Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted September 17, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted September 17, 2022 (edited) Might as well get this up now. Weāre heading back to the Big Apple! Madison Square Garden hosts this beautyā¦ PPV MAIN CARDIsrael AdesanyaĀ© vs Alex PereiraĀ - Middleweight Title Carla EsparzaĀ© vs Zhang WeiliĀ - Strawweight TitleĀ Dustin Poirier vs Michael ChandlerĀ Frankie Edgar vs Chris Gutierrez Dan Hooker vs Claudio Puelles ESPN PRELIMSĀ Brad Riddell vs Renato Moicano Dominick Reyes vs Ryan Spann Erin Blanchfield vs Molly McCann Andre Petroski vs Wellington Turman ESPN+/FIGHT PASS PRELIMSĀ Ottman Azaitar vs Matt Frevola Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs Silvana Gomez Juarez Mike Trizano vs Seung Woo ChoiĀ Julio Arce vs Montel Jackson Carlos Ulberg vs Nicolae NegumereanuĀ Ā Ā As usual, thatās not the official bout order. Weāre still two months out, which youāll know is a lifetime when it comes to possible card changes. But weāll roll with this for now. Itās an absolutely mega card that. One of the best of the year in its current form. 280 is getting all the attention but this oneās sneaking up right behind it and I honestly think itās just as good. Ā Israel Adesanya vs Alex Pereira. TheyĀ meet again. You know the story. These two are no strangers to each other. From the second Pereira signed with the UFC last year, this felt inevitable as long as they both kept winning. Adesanya is rapidly running out of fresh challengers and is starting to beat some of them twice, so an old nemesis in Pereira coming in now is perfect really. Timing-wise, it couldnāt have lined up much better than it has. They crossed paths twice during their Kickboxing days. Both fights are on YouTube if you donāt mind not having a clue what the badly dubbed in commentator is saying. I actually watched them for the first time before knocking up this post, to give me a bit of context. They first met in April 2016 in China and Pereira won a close decision. They fought again in March 2017 in Brazil and, Iām sure youāve seen it by nowā¦ Itās what the whole hype and promotion of this one is gonna be about. Pereira knocked Adesanya out with a big left hook early in the third round. Whatās rarely ever brought up though, is that Izzy was winning this fight prior to that and had Pereira wobbly in the second round, to the point the referee administered a standing count. Pereira was in some trouble but managed to rally in the next round and find the money punch. The first fight was close as well. They were both enjoyable fights. Worth a watch if you get chance. But I do feel like the narrative around the whole backstory is a bit misleading. Seems like a lot of people just saw the clip of the KO in the second fight, saw Pereira is 2-0 over Izzy and decided Pereira mustāve steamrolled him. Not the case. Iām not sure how many have actually sat down and watched those fights. What I will say is I felt like it was clear that Pereira was the more powerful of the two. Obviously that paid off in the second bout. Regardless, here we go again. I was gonna title this thread āAdesanya vs Pereira 3ā but of course, itās MMA. A different sport, a different kettle of fish. Adesanyaās been the man at 185 for some time now. Heād gone 75-5 in Kickboxing, the knockout loss to Pereira was his last fight in that game. By the end of 2017, he was 11-0 with 11 knockouts in MMA with his most notable win at the time being a first round finish of Melvin Guillard. By early 2018, he was making his UFC debut. He hasnāt looked back. He beat Rob Wilkinson, Marvin Vettori and Brad Tavares in solid but not blow away performances. His breakthrough came in his fourth Octagon appearance where he blitzed Derek Brunson in a round at MSG. From there he won a cool kind of master vs pupil match against Anderson Silva, won the interim title in a FOTY thriller against Kelvin Gastelum and became the undisputed champ by knocking out Robert Whittaker in front of a massive crowd in Melbourne. He looked like an absolute superstar that night and, between that and the war with Gastelum, was quickly becoming one of the most exciting fighters in the sport. Iāll be honest though, heās gone off the boil a bit for me. Iām talking purely as a spectator. Obviously heās still a top tier fighter and a great champion. But heās not been as fun to watch since he won the belt. Aside from battering Paulo Costa and then humping him, itās been pretty lacklustre stuff. The Yoel Romero fight was inexplicably bad. Terrible fight. Of course, there was that failed attempt at LHW gold which saw him lose a fairly dull decision to Jan Blachowicz. He then returned to 185 and has successfully defended his title 3 times. A Vettori rematch, a Whittaker rematch and Jared Cannonier. But again, all pretty underwhelming to watch. Heās winning, heās still champion and heās getting paid. Canāt criticise him too much. But with him starting to lap the division, we needed an injection of new blood at Middleweight and someone to light a bit of a spark under Adesanya. Enter Alex āPoatanā Pereira. His nickname means āStone Handsā from what I can gather. And heās backed that up from what Iāve seen of him. He went 33-7 with 21 knockouts in Kickboxing, was GLORYās first two division champion, went 1-0 with a knockout in Boxing and so far heās 6-1 with 5 knockouts in MMA. He got submitted in his MMA debut back in 2015 but heās been on a roll since. I was vaguely aware of him switching to MMA but never really saw anything of him until he popped up on a LFA card in 2020 and wrecked poor Thomas Powell in a round. This got quite a bit of play on social media at the time because of how scary a knockout it was. Powell was reportedly out cold for a good 5 minutes. It was terrifying. Pereira was signed to the UFC following that win. Like I said, the nanosecond it was announced, before the ink was even dry on the contract, all the talk was about whether weād see him and Izzy tangle again. With the history between them, it was the natural conversation to have. But heād have to rack up some wins first. I was sceptical, to be honest. Iād seen him putting fuckers to bed a few times in GLORY but with his lack of MMA experience and already being in his mid 30s, I didnāt even think heād make it to a title shot. He made his Octagon debut last November at UFC 268. In Madison Square Garden on a stacked card. He took on Andreas Michailidis andā¦ Couldnāt have asked for a better debut. A picture perfect flying knee KO that bagged him a POTN bonus. In March this year he was matched up with Bruno Silva and, honestly, I thought his little run might already be over. Silvaās tough, heavy handed himself and had shown devastating ground and pound in the past. I had a feeling heād get Pereira down and thatād be that. But Pereira went the full 15 minutes with him, stuffed some takedowns, got that much needed cage time and basically busted Silva up. The matchmakers werenāt fucking about and in July, they chucked Pereira in with Sean Strickland. This was a step up big time in terms of rankings and it was clear the UFC brass recognised that, with Pereira already 35 years old, time was of the essence. I said it at the time though, I always felt like this was the most winnable fight for Pereira at the top end of the rankings. I still had massive doubts, just because of Stricklandās experience advantage. But compared to other options in the division, it was certainly a more favourable matchup for him than someone like Brunson, Vettori or Hermansson wouldāve been. Stricklandās style is mostly standup but heās always been about volume punching and talking shite. Heās never been known for his power, or defence. And that was the crux of it. Beautiful. Easily one of the most satisfying knockouts in years watching that prick get ironed out. And it was even sweeter because Strickland had been chatting all kinds of bollocks in the build up, saying he wasnāt impressed with Pereiraās striking and heād have no problems etc. He got crushed in less than 3 minutes and Pereira banked another POTN bonus. The fact this was on the undercard of Adesanya outpointing Cannonier in their title fight lined up nicely. Usually Iād say itās too early days for Pereira to be getting a title shot. Less than 10 MMA fights, has only won 3 in the UFC and hasnāt been fully tested against different styles. But fuck it. Whatās the alternative? Izzyās already beat most of the others, some twice. With the Middleweight landscape how it is, and the history between these two, Iām all for it. āAfter he beat me in Brazil, I never had any plans of trying to get revenge or anything like that because I donāt hold onto things. I let go of things. The universe has presented this to me and itās right there. The perfect alley-oop, and Iām going to slam this bitch.ā - Israel Adesanya I love the backstory to this. Itās proper 80ās martial arts movie stuff. The superstar champion whoās been winning and defending his title for years, maybe starting to lose his āeye of the tigerā a little bit. Then a beast from his past comes back to haunt him. Pereiraās perfect for that Clubber Lang/Tong Po role. He looks massive as well. Look at him here next to Dominick Reyes, for exampleā¦ āHe claims it to be pillow gloves (their previous fights) but now we talk about four once gloves. With the big pillows already making him leave on a stretcher, imagine whatās going to happen with the four ounces?ā - Alex Pereira Very interesting one this. In MMA I think you have to favour Adesanya. Heās been mixing with the best in his weight class for years, has proven himself and reached champion status. But itās not like his style in MMA is the type youād expect Pereira to struggle with. It wouldnāt surprise me if Adesanya tries to go the grappling route here. Just because heās probably better there than Pereira and itād be less risky than striking with him. But even then, is his offensive grappling better than Pereiraās defensive grappling? While Iām not counting out Izzy trying to throw the odd takedown attempt in there, this is probably playing out on the feet. And who knows what the fuck happens there? Even after watching their first two fights, Iām not confident one way or the other. I donāt think Adesanya will be able to play it safe like he has a bit recently. Heās not gonna shut down a striker like Pereira like he could do to a very basic striker like Cannonier or Vettori. And he mightnāt want to. Izzy might wanna prove a point here. Heās 0-2 down to this guy after all. Or does that make him hesitant? Between MMA, Kickboxing and Boxing, Adesanya has had 110 officially documented pro fights. Heās only been knocked out once and it was that Pereira fight in 2017. Thatās a big psychological edge for the Brazilian surely. Really looking forward to this. Ā Carla Esparza vs Zhang Weili is your co-main event. Not in love with it. Zhangās fun, itās the Esparza factor Iām finding off-putting. Sheās never been great to watch. In all the years she been around, I think Iāve only enjoyed a couple of her fights. In fairness, she was on a decent little run recently. It bagged her a title shot against Rose Namajunas in May and, despite me never being a fan of Esparza, fairās fair, I did feel like she deserved that shot. She beat Rose, won the title and went full-on Tim Sylvia with the thing! The fight itself was total arse though. Bloody awful. Went the whole 5 rounds and neither did anything. From my memory (Iāve tried to block it out), Esparza pretty much won just off a few takedown attempts that didnāt really go anywhere. There was thatĀ little happening. Itās got to be the front runner for worst fight of the year so far. Has to be. I canāt think of a worse one. The modern day version of Shamrock vs Severn 2. But weāre stuck with her as champ now unless someone can rip it from her. Hopefully Zhang can get it done. Zhangās been one of the most liked and popular fighters in the womenās side of MMA for a bit now. I think thatās why she keeps getting these title shots that she hasnāt really done much to earn. Letās face it, sheās 1-2 in her last 3 and already lost 2 back-to-back title fights against Rose last year. Granted, the spinning backfist KO against Joanna Jedrzejczyk in their rematch in June was ace, but enough to warrant yet another title shot? I donāt know. People were saying Leon Edwards didnāt deserve a title shot when him and Usman was first announced, people are still saying Islam Makhachev doesnāt deserve his shot. But everyone seems fine with stuff like this. I donāt get it myself but whatever. And at this point, I just want the belt the fuck off Esparza. If Zhang is the woman for the job, count me in! I think itās kind of an interesting one style-wise actually. As soon as it was announced all I saw was āWeili by murderā and āEsparzaās fuckedā type predictions. I hope everyoneās on the money and Zhang wins in spectacular fashion but I donāt really get where the confidence is coming from. Itās not like Zhang is unbeatable or without flaws and, while Esparza is boring, sheās quite effective at what she does and sheās awkward to look good against. And itās not like weāve seen Zhang against a bunch of wrestlers in the past. Thereās no real track record to base anything on. If she can keep it standing, I think she wins all day. I canāt see her hanging back and doing nothing like Rose did. Sheāll bring it. But then does that leave her more vulnerable for the takedown? Weāll see how it goes. Hoping Zhang wins but Iām not as confident about it as most seem to be. Ā Dustin Poirier vs Michael Chandler is ***WANDāS ONE TO WATCH***Ā and I donāt think thatāll come as a surprise to anyone. Even on a card as stacked as this, how could I choose anything else? Some fights get announced and you just know what youāre getting. Weāve seen so many wars involving these two over the years, throwing them in against each other is only gonna go one way, isnāt it? Sometimes I think Iāll jinx it if I big a fight up like this but with these two, I just donāt think the ingredients for a dud exist. They donāt know any other way to fight. We havenāt seen Poirier since his title shot against Charles Oliveira in December. It didnāt go his way, he got submitted in the third round but he was doing well before that and was giving Oliveira a rough time early on. He had enough success in that fight to where I wouldnāt count him out of making another run at it. Between the loss to Oliveira and the whole McGregor saga before that, the break has probably been good for him. Heās been in a lot of battles. The epic against Justin Gaethje is still one my favourite fights in Lightweight history. There was the 5 round wars with Max Holloway and Dan Hooker, those two mad scraps against Eddie Alvarez, even the wild Korean Zombie fight at 145. Heās been one of the most consistently awesome fighters to watch forever. Hopefully the near year long layoff has done him good. Heās one of the best at 155. You look back at his record and his only losses in the last 5 years have been to Khabib and Oliveira. And he had his moments in both. Heās ace. Thatās what happened the last time we saw Chandler. Just killed whatever was left of Tony Fergusonās chin. Probably the KO of the year that as well. Itās up there anyway. Definitely gonna be in the running in the prestigious UKFF Awards in December. Iāve said it before on here but Chandler has turned out to be such a brilliant signing for the UFC. At 36 years old and 2-2 in the UFC, that could sound odd. Unless you watched the fights. So far in the UFC heāsā¦ ā¢ Knocked out Dan Hooker in 2 minutes then cut that promo everyone bummed. ā¢ Went to war with Charles Oliveira, had him in all kinds of bother early but got knocked out. Great fight though. ā¢ FOTY crazy fight with Justin Gaethje at MSG. One of those fights where he lost the decision but really lost nothing. ā¢ That Ferguson knockout. I mean, whatever theyāre paying him, theyāre surely looking at it as money well spent. Thereās always at least a āmomentā when Chandler fights. And this isnāt even touching on his pre-UFC career. The Alvarez fights in Bellator were some of the best in the history of the 155 division. And when you think of the ground that covers and how many incredible fights weāve seen in that weight class over the years, thatās saying a lot! Whatever Dana and co signed him for, it was a bargain. And Iām not even really a fan of Chandler out of the cage. I donāt hate him or anything, just find him a bit of a cheeseball. But you canāt notĀ be a fan of the way he fights. Thereās apparently a bit of needle between these two as well. Nothing major but they got into a little bit of a confrontation cageside at UFC 276 in July.Ā Something of nothing really. The fight wasnāt even booked at that time and Poirier was on about that Nate Diaz fight that never materialised. This is the one though. Either against Nate wouldāve been fun but Poirier vs Chandler pisses all over any of that for me. Iām hoping Poirier wins just because Iām more of a fan of his and Iād like to see him get back in the mix. I think he does win as well. As exciting as Chandler is, Iām not sure how long heās got left or how much is left in the tank. I think Poirier is just a level slightly above but you know Chandler is gonna be game as ever and it should be mayhem however long it goes. Ā Frankie Edgar vs Chris Gutierrez. Here we go then. This is supposed to be Edgarās retirement fight but you know how that story usually goes. Weāll see if it sticks. Hopefully it does, regardless of the result here, because itās been time for a while now. One of the best ever when it comes to the lighter weight classes. I think a lot of newer fans donāt realise that and even a lot of older fans seem to have forgot. Itās been said a few times over the years but he probably shouldāve been a Bantamweight his whole career. Yet he won UFC gold two divisions above that at Lightweight and had a very respectable run at Featherweight as well, going a total 10 rounds with Jose Aldo and even running him pretty close in the first fight. That was prime Aldo as well. There was a time when I honestly thought Frankie might be the man to become the first 3 weight UFC champ but it wasnāt to be. What a career though. Nailed on Hall Of Famer when he does officially call it a day. The Gray Maynard wars alone would warrant his induction but then you add in wins over BJ Penn x3, Urijah Faber, Chad Mendes, Cub Swanson x2, Sean Sherk, Charles Oliveira, that killer fight with Tyson Griffin and, even when people were starting to see him as past his best, he utterly schooled Yair Rodriguez in 2017. He was the bollocks. Everything comes to an end though. Thatās the last time we saw Frankie š¢ Chito Vera kicking his face off at Madison Square Garden last November. A year later, he returns to the scene of the crime for some redemption and, I hope, closure to his career. Itās been coming for a while. Heāll be 41 by the time he steps into the Octagon here. A fantastic innings for a lighter weight fighter, especially when you consider the kind of level heās been competing at for the bulk of his career. But over the last few years that once iron chin has been going. Before 2018, heād never been finished and the Maynard fights had earned him a reputation for his toughness and heart to the point he was thought to be almost unfinishable. But like anything else, thereās a limit to durability and, in 2018, Brian Ortega became the first man to knock Edgar out. Since then, the Korean Zombie, Cory Sandhagen and Chito have stopped him in brutal fashion. The knee from Sandhagen was particularly horrific. He actually looked decent against Chito from what I remember, until that kick and thenā¦he didnāt. Thatās the thing. Frankieās still in great shape, still trains like a demon, still moves well, still looks faster and sharper than your average 41 year old veteran. But the punch resistance just isnāt there anymore and thatās a slippery slope. Hopefully this is it whatever happens. Gutierrez is nothing special really. It does feel like theyāve tried to at least give Frankie a matchup he has a reasonable shot of winning. He deserves that. But I donāt know. Thatās how Gutierrez ended his last fight against Danaa Batgerel. Admittedly heās been facing a much lower level of opposition and this is a considerable step down for the former champ. But Gutierrez is dangerous, heās a decade younger, heās 18-4-2 and 8 of his 9 finishes were by knockout or TKO. Purely on skills, Frankie should absolutely be winning this. But the old saying is āyou canāt go in the rain without getting wetā, at some point heās gonna get tagged isnāt he? I donāt have any confidence that he can stand up to it anymore. Iād love nothing more than to see him go out on a win though. Ā Dan Hooker vs Claudio Puelles is an interesting one. When it was announced I saw a load of āwho?ā responses aimed at Puelles. But heās been looking like a bit of a darkhorse for a bit now and this is his big step up. Nothing wrong with it. And you have to take into account, Hooker is in desperation mode at this point. Heās lost 4 of his last 5 now and was stopped in 3 of them. Heās taken on all comers but results havenāt worked out for him. Looking back, I really think that war with Poirier in 2020 mightāve fucked him. Straight after that he got sat down quick by Chandler, since then Makhachev ran through him and then he dropped to 145 and got hammered by Arnold Allen in 2 minutes. Heās back at 155 for this. Itās not looking good though. Iām sure a lot of people will be picking him to get back in the win column here because heās the more well known and has obviously mixed at a higher level, but I donāt know. Puelles is gonna see this as his big chance to break through and heās looked a bit of a problem so far. Thatās him catching Clay Guida with a sweet kneebar back in April. Only took him 3 minutes. Heās a bit of a kneebar specialist. Heās got 4 kneebar finishes on his record now, 3 in the UFC. Heās Peruvian, still only 26 years old and heās 12-2 with 9 finishes. Mostly submissions. I like this matchup. We donāt know how good Puelles is yet so on paper itās a step up for him and probably a much needed step down for Hooker. If Hooker can keep it a striking match he should do well but I really think this could be a tricky one. Ā Brad Riddell vs Renato Moicano is a cracking little under the radar fight that I didnāt know was booked until now. Really like the sound of this. Riddell made a fan out of me straight away in his UFC debut with that crazy scrap against Jamie Mullarkey. If you havenāt watched it, get it watched. He also won a belting fight against Drew Dober last June. Heās fallen on hard times lately though. He got stopped by Rafael Fiziev and his spinning wheel kick in December. Then in July, Jalin Turner guillotined him in 45 seconds, which was a bit of a shocker. Hopefully he can get back on track here and at least make a fight of it. Moicanoās had a rough go of it himself. He hit a nice little patch with a couple of submission wins over Jai Herbert and Alexander Hernandez, but got absolutely battered to a pulp by RDA in his last fight in March. It was a short notice switch up so no shame there, but he took a right beating in that one. Not sure a dogfight with Riddell is a good idea coming off that. Ā Dominick Reyes vs Ryan Spann. Look whoās back! We havenāt seen Reyes since Jiri Prochazka wiped him out with that spinning elbow last May. So itāll have been 18 months on the shelf for him by the time this fight rolls around. To be honest though, he probably needed some time off after a knockout like that. It was a bad one. And heād been stopped by Jan Blachowicz in his fight before that as well. Itās mad how quickly things can turn. At the start of 2020 Reyes was riding high. He was undefeated and about to get a title shot. He came up short against Jon Jones but many felt like he won that fight and shouldāve got the decision. So his stock really didnāt take a big hit. If he couldāve gotten an immediate rematch with Jones back then, and there was some talk of it, who knows how his career trajectory wouldāve gone. Instead he got his brain scrambled by Jan and Jiri and fell right off the grid. Hopefully heās coming back refreshed here. 205 could do with all the players it can get. Spann isnāt an easy comeback fight for him but also not a ridiculous or insurmountable one either. Heās 20-7 and submitted Ion Cutelaba quickly in May. Heās hit and miss though. I never really know what to make of him. Looking at who heās lost to in recent years - Anthony Smith and Johnny Walker - youād think someone like Reyes shouldnāt have too much trouble with him. But after a big spell of inactivity and coming off 3 losses and a couple of knockouts, all bets are off really. Who knows how heāll look? Ā Erin Blanchfield vs Molly McCann then. I like the sound of this actually. After years of mediocrity and dull decisions in the UFC, something has happened to āMeatballā Molly this year. Sheās fought twice this year, on the London cards in March and July, and sheās suddenly developed a finishing move. I donāt know where it came from. Before this, sheād never finished anyone in the UFC. In just two fights, sheās got fans talking about her and Porky Paddy headlining cards and shit. Iāve said my piece on that, itās all a bit silly for me but whatever. You have to take into account the level of opposition. And thatās been my only criticism. While those back-to-back āspinning shitā finishes were cool, Luana Carolina and Hannah Goldy are absolute bottom rung level in the division. This is a different thing entirely because Blanchfield is supposed to be a bit of a prospect. Sheās only 23 and sheās 9-1, on a 6 fight winning streak and the only loss was a split decision against Tracy Cortez in 2019. Blanchfield wouldāve only been 19 at the time of that fight. Sheās already beat Miranda Maverick (who I think is decent), TUF finalist Brogan Walker and subbed JJ Aldrich last time out. Sheās a BJJ black-belt and meant to be a really strong grappler. If Molly beats her, itāll be a legit win because Blanchfield is a real opponent. Ā Andre Petroski vs Wellington Turman. Not too fussed, although I quite like what Iāve seen of Petroski so far. Heās 8-1, all finishes, and lost in the semi finals of TUF last summer against Bryan Battle. Since then though, heās gone 3-0 in the UFC. TKOād Micheal Gillmore, subbed Hu Yaozong and choked Nick Maximov out with an anaconda in about a minute in his last fight in May. That was a bit of an eye opener for a lot of people because I think there were decent expectations on Maximov and he was known for his ground game. Petroski catching him in a choke like that was pretty impressive. Turman does nothing for me though. Just never particularly rated him. He submitted Misha Cirkunov in February and got a massive split decision win over Sam Alvey before that! Just never been into watching him though. Hopefully another finish for Petroski. Ā Ottman Azaitar vs Matt Frevola. That picture of Frevola! I love this fight. Should be a lot of fun. We havenāt seen Azaitar for ages now but heās someone Iāve been interested in since he first burst into the Octagon. Heās Moroccan-German, 32 years old and undefeatedĀ at 13-0Ā with 12 coming inside the distance. Made his UFC debut way back in 2019 and did thisā¦ Just walloped Teemu Packalen in a round. Quite a first impression! Packalen hasnāt fought since. Azaitar followed that up with another quick knockout over Khama Worthy in 2020 and thatās been it. Heās been inactive ever since. He was actually supposed to fight Frevola in early 2021 on the undercard of Poirier vs McGregor 2 but things got weird. Potatoes!! š¤£ Thankfully, they kept Azaitar around but what a strange situation. Fuck knows what was really in that bag but I doubt it was some Maris Piper. Last I heard, Azaitar was linked to a fight with Paddy Pimblett on that London card in July but obviously nothing came of that. Hopefully this fight goes off without any controversy. Frevola probably saved his job last time out. Heād lost to Arman Tsarukyan, got knocked out in 7 seconds by Terrance McKinney, then in January they threw him in with newcomer Genaro Valdez, who was 10-0 with 10 finishes. It really felt like they were pushing Frevola out the door and feeding him to their new Mexican signing. But Frevola went out there like a man possessed and put Valdez away in a 3 minute barnburner. This should be good. Ā Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs Silvana Gomez Juarez isnāt setting any title picture alight but I canāt see it being boring. Big fan of Kowalkiewicz. Seems lovely and I donāt think there was a MMA fan alive who wasnāt happy to see her finally snap that losing streak and submit Felice Herrig in June. Sheād gone from being a top contender and beating Rose Namajunas a few years ago to having a nightmare few years before that Herrig fight. 5 losses on the bounce, injuries, layoffs, the lot. And then Herrig being a twat before the fight and refusing to shake hands at the weigh in, I think everyone was rooting for Karolina. Her winning and sending Herrig into retirement was genuinely one of my favourite feel-good moments this year. Unfortunately, I can see it all going horribly wrong for her here. Thatās Juarez knocking poor Liang Na into another dimension at UFC 275 in June. Juarez is far from a world beater herself and if we were talking about Kowalkiewicz at her best, Iād be picking her all day. But Iām still not convinced on Karolinaās comeback. The Herrig win was nice but a lot of it was probably just Herrig being on her last legs as well. Juarez isnāt the worst style matchup for Kowalkiewicz. Sheās shown weakness in the grappling and I could see Kowalkiewicz exploiting that. But Juarez is also a heavy hitter and Iāve just got no confidence in Karolinaās durability anymore. Pretty much a 50/50 but Iāve got a bad feeling Kowalkiewicz is getting sparked here. Ā Mike Trizano vs Seung Woo Choi. Nothing special but not bad. I wouldnāt usually give a bollocks about Trizanoās fights but he had a right corker with Lucas Almeida in June. He lost but it was a proper unexpected gem. So for that, Iām giving him the benefit of the doubt here and Iāll most likely watch this fight. He actually won TUF a while back as well, I always forget that. Mad how little that means now. I could still probably rattle off the names of all the TUF winners from the first 10 seasons but everything after about 2009, Iāve got no chance. This might be alright though. I vaguely recall Choi being OK to watch as well. Heās 10-5 and coming off a couple of losses. Pure filler but it might be decent. Ā Julio Arce vs Montel Jackson is actually a really fun one for the prelims. Neither are ever gonna make waves, Bantamweight is better than itās ever been and these two just arenāt cutting it past a certain level. But theyāre good fighters and usually pretty consistent when it comes to being entertaining to watch. Iām a fan of Arce (matron!). Heās 18-5 with 10 finishes and has had some good fights on undercards over the years and has shown flashes of potential at times but it hasnāt really gone anywhere for whatever reason. The highlights of his UFC career have been his decision win over Dan Ige in 2018 and his beautiful headkick knockout against Julian Erosa in 2019ā¦ That finish is ageing better with every Erosa win. Iām not as familiar with Jackson but similarly, heās had his moments. Heās 11-2 with 7 finishes, has won 5 of his last 6 with the only loss being a decision against Brett Johns a couple of years ago. Heās beat Jesse Strader and JP Buys in his last two. I favour Arce (behave) here but itās a bit of a coin flip really. Iām expecting a fun standup battle. Ā Carlos Ulberg vs Nicolae Negumereanu. Serious firework potential here. New Zealandās Ulberg came in with a bit of buzz after scoring a big knockout on DWCS in late 2020. Heās also a member of City Kickboxing so heās got connections, has a 19-2 Kickboxing record etc. I remember some excitement surrounding his UFC debut. It didnāt pan out though. He took on Kennedy Nzechukwu at UFC 259 last March and he was giving him a hiding for a round or so until Nzechukwu rallied for the big comeback KO. Obviously not ideal and briefly derailed Ulberg but he rebounded nicely with a points win over Fabio Cherant and a quick TKO over Tafon Nchukwi in his last fight in June. Back on track. Negumereanu is Romanian, 13-1 with 11 finishes and is currently riding a 4 fight winning streak. Nothing earth shattering on his record but he looked good beating up Ihor Potieria at UFC 277 in July. The fact he has a loss to shitehawk Saparbek Safarov on his record is something I canāt shake though. Ā Thatās 281! š„š„š„ Edited November 6, 2022 by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted October 7, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted October 7, 2022 This has been added. Supposedly Frankieās farewell fight. Iāve added a bit about it to the opening post. Bout order still isnāt confirmed yet but Iāve stuck it as the main card opener for now. Frankie should go out on a main card fight really, shouldnāt he? Ideally, I was hoping theyād book Edgar vs Dominick Cruz for Edgarās swansong. That wouldāve been a fitting fight to end on, maybe for both guys actually. But Iām guessing Cruz is taking time out after that Chito knockout and maybe Frankie didnāt wanna wait. Makes sense for his last fight to be at MSG anyway with it being so close to his neck of the woods in New Jersey. Itās definitely a winnable fight but I donāt know anymore. Frankieās in that Tony Ferguson phase of his career where I just have no faith in him being able to stand up to a clean shot anymore.Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted October 8, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted October 8, 2022 At least he gets to go out in New York. This is gonna be tremendousĀ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted November 6, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted November 6, 2022 This is less than a week away! Hereās the latest updated bout order. Edgarās swansong moved to the main card.Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted November 9, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted November 9, 2022 time to get fired up for this one, amazing card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted November 10, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted November 10, 2022 Iām gonna go ahead and assume these fuckers all lost their luggage on the flight to NYC and had to make do with whatever was in the lost property box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted November 11, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted November 11, 2022 It's not getting much love because it's coming off the worst title fight in UFC history, but does anyone give Esparza a shot against Zhang? I've written of Esparza many times, but i'm failing to see what she can do here to win. It feels like this is a 115lb pallet cleanser, and it'll rid Esparza from the title position which is a bit unfair but she's hardly endeared herself to the fans.Ā ...watch Esparza win in a fight of the night classic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thevestofdeanambrose Posted November 11, 2022 Share Posted November 11, 2022 I'm with you Egg, seems like an opportunity to get the belt off of Esparza and I don't really have a problem with it haha. So fingers crossed Zhang gets the job done!Ā I'm buzzing for the main event. I'm hoping it brings the best back out of Izzy and we get fireworks one way or another!Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dai Posted November 11, 2022 Share Posted November 11, 2022 Great write up! After getting the Makhavev and OMalley fights completley wrong in the predictions last month, Im not going to say the same thing about Pereira not being on Izzy's level, and Izzy being a different class. I do think Izzy should win this though. Hes a 1/2 favourate, which seems about right. Izzy has enough fight IQ to stay out of harms way for most of the fight, I think, and outpoint Pereira for the win. How amazing will Poirier/Chandler be? Aside from Gaethje, these are two of my favourate fighters. Physically impossible to be a bad fight.I assume the winner gets a title shot too. A massive shame its only three rounds. Two and a half years ago, Reyes could have been the undefeated LHW Champ, and the first man to beat Jon Jones, and been a legend of the sport. Instead, that decision went the other way, he lost his next two, and is a complete afterthought, not just on this card, but in the sport too. It can be an amazingly cruel sport, thats for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted November 11, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted November 11, 2022 Ive pretty much lost faith in Reyes, but the lay off might have done him good. He was basically in a position to become the next star at 205, it just all went wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted November 11, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted November 11, 2022 ive been completely sleeping on Poirier/Chandler, this must change... Im seeing a Poirer submission in the tea leaves, 2nd round. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kfogg1991 Posted November 11, 2022 Share Posted November 11, 2022 I'm genuinely going with Dustin vs Chandler as potential fight of the year candidateĀ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted November 12, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted November 12, 2022 Itās mad but Poirier vs Chandler really is one of those fights where it feels safe to predict as a FOTY contender before it even happens. Usually youād think youāre jinxing a fight by putting that out there but itās hard to see how those two can produce a fight thatās anything less than complete and utter mayhem. Very much like Gaethje vs Chandler on last yearās MSG card. It just feels like you justĀ know how itās gonna look.Ā On 11/11/2022 at 7:21 AM, Egg Shen said: It's not getting much love because it's coming off the worst title fight in UFC history, but does anyone give Esparza a shot against Zhang? I've written of Esparza many times, but i'm failing to see what she can do here to win. It feels like this is a 115lb pallet cleanser, and it'll rid Esparza from the title position which is a bit unfair but she's hardly endeared herself to the fans.Ā ...watch Esparza win in a fight of the night classic. Iām seeing tons of this like Esparza has no shot but I donāt know. Iām a Zhang fan and Iāve never liked Esparza so obviously I hope everyoneās right. But I donāt really know what the pretty much unanimous overwhelming confidence in Zhang winning is based on. Esparza is surely gonna be looking to wrestle and we really havenāt seen much of Zhang against wrestlers. And I seem to remember Rose getting takedowns on her in their second fight and Rose is hardly a takedown specialist. If it stays on the feet then yeah, Zhang smokes her. I think thatās what people must be pinning their hopes on. Seems like everyoneās expecting Esparza to do what she did in that awful fight with Rose. Basically just stand there and do fuck all. If she tries that shite tonight sheās getting cooked. But the vast majority of her fights are wrestling heavy and I just havenāt seen enough of Zhangās defensive wrestling to give me confidence. If she doesnāt get Esparza out of there early I just have this horrible feeling that sheās gonna get stifled to a points loss with lots of time spent with her back either against the cage or on the mat. Weāll see. I hope Zhang wins. Even though I still donāt think she deserved another title shot just yet. I just wanna see that belt off Esparza by any means necessary!Ā 12 hours ago, Dai said: How amazing will Poirier/Chandler be? Aside from Gaethje, these are two of my favourate fighters. Physically impossible to be a bad fight.I assume the winner gets a title shot too.Ā They might be waiting a while for a title shot though. I donāt know if the plan is still to do Makhachev vs Volkanovski but if it is, thatās probably not happening until the Perth card in February. Winner of that probably wonāt fight again until, my guess would be the big July PPV. I suppose thatās not too long a wait for the winner of Poirier vs Chandler to wait actually. I hope they donāt get the next title shot though. Fuckās sake. People were banging on that Makhachev hadnāt earned his shot but these fuckers just keep getting title shots, losing then winning one or two fights and getting another one. I know heās not the ānameā these two are but Iād like to see Beneil Dariush get the next crack at Makhachev if the Volk fight doesnāt happen. No doubt itāll be Poirier or Chandler though.Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted November 12, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted November 12, 2022 Pereira got dressed up for the weigh-in: scary bloke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted November 12, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted November 12, 2022 Bout order and start timesā¦ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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