TildeGuy~! Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 I think Jones looks good at Heavyweight, let’s face it, no one was thinking he’ll come in packing a ton of muscle the only way I see him losing this is the fact he’s been out of the cage for so long, I think Gane will be his toughest opponent at this weight class anyways so if he wins tomorrow I see Jones holding the belt for quite some time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kfogg1991 Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 22 minutes ago, TildeGuy~! said: I think Jones looks good at Heavyweight, let’s face it, no one was thinking he’ll come in packing a ton of muscle the only way I see him losing this is the fact he’s been out of the cage for so long, I think Gane will be his toughest opponent at this weight class anyways so if he wins tomorrow I see Jones holding the belt for quite some time. I was pretty fucking confident from the moment this fight was announced all the way up till this week and now I just have this absolute overwhelming feeling that Jones is going too win this one and yeah that feeling genuinely isn't a good one for me personally because I am really really sour on Jon Jones. I constantly find myself locked in the argument about him being the GOAT and one of the greatest too ever step into a ufc cage and I would absolutely agree with that if he hadn't had all the suspensions for steroids, the really really dark grim shit outside the cage ext ext. I hand on heart believe that the complete package is what makes the true GOAT in any sport and because of that Jon Jones isn't close too that achievement. But yeah I don't see gane doing what Is needed to get the job done tomorrow night Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panhead Posted March 4, 2023 Share Posted March 4, 2023 Feel free to tell me that I've got my blinkers on, but you'd be forgiven for thinking that Valentina actually had an opponent tonight. I'll fully admit tomorrow that I got it wrong if she gets sparked out, but I genuinely believe that Grasso is going to be aggressive and cause her problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted March 4, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted March 4, 2023 Any thoughts on the remainder of the card? Shevchenko/Grasso is just there for me. Shevechenko has fallen into Mighty Mouse title defence territory for me but you do sense she's on the slide so this could be the night she gets upset. No real thoughts on how it goes though, I just hope it delivers. Really interested in Nickal/Pickett, there's absolutely no respect for Pickett on the betting lines, you can get decent odds on him surviving a round. I think this could go longer than people thing, Nickal will win it but I hope he at least encounters some resistance so see how he deals with it. Garbrandt/Jones, Gamrot/Turner, Rakhmovov/Neal, this is good shit. The return of Ian Garry has flown under the radar too. It's quite intereresting that's been relegated down to the Fight Pass prelims considering it's his 4th UFC fight and a guy like Nickal is on the PPV, the hype has definitely cooled. Gotta feel Garry would have been better suited to that upcoming UK show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted March 4, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted March 4, 2023 3 minutes ago, Panhead said: Feel free to tell me that I've got my blinkers on, but you'd be forgiven for thinking that Valentina actually had an opponent tonight. I'll fully admit tomorrow that I got it wrong if she gets sparked out, but I genuinely believe that Grasso is going to be aggressive and cause her problems. it's going to happen at some point. It would actually be a bit of a shame for it to happen now though when you have a legit monster challenger emerging in Erin Blanchfield. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted March 4, 2023 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 4, 2023 (edited) Today’s the day then. 😬😬😬 It’s still not too late for something to cock this up. We were reminded of that last week when we were informed that the Krylov vs Spann main event got binned while the show was underway. And we are talking about Jon Jones here. It seems like this might actually be happening though. 1 hour ago, Panhead said: Feel free to tell me that I've got my blinkers on, but you'd be forgiven for thinking that Valentina actually had an opponent tonight. I'll fully admit tomorrow that I got it wrong if she gets sparked out, but I genuinely believe that Grasso is going to be aggressive and cause her problems. 1 hour ago, Egg Shen said: Shevchenko/Grasso is just there for me. Shevechenko has fallen into Mighty Mouse title defence territory for me but you do sense she's on the slide so this could be the night she gets upset. No real thoughts on how it goes though, I just hope it delivers. I just don’t see Grasso being the one. I like her and she’s not a bad fighter at all but there’s not much to base predicting her to win on from what we’ve seen. A pretty face isn’t gonna cut it, I’m afraid 😂 Aggression is all well and good but that could also work against her. I actually think her Boxing is probably better than Shev’s but it’s not likely Val engages her in that kind of one-note fight for 25 minutes. Even the talk of Shevchenko possibly being on the slide, I don’t know if we’re reading too much into that. She literally had one iffy performance in her last fight against Santos and we’re talking declines. She’s had a long career and she’s mid 30s so I get it. But even if she has lost a step or two, she’s still gonna be a significant step up from anyone Grasso has beat so far. With all that said, I’d kind of like to see Grasso pull off the upset tonight. It would really shake things up and make things interesting. Especially when you can then add in Santos, Blanchfield and maybe even Suarez down the line. Things could finally pick up at Flyweight. Plus, I’ve kind of soured a little bit on Shevchenko lately. The way she completely dismissed talk of a Santos rematch as if she won that fight easily was a bit off. And I’ve noticed recently that any time there’s a fighter coming up at 125 who looks promising, Shev starts throwing little digs out there. She’s been getting quite arsey about Grasso this week. Nothing major just acting like Grasso has been talking shit for daring to fancy her chances from what I can gather. She’s had a little pop at Erin Blanchfield recently as well. Nothing too scathing but there’s a real condescending tone to it. I think it’s very interesting that she’s throwing little digs about now. Part of me likes that she’s being more vocal but it’s interesting to me why she’s doing it now. She’s never been one for that before, why now? It’s like she’s starting to feel the heat a bit now there’s a couple of challengers coming up who actually might be able to do something to her. I think she was quite content to just keep racking up these easy title defences and it’s like she doesn’t like it now those days might be coming to an end. Just feels like any time there’s a fighter people start talking about who could actually pose some kind of threat to Shevchenko, she starts playing them down and acting like they’re not worthy of a shot. Then she’ll happily face a Lauren Murphy or Jennifer Maia type. When you really think about it, if Shevchenko keeps winning she could end her career with an incredible run of fights. In no particular order… • Alexa Grasso tonight. Personally I think Grasso loses clearly but she’s an exciting fighter who could potentially give Shevchenko one of the most entertaining fights of her reign. Fun fights aren’t something Val’s been known for so it would be nice for her legacy if she could get one banger on the record before it’s all over. • Erin Blanchfield. Taking on a young prospect who everyone is high on at the moment and who, on paper, stylistically could pose an interesting threat to her would only strengthen her resume. • Taila Santos rematch. It’s the only ‘controversial’ win on Shevchenko’s record. Some had Santos winning, some thought Shev getting the decision was correct. But there’s a real debate there so running it back, winning decisively and erasing all doubt would be a positive for Shevchenko. • Tatiana Suarez. This one’s a way off as Suarez has only just got back in there. I wouldn’t wanna see her rushed into a title fight too soon. But like Blanchfield, style-wise she brings a skillset we haven’t seen Shevchenko deal with that much. Unfortunately this one is further away than many think though. I read the other day that Suarez is dropping back to Strawweight for her next fight. She’ll no doubt be back at Flyweight at some point but will Shev even still be around by then? That’s a fascinating matchup but one I think might get away. • And of course, there are always ‘Superfights’ with Zhang Weili and/or Amanda Nunes. I’d be well up for either of them, although I’m much more into the Zhang fight just because it’s fresh and we’ve seen Shev vs Nunes twice already. I think Shevchenko vs Zhang could be brilliant. But either or both of these fights would be cool for Shev’s legacy. There aren’t enough, or really any, ‘big’ fights at Flyweight alone. A Superfight or two never hurts. For the longest time it’s felt like there’s been nothing out there on the horizon for Shevchenko so those unappealing tick-over title defences were fine. She could only fight who was around. But I think there’s a comfort that’s came with that for her, maybe a little bit of complacency creeping in. You’d think with a limited number of fights and years left in her career, she’d want to maximise that and go for big fights that will boost her legacy and bank balance. And as I’ve pointed out, things have picked up. There are actually, finally, some good fights for her. But I don’t know. I get the feeling she’d be quite happy to just coast the rest of her career. She’ll probably angle for a Jessica Eye rematch or something after this Grasso fight. Edited March 4, 2023 by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted March 4, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted March 4, 2023 Donnie Darko weighs in... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BigJag Posted March 4, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted March 4, 2023 Is that what McGregor was introducing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted March 4, 2023 Share Posted March 4, 2023 14 minutes ago, BigJag said: Is that what McGregor was introducing? It was indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted March 4, 2023 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 4, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dai Posted March 4, 2023 Share Posted March 4, 2023 (edited) On 3/2/2023 at 3:46 PM, wandshogun09 said: Spoiler I get what you’re saying about hindsight. It plays its part and I’ve said similar myself about people judging fighters careers based on how their opponents looked later, often after a decline, rather than how they looked at the time of the fight. A lot of people do that and knock points off unfairly. But…I was as balls deep in MMA as anyone back in 2019-2020 when those Santos and Reyes fights happened and I honestly don’t recall this “insane” hype and aura around Santos. Or even a great deal of buzz around Reyes. Santos was already 35 going in, was on a decent little win streak but only really had the one proper standout win, his knockout against Jan Blachowicz which earned him the shot at Jones. Granted, that was a legit win. Jan wasn’t seen as a title mix player himself back then but I thought he’d probably beat Santos, it turned out to be one of Santos’ all around best performances. Aside from that, as exciting as the Jimi Manuwa slobberknocker was, Manuwa wasn’t that great a win. And Santos had a bunch of losses at 185 before that. And we didn’t even know about the fact that his knees were knackered either! I honestly don’t remember many, if anyone, giving Santos much of a shot at beating Jones, which is why it was such a shock how close the fight was on the night. He was dangerous but really no more than guys Jones had already pissed through. A ‘punchers chance’ thing is how I think most saw it and nothing more. I even looked back at the thread on here because I thought I might be misremembering it but nobody voted Santos in the poll and I didn’t see anyone giving him much hope. The talk, as usual, mostly centred around Jones and how he might manage to fuck up this time. As for Reyes, the intrigue there was that he was the first of the ‘new breed’ of 205ers coming through to get a crack at Jones. And he was also comparable in size. Given the problems the last similarly sized challenger Gustafsson was able to give Jones in their first fight, I do remember some talk that maybe Reyes could have a bit of success there too. But again, I don’t recall people actually predicting he’d win. And again, I looked back at the thread for that event and nobody voted for Reyes in the poll, although there did seem to be a few giving him a better chance than Santos. But maybe that was because Santos made him look more human. Reyes was a welcome fresh challenger and was a big 205er but seen as nothing more than a relatively unproven prospect at the time. He was unbeaten but his most notable wins were Jared Cannonier (but 205 Cannonier who wasn’t anywhere near the fighter he later became at 185), Ovince Saint Preux (who wasn’t shot like he is now but was never anything special, a so-so win), Volkan Oezdemir on points (in a fight many felt Oezdemir won) and Chris Weidman (a Middleweight coming up to 205 who was in rough form even back then). Don’t get me wrong, he deserved a shot at Jones because there was nobody else really left at that time. But I don’t think many fancied his chances at all or saw him as a huge threat. All that said, I won’t be shocked if Jones wins on Saturday night. He’s not a stupid fighter and I don’t think he’d have came back if he didn’t think he could succeed at Heavyweight, or against Ciryl Gane in particular. But I’m far from convinced that we’re gonna be getting anything close to prime Jon Jones here. It’s easy to point to his age, and 35 isn’t old by Heavyweight standards. But prime isn’t always about age. Some fighters peak early like Mike Tyson, some are late bloomers like Bernard Hopkins, and there’s probably a hundred more examples in between those extremes. Jon Jones was very fucking good from very young. He was wrecking UFC world champions and legends in his early 20s. It’s very rare, pretty much unheard of actually, for a fighter’s prime to last a full decade and certainly not more than that. Then you factor in what he’s done in that time outside the cage. Yeah he hasn’t been in a bunch of wars, that we’ve seen anyway. A lot of fans forget but we only see the end result of a training camp. We only see the rounds fought on Fight Night under the bright lights. You have to factor in all the sparring and all the wear and tear these guys accrue in training camps as well. Then his lifestyle. I’d maybe understand people having confidence if this was a GSP or Mighty Mouse type who by all accounts live clean and stay in the gym regardless of whether they have a fight booked or not. Constantly staying in shape, sharpening their skills and eating healthily. Who the fuck knows what Jones has been doing the past 3 years but I doubt it was all gym, salads and 8 hours kip a night. He’s a wild cunt. It’s part of what’s made him an attraction but there’s no way that doesn’t knock some time off your physical prime. And on top of all that, he’s going up in weight, after a massive layoff and is up against probably the only current active Heavyweight who isn’t just gonna stand flat footed and swing like a caveman. The grappling is gonna be where Jones should still have a significant advantage. Gane’s still learning and Jones is way ahead. But even then, a lot of Jones’ grappling starts from clinch positions and that’s where Gane’s size might be an issue and make up for his relative lack of grappling experience. We’ll see. Hopefully. If Jones behaves himself the next couple of days anyway. All great points! Just looked back at your thread for the Santos match, and youre right, you dont give him much chance at all, so it seems like I was off on the Santos and Reyes hype. That said, the fight will be fascinating in that it will answer all of these questions we have about Jones. Really looking foward to seeing what happens! Edited March 4, 2023 by Dai Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted March 5, 2023 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 5, 2023 (edited) Been a while since I saw so many people voting in the polls in a MMA event thread. Nice to see. I’ve had a couple of drinks, Mrs Wand had a few more (quite a few more) and has gone to bed. She didn’t need to tell me, I knew Space Mountain was closed for the night. I’m gonna go old school and try to stay up for this one and see it through to the end. She can deal with the kids and the hangover in the morning. See you on the other side fellas. Edited March 5, 2023 by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panhead Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted March 5, 2023 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 5, 2023 I’ll post more later but for now @Panhead give me that humble pie! 😂 crazy scenes. Look at this from just after she let go of the choke. Your girl’s got some squeeze… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BigJag Posted March 5, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted March 5, 2023 He's just too good. I turned it off after the tap. Will they try and make the Ngannou fight? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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