Panhead Posted November 12, 2023 Share Posted November 12, 2023 Aspinall is the real deal. He always comes across well too.Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted November 12, 2023 Author Paid Members Share Posted November 12, 2023 (edited) Quite a show that. Iāll be honest, as much as I love combat sports, I canāt remember the last time I had legitimate goosebumps before a fight like I did seeing that. Something about the combination of these two just grabbed me. And itās not like they even went out of their way to actively hype this up or āsell the fightā. They didnāt talk shit, they didnāt talk much at all! They didnāt fake beef. They just did what they do and that was enough for me. I donāt know whether the PPV buys will reflect it. I donāt give a fuck how many buys it did. But for me personally, it hit the spot. Nothing against Jiri but I was happy to see Pereira come out on top. Just prefer him, the fact heās Glover Teixeiraās protĆ©gĆ© also makes it hard to root against him and I wanted to see him make history here. With this win heās now a 2 weight world champion in both GLORY and the UFC. Granted, in the UFC he was fast tracked and benefitted from circumstances in both the 185 and 205 divisions. But itās still gonna go down as a hell of a career when itās all said and done. Seen a lot of talk today about the way it ended and it being an āearly stoppageāā¦ I disagree. From the live angle you couldnāt tell how clean that short left hook landed but, as you can see there, the replays showed it was on the button. And then Jiri ate so many follow up shots and fell back on bottom in mount. He was still moving but he looked fucked. And with Pereira in mount and Jiri hurt and scrambled, nothing good was gonna come from that for Jiri. Marc Goddard did him a favour. It couldāve been left to go a bit longer but why? Jiri was almost definitely gonna get splattered into unconsciousness in the next 10 seconds anyway. Jiri himself was all class and said the stoppage was fine. But according to Dr Rogan he was good to go and the stoppage was early. Senile fuck. I feel like Rogan has a lot to answer for when it comes to the crying about so-called premature stoppages. He says it then Cormier and Anik follow suit and then fans who canāt make their own mind up just parrot it because they blindly follow whatever narrative Rogan pushes. As much as itād have been more satisfying if Pereira had scored a cleaner knockout, Iād much rather see a ref stop a fight a few shots early than let them get obliterated in bad positions just on the off chance they might make a miraculous comeback. As they were wrapping up and recapping the show, Rogan and DC were bringing up old fights like Edgar vs Maynard and Lesnar vs Carwin as examples, as if that proves this fight shouldnāt have been stopped because fighters have made comebacks while clearly badly concussed in the past. Meanwhile, āI was outā was Jiriās exact words. He described the fight as āa big blurā and probably shouldnāt have even been interviewed. The good thing with how this fight played out and ended though, is it leaves the door open for a rematch somewhere down the road. It was an exciting fight, both had their moments and they can spin the finish as somewhat controversial (even though I donāt think it was). With the positivity and buzz I saw on social media going into this fight, I donāt think itād take much at all to create interest in a rematch in the future. For now though, itās gonna be Pereira vs Jamahal Hill. I hope Pereira batters him. How cool would it be if Pereira beat both Jiri and Hill back-to-back, avenging Gloverās last 2 losses of his career? Man, what can you say about the co-main? Tom Fucking Aspinall! A lot was made this week of him and Pavlovich having the first and second highest finish percentage in the UFC or something. Canāt remember the exact stat but it was something like that. And it did feel like a fight that had a snowballās chance in hell of seeing a second round but I donāt think anyone wanted to jinx it and tempt fate. Neednāt have worried. 1:09Ā is all it took. Brutal finish. The punch that started it was right on the temple and the follow up looked like it hit the exact same spot. Pavlovich was fucked the second that initial shot connected and you could see his legs were gone and his balance was bollocksed. The difference here was clearly the speed of Aspinall. He just looked like he was moving so much quicker than Sergei and was much lighter on his feet. Sergei tested his chin early though and I think that was the first time Iāve seen Aspinall actually register or kind of acknowledge being tagged. But his chin held up to those shots and he responded perfectly just seconds later with that finish. Some prick named Jon was watching apparently. Waste of fucking time though. I keep seeing people talking about Jones vs Aspinall but Iād be very surprised if Jones sticks around for that. He wants to fight old Stipe and then bounce. Thatās it. He doesnāt wanna be fighting a young, fast, powerful, fresh, true legitimate Heavyweight like Tom Aspinall. Dana doesnāt want it either. He was asked about the possibility of Jones vs Aspinall at the press conference after and immediately shot it down and said Jones vs Stipe is the fight that makes sense. Whatever. If you asked me at any time between 2018 and 2020 about Jones vs Stipe Iād be desperate to see it. In 2023 though, Iām at the point where I just want it to happen so itās out of the way and not muddying the title picture anymore. The sooner that fight is done and dusted and Big Tomās belt gets upgraded from interim to the full actual title the better. Only problem then is, unfortunately he doesnāt have much to work with at all as far as an interesting pool of contenders goes. Pavlovich was the most interesting fight for him and Aspinallās twatted him in a minute. Who else even is there? Gane? Jailton? Blaydes rematch? Thatās about it. Itās a shame really. Aspinallās the most interesting, talented and likeable Heavyweight to come along in years, since Ngannou really, but heās not really got much to build an impressive title reign on looking at the current landscape of the division. The good thing is heās still young so maybe that will change while heās still in his prime. Regardless, the UKās got another champ. Was well happy to see Jessica Andrade snap the losing streak with a vengeance here. Shame it came at the expense of Mackenzie Dern but what can you do? Andrade is easily one of my favourite female fighters to watch ever but I have to admit, based on her recent form, my confidence in her was pretty much shot going in. Call me a cynic but I suspect the matchmakers felt the same and saw this as Dernās ticket to that title shot you know they wanted to give her. Andrade wasnāt playing by that scriptā¦ Christ! It was a good little fight while it lasted but Dern just fucked about too much on the feet and she paid for it big time. I really think this was a case like weāve seen with a lot of grapplers over the years, where they rightly start focusing a lot of their training on improving striking but then, instead of using it to compliment their grappling, they get a bit too comfortable there and start taking risks. Dern had a lot of success on the feet in her last fight against Angela Hill and I think that gave her confidence and ideas above her station here. Then as Andrade started stuffing the takedown attempts and growing in confidence herself, Dern was left with no choice but to strike with her. She was landing shots on Andrade but just running at a power puncher like Andrade with hands down and your chin up in the air is a recipe for disaster. By the second round it felt like a matter of time until Andrade clobbered her and clobber her she did. Benoit Saint-Denis vs Matt Frevola felt like it had high show stealer potential, which is why it was my āone to watchā, but it was over before it got going really. Shame. It was shaping up to be exactly what everyone expected then BSD just ended all our funā¦ The bastard. Couldāve done with seeing more than 90 seconds of these two but, win or lose, Frevola seems incapable lately of fighting past a round. Seriously, this is 5 Frevola fights in a row now that havenāt got out of the first round. Heās become the definition of ākill or be killedā in recent fights. Sad to see him lose but Saint-Denis has really become a standout in the division over the last year or so. I liked him reeling off names he wants to fight in the post-fight interview but the Gaethje and Poirier callouts, fun as those fights would be, were a waste of time because we know heās not getting either of them. I did like his idea of headlining in Paris against Gamrot though. That sounds more realistic but they like to go to Paris in September and thatās obviously way off. Diego Lopes opening up the PPV was perfect card placement. Heās been non-stop excitement from the moment he stepped through the Octagon doors on short notice against Evloev. The fact he followed that up by breezing through Gavin Tucker and now smashing up Pat Sabatini has just solidified him as a canāt miss fighter. Sabatini isnāt an easy fighter to shine against either. I was really expecting this to be a bit of a test for Lopes but he wasnāt having any of that and just wrecked him in 90 seconds. Heās fucking class. Seems like one of those fighters who can have a corker with anyone or any style. Might just be my favourite addition to the roster in 2023. Madman. And to think heās only in the UFC because he jumped in against Evloev when they were scrambling for a replacement. If not for that, heād likely have been another promising fighter they let slip away like Cedric Doumbe. Itās still early days obviously. But the fact he gave an undefeated Evloev such a great fight gives me hope. Imagine him against Bruce Leroy, Bryce Mitchell, Edson Barboza, Yair Rodriguez, Brian Ortega etc down the line? Fuck me. Steve Erceg vs Alessandro Costa was a very enjoyable fight to cap off the prelims. It was one of them where I was quite unfamiliar with both and had seen limited footage of them so I wasnāt exactly invested in it but by the end of the first round theyād got me into it. Good fight, Erceg rightly got the decision. Just a couple more entertaining fighters to throw into the Flyweight mix. I liked the call by Anik to just reschedule the original Erceg vs Matt Schnell fight. Sounds like a good idea but whether Schnell actually makes it to the cage is the challenge. Loopy Godinez vs Tabatha Ricci was decent. Not a barnburner or anything but I thought it was fine. Not sure what the fuck the one judge who scored it 30-27 Ricci was watching. Mustāve been fixated on something about Ricciā¦for some reason. Funnily enough, the same judge scored the first round of Andrade vs Dern for Dern later on. I think we know what he was judging the dirty sod. Luckily the other two judges were able to control themselves and got it right. Nice to see Loopy get another win. Iāve been saying for ages that all sheās lacked so far is consistency and I was putting some of that down to her taking too many short notice and quick turnaround fights. But here she was winning her 4th fight in just 7 months! I completely overlooked that in the opening post. Four fights between April and November is nuts. Sheās finally starting to build some momentum now. She was ranked #13 at Strawweight going into this fight, Ricci was at #10. So Loopy should be around the Top 10 after this. Looking at the names above her, Marina Rodriguez seems the most obvious next opponent. Although maybe a name coming off a loss like Dern or Lemos could be an option as well. Either way, sheās earned a bit of a name. Mateusz Rebecki looks like someone to keep an eye on. Think I said in the opening post that he had a really dull UFC debut but looking back it mustāve been a case of the old Octagon jitters. Because his pre-UFC record was full of finishes and his last couple of UFC fights have been the same. Tough break for Roosevelt Roberts. Took the fight on short notice so he might get another shot but he also missed weight and getting armbarred in 3 minutes in your UFC return isnāt ideal, is it? Interested to see who Rebecki gets next. Heād probably be a big star back in Poland if heād gone the KSW route but he might find progress in the UFCās Lightweight division hard to come by with all the names just fighting each other. For now though, a fight against Elves Brener wouldnāt offend me one bit. As expected, Slava Claus vs Nazim Sadykhov was great fun. The only way I saw this being a letdown was if Sadykhov went full on wrestler mode to exploit Slavās nonexistent ground game like Diakiese did. As it turned out, they did end up on the ground but that was because Sadykhov nearly fucking beheaded him with a kick that dropped him. Slav did well to survive that and fight his way back into it, tough bastard. Sadykhov wisely went for takedowns later but didnāt fully commit to a grappling approach and seemed willing to engage in a dogfight. And I think that ultimately cost him. He probably couldāve made this an easier fight but Iām glad he didnāt because this was bags of fun. Shame they fought so hard only for it to be scored a draw. They seemed happy enough with it thoughā¦ š¤£ Love that! Felt like a draw was probably about right actually. Kind of lost track of the scoring but felt like it was a pretty straightforward case of Borshchev taking 1 and 3 and Sadykhov forcing a draw by 10-8ing the second round. One of those fights where if it was scored under the old Pride judging criteria, Slav wins. But Sadykhov did have that big round in the middle. Cracking fight. Nice to see they got FOTN.Ā Chuffed to see Jared Gordon not only get the win but also a rare finish. His first finish since his UFC debut all the way back in 2017! Wish heād pulled that out in the Pimblett fight. Theyād still have probably found a way to score it for an unconscious Paddy though. But yeah, going in this felt like it had grinding, lacklustre decision written all over it but it was a much easier watch than I expected. Even before the finish I was enjoying it. Gordon getting a finish like that, as a New Yorker in MSG, mustāve been the personal highlight of his career to date by far. Unfortunately for Madsen, itās hard to really see a way back for him. Went from being undefeated to having a horror show with injuries to now coming off being finished in back-to-back fights. At 39 years old it seems like the beginning of the end. Still think Gordon shouldāve got the Paddy rematch but we all know why that didnāt happen. Wasnāt a big fan of the Castaneda vs Kang fight. Wasnāt awful but it was the one fight on the card that I found quite dull. Kind of messed up the flow of the prelims but whatever. Solid enough performance from Castaneda but it was a bit flat coming off the first couple of prelims.Ā Enjoyed the Joshua Van vs Kevin Borjas fight a lot. Typical Flyweight frantic pace. Van caught my attention in his debut win over Zhalgas so I was looking forward to seeing him again anyway. Iād never seen Borjas but he turned out to be the ideal dance partner for Van here. Great stuff. If you skipped the Fight Pass prelims Iād definitely recommend this fight. Seriously, well worth 15 minutes of your time. Was happy to see Van get the win but, honestly, Iāll be keeping an eye out for both of these guys next fights if this fight was typical of them. Vanās only 22 as well! Bright future. Shame neither got any kind of POTN bonus because this was ace. Jamall Emmers kicked off the prelims with a bang. Finally got that elusive UFC finish and within a minute of the first round. Sweet finish. Emmers is one of those undercard fighters who Iāve always felt is a bit better than his record suggested but for one reason or another he just never put a string of wins together. This was nice to see. Especially on a big card like this, at MSG of all places, you could see the emotion in his post-fight interview. Buzukja seemed like he had a bit of promise and a little bit of hype on him when he signed but it hasnāt panned out at all. 0-2 now in the UFC and getting chinned in under a minute in your hometown is never a good look.Ā Quality card that. Iād have to look back over the year but this was one of the best the UFC has put on overall this year, I reckon. Iād still have it a couple of shades below 290 though. That one had a genuine FOTY contender, just as many mad finishes, some surprise results and the perfect Robbie Lawler sendoff. Gonna take some doing to top that one. But this was a breeze to watch. Some cards feel like they drag, this year especially thereās been some that were a right chore to sit through. This was one that looked fun on paper and it lived up to expectations. Edited November 12, 2023 by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce85 Posted November 12, 2023 Share Posted November 12, 2023 Did anyone see the clip of Stipe walking out? He could hardly walk, looked like he was about 70!Ā Ā I really have zero interest in Jones fighting him, that ship has sailed but as Wand said above, uncle Dana has no interest in putting Jones in with Aspinall. I do wonder what will be next for Aspinall, will he sit out to see what happens or take on someone else?Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted November 12, 2023 Author Paid Members Share Posted November 12, 2023 16 minutes ago, Bruce85 said: Did anyone see the clip of Stipe walking out? He could hardly walk, looked like he was about 70!Ā Yeah, he was walking like my old man. But he is actually 70! I was the one saying I wasnāt sure Stipe was as shot as everyone was making out and I still feel like itās being overplayed a bit. But seeing him hobble in like that gave me a bad feeling about the eventual Jones fight. I reckon Aspinall will probably sit out for a bit now. Heās gonna angle for the winner of Jones vs Stipe and I canāt blame him. But I think whatāll happen is heāll sit out waiting for that to play out, Jones and Stipe will both retire and then Aspinall will be promoted to proper champ status and have to fight someone else. I suppose if heās sitting out anyway it might give the division time to create an actual #1 contender. Iāve seen Ciryl Gane already piping up about yetĀ another title shot and Jailton Almeidaās responded to him calling him out. I reckon thatās the way itās gonna end up playing out. Gane vs Almeida for a shot at Aspinall. Not ideal but with Ngannou gone and Jones almost certainly retiring, itās about all there is.Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted November 12, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted November 12, 2023 Ā Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dai Posted November 13, 2023 Share Posted November 13, 2023 Can someone kind share the Miocic vid? Im not on X so cant search, and google and youtube doesnt show anything either. Ā The good thing (for Dana) about Heavies is that it only takes 2, and sometimes even just 1 KO to warm a fighter back up. All Sergei needs to do in the next year is smash 2 fighters early, and hes ready for another shot. Gane vs Tom for the title seems like a real good fight to make. Ā Out of five matches on the main card, two had Rogan-with-blinkers-on mode activated. He was obsessed and beat it into the ground that Dern had her chin in the air. His stink was rubbing off onto DC through the night too. And he was obsessed with the early stoppage too. Annoying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted November 13, 2023 Author Paid Members Share Posted November 13, 2023 12 minutes ago, Dai said: Can someone kind share the Miocic vid? Im not on X so cant search, and google and youtube doesnt show anything either. Itās not quite as bad as I remembered it, people have been going on like heās barely mobile. But definitely a noticeable limpā¦ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce85 Posted November 13, 2023 Share Posted November 13, 2023 (edited) Yeah in all fairness he might just have a stone in his shoe?!Ā Edited November 13, 2023 by Bruce85 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dai Posted November 13, 2023 Share Posted November 13, 2023 1 hour ago, wandshogun09 said: Itās not quite as bad as I remembered it, people have been going on like heās barely mobile. But definitely a noticeable limpā¦ Cheers! Its super bow legged though, he will be getting ankles like the Iron Sheik or Jannetty if he doesnt do something about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Bus Surfer Posted November 13, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted November 13, 2023 20231113_130013.mp4 Ā Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kfogg1991 Posted November 13, 2023 Share Posted November 13, 2023 Oh my god this pay per view was not fucking around man from the very first fight it just felt like every single fighter wanted to put on a show and try and steal the show and those cards just make you absolutely love the sport and the company so damn much. I'll be honest I did not have Tom winning the belt and the fight but I said from the start I wasn't doing it or saying it because I wanted that outcome I just really believed Serge was that scary and unbeatable but fucking hell I have never been more happy to be wrong in my life. I am the furthest thing from a passionate nationalist, I support our British fighters but never did I imagine we would have two British champions in the UFC and seeing Tom get that huge win and knock out and Dana put the belt around his waist just had me sitting with tears of joy and that feels so so good man. What a incredible show which flew by and didn't once have me looking at the time and feeling tired and worn out absolutely the opposite and this could go in the contendership for show of the year in my opinion. 4 show's left for us to close out the year and the last ppv is absolutely stacked obviously but we have a fight night that's outrageous too. I love this sport so so fucking much ManĀ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted November 13, 2023 Author Paid Members Share Posted November 13, 2023 1 hour ago, Kfogg1991 said: 4 show's left for us to close out the year and the last ppv is absolutely stacked obviously but we have a fight night that's outrageous too. Yeah, 296 and the Fight Night in Austin, Texas (thread coming later) are outstanding. This weekās Apex card isnāt great though and thereās a China card on Dec 9th that looks shocking. So typical of the year, itās a 50/50 mixed bag in the last 4 shows to close out 2023. Donāt know if anyone picked up on it but this graphic popped up on the show last night and it gave me a chuckle. Apparently Song vs Gutierrez is for the Middleweight title? š¤£ Itās one thing wrongly listing it as a title fight but at least get the weight class right!Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kfogg1991 Posted November 13, 2023 Share Posted November 13, 2023 14 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said: Yeah, 296 and the Fight Night in Austin, Texas (thread coming later) are outstanding. This weekās Apex card isnāt great though and thereās a China card on Dec 9th that looks shocking. So typical of the year, itās a 50/50 mixed bag in the last 4 shows to close out 2023. Donāt know if anyone picked up on it but this graphic popped up on the show last night and it gave me a chuckle. Apparently Song vs Gutierrez is for the Middleweight title? š¤£ Itās one thing wrongly listing it as a title fight but at least get the weight class right!Ā Mate the Austin card is just outrageous it feels like a statement from Dana and the office at UFC that we can book ridiculous fight night card's that are meaningful and must see we have just decided not to for the entire year because we can!!! Ā I don't know what I'll do with myself for the three/four weeks without UFC shows on a Saturday night Sunday morning. Last year my autistic brain still wouldn't let me sleep so I just rewatched a old UFC show in full without skipping like I would watch a live show haha my life is that drastic and sadĀ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted November 14, 2023 Author Paid Members Share Posted November 14, 2023 I love these birds eye view shots that come out after the shows. Perfectly captures the moment Big Tom walloped Sergei. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members WeeAl Posted November 14, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted November 14, 2023 Well, I tell you what. There wasn't much of Sunday morning that needed set aside to watch that main card. The fighters must have been afraid of turning into gremlins if they had a post fight snack after midnight. Jesus, they weren't fucking about.Ā Benoit Saint Denis continues to look a very exciting, dangerous man. It's Lightweight, so we know it could take him six more wins to get a sniff of a title shot, but he walloped Frevola here. There's a metric fuck tonne of fights you could give him now that I would be well on board for.Ā Diego Lopes is a wild man. Once it gets to the nitty gritty of the division, I think he'll lose as many as he'll win, but he's going to drag his opponent through the furnace first if they want to put an L on his record. Another great showcase.Ā Dern losing, and being handled by Andrade was always a decent possibility, however not what the division needed at all. We've seen the best of Andrade, and I'm not sure she could put together a 3 fight streak anymore so I don't see her becoming a contender again - but Dern losing like this means we definitely lost a future contender. Andrade will always have a night like this in her locker though against the right opponent. You get her in a dog fight, and 9 times out of 10 she's going to come out on top.Ā Made up for big Tom. He had to eat a really heavy shot or two when Pavlovich wobbled him early, but eat it he did. Aspinall has got it. This felt like a real signal of the times here. Look at all the age of these two pups for Heavyweights. We could be seeing the start of a best of 7 series between these fuckers. Interested to see Aspinall against all of Gane, Almeida, Pavlovich in a re-match and Blaydes. They are all similar ages too if I'm not mistaken. I'd book Aspinall Vs Almeida. The streak has to count for something despite how dire that fight with Lewis was. There's no point potentially knocking him out of contention with a loss to another guy at this point. Book Aspinall and Almeida on a show with Gane v Pavlovich underneath as a #1 contender/backup fight. Blaydes can try and get his win back off Derrick Lewis or a re-match with Volkov.Ā Alex Pereira with those leg kicks early was really laying groundwork. They were so effective. As long as he didn't lose the fight in the first two rounds, it was going to be his from then on with how well those kicks were working. Jiri was well on his way to being totally compromised. Stoppage was obviously fine, and correct, considering Jiri's comments afterwards. Pereira is a fucking dangerous man with his back against the cage and an opponent's chin in the vicinity of his left hook. LHW is shallow at the top end excitement wise other than these two lunatics so here's hoping we get a trilogy with them. Alex needs to face Jamaal Hill to tidy the whole situation up, but Hill seems unlikely to be ready in time. I hope Ankalaev doesn't stink his way into a title win before then. Not sure what to do next here in this division.Ā A hell of an enjoyable PPV that was, here all day for a breezy, fun watch like that on a Sunday morning.Ā 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.