Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted February 19 Paid Members Share Posted February 19 (edited) Yet another Saturday night at the Apex this week. Hopefully one of the last times weāll be doing this shitā¦ ESPN MAIN CARD Andre Muniz vs Brendan AllenĀ Augusto Sakai vs DonāTale MayesĀ Tatiana Suarez vs Montana De La RosaĀ Mike Malott vs Yohan Lainesse ESPN+/FIGHT PASS PRELIMSĀ Erick Gonzalez vs Trevor Peek Gabriella Fernandes vs Jasmine JasudaviciusĀ Jordan Leavitt vs Victor MartinezĀ Ode Osbourne vs Charles Johnson Joe Solecki vs Carl Deaton III Nurullo Aliev vs Rafael Alves Ā Not much better than the Andrade vs Blanchfield card, to be honest. Itās gonna get shat all over. I do think itās a slightly better card overall just because thereās a couple of interesting fights on the undercard but Iām way less into this main event. Oh well. Canāt wait for them to finally get these shows back on the road. Itās always āfuck the Apexā in this house. Ā Andre Muniz vs Brendan Allen is a good fight. I think itās better than the main event myself. Muniz is one of the real darkhorses of the Middleweight division to me and has been for a while. I donāt see him ever becoming champion or anything but heās a tricky fucker to deal with and a potential banana skin for a lot of guys coming up through the rankings. Probably why there isnāt a line of 185ers who seem too eager to fight him. Heās 33 years old now, a 3rd degree BJJ black-belt and has a 23-4 record with 19 finishes. 15 of them came by submission. Heās won his last 9 fights in a row and heās 5-0 in the UFC with 3 first round armbar submissions in there. His most notable win to date came in 2021 when he finished Jacare Souza with a brutal armbar, breaking his arm in the process. Nasty stuff. You actually heard the snap on the broadcast. That wound up being Jacareās last fight as well, he announced his retirement a few months later, although there have been rumblings of him returning to grappling competitions and even doing a Boxing match since, it seems the Muniz loss was his farewell to MMA. To finish a decorated BJJ beast like Jacare with an armbar like that is a hell of a feather in the cap. Since then Muniz also armbarred Eryk Anders and then won a decision off Uriah Hall in July. And guess what? Hall then announced his retirement! Fuckerās snapping limbs and ending careers left and right. Youād think people would be talking more about him but heās almost the forgotten man at 185. This is where Brendan Allen deserves credit. Like I say, there hasnāt been a line of guys offering to fight Muniz. But Allen called him out after his last win. No silly fake beef, just genuinely seems to want to test himself in a tough fight, which is always admirable. He originally called for the fight to go down at UFC 283 in Brazil in January, which was even more ballsy. Not only challenging a guy who seems to be being avoided, but wanting to fight on his turf? Fair play. It obviously never got done in time but Iām glad they did make the fight. Allenās no pushover himself either. His confidence will be high coming off a first round sub over Krzysztof Jotko in October. That was a good win for Allen. Iāve made no secret of my complete apathy towards Jotko. Heās a real dullard. The male, Polish version of Katlyn Chookagian. But heās not easy to beat, and even harder to look good against. He was 24-6 and had just beat Gerald Meerschaert going into that fight, so for Allen to strangle him inside a round was good going. Allenās 20-5 now, with 16 finishes and 11 submissions in his own right. Heās won his last 3 fights. This is a legit fight. Iād favour Muniz just because itās probably gonna end up on the ground at some point and, as good as Allen is, Muniz is next level there. But Allenās as game as they come and will be bang up for this. Really looking forward to it. Ā Augusto Sakai vs DonāTale Mayes. Yep. Every single card has to have one of these shitty Heavyweight fights. This isnāt as bad as some weāve been subjected to of late but itās still not a fight Iām looking forward to. Sakai is 15-5-1 and on a horrible 4 fight losing skid. He was stopped in all 4 fights. He went 4-0 in his first 4 UFC fights, then went 0-4 in his following 4. They matched him up tough in his last 4, to be fair, but thatās the point. Losing decisively to the Overeems, Rozenstruiks, Tuivasas and Spivacs just confirms heās not on that level and never will be. As for Mayes, heās 9-4-0-1 and his best wins are Josh Parisian and Roque Martinez. Yeah. He got ragged about by Hamdy Abdelwahab last time out but then Hamdy got done by USADA so itās a No Contest now. Hopefully this just descends into some wild, sloppy, fun brawl but Iām fully expecting a shite, plodding decision. Remember when Angle, Benoit, Edge, Mysterio, Eddie and Chavo were dubbed the āSmackdown Sixā when they were tearing it up in TV matches every week? Well Sakai, Mayes, Parisian, Sherman, Martinez and Collier are basically the āApex Sixā and itās the total opposite. Every combination produces pure shite. Ā Tatiana Suarez vs Montana De La Rosa is ***WANDāS ONE TO WATCH***Ā this time. Might seem an odd choice and Iām not sure how good of a fight it will actually end up being but itās the one Iām most intrigued by on the whole card and it hasnāt got much at all to do with De La Rosa. Sheās 12-7-1 and 1-2-1 in her last 4. Never really done much of note or been particularly impressive from what I recall. My interest here is all to do with it being Suarezās return after a load of setbacks and a massive layoff. Iāll give a bit of backstory because Iām not sure how well itās known. Her story is pretty crazy. She started wrestling at just 3 years old after seeing her older brother wrestle and nagging her mum to let her do it. She fell in love with it, became obsessed and as she got older she dreamed of winning Olympic gold one day. She stuck at it and it turned out she was really good. By 20 years old, she was preparing for theĀ 2012 London Olympics. āGoing into an Olympic year, I was like āIām finally going to do what I said I was going to do - Iām going to be an Olympic champ.ā It was so close, and then it happened.ā - Tatiana Suarez The āitā sheās referring to is cancer. She went for a MRI because she was suffering with neck pain and during the scan they found it. āThey said āBy the way, you canāt wrestle anymore. Thereās a node on your thyroid you have to get checked out, it might be cancerous.ā Iām like, Iām 20 years old! I donāt think thereās anything wrong with me. So I go there and they tell me itās definitely cancer and I need to get treated. I was like, what? It was a very difficult time. I stayed to myself. I didnāt involve my family too much.ā - Tatiana Suarez It took a long time for her to get through it and get the all clear but during her recovery she discovered Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, which naturally led her to MMA. By 2014, she was making her MMA debut. āI was in a really low place when I found MMA. Wrestling was very serious to me. It was everything, it wasnāt a hobby. Even in high school, I didnāt have a social life. I didnāt go to prom, I didnāt even walk at my graduation! I was at Olympic trials. I had a higher goal and it was all about getting that gold medal. So when it didnāt go my way, it was very hard to find my way back. But I did. Now Iām here. Iām trying to be the best in the world at this now. I feel like people have seen one percent of what I can do. When everything starts coming together, I 100% believe nobody will be able to stop me.ā - Tatiana Suarez She came into the UFC through The Ultimate Fighter back in 2016, won the Strawweight tournament and then followed up with 4 more wins in the UFC. By the summer of 2019, she was undefeatedĀ at 8-0Ā and had beaten Alexa Grasso, Carla Esparza and Nina Ansaroff (now Nunes) in her last 3 fights. The fact that she was a high level grappler in a division more heavy on strikers had people thinking the sky was the limit for her. She brought a different skillset and posed different problems than anyone else in the division at that time. It all seemed to be lining up perfectly. Then it all went wrong again. Another neck injury has seen her forced to the sidelines again. She was scheduled to return in 2021 against Roxanne Modafferi but again had to withdraw through injury. Just fucking brutal. Sheās still undefeated, sheās still relatively young at 32 years old, but sheās now been on the shelf for a whopping 3 and a half years. Weāre only a week away from the fight now. Hopefully she can finally stay healthy and start making up for lost time. Who knows how sheāll look now? She was thought to be possibly the next big thing at one point. All bets are off now though. She just needs to get back in there, get herself a win and go from there. Sheās moving up to Flyweight as well. Things are getting very interesting. Shevchenkoās got her upcoming defence against Grasso next month. Thereās always that Taila Santos rematch, weāve just seen Erin Blanchfield emerge as a fresh challenger. Suarez obviously has a lot of work to do but if she can get back on track she can add her name to the mix. Canāt help but root for her after all the shit sheās been through. What an amazing story it would be if she can somehow go on a run at the title against all the odds. Ā Mike Malott vs Yohan Lainesse might seem like a nothing fight at first glance but Iām kind of looking forward to seeing Malott back in there. Heās Canadian, 31 years old and has a record of 8-1-1 with all 8 wins being finishes. He got a quick submission on DWCS in 2021 and made his UFC debut in April against Mickey Gall. The way that fight played out probably had poor Mickey pining for the glory days of fighting CM Punk. It did not go well. Timmy Malott made him do the old Flair FlopĀ at 3:41Ā of the opening round. Nice debut but he sat out the rest of the year so any momentum he gained from that has fizzled away now. Lainesse is 9-1 with 6 knockouts. Got his arse handed to him in his UFC debut by Gabriel Green and thatās his only loss so far. He bounced back in September with a points win over Darian Weeks. Ā Erick Gonzalez vs Trevor PeekĀ is a complete patch up job. They were both originally paired off with different opponents but injuries took those guys out so the matchmakers slung these two together. The UFC really hasnāt been kind so far to āGhost Pepperā Gonzalez. He got knocked out by Jim Miller in his debut, then got subbed quick by Terrance McKinney in his last fight in August. Record standsĀ at 14-7. Thisāll be Peekās first Octagon appearance. Heās 28, undefeated at 7-0-0-1 with 7 knockouts. The one blip was a No Contest in his MMA debut due to an accidental kick in the bollocks. Aside from that, itās been all wins and all by knockout. He stopped ex UFCer Khama Worthy in August and got another KO on DWCS in September. Ā Gabriella Fernandes vs Jasmine Jasudavicius isnāt leaping off the page. Brazilās Fernandes makes her UFC debut. Sheās 29 with an 8-1 record and 5 finishes. Sheās been fighting for LFA most recently and stopped her last couple of opponents there. Jasudavicius is Canadian, 7-2 overall and 1-1 in the UFC. She won a decision off Kay Hansen in her debut but got completely schooled by Natalia Silva last time out. Not overly impressed by her but I donāt know enough about Fernandes to really judge this one. Ā Jordan Leavitt vs Victor Martinez is whatever. I donāt mind Leavitt but I havenāt forgiven him for losing to Pimblett yet. Itās too soon and heās yet to redeem himself. Heās 10-2 and quite average really. His most noteworthy win is probably his highlight reel slam KO against a washed up Matt Wiman a couple of years back. I like him though because he gets the homophobes of the MMA fanbase (so most of the fanbase) all wound up with his Louis Spence mannerisms. I donāt even know if Leavitt is gay, nor do I care, none of our business. I just love the insecurity he provokes in the neckbearded weirdos. Donāt think Iāve ever seen this Martinez bloke. Nickname is āThe Brickā apparently. Like āThe Rockā but rectangular, I guess. Vic āThe Brickā. Heās 13-4 and coming off a decision win on DWCS in September. Ā Ode Osbourne vs Charles Johnson is a decent enough undercard fight. Osbourneās never gonna really advance up the ladder, especially in the stacked lower weight classes, but I usually enjoy watching him. Heās 11-5-0-1 and hasnāt really had those standout wins but heās one of those guys I watch and think he should probably be doing a little bit better than he is. There he is knocking Zarrukh Adashev dead back in June. Sweet finish. Problem is he then got stopped by Tyson Nam in his next fight in August. He just canāt seem to put the wins together for whatever reason. Heās a decent fighter though. I seem to recall even in some of his losses he had his moments. Iām sure he was giving Manel Kape some issues before Kape got the finish. And Johnson is just a tricky little bastard. He lost his UFC debut to Mokaev but he did manage to take Mokaev the distance and make him work for it. Since then heās took a decision off Zhalgas Zhumagulov and finished Jimmy Flick. He also stopped Carlos Mota in the 5th round of their LFA title fight early last year. Heās no joke, heās never been finished and heās not easy to look good against. Ā Joe Solecki vs Carl Deaton III. Not a clue. Soleckiās a pretty good fighter from what I remember seeing of him. Solid grappling, 12-3 record and has wins over Jim Miller, Matt Wiman and Alex Da Silva in the UFC. Heās won 7 of his last 8 and the only loss was a split decision against Jared Gordon. Same Jared Gordon who FUCKING BEAT PADDY PIMBLETT in December! Never forget. Solecki was meant to fight on the Andrade vs Blanchfield card a week earlier but his opponent dropped out and here we are. Never seen this Deaton III chap. Nor did I ever see Carl Deaton II or Carl Deaton I. HeāsĀ 33 and fights out of American Top Team. His record is 17-5-0-2 and 12 finishes. Only names I recognise on his record are ex UFC fighter/jobber Justin Jaynes, who Deaton beat on points last year. And Abel Cullum, who submitted Deaton back in 2014. Thatās about it on him. Ā Nurullo Aliev vs Rafael Alves has my attention. Admittedly solely because of madman Alves but a quick search on Aliev and heās also piqued my interest. Heās only 23 years old and 8-0. Got a first round TKO on DWCS in his last fight. Still though, Alves is the āA-sideā here. š¤£ Little lunatic. Heās never going far, heās got a proper journeyman record of 20-11 and he usually loses when he faces stiff opposition. But heās a lot of fun to watch, has 15 finishes and he does have a first round submission over Marc Diakiese. His last fight against Drew Dober in the second gif there was brilliant. I loved that fight. He got put away with a body shot in the third round but it was tremendous fun while it lasted. Hopefully more of the same here. Tough test for Aliev in his debut. Ā So. Back to the Apex we go.Ā Edited February 27 by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev2050 Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 Your commitment to these threads even with cards like the last couple is amazing.Ā For cards like this, your thread is the only hype I see for them, but it manages to make me interested.Ā I appreciate you Wand!Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted February 19 Paid Members Share Posted February 19 we all appreciate wand! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted February 19 Author Paid Members Share Posted February 19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted February 20 Paid Members Share Posted February 20 Nothing much to add which we haven't said over the years, wand. The MMA poster award should just be called the "wandshogun09 Award". BTW, dirty old bollocks that I am, I noticed Hailey Cowan in the write-up: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted February 25 Author Paid Members Share Posted February 25 The Jose Johnson vs Garrett Armfield and Hailey Cowan vs Ailin Perez fights are both off. Donāt know why, havenāt bothered looking, donāt really care. Shorter card is probably a good thing anyway and itās an early kick off as well.Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted February 25 Paid Members Share Posted February 25 im sure they just take fights off the Apex cards last minute on purpose to make them abit easier to sit through Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted February 25 Author Paid Members Share Posted February 25 1 hour ago, Egg Shen said: im sure they just take fights off the Apex cards last minute on purpose to make them abit easier to sit through Theyāve been a bit smart/crafty this time as well because theyāve put the Rafael Alves fight as the Fight Pass opener so Iāll be tuning in from the start for that at least. Iāll probably check out sometime before the main card starts though and Iāll do my usual Sunday catch up. The good thing is, like you mentioned before, this is the last card at the Apex for the foreseeable future. Looking at all the upcoming cards after tonightās, all the ones on the current schedule will be in front of crowds!Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce85 Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 Did anyone bother watching this?Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dai Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 I did. I wasnt looking foward to the main event, so the fact that it got cancelled didnt bother me at all. What you were left with was a perfectly watchable main card, that had a solid main event scrap, and that was done in two hours. Perfect for a show like this. Malott looked pretty good, and finished it with a lovely head and arm. It was fantastic to see Tatiana Suarez back in there, and also look very impressive. The fact she was a weight class higher than she usually is, and still dominated the fight will send a big message to her regular weight class. If she stays injury free, shes easily looking at a title shot come the end of the year. The Sakai fight was pretty dull, and it was clear that Mayes was easily a few levels beneath him. The big story was, of course, Brendan Allen subbing the BJJ wizard. Huge victory for him. The striking was pretty much 50/50 for the whole fight, but bizarrely, it was Allen who dominated on the ground in R2 and then before the sub in R3. The R2 ground exchange was very strange, as Muniz didnt do anything off his back, and sort of just accepted defeat. When hes such a high level sub guy, it was very strange how bad he looked in R2 on the ground. Even the back defence that led to the finish just seemed a bit off too. Not sure what happened to Muniz. Fun fight, with a finish which will surely lead to Allen getting a nice opportunity in his next fight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted February 27 Author Paid Members Share Posted February 27 (edited) On 2/26/2023 at 5:45 PM, Bruce85 said: Did anyone bother watching this?Ā Well I started watching thisĀ on Saturday night. Watched the prelims live on Fight Pass. Was already starting to feel a bit tired, then the main card kicked off with Megan Olivi telling us the main event was off and that was my cue to hit the sack. Not that 5 rounds of Nikita Krylov vs Ryan Spann was ever worth staying up for, Iād have never lasted. But that announcement was just the kick up the arse I needed to take a long hard look at myself and not give any more of myĀ Saturday nightĀ to another shitty Apex card. Apparently, Krylov vs Spann has been rescheduled for the Yan vs Merab cardĀ on the 11th March. Yay š I said in the opening post that I thought Brendan Allen vs Andre Muniz was a better fight than the main event. So to see it actually become the main event was kind of cool. The way the fight played out wasnāt what I expected at all though. I donāt know if I felt it was more Allen looking class, Muniz looking a bit off or maybe it was Allen forcing Muniz to look off? Either way, there was just something about Allen going into this one. Heās never been a cocky type or that outspoken before but he made a point of calling out Muniz after his last fight, and initially wanted to do it on Munizās turf in Brazil! He clearly saw something in Munizās game that made him fancy it. And it turns out he was right. Now we know why he fancied it. He was always gonna be the better striker but, while heās definitely no slouch on the ground, I thought Muniz would prove too much for him in the grappling. Allen wasnāt having it though. I donāt think anyone was calling Allen by submission here. That seemed like the most unlikely outcome. Muniz was weird. Seemed to just shrink in there once Allen started to get rolling. Thought he was starting to look a bit tired and demoralised from fairly early on.Ā Strong win for Allen. Thatās twice in a row now heās gone in there and submitted awkward tricky fighters. Jotko and now Muniz. And heās calling out everyone now. Since the winĀ on Saturday nightĀ Iāve seen him call for a Sean Strickland rematch, a Chris Curtis rematch, and heās name dropped Jack Hermansson and Dricus Du Plessis. The DDP fight would be fun. Augusto Sakai vs DonāTale Mayesā¦yeah, no comment. The Tatiana Suarez comeback was the highlight of the show for me and a real feel-good moment. With the shite sheās been through in life, not to mention the horrid run of injuries the last few years, youād have to be a right shithouse to not be pulling for her. Nothing even against De La Rosa but I think about 98% of the MMA world was rooting against her in this one. Considering the massive layoff and all the setbacks, Suarez looked good here. Iāve seen people on about her chances in the title race and I get the intrigue but youāve got to put wins like this in perspective. De La Rosa isnāt that good. Sheās not awful but sheās not much cop. Thereās a reason she was chosen as the first opponent back for Suarez. Not that I think theyāre āprotectingā her, more she needed a sensible and reasonable matchup after such a long time on the shelf. Under those circumstances, she looked about as good as you couldāve expected. Controlled the pace and mostly where the fight took place, then turned it up in the second round and got the finish. You could see the relief on her face when it was over. Like a huge weight was lifted.Ā I really hope she can stay healthy now and get a string of fights in. This was her blowing off the cobwebs fight. Sheāll only improve and build on this if she can stay busy and get a few fight camps in now. The Flyweight division really benefits from having her back as well. Not sure who sheāll be paired up with next but thereās a few cool fights to make. I wouldnāt do it next but Suarez vs Blanchfield could be very interesting down the line given both of their grappling skills. This Mike Malott bloke looks decent. Granted he hasnāt faced anyone that good yet but heās handled the opposition thrown at him very well so far. Knocked Mickey Gall out cold in his debut, has a fairly long layoff and now comes back and submits Lainesse in a round. Looked like he barely broke a sweat. Trevor Peek got the first round finish in his UFC debut against Erick GonzalezĀ and somehow looked kind of terrible at the same time š¤£ itās weird criticising him when he got a first round knockout but he looked sloppy as shit the whole fight really. Gonzalez was ragging him about and then when they were striking Peekās punches were just flailing shots that looked like how a 6 year old kid would throw punches. But a couple connected and that was that. Heās got away with it so far and itāll work against someone like Gonzalez but itās not gonna cut it against anyone better. He wonāt be dull to watch, Iāll say that for him. When do you ever see someone throwing hillbilly hammerfists in the standup? Fucking hell š¤£Ā Why couldnāt Jordan Leavitt have done this to Laddy Paddy? Chute Boxe style! Not much else to say about this one. It was over before it ever got going but I was happy to see Leavitt back in the win column here. I enjoyed the Ode Osbourne vs Charles Johnson fight. Close one and they were well matched but I felt like the right man won. Just about. Neither are ever gonna be in title contention in the UFC but both have become undercard highlights on these Fight Night cards the more Iāve seen of them. Joe Solecki schooled new kid Carl Deaton. Gave him a proper grappling lesson, Deaton had sod all for him on the ground. In fairness, Deaton had stepped in on late notice so probably not a fair reflection. But he seemed more of a striker so jumping in against a grappler like Solecki probably wasnāt the wisest move. Hopefully Solecki gets a decent fight next. This is a guy who beat Jim Miller not so long ago, and heās only lost once since (to Jared Gordon via split decision) yet it seems like heās moving down the ladder if anything. I get that Deaton was a substitute but even the original opponent Benoit Saint Denis felt like a step down. Nurullo Aliev had an interesting Octagon debut. Got the win over a tough guy in Rafael Alves, which isnāt a bad way to kick off a UFC career. They were going mad for him in Tajikistan as well. Crazy scenes. Heās only 23 as well. Stays unbeaten and improves to 9-0. Yet another one to keep an eye on at Lightweight. Wasnāt without controversy though. The whole thing with him supposedly biting Alvesā finger. Cost him a point, which couldāve been a big deal if he hadnāt dominated enough of the rest of the fight to make up for it. For what itās worth, Aliev is denying there was ever a bite. Heās claiming Alves was trying to fishhook and caught his finger on the teeth that way. Fuck knows? But that makes more sense to me because why would Aliev bite at that point when he was on top and in control? Whatever. Looking forward to whatās ahead for him. Not the best show, not the worst. I actually think losing the main event improved it in a weird way. Oh well, onto 285.Ā Edited February 27 by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce85 Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 (edited) I seldom skip ufc events and almost always watch every fight but despite having nothing today all day Sunday I didnāt bother with this event. I watch the main event on Monday and thought Allen looked pretty good but like you said not sure if that was down to him being on form, Muniz being off or a bit of both. Be interesting to see who he gets next.Ā Ā Donāt mind Spann/krylov being rebooked as long at itās a 3 round fight on a semi decent show.Ā Ā But yeah, the next few events look much more promising!Ā Edited February 27 by Bruce85 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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