UFC Paris: Gane vs Tuivasa - Sep 3 🇫🇷

[Carbomb]

17 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

Bonjour Ailin Perez. 

Yeh, saw her do that after one of her matches too:

 

[wandshogun09]

Thoroughly enjoyed that. Fights were mostly good, main event was better than I expected and the French crowd was well into it all from the prelims on.

Gane vs Tuivasa was a lot more entertaining than I thought it’d be. Wasn’t like I was going in expecting a dud but I really thought this would be complete one way traffic with Gane just picking Tai apart en route to a lopsided decision. Basically a repeat of the Derrick Lewis fight. A great performance more than a great fight. But this was ace. It was still clear Gane was the superior fighter in there but Tai’s insane toughness made it more watchable and he was landing some shots in return, even dropping Gane at one point, which was obviously a lot more than Lewis managed. Gane just had another level of quality though. 

I mean, Christ! There’s been a lot of talk of Tuivasa’s chin and durability today and understandably so. But to survive those attacks to the body as long as he did was nuts. That’s a different level of toughness. I don’t think anyone would’ve blamed him if he folded after some of those kicks but he hung in there and absolutely refused to go down until he got full on waffled by that counter right in the third round that started his downfall.

Thought the fight was a lot of fun. And it answered some more questions on Gane as well. For one, he had some pressure on him in this one. Coming off his first loss and headlining the first card in France. He had to deliver here really and he certainly did. And even mid fight, it was the first time we’ve really seen him tagged and put in some real bother with the knockdown and stuff. Even in the loss to Ngannou we never really saw that. But he responded well. The old ‘fight or flight’ thing kicked in and soon as he was hurt or at least clipped, he kicked it up a gear and went for the kill. Don’t get me wrong it was always a pretty favourable matchup for him so you have to put it all in perspective. But it was a dangerous one as a rebound fight and with the expectations and pressure on him to get the W on home soil. Good stuff. Really felt like a proper starmaking night for the big man. Just a shame he’ll probably get derailed by Curtis Blaydes next.

Whittaker vs Vettori was alright. Nothing amazing. Whittaker once again proved he’s probably a couple of levels above the crop of contenders below Adesanya. First round was close but once Whittaker found his range and got into a groove I thought he schooled Vettori in the second and third. Almost embarrassingly outclassed him. Vettori could barely get near him and Whittaker just did his thing. One of those fights where if they’d have had 5 rounds, I think Whittaker would’ve found the finish. As tough as Vettori is, Whittaker was getting to him more and more as it went on. 

Looking at the current state of the Middleweight division, I’m a bit stumped where Whittaker goes next. Especially if Adesanya beats Pereira in November and retains the gold. Despite the 0-2 scoreline, I can actually see Izzy vs Rob 3 happening at some point just because Whittaker is just too good not to beat everyone else in the title picture and they could spin a third fight because of the second fight being close. But for right now, I don’t know. Looking at the top of the division, the only fresh fight for Whittaker is probably Paulo Costa at the moment. Wouldn’t mind seeing that, to be fair.

Really liked the Imavov vs Buckley fight and actually had it as my FOTN before Gane and Tuivasa went and upstaged them. I didn’t remember Imavov being so tall, was a bit taken aback when I saw the size difference between these two at the weigh in. Very entertaining fight. Clear cut decision really. Both were landing but Imavov definitely took the first two rounds. I loved Buckley’s urgency in the last round though. That fucker was swinging with murderous intentions! Didn’t work out and Imavov was able to weather the storm but that last round was edge of the seat stuff all the way. Some of them Buckley haymakers were whizzing just past Imavov’s head.

Was a bit distracted during the middle of the main card so wasn’t paying really close attention to Kopylov vs Di Chirico but caught the KO. Same with Gomis vs Errens. I was quite looking forward to that one with it being both their debuts and hearing some good things about both. Might be being unfair but what I saw didn’t really grab me.

Wood vs Jourdain was a solid main card opener but never really caught fire like I think most thought it would. I think pretty much everyone had this as the front runner for FOTN going in. First round was looking like it might be shaping up that way but it sort of fizzled as it went on. Not bad, just slightly underwhelming. I think Wood looks really good since moving up to 145 though. Seems to be a better fit for him.

Abus Magomedov couldn’t have really hoped for a better Octagon debut, could he?

19 bastard seconds. Not a lot else to take from it obviously. We barely saw anything of him. But as introductions go, this will stick in the memory. I’m certainly looking forward to his next fight now more than I was for his debut here. Job done.

Fares Ziam vs Michal Figlak was a good fight as well. Some really nice stuff from both but Ziam just did the better work overall.

Nice win for him and a bit of redemption as well. Thought the UFC were way harsh letting him go off the back of one loss a while back. And it felt like he was only brought back here because they needed to chuck a few home fighters on the card for the French crowd to get behind. So for him to come back and derail Figlak who was coming in with some buzz for his debut, it must’ve been extra sweet for him.

Benoit St Denis vs Gabriel Miranda was exciting while it lasted as well. I’ve seen St Denis a few times now and never really had much of an opinion on him one way or another. It’s funny how you see fighters in a different light when they fight in front of their home crowd though and actually get a big reaction. Every time I’ve seen him before, the crowd has given no fucks or he’s been fighting mostly in front of empty chairs on the Fight Pass prelims. Watching him here, with the crowd going nuts for him, it clearly brought something extra out of him and he smashed Miranda up. Had him hurt late in the first round and I don’t think Miranda ever really recovered, came out in the second and just got rolled over straight away.

Didn’t see the Fight Pass bit but read our new shaky bum Ailin Perez got submitted by Steph Ham & Egger 😏

Edited September 4, 2022 by wandshogun09

[wordsfromlee]

Still unsure if he faked the wobble or was actually rocked by the kick

 

[Cousin Jim Bob]

The huge exchange in the 2nd between Gane and Tai was incredible. French crowd got their moneys worth with that. It was brutal.

 

[wandshogun09]

@wordsfromlee I forgot to mention that! I actually think he was playing possum! 😂 

[Egg Shen]

cracking show! This was a bit like France's version of the first London show this year, it just all seemed to go right for the French fighters. They all came off like superstars.

[Egg Shen]

On 9/2/2022 at 10:37 PM, Egg Shen said:

Gane will pick him apart, frustrate Tai and finish him around round 3.