UFC 283: Teixeira vs Hill - Jan 21 🇧🇷

[wandshogun09]

First PPV of 2023 and we’re off to Rio…

PPV MAIN CARD
Glover Teixeira vs Jamahal Hill - Vacant Light Heavyweight Title 

Deiveson Figueiredo©️ vs Brandon Moreno©️ - Undisputed Flyweight Title 

Gilbert Burns vs Neil Magny 

Lauren Murphy vs Jessica Andrade 

Paul Craig vs Johnny Walker

ESPN PRELIMS
Shogun Rua vs Ihor Potieria

Gregory Rodrigues vs Brunno Ferreira 

Thiago Moises vs Melquizael Costa 

Gabriel Bonfim vs Mounir Lazzez

ESPN+/FIGHT PASS PRELIMS 
Shamil Abdurakhimov vs Jailton Almeida

Luan Luiz Lacerda vs Cody Stamann 

Ismael Bonfim vs Terrance McKinney 

Warlley Alves vs Nicolas Dalby

Josiane Nunes vs Zarah Fairn

Daniel Marcos vs Saimon Oliveira 

 

First off, ignore the bout order. This is NOT the final card. I’ve read recently that the UFC actually tried to book Islam Makhachev vs Charles Oliveira 2 for this one, which I don’t really get, but Oliveira said he needed a break and couldn’t make this card. I don’t think that fight warranted an immediate rematch and I’d prefer Islam vs Volk next anyway, that one is getting more interesting to me the more I think about it. Also saw some talk of Amanda Nunes vs Julianna Pena 3 but it’s getting late in the day to get that booked now. This is where the UFC’s decision to go with Sterling vs Dillashaw has come back to bite them in the rectum. Sterling vs Aldo would’ve been the perfect fight for this card, and the perfect sendoff for Aldo. Oh well. As always, I’ll update this post as the card gets closer and reaches its final form.

 

Glover Teixeira vs Jamahal Hill is the new headliner. Thrown together just over a month out from the show. I’ll be honest, I think it’s bollocks that Figgy vs Moreno 4 has been bumped down to co-main for this. I mean this isn’t a bad fight but I’m not with this fetish the UFC has for ‘the heavier guys must go on last’. Whatever. We’re saying it with increasing frequency lately but the Light Heavyweight division really has became a shambles at this point. To think this used to be seen as the flagship division of the UFC years ago in the days of Liddell, Ortiz, Couture, Wandy, Shogun, Rampage and so on. Jon Jones came along and rinsed the division for years and gradually over time, it’s got a bit less interesting and a bit more shallow pretty much year on year. It’s been fairly slim pickings at the top end for a while now but Glover going all George Foreman and winning the title in his 40s in late 2021 was a great moment at least. And his 5 round war with Jiri Prochazka in June was incredible.

As I type this, there’s just over 2 weeks left of the year and this is still my #1 when it comes to FOTY talk. There’s been a couple of contenders that have come close-ish, but this is the one for me. Probably the best fight the division has seen since Jones vs Gustafsson 1 back in 2013. A back and forth classic that Glover was most likely winning, only to get subbed with under 30 seconds left in the last round. A complete rollercoaster ride of a fight. So when the immediate rematch was booked for UFC 282 in December, while many felt it wasn’t really warranted, nobody was exactly complaining about getting to see them lock horns again.

Wasn’t to be. A shoulder injury took new champ Prochazka out of the game. According to Dana (I know), the UFC’s doctors said it was “the worst shoulder injury they’d ever seen”. Jiri was clearly gonna be out for some time so he vacated the belt to let the division move on. Seemed simple enough, Jan Blachowicz vs Magomed Ankalaev, originally scheduled as co-main under Jiri-Glover 2, would now be promoted to main event to crown a new champion. Straight forward, right?

Wrong. They went to a split draw in a 5 round fight that wasn’t terrible but definitely lacked the spark you want out of a title fight, and certainly fell far short of what we most likely would’ve got out of the Jiri vs Glover rematch we were supposed to get. So we enter 2023 still without a champion at LHW. Dana was vocal about thinking Blachowicz vs Ankalaev was shite so, rather than just have them rematch again for the gold, he just decided to crack on with a completely different fight altogether. Bollocks but I can’t deny I wasn’t exactly in a hurry to see Jan-Ank 2 for the strap. And now Glover gets his shot after all…

At 43 years old, surely this is gonna be his last crack at UFC gold. In a weird division like 205, you never know. But surely he’s not gonna be fighting too much longer whatever the result here. When this fight was announced he was asked if he’d retire if he wins the belt back in Brazil. He shot that down and, to be honest, I don’t blame him. Becoming champ usually means a percentage of PPV buys for title defences and Glover deserves every bit of that for the time he’s put in. I think he’s much more likely to step away if he loses because a loss here would mean he’d have to work his way back into contention and who wants to do that again at 43? Myself I’d love to see him win the belt back and then call it a day and retire as champ. I realise that would once again leave the division in tatters with still no champ but balls to it. It’s a mess anyway. It’d be such a cool moment seeing one of the true good guys of MMA like Glover go out that way. That’s me though. For Glover, it doesn’t really make any sense to step away just at the point when the biggest paydays of your career are there. Working all those years for the big paydays only to walk away? Nah. I love that he’s getting this shot in Brazil though. When the Prochazka rematch fell apart he was offered the spot against Ankalaev for the vacant belt and he tried to get the UFC to push that fight back to this Rio card. They weren’t having it at that time because they needed a main event for 282. It’s all worked out in the end for Glover though. Chuffed for him and I really hope he gets it done. I’m not sure though.

This is a massive opportunity for Jamahal Hill. He’s been working his way up for a bit but wasn’t really seen as “in the mix” at the top end of the division. He’s 31 years old and has a near perfect record of 11-1-0-1 with 7 knockouts. The only blemishes being a No Contest against Klidson Abreu in 2020 that Hill initially won by first round TKO, but it got overturned when he tested positive for weed. Hard to even hold that against him as a blemish. The only real negative on his record is his submission loss to Paul Craig. Since then he’s knocked out both Jimmy Crute and Johnny Walker in a round. And in his last fight in August, he stopped Thiago Santos in the 4th round of their main event.

That’s his biggest win to date and it was a good fight as I recall. But I don’t know about Hill. He’s not a bad fighter and he’s got some power, he’s dangerous. But I’ve never been fully convinced by him for some reason. I remember watching that Santos fight and coming away basically feeling like that was as good as it’s probably getting for him. And even then, Santos has looked close to shot for a couple of years now and Hill still had to weather a storm early on against him. But this is almost a complete shot in the dark for me. Purely on overall skills, I’d pick Glover. He’s got the grappling advantage, the experience and he’s proven how tough and resilient he is over and over. But there have been fights where he’s been caught early and either finished there and then or never fully recovered and just taken a beating. I wouldn’t be shocked if Hill clipped him early. Especially as we don’t know what the lasting effects of that war with Jiri were. That was the kind of fight where neither guy might be the same again. Having a fight like that when you’re north of 40 is rough as fuck. I really hope Glover pulls it off. I think it’s certainly doable and I think I’m slightly favouring him but it’s almost a tossup for me with the timing of the matchup and how it’s all been thrown together. Can’t see it being boring anyway.

 

Deiveson Figueiredo vs Brandon Moreno 4! Champ vs interim champ. Honestly, these two might as well just get married at this point. Don’t get me wrong, it’s always a great fight when these two mix it up. They haven’t produced a bad fight yet. But four fights in just over 2 years is mental. This is a first as well. The first time ever in UFC history that a fucking quadrilogy has been needed to settle a score. And let’s be honest, regardless of the result here, this still might not be the end of their series!

They first met back in December 2020 in the main event of UFC 256. It always sounded like a hell of a fight on paper but I think it even surpassed those high expectations. Think I had it as the second best FOTY that year behind Zhang vs Jedrzejczyk. They went to war over 5 rounds and when it was all over, the judges declared it a draw. I remember at the time I felt that was a just call but on the rewatch I definitely had Figgy winning. It all came down to a point deduction for a groin strike which made the difference in the end. Whatever. It opened up the possibility for a rematch and that was no bad thing. To this day, Figgy vs Moreno 1 is the greatest fight in Flyweight history for me. Just tremendous stuff.

The rematch came in June 2021 at UFC 263. This time they played second fiddle to Izzy Adesanya’s dull title defence against Marvin Vettori. This was a completely different fight to the first one. Moreno put in what is surely the best performance of his entire career and submitted Figgy in 3 rounds. Again, a very entertaining fight. Not as good as the first but still exciting to watch, as these two always are. But it’s a funny one looking back. It felt like a combination of Moreno having the best night of his career and Fig having one of his worst after ballsing up the weight cut. There was a lot of talk of Figgy just sacking off Flyweight and moving up to 135 after this, he struggled badly making 125 for this second fight by all accounts. It sounds like excuses but when you look at how he fought in the first fight and then how Moreno pretty much just steamrolled him in the rematch just 6 months later, it does suggest something was up with Figgy. A fantastic moment for Moreno though. First ever Mexican born UFC champ.

The third fight went down in January 2022, again as co-main under Ngannou vs Gane at UFC 270. And once again, they delivered another brilliant fight. Figueiredo made weight comfortably this time, even came in a pound under ‘championship weight’ at 124lbs, and looked much more like the Figgy we saw in the first fight than the rematch. They went the distance and Figgy came out on top, reclaiming his Flyweight gold.

It was another hotly debated decision though. I didn’t see the controversy myself but a lot of people seemed to have Moreno winning. It’s pretty wild to think these guys have shared the Octagon 3 times now, they’ve fought each other for around about an hour total, and there’s still no outright superior fighter. My scoreline over the trilogy favours Figgy 2-1 but it was nip and tuck all the way and Moreno’s performance and finish in the second fight helps his case as well.

Such a great rivalry. Just a shame they’ve spammed the absolute bollocks out of it. Especially looking at it from the Figgy side. This’ll be the fourth time in a row he’ll have fought Moreno. Two years plus of fighting Moreno exclusively. At least Moreno had that Kai Kara-France fight over the summer to break things up a bit. Even that was a bit weird though. Not the fight itself but the fact they made it for an interim title. I didn’t think that was necessary but you know the UFC and their interims. I get the feeling the UFC would definitely prefer Moreno to come out on top of this rivalry. They’ve always had a bit of a stiffy for their Mexican stars anyway and I don’t think the relationship behind the scenes between Figgy and Dana is all that great either. Nothing huge I can point to but just little things at media scrums and stuff, the way Dana’s reacted to questions about Figgy recently, the fact they were so quick to make an interim title fight for Moreno etc. And even when Moreno fought KKF, Rogan was banging on that he considered Moreno “the real Flyweight champion” or some pish. Despite Figgy being in attendance that night and legitimately beating him for said belt just months earlier.

Apparently, Figgy’s dropped Wallid Ismail as his manager as well. Initially they seemed to part on friendly terms, with Wallid wishing him luck and all that good stuff. But Figgy claimed that Wallid didn’t tell the UFC about his hand injury and that he wasn’t made aware of the UFC creating an interim belt in his absence. Being the lunatic he is, Wallid didn’t take it well.

“From the beginning I didn’t want to speak out so as not to expose Deiveson. I informed Deiveson that the UFC would create the interim if he couldn’t fight in July. The UFC was aware that he was injured. He made a statement in the press that he would only like to fight Kai Kara-France in October, although I asked him to fight Brandon Moreno again, as this would be the best fight for his career.”

“He wants to look for someone to blame for his wrong decisions. This vagabond has become a shameless bastard. First he lied saying that I hadn’t warned him about the interim belt. The bastard told me he didn’t care. The bastard apologised to me for lying, now he’s telling another lie. You’re very naughty, Deiveson. I told the UFC that he was injured and could only fight in October. This bastard asked me to say that.” - Wallid Ismail 

“You’re very naughty, Deiveson” 🤣 picture Wallid saying that shit.

But yeah, I think part of the reason we’ve ended up here again is because of some other contenders kind of eliminating themselves from the race. It hasn’t really helped matters that Alexandre Pantoja was injured for a bit and they couldn’t get Askar Askarov in the cage for love nor money for whatever reason. They’ve gone back to old faithful again…

Part 4. That little face off was from just after Moreno beat Kara-France in July. I enjoyed their interaction there. Wasn’t any silly fake trash talk or pushing and shoving but it still felt like a big deal to me. It felt genuine. I don’t think there even is any beef between these two. It’s all just about who’s the best. Figgy was even asked about it after and he said he got in there fully intending to stir up some shit, get in Moreno’s face and cause a scene but Moreno’s so nice he disarmed him 😂 you can tell there’s a lot of respect there. But that’s not gonna matter with these two. I’d still expect it to get a bit nasty as the fight approaches just because Figgy’s a bit of a nutcase and quite unpredictable. But it’s not gonna go too far. At this point I don’t know what to expect here. Other than another cracking fight. That’s one thing you can count on with these two. And it being in Brazil will add a new flavour to it, I guess. Who knows? They’re 1-1-1 now. It doesn’t get any more even. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a 5th fight down the road. Maybe they could do that one in Mexico?

 

Gilbert Burns vs Neil Magny kind of makes sense at this point. A guy who will fight anyone against a guy who will fight anyone. Adds up, doesn’t it. It’s a little bit disappointing because there was a lot of talk of Burns vs Jorge Masvidal for a while but obviously nothing came of it. According to Burns, the UFC tried to make that fight on about 3 different cards at the end of 2022 and couldn’t get Jorge to commit to a date. Burns naturally wanted on this Brazil card and the UFC just moved on and started looking at other options for him. Burns recently did a podcast where he threw down the gauntlet to pretty much the entire Welterweight division. From Belal Muhammad to Michael Chiesa to Michel Pereira to Daniel Rodriguez. He chucked Magny’s name in as well and Magny accepted the challenge. We last saw Burns in April, having that awesome fight with Khamzat Chimaev.

Wouldn’t be my #1 but it’s a fight that’s definitely near the top of my FOTY list for 2022. And see what I mean when I say Burns will fight anyone? None of the bigger names at 170 seemed keen on putting pen to paper to fight Chimaev. Burns signed on the dotted line without hesitation. He gives zero fucks. He fought Wonderboy straight after losing his title shot against Usman as well. How many top contenders do you see taking a tricky fight like that after coming up short in a title fight? Burns is quality. Seems a top bloke as well. I’d love to see him get back in the title mix. Magny is nobody’s pushover though. I’ve been critical of him in the past for being a bit of a dullard and I stand by it, he has been at times. But fair’s fair, he’s got a set on him. Him and Burns are cut from similar cloth. Like the Burns vs Chimaev situation, Magny took on Shavkat Rakhmonov in June, and nobody is calling that fucker out. He got subbed but he had that balls to take the fight and try to give Shavkat the test we needed to see. He’s since bounced back with a sweet submission win over D-Rod in November. I’m not expecting a classic or anything but I quite like this fight.

 

Lauren Murphy vs Jessica Andrade isn’t doing a great deal for me, to be honest. I’m a big fan of Andrade, she’s ace. One of the more consistently entertaining female fighters on the roster, and has been for some time now. But I’ve never found Murphy particularly fun to watch. And at 39 years old, I don’t see why that would suddenly become the case now. Maybe I’m being overly harsh. Maybe Andrade can drag it to something more enjoyable. We’ll see. In fairness to Murphy, she’s won 6 of her last 7 and is coming into this fight off a points win over Miesha Tate in July. But even then, Tate looks done herself so that doesn’t say a lot really. Murphy isn’t even a bad fighter, I just don’t really look forward to her fights at all. Andrade on the other hand, I’ll always make time to watch. Crazy to think really that she’s not long turned 31. Feels like she’s been around forever. She’s 23-9 now, coming off a couple of first round finishes over Cynthia Calvillo and Amanda Lemos. She stopped Katlyn Chookagian in a round with a brutal body shot a while ago as well, so you know I’m a fan. Love watching her. Reminds me of a female John Lineker. Not as powerful, obviously, but just her being this little short ball of aggression. Be nice to see her pick up an impressive win in front of a home crowd here. Although one thing about Murphy is she’s very durable. The only time she’s been stopped was by Valentina Shevchenko so Andrade is gonna have to bring the heat to put her away.

 

Paul Craig vs Johnny Walker has the potential to be the weirdest fight in the history of the Light Heavyweight division. I’m torn on this one as well. I like Craig a lot, seems a good guy and him becoming a bit of a Scottish Big Nog and pulling submissions out of his arse from the brink of defeat makes it hard not to be a fan of him. I must say as well, and this is a completely useless bit of information that has fuck all to do with the actual fight - he’s one of the few people I’ve seen have that hair transplant shite done and actually look better for it. His hairline was backing up like Kalib Starnes against Nate Quarry (one for the old fucks) but whatever he had done it’s worked for him. Johnny Walker is probably my favourite 205er these days though.

Love the bloke, his whole vibe, his wacky fighting style, his weirdness. He’s just fun. If I had to sum him up in one word, it’s definitely fun. He’s wildly unpredictable and I never have confidence that he’ll win but I do always root for him. Same here. First time I’ll be rooting against Paul Craig since he fought Shogun. I’m really just hoping for a good fight out of this though. I’m not too fussed about the result itself.

 

Shogun Rua vs Ihor Potieria. Christ. Yeah I don’t like this much. I’m sure this is supposed to be Shogun’s last fight. There’s been rumblings of him retiring for a while now and I know there was a lot of talk that he had retired after he lost that second fight with Paul Craig a couple of years ago. He took about a year and a half off following that loss and I think all Shogun fans just quietly assumed/hoped he’d called it a day and moved on with his life. Then he popped up for a rematch with OSP in May, that not a single fucker on earth was asking for. And he lost a split decision in a depressingly and predictably awful fight. A lot of people thought Shogun should’ve got the decision, I did too, but who really gives a fuck at this point? It’s going nowhere. It’s been over for years. I’ll always tune in and I’ll always root for him. He had an awesome run, one of my favourite fighters ever, the Pride GP run in 2005 was incredible, solved the Machida puzzle, gave us stone cold classics with Hendo, Little Nog and even Brandon Vera! A true legend and should 100% be a Hall Of Famer. But…

Give it up fella. It’s over. If we knew for a fact that this was actually his real farewell fight, like absolutely definitely the end, then I’d be fine with it. At least he gets to go out in Brazil. But I’ve got a horrible feeling that this’ll just be his last fight ‘in the UFC’ and he’ll be getting his face smashed to bits in BKFC or Eagle FC this time next year. I’ve only seen Potieria fight once, it was his UFC debut in July, and he got battered to a TKO loss by Nicolae Negumereanu. That gives me some hope for Shogun. I guess. But no, I’ve got this sinking feeling in my stomach that this prick is gonna iron Shogun out in front of his home crowd. He’s Ukrainian, only 26 years old and he’s 18-3 with 14 finishes. Not a bad record but he’s a ham and egger compared to Shogun and I hate that he’s probably gonna be the one to send him packing. They could’ve at least given us an all babyface, all Brazil clash between Shogun and Johnny Walker seeing as they’re on the same card anyway. Cunts.

 

Gregory Rodrigues vs Brunno Ferreira then. Gutted the original ‘Robocop’ vs Brad Tavares fight fell apart but this still sounds well worth tuning in for. I’m gonna keep this as ***WAND’S ONE TO WATCH*** despite having never seen Ferreira fight before. Sod it. Rodrigues is ace. Expect most of his fights going forward to get the ‘one to watch’ treatment from me. He’s always a highlight of any card he appears on.

That’s the aftermath of his last fight. A crazy couple of rounds against Chidi Njokuani back in September. I’ve been a fan of Rodrigues since his UFC debut. He’s fought 5 times in the UFC since and there hasn’t been a dull moment yet. Just absolutely hard as nails and game to scrap with anyone. That Njokuani fight was the maddest yet though. Gets a big old chunk of his head smashed away and shrugs it off, keeps fighting and makes the other guy wilt? I really think when Chidi did all that damage he thought for sure it was over. Then he looked across the cage and saw Rodrigues with a big hole in his head smiling back at him and it just broke him mentally. Rodrigues crushed him after that. Maybe the most nutty thing about it though, wasn’t even the fight itself. It was a few days later when he was already campaigning to get on this Brazil card! For fuck’s sake man. Sat there with a gaping hole still in his head, and he’s on Twitter trying to get another fight booked. I tweeted something like that at the time, calling him a madman, and Rodrigues actually retweeted it 😂 his wife gave birth around that time as well so you can see why he’s urgent to get back in there and make some coin. Seems such a likeable guy as well. Basically the Brazilian Gerald Meerschaert. I’d love to see him get another win on home soil here but this sounds like a risky one on paper. Ferreira sounds like the kind of late replacement who could easily be a banana skin and spring an upset. 9-0, 9 finishes and coming off a quick TKO on DWCS in September. Sounds like it’ll be fun.

 

Thiago Moises vs Melquizael Costa is a late change to the card and another Brazil vs Brazil clash. Really disappointed about this because the original bout was Moises vs Guram Kutateladze and I was looking forward to seeing Kutateladze back in action but he’s out with a staph infection. This doesn’t sound bad under the circumstances but it’s not what it could’ve been. Moises isn’t anything special but he’s solid enough. His 16-6 record doesn’t sound too good but, to be fair to him, he’s mixed with some very tough opposition over the years. He’s gone the distance with Beneil Dariush and Damir Ismagulov and lasted until the 4th round against current Lightweight champion Islam Makhachev before succumbing to a choke. He has beat Michael Johnson, Bobby Green and Alexander Hernandez along the way. Not too shabby at all. Costa steps in on less than 2 weeks notice. An interesting looking chap. He has vitiligo, a skin condition of which Michael Jackson was the most famous case. In MMA circles, ex WEC/UFC fighter Scott Jorgensen also had it. Costa is 26 years old with a record of 19-5 with 13 finishes, has fought in LFA and PFL and comes into this fight off a couple of TKO wins.

 

Gabriel Bonfim vs Mounir Lazzez then. Both Bonfim brothers debuting on this card. Pretty cool. Gabriel is the younger brother and sounds like the better prospect but time will tell. He’s 25 years old and unbeaten at 13-0 with all his wins coming inside the distance. Most of them submissions. He became LFA Welterweight champion in March and got a quick sub on DWCS in September. Lazzez is a bit of a weird case. The story on him is he got signed in 2020 during a trip to Fight Island because Dana White’s son’s friend who lives in Abu Dhabi kept talking about Lazzez and saying Dana should put him on a card. So Dana did it. Seriously. He came in and beat Abdul Razak Alhassan on points in his debut. Not a bad win and he showed toughness by surviving and weathering Alhassan’s storm in that one. Not many do. Since then though, we’ve barely seen him. Warlley Alves ruined him with a horrible body kick in January 2021. Then Lazzez never fought again until April 2022, beating Ange Loosa by decision in a fight I have no recollection of. He’s 11-2 now and I’m not as convinced as Dana’s kid’s little buddy. He’s got a fairly exciting style from what I remember but what good’s that if he only fights once every 15 months? 

 

Shamil Abdurakhimov vs Jailton Almeida will be worth a look. I’m sure they’ve tried to make this fight a couple of times already. I could swear I’ve previewed it before. I don’t know about this Abdurakhimov chap. He seems to have form for dropping out of fights when he’s matched with a beast prospect. I clearly remember the UFC booking him against Ciryl Gane a bunch of times when Gane was on the climb and he kept pulling out then as well. So I’m not holding my breath here. To be fair to the big lummox, he’s actually not got a bad record overall. 20-7 with wins over the likes of Andrei Arlovski, Marcin Tybura, Walt Harris and even Jeff Monson and Sokoudjou in his pre-UFC days. He’s just so…forgettable though. I know I’ve seen most of those fights but I remember nothing of any of them. That says it all really. He’s 41 now and coming off 3 straight TKO losses. We last saw him getting decked on the London card in March by Sergei Pavlovich. That’s one he probably should’ve ducked in hindsight. It’s pretty much over for him. So what do they do?

Feed him to this fucker. Almeida’s a bit of a mystery really. He’s looked the real deal so far and there’s starting to be some legitimate buzz around him but he hasn’t faced anyone that good yet so the jury’s kind of out. But from what we’ve seen so far, he’s handled the opposition he’s had with zero issues and looked dominant in the process. Can’t really ask for any more than that. He’s a decade younger at 31 and has a record of 17-2 with 17 finishes. Ran through some sod on DWCS to get in, then squashed Danilo Marques in his Octagon debut in February. This was all at 205lbs. In May he took a short notice fight at Heavyweight against Parker Porter and easily submitted him in a round. Then right enough, he was scheduled to face Abdurakhimov at UFC 279 in September but the Russian withdrew and Almeida ended up crushing newcomer Anton Turkalj in a Catchweight bout instead. And here we are. I’m still not sure about Jailton long term at Heavyweight, I wanted to see more of him at 205, but whatever. I can’t see him having too much hassle in this one. That’s if Abdurakhimov actually shows up this time. Coming off 3 stoppage losses and being matched up with Almeida again, it sounds like an ideal time for him to phone in sick again. Definitely feels like a case of the UFC killing two birds with one stone here. Send the Brazilian fans home happy, and send Abdurakhimov home full-stop.

 

Luan Luiz Lacerda vs Cody Stamann is just there filling a prelim slot at first glance. Might be worth a go though. Never heard of Lacerda but looking him up on Sherdog, he sounds like a good signing. Record of 12-1 with 10 submissions, 10 fight winning streak, has traveled around a bit, fought in Shooto Brazil and LFA a bunch, has a submission win over UFC Bantamweight Raulian Paiva. Not bad. Stamann’s kind of fallen on hard times though. 33 years old now, 20-5-1 record. He’s been in with some of the best over the years but he’s been floundering more recently. Didn’t help that he got fed to Jimmie Rivera, Merab Dvalishvili and Said Nurmagomedov in consecutive fights either. That put him on a 3 fight losing skid that he’s only just escaped. But even then it was a quick TKO over last legs Eddie Wineland who retired immediately after the fight. It’s definitely got the feel of them setting Stamann up for the kill here. Bringing this new Brazilian in, in Brazil, who’s on a winning streak, and throwing a struggling Stamann in with him. We’ll see though. They tried the same chucking Matt Frevola with debuting Mexican knockout artist Genaro Valdez a year ago and Frevola clobbered him.

 

Ismael Bonfim vs Terrance McKinney will probably be fun however long it lasts. You know the score with McKinney by now. Not without his flaws but he’s a ridiculously fast starter and that always makes for an edge of the seat feeling when his fights kick off. He genuinely might be the fastest starter on the roster at the moment. Shades of young Vitor Belfort. He’s 13-4 and of his 13 wins, 12 came in the first round, 5 in less than a minute! Who can forget his UFC debut when he knocked out Matt Frevola in just 7 seconds?! Considering how tough we know Frevola is, that was insane. But like I say, not without his faults. Not easy to get through McKinney’s initial blast but Drew Dober showed in March that if you can do it, McKinney’s not quite the same. Bonfim makes his UFC debut here. 26 years old, quite a bit of experience at 18-3 with 12 finishes. He’s on a 12 fight winning streak and coming off a decision victory on DWCS in September. A quick look down his record and the only real recognisable name there is Adriano Moraes (the guy who’s gone 1-1 against Mighty Mouse over in ONE) who beat Bonfim very early in his career.

 

Warlley Alves vs Nicolas Dalby is alright. Not counting the days or anything but it’s decent enough prelim fodder. Alves has been knocking around forever and at one time was actually kind of threatening to become a bit of a player at 170. He won TUF Brazil 3 back in 2014 and then racked up a few wins in the UFC after that. By the end of 2015 he was undefeated at 10-0 and had just made short work with a quick submission over some jabroni named Colby…

I’ll always have a bit of a soft spot for him for that. That was the same night as McGregor vs Aldo though, so you can see why it got quickly forgotten. Sadly, that was the peak for Alves as well. He’s gone 4-5 since and will have been inactive around 18 months by the time he steps into the cage for this one. He turns 32 just before this card so it’s not like he’s old. But his inconsistency and the long layoffs have really killed him off. He’s still got the skills. Even in early 2021, he murdered Mounir Lazzez with a vicious body kick and Lazzez was being talked up as a prospect going in. In isolated performances on a good night he still looks really good. He just can’t seem to build up any momentum whatsoever. Shame really. Dalby’s the older man at 38 and hasn’t really been that much busier himself. He’s only fought once this year and once last year. Still more than Alves but it’s not ideal. Dalby’s not bad but he hasn’t blown me away in this UFC stint either. This feels like a bit of a coin flip at this stage but I’d like to see Alves get the win and hopefully build off it, or at least stay a bit more active in ‘23.

 

Josiane Nunes vs Zarah Fairn. Nothing going on here. Probably gonna be first or second fight down on Fight Pass with not a single fuck given. If nothing else though, Nunes can whack a bit. She’s 9-1 with 7 knockouts. She blitzed poor Bea Malecki in her UFC debut then bashed Ramona Pascual around the Octagon in her last fight in February. Fairn’s proper crap from my very vague memory of her. 36 years old, 6-4 record and she’s 0-2 in the UFC with first round stoppage losses to Megan Anderson and Felicia Spencer. Actually, that’s what this is, isn’t it? A shameless squash match. Looking at both their records, I’d be amazed if Nunes doesn’t absolutely flatten her. Probably in a round. That’s why it’s here. Stick it on early in the card to get the Brazilian crowd warmed up and give them something to cheer about.

 

Daniel Marcos vs Saimon Oliveira. Not a clue on this, to be honest. Never seen Marcos and I’m vague on Oliveira. Marcos is making his Octagon debut here. He’s from Peru, 29 years old and undefeated at 13-0 with 7 knockouts. None of the names on his record are jumping out at me but he’s coming off a points win on DWCS in September. Oliveira is Brazilian, 31 and has a record of 18-4 with 16 finishes, mostly submissions. He made his UFC debut on the Ngannou-Gane undercard about a year ago but lost a decision to Tony Gravely. I think I saw it but it’s hazy. Might be alright actually, neither have bad records on the face of it, despite fighting lesser known opposition.

 

 

That’s UFC Rio 🏝️🏝️🏝️

Edited January 21, 2023 by wandshogun09

[wandshogun09]

Updated the opening post and the poll to include the new main event.

Is it just me who feels like Figgy vs Moreno 4 should’ve stayed on top of this one? More history there, it’s most likely gonna be the better fight on the night and, unlike Glover-Hill, it’s legitimately the two best fighters in their division hopefully deciding once and for all who the top dog is. I know it doesn’t really matter in the end but I think the Flyweights definitely deserved top billing here. Glover and Hill are in a title fight through circumstances because of Jiri’s injury, the Jan-Ank draw and Dana’s knee jerk reaction. Figgy and Moreno are there because they’re #1 and #1a in their weight class and have been putting out bangers left and right. The heavier weight title fight shouldn’t always automatically go on last. 

Edited December 16, 2022 by wandshogun09

[WeeAl]

I agree with you here 100%. The main event of this one should be the fucking fourth fight in a rivalry between two of the best that have graced a division since it existed. Madness that they bumped it. We all love Glover, but I can see how Moreno and Figgy would have felt snubbed by this. 

[Egg Shen]

They don't always stick to it but the UFC do usually go by the rule that the heavier weight get's the higher billing.

[wandshogun09]

This photo of Gregory Rodrigues and his baby is class. That smile 😊 Rodrigues’ head is healing up nicely as well but there’s gonna be some mad scar tissue there. Gonna be wincing every time he takes a punch in this next fight. 

[wandshogun09]

Shogun’s list of injuries from his career. I’m sure this isn’t even all of them but it’s the main ones. He’s basically the ‘Trigger’s broom’ of MMA fighters. Everything’s been replaced at some point. When you really look back at his career, it’s incredible that he was able to accomplish so much considering the major injuries started piling up very early into his UFC career and only got worse over the years. He had to revamp his whole style in the late 2000s because his wheels were gone and yet he was still good enough to solve the Machida riddle, become UFC champion and have a couple more classics before the sharp decline really kicked in. And even then he was winning fights to a point. Makes me wonder what his career could’ve been had he been able to stay mostly injury free. His days as 205 champ were never gonna last with Jon Jones on the rise at the same time, but a drop to 185 could’ve been a success for a healthy Shogun back then, I think. Emphasis on the ‘healthy’ bit though. Once the knees were shot, I don’t think he could put in the cardio that would’ve been required to make that cut to Middleweight. What a career though. These kids today don’t realise. A true legend. 

Edited December 26, 2022 by wandshogun09

[Egg Shen]

Shogun is on the main card now in place of Craig/Walker too

[wandshogun09]

Makes complete sense.

[wandshogun09]

Well I wanted Glover to win anyway but Jamahal Hill’s piped up on the Dana thing and…

[WeeAl]

Jesus Christ. I guess in MMA (and wrestling and probably many other sports) we've got to assume everyone is a dirt bag until they prove otherwise. 

[wandshogun09]

Few changes to this card with 2 weeks to go. Mostly just changes to the bout order. Shogun’s fight is back on the prelims and Craig vs Walker is now opening the PPV. I could swear they’ve swapped those two fights around a few times now so don’t count on it.

The shittest news though, is that Guram Kutateladze is out of his fight with Thiago Moises. Really sucks. I really rate him but it seems like he just can’t catch a break or stay healthy and build any kind of momentum. Don’t know if Moises is staying on the card but here’s how the card is shaping up a fortnight out.

[wandshogun09]

Of course my ‘one to watch’ is dead in the water now. Of course it is. Again, fuck 2023 already. Dry.

Hopefully they find him a replacement but on this kind of notice it’s probably not gonna be anyone of note.

[Egg Shen]

yeah i needs me some Robocop on this show

[Egg Shen]

Robocop has a fight:

Ferreira is coming off the Contenders show, 9-0 with 9 finishes. Give me the violence.

[wandshogun09]

I know you have to take any retirement talk from fighters with a pinch of salt but this quote from Shogun sounds promising. I was sure this would be his UFC farewell but that he’d probably pop up in BKFC or something. As of right now though, it doesn’t sound like that’s the plan.