Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted July 11, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted July 11, 2023 (edited) Back on PPV and we’re shipping up to Boston… PPV MAIN CARD Aljamain Sterling©️vs Sean O’Malley - Bantamweight Title Zhang Weili©️vs Amanda Lemos - Strawweight Title Neil Magny vs Ian Garry Mario Bautista vs Da’Mon Blackshear Marlon Vera vs Pedro Munhoz ESPN PRELIMS Chris Weidman vs Brad Tavares Gregory Rodrigues vs Denis Tiuliulin Austin Hubbard vs Kurt Holobaugh - TUF Lightweight Finale Brad Katona vs Cody Gibson - TUF Bantamweight Finale ESPN+/FIGHT PASS PRELIMS Gerald Meerschaert vs Andre Petroski Andrea Lee vs Natalia Silva Maryna Moroz vs Karine Silva I like it. Big fan of that main card. Hopefully it all stays intact because there’s absolutely no fat on it. Prelims aren’t bad at all either. Lots to like up and down the card. As you can see there, this is gonna serve as the TUF Finale as well. Haven’t watched a second of that so we’ll see how those finals shape up. Aljamain Sterling vs Sean O’Malley is your main event. I really like this fight. It’s been a bit of a weird one from the moment it was announced with Aljo saying he’s doing this fight basically “against his will” and stuff but hopefully it goes ahead because I think it’s a fascinating clash of styles. I wasn’t completely sold on O’Malley and if you’d asked me a year ago if I thought he’d do well at this kind of level I’d have probably laughed in your face. His last fight made a believer out of me though. I think him and Aljo should make for a hell of a fight. It’s been a funny old title reign for Sterling. Right from the start, even the way he won the belt was odd, taking the strap by DQ against Petr Yan. Then they did the rematch and Aljo won on points in a razor close decision that many felt he lost. From there he stopped TJ Dillashaw, a great name to have on the resume but Dillashaw was coming off a long layoff and a laundry list of injuries. Then in his last fight in May, he fought another big name in Henry Cejudo. But again, Cejudo had been on the shelf 3 years prior and Sterling still only managed a split decision victory. Don’t get me wrong, I did have him winning, but it was just another underwhelming title defence from him. And it isn’t a great look when you’re having such a close fight with a guy coming off all that time on the sidelines. One of the strangest UFC championship runs I can remember. He hasn’t had that one blow away performance like most great champions have. There always seems to be an asterisk of some sort hanging over each defence. As a result I think that’s a big part of the reason why Aljo is under-appreciated. He’s a really good fighter. Really good. It’s been almost forgotten now that he pissed through and submitted Cory Sandhagen in 90 seconds just before the title reign. But it’s like ever since he won the belt it’s been a curse. Right from the off he was battling injuries and the defences have all been a bit lacklustre. A big part of that may have been the weight cut though. Aljo’s been saying for a while now that it’s becoming more and more of a struggle to make the Bantamweight limit. And from everything he’s saying, win or lose here, this will be his last fight at 135. “Win or learn, this is probably my last fight at Bantamweight. Even if I were to ‘learn’ and I didn’t get my hand raised, it damn sure ain’t because of Sean O’Malley running me out of the division. It’s moreso, this shit’s getting old, man. It hurts. It’s the weight cut.” - Aljamain Sterling It’s the natural thing that as fighters get older, the weight cut gets more difficult and that’s when you generally see guys move up in weight. Sterling’s 33 now so it’s about that time. And in fairness, the cut to 135 might’ve been the main thing causing a lot of his issues. It’s common knowledge that you’re more susceptible to injuries when you’re not training and competing at a healthy weight. And it could also explain some of his less than impressive performances recently. Maybe it’s just been time to move up to 145 for a while but the belt made him stick around a bit longer at 135. Sterling’s also been very vocal recently about his treatment by the UFC. He was apparently wanting a bit of a rest and some time to heal up some injuries following the Cejudo fight in May, but Dana went ahead and started the ball rolling with this O’Malley fight. Anyone who’s been watching this shit for some time knows that’s common practice when it comes to Dana. If he wants a fight and one of the fighters isn’t playing ball the way he likes, he goes to the media and ‘announces’ a fight that wasn’t actually signed. Basically trying to force the fighter’s hand or they lose face or some shite. It’s a shithouse tactic but he gets his way doing that more often than not. If the fighter stands their ground and doesn’t fight, it’s spun in the media that they ‘pulled out’ and ‘didn’t want to fight’, despite the fact there wasn’t actually an official fight to pull out of in the first place! Dana’s got his own way again here. Aljo’s agreed to it, reluctantly. I suppose he just wants it out of the way now so he can crack on with his fresh start up at 145. This man stands in his way. ‘Suga’ Sean O’Malley. It’s been clear the UFC have been high on him right from the day he appeared on DWCS back in 2017. They were all up his arse from the jump. He made his UFC debut at the end of that year and, kind of like the Pimblett thing, they proper babied him early on with the matchmaking. He’d only just turned 23 when they signed him though, so I got not throwing him straight to the wolves at this stage. The highlight of his initial climb came in June 2020 when he faced tough veteran Eddie Wineland at UFC 250… Absolutely devastating KO. That took him to a perfect 12-0 and the hype train was well and truly rolling. Before it could pick up speed though, he ran into Chito Vera and suffered his first loss. Chito battered him with ground and pound for a TKO stoppage. That seemed to scare the matchmakers and they went back to giving him soft opponents. This is where I started really souring on O’Malley. He was fed Thomas Almeida, Kris Moutinho and Raulian Paiva in consecutive fights. Almeida was once a decent prospect but certainly not by this point. He was coming off 3 straight losses. The Moutinho matchup was the dodgiest. I remember O’Malley was meant to fight someone else that night, the original opponent pulled out and they chucked Moutinho in. The likes of Ricky Simon, Tim Elliott and Brian Kelleher offered to step in but they went with some green haired jobber. Would’ve been fine if O’Malley wasn’t talking a load of shite about nobody wanting the fight, ignoring these guys and then accepting Moutinho. Whatever though. He beat all 3 and had a really anti-climatic and unsatisfying fight with Pedro Munhoz last summer which went to a No Contest due to Munhoz suffering a bad eye poke. I remember O’Malley looking pretty shit in that fight and by this point I was massively unconvinced by him and his supposed potential. Then the UFC threw us an unexpected swerve… They booked O’Malley vs Petr Yan for the big Abu Dhabi card in October. Completely caught me off guard when this was announced. After trying to protect him with easy fights, then seeing how poor he looked against an ageing Munhoz who was in a slump, the last thing I expected them to do was put him in there with Yan. I fully expected Yan to slaughter him. Based on O’Malley’s showing against Munhoz and the fact he’d already lost to Chito, I genuinely thought this was a mismatch. What actually happened on the night was the total opposite to what I expected. They had a 15 minute absolute barnburner. Easily one of my favourite fights of 2022. It went the distance and it was mega close but in the end, O’Malley got his hand raised. It was a split decision and a bit of a hotly debated one as I recall. Many had Yan winning. I think I scored it for Yan on the night as well but it was one of those where I could see the case for either man getting the nod. Great fight though. And it completely changed my opinion on O’Malley. He gave Yan hell in there. Going into that fight I fully believed O’Malley belonged nowhere near the title picture. This fight proved otherwise. I know it’s easy to look back and downplay this win because Yan’s floundering now. But you look at Yan’s last few fights. He was winning the first Aljo fight before throwing that brain fart knee, arguably won the rematch and arguably won the O’Malley fight which was one of the best fights of the year. The only fight he’s lost convincingly recently was the Merab fight last time out but Merab’s causing problems for everyone. Yan’s legit. If you beat Yan, you’re in that mix with the very top boys at 135. So I had no problem with O’Malley getting the next title shot. He’s had a fair bit to say about Sterling as well. “He’s been very vocal. He’s got some kind of bicep injury or something. Built-in excuse is what it sounds like. I beat him and he’s like, ‘Well, you guys already knew. I said I was injured, I didn’t want to fight.’ He’s going to make the fight. He’s going to get paid, he’s going to make it there. I do think he’s taking this fight very serious. I do think he looks at me as very dangerous. So, I expect the best Aljamain to show up. I like that. It fuels me. It’s exciting to go in there and fight the best Bantamweight in the world. I go out there and put his lights out, what does that make me?” - Sean O’Malley He sounds well up for it. Again, like Aljo’s last couple of opponents, he’s also had a bit of a layoff. But Oct-Aug is nowhere near as bad as what Dillashaw and Cejudo were coming back from. And O’Malley’s still young enough where I don’t think it’ll really matter so much. I don’t think ring rust is as much of an issue with younger fighters. If they’re out with a long term injury that’s one thing. But O’Malley’s been healthy and I assume he’s been training consistently in his downtime. He’s known he’s been next in line for a while so he’d have been a complete idiot to not stay sharp and keep working. Actually buzzing for this more than I thought I’d be, to be honest. This is a quick turnaround for Aljo and I think it’s quite obvious it’s all to accommodate O’Malley. Like I say, he’s been on the shelf since October so I think he wanted back in there ASAP. And make no mistake the UFC and Dana would rather the belt comes off Aljo. For one, because he’s been speaking up and also because he’s almost certainly off to Featherweight after this. It’s just easier and more straightforward for them if O’Malley wins. And if O’Malley does win, we’ve already got a ready made feud with Aljo’s teammate Merab brewing nicely. Jacketgate! One for the ages. But yeah, I’m a fan of this fight. If Aljo wins this one, especially if he does so in impressive fashion, it’ll go a long way towards putting a more positive shine on his title reign. A win over a young, exciting and popular fighter like ‘Suga’ Sean, who wasn’t beat up or old or coming off years of inactivity. It’d be that strong, decisive win his reign has been lacking. And if O’Malley wins it completely solidifies him and proves beyond doubt that the Yan win wasn’t a one hit wonder. Tremendous stuff here. Zhang Weili vs Amanda Lemos throw down for Strawweight gold in the co-main. This should be a full on firefight for as long as it lasts. Can’t see any other scenario but a really exciting scrap on the feet here. It’s not that often we can say that about the women’s fights but this is one of those occasions. To be fair, Strawweight has been the best women’s division to watch anyway. And the current champ’s been a big part of that… China’s first ever UFC champion. She’s been awesome to watch over the years. Before one of her fights I went back and watched a fair bit of her pre-UFC footage and she was the same then. All action. The UFC run has been brilliant though. Obliterating Jessica Andrade in 42 seconds to win the title was incredible enough. But that first fight with Joanna Jedrzejczyk in 2020 was something else. Easily the best women’s fight I’ve ever seen but I’d rate it high as one of my favourite fights ever regardless. A war that I’d honestly rank up there with classics like Hendo vs Shogun 1, Hunt vs Bigfoot 1 etc. Just an amazing fight. She had those couple of losses to Rose Namajunas after that but got back on track in the rematch with Joanna last year, knocking her out with a spinning backfist and sending her into retirement. She got another crack at the belt following that win. As much as I like Zhang, I felt like it was a bit underserved at the time. But the champ was Carla Esparza, she’d just won the thing in one of the worst fights I’ve ever seen against Namajunas and, frankly, I just wanted the belt off her by any means necessary. If Zhang was the woman for the job, so be it. She didn’t let us down. I had my doubts going into that one. I felt like Zhang was the better overall fighter and definitely much more exciting to watch. But I’d seen just enough of her getting taken down in other fights that I had a bad feeling Esparza was gonna blanket her to a miserable decision. Never been more happy to be proven wrong. Zhang had no issues with her and throttled her in 2 rounds to reclaim the title. Lovely stuff. It’s been quiet since and it seemed to take ages for the UFC to confirm her next fight. But it’s on now. Amanda Lemos got the call. This was who I initially expected to get the next title shot but they took so long to announce it I started to have my doubts. I think it was just a case where they were waiting for some other Strawweight fights to play out before making their decision. Honestly, I think they might’ve been waiting in hope that they could get Mackenzie Dern in there but she shat the bed and lost to Yan Xiaonan in October. Then I thought they might go with an all-Chinese title fight of Zhang vs Yan. That would’ve been pretty cool actually and Yan only strengthened her case in January, stopping Jessica Andrade in a round. But it wasn’t to be and they’ve gone with Lemos. I’m not mad at it. Lemos is 36 years old now so it’s kind of now or never. She’s 13-2-1 with 11 finishes and 8 of them came by KO/TKO. In a division full of tiny women, you don’t see many finishers like her. She’s not exactly put together a Goldberg streak but she’s gone 7-1 in her last 8 and comes into this fight off back-to-back wins - a submission over Michelle Waterson and a TKO over Marina Rodriguez. She’s very rarely involved in anything dull. In fact, I can’t recall any fight I’ve seen of hers that wasn’t at least decent. Most of her fights that I’ve seen haven’t lasted long enough to become bad. Should be a lively one for however long it lasts but I can’t see past a successful title defence for Zhang here. I think Zhang’s better everywhere. But she can’t afford to get complacent or careless on the feet because Lemos definitely packs a punch. I just can’t shake that standing arm triangle loss Lemos had against Andrade last year either. Whatever happens, it should be fun to watch. If Zhang wins, as I expect she will, I’d like to see that Yan Xiaonan fight next. If they’re going back to China anytime soon even better. Neil Magny vs Ian Garry has been thrown together late in the day. Was supposed to be Garry against Geoff Neal and I was looking forward to that. It would’ve been a good next test for Garry and there was a bit of needle between them as well. But Neal is out and trusty old Magny has stepped up on a week’s notice. Seen some moaning about it but what were people expecting on this kind of notice? Usually if someone drops out this close to the show the best you can hope for is they chuck a DWCS guy in there or a last minute signing off the regional scene. This is much better than that. Magny’s ranked #11 at Welterweight so a win for Garry (who’s ranked #13) here still moves him up and in the right direction. And Magny is the guy Garry actually called out after his last fight. It’s all worked out in the end. Fair play to Magny. He’s not the most exciting fighter to watch but you can’t fault his gameness. He’ll step in with anyone. I think Garry should be winning this though. He’s over a decade younger, he’s the one who’s had a full training camp, he’s undefeated and he’s been steadily improving with each fight since signing with the UFC. Magny’s a solid test though and not someone Garry can afford to take lightly. He’s still the best fighter Garry will have faced to date. Mario Bautista vs Da’Mon Blackshear is a last minute change. Was supposed to be Bautista against Cody Garbrandt but ol’ Cody No Chin has pulled out. Can’t remember a great deal about Bautista, to be honest. He is coming off 4 wins though and finished his last 3 opponents. Blackshear is coming in fresh off this… That was this Saturday just gone on the Luque vs RDA undercard at the Apex. So this’ll be his second fight in one week. Awesome finish that was. Only the third ever submission by twister in UFC history. Blackshear’s 14-5-1 now with 11 finishes. Got off to a shaky start in the UFC but he’s well on track now coming off back-to-back wins. This is a risk though. It always is. Obviously he’ll be on weight and in shape having literally just fought days before. But jumping in like this is a funny one. You get all the praise from media and fans and you get the brownie points from UFC brass initially for stepping up. If you lose though, that all gets forgotten and the criticism rolls in. Hopefully they have a good fight either way. Marlon Vera vs Pedro Munhoz is ***WAND’S ONE TO WATCH*** and sounds like a front runner for FOTN. It was supposed to be Chito against Henry Cejudo but Cejudo’s out. That was a bigger fight for this card but I actually think it might be a blessing in disguise for Chito that Henry pulled out. He’s coming off the loss to Sandhagen as it is, last thing he needed here was another loss and I think Henry would’ve got the better of him unfortunately. When Cejudo dropped out I was really hoping we’d get Chito vs Petr Yan instead. That’s the fight I wanna see. This’ll do though. Such an entertaining fighter to watch. He was on the best run of his career before that Sandhagen loss in March as well. Wins over Davey Grant, Frankie Edgar, Rob Font and Dominick Cruz in a row is good going. Not to mention he also has that win over Sean O’Malley on his record. Still the only man to date to have a win over ‘Suga’. I think some overrated him slightly during his recent win streak. It was a good series of wins but I saw people going on like he was gonna go on some run at the title and I just don’t see that being on the cards for him. I think there’s just that one extra level at Bantamweight that he’s gonna struggle with. The Aljos, Merabs, Cejudos etc. I just don’t see him getting anything positive out of those matchups. But…if O’Malley wins the title on this show, that might be Chito’s ticket given their history. I’d love to see that rematch at some point as well. All that goes out the window if he doesn’t beat Munhoz here though. I’ve always enjoyed watching Munhoz. He’s had some cracking fights over the years, the two with Jimmie Rivera are real forgotten gems. Or maybe just not enough people saw them. And him sparking Cody Garbrandt that time cemented me as a fan for life. He’ll be 37 just after this fight though and he’s gone 2-4-0-1 in his last 7 fights. You look at the guys he’s fought in that time and the losses were all to top guys. But still. He finally got back in the win column in April, taking a decision off Chris Gutierrez. Tough little bastard but if Chito’s gonna get back on track, he needs to be winning fights like this. I think he will but it could be a harder fight than people think. Chris Weidman vs Brad Tavares then. I hope I’m wrong but this just feels like a story that’s gonna have a bad ending to me. To be honest, I’d reached the point where I didn’t really expect to ever see Weidman fight again. Let’s face it, even when we last saw him, he’d been struggling big time results-wise for years. It felt like he was never gonna get out of that slump and that the end was near anyway. Then at UFC 261 in April 2021… Fuck 🤢 looks even worse than I remembered. Disaster. He snapped his leg just seconds into his fight with Uriah Hall and that was that. He’s been recovering ever since. So eery how it happened as well, considering back in 2013 the same thing happened to Anderson Silva in a fight against Weidman. For it to come full circle and happen to him this time was nuts. I think there’s only been 3 cases of that kind of thing happening in the UFC, and 2 of them were in Weidman fights. And he was on both sides of it. What are the fucking chances of that? Obviously it’s been a long road to recovery but here we are. And Weidman’s talking a big game. “It’s been a long road. It’s been four surgeries, I’ve had infections, it’s pretty much been hell. I’m not coming back to be a B-rated fighter or a gatekeeper or anything like that. I went through all this hell not just to come back and be like that. I’m going to come back and try to get back what is mine, try and get that belt. I’m trying to shock the world again. I wanna come back and put on a great performance, a dominating performance. And then the goal is to fight again on that New York City November card at Madison Square Garden. Just climb up the rankings, earn my way back to a title fight. I love the champion, Israel Adesanya. I love that matchup. That’s the goal.” - Chris Weidman Delusional? Maybe. I get it though. I think you have to have this kind of mindset to make it in MMA, and especially to battle back from what he’s been through. Unfortunately, I see it ending in tears. It’d be the most amazing comeback story ever if he somehow returned and got back to the title. But it’s not happening, is it? He looked well on his way out before the injury. He’d gone 2-5 in his 7 fights prior to that fight with Uriah Hall. Now he’s coming back, at 39 years old, after 2+ years on the shelf and going through all the surgery and rehab from that horrific injury. It’s not happening. Tavares isn’t a soft return fight either. He’s a big, tough, scrappy guy. He’s got heavy hands, he’s durable, he’s strong. He’s coming off a couple of losses but he’s been active and has gone the distance with the likes of Adesanya, Yoel Romero and Dricus Du Plessis. Knowing Weidman’s skills and what he’s capable of, it’s definitely a winnable fight. But the injury and layoff throws that all out the window. Not a clue what to expect out of him here but my gut feeling isn’t good. Gregory Rodrigues vs Denis Tiuliulin was supposed to go down on the Topuria vs Emmett card in late June but Tiuliulin dropped out forcing the fight to be postponed. Should be worth a look, as all Robocop Greg’s fights are. He’s been consistently fun to watch in the UFC so far, win or lose. Unfortunately this time he’s coming off a loss. He got knocked out in a round by Octagon newcomer Brunno Ferreira on the Brazil card in January. I was gutted for him but it was always a bit of a risky one. Ferreira stepped in on late notice and was undefeated with a 100% finish rate. And with the way Rodrigues fights, there’s always that chance of him getting waffled. It’s part of what makes him such an entertaining fighter. Hopefully he gets back to winning ways here. Tiuliulin does little for me, to be honest. He’s Russian, 35 years old and 10-7-0-1. Hasn’t been terrible to watch but he’s mediocre at best. He’s coming off a first round submission loss to Jun Yong Park back in February. Probably something BJJ black-belt Rodrigues could exploit but no doubt he’ll opt to just slug it out as usual. Gerald Meerschaert vs Andre Petroski could be a belter if they mostly go the grappling route. Which probably means they’ll just kickbox. Should be worth checking out though. Our boy Gerald’s pretty much settled into that role now as the guy they use as a litmus test for the up and comers in the Middleweight division. Basically an exciting, 185 version of Neil Magny. He’s got a wealth of experience, this’ll be his 52nd MMA fight and he’s gone 35-16 with 33 finishes! He’s ace. Of course he’s a top bloke as well. Always root for him. Petroski’s only 3 years younger at 32 but only has a fraction of the cage time. He’s 9-1 with 8 finishes and comes into this fight on a 4 fight win streak in the UFC. He’s looked good from what I’ve seen of him, especially in the grappling, but this is by far the toughest test yet for him. Hoping Gerald strangles him. He got stopped early by Joe Pyfer last time and he never got going at all. He could do with a strong showing here. Andrea Lee vs Natalia Silva has my attention and it’s nothing to do with Lee. She’s been on the roster since 2018 and I’ve found her very, very average. She’s 34 years old, 13-7 overall, 5-5 in the UFC and her best wins are Antonina Shevchenko and Cynthia Calvillo, neither of which I particularly rate. She comes into this fight off back-to-back decision losses to Viviane Araujo and Maycee Barber. It’s Natalia Silva who makes this worthwhile for me. One for the underrated hotties thread 😍 She’s not just a pretty face though. Not sure how far she can go but her fights have quickly become must see viewing for me. I remember her UFC debut was badly delayed. Think she signed a long time before she actually stepped foot in the Octagon. Can’t remember what the hold up was but her last pre-UFC fight was in 2019 and she never made her UFC debut until June 2022. Since then she’s gone 3-0 and looked really good. In her first fight back she put on a clinic against Jasmine Jasudavicius for a decision win and then stopped both Tereza Bleda and Victoria Leonardo. The Bleda KO was a crazy spinning kick to the face as well. Obviously these wins weren’t against the best of competition. She’s got a long way to go and a lot of questions to answer. But so far, so good. And at 26 years old, she’s got some time. Great addition to the Flyweight division. Hopefully she gets another win here. Maryna Moroz vs Karine Silva 2. Yeah, a rematch. They fought back in November 2014 in Brazil for a promotion called XFC. Apparently it was the Quarter Finals of a tournament for their Strawweight belt and Moroz won via first round armbar. Don’t know what happened with the tournament after that. Not that I care but Moroz won here but then, rather than advance to the Semi Finals, the UFC signed her off the back of this win. A few months later she was making her UFC debut in Poland, on the undercard of Cro Cop vs Gonzaga 2, and submitting Joanne Wood in a round. I remember she called out then champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk, who was sitting cageside, after that but obviously nothing came of it. Moroz has been quite inconsistent in the years since. She’s 11-4 overall now and in her last fight she lost on points to Jennifer Maia in November. Karine Silva looks like someone worth keeping an eye on though. She’s 16-4 now, all finishes, and she’s on a 7 fight winning streak. She just fought on the Kara-France vs Albazi card in early June, where she won by gruesome kneebar in the first round. Seriously, horrible looking finish. You could see the opponent’s knee completely shift. It’s a nothing fight really but I like Silva so far so it’ll be interesting to see if she can avenge that 2014 loss here. There you have it. 292. Edited August 16, 2023 by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted July 12, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted July 12, 2023 Great stuff wand. great card this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted July 12, 2023 Share Posted July 12, 2023 If this title fight between O'Malley and Sterling was happening off the back of both fighters coming in with proper rest and training camps I'd likely favour Sterling very heavily. As it is, this fight is happening three months after his five round fight with Cejudo, which isn't ideal in my opinion. I still think Sterling gets it done, but by fuck does the UFC love itself white fighters to get behind and favour. Especially if they have a hint of Irish about them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted August 9, 2023 Author Paid Members Share Posted August 9, 2023 Geoff Neal is out of the Ian Garry fight. Looks like Neil Magny might be stepping in. He’s posted this today… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kfogg1991 Posted August 9, 2023 Share Posted August 9, 2023 I now believe I am the only person that genuinely does not like Sean o malley at all, he is talented but it feels so forced because he came up through the contender series. This ppv card for me isn't one that excites me enough to stay up like normal so I'll sleep and watch when I wake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted August 9, 2023 Share Posted August 9, 2023 If we're honest, O'Malley is likely getting two cracks at the title anyway. If he loses to Sterling and Sterling moves up, it'll be O'Malley and Merab for the vacant title. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kfogg1991 Posted August 9, 2023 Share Posted August 9, 2023 49 minutes ago, David said: If we're honest, O'Malley is likely getting two cracks at the title anyway. If he loses to Sterling and Sterling moves up, it'll be O'Malley and Merab for the vacant title. Your probably right Dana is obviously pushing him to the moon and there is no stopping that it seems. I do seem to be in the minority of people who don't like him. It's not that he's not good and talented cos he is but he is being pushed too much and too fast over others in my opinion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted August 10, 2023 Share Posted August 10, 2023 1 hour ago, Kfogg1991 said: Your probably right Dana is obviously pushing him to the moon and there is no stopping that it seems. I do seem to be in the minority of people who don't like him. It's not that he's not good and talented cos he is but he is being pushed too much and too fast over others in my opinion As I said further up the thread, Dana has a type that he actively likes to push. And O'Malley is it. Sure, other fighters come along and he'll happily ride the wave with them and generate the money, but when it comes to guys who are new and untested, there's a certain type Dana likes to push. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted August 10, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted August 10, 2023 New and untested? he's coming off a win over Petr Yan. Regardless, if a fighter generates views/interest like O'Malley, it's an absolute no-brainer that the UFC give him special treatment to a degree, they'd be stupid not too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted August 10, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted August 10, 2023 Used to like O'Malley for his fighting style - kind of like an MMA version of Tommy Hearns. But he's such an unlikable wanker, went off him quickly. Either way, I'm rooting for Aljo because he's being screwed by Plastic Caesar up to his usual childishness. Hope he wins just to flip White the bird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted August 10, 2023 Share Posted August 10, 2023 5 hours ago, Egg Shen said: New and untested? he's coming off a win over Petr Yan. Not new and untested now, obviously. But this push of O'Malley isn't a new thing. He's generating that interest from fans because he's one of the few fighters where the UFC actually did their job and promoted him. Way back when he wasn't even well-known, the UFC made him into a huge deal, Dana made him sound like a huge deal. That spills over into the fans buying into him as a fighter. Dana always goes for certain guys and gives them the "Dana treatment." Be it Conor, be it O'Malley, or more recently Bo Nickal. And they all have a certain type to them. Young, white, with a dash of Irish blood in them. When O'Malley, Conor or Nickal are arrogant, flashy or act like they're a big deal Dana loves it. When it's Woodley, Mighty Mouse, Sterling, Ngannou, and even Jon Jones before he allowed himself to become weaponised against Ngannou, it's seen as them "getting in their own way" and being problematic. I mean, when Woodley made some legitimate accusations about how black fighters are treated back in the day, what was Dana's response? He didn't say that he'd take Woodley's words into consideration, or that he'd even speak to the fighter privately. How did he deal with it? By saying the dude is a "drama Queen" then go on to tell him he should be more like a white fighter in McGregor. Dana has played it perfectly though, because his following is that kind of stupid fuckwit, where any claims of racism or bias is instantly met with "oh, you woke!" or "here come the snowflakes!" Then again, maybe I'm wrong. I mean, the kind of politics Dana espouses, the kind of company he keeps, would never suggest he's that kind of guy, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted August 10, 2023 Author Paid Members Share Posted August 10, 2023 It’s on. Seen a fair bit of negativity about Magny as the substitute but I think they’ve done well to still get a ranked guy in there on this short notice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted August 10, 2023 Share Posted August 10, 2023 42 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said: Seen a fair bit of negativity about Magny as the substitute but I think they’ve done well to still get a ranked guy in there on this short notice. Magny is one of those guys who is seen, rightly or wrongly, as bland and uninteresting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted August 10, 2023 Author Paid Members Share Posted August 10, 2023 I get that. I’ve said as much myself pretty much every time I’ve previewed his fights. But looking at it from the Garry side, it’s almost the same thing as the Neal fight. Magny’s a couple of ranking spots lower than Neal but he’s still above Garry and he’s still a logical next test. If Garry vs Magny was the original matchup instead of Neal it would’ve been perfectly logical as the next step for Garry. And like I say, usually they just sling a DWCS guy in there or some no hoper off the feeder leagues looking for a break. Garry beating someone like that wouldn’t move him any further forward really. This Magny fight at least does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted August 11, 2023 Share Posted August 11, 2023 50 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said: I get that. I’ve said as much myself pretty much every time I’ve previewed his fights. But looking at it from the Garry side, it’s almost the same thing as the Neal fight. Magny’s a couple of ranking spots lower than Neal but he’s still above Garry and he’s still a logical next test. If Garry vs Magny was the original matchup instead of Neal it would’ve been perfectly logical as the next step for Garry. And like I say, usually they just sling a DWCS guy in there or some no hoper off the feeder leagues looking for a break. Garry beating someone like that wouldn’t move him any further forward really. This Magny fight at least does. Oh, absolutely. He may not be the most exciting fight, but he's a challenge. Since 2020 he's only lost to prime Chiesa (who was coming off wins over RDA and Condit), Rakhmonov, and Gilbert Burns. If Garry gets a stoppage win here? He's solidified as legit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.