Paid Members Egg Shen Posted July 29, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted July 29, 2023 6 hours ago, wandshogun09 said: In other news, Michel Pereira came in 3lbs over the weight limit and it’s unknown whether the fight with Wonderboy is going ahead. Fight is off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted July 29, 2023 Author Paid Members Share Posted July 29, 2023 Updated bout order. Hopefully for the last time. The Beast vs De Lima promoted to the main card. Vergara vs Salvador moved up from Fight Pass to the televised prelims. Shame about Wonderboy vs Pereira. It was one of those weird style clashes where I’m not sure if it was gonna be the best Tekken style madness we’d ever seen or an awkward boring standoff but I was mega intrigued by that matchup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dai Posted July 29, 2023 Share Posted July 29, 2023 Hard to disagree with Wonder boy about the consequences. 30% of your purse in return for a potentially massive advantage just never seems enough. 50% and a point deduction in the fight seems fairer punishment. Peirera getting 70% of his show and (probably quite large) win bonus isn't enough of a detraction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted July 29, 2023 Author Paid Members Share Posted July 29, 2023 Wonderboy specifically mentioned the Darren Till fight as well, which he lost by split decision after Till missed weight. Rotten fight and I don’t think the weight miss was really a factor in the way that one went down but I can see why Wonderboy felt burnt by that whole thing and doesn’t wanna give opponents that edge again. Plus he’s 40 years old now. Time isn’t on his side. 3lbs over is bollocks as well. To be that far off you can’t chalk it up to a slightly off scale or whatever. They’ll probably just sack off the idea of doing Wonderboy vs Pereira at all now. This was the second attempt to get this fight on. They were originally booked for 289 in Canada in June. One idea I saw mentioned on Twitter is to do Wonderboy vs Jack Della Maddalena on the Sydney card in September. I’d be all over that. Big name and a different kind of test in the striking for JDM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted July 29, 2023 Author Paid Members Share Posted July 29, 2023 (edited) Get in. I’m seeing a lot of ‘card of the year’ predictions and it is great, but MMA fans have such short memories. It’s like everyone’s forgot that 290 was just 3 weeks ago! I’ll be amazed if it tops how perfect 290 was. What a card it could be though. Had to use a more positive Pereira gif than the usual go-to one for this. Edited July 29, 2023 by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted July 30, 2023 Author Paid Members Share Posted July 30, 2023 (edited) It wasn’t 290 but it was a quality show that. Gaethje vs Poirier 2 was tremendous while it lasted. It only lasted a round and a bit. It didn’t really go long enough to outdo their classic first fight but it was the typically violent and edge of the seat type fight we’ve been conditioned to expect from these two. Really good, competitive and hard hitting first round then that finish in the second. Pair of absolute savages. And the best thing about it is, they’re 1-1 now. We’ve got to get a Part 3 somewhere down the line. If the inevitable third fight is similar to the first two, it’s gonna go down as one of the greatest trilogies in MMA history. I’ve always said I’m not a fan of the whole BMF shite. I think it’s cringey and goofy bollocks. But if anyone’s gonna be crowned the King of the ‘bad motherfuckers’, Gaethje is a guy that moniker fits like a glove. Something about it just feels more right than when fucking Masvidal had it. And speaking of Masvidal, how much do you think he hated putting that belt on Gaethje rather than his mate Dustin? Oh and you can set your watch to it… 🥱 Is there anything more tired, boring and played out now than this junkie prick talking shit from the sidelines but doing…nothing? The media are just as bad as well. Some pillock was asking Gaethje about it at the post-fight press conference and Gaethje couldn’t have looked more uninterested and apathetic. The tone of it is quite insulting as well. Gaethje’s just gone out there and avenged one of his biggest losses in spectacular fashion, he’s put himself in a great position to get a shot at the proper belt. And here’s some journalist bloke basically asking if Gaethje feels privileged that Conor knows who he is/mentioned his name. I get why the media bring Conor up but Jesus Christ. The cunt hasn’t fought in 2 years, hasn’t won in over 3 years, hasn’t won at 155 in nearly 7 years (!), is piss arsing about with this supposed Chandler fight, won’t get in the USADA testing pool etc. Give it a rest. Gaethje’s most likely getting the next title shot after Makhachev vs Oliveira 2 now anyway. McGregor can be way richer all he wants but he seems fucking miserable these days. Let him sit on the bench forever talking bollocks about the guys who are actually doing what he claims to love. Pereira vs Blachowicz was a bit lacklustre and disappointing. Not the worst fight but felt like it just never properly got going. Close one as well. Blachowicz is saying he got robbed but I did feel like Pereira edged it. He obviously lost the first round and for a second I really thought Jan might make an easy night of it when he got Pereira’s back early. But I thought Pereira got back in it and I gave him the second and third rounds. It wasn’t the kind of performance that fills you with optimism about his future at 205 but it might’ve just been the matchup and the styles. Put Pereira in with Jiri Prochazka and I’m sure we’d see something much different and much more entertaining. There were some kind of encouraging signs here for Pereira and you could see he’s been working on his wrestling. But it’s very late in the game for him to be trying to close that gap. Luckily there aren’t a ton of strong grapplers at the top end of 205 currently but the blueprint is obvious if you wanna beat him. Not the fight I was hoping for but at least Pereira got the W. Onwards and upwards. If nothing else he looked strong and powerful up in weight and durable coming off a bad KO loss. I wanna see the Jiri fight. Fuck it, put the belt up for grabs. Derrick Lewis busting out a vintage ‘Black Beast’ moment picked up the mood of the main card big time after the downer that was Green vs Ferguson. 33 seconds is all he needed… 🤣 Crotch chopping, six pack Lewis is gonna be unbeatable. The irresistible force and the immovable object. Gorilla Monsoon would be in awe. Loved seeing this. He went full Masvidal vs Askren with this. Seriously, I’m under no illusions that he’s back or whatever now. If this hadn’t ended so quick, with the high altitude and stuff, there’s just as good a chance he’d have faded badly and looked as shite as ever in a longer fight. But it played out perfectly. I read that he’s a free agent now as well. So I’m even happier he got this win now. It puts him in a better position to negotiate his next contract, with or without the UFC. Can see the PFL making a strong play for him now actually. They need Heavyweights for Francis and the story of them rematching writes itself. As much as the UFC’s Heavyweight division can’t afford to lose popular and exciting guys like Lewis, I think I’d rather see him go to PFL and get that money. At 38 the clock is ticking for Big Derrick. And Ngannou’s got that clause in his contract that his opponents are guaranteed $2 million. Love to see Lewis get that coin before it’s all said and done. I think Bobby Green finishing Tony Ferguson was about what everyone expected. He actually had his moments in this one but it’s just clear it’s over for Ferguson. Look at this shit… It’s over. He’s never been right since the Gaethje fight in 2020. That was a sadistic, drawn out beating that he’s never been able to recover from. And while his fans will point to him knocking down Chandler early in their fight and knocking down Green early in this one, you look at the fights overall and if you’re honest with yourself it’s clear he’s shot to bits. This fight especially showed that. Ferguson at his best doesn’t lose to Bobby Green. It’s just not there anymore. How much longer can the UFC keep going with this? 6 losses in a row and now he’s been finished in his last 3 fights. I wouldn’t be surprised if they cut him loose now. Although the cynic in me fully expects them to keep him around to gift Paddy a big name win. It’s not gonna matter either way though. Even if the UFC let him go, he’s not retiring. I think it was @WeeAl the other day who said he’s gonna go the way of Bigfoot Silva. He is, isn’t he? If the UFC release him now, he’ll be getting what’s left of his brain cells scrambled in BKFC or something by October. Kevin Holland opened up the main card in style. Michael Chiesa came back from 2 years on the shelf for that? Subbed in less than 3 minutes. And considering Holland’s past issues with grapplers and grappling being Chiesa’s bread and butter, this actually sounded like a potentially rough matchup on paper for Holland. Don’t wanna get carried away because Chiesa was coming off a big layoff and looked so disillusioned after the fight that he might’ve been half checked out anyway. But this was the best Holland has looked in a while. Especially how he did it. You can see he’s been taking the grappling a bit more seriously and putting some work in there and that was the main thing holding him back. Still, I don’t like him talking about going back up to 185. I think 170’s a better weight class for him but whatever. 185 is more shallow so maybe that’s what’s tempting him. Gabriel Bonfim, just like his UFC debut, made it look easy again with a quick guillotine finish over Trevin Giles. He’s slacking a bit. This took him just over a minute, his debut lasted just 49 seconds. Improves to 15-0, all finishes and is just about to turn 26. The future looks bright for him. Yeah Giles is no contender but he’s decent, has wins over some solid opposition and isn’t generally someone you expect to see getting rolled over like this. Impressive. I think after him and his brother debuted on the Brazil card in January, people were more hyped for Ismael because of the flying knee KO against McKinney. Gabriel’s debut kind of got overshadowed. But he’s looking like the bigger prospect to me. Interested to see who Bonfim is matched up with next. Plenty of good tests for him at 170. CJ Vergara vs Vinicius Salvador wasn’t the best of fights. Bit of a weird one. I think it’s Salvador being a bit awkward. I vaguely remember him doing a fair bit of showboating and bullshit posturing in his previous fight as well. That’s all well and good if you’re putting on a clinic, doesn’t hit quite the same when you’re losing the fight. Glad Vergara got the decision. Shame it wasn’t very exciting though. Coming off that crazy banger with Lacerda last time out, it would’ve been nice if he could’ve built on that momentum. Oh well, a win’s a win. Roman Kopylov has become a bit of an issue. Got off to a dodgy start in the UFC but he seems to have turned a corner and started feeling at home in there lately. He’s won his last 3 fights now, stopped Alessio Di Chirico, Punahele Soriano and now Claudio Ribeiro gets flatlined… Mirko Cro Kopylov! Good stuff. Amazing what a few big finishes can do. I’ve gone from being completely indifferent to Kopylov to now seeing him as a bit of a must see fighter. His kicks are nasty. To the body and head. Proper heavy legs. Ribeiro’s struggling now. He seems like an exciting fighter himself but he’s gone 0-2 and been stopped both times since signing with the UFC. It’s a cruel game. I’d like to see him get a win next time. Jake Matthews vs Darrius Flowers was a decent fight. You never know how it’s gonna go when a late replacement steps in but Matthews is back in the win column and didn’t take a ton of damage so, assuming he’s not carrying any injuries, I’m guessing he’ll get a spot on the Sydney card in September. Which he’ll probably lose because that’s the way he rolls after a win. Uros Medic vs Matthew Semelsberger was a barmy scrap down on Fight Pass. If you missed it it’s well worth a look. Semelsberger’s always good for a wild fight and Medic was up for it and met him head on. A spinning…forearm? Didn’t have a problem with the stoppage, Semelsberger looked in a bad way and Medic was in prime position to just tee off on him. I can see why Semelsberger thought it was early though. He wasn’t out at the time of the stoppage and a fighter like him always wants it to continue. Miranda Maverick vs Priscila Cachoeira wasn’t much cop but I was happy to see Maverick put in a dominant performance and get the finish. Just because fuck Cachoeira. I’m always mentioning the time she deliberately gouged Gillian Robertson’s eyes to escape a sub attempt and here she was again on the bottom, messing with Maverick’s top and trying to pull her tits out! What the fuck? Combining cheating with sexual assault mid fight is a new one. 290/291 has to be one of the best back-to-back PPV one-twos of all time. 290 was definitely better for me but this was a very solid follow up effort. Sterling and O’Malley have their work cut out at 292. Edited July 30, 2023 by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirdobbo89 Posted July 30, 2023 Share Posted July 30, 2023 I watched the prelims, most notable thing being Russian Chase Hooper with the head kick knockout, the sound of that shot. Tony is so finished it's unreal. I think he was lucky to go the distance considering his chin, and he's physically aged about 10 years since that Gaethje fight. I haven't seen it since but I remember him being BATTERED in that fight, and the way he was reacting to the shots just before the stoppage was all off. That fight did him in. I don't want to see him fight again, the Green fight was sad viewing itself. God Bless Derrick Lewis. A flying knee of all things, De Lima never recovered. Post Fight stuff was all great TV, the crowd were on fire all night but they were absolutely buzzing off Derrick here and rightly so. Gutted for Jan because he seems like the nicest bloke ever but IMO he did lose the fight. He was knackered in rounds 2 and 3. I'd done that time old thing of waking up this morning of going 'UFC last night, better not go on anything on my phone' and then absent mindedly opened YouTube and read what I thought was 'Dustin Head Kick KO' before promptly shutting it, so I assumed I was about to see Poirier Head Kick KO Gaethje, and watching the fight Gaethje was leaning to the side when taking shots at times so I was certain that's what I was about to see. Shocked to see it happen the other way. Interesting to see where they all go from here and glad Gaethje gave it the 'I don't really care' about McGregor's drunken tweets post fight. I don't think McGregor fights again tbh, his face is about 14 times the size it was a couple of years back and he's minted anyway. I think he's got zero chance against a Gaethje or a Poirier at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted July 31, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted July 31, 2023 20 hours ago, sirdobbo89 said: Gutted for Jan because he seems like the nicest bloke ever but IMO he did lose the fight. He was knackered in rounds 2 and 3. Jan seemed to be the only person on the entire show that got killed by the altitude, he put way too much into round 1 and suffered after that. Tony Ferguson just needs to retire, he won't, but he needs too. It just isn't there anymore, and I don't think he's the type of fighter than continue to fight and limit damage, his ego won't allow that, he'll continue to take damage and try to prove he can. Dangerously delusional is our Tony. Speaking of finished, Michael Chiesa is over the hill. Looked pretty lost out there against Holland. Think he tried to get himself up but ultimately found out he's better off behind the announce desk. It was quite fitting to see Gaethje with the BMF belt. I thought Poirier would win this, but considering Gaethje has always been sold as the 'most violent fighter in MMA' it felt right to see him with the belt, what a career. These two will run it back a 3rd time surely. I did feel a little short changed, which was odd considering we saw one of the KO's of the year, but it just didn't become the war we'd all hoped for. Weird complaint. The Black Beast, tremendous. I think we all thought he'd checked out, then he comes back, gets the stoppage and presents one of the all time great celebrations. I'm fairly certain the UFC will re-sign him. Tidy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kfogg1991 Posted July 31, 2023 Share Posted July 31, 2023 (edited) What a great ppv this turned out to be. That main event felt so special and Justin deserved it him hitting the back flip with a pretty perfect landing to made it all the more special. Personally the next ppv is abit of a dud compared to this past one im hoping Sean gets knocked out Edited July 31, 2023 by Kfogg1991 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted August 1, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted August 1, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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