Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted May 4 Paid Members Share Posted May 4 (edited) More Apex slop for youā¦ ESPN MAIN CARDEdson Barboza vs Lerone MurphyĀ Khaos Williams vs Carlston HarrisĀ Ramiz Brahimaj vs Themba Gorimbo Adrian Yanez vs Vinicius SalvadorĀ Luana Pinheiro vs Angela Hill ESPN+/FIGHT PASS PRELIMSĀ Tom Nolan vs Victor Martinez Oumar Sy vs Tuco TokkosĀ Tamires Vidal vs Melissa Gatto Abus Magomedov vs Warlley Alves Piera Rodriguez vs Ariane Carnelossi Alateng Heili vs Kleydson Rodrigues Emily Ducote vs Vanessa DemopoulosĀ Ā Like a lot of these Apex cards, especially lately, Iām really not feeling this. I like the main event. Thatās actually better than your standard Apex headliner. But the rest? Not much to it, is there? Couple of bits and bobs Iām interested in but Iām gonna be skipping a fair bit of this. I mean, unless they switch the bout order up, 3 straight low level womenās fights kicking off the card? š©Ā Ā Ā Edson Barboza vs Lerone Murphy tops this one. Good fight. Much better headliner than we usually get on these Apex cards anyway. As Iām typing this, Barboza is ranked #11 in the Featherweight division, Murphy isnāt ranked yet. So this is big for him. His first UFC main event, against a popular name and an exciting fighter, plus a win gets him in the rankings. Barbozaās no spring chicken now. Heās 38 years old and thisāll be his 36th pro MMA fight. Add to that a 28 fight Kickboxing career and thatās 63 fights total and an overall combat sports record of 49-14 with 36 of his wins coming by knockout or TKO. He actually has one win by submission as well early in his MMA career but, on the whole, you know what youāre getting out of Barboza. While heās obviously had to work on other areas of MMA, heās about as pure a striker as there is in the sport. Definitely one of the best kickers in the game. Past and present. Love watching him. Heās had his ups and downs in the UFC but whenever I think of Barboza itās the spectacular knockouts of Terry Etim and Beneil Dariush that jump out first. Then throw in wins over Anthony Pettis, Gilbert Melendez, Paul Felder, Dan Hooker etc. Heās never been close to being āthe guyā at 155 or 145, but heās had quite a run. Heās just never quite found the consistency to put together a real streak of wins consecutively. A lot of that is because heās been caught lacking in other areas like the grappling. But when heās on his game and sharp, heās a dangerous man. And always a good gatekeeper and litmus test for guys trying to crack into that top end of the division. His last fight was a similar thingā¦ He went 5 hard rounds with Sodiq Yusuff in a really good fight in October. And Barboza won and almost had Yusuff out of there at one point. So while heās getting up in age now for a lighter weight class fighter, make no mistake he can still hang with some of these up and comers. When I say heās a gatekeeper, I mean no disrespect. Heās the guy those young rising contenders have to get through to put themselves in the conversation for title fights. And as we saw in the Yusuff fight, Barboza is no soft touch or easy stepping stone. Heās in a similar boat hereā¦ Lerone Murphy is the next guy whoās gonna have to take the test. Feels like a long overdue step up for Murphy and Iām looking forward to seeing how it goes. Of all the UK fighters on the roster, Murphy is probably the one whoās gone under the radar the most for me. Heās still yet to be beaten. Heās 13-0-1 with the only āblemishā being a split draw against Zubaira Tukhugov back in 2019. Heās won 5 fights since then but just never really seems to advance or have any meaningful fights. Itās partly on him. He doesnāt exactly put himself out there, heās not really outspoken and doesnāt have the biggest personality. Which is fair enough but itās meant he hasnāt stood out from the pack or received the appealing fights others get. Arnold Allen went through similar until he broke through with that Dan Hooker stoppage. Some of it with Murphy is just bad luck though. He was supposed to co-main against Dan Ige on an Apex card in February but had to withdraw due to injury. He also missed all of 2022 because of fight cancellations. He came back in 2023 with wins over Gabriel Santos and Josh Culibao but didnāt exactly wow anyone and those wins just felt like sideways steps more than anything. There were those rumblings of a big UK domestic clash against Nathaniel Wood, and they were going back and forth, but it amounted to nothing in the end. Itās been the slowest of burns but this is the big opportunity for him now. Time to make something happen. Good stuff. Like I said, Barboza is nobodyās pushover and heās shown in recent fights that heās still got something left. If youāre not quite up to the task, heās probably not the guy you want standing across the Octagon from you. We know what Barboza is about and how heās gonna approach this. Just pure, vicious, blunt force Muay Thai brutality until either you go to sleep or he fades trying to end you. The interest here is how Murphy handles it. His first main event, first 5 rounder, and I donāt think weāve ever really seen him face someone as lethal as Barboza. Does Murphy rise to the occasion, does he fold? Regardless, itās time to see whatās what. Murphy is gonna turn 33 in July. Far from old but itās time to crack on and either go on a big run or fall on the sword. Still no real clue how good he actually is because his career has been so stop/start but you get the feeling the next couple of years is gonna be crucial for him if heās ever gonna make a proper run at the top of the 145 division. Itās a ānow or neverā thing at this point. Ā Khaos Williams vs Carlston Harris as co-main? Yeah, me neither but thatās the way Big Marcel has it listed currently. I know itās only the Apex but still. Itās not a terrible fight. I just donāt particularly care about it. Khaos is a guy Iāve enjoyed watching when Iāve seen him but heās in and out so sporadically and infrequently itās hard to get invested. I remember when he burst into the UFC and immediately scored back-to-back quick KOs over Alex Morono and Abdul Razak Alhassan. Just blasted them both to bits in 30 seconds each. I genuinely thought we might have a new potential contender on our hands but he lost to Michel Pereira and seemed to fizzle out. Heās only fought once a year the last couple of years. Heās still only 30 and has a record of 14-3 with 8 finishes. He could still carve out a nice little midcard run, but heās gotta show up to work to do that. Harris is 36 years old, 19-5 and has 11 finishes. Heās coming off a late come from behind submission win over Jeremiah Wells back in August. Canāt say I remember much else about him but looking at his record, heās gone 7-1 in his last 8 with the only loss being to Shavkat Rakhmonov. Not the worst. Hopefully Khaos shows up for this one. If weāre going off recent form, thisāll probably be his only fight in 2024, so make the most of it. Ā Ramiz Brahimaj vs Themba Gorimbo is one of the few fights I actually give a bollocks about on this card. We havenāt seen Brahimaj in a while though. He last fought in February 2022, submitting Micheal Gillmore in 2 minutes on the undercard of Islam Makhachev vs Bobby Green. That feels like a lifetime ago now. Heās had a couple of fights scheduled since but had to pull out with injuries both times. Hopefully he makes it through camp this time. Heās 14-4 now and wildly inconsistent from what I remember of him. My investment here is all about Themba Gorimbo. Thatās how his last fight in February ended. A 32 second walloping of Pete Rodriguez. I was pleasantly surprised with that. Obviously Themba gained a bunch of fans last year when that story did the rounds of The Rock buying him a house. That whole thing was clearly designed to make Rock look good but Gorimbo came across as such a good soul that I instantly became a fan and wanted to see him succeed from that point on. I had a bad feeling about that last fight though, just because Rodriguez was so heavy handed and I hadnāt been blown away by Gorimboās early UFC fights. But maybe some of that was because his circumstances back then were holding him back as well? Now heās got a proper home and some money and was given that bit of a leg up from The Rock, now he can just focus 100% on getting better and achieving his goals, maybe itāll make a difference. Heās 33 years old already, Iām not expecting title runs or anything like that but Iād love to see him reach whatever his true potential is. He was sending money from his minimal fight purses back to his village in Zimbabwe even before Rocky shone the light on his story. Heās fighting the good fight. Impossible not to root for him. Ā Adrian Yanez vs Vinicius Salvador is one of the few fights that should be worth watching on this card. Never miss a Yanez fight. Shame heās in a bit of a slump now because heās been non-stop excitement ever since he put pen to paper and signed with the UFC. Out of his 7 fights in the UFC so far, heās got either a POTN or FOTN bonus in 5 of them. Great to watch. It was all going well until last year. He had a rotten 2023. He got stopped in brutal fashion by both Rob Font and Jonathan Martinez. Hopefully he can rebound here. This is definitely a step back in competition so Iām liking his chances of bouncing back. But I donāt know enough about Salvador to be mega confident about it. Heās Brazilian, 27 years old and 14-6 with all 14 of his wins coming inside the distance. Heās dropped decisions to Victor Altamirano and CJ Vergara in his last two outings. So youād think Yanez can win this. The one vague memory I have of Salvador though is that heās awkward and one of those annoying fuckers who likes to showboat and taunt and shit. Hoping Yanez can get to him but he might be difficult to look good against. Weāll see. Ā Luana Pinheiro vs Angela Hill is doing very little for me. Maybe itāll be better than Iām expecting but Iām just not arsed. Pinheiro is 30 years old and has a record of 11-2, 7 finishes. We last saw her in November getting spin kicked in the mouth by Amanda Ribas and TKOād. Before that she was on a 9 fight win streak but the most notable win was over a past it Michelle Waterson and even then she only managed a split decision. Not convinced. As for Hill, I donāt know what to make of her. Sheās never been a contender but she has the odd night where she looks better than I remember. Sheās 39 now and has an abysmal 16-13 record. I was pretty much completely writing her off going into her last fight against Denise Gomes in November. Gomes was coming off bulldozing Mexican prospect Yazmin Jauregui in just 20 seconds and it felt like one of those evil matchups where they were feeding the ageing veteran to the young slugger. But Hill beat her! Every time I think sheās done, she wins a fight I expected her to lose and keeps herself off the chopping block. This looks like another winnable fight for her, IMO, but watch her go and lose now. Pointless trying to predict her fights. Ā Tom Nolan vs Victor Martinez. Not sure. Iām not clued up enough on either really. Quickly looking them both up, I see Australiaās Nolan is 6-1 with 4 knockouts. He made his UFC debut in January and got sat down in a minute by Nikolas Motta. Heās only 24 so thereās time to bounce back, not the end of the world. But definitely not a good start. Martinez is 32 and has a 13-5 record with 8 by KO/TKO. He also got chinned in his UFC debut, Jordan Leavitt crushed him in a round with knees from the Thai clinch well over a year ago. Well, one of them is guaranteed to get that first Octagon win. Unless itās a draw. Watch it be a draw now. Ā Oumar Sy vs Tuco TokkosĀ is ***WANDāS ONE TO WATCH***Ā this time. You know itās slim pickings when Iām going with a couple of fighters who Iāve never seen fight and are making their UFC debuts. It has my attention though. Oumar Sy is the one Iām interested in here. Heās French, 28 years old and undefeatedĀ at 9-0Ā with 7 finishes. Iāve seen him listed as 6ā4ā or 6ā5ā in different places and apparently has an 83.9in reach. Heās already fought in promotions like Oktagon, KSW and Ares. A UFC signing that isnāt coming off DWCS? Thatās a rare thing these days. His Octagon debut couldnāt really be happening under much less than ideal circumstances though. This is his third scheduled opponent for this card. He was originally booked against Rodolfo Bellato. Bellato dropped out and Mackenzie Dernās fella Antonio Trocoli stepped in. Then no sooner was he in, he was out. Now weāve got this Tokkos bloke jumping in on 4/5 days notice. Heās from the UK, 33 years old and 10-3 with 8 finishes. Iād never heard of him but after looking him up, heās the guy who got absolutely obliterated by Zhang Mingyang on āRoad To UFCā back in 2022ā¦ Yeah, he got wrecked. In fairness to him though, heās gone on to win 3 fights in a row since then and his last 2 never made it to the second round. He was also on a 3 fight win streak before that Mingyang loss. That fight probably isnāt the fairest reflection of his skills but itās the only thing Iāve seen of him so itās all Iāve got to go on at the moment. Fair play to him for stepping in here but to take this fight, against an undefeated fighter, on less than a weekās notice, itās risky. Especially for his UFC debut. Far from ideal conditions for either manās debut but at least Syās been training all camp for this specific date, I guess. The UFC just announced theyāre going back to Paris in September. Iād expect to see Sy on there providing he comes out of this one healthy. Ā Tamires Vidal vs Melissa Gatto isnāt setting anyoneās world alight. In fairness to Vidal, I remember liking her UFC debut. She absolutely folded poor Ramona Pascual with a nasty flying knee to the body. Donāt see that often but it was a cool finish. Unfortunately, she then shat the bed in her next fight and dropped a decision to Montserrat Rendon. Gatto is stepping in on short notice here, replacing an injured Hailey Cowan. Sheās Brazilian, 28 years old and has a record of 8-2-2. Sheās lost decisions to Tracy Cortez and Ariane Lipski in her last two fights. Ā Abus Magomedov vs Warlley Alves is just there. Might be alright but theyāve both found their level. Iāll never forgive Abus for getting smashed up by fucking Strickland last summer. That win lead directly to Strickland getting the title shot against Adesanya and we saw how that ended. That fight also gave Stricklandās loser fanbase the one bit of ammunition they were looking for to claim heās an exciting fighter, a āwarriorā and all that shite. Heād looked a bit handy in the very limited footage Iād seen going in so that got my hopes up that maybe heād chin Strickland. But no. He came into a 5 round fight with only 1 roundās worth of cardio, faded terribly and got stopped in the second round. He followed that with a points loss to Caio Borralho in November and I seem to recall he faded in that one as well. Useless. And Alves looks like heās on his last legs. Crazy to me that heās still only 33, feels like heās been around forever. His career highlight will always be the night he choked Colby Covington in about 90 seconds. But that was 2015. Heās now 14-7, on a 3 fight losing streak and just got wrecked by Ikram Aliskerov at UFC 294 in October. This should really be a āloser leavesā match at this point but it wonāt be. These Apex cards need filling. Ā Piera Rodriguez vs Ariane Carnelossi isnāt grabbing me. Iām saying that about pretty much every fight on this card, arenāt I? Going through the motionsā¦Rodriguez is Venezuelan, 31 years old and has a record of 9-1 and 5 finishes. Sheās coming into this fight off the first loss of her career, she got armbarred by Gillian Robertson last April. She was meant to fight Cynthia Calvillo recently but the fight got binned last minute due to Calvillo missing weight. And Carnelossi has been on a milk carton since May 2022. She lost a decision to Loopy Godinez and hasnāt fought since for some reason. Sheās Brazilian, also 31 and has a record of 14-3 with 11 finishes. Ā Alateng Heili vs Kleydson Rodrigues. Dunno. Alatengās one of those fighters whoās been on the roster for years and I canāt really remember anything about him. He made his UFC debut in 2019 and has gone 4-2-1 since with no real notable wins to speak of. Heās 16-9-2 overall now and coming off a points loss to Chris Gutierrez in October. Rodrigues is repping Team Nogueira so Iām automatically rooting for him. Heās 28 years old and 8-3 with 6 finishes. Hasnāt got off to the best of starts in the UFC though unfortunately. He did score a 59 second stoppage over Shannon Ross last year but that was sandwiched between losses to CJ Vergara and Farid Basharat. Ā Emily Ducote vs Vanessa Demopoulos is justā¦whatever. Both are going nowhere. Ducote is 30 years old, 13-8 and coming off a decision win over Ashley Yoder. Before that sheād lost back-to-back fights. Demopoulos is 35 years old, 10-5 and beat Kanako Murata on points in her last fight. She lost to Karolina Kowalkiewicz before that. Just nothing happening Fight Pass fodder. No fucks given whatsoever. Ā Thatās yer lot. Never ending Apex shite. Edited Friday at 03:41 PM by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted May 16 Author Paid Members Share Posted May 16 Fuck. This is so sad. Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted Saturday at 05:05 PM Author Paid Members Share Posted Saturday at 05:05 PM No-oneās gonna give a shite on Fury vs Usyk day but hereās tonightās Apex bollocksā¦ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dai Posted 6 hours ago Share Posted 6 hours ago Poor Edson looked completley shot in this one. Mother nature has caught up with him, unfortunately. Murphy looked very impressive, too. Not sure how much to read into the performance though, as Edson made it as easy as possible for him in this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted 2 hours ago Paid Members Share Posted 2 hours ago completely skipped over this one, glad to see Murphy pick up the win though, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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