UFC 287: Pereira vs Adesanya 2 - Apr 8 🇺🇸

[Egg Shen]

Weidman and DC casually discuss the UFC title situation:

 

[Zebra Kid Mark]

I can't wait to watch this show tomorrow morning. I am 50/50 on how the main event will go but if I was forced to make a prediction I would say Izzy just edges it, I can see him being very grappling heavy tonight.

The co main of Burns and Masvidal will be a war. I think Burns is going to win by a submission, despite wanting Masvidal to win, I just don't think he can do it tonight.

My boy Yanez and Font are going to put on a boxing clinic. I don't think there is going to be a kick or takedown attempt in sight. It's going to be a great fight.

[wandshogun09]

Card graphic. Start times. Team Pereira and Burns. 

[Egg Shen]

this is gonna be tremendous!

...and no fights have fallen off during fight week, unbelievable

[wandshogun09]

6 minutes ago, Egg Shen said:

…and no fights have fallen off during fight week, unbelievable

Don’t fucking jinx it! Fights drop off during the show these days remember. 

Anyway, doing my usual thing of revisiting the previous fight before the big rematch. Really hazy on this, to be honest. Despite the last fight being quite recent. It’s all a bit of a blur. I just remember thinking I had Adesanya up on the cards going into the final round, then everything went crazy.

They squared off about 5 months ago at UFC 281. Madison Square Garden in NYC. Obviously they already had the history going in. No need to go into it again, it’s been done to death at this point and I’ve covered it in the opening posts in both this thread and the 281 thread last time. There was a fair bit of uncertainty going into their MSG fight though. On the surface, you had a lot of fans who seemed to just look at the 2-0 scoreline for Pereira from their Kickboxing days and decide Izzy was fucked. But anyone who watched those fights knew they weren’t dominant performances from Pereira, despite the knockout in the second fight. Then with Adesanya’s experience advantage in MMA and all his cage time, PPV main events and 5 rounders under his belt, it still kind of felt to me like he had the edge. But then you’d wonder if Pereira held a psychological advantage and if he just had Adesanya’s number. I really wasn’t sure what to think by the time the fight rolled around. I think I did pick Izzy in the end but it really felt like anything could happen. I think, more than anything, everyone was just hoping for something more exciting than Adesanya’s previous few title defences.

Israel Adesanya©️vs Alex Pereira - Middleweight Title

UFC 281: Adesanya vs Pereira

November 12th 2022

New York City

Pre-fight video package and Izzy’s being his usual cringey self. I like him as a fighter but his talking is shite. He delivers terrible lines but with such confidence like he’s a young Muhammad Ali or something. But I’ve never thought much of his promos. He’s one of them like Covington who convinces people he’s some great talker because he says a lot, but when you actually listen to what he’s saying, it’s mostly gibberish. Anyway, here he’s going on about “I’m winning in life and he’s still in some favela somewhere” or some bollocks. Not only is he not a good talker but he comes across as a bit of a dick with comments like that.

The commentary is brought to you by the usual PPV team of Jon Anik, Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier. Referee is Marc Goddard. The real ‘best in the business’ in my opinion. Balls to Herb Dean.

Intense staredown, no glove touch and we’re off.

Round 1: Lots of leg kicking from both in the opening stages of the fight. With Adesanya seeming to slightly get the better of it. Both jabbing and Izzy lands the first good punch of the fight when he counters a Pereira kick with a quick right to the kisser that puts Pereira back on his heels for a second. Adesanya looking sharp and confident here. Pereira’s looking a bit stiff but he kind of looks like that anyway. He’s thrown that big horrible left hook out there a couple of times but so far he’s hit nothing but air. Izzy continues to chop away with kicks at that lead leg of Pereira. Hard body kick connects for Pereira and you see right away that he immediately turns up the aggression. Follows up with a left hook and a jumping knee that doesn’t quite find the sweet spot. Scary how quick he went from looking a bit disinterested to smelling blood after that kick though. They briefly clinch up in the last minute and Pereira’s doing some good work punching and kneeing at the body. He got off to a slow start but Pereira’s ending the round pretty wel…

Forget I said anything. Adesanya badly rocks him right as the round ends. The left hook actually connected just after the buzzer but I don’t think it was intentional, he’d already committed to throwing it at that point. You never know what would’ve happened if there’d been another 10 seconds there but it looked like Pereira was legitimately saved by the bell. He looked proper fucked. Wobbly legs, blank stare, hands down, the lot. If Izzy had a few more seconds and was able to continue that attack, it could’ve well been a wrap right there. Fairly close round before that but obviously Adesanya’s 10-9.

Sounds frantic in the Pereira corner between rounds but he seems to have regained his composure and recovered well by the time the rest period is up and the second round is about to get underway. Always amazes me how quickly these guys can recover between rounds. Pereira’s gone from looking like a zombie to firing up the crowd and looking well up for the next round in the space of about 60 seconds.

Round 2: Yeah, Pereira’s definitely fully recovered. He seems to have more of a sense of urgency about him now and he’s pressuring Izzy more and forcing the action a bit better. He’s getting caught with jabs coming in and Adesanya stings him with a nice straight right along the fence at one point. But Pereira’s having more success now and he’s really starting to get his own jab going as well. And not only is it effective, it looks nasty.

Not your typical jab you see in MMA. Almost every time it lands here it’s snapping Izzy’s head back and stopping him in his tracks for a moment. They exchange, Adesanya loses his footing for a split second and Pereira’s all over him. Nothing really connects clean but he’s on him like a shot. Adesanya pushes him against the cage for a bit, I’m guessing just to stifle the momentum Pereira’s been building. But as soon as they break, Pereira’s throwing headkicks at him. Izzy just trying to keep him off now but in the dying seconds of the round…what’s this?

It’s ‘NCAA Pereira’ with the takedown! I didn’t remember that at all. Last thing anyone was expecting, including Adesanya. I think if anyone was going in expecting one of these two to go the wrestling route in this fight, they’d think it’d be Adesanya to exploit Pereira’s lack of MMA experience. Smart move by Pereira. I think he was winning the round anyway but that takedown, right in the closing seconds of the round, clearly sealed it for him. Pereira 10-9.

Round 3: Both coming out kicking again but it isn’t long before Adesanya’s landing some nice punches. Stark contrast here from Adesanya’s previous few title fights where he looked like he was just coasting and doing the bare minimum to secure the win. You can see the way he’s approaching it and by the twitchiness in his movements that he knows all too well the danger Pereira brings. And for all his pre-fight talk of not letting the losses to Pereira bother him and not holding onto them, you can see it’s a win he wants back. Badly. Pereira gets a bit reckless with a body kick and pays the price…

That’s the opening Adesanya was waiting for. From there he’s able to control Pereira for much of this round. Takes the back and gets one hook in but doesn’t chase the submission. Instead he just punches away from the back in kind of the same position Cain Velasquez used to love battering opponents from. All Pereira is really doing is trying to block the ground and pound and just force himself back to his feet through sheer power. You can tell grappling is really new to him and he doesn’t really know what to do down there. Against someone who grapples a lot, he’s gonna be in trouble. But Izzy’s more focused on just keeping him down to land strikes.

‘Alex Palhares’ now going for the leg lock! It goes nowhere though and Izzy just winds up on top again. Fair play to Pereira for trying, taking risks and not just being content to lay there waiting for a stand up. But he looked like what he is here. A Kickboxer taken out of his element. Izzy stands up and tries an axe kick to the body and that’s another round done. Obviously Adesanya’s round, the clearest round of the fight so far and I think there’s a strong case for a 10-8. Pereira got nothing going and Adesanya both dominated on the ground and did damage.

This is the round that you know the rest of the Middleweight division would’ve been watching and licking their chops. Pereira looked like a fish out of water on the ground. Of course, Pereira’s putting the work in on the grappling. You could see him trying stuff and no doubt Glover Teixeira is gonna be a big help in that regard. But it is what it is. And what this is, is a 35 year old man trying to learn grappling from scratch. It’s never gonna be quite there but he’s just got to make the best of it. But if you’re a top 185er, you’d have to be thinking if Israel Adesanya (not known for his ground game) was able to do this to Pereira, what could someone who’s actually from a strong wrestling/BJJ background do?

Round 4: After such a one way traffic and easy round for Adesanya, you’d think he’d try to stick with a more grappling based approach here. Or at least mix in the odd takedown to keep Pereira guessing. But he seems content to strike it out again. You can tell he’s feeling it now as well. His confidence must be high here. He has to know he’s up on the scorecards and Pereira looks like he’s slowing down a bit. Whereas Izzy was constantly backing up earlier, weary of Pereira’s power and countering with his own strikes, now he’s the one coming forward and Pereira’s on the back foot. Lots of talk from the commentators about Pereira gassing out. He probably is tired, they’re 4 rounds in, he cuts a lot of weight and he’s just spent a round grappling which he’s not used to. I can see why he’s faded a bit. But you know Rogan and DC. They’re beating that stuff to death now. All that said though, some better stuff from Pereira in the last minute of the round. It’s too little, too late but he’s clearly not done yet. Adesanya 10-9. So I’ve got Izzy 3-1 up going into the final round.

Pereira’s corner are giving him some real talk between rounds and telling him in no uncertain terms that he needs a knockout to win the title now. Adesanya’s corner couldn’t look much more relaxed.

Round 5: Yep. No sign of Adesanya trying to coast in this one. He comes right out immediately with some hard kicks. Pereira returns fire with his jab and some clubbing shots to the body. Izzy throws a low kick and Pereira checks it, causing Izzy to fall arse over tit, he recovers and Pereira chases him down. Then seemingly out of nowhere, Adesanya’s backed up on the cage and Pereira gets through with a jab and a right hand that appears to stun Izzy. Then the floodgates open…

Pereira unleashes an absolute barrage, the gifs don’t do it justice. He fires off at least 20 big power punches and a good number of them land. Adesanya stops defending himself, Marc Goddard has seen enough and waves it off.

Winner - Alex Pereira by TKO. Round 5 - 2:01.

Good fight, not a classic or anything but it was engrossing from start to finish. Even now on the rewatch with me knowing what happens. Such a wild and dramatic ending though. Despite me having it 3-1 Adesanya going into the 5th, Pereira was always threatening and looking dangerous and he was laying the groundwork throughout with the jab and forcing Izzy to back up. That all ultimately created the opening for that final flurry. But yeah, I definitely had Izzy well on his way to taking the decision win and finally getting a win back over ‘Poatan’. With a striker as powerful as Pereira though, it takes one. And while this wasn’t a one shot KO, it still only takes one shot to start off a chain of events that completely change the course of a fight. Adesanya was still looking good in that last round. Right up until he wasn’t when Pereira got through with that jab and especially the right that followed it. Goddard caught a lot of flack for stepping in and stopping it but Adesanya was done. I thought it was a good stoppage on the night and watching it back here, I’m even more sure of that. It was over. Izzy was offering nothing back at the moment Goddard jumped in. His hands were down, he was hunched over looking at the canvas and just swaying aimlessly from side to side. If Pereira had decided to throw a knee up the middle at that point, Izzy wouldn’t have seen it coming and could’ve got seriously hurt.

We go again. This is such a weird series. At first glance you’d think Pereira’s already 3-0 and has stopped Adesanya twice. It’s like you almost feel like you have to pick Pereira. But then you watch the fights and Adesanya was getting the better of all 3 fights for the vast majority of the time they’ve shared a ring/cage together. He arguably should’ve got the decision in their first fight, had Pereira all fucked up in the second fight to the point he needed a standing 8 count, then was a couple of minutes away from winning a fairly comfy decision last time out. Not to mention very nearly knocking Pereira out if not for the round ending. He’s been so close to winning in all 3 fights. By law of averages, surely Adesanya is due a win here? But like last time, if we thought Pereira’s first KO win over Izzy might play on his mind, imagine how much worse it’s gonna be this time after losing to the same man 3 times and being knocked out twice by him?

The pressure is massively on for Adesanya here. I’m scratching my head even thinking about what his options are if he loses to Pereira again tonight. Seriously, where does he go from there in that scenario? 0-4 down to Pereira, surely too big to cut to 170 but likely gets overpowered and outgrappled up at 205 like we saw against Jan Blachowicz. It’s not even like there’s a bunch of obvious ‘fun fights’ against big names he can take in the meantime. If there was, his best bet would probably be to do that and wait for someone else to beat Pereira. But even then, Izzy’s fought everyone else at 185 anyway. He’s in a right old weird position. And if Pereira wins again tonight, I don’t see his run as champion lasting much longer either. Honestly feels like the biggest winner out of this rivalry, in the long run, might end up being Robert Whittaker or maybe Khamzat Chimaev. 

[WeeAl]

That's what makes it very interesting indeed, is Adesanya's future after this fight should he lose again. I'm not surprised that he wanted the rematch automatically. They always do, these tippy top guys. When you believe in yourself to the extent that they clearly do, you're always going to want it back right away. However there's a very good chance Pereira loses the title to any other top fighter at 185 with decent grappling. Adesanya would have been a shoe-in for the title shot next if Whittaker or Chimaev, like you mention Wand, were to fight and beat Periera here tonight. And against anyone else in the division, Izzy is still favourite. 

As is, fuck knows what happens to him if he doesn't win here. You hit the nail on the head, he's a perfect size for this weight class, but all wrong for the other two closest classes. He doesn't have the luxury of a Figgy, or a Max Holloway in my opinion. Those guys are in a realistic size range to move up. 

It's hard to call. I think Adesanya is too good to lose 4 times to the same man though. He's bound to win sometime. In which case we're looking at an automatic MMA trilogy for the pair of 'em. One big left hook though is all it may take again for Pereira to say "there's what I think of your 'bound to win sometime' logic". 

Adesanya is putting the house on red with this one. Big balls. 

Speaking of big balls. Masvidal's going to need them here, as I think he's heading for a walloping. 

[wandshogun09]

35 minutes ago, WeeAl said:

Adesanya would have been a shoe-in for the title shot next if Whittaker or Chimaev, like you mention Wand, were to fight and beat Periera here tonight. And against anyone else in the division, Izzy is still favourite. 

I’m really not sure he beats Chimaev either. Just style-wise, that seems like a fight that’s all wrong for Izzy. Adesanya could well become champ again tonight but I could just as easily see a scenario where he never touches UFC gold again. Sounds crazy when you’re talking about a fighter as good as Adesanya but it could very well play out like that. If he loses again to Pereira tonight, he better hope Whittaker takes the belt off him because that’s probably his only way back. If Chimaev gets there first (which he shouldn’t, he hasn’t done anything at 185 yet) then I don’t see Izzy having much luck there.

While we’re on the subject of 185, there was a lot of talk recently of the UFC returning to Sweden sometime this year. Obviously, Khamzat would be a natural headliner for that one. I’d fucking love to see Chimaev vs Whittaker main event in Sweden. Imagine that shit? 

[Dai]

Burns hasnt done himself any favours in getting the next shot at Leon with this win, I don't think. Dana will undoubtedly choose Colby over Burns, I think. Leon will just have to deal with it, and he can't really moan, as this victory wouldn't wet the appetite for the Leon match. 

Shocker of an ending for the Izzy fight too. Didn't get out of 2nd gear up until that point, but Izzy took advantage of some slack defence in the most vicious of ways. The third fight will definitely be happening next, too, I'd say. 

[Panhead]

Set my alarm for half 6 so I could watch this before I left the house at 9. I sat down on the couch about 20 minutes later, watched a very enjoyable Flyweight fight, full of back and forth action. Great start to the fights. Then they ran a promo on Cory Sandhagen. A bit strange, I thought, seen as how he only fought recently, but maybe it's a new fighter's profile type thing. Only after it ended did I realise that silly bollocks here was actually watching the prelims of the Fight Night from a couple of weeks ago. I'd forgotten to watch them and the recording was still on the Sky box. 

Anyways, our favourite human basset hound lost so I'm sad now. 

[wandshogun09]

What a barmy series!

I forgot to make my picks in the poll in the end but I’d have probably ended up going with Pereira. Last time I picked Adesanya and we saw how that ended. I just can’t call a fight between these two right! Just goes to show how well matched these two are. I’ve said a few times that the 3-0 scoreline to Pereira going in was very misleading. It didn’t tell the whole story at all. This has been far from the one sided rivalry the results have made it seem like. Adesanya probably should’ve got the decision in their first fight, forced a standing 8 count in the rematch, then they brought the rivalry to the UFC and he nearly knocked Pereira out and was up on the cards before getting stopped late in the fight. For whatever reason, Izzy just couldn’t seem to get across the finish line against Pereira but he was always right there and having those moments. It’s not like a Volkanovski vs Holloway thing where one guy has clearly pulled too far ahead in the rivalry. These two could probably fight 10 times and I’d be close to 50/50 trying to predict it every time.

Adesanya finally getting one back just kind of felt right though. Way too good of a fighter to be getting completely shut out 0-4 against anyone. He needed this badly as well. Not just to get some redemption against Pereira but also just for his career in general. Like we touched on yesterday, Izzy’s options if he lost this fight were very slim. I’m not sure what his next move would’ve been. Even now after a win, it’s not like there are a load of interesting challengers for him but another loss would’ve obviously been way worse.

8 hours ago, Dai said:

The third fight will definitely be happening next, too, I'd say. 

You’d have thought so but it doesn’t seem like that’s happening. Dana’s saying Pereira is probably going to 205 next. And Adesanya’s already saying the score is settled now and the rivalry with Pereira is done. Don’t really get how. It’s still 3-1 to Pereira overall and even just in MMA, at 1-1 you need a decider. Not necessarily even saying it has to be next, but surely they can’t leave it at 1-1? Adesanya doesn’t seem interested though. I get it to a degree in that Pereira got fast tracked to a title shot the first time. He arguably didn’t deserve the title shot in November, much less an immediate rematch now. He still hasn’t even had 10 fights in MMA, for fuck’s sake! But he did beat Izzy, they’re tied and I can’t think of another fight that makes sense right now or one that’s the obvious fight to make. Right after the fight ended, Adesanya was immediately being called out on Twitter…

But are any of them realistic? As good as Whittaker is and as much as I like him, nobody’s itching to see Izzy vs Whittaker 3 yet are they? It’s a fight I can see happening at some point just because Whittaker’s too good not to get back in contention and their last fight was close enough that you can spin a third. But next? I don’t know. Whittaker must’ve been more gutted at the result last night than anyone actually. Had Pereira won, he’d probably have been getting the next shot. Now he’s shut out again. As for the others, yeah Khamzat would be interesting but he hasn’t beat anyone at 185 yet. And Blachowicz? What the fuck? He’s never making 185 surely. And I’ve got no interest in seeing that again anyway. If Pereira’s not getting another shot, he might as well give 205 a bash. He’ll be 36 in July. He’s no spring chicken and he probably doesn’t have bags of time left in MMA. Not to mention cutting down to 185 must be a bastard for him. Sod it. Why not try 205? The talent pool isn’t exactly deep there either so a couple of big knockouts and he could well find himself fast tracked to another title fight. Especially if Jamahal Hill is still champ. Pereira coming up to avenge Glover’s honour and all that.

Enjoyed Burns vs Masvidal but it played out pretty much exactly how I expected. Seeing a bit of negativity towards Burns today for going the distance with a ‘washed up Jorge’ but I’m not having it. While Jorge was clearly halfway out the door, he’s still tough enough, experienced enough and crafty enough that he was never gonna be easy to put away. I did think Gilbert would put more of a beating on him but a finish was always gonna be hard to come by. We’re talking about a guy who’s only been stopped by strikes twice in 52 pro fights. And even on the ground, fucking Demian Maia couldn’t submit him in their fight. He’s a survivor. But Burns was always winning this one. Jorge is good at convincing people he’s gonna commit murder in there in his pre-fight interviews, talking about ‘executing’ people and doing his little throat slash taunt. But I just couldn’t see a path for him winning this fight unless he landed the absolute perfect punch.

Have it.

Unfortunately for Burns, this wasn’t the kind of performance that’s gonna have people clamouring for him to get the title shot. But I think he should get one. In his post-fight interview he wasn’t even saying he wants the shot before Covington. But he’s saying he wants the winner of Edwards vs Covington and he’s not gonna take another fight in between. I think that’s fair. Assuming Leon vs Colby happens over the summer, I’m seeing a lot of talk of that one being on the big July PPV, then theoretically the winner will probably be fighting again by Oct/Nov time. That’s not an outrageous layoff for Burns. I’m up for it. Plus Burns against either Leon or Colby is a fresh fight. After years of Usman beating guys twice and us just seeing Edwards vs Usman back-to-back, it’ll be quite refreshing to get some new fights in the title picture.

It’s over for Scarface Jorge. I said before I felt like he had one foot in retirement going in. He’d mentioned it in the buildup that if he lost this one, he’d probably retire. And any time a fighter starts talking like that you know the writing’s on the wall. I think it’s been on the cards for a while though. I get the feeling he’s been kind of checked out ever since the big KO loss against Usman. I think he took the Colby fight purely because they had legitimate beef but I honestly think he only stuck around for this Burns fight because Leon Edwards won the title and there was a chance he could squeeze one last title fight out of it. Had Usman beat Edwards back in August, I don’t think Masvidal would’ve came back at all. If you think back, the UFC had tried to book this Burns fight a few times late last year and it kept getting delayed on Jorge’s side. I think he was 50/50 on even fighting again. Then when I saw him bring his kids out at the weigh in, it confirmed for me that this was probably his last fight. I’ve made no secret I’ve never been a fan but credit where it’s due. Beyond all the cringey shite he does and says, he was a very good fighter in his day. He was never gonna be UFC champion, there was just always one or two guys around who were better than him. But he was up there and certainly came a long way from his backyard fighting days. But true to form, just when I wanna be nice for once about him, he goes all political in his post-fight interview and starts sucking Trump off. Fuck it. Good riddance. Although I fully expect to see him chasing that Jake Paul money now.

Font vs Yanez was about as good as a 3 minute fight gets. Loved it while it lasted and if it would’ve gone even a round or so longer it probably would’ve stole the show. We just didn’t get enough of it for my liking. Font got to him early, hurt Yanez and never let him recover.

Bit disappointed really. As great as the fight was for the short time it lasted, I was really hoping this was gonna be Yanez’s big moment. I like Font as well but I was hoping this was gonna be the coming out party for Yanez and it just wasn’t to be. Font’s not done yet. Disappointed but not exactly surprised. I think I touched on it in the opening post but Yanez has had problems with opponents with a decent jab before and Font’s jab is better than any of Yanez‘s previous opponents. He was stinging Yanez repeatedly with it and the finish was beautiful. Wouldn’t mind seeing Font vs Davey Grant or something next. Not sure what’ll be next for Yanez but I’m sure there’s a bunch of fun fights to put him in. Nobody specific is jumping out at me right now but Bantamweight’s full of all action fighters up and down the rankings.

Kevin Holland sparking Ponzinibbio was a bit sad to see for me. Nothing against Holland but it just felt like the moment that really cemented that Ponz is on the way out. I didn’t think either looked particularly good, to be honest. Wasn’t a bad fight but neither looked their best. Actually thought Holland was probably losing before the finish but…

☹️ Seen loads of piss taking about Ponzinibbio protesting the stoppage. Yeah, he was obviously out. The stoppage was good. But twats going ‘you were out bro, how can you complain about the stoppage when you were face down on the canvas? LOL’ is shite. It’s easy for us to say that when we’re sat on our sofas watching it all unfold in HD with the benefit of replays from multiple different angles etc. These guys are in the midst of a fight, taking damage and then they’re knocked out. Of course they don’t know what happened. They literally lost time. ‘You were out cold’. Exactly, that’s the point. I’m sure when he watches it back he’ll feel differently but in that moment, it’s got to be mega confusing. One minute you’re fighting, the next the ref’s in front of you waving it off. It was one of them weird knockouts as well where it looked like the initial left hook put him out but then one of the follow ups on the ground woke him back up. He probably felt fine at the time of the stoppage, which would’ve only added to his confusion. Not sure where Ponz goes from here. Maybe they try to rebook that Robbie Lawler fight we were supposed to get in December. Nothing obvious is jumping out for Holland’s next fight. Masvidal would’ve been the natural choice given their silly little run-ins this week but that’s out now Jorgey’s packed it in. Holland jumping the cage to lick Trump’s arse after the fight made me heave 🤢 

Christian Rodriguez messed up the Raul Rosas Jr experiment before it ever fully got going. I hadn’t seen enough of Rodriguez going in to properly rate him but just looking at his record, it felt like a tougher test for Rosas than you’d have expected them to give him this early on. To be fair, Rosas looked really good in that first round. Problem was, Rodriguez had enough about him to defend the sub attempts, he wasn’t going away and he just took over in the last two rounds. Nice win for Rodriguez. Rosas will be back. I still think he’s got a lot of potential. He just seemed to blow his load in that first round and didn’t pace himself at all. Not the end of the world. He’s 18. It’s all experience and I think he’ll come back better.

Kelvin Gastelum vs Chris Curtis was some scrap. Fuck me. Not like I went in expecting a dud or anything, it always sounded like a decent fight. But it way surpassed my expectations. Nice to see Gastelum get the win. Not even a particularly big fan of him but his fall off has been rough to watch these last few years. The war with Adesanya took so much out of him. But this was the best he’s looked in years and while Curtis isn’t elite, he’s been active and he can be dangerous. Maybe that nearly 2 years off for Gastelum was just what he needed. You look at the shift he’s put in over the years, his record is full of killers. If anyone needed a break, it’s Gastelum. Really enjoyed this. Not gonna be in the running for FOTY but it was a banger all the same and well deserving of that FOTN bonus.

Pinheiro vs Waterson was a close one. I felt like Waterson edged it and of course there’s been ‘robbery’ talk since but it really felt like it could go either way to me and Pinheiro got the nod. Can’t believe they were saying on commentary that Waterson just signed a new 8 fight contract. Going into this fight she was coming off 2 back-to-back losses and was 1-4 in her last 5. Not to mention she’s 37 years old. 8 FIGHTS?! Then I remembered they also just resigned Holly Holm for 6 more fights despite her being 41 and looking shite for years. There’s definitely something weird going on with that Jackson-Wink camp. They’ve got something on Dana. I like Waterson but come on.

Joe Pyfer bashing up our Gerald was probably the biggest downer of the card for me. Still not 100% convinced or on the Pyfer bandwagon. He clearly packs a punch but I wanna see what else he’s got. To his credit though, he was in with a real veteran and an all rounder in Meerschaert here and still got it done in a round. This was a very good win for him at this stage of his career. Gerald didn’t look good at all though. Thought it was his worst showing since the Khamzat walloping unfortunately. Just looked really tentative and the way he kept pulling back with his chin straight up was asking for trouble. Shame.

Loopy Godinez vs Cynthia Calvillo was a bit shite but at least Loopy won. Mrs walked in while I was watching this fight and she said it looked like when you’re playing against a mate on a video game and you choose the same character so they just put them in different colours. I couldn’t unsee it the rest of the fight…

But yeah, wasn’t much of a fight. Saw some moaning about the judging but I lost track of the scoring because it bored me and my attention started to wander. I did think the 30-27 for Godinez was a bit generous though. It felt a lot closer than I thought it would be going in. Although that’s Loopy for you. She looks great one fight, lacklustre the next. And I just can’t be arsed with Calvillo at all. Still haven’t got over that awful ‘main event’ she had with Jessica Eye a couple of years ago, to be honest.

Was happy to see Ignacio Bahamondes return with a win. Wasn’t a blow away performance but he’d been out a while and it was a late switch of opponents. It was a decent showing for him though. Loved his kicks. And I guess getting a full 3 rounds of cage time in would’ve been just what the doctor ordered after a year plus on the shelf. So many mouth watering matchups for him in the Lightweight division as well. Hopefully he stays more active now.

Steve Garcia vs Shayilan Nuerdanbieke was a fun fight. Didn’t have any expectations but it was an exciting round and a bit. Great comeback from Garcia as well after getting dropped and then controlled for most of the first round. You could see towards the end of that round that Garcia fancied it and then he came out in the second and just folded Nuerdanbieke with a vicious body shot. As Bas Rutten would say…”THE LIVER SHOT!” That’s 2 stoppage wins in a row for Garcia now after dropping to 145. Wrecked Chase Hooper last time out and now this. He won’t crack the Top 10 or anything but I’ll definitely keep more of an eye out for his fights. He hasn’t bored me yet, win or lose.

Sam Hughes halted any potential hype Jaqueline Amorim might’ve had right out the gate. Really haven’t been overly impressed with Hughes in the past and seeing Amorim was undefeated, had just won the LFA belt and was a submission specialist, I thought this matchmaking was probably by design to get her a win coming in the door. That probably was what the matchmakers were thinking as well but it didn’t pan out. She had a good first round and I really thought she had it sewn up with the choke attempts but after that Hughes took over and Amorim just looked completely flat in the second and third. Maybe the nerves of the UFC debut had a lot to do with it because she looked good before that submission failed. Pretty sure Hughes grabbed the glove to escape as well but she got away with it.

Really enjoyable show overall. All the PPVs so far this year have really delivered for me. From 283 in Brazil to the Makhachev vs Volk classic at 284 to Jones return and Grasso’s upset at 285 to Edwards validating himself at 286 in London. Now this card. Good stuff. Probably means we’re due to stinker now but 288 has Aljo vs Cejudo and Oliveira vs Dariush so I think we’re good for at least another month. It’s Nunes vs Pena 3 after that though so…

Edited April 9, 2023 by wandshogun09

[Egg Shen]

sensational finish in that main event, Izzy is just a viral moment machine isn't he? that arrow celebration will be replayed until the end of time.

Sad to see my man Jorge go out like that, he looked quite tired and slow to me, the sharpness definitely seems to have left the hands. Still, a perfect send off for him in Miami really, and whilst he's not a favorite on here you have to credit the guy for what he's achieved in his later career, I don't think there's ever been another case like it in MMA.

Raul Rosas was given a harsh dose of reality. He came out going all Khamzat on us and just ran his well dry. The kid clearly though he was invincible and woul walk through Rodriguez, hopefully it makes him better.

UFC PPV's always deliver.

[Carbomb]

38 minutes ago, Egg Shen said:

Sad to see my man Jorge go out like that, he looked quite tired and slow to me, the sharpness definitely seems to have left the hands. Still, a perfect send off for him in Miami really, and whilst he's not a favorite on here you have to credit the guy for what he's achieved in his later career, I don't think there's ever been another case like it in MMA.

Robbie Lawler comes to mind, and probably does it better - leaves the UFC as a middle-of-the-pack guy, comes back and becomes champ. Didn't need to spout bollocks to do it either.

[David]

I think the biggest return of the night wasn't Masvidal, it was his favourite Prez! Some ovation for the lad, sitting there with Kid Rock and Iron Mike!

[wandshogun09]

Yep. Some boy band this. What a grotesque selection of the adult male species. 

[Dead Mike]

Trump looks like a waxwork of Trump