UFC 278: Usman vs Edwards 2 - Aug 20 🇺🇸

[blackholesun85]

How fitting that not only did Edwards bring only our second UFC title back to Blighty in the same unexpectedly, spectacular & emphatic fashion as Bisping, but that the guy that Bisping originally beat for the belt decided to retire on the same night aswell! A truely inspiring Rocky style tale indeed.

[BigJag]

Wow! Those last two fights are a must watch.

Well done to Leon Edwards.

[Zebra Kid Mark]

Absolutely amazing end to the main event. It looked like Usman was on his way to another boring decision but Rocky had other ideas. What a great night.

Rockhold still has the skills but just didn't have the gas tank, it's a shame to see him retire. He could beat a top of the top 15 guys based on that performance if his conditioning is on point.

If I am a UFC fighter, after watching that show there is no way on earth I would ever agree to fight at altitude after watching so many people struggle.

[kev2050]

Quality show. Those last two fights though, this is why I love MMA. 

I've completely U-turned on Rockhold now. From seeing the posts with him and Bisping not long back, and that performance... what a guy. I've not read anything since, has he confirmed retirement? He didn't do the traditional "leave the gloves in the cage" gesture. If he got the cardio back (and maybe didn't fight at altitude!) I think he could be in the mix, although he was saying this is his last go to have a run at the title. 

And then we have Leon Edwards. Amazing finish. He looked brilliant in the first, then it just tailed off a bit, but credit to him, perfect set up and execution. You could just see how much it meant to him. 

[wandshogun09]

I tweeted this as a throwaway observation yesterday and woke up to a shitload of Rogan worshippers crying in the comments 😂

 

[Chunk]

Had exactly the same thought when I saw the reaction. I've always thought that perhaps when you're sitting there that close to the action it never stops being a shock. Dunno. I'm probably being generous ... as a person watching at home it just comes over as acted now.

[wandshogun09]

Yeah that was all I was saying. I’m sure it’s not 100% fake but he’s definitely started playing up to the cameras with it since it went kind of viral that one time. And the thing was I didn’t even single out Rogan. They all do it. 

But nah, apparently if you don’t enjoy close ups of a sweaty, roidy 50-something year old goblin man gurning into the camera every time there’s a big knockout you’re not a real MMA fan. There’s a lot of very sensitive people that seem genuinely hurt by that tweet. Every now and then today I’ve checked in and I’ve been laughing at the replies all day. 

[Supremo]

Loads of, "just say you don't like Rogan!" responses. Can't it be both? I think his reactions are exaggerated for the camera and I think he's a moron with a massive Growth Hormone forehead and a shit podcast.

Edited August 22, 2022 by Supremo

[wandshogun09]

Also loads of “I reacted the exact same way alone in my bedroom so his reaction isn’t fake” shite. Difference is I don’t have to see them going mental in their cold, damp, lonely flat every time there’s a KO. Also how does that make Rogan’s reaction genuine? It’s genuinely hilarious to me how wound up they’ve got over a nothing tweet. Acting like I’m raging at my telly when really it’s just ‘oh Rogan’s off again’ and then forgetting it. 

[Egg Shen]

well, i've just caught up 😲

What a barmy old night. Some brilliant performances, some crazy finishes, some bizarre performances and one of the best come from behind headkicks you'll ever see. I love this game!

I'd be happy for the UFC not have another show at altitude though. Certain fighters can deal with it, it completely handicaps others. I know the counter-argument is that they just need to acclimatise and train for it, but unless a fighter has basically been brought up in that kind of environment, it's tough going.

[wandshogun09]

Leon Edwards, UFC champion. I’ve had a couple of days to let it settle in and it’s still absolutely mental to watch. Usman was well on his way to winning a clear decision and that shit happens with less than a minute left on the clock? Crazy. I saw more people picking Leon to win going in than I expected but I don’t think I saw anyone predicting him by stoppage. Not one person. I think the logic was that Usman likes striking more these days and Edwards could outstrike him and get the decision. I could’ve seen that possibly happening but felt it was unlikely. But a picture perfect headkick knockout straight out of a Cro Cop highlight reel? Madness. Seen a bunch of cries of ‘fluke’ but that just reveals how little those people actually know about what they’re watching. Leon set it up nicely, Usman leaned into it, it was pretty much textbook. I think it happening in the last minute of the fight is why it’s being called flukey but it’s shite. Doesn’t matter when it lands, the opening came in the 5th and Leon jumped all over it. Plus, Leon had a good first round as well. Wasn’t like he had zero success and pulled out a Hail Mary.

Not a sight I imagined I’d be seeing on Sunday morning. And it’s fucking surreal that someone so close to home is now UFC champion of the world. It was cool when Bisping did it but it’s kind of different when it’s someone who trains in Erdington, an area I used to work in when I left school, an area that’s about 30 minutes max from where I live now and literally just down the road from where my sister lives. It’s weird. And more than anything, it’s who he beat to win it. As awesome as that moment was when Bisping walloped Rockhold and took the belt from him, Edwards dethroning Usman, with the streak he was on and all the pound-for-pound talk, is next level stuff.

Costa vs Rockhold was barmy and actually a pleasant surprise. With his history against big hitters combined with the fact he’d been out of the game 3 years, I honestly expected Rockhold to crumble on the first clean shot Costa landed. He held up well though and was giving as good as he got in a lot of the exchanges. Fair play to him.

Never been a fan but he fought his bollocks off here and, with hindsight knowing he retired after, he clearly went in with the attitude of just going to war and leaving every last bit of fight he had out there. Costa’s not perfect and he’s got his flaws but I really thought he was a terrible match for Rockhold under the circumstances here. And hearing Rockhold blasting the UFC on fighter pay and stuff in the run up to this card, I’m guessing he’s probably been saying similar behind the scenes and this matchup was made in the hopes he’d get sparked again. So I was actually glad he got kind of a moral victory by going the distance. They were both fucking suffering with the altitude though weren’t they? But they still kept going for it. Way more fun and competitive than I expected. Just the right mix of wild and weird.

Merab Dvalishvili vs Jose Aldo was a letdown. I thought Merab had the tools to potentially be a tricky fight but I expected Aldo to come through with the win in the end. The things Merab is strongest at, Aldo usually does very well against. But he just never got going at all here. It wasn’t very entertaining to watch, it was one of the worst Aldo fights I’ve seen, but fair play to Merab. Not many can make Aldo hesitate and shut him down like that. I think the last time I saw Aldo this gun-shy and inactive in a fight was when he lost to Volkanovski. The altitude probably had something to do with it as well, I think that was the case for a lot of the fights, but Merab’s style certainly didn’t help matters.

The most frustrating thing about this as an Aldo fan though, was the lack of any real urgency from his corner and the advice he got between rounds. After round 1, I think it was Andre Pederneiras saying “Only hit him if you’re sure you’re not gonna be taken down”. Which probably only added to Aldo’s unwillingness to let loose with his striking. Then after round 2 I heard something like “The judge is only gonna give him that round if he likes people that stall”. Obviously, Pederneiras has been around forever and has forgot more about MMA than we’ll ever know, but this just felt like bad advice that basically encouraged Aldo to do the bare minimum and to think he should’ve been winning the rounds. Merab did what he could. It was pretty much the only way he was gonna win this fight. And to be fair, while it wasn’t much fun to watch, there’s something to be said for him being able to keep grinding away and pushing the pace in that type of gruelling style despite the altitude. Makes you wonder what he can do over 5 rounds. Not sure who he fights next though. For Aldo, I think he’s almost a guaranteed lock for that Brazil PPV in January. Him vs Dominick Cruz on there would make sense at this point, I reckon.

The Lucie Pudilova vs Wu Yanan and Tyson Pedro vs Harry Hunsucker fights felt really weak for a PPV main card but they turned out fine. The Pedro fight especially always struck me as the matchmakers hoping for a showcase win for him and it played out perfectly really. A front kick to the body TKO in a minute isn’t a bad way to open up a PPV. I like Pedro, I think everyone does, but I’m not fully sold on him. He looks great at this level beating up the Villanuevas and Hunsuckers but I can’t see him doing too well as he goes up in levels. I’d be happy to be proven wrong.

Prelims were alright, although decision heavy.

Tybura vs Romanov wasn’t a barnburner but I mostly enjoyed it. Love Romanov. Gutted the decision went against him but he really didn’t hold up too well after the strong opening round so I can’t really complain. I did feel like the judge who scored it a draw was the only one who got it right though. Definitely felt like Romanov did enough for a 10-8 that first round. Was a complete domination. Then I had Tybura taking 2 and 3, which would be a 28-28 draw. Oh well. I still wanna see Romanov vs Oleynik at some point, preferably before Oleynik starts collecting his pension.

Woodson vs Saldana was a weird one. Good fight but I don’t know what Saldana was playing at with that illegal knee. Only fucked himself over as well because he had Woodson hurt but the dodgy knee forced a time-out and bought him some time.

Really liked the Ange Loosa vs AJ Fletcher fight. You could tell they were struggling with the high altitude as it went on but they were throwing with bad intentions. I actually thought this had a decent shot at bagging FOTN but it wasn’t to be. Went in with no real expectations but I’ll be checking for both their next fights after this.

Amir Albazi looked class running through Figgy 2. Thought he looked fantastic, especially after a lengthy layoff.

Hopefully he can stay active now. That’s 3 solid wins since he signed with the UFC, 15-1 overall and he looks a right handful in the grappling. Love to see him thrown into the mix with the likes of Kape, Royval, Molina, Schnell, Mudaerji and that lot down the line.

Aori Qileng continues to be a legit undercard highlight for me.

He’s fought 4 times in the UFC now, he’s gone 2-2 but at least 3 of the fights have been great fun to watch. Can’t really remember the Cody Durden fight but the Jeff Molina fight was one of my favourites last year, the body shot finish against Cameron Else was a beauty and now this win over Jay Perrin. Got a lot of time for the old ‘Mongolian Murderer’.

And I thought Victor Altamirano looked pretty great blasting through Daniel Da Silva in a round in the Fight Pass opener. He didn’t blow me away in his debut but this was a hell of a rebound and really kicked the card off the right way.

A good card all in all. Some ups and downs. Some great fights and some lacklustre ones. But in the end, that main event result took the card up several notches for me. If it went one more minute this card would’ve gone down as a fairly average and uneventful show with a couple of highlights. That one kick completely changed the story of how this one will be remembered though.

[Egg Shen]

Adesanya > Rogan:

 

 

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

2 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

Not a sight I imagined I’d be seeing on Sunday morning. And it’s fucking surreal that someone so close to home is now UFC champion of the world. It was cool when Bisping did it but it’s kind of different when it’s someone who trains in Erdington, an area I used to work in when I left school, an area that’s about 30 minutes max from where I live now and literally just down the road from where my sister lives. It’s weird. 

That's how I feel about Volkanovski. Very similar proximity in terms of where we live. In fact, I work at a school that's about a block away from Freestyle Fighting Gym, and two of my close mates knew him in high school.

Sometimes I think about UFC as this separate, far away thing from us, but it's a reminder that these guys that step into the cage are just regular blokes, who happen to be tough as nails and do their job on telly.

[Egg Shen]

11 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

 

Tybura vs Romanov wasn’t a barnburner but I mostly enjoyed it. Love Romanov. Gutted the decision went against him but he really didn’t hold up too well after the strong opening round so I can’t really complain. I did feel like the judge who scored it a draw was the only one who got it right though. Definitely felt like Romanov did enough for a 10-8 that first round. Was a complete domination. Then I had Tybura taking 2 and 3, which would be a 28-28 draw. Oh well. I still wanna see Romanov vs Oleynik at some point, preferably before Oleynik starts collecting his pension.

 

Real frustrating fight to watch, not helped that it let me down on my bet slip for 50 notes. Romanov just went off a cliff after round 1, he really suffered with the altitude, especially after putting to much into round 1. Also frustrating to see Romanov clowning and clearly believe he was winning then acting like he'd been in some kind of fight of the year candidate at the end.

It always pretty satisfying thought when the commentary anoint someone as the 'next big thing' only for it to blow up in their faces the next round though.

[Dai]

What makes the KO even sweeter is that Rogan, DC and Din were completely caught up in the 'Losing to decision is a morale victory' narrative, and were completely shitting on Edwards for at least a round and a half.  Din's 'Edwards couldn't even look at his coaches which shows he's embarrassed and has mentally quit' comes across particularly stupid now. 

Think the rematch will be a mirror of the Nunes/Pena fight, though. 

Edited August 23, 2022 by Dai