UFC 273: Volkanovski vs Zombie - Apr 9 ??

[Egg Shen]

if you want proof of just how much buzz there is behind Chimaev, the UFC posted the individual Countdown segments on youtube 4 days ago for the top 3 fights, current viewing numbers:

Volkanovski/Zombie: 294k

Sterling/Yan: 543k

Chimaev/Burns: 1.5m

Something special is happening. If Chimaev smeshes Burns, he's off to the moon ?

[David]

It may just be me not having as much time to watch UFC as I used to, but see in all honestly? I couldn't care less about how marketable or how much interest there is in a fighter. I know it's a bit of a crossover from us being wrestling fans to care about that kind of thing, but I have zero interest in how much the UFC can make from someone anymore. 

They made a fortune from Conor, and they may very well make a fortune from this dude. Dana and his friends who run the company will make a fortune no doubt, and that's great.

I just want to see interesting fights. I don't care how popular the guys are with different markets or sections of the fanbase.

[Egg Shen]

each to their own David

[David]

I think it's the knowledge that any real popularity and money raised by most of these fighters goes right into Dana and Endeavor's pockets. It rarely sees its way to the fighters, and if it does it's almost never the amount they should be getting.

[Egg Shen]

I hear what you're saying, but i'm talking purely about the buzz and interest someone generates and the hightened anticipation before a fight. If i didn't feel or wasn't interested in that, I probably wouldn't even watch.

[wandshogun09]

Let’s tackle the important matters. Khamzat has a quite a head of hair on him doesn’t he? Still taking some getting used to seeing him without the shaved head. 

[Egg Shen]

fight down!

 

[wandshogun09]

As has became a habit with me and rematches in these threads, I’ve just rewatched Yan vs Sterling 1. Don’t think I’d watched it back since it happened so I thought now would be as good a time as any to revisit it with fresh eyes, on the eve of the rematch tomorrow night.

It went down at UFC 259 in March 2021. The fight had originally been scheduled to take place in December 2020 but Yan had to withdraw because of Visa issues. I remember being gutted about that at the time. They’d both been on a tear coming in and I was buzzing to see how they’d match up. The previous Bantamweight champ Henry Cejudo had just retired and relinquished the belt. And Yan won the vacant title in the summer of 2020, stopping Jose Aldo in the 5th round of a really good fight. In the meantime, Sterling had firmly established himself as the top contender with a 5 fight winning streak and was fresh off a stunning 90 second submission over Cory Sandhagen. At that point Yan vs Sterling was the fight to make at 135. And after a bit of a delay, it finally happened in March last year.

Petr Yan© vs Aljamain Sterling - UFC Bantamweight Title

UFC 259: Blachowicz vs Adesanya

March 6th 2021

Las Vegas, Nevada

I remember there being a bit of needle going into this one but nothing like it’s grown into since. This was just the beginning. Commentators are Jon Anik, Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier. Referee is Mark Smith. And the crowd is a load of empty chairs at Ebb’s favourite venue the Apex. Here we go.

Round 1: The one thing I remember most about this fight, other than how it ended obviously, is Sterling getting off to a blistering start. He really sets a fast pace early on here, he’s in Yan’s face constantly, not giving him a second to breathe. He’s not landing anything devastating but he’s just so non-stop it’s not allowing Yan to get anything going early on. Sterling’s striking here reminds me of early Jon Jones. Not amazing technically but so awkward and unpredictable it puts the other guy in a bit of a shell. Big knee from Aljo…

Yan seems thrown off by the pace here. Sterling gets a takedown but Yan’s back up fairly quickly and holding Sterling against the fence, trying to slow him down a bit. But right when it seems to be going Aljo’s way, Yan drops him with a right to the chin…

I didn’t remember that happening at all! Sterling pops back up, he looked more surprised by it than badly hurt but it seems to have given Yan the confidence boost. Sterling gets his legs kicked out from under him and Yan’s on the attack now. Sterling tries for a jumping scissor leg lock that goes nowhere and Yan hits a big slam with seconds left on the clock.

Knowing the neck issues Sterling has had over the last year or so, I winced watching that. Really good, action-packed round that was. Sterling came out like a man possessed but I’ve got to say I think Yan clawed it back with the knockdown and the slam at the end. Yan 10-9 for me.

“Aljo, listen. The more you do the less he does. The first part of that round was great. Don’t let him get back in the fight, the movement is perfect. The volume is killing him.” - Ray Longo

Going by Longo’s comments there, the gameplan was clearly to just go 100 miles an hour and just try to drown Yan with non-stop offence. I get it, but it’s a gameplan that relies on the other guy fading or wilting under the pressure. If they don’t, you have to keep that pace the whole fight. 

Round 2: Sterling slips on a kick and Yan tries to axe kick his ribs in but misses. Lots of talk on the commentary about Sterling playing a risky game with the pace he’s setting. He does seem a bit too aggressive. At times it almost feels desperate and like he’s forcing things but up to now, his conditioning is holding up so he’s having success with it. He goes for a takedown which Yan defends. But Sterling uses it to clinch him against the cage and try to wear him out a bit and that’s where the bulk of the second half of the round takes place. They strike a bit towards the end, Aljo lands some nice stuff and Yan gets a bit of a takedown right at the end. Sterling 10-9.

Slightly worrying signs in the Sterling corner now though. Longo asks him how he’s feeling and he just lets out a big sigh. Then Longo’s giving him a pep talk where it seems like he’s trying to convince Sterling he can win. “You’re out-striking the guy 10 to 1. Believe!” With 3 rounds to go, it seems Sterling realises he isn’t going to be able to maintain this pace. Not good. Especially as Yan typically starts slow and gets stronger as the fight goes on.

Round 3: Sterling still comes out looking pretty good again, constantly moving and mixing up his strikes. But now Yan’s starting to get warmed up and he’s finding his openings more frequently.

Nasty body kick from Yan. Sterling tried to put a brave face on but he couldn’t help but react a little bit to that. Aljo’s going for takedowns now but he’s not setting them up and he’s just kind of reaching for them. Yan’s starting to pull ahead.

Sterling seems to be running out of answers here but he’s still trying. Rogan’s being Rogan. He’s been bleating on about Sterling being tired for most of the fight now. Obviously there’s some validity to it but he’s beating it to death. Every time DC says anything even remotely positive about Sterling, Rogan chimes in to reiterate that he’s knackered. Sterling’s not out of it yet though and he’s landing some nice leg kicks here.

Lovely exchange right at the end of the round and that’s another one in the books. Yan 10-9 again there.

Round 4: Yan’s well settled into the fight now. He’s looking sharp here. He’s landing more and more with his punches, mixing in kicks and knees and he’s shutting down all Sterling’s attempts to grapple. Aljo’s throwing all kinds of shit at the wall and trying spinning attacks and stuff but at this point in the fight he’s slowed down too much and Yan’s seeing it all coming. Some sweet left hands connecting from Yan, snapping Sterling’s head back. And Sterling seems to be losing heart here. He’s looking at the ref like he’s complaining about something but there wasn’t anything illegal thrown by Yan (yet), always a concern when you start seeing these little distress signals. Yan’s landing almost at will at this point. Then it happens…

Dirty as fuck. There’s no defending it. I’ve seen this bit of the fight so many times now and it doesn’t get any less baffling. Like I said in the opening post, this wasn’t a heat of the moment thing and it wasn’t a strike mistakenly thrown during the chaos of a mad exchange. He had enough time to hear the referee clearly shout that Sterling was a downed opponent and enough time to get instructions from his corner. It also wasn’t a desperation move on Yan’s part as he was well in control at this point and had no reason to do this. He paused for a few seconds, looked at his cornermen, got some kind of instruction, then blasted Sterling anyway.

Winner - Aljamain Sterling by Disqualification. Round 4 - 4:29.

Far from ideal but I really don’t know what else could’ve been done under the circumstances here. I guess they could’ve just stripped Yan of the title and had them rematch for a vacant title but with how Sterling got fucked over here, I’m glad he’ll be going in as champ for this rematch. If for no other reason than it hopefully meaning he gets some kind of PPV cut. There’s been a lot of backlash and criticism against Sterling since this fight, which I find quite baffling. The ‘he’s not the real champ’ thing seems to be a big part of it but how’s that Sterling’s fault? Yan threw the fucking knee and it was blatantly both illegal and intentional. I get that Sterling is a bit of a cheeseball and his trash talking is crap but it seems like almost everyone’s forgotten that he was the one wronged here. This whole mess was brought about because Yan went all Andrew Golota on him. The rest of the criticism I’ve seen of Aljo is total bollocks ranging from accusations of him faking being hurt by Yan’s knee to faking his ongoing neck injury to get out of the rematch. Absolute shite.

Anyway, it’s on now. We’re 24 hours out from the rematch and I can’t wait. I’m a big fan of both as fighters but Yan seems a bit of a wanker and I kind of wanna see Sterling win here so he can finally legitimise himself as champ and piss a load of twats off in the process. But either way, whatever the result I think there’s scope here for this rivalry to span 3 or 4 fights if they both stay on track, healthy and in the title mix over the next few years. I think Yan’s winning this one though. I think he was well on his way to either a fairly clear points win or maybe even a late finish in the first fight. I can’t really see what Sterling can do much differently this time either. Yan is usually a bit of a slow starter but unless Aljo can run through him early like he did to Sandhagen, I’m struggling to see him having much luck as the fight goes on. Especially now as well, with him coming back off a year plus on the shelf and the neck problems. 

Should be another cracker. Hopefully no controversy this time though.

[Egg Shen]

great stuff wand.

 

[Egg Shen]

 

[WeeAl]

Hopefully Sterling does do it. He was put in a dreadful spot following that dirty knee from Yan. Sterling was on his way to losing that first fight, and I'd be surprised if he's in a better place to be improved enough for this one. I've certainly been expecting a Yan win. However I'd like it to be the opposite. Also, it'd be nice if he actually is healthy for this and not just fighting through it. 

At the end of the day, the bookies have three clear favourites for the top three fights on this show and I would be very surprised if all three actually win, even though that's the way I'd pick it too, on a fight by fight basis. Of the most likely to upset the favourite I would be choosing Gilbert Burns. Zombie probably needs a hail Mary, early doors, if he is to win. Before Volkanovski settles into his rhythm. 

[Kfogg1991]

So I'm sure some of you have seen the videos online but Dana has come out and said if khamzat gets the job done tonight, the ufc have a big show booked in for ABC and he said it will be khamzat vs Colby main eventing that card if he goes out tonight and does what he says he will.

That is fucking huge man and I am more excited for that fight than any of the 2 title fights. 

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

8 hours away, I think I can finally get excited for this card! I'll post this and get some shut-eye, get my arse up right before the prelims.

Looking at the above facts, Volko deserves way more respect than he does. Even after the insane Ortega fight, so many fans STILL won't give him credit. I get it, he won a fight he maybe shouldn't have won against Max, and I love Holloway as well. But you get a lot of people taking it too far, especially a strange bunch that also claim that Holloway won the first fight. Old mate Alex kicked Max's leg out of his leg in that title winning performance.

It's for that reason, and that reason only, that I hope Volko stops Zombie. The champ is aggressive, but does have a bunch of decisions on his record, outside of sparking Mendes. The Ortega fight wasn't for lack of trying. But maybe if the champ gets a finish of someone as durable as Zombie, it'll wake the haters up.

Rest of the card is full of fun shit too. I'm picking Aljo in the co-main. So much was made of the knee and the way Sterling won the title. But underneath that, there's a hell of a fighter, one that was giving Yan some problems, and one that choked out Cory Sandhagen in a minute and change. I think Yan comes in overconfident/cocky and leaves an opening to get submitted himself.

Khamzat will blanket his way to victory against Burns. It won't be fun to watch but it will be a statement against a top contender.

I'm also Team Mackenzie Dern's Bum. I think she loses to Tecia Torres though.

Edited April 9, 2022 by Shane O' Mac Version 2
thought the volko fact pic was the most recent post, but it was bottom of page 2. Whoops.

[Egg Shen]

18 minutes ago, Shane O' Mac Version 2 said:

 

Khamzat will blanket his way to victory against Burns. It won't be fun to watch but it will be a statement against a top contender.

 

that's a strange old pick

[wandshogun09]

Bless him.