Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted November 29, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted November 29, 2023 (edited) Buckle up. It’s the last Apex card of 2023… ESPN MAIN CARD Song Yadong vs Chris Gutierrez Anthony Smith vs Khalil Rountree Nasrat Haqparast vs Jamie Mullarkey Tim Elliott vs Su Mudaerji Andre Muniz vs Jun Yong Park ESPN+/FIGHT PASS PRELIMS Song Kenan vs Kevin Jousset Hyun Sung Park vs Shannon Ross Steve Garcia vs Melquizael Costa Stephanie Egger vs Luana Santos Tatsuro Taira vs Carlos Hernandez Rayanne Dos Santos vs Talita Alencar Not the best. This card was originally meant to be in Shanghai, China but got moved to the fucking Apex for some reason. Suppose they would’ve needed something better than this if they were gonna be trying to sell tickets in China. The plan was for Song Yadong to fight Petr Yan. If they could’ve got that done and maybe an all Chinese title fight between Zhang Weili and Yan Xiaonan as headliner, it would’ve been worth it. But no. We’re at the Apex 🥱 Not sure if this is it. I did read that the four Road To UFC finals were gonna be on this card but I don’t know what’s happening with that now. Song Yadong vs Chris Gutierrez tops this fucker. Yeah, not ideal. To be fair, when this card was scheduled for Shanghai, the plan was for Song to headline against Petr Yan which sounds like an absolute belter on paper. But Yan picked up an injury and then the card got moved to the Apex anyway. This isn’t a bad fight but it’s a far cry from what we could’ve had in Song vs Yan. Still, we’ve had a lot worse and I definitely don’t see this being boring. Song turns 26 years old just days before this fight. He’s a fun fighter to watch, although I’ve never quite been sold on him as the big time prospect he was being hyped up as when he came into the UFC years ago. I think him coming out of Team Alpha Male and getting the Urijah Faber stamp of approval was a big part of the buzz around him, plus he was so young when the UFC signed him. But I’ve just never been fully convinced he’s gonna be able to put it all together and get to that tippy top level in a shark tank of a division like Bantamweight has become in recent years. Don’t get me wrong though, he’s got talent and potential and he’s still got some time. Who knows? Maybe at some point everything will just click into place and he’ll go on a tear. He did look great in his last fight… That’s him chinning Ricky Simon in their main event back in April. He’d had that doctor stoppage loss against Cory Sandhagen in his fight before that so it was the perfect way to bounce back. He looked really good, one of his best overall performances in the UFC for me. Just looked a step ahead of Simon the whole fight then put him away in the 5th round. He’s 20-7-1-1 now, with 12 inside the distance and also has wins over Marlon Moraes and Chito Vera. Gutierrez is the older man at 32 years old and he has a record of 20-5-2 with 10 finishes. He’s coming off a points win over Alateng Heili in October that I have no recollection of. Think I missed or skipped that one because I have no memory of it whatsoever and it was only a few weeks ago. Gutierrez isn’t bad but, I don’t know, he just looks really out of place here in a headline position. He’s the one making this feel like a bit of a weak headliner, isn’t he? His biggest career moment to date, his claim to MMA fame, is that he knocked out Frankie Edgar in Edgar’s swansong in late 2022. So he officially ‘retired’ Frankie. If he’d been put in a main event immediately following that win then I can see it. But it just feels cold here. We’ll see. Very much feels like a fight that’s been designed to be a showcase for Song. He’s a guy they probably see a lot of upside in, a potential future title contender and a name they can stick on top of their China cards going forward. Whereas I doubt they really have any plans for Gutierrez. Sounds harsh but it’s the way it is. The original Song vs Yan matchup would’ve been a different beast. That was a legit main event and, despite Yan’s rough recent run of results, Song would’ve gained something from a win over a former champion like Yan. This Gutierrez fight feels more like a ‘keep busy’ matchup because the Yan thing fell apart. Oh well. Like I said, it’ll no doubt be enjoyable enough to watch. Anthony Smith vs Khalil Rountree is a solid co-main. I like it. Rountree was all set to fight Azamat Murzakanov on the Fight Night in Austin the week before but Murzakanov dropped out and it was a blessing in disguise for this card. Because this one badly needed a decent addition to the main card. Austin’s loss is the Apex’s gain. Smith is sort of just spinning his wheels at this point. 35 years old now and a load of miles on the clock. This’ll be his 56th pro fight. He just beat Ryan Spann in their absolutely pointless rematch in August. Still don’t get why that was booked but whatever. Didn’t exactly look good for Smith though because he only managed a split decision win this time, despite crushing Spann in 3 minutes the first time. In between those couple of Spann fights he lost to Ankalaev and Walker as well. It’s just going nowhere and it’s felt that way for a while now. Nothing against him but I’m hoping he gets walloped here. There’s Rountree welcoming Chris Daukaus to the Light Heavyweight division back in August. He didn’t call out a specific name after that win but he did ask for a main event. Shame he never got that, to be honest. At a time when we’re seeing the likes of Chris Gutierrez, Holly Holm and Sergey Spivac headline, I see no reason why an exciting fighter like Rountree doesn’t warrant at least an Apex main event spot. This isn’t bad though. Murzakanov probably would’ve been a better actual fight but this feels like kind of what Rountree was after. A co-main against someone like Smith who’s mixed with most of the bigger names in the division feels like an upwards move for him. The problem with Rountree has always been his lack of consistency but, in fairness, he’s on a 4 fight win streak here. I feel like he should be winning this. The timing feels good for him, he’s got the momentum and I just feel like, although Smith’s tough and durable, Rountree has the combination of striking and power to put a bit of a beating on him if he’s on his game here. But that’s the thing. I’m never confident that Rountree will show up on his game. The fact he’s on a bit of a streak should give me a bit of confidence in him but instead of that I just find myself thinking ‘he’s won 4 in a row…he’s due a loss’. I think he gets it done but I won’t be surprised if he shits the bed either or just gets outworked by Smith. Hopefully Rountree wins though. 205 is mostly dead these days. I can’t say I’ve got any real interest in any fight involving Smith at this point. Throwing Rountree into the mix is the much more fun option. Nasrat Haqparast vs Jamie Mullarkey is probably gonna be an entertaining scrap. Neither are great, neither are ever gonna make a dent in the rankings or a splash in any UFC title picture but whatever. You pretty much know what you’re getting when you see Mullarkey’s name on a card. He’s no technical marvel but he comes to throw down. And to be fair, I vaguely recall his boxing looking a bit improved in his last couple of fights. He’s been putting in work with Ross Pearson so he should be improving. But still, he gets reckless in there and his lack of defence puts him in harm’s way a lot. He’s rarely involved in anything dull though. His UFC debut against Brad Riddell years ago is still one of my favourite undercard dogfights of the last few years. Haqparast isn’t as memorable for me. I mostly just remember him as the guy who looks more like Kelvin Gastelum than Kelvin Gastelum. He’s 15-5 and coming off decision wins over John Makdessi and Landon Quinones but he’s one of them who struggles every time he steps up a level. Hopefully Mullarkey can make it ugly and drag Haqparast into a bit of a war. Tim Elliott vs Su Mudaerji then. Upgrade! Up until just a few days before the show, this was all set to be Mudaerji against Allan Nascimento, which was a decent enough fight in its own right. Nascimento dropped out and Elliott stepped in and made it better than the original. Love this matchup. Mudaerji’s a guy I had high hopes for at one point but he’s in a bit of a weird spot now. He’s actually been on the UFC roster since 2018 but hasn’t fought that regularly due to being shagged by injuries. He’s 16-5 with 14 finishes, 13 by knockout. My memory is a bit hazy on him now because of his inactivity but I do remember him showing flashes of real potential and I recall him looking like he could possibly be a real handful in the Flyweight division due to his long frame and being southpaw. He had a proper corker against Matt Schnell in July 2022. You might remember it… Unfortunately he came up on the losing end but what a fucking fight it was. If you missed it at the time, go back and give it a watch. I can’t recommend it enough. One of my favourite fights of 2022 easy. Mudaerji has been on the shelf since then though. See, again. These injuries. Hopefully he makes it to the cage this time. He’s still only 27. Despite all the layoffs and the stop/start UFC stint he’s had, if he can somehow stay healthy then there’s still time to put a bit of a run together. Elliott’s coming off that submission loss to Mokaev at UFC 294 in October. It was a cracking fight though and Elliott was 2 rounds up on the cards going into the last round before Mokaev rallied with the sub. Elliott’s always been game as fuck. Don’t let the dodgy 19-13-1 record fool you. He’s no bum. He’s a journeyman and I mean no disrespect by that. He’s fought pretty much all the top fighters in his weight class, spanning a few eras. From Jens Pulver to Joseph Benavidez to Demetrious Johnson to Deiveson Figueiredo. He’ll fight anyone and, although his win/loss ratio at the higher levels isn’t the best, he’s given some of them a good old scrap. And like I said, he was giving Mokaev all he could handle last time out. Not bad for a Flyweight who’s about to turn 37. Fantastic fight. Definite improvement on the original matchup for me. Andre Muniz vs Jun Yong Park is ***WAND’S ONE TO WATCH*** on this card. Wasn’t exactly spoiled for choice but this is the standout for me. Feels like a clash of styles but it could be fun. Muniz is looking to redeem himself here coming off back-to-back losses to Brendan Allen and Paul Craig. He was on a nice 9 fight win streak prior to that. The highlight being his first round arm snapping submission over Jacare Souza in 2021. He also beat Eryk Anders and retired Uriah Hall in that streak. OK it’s not Goldberg in 98 stuff but he was building some real momentum there for a while and the Jacare win especially was a huge feather in his cap at the time. Those Allen and Craig losses this year have derailed him big time though. Especially because those two got the better of him in the grappling as well, which is Muniz’s bread and butter. He’s up against this mad bastard here though… 😂 Yes! I like the ‘Iron Turtle’. Tough sod and he’s had some fun under the radar fights on Fight Nights and undercards over the years. He’s 17-5 with 11 finishes, he’s coming into this fight on a 4 fight win streak and he’s won his last 3 fights by submission. His only loss in his last 8 fights came against another favourite in Gregory Rodrigues and I remember loving that one. Should be a lively one this. Feels like pretty much anything can happen. Could see Muniz catching him in an early sub or maybe Park can drag him into a slobberknocker. Sounds harsh but I felt like the Allen and Craig losses kind of exposed Muniz as a bit of a front runner. Seems like if he can’t just roll over an opponent and armbar them early doors, he fades and can be broken. On paper, I definitely think Park’s tough enough to possibly weather the storm here and be one of those opponents who doesn’t go away and forces Muniz to wilt a bit. We’ll see though. Muniz is dangerous as fuck early so it’s obviously easier said than done. Song Kenan vs Kevin Jousset. Not a clue. Can’t remember much at all about Song Kenan despite him being on the roster since 2017. He’s 33 years old and 20-7 with 17 finishes. So not a bad record really but he’s fallen into that journeyman role at this stage in his career. The most notable moment I can remember in recent times was his fight with Ian Garry in March this year. It was clear from the off what that matchup was supposed to be and Garry battered him. But Song didn’t embarrass himself, to be fair. He came in off a layoff and he did crack Garry good early in the fight but then Garry took over and stopped him. As for Jousset, no idea. He’s a City Kickboxing guy from New Zealand, 30 years old and 9-2 with 5 finishes. Made his UFC debut in September and got a first round sub over fellow debutant Kiefer Crosbie. Don’t think I saw that fight though. Hyun Sung Park vs Shannon Ross. Again, dunno. Park’s Korean, 28 years old and undefeated at 8-0 with 7 finishes. He came through that Road To UFC tournament and won the Flyweight finals in his Octagon debut in February this year, submitting Seung Guk Choi. And Shannon Ross is Aussie, 34 years old, 12-8 record and coming in off a brutal 17 second KO loss against Jesus Aguilar at UFC 290 in July. Horrible knockout. Have to feel like this is a must win for Ross. He got stopped on DWCS and he’s been put out in less than a minute in both his UFC fights. The fact they’re feeding a guy on that kind of form to an undefeated finisher like Park tells you exactly what the matchmakers motives are here. They’re already getting Ross’s P45 ready. Steve Garcia vs Melquizael Costa was originally booked for the Austin show on the 2nd but got binned at the eleventh hour when Garcia pulled out with an illness. So it’s been pushed back a week. No biggie. I said when it was on the Austin card I thought it might be a bit of a sleeper so I’m glad it’s back on. I don’t think either guy is ever gonna be making a splash in the rankings at Featherweight but, based on what I’ve seen of both, it’s a fun little matchup. Garcia is 14-5 and has had an up and down UFC run. Since dropping to 145 though, he’s gone 2-0 in his last 2 fights and got TKO finishes over both Chase Hooper and Shayilan Nuerdanbieke. Looking back over Garcia’s career he’s also stopped Chepe Mariscal in LFA, beat Abel Cullum and lost to Joe Warren in Bellator. He’s bounced around more than I realised. Costa’s 20-6 with 13 finishes. He lost to Thiago Moises in his UFC debut in January but he took that fight on short notice and I remember him giving a good account of himself. He came back in July and beat Austin Lingo on points. Yeah, I like the matchmaking here. Stephanie Egger vs Luana Santos. More filler. I know I’ve joked calling her Ham & Egger before but Egger really isn’t much good. Nothing against the woman but she’s going nowhere. She’s 35 years old and has a record of 8-4. Best wins are Ailin Perez and Jessica Rose Clark. When she’s faced anyone with something about them she’s been dealt with in short order. Santos is much younger at 23 years old and she’s 6-1 with 4 finishes. She fought a bit in LFA, made her UFC debut in August and bashed up Juliana Miller in a round. Not sure what to make of her yet. The debut was short and Miller was awful. I remember Santos looking very sloppy in the striking but Miller was so shite she got away with it and just smashed her. You know what this is, ‘out with the old, in with the new’ matchmaking. Santos needs to be winning this convincingly really if she’s got any kind of bright future. Tatsuro Taira vs Carlos Hernandez is one of the best fights on this card by far. I know that’s not saying that much but fights like this are why I can’t just completely skip these weaker cards. Taira has yet to put a foot wrong. He’s 23 years old and undefeated at 14-0 with 10 finishes. He’s not perfect and, like any fighter, he has his strengths and weaknesses. But he’s the best Japanese prospect the UFC has had, probably since Kyoji Horiguchi was on the roster years back. He hasn’t had a big significant step up yet, they haven’t been babying him but they’re moving him along gradually. No need to rush him. He looks good so far. Remains to be seen how far he can go but there’s potential for some awesome fights with him over the next few years at Flyweight (and Bantamweight whenever he eventually, inevitably moves up) if he can keep improving. He’s got a test in Hernandez here though. One of the nastier finishes this year for me. Just brutalised Denys Bondar with repeated elbows in June. Wasn’t helped by the fact the referee got in there way too late. Bondar looked out cold from the slam then ate a good 6 or 7 elbows. Just ruthless. Hernandez is 9-2 and was subbed by Allan Nascimento in his previous fight to this. On paper, I think Taira wins this impressively. But Hernandez is game and nobody to overlook. Rayanne Dos Santos vs Talita Alencar. An all Brazilian curtain jerker and both are making their UFC debuts here. Never seen or heard of either so it’s Sherdog for me. Apparently Dos Santos is 28 years old and she’s 14-6 with 10 finishes. She fought on DWCS in 2022, losing a decision to current UFC fighter Denise Gomes but has won 3 fights since and became the Invicta Atomweight champion in her last fight in May. Alencar is 33 years old with a record of 4-0-1, 3 by submission. She went to a draw on DWCS in September. Back to the Apex we go… Edited December 7, 2023 by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dai Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 If you were to list the worst Apex Headliners, in terms of name value, of 2023, surely Chris Gutierrez is very close to the top spot. A shoe in for Top 5. Will have to browse at some point to see if I can draw up a Top 5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted December 7, 2023 Author Paid Members Share Posted December 7, 2023 Gotta admit, while it’s far from a great card, I think this one has definitely taken a bit of a turn for the better. Smith vs Rountree got added and now Allan Nascimento dropped out of the fight with Su Mudaerji and has been replaced by Tim Elliott, which is an upgrade in my book. It’s a stark comedown from that brilliant card in Austin last weekend but I think the main card here will make for decent Sunday afternoon viewing. Even some of the prelims are alright as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce85 Posted December 8, 2023 Share Posted December 8, 2023 15 hours ago, wandshogun09 said: Gotta admit, while it’s far from a great card, I think this one has definitely taken a bit of a turn for the better. Smith vs Rountree got added and now Allan Nascimento dropped out of the fight with Su Mudaerji and has been replaced by Tim Elliott, which is an upgrade in my book. It’s a stark comedown from that brilliant card in Austin last weekend but I think the main card here will make for decent Sunday afternoon viewing. Even some of the prelims are alright as well. Yeah it’s far from the worst! I think following the Austin card was always going to be s tough job but there is enough on here that, at least on paper, there should be some decent fights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted December 9, 2023 Author Paid Members Share Posted December 9, 2023 Get Yadongs out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TildeGuy~! Posted December 10, 2023 Share Posted December 10, 2023 So when did Rountree get good??? I remember him being a bang average ageing middleweight and now he’ll probably be ranked in the top 10 at Light Heavy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironic Indie Lad Posted December 11, 2023 Share Posted December 11, 2023 11 hours ago, TildeGuy~! said: So when did Rountree get good??? I remember him being a bang average ageing middleweight and now he’ll probably be ranked in the top 10 at Light Heavy. That guy hits *so* hard. I remember years ago I was very close to the cage when he knocked out Paul Craig. I honestly thought he had killed him for a minute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted December 11, 2023 Author Paid Members Share Posted December 11, 2023 (edited) Got the day off work today so just caught up on this. Wasn’t a fan of the main event. I expected a Song Yadong showcase here and, while he absolutely dominated and he did look good later in the fight, it really felt like he should have got Chris Gutierrez out of there sometime over the 25 minutes. Hard to fault him too much. He won every round and really made it clear that Gutierrez isn’t on his level. But I don’t know. It just felt like it took him SO long to get going. Those first two rounds were painful to watch. I get pacing yourself when it’s a 5 rounder but it’s not like Gutierrez has a particularly advanced or complex style or set of skills. You pretty much know what he’s gonna do so it shouldn’t really take 2 rounds to get a read on him. Song finally stepped it up a bit in round 3 and from there it just became crystal clear that Gutierrez was well out of his depth. Once Song realised he could just wrestle Gutierrez to death without any comeback or consequences it was a wrap. Gutierrez had fuck all for him. Easy win for Song but not a good fight to watch. Song’s English is coming along. Not surprised he called out Petr Yan after the fight. Pissed myself when Felder told him Yan tweeted the yawn emoji and Song just goes “Your last fight too bro. SHIT…LOOK SHIT!” 🤣 I’m up for it. Although I’d still prefer Figgy vs Yan and I don’t really want anything getting in the way of that. I suspect they’ll go with Song vs Yan though. It was the original plan for this card anyway so you know it’s a fight they want. And now with Song and Yan going back and forth, it’s gonna happen isn’t it? I wouldn’t hate it. Song mentioned March for that one and the timing lines up nicely for UFC 299. Would make sense to load that card up with Bantamweights with O’Malley vs Chito 2 headlining, just incase anyone drops out. That’s if Yan wants to wait another 3 months though. That’ll mean he’ll have been out a whole year since the Merab fight. Khalil Rountree vs Anthony Smith ended how I think pretty much everyone pictured it would. Took a bit longer than I expected but he got there in the end. I liked Rountree’s patience, to be fair. He fights like a man who’s fully aware of the power he possesses so he knows he doesn’t need to force anything. It’s like he just knows that knockout is coming. It’s inevitable. The first 2 rounds were competitive enough but I had Rountree up 2-0 going into the last round. He was landing the heavier and more hurtful strikes throughout. Smith looked rocked a few times in those first 10 minutes. Then early in the third… Rountree sparing him that final deathblow was nice of him. Rough finish for Smith. Rough fight all around. Not sure how many more of these beatings Smith wants to take. At 35 years old and with 56 fights under his belt, he’s got a fair few miles on the clock. Fair enough, he took this fight on 10 days notice. But I’m not sure a full camp would’ve made that much difference really. Rountree would’ve still hit like a truck and even if Smith had a 6 month camp I don’t think he’d have been effective enough defensively to avoid those bombs over 15 minutes. Just a bad fight for him. There’s a video knocking around of Bisping reacting to the finish live on his podcast and you can see how gutted he is. He’s become good mates with Smith and even he said he didn’t like this matchup from the second he heard about it. 16 hours ago, TildeGuy~! said: So when did Rountree get good??? I remember him being a bang average ageing middleweight and now he’ll probably be ranked in the top 10 at Light Heavy. I think it’s a mix of things. Rountree’s always had stupid power and a serious violent streak but I don’t think he was always fully committed to MMA. Around 2020 he was actually talking about retiring but then something must’ve changed because it wasn’t long after that he started this winning streak he’s still on currently. So I think his recent run of success has been a mixture of him just mentally getting on track and fully focusing on MMA plus the fact that the Light Heavyweight division is arse. I like Rountree but that’s gotta be put in perspective. It’s not like he’s been beating stellar opposition on this win streak. A split decision over Dustin Jacoby, a KO over Chris Daukaus who was coming down from Heavyweight after being sparked 3 times in a row, and now stopping a badly fading Anthony Smith who took the fight on short notice. I mean, I enjoy watching Rountree as much as anyone but the state of the 205 division in 2023 is the dregs. That’s partly what’s flattering Rountree at the moment as well, I think. He’s improved as the division has got weaker. I will say though, I’m not sure how likely it is to actually happen but when he called out Alex Pereira in his post-fight interview…Jesus Christ! Can you imagine that? Man, Nasrat Haqparast wrecked Jamie Mullarkey quick. I kind of expected a bit of a brawl out of these two. Mullarkey’s just got a knack for dragging guys down to his level. Never really saw a quick finish from Haqparast coming though. When I think of Haqparast (I don’t often) I think of decisions and him looking like Gastelum. That’s it. He proper set about Mullarkey here though. Just not happening for Mullarkey. I mean, he was never gonna be a contender in the UFC but, for all the work he’s putting in with Ross Pearson, his lack of defence seems like something that just can’t be coached out of him for whatever reason. He’s too much of a scrapper and a dog. He’s not even 30 yet but it seems like this is his lot now. He’ll win a fight here and there but get sparked every other fight. Tim Elliott gambled on himself stepping in on short notice here and it paid off. Nice way to bounce back from the Mokaev loss. Shite way to return off a layoff for Su Mudaerji though. Not ideal circumstances for him either. Coming back off nearly 18 months on the shelf and then having your opponent switched just days out. Especially when it’s a veteran like Elliott stepping in. This was probably a tougher fight for Mudaerji than the original with Nascimento. Hopefully Mudaerji can stay healthy going forward and, now any ring rust should be off, get another fight in soon. Still, I was happy to see Elliott back in the win column. I liked his post-fight interview as well. Seems to have really matured and he’s realistic about where he is in his career. He’s about to turn 37 this month, he’s long in the tooth for a 125/35lber. He knows his time left in the sport is limited and he’s just trying to max out whatever time he’s got left. Bunch of fights I’d still like to see him in at Flyweight or Bantamweight. Glad to hear he’s got a new contract. Unlike your Holms and Watersons, Tim Elliott is an ageing vet who I totally understand them keeping around. Andre Muniz vs Iron Turtle was a frustrating watch. Always run that risk when there’s a styles clash like this but I had a good feeling about it going in. Maybe I jinxed it with the ‘one to watch’ shit. To be fair, I should know better when it comes to the Middleweights. Just a weird division where, save for a select few I enjoy watching, there’s not much to get excited about. Lost track of the scoring in this one. I lost interest and my attention started wandering. Seen the robbery talk but I don’t know. From what I saw it looked like Park did more damage overall but round by round, I don’t know. Muniz had a lot of control time. Didn’t look like either really put a stamp on the fight to me. When you leave it so close, it’s hard to gripe too much. Hyun Sung Park stays unbeaten. He looked good here but it’s hard to accurately rate the performance because Shannon Ross isn’t very good. Ross can’t buy a win in the UFC. And this loss was a painful one… That body kick just completely shut him down. You could see by the grimace on his face that it was over right there and Park just pounced on him to finish the job. Didn’t help that he landed another body shot in there for good measure. Gotta think Ross is a goner now. Got stopped in under a minute in both his first two UFC fights, now this? Looking forward to seeing Park against someone a bit better. Steve Garcia vs Melquizael Costa was one of the fights I was most looking forward to on this card believe it or not. I’ve enjoyed watching both in their recent fights. This one didn’t disappoint. Costa had a strong first round and got the better of the grappling. Won the round clearly. Garcia came out like a man possessed in the second round though. Costa tried to grapple again but Garcia was having none of it. Dropped him, started choking him then apparently just thought ‘sod this’ and went full on attempted murder mode… Fucking hell! Not sure what’s next for him. He’ll be back at Featherweight, I assume. This was only Lightweight fight because it got pushed back a week and they didn’t wanna have these guys cut to 145 twice in a week. Garcia’s one of those guys who’s never gonna be a contender but you can pretty much throw him in with anyone and you’ll get something at worst watchable and at best really fun. Fuck it, throw him at Bruce Leroy or something. Luana Santos vs Stephanie Egger looked terrible from the bits I saw of it. Had it on in the background yesterday and was half watching while doing a fry up for me and my daughter. Looked like a really bad amateur fight on the regional scene from what I caught. Shite. Think they need to cut Egger loose. And Santos did herself no favours with this performance. Especially after she came in 3lbs over the weight as well. Oh well. Fry up was nice 👍 Tatsuro Taira continues to go from strength to strength. They need to start moving this lad up the card. Not even talking about his level of opposition so much. But he’s one of the brighter prospects they have on the roster, 15-0, only 23 years old, yet he can’t get off the prelims. He’s fought 5 times in the UFC now and 4 of them were not only on the prelims, they were on the early prelims. Like first or second fight on the Fight Pass stream. He’s never been on a main card. Which is shocking considering 4 of his 5 fights in the UFC were on thin cards at the Apex. All I can think is they’re putting him on early so it’s a more suitable time for Japanese viewers to tune in. I can’t be arsed to look up if the time zones even make sense for that but it’s the only thing I can think of. Either way, surely Taira is getting a main card fight next. Or at least a ranked opponent. Lovely finish. The first round was the standard stuff we know Taira’s good at. His grappling was on point as usual. Then early in the second round he absolutely walloped Hernandez. Nice to see. He’s clearly been working on his striking. It’s still his weakest area but it’s encouraging to see a finish like this out of him, after he was getting tagged in the Chairez fight last time. Loved him calling out Muhammad Mokaev post-fight as well. Mokaev was quick to respond… Sign me up for that! Mokaev’s already booked against Alex Perez in March but Perez pulls out a lot so this scenario seems quite likely. Sounds bad but I actually hope Perez does pull out now. I’d fucking love to see Taira vs Mokaev. Already seeing some negativity online and people saying they should save that fight and build both up. Sod that. Who’s got time for that? Get them in there. Building guys up and saving fights for a rainy day is a nice idea, until one of them gets derailed or injured or leaves for another promotion or something. And then we never see the fight. If you’ve got a great fight now, and they both wanna fight each other, make it now. They can always do a rematch for higher stakes further down the road if it makes sense. We saw a similar situation with Dustin Poirier and Max Holloway and it never did those two any harm. Not the worst card I’ve ever seen and it had its moments. Some nice finishes. But the main event left me cold and main events pretty much make or break these Apex cards. Whatever. Onto 296! Edited December 11, 2023 by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dai Posted December 11, 2023 Share Posted December 11, 2023 The main event was the absolute pits. Possibly the worst UFC main event of 2023, Id say. Just everything thats wrong with the Apex cards; two no-names from one of the lighter divisions, having a boring as shit fight with no intensity, played out to complete crickets. By the middle of R2 I was at 12x speed and it was still crap. The rest of the main card I enjoyed though, so swings and roundabouts I guess! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members WeeAl Posted December 11, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted December 11, 2023 I gave up on the main event after the second round. Lifeless. I tuned in for Rountree. Have to go out of my way to catch his fights. When he's 'on' it's must watch stuff - the sheer violence he can conjure up often make his fights edge of the seat stuff. The possibility of that fight with Pereira if it all works out down the line, that gives the tingly feels. I'm going to guess we don't get there, but still here's hoping. Anthony Smith just totally short circuited at the end there. Really glad Tim Elliott got the win and his post fight interview was one of those rare cases when a fighter comes off as genuine, normal and like somebody worth cheering for, without it feeling deliberate or like a show. I hope he gets a few more interesting but potentially winnable fights coming his way next, rather than just the next killer 26 year old contender. A little streak first would be nice. The iron turtle unfortunately didn't get it done. Strange fight though. He certainly gave up a lot of control time to Muniz, but did more with his opportunities when he had them than Muniz did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted December 12, 2023 Author Paid Members Share Posted December 12, 2023 20 hours ago, Dai said: Possibly the worst UFC main event of 2023, Id say. Just everything thats wrong with the Apex cards; two no-names from one of the lighter divisions, having a boring as shit fight with no intensity, played out to complete crickets. It was a crap fight but I wouldn’t say Song Yadong is a no-name by any stretch. He’s ranked #7 in the division, his last 3 fights were main events (albeit Apex) and he has wins over Chito Vera and Ricky Simon. And this is the first time I can recall him being in a boring fight. It’s typically been the Middleweights that I associate with shit Apex main events. Seems like we’ve had some combination of Strickland, Vettori, Cannonier and Hermansson on rotation at the Apex for about 3 years now and not much of it was good. Even looking at the few Fight Night main events they’ve announced for early 2024, we’ve got 2 Middleweight ones already in back-to-back weeks in February. I hope this Song vs Gutierrez fight being shite doesn’t put them off putting the Bantamweights in headliners going forward. Because it’s rare the 135ers stink it up like that. 13 hours ago, WeeAl said: Really glad Tim Elliott got the win and his post fight interview was one of those rare cases when a fighter comes off as genuine, normal and like somebody worth cheering for, without it feeling deliberate or like a show. I hope he gets a few more interesting but potentially winnable fights coming his way next, rather than just the next killer 26 year old contender. A little streak first would be nice. Yeah, he’s kind of became the 125/135 version of Jim Miller for me now. Just a fun fighter, game as anything, not in peak form anymore but matched up right you can still get some good fights out of him. Seems like they both feel like sand timer is running empty so they’re trying to get those paydays and fight night bonuses in there before it’s all done and dusted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Bus Surfer Posted December 12, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted December 12, 2023 Sorry if it's been mentioned, but with 205 being a bit of a wasteland, I'd love if Roundtree got a massive bump up and got the next shot at Poatan. That would be absolute chaos. Both are hammers. I feel for Anthony Smith. Seems a good guy and yes he took this on short notice, but I could t see him doing much better with a full camp. 50+ fights imto his career. It's a tough old game. Luke most others, I hit x5 speed on the main event after round 1. If we get Yadong vs Figgy, I just might cry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted December 12, 2023 Author Paid Members Share Posted December 12, 2023 12 minutes ago, Silky Kisser said: Sorry if it's been mentioned, but with 205 being a bit of a wasteland, I'd love if Roundtree got a massive bump up and got the next shot at Poatan. That would be absolute chaos. Both are hammers. Yeah we touched on it. Honestly wouldn’t be shocked if we got that fight at some point. Whether it’s for the title or not, it’s a fight I wanna see. And there’s not many fights I wanna see at 205 these days. I assume Pereira vs Jamahal Hill will be next, after that there’s really no obvious, head and shoulders above the rest, next contender. Maybe Rountree can slip in there. On Anthony Smith, here’s that clip I was on about of Bisping’s live reaction to the finish… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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