the way out but this was a submission. If Muniz caught him on the feet and knocked him out Iād say it was probably a case of that but to catch Jacare in any grappling situation is impressive, regardless of where he was at in his career. Ā Miranda Maverick vs Erin Blanchfield. Unlike a lot of the womenās fights outside the very top level that are often very skippable, this could be one for the future. Iāve liked the limited footage Iāve seen of both so far and they both look like they have some real potential. Maverick is 24 years old with a 9-3 record. She was on a solid little win streak and looked a handful in beating Liana Jojua and Gillian Robertson in her first two UFC fights. She lost a split decision against Maycee Barber in July but I disagreed with that, as did pretty much all the media scoring it at press row on the night. I felt like she got a raw deal there. Blanchfield is just 22 with a record of 7-1 and beat Sarah Alpar in her UFC debut in September. She looked good but Alpar isnāt much cop so not sure how good. I like the matchup here. From what Iāve seen of Maverick sheās very aggressive and throws some nasty elbows. And Blanchfield is meant to be a bit of a grappling phenom, BJJ black-belt at 22, trains at Renzoās academy etc. Theyāre both fairly green but itās an interesting one to me. One of those where it could be two future players meeting early in their careers like Poirier and Holloway did way back. Ā Alex Perez vs Matt Schnell. I feel like theyāve tried to book this fight a bunch of times this year. Pretty sure Iāve previewed this a few times only for it to get scrapped so Iāll keep it brief because Iām not holding my breath it happens this time. If it does it should be pretty good though. Perez has put together a very respectable 24-6 record and chopped down Jussier Formiga with leg kicks in a round not too long ago. He got a title shot off the back of that but came up short against Figgy about a year ago. This is his attempt to rebound. Schnellās 15-6 with wins over Tyson Nam, Louis Smolka and Jordan Espinosa. Iād definitely favour Perez here but Schnell should make a good scrap of it and I expect an entertaining fight however long it lasts. Ā Ryan Hall vs Darrick Minner. Heās back. Everyoneās favourite weird leg lock enthusiast returns to action. The Ryan Hall bubble got well and truly burst in his last fight, he got crushed in a round by Ilia Topuria at UFC 264 in July. This is quite an intriguing return fight for him, I think. Because Minner is all about the submissions as well. Heās 26-12 with 22 subs, 8 of them in less than a minute! This could get very interesting if it hits the ground but you know how it goes. Two guys who are dangerous submission artists, itās bound to degenerate into a sloppy standup mess. Even then though, with specialists like this, one slip up on the feet could see either man end up tied in knots and in a world of bother on the ground. And you know Hall can drop and roll for a leg lock from almost anywhere in the cage. I like this pairing a lot actually. Like with any Hall fight itās got the very real possibility of shitting the bed but Iād rather see him against grapplers at this stage. Ā Randy Costa vs Tony Kelley. This is currently set to open up the Fight Pass prelims but I wouldnāt skip it if I were you. Costa has been must see in the UFC so far. Heās only 6-2 but there hasnāt been a dull moment yet. Heās typically fought like a bit of a wild man but heās coming off that great fight with Adrian Yanez in July where he showed some new wrinkles to his game. He got stopped in the end but Yanez is one of the hottest prospects in the Bantamweight division for me and Costa looked fantastic and gave him hell for a round or so. Only 27 as well. Heās far from done. Canāt remember much of Kelley but heās 34, a member of Team Alpha Male and has a record of 7-2. Iād like to see Costa get back to winning ways here. More upside to him and heās exciting to watch. Ā Gillian Robertson vs Priscila Cachoeira. Isnāt doing much for me but it might be a pleasant surprise, to be fair. Robertson has shown flashes of potential in the past, especially in the grappling, but sheās seemingly hit her ceiling of late, dropping consecutive decisions against Taila Santos and Miranda Maverick in her last two fights. Sheās got a fun style to watch on the ground if she can get it there though. Very aggressive and always looking to finish. I mostly remember Cachoeira for getting absolutely mauled in her UFC debut by Valentina Shevchenko. One of the most disturbing beatings Iāve seen in a womenās fight. Sheās turned things around a little bit recently though and scored a couple of stoppages in her last two outings. A 40 second knockout over Shana Dobson and a complete beatdown on Gina Mazany. Yeah, shite opposition but she treated them as such. Ā Ā And thatās that. Going out with a bang.Ā Edited December 10, 2021 by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzeko10 Posted November 8, 2021 Share Posted November 8, 2021 Really looking forward to this card actually the Main and Edwards vs Masvidal will be fantastic!Ā Anyone else find that Gillian Robertson weirdly fit or just me?Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted November 9, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted November 9, 2021 not just you Dzeko Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted November 9, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted November 9, 2021 (edited) wrong thread* Edited November 10, 2021 by Egg Shen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members WeeAl Posted November 9, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted November 9, 2021 (edited) @wandshogun09Ā I believe Josh Emmett severely injured his leg in that Burgos fight, very early into it too if memory serves me right. Snapped ligaments in the knee and fractured some of the bones in the leg.Ā Edit: Here it is. Full ACL tear, partial MCL tear, damaged cartilage and a fractured Femur. Fifteen seconds into the fight. The hardest of hard bastards.Ā https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mmafighting.com/platform/amp/2020/6/23/21300630/josh-emmett-describes-what-it-was-like-fighting-on-one-leg-against-shane-burgos-shredding-his-knee Edited November 9, 2021 by WeeAl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted November 10, 2021 Author Paid Members Share Posted November 10, 2021 Cuntā¦ Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members WeeAl Posted November 10, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted November 10, 2021 16 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said: Cuntā¦ Ā So, Dana is on the blower at this very minute to . . . Chimaev? Or Luque? Winner fights Usman in March. Masvidal Vs Covington. Seems to me that you just go right ahead with that one, with Edwards Vs Masvidal being lost to the sands of time.Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted November 10, 2021 Author Paid Members Share Posted November 10, 2021 (edited) Chimaev is surely gonna be the first choice. Especially given that they tried to book that fight a few times with no luck in late 2020/early 2021.Ā Iām just waiting to see how the narrative somehow gets spun into this being Leonās fault š he does seem cursed though. And yeah, Covington vs Masvidal is a no brainer at this point. Theyāve both got to know theyāre gonna have to win a couple of fights now to get back in the title hunt. Both 0-2 to Usman. With their history I canāt think of a more obvious fight for either. To the surprise of absolutely nobody, Gilbert Burns has already offered to step in against Edwards. Edit - OK, sod all that. Doesnāt sound like Leonās planning on fighting a replacement anyway. Danaās gonna be raging but, honestly, depending on when Usman wants to get back in there, why not just go straight to Usman vs Edwards 2 now. I was saying in the opening post that the ideal scenario would be for Edwards to beat Masvidal, setting up Usman vs Edwards 2 and Covington vs Masvidal. Well now those two fights can happen and we donāt have to gamble on a result going the right way to get there. You know Danaās not gonna go for it now though, just to spite Edwards for not taking whatever replacement they wanna throw at him. I get the whole āitās not smart to sit out and wait for a title shotā thing but in this case, with Usman running low on challengers and Edwards now without a fight booked, Iād just do that in the first quarter of next year. Edited November 10, 2021 by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted November 11, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted November 11, 2021 (edited) Tough spot for Leon, if he's saying he wants to wait on the title fight and that's not what the UFC wants, he's gonna fuck himself over here. Ā Edited November 11, 2021 by Egg Shen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebra Kid Mark Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 It's a big shame to see Masvidal pull out, he doesn't have much of a history of pulling out of fights so it must be a serious injury.Ā Leon Edwards has done himself no favours in tweeting that, publicly stating that he was now going to sit out and wait for Usman does his reputation no good. I get where he is coming from, he does deserve a fight and is the clear next contender now but every interview I saw of him this year he said he has been out for too long and just wants to fight. It's a different picture to the reality. This fight card is so stacked, I really wish they would stick some of those pre lims on a fight night card. Dominic Cruz should be headlining a fight night, not fighting on the prelims.Ā Josh Emmet being back is great too. I remember he tore something in his knee when he fought Shane Burgos in that scrap so that's why he's been out for so long.Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted November 11, 2021 Author Paid Members Share Posted November 11, 2021 (edited) I think Edwards probably does want back in there now, heās not getting paid sitting on the sidelines. But heās obviously looked at the current lay of the land at 170 and is seeing thereās no clear next challenger for Usman right now so heās trying to slot in there. Remember itās Jorge who pulled out here. Edwards was going to fight in a few weeks. Itās frustrating but I donāt blame him for not taking some replacement on short notice. Iām seeing all over Twitter people acting like Leonās a bitch but this card is a month out, heās been training for a striker in Masvidal and now theyāre probably trying to chuck Chimaev or Burns at him who would be coming in with completely different styles and game plans to what heās been preparing for. His title shot hinges on that? And just to save a fight on a card that really doesnāt need it. I totally get why fans are disappointed when fights like this fall off. Iām gutted myself. It was my āone to watchā for a reason, I was really looking forward to it. But a lot of fans are so entitled with this stuff sometimes. I understand not wanting to lose a big fight off this card and wanting to see something in its place. But people shitting on professional fighters and calling them pussies and stuff, for not gambling their position and potential title shot on a late switch up, is ridiculous. And people canĀ go āwell heās got 4 weeks to train for the replacementā, I donāt think those people know how training camps work. Letās just say itās Chimaev they want in there against Leon. The show itself is 4 weeks away, that doesnāt mean you get 4 full weeks of training. Theyād have to bring in different training partners/wrestlers, revamp the whole game plan and stuff. By the time thatās sorted youāve probably lost a good part of a week maybe. Then you can forget the last week because thatās fight week. Training campās over by then anyway and youāre focusing on cutting weight and doing media. Itās 2 weeks tops. Thatās not a training camp. So imagine youāve done all this work to get to this position to where youāre one fight away from finally getting that shot at the title. You havenāt lost since 2015 and even the current champ is saying heād like to do the rematch. Your opponent drops out and youāre expected to roll the dice on all that, against Khamzat Chimaev, with no training camp? He signed to fight Chimaev 3 times around Dec/Jan, COVID killed all 3 attempts but 2 of them were cancelled on Chimaevās side. Itās not like heās scared to take the fight. But with the timing here and under these circumstances? Fuck that.Ā So I totally get Edwardsā position here. But all that said, yeah itās gonna backfire on him because Dana.Ā Iād honestly just go with Usman vs Edwards 2 next but you know how much Dana loathes it when fighters donāt dance to his tune.Ā Expect quotes from the pink blob in the next few days insinuating that Edwards is terrified and ādoesnāt wanna fightā so heās not interested in seeing him in a title fight. Hmmmm š¤ I never usually cast doubt on why fighters pull out of fights. Like I said, theyāre not āscaredā. Thatās silly talk. But Masvidal pulls out with an āundisclosed injuryā and now this? If Covington vs Masvidal gets announced in the next month or so then itās all gonna make sense. Is there a season of TUF coming up or something? If so, whack them on there as coaches. Funny thing is, even if it turns out that Masvidal pulled out to get the Covington fight/TUF on, itāll still get twisted somehow as if itās Edwardsā fault.Ā Edited November 11, 2021 by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted November 11, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted November 11, 2021 I saw a lot of talk on twitter of a potential Covington/Masvidal TUF season prior the injury pullout. I mean if the UFC want to generate interest in TUF and get people excited to watch week to week after the dud of a season this year (in terms of general interest), that's the way to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted November 11, 2021 Author Paid Members Share Posted November 11, 2021 Definitely is. I canāt stand either but thatās the kind of pairing you want on TUF. A throwback to the old days of Ortiz vs Shamrock, Serra vs Hughes and Rampage vs Rashad. Thereās very few things thatād get me watching TUF regularly again. A Nick Diaz coached season wouldāve been gold but that ship has long sailed. Something like a Khabib vs McGregor season wouldāve been must see if that rematch was on the cards. Or even Poirier vs McGregor if/when the fourth fight happens. You need something with a bit of juice on a show like TUF. Just having āgood fightsā isnāt enough, DWCS scratches that itch and weāre drowning in fights these days anyway. Covington vs Masvidal is made for a show like TUF. I know TUF is usually used to hype a title fight or build a number one contender up and thatās out in this case. But with them both 0-2 to Usman now, they need something to do and this could build them back up a bit.Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Bus Surfer Posted November 11, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted November 11, 2021 I don't blame Leon for not wanting to take a replacement, but you kinda have to feel like he's gonna get passed over again. If Chimaev gets a 5-8 ranked guy and wins in the mean time, we all know what's gonna happen there.Ā Leon can't catch a break.Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 17 hours ago, wandshogun09 said: Danaās gonna be raging but, honestly, depending on when Usman wants to get back in there, why not just go straight to Usman vs Edwards 2 now. Because the UFC's worst nightmare is Edwards winning that title. They'll do whatever they can to keep him away from it I think.Ā Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.