Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted April 15, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted April 15, 2022 (edited) Another night at the Apex on the 23rd… ESPN+ MAIN CARDAmanda Lemos vs Jessica Andrade Clay Guida vs Claudio Puelles Maycee Barber vs Montana De La Rosa Charles Jourdain vs Lando Vannata Jordan Wright vs Marc-Andre Barriault ESPN+/FIGHT PASS PRELIMS Dwight Grant vs Sergey Khandozhko Tyson Pedro vs Ike Villanueva Aori Qileng vs Cameron Else Preston Parsons vs Evan Elder Marcin Prachnio vs Philipe Lins Dean Barry vs Mike Jackson Not much of a card but there’s stuff worth watching to cherry pick there. Not the strongest main event and I’m seeing a bit of moaning about it but the fight itself should be fireworks. Couple of bits and pieces further down the card I like but it’s one to just skim through on Sunday morning over a fry up. Amanda Lemos vs Jessica Andrade tops the bill. I’ve seen pretty much 100% negative reaction to this. I know it’s the done thing now that any time a women’s fight headlines a card it gets shat on, but I don’t hate this one. If you’ve watched either of these two before you’ll know this has a fairly high chance of being a banger. We all know about Andrade. Former UFC champion. Wins over Rose Namajunas, Claudia Gadelha, Karolina Kowalkiewicz, Tecia Torres, Joanne Wood etc. Fun fighter to watch. Aggressive as fuck, always looking for the finish, just a little tank. I’ve said it before but she reminds me of a female John Lineker and for anyone who’s read my posts in these threads over the years, you know of my love for Lineker. Andrade’s ace. She’s had her ups and downs and her aggression sometimes works against her but her only losses in recent years have been to the absolute best in the division - Shevchenko, Namajunas, Zhang - so there’s no shame there. In her last couple of wins she’s stopped Katlyn Chookagian and Cynthia Calvillo, who are usually fairly tricky to put away. She’s most likely not gonna win UFC gold again but she’s basically the gatekeeper to that title mix at this point. I’m guessing Lemos is the reason for most of the indifference to this booking. And I just think that’s mostly because she isn’t very well known. I haven’t seen a ton of her myself but I’ve seen enough. From what I recall she seems to be cut from a similar cloth to Andrade. Doesn’t fuck about and goes for the kill as soon as the opportunity presents itself. She’s 11-1-1, on a 5 fight winning streak, put Livia Renata Souza and Montserrat Conejo away in the first round and got a decision over Angela Hill in a FOTN winner in December. I remember that being a really exciting fight but I think I had Hill winning. Whatever the case, this is a big opportunity for Lemos. Her first time under the spotlight of a UFC main event and against a former champ who, on paper, has a style that should make for a great matchup. It’ll probably go and be inexplicably shite now I’ve talked it up but I really think the ingredients are there for a hell of a scrap here. Basically, I’m all for calling a shit main event a shit main event when it’s a shit main event. I was probably the harshest on here when cack like Ladd vs Dumont and Calvillo vs Eye got the headline treatment. But this should be a fun one. I don’t recall ever seeing a dull Andrade fight and Lemos isn’t shy about trying to take heads off herself. Clay Guida vs Claudio Puelles. Worth a look. I’ve always got time for a Guida fight. He’s nowhere near as exciting to watch as he was years ago but I think anyone who was watching in the mid to late 2000s has a soft spot for the scruffy get. Those wars with Tyson Griffin, Roger Huerta and Diego Sanchez are classics. The fight with Bendo is a forgotten gem as well. I’ve said it before but I think him kind of taming his style a bit is what’s given him such longevity. Yeah, the fights aren’t as crazy and fun to watch but it’s extended his career big time. He’s 40 years old now and, while he’s never getting a sniff of a title shot in the UFC, he’s not embarrassing himself out there either. He submitted BJJ black-belt Leonardo Santos in his last fight in December. And for all my talk of him fighting more conservatively these days, this was kind of a throwback to the old ‘Caveman Clay’ days. He was getting his arse kicked bad early on before rallying back with the sub. Barely remember Puelles, to be honest. He’s 25 years old, 11-2 and on a 4 fight streak. Submitted Chris Gruetzemacher with a kneebar in his last outing. Seems to like that finish, 3 of his 11 wins are by kneebar. He’s also the only man to date who holds a win over Jordan Leavitt, who I rate. These old vs young matchups are pretty much always designed to build up the new blood but I think Clay’s shown he’s still got something in the tank so this might be good. Maycee Barber vs Montana De La Rosa. Not that arsed about this but it might be alright. I’ve never really bought into the Barber hype though. She’s not awful or anything but I never really saw her as some big prospect. I think that talk was mostly just because she came in so young. She’s still only 23 now, she’s had some decent wins over your Gillian Robertson and JJ Aldrich types but she got found lacking when she stepped up against the crafty veteran in Roxanne Modafferi and the more technical striker in Alexa Grasso. Back-to-back losses. She’s since bounced back with a points win over Miranda Maverick but I’m sure I had Maverick winning that one. I might be wrong but I recall that being a dodgy decision. De La Rosa’s nothing special herself though. She was on TUF a few years ago, the forgettable season that Nicco Montano won, and has done very little since. She’s 12-6-1 now and coming off a TKO over Ariane Lipski last June, which was probably her best showing yet. Maybe it’ll be a pleasant surprise but my hopes aren’t high. They’re both still young but I just don’t see either doing much in the Flyweight division. Charles Jourdain vs Lando Vannata is one of the front runners to bag FOTN, I reckon. Neither man is making a run at gold in the UFC’s Featherweight division but it’s such a fun matchup. Jourdain is an entertaining fighter who came in with a bit of hype as possibly Canada’s next breakout star. A position they’ve been trying and failing to fill since GSP retired. It hasn’t worked out for Jourdain. He’s only 26 but he’s not had a very smooth start on the big stage. He’s 12-4-1 now and has shown little flashes of real potential in his wins over the Korean Superboy, Marcelo Rojo and Andre Ewell but those wins have been surrounded by losses and draws so there’s been zero momentum there. Still, he’s got a fan friendly style so this pairing should work really well. Lando’s a wild one. Again, never gonna be a contender but he’s must see for me. Ever since he had that barmy short notice debut against Tony Ferguson years ago. His spinning kick KO over John Makdessi was spectacular, he had two cracking fights with Bobby Green and a hidden gem with Matt Frevola as well. It’s a nothing fight really but it’s evenly matched and could well steal the show. Great way to kick off the main card. Jordan Wright vs Marc-Andre Barriault. Another one that’s not really working for me, brother. Just never really got into either’s fights. Wright’s 12-2-0-1 and my only real memories of him are when Joaquin Buckley and Bruno Silva bashed him around. And Barriault came in as a two weight champ in the TKO promotion in Canada but has been mostly underwhelming in the UFC. Lost his first 3, got popped by USADA, won a couple then got chinned in 16 seconds by Chidi Njokuani last time out. They’re not even the worst on the roster so this is probably unfair, but this has the feel of a jobber vs jobber match to me. Barry Horowitz vs Duane Gill shit. Dwight Grant vs Sergey Khandozhko. OK fight, nothing special. I was quite high on Grant for a little spell a few years ago. He did beat Alan Jouban but mostly it was based off this peach of a KO over Carlo Pedersoli… What a shot! I probably overrated Grant for a bit solely off the strength of my love for that knockout. In 2022 though, he’s 37 years old, a mediocre 11-4 and coming off a points loss to Francisco Trinaldo. There’s worse on the roster but it’s not getting any better for him at this stage in the game, is it? I’m really hazy on Khandozhko. He’s fought in the UFC a few times but he’s been out of action now since 2019. At a glance he’s got a decent enough record of 26-6-1 and 17 finishes but most of his opposition is unknown and now after well over 2 years on the shelf, who the fuck knows? Tyson Pedro vs Ike Villanueva. They’ve dug up Tyson Pedro! Genuinely thought he’d been released ages ago but thinking back, the last time we saw him was that loss to Shogun in late 2018 and he messed his knee up. He never got sacked at all, he’s just been battling injuries ever since. Apparently he was scheduled to fight in 2020 but got hurt again. Disaster. I remember quite liking him. Seemed a sound bloke. Little meaningless trivia fact as well, he’s actually Tai Tuivasa’s brother-in-law. He’s never gonna amount to much though, sadly. He’s only 30 now but he’s 7-3 and now coming off a massive layoff and a horrible run of injuries. He didn’t look like a huge prospect before the injuries so it’s hard to imagine him going on some big run now. On paper, Villanueva’s the ideal type of comeback fight for Pedro. A 38 year old brawler who’s coming off two stoppage losses. He’s usually in exciting, sloppy slobberknockers but Pedro should have the advantages technically. Huge questions on how rusty he is though and if his confidence has taken a knock. We’ve seen with guys like Rashad Evans and Thiago Santos that knee injuries can seriously fuck you up, physically and mentally. It’d be nice to see him come back with a win though. Aori Qileng vs Cameron Else. Kind of looking forward to this actually, purely because I absolutely loved Aori Qileng’s fight with Jeff Molina about a year ago. Seriously, if you missed it get it watched. Legitimately one of my favourite fights of 2021, despite them not being ‘names’. He lost a decision to that little ballbag Cody Durden in his next fight so he’s probably not gonna go too far but that Molina fight was something else. He’s 18-9 now and 0-2 in the UFC. Else is from the UK but fights out of Jackson-Wink in Albuquerque and he’s 10-5 with 10 finishes. He made his UFC debut back in 2020 and got ragged about and TKO’d by Kyler Phillips. Preston Parsons vs Evan Elder. Dunno really. Not overly familiar with either of these two. Parsons is 9-3 with all 9 wins coming via submission. Only saw him once, his UFC debut, and it wasn’t exactly ideal circumstances. He stepped in against Daniel Rodriguez on short notice in July, after Kevin Lee dropped out. He got TKO’d in a round but, like I say, late notice and Rodriguez is a handful at the best of times. Elder is making his UFC debut on just a few days notice here, filling in for Louis Cosce. He’s 25 years old and undefeated at 7-0 with 5 inside the distance. He’s also from Stockton, California and is a product of the Nick Diaz Academy. Marcin Prachnio vs Philipe Lins. Nothing happening fight really. I remember Prachnio murdering Ike Villanueva with a nasty body kick in his last fight, to be fair, but nothing else about him. He’s 15-5 and he does have a win over Khalil Rountree as well that I don’t recall at all. Must’ve been one of Rountree’s off nights. And Lins is 14-5, fought in Bellator and PFL for a bit before signing with the UFC but he’s gone 0-2 in the Octagon with losses to Arlovski and Boser. He hasn’t fought since 2020 either. Not doing it for me. Dean Barry vs Mike Jackson. Well, well, well. Didn’t expect to ever see Jackson back in the UFC. For those that have forgot, he’s the guy who was brought in at 0-0 and beat CM Punk on points in Punk’s second (and last) UFC fight. The fight was rotten and drew a lot of criticism. Most of it directed at Dana for booking such a fight on a PPV, and the rest of it directed at Jackson for the way he fought. I haven’t watched the fight since it happened but I think the crux of it was basically that people felt like Jackson could’ve finished Punk but dragged it out to make a point. I’m not sure that’s the case though. I think Jackson was just that shite. But still better than Punk. Dana wasn’t happy with Jackson. At all. “I don’t know what the guy did for a living before we gave him this shot, but whatever it was he needs to go back and do that again. He’s 0-2 as far as I’m concerned. That’s it for his UFC career. I wouldn’t put that kid in the Contender Series.” - Dana White Well, he’s back. And even more odd, this’ll be his first fight since that Punk mess all the way back in June 2018. So it’s not like he’s gone away, grafted and got some wins to redeem himself. What’s changed? Odd. Yoel Romero’s gone, Rumble Johnson’s gone, the Pettis brothers are gone, Mighty Mouse is gone, John Lineker is gone. But fear not, Mike ‘The Truth’ Jackson is back! Dean Barry gets the honour of sharing the Octagon with him here. He’s Irish, 29 years old and 4-1 with 4 knockouts. He’s coming off a 21 second finish on a Titan FC card in December. Thinking back, I remember they attempted to book this very same fight a while back but it got delayed. Think Barry’s debut got pushed back for some reason. Don’t know why they’re insisting on this specific matchup and bringing Jackson back but whatever. If Barry has anything, absolutely anything about him he should be winning this without much hassle. It’ll do, I guess. Passes another week while we wait for 274. Edited April 24, 2022 by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted April 18, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted April 18, 2022 That Barry/Jackson fight is baffling me. Barry's had a bit of a nightmare getting to the UFC but I don't think he's seen as anything special coming in. He's only fought 5 times since his 2017 debut, and only beaten one guy with a winning record. He seems an odd choice for the UFC to begin with, then they have him fighting Jackson who Dana said would never fight in the UFC again, just a weird fight, but I want to see it. Barry is also a 1/12 favorite, which are about as wide a set of odds that ive ever seen for a fight between 2 men in the UFC. I gotta do some digging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted April 18, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted April 18, 2022 New fight week. So of course, two fights have already dropped off this one. • Tanner Boser is injured and out of his fight with Alexandr Romanov. • Louis Cosce has tested positive for COVID and his fight with Preston Parsons is off. As far as I can tell, the plan is to keep Romanov and Parsons on the card and get replacements in but we’ll see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted April 19, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted April 19, 2022 I think Chase Sherman is literally the kind of guy who would fight anyone for a sandwich. He's gonna get hammered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted April 19, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted April 19, 2022 Sherman just got released recently so this is his way to get his foot back in the door. He’s got himself a new contract and a pay increase out of it as well apparently. Double pay. So he’s probably getting a whole grand and 2 Just Eat vouchers now for this loss he’s about to take. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted April 21, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted April 21, 2022 Looks like Romanov has been hitting the gym a bit more and the fridge a bit less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted April 21, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted April 21, 2022 poor Chase Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted April 21, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted April 21, 2022 Alright this card can get to fuck. My one to watch down the shitter now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted April 21, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted April 21, 2022 ahh fuck sake, that was the fight i wanted to see Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panhead Posted April 22, 2022 Share Posted April 22, 2022 I'm looking forward to seeing Tyson Pedro back in there. I can't believe it's nearly three and a half years since he last fought. How's he been able to pay the bills? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted April 22, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted April 22, 2022 Yeah, real forgotten man. I hope he's coming back at 100% Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted April 23, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted April 23, 2022 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted April 23, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted April 23, 2022 Petesy Carroll article regarding the weird ass Barry/Jackson fight: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panhead Posted April 24, 2022 Share Posted April 24, 2022 Glad to see Tyson Pedro get the win, the handsome bastard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted April 25, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted April 25, 2022 and Mike Jackson! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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