Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted September 22, 2024 Paid Members Posted September 22, 2024 (edited) Back in Abu Dhabi and at a lovely UK/Euro friendly start time! PPV MAIN CARD Ilia Topuria©️vs Max Holloway - Featherweight Title Robert Whittaker vs Khamzat Chimaev Magomed Ankalaev vs Aleksandar Rakic Lerone Murphy vs Dan Ige Shara Magomedov vs Armen Petrosyan ESPN PRELIMS Ibo Aslan vs Raffael Cerqueira Geoff Neal vs Rafael Dos Anjos Myktybek Orolbai vs Mateusz Rebecki Abus Magomedov vs Brunno Ferreira ESPN+/FIGHT PASS PRELIMS Kennedy Nzechukwu vs Chris Barnett Farid Basharat vs Victor Hugo Bruno Silva vs Ismail Naurdiev Rinat Fakhretdinov vs Carlos Leal Seen a lot of people calling this stacked and it’s definitely a strong card. Don’t know if I’d say it’s stacked though. It’s very top heavy. There’s a fair bit of nothing happening filler lower down the card. Regardless, I‘m about as excited for that main event as I’ve been for any fight all year. I’m doubtful the co-main actually even happens but let’s hope it does because that’s ace as well. Couple of fights I like scattered through the rest of the card. There was a Ciryl Gane vs Alexander Volkov rematch set for this card but that’s been scrapped today. Apparently it’s being rescheduled for UFC 310 in December now. Not sure which fight is gonna get bumped up to the main card (Murphy-Ige?) but as always I’ll edit this post as we go. And again, this is on UK/Euro timezone. The prelims get underway from 3pm and the main card kicks off at 7pm! Hopefully they don’t stick it on TNT Box Office but we’ll see. Ilia Topuria vs Max Holloway is almost here and I’m absolutely buzzing for it. You never know how a fight is gonna deliver on the night but, in terms of anticipation, this is the fight of 2024 for me. There isn’t a fight we’ve seen this year that I looked forward to more and there isn’t one on the horizon that I’m counting the days to like I am this bastard. Fuck December 25th, as a MMA fan, this is my Christmas Day. Insane fight on paper. The skill level these two bring is obviously off the charts. The story on both sides is compelling with Topuria being the undefeated champion taking the title off Volkanovski, who’s been Holloway’s career boogeyman. And Holloway trying to reclaim the Featherweight strap he used to own, by attempting to beat the man who beat the man he couldn’t beat in three tries. Then just the contrast in their personalities adds to the whole thing. Topuria being the confident, sometimes cocky, flash bastard who, up to now at least, has been talking a big game but backing it up. Then you’ve got Holloway who’s this laid back, beloved young legend in the game. It’s got everything. Topuria became champ at UFC 298 in February, ending the title reign of one of the greatest fighters to ever grace the Octagon, Alexander Volkanovski. They had a really competitive and tense first round, then Topuria slept him about halfway through the second. It was a little bit of a bittersweet feeling for me. On the one hand, I was gutted to see Volk get slumped like that. He’d been such a great champion and seems a top bloke. It was always gonna be sad when his reign came to an end. On the other hand, Topuria snatching the crown shakes things up and was definitely the more exciting result for the Featherweight division going forward. So many fun and fresh title fights now Topuria holds the gold plus there’s still the possibility of Volk getting a rematch at some point. For now though, I’m not thinking past this beast of a matchup. Topuria’s becoming a bit of a polarising figure. Some fans love him, a lot of fans seem to be turning on him for being cocky and so on. There’s no question, one thing he doesn’t lack is self belief. This was his Instagram bio before he beat Volk… Yes, before he beat Volk he’d already updated it to say ‘UFC world champion’ and ‘15-0’. There’s definitely some arrogance there and he does talk some shit but, you know what, I kind of like it. One of the worst things you can be as a prize fighter is someone who people are indifferent to. If nothing else, Topuria’s definitely not that. In a short time he’s got pretty much the whole fanbase wanting to either see the streak continue or they wanna see it blow up in his face. I think some of the backlash he’s been getting is silly though. It’s like a lot of fans now have become so used to vermin like Strickland and Covington basing their whole schtick on everything but their actual fighting skills, it’s almost like they don’t know how to take it when a fighter just talks about how great a fighter he is. At least with Topuria, most of his confidence or arrogance, however you wanna look at it, seems to be based purely on who’s the better fighter. And he always 100% believes it’s him. I think it was Luke Thomas who said Topuria’s shit talking and charisma doesn’t always translate fully in English but that he comes across as a legitimate star in Spanish. It was clearly evident that the Spanish had fully embraced him in the run up to that Volk fight. He was getting well wishes of support from basically every top Spanish sports star there is. And then after beating Volk and becoming champion, it just skyrocketed. From being immediately thrust onto the front cover of Marca, the biggest sports newspaper in Spain… To rubbing elbows with Spain’s prime minister… To being paraded out at the Bernabeu for the kick-off of Real Madrid vs Sevilla… The fact Topuria’s Georgian/Spanish by nationality but born in Germany means he could potentially end up being an absolute mega star in Europe if he can keep the ball rolling. It already feels like something special is happening with him and he’s still relatively early in his career. He’s only 27 years old and, up until now anyway, it’s not like he takes a ton of damage in his fights. He could have a good few years at an elite level yet providing he stays healthy, keeps his head straight and doesn’t lose focus. He only made his UFC debut in late 2020 and never made real progress up the ladder until he beat Bryce Mitchell and Josh Emmett in 2022/23. It’s all happened fairly quick for him when you look back at it. But coming off knocking out Volk, he’s at the top of the mountain. There’s no going back now. He’s mixing with the best of the best from here on out. It’s crazy to think Max Holloway is still only 32 years old. Obviously he started young but it feels like he’s been around forever at this point, doesn’t it? Still going strong though. One of the best ever, no doubt. When you look back at the past champions in that 145 weight class, only five men have held that belt and the talent level is insane. Jose Aldo in his prime, Conor McGregor in his prime, Max Holloway, Alexander Volkanovski, Ilia Topuria. There’s no fat there. No weak links. There mightn’t be a division with a stronger squad of past champs than that lot in the history of the sport. And Holloway’s had such an awesome career. Won the title by finishing Aldo in back-to-back fights, beat Frankie Edgar, put legendary beatdowns on Brian Ortega and Calvin Kattar, beat Yair Rodriguez in a mental FOTY contender, beat Anthony Pettis, Cub Swanson, Jeremy Stephens and Ricardo Lamas back when that meant something. The list goes on. He’s 26-7 now but those 7 losses (apart from the Dennis Bermudez decision which many felt Max won) were all against top level guys. The big blemish on Max’s record is obviously those three losses to Volkanovski. Three losses to the same man is never a good look and the last one in July 2022 was the most one sided of the trilogy. Their second fight was very close but Volk’s always been that one guy who Holloway just can’t catch. I think a lot of fans decided Holloway was on the decline because of those losses but he’s proved since that it’s not the case. Volk’s just that good. Since his last loss to Volk, Max has beat the young up and comer Arnold Allen and sparked the Korean Zombie into retirement. That led us to April this year and UFC 300. Holloway fought Justin Gaethje for the silly BMF belt in a true clash of fan favourites and a bit of a dream fight for the lighter weight classes. Well, I thought it was a dream fight anyway. I was a bit surprised when the fight was announced and was met with a fair bit of negativity from fans. I think it was partly because a lot of the fanbase was in that mode where they were expecting King Kong vs Godzilla for UFC 300 and nothing short of that would be good enough. But also, it’s been largely forgotten and retconned now but there was a lot of talk about this being a terrible career move for Holloway, and doom and gloom about how he was gonna get fucked up going up in weight against Gaethje. I never got that at all. You can go back to my preview post in the 300 thread before that fight. Of course, Gaethje’s always a dangerous fight for anyone but I never understood why so many were talking like Max was a lamb to the slaughter going into that fight. Yeah, his last go at 155 ended in defeat but that was 5 years ago and losing to Dustin Poirier in a FOTY contender doesn’t mean you can’t beat anyone at 155. Always thought that was dopey logic. I get a lot of things wrong predicting MMA, we all do, but I was happy to be right on this. Max not only looked good on the night, I had him winning 3-1 going into the last round, he then capped off a fantastic performance by pulling off maybe THE greatest knockout in UFC history. If it’s not #1 of all time, it’s right up there. Certainly the #1 KO of 2024 for me. 4:59 of the 5th round. One bastard second left in the fight! The whole sequence was barmy. Max already well ahead on the scorecards, there’s 10 seconds left in the fight and he absolutely doesn’t need to take any risks. Yet he decides to point down at the centre of the Octagon and just throw down with Gaethje. Then he face-plants him in the last second! You couldn’t have scripted it better. It was an unnecessary risk and could’ve backfired so easily. Nobody really talked about it because everyone was rightly swept up in what did happen but can you imagine if Gaethje had knocked Max out there? With Max 3-1 up and deciding to just throw caution to the wind like that? That moment would be looked at now as the dumbest in UFC history. Max walked a very thin line with that but it paid off big for him and it’s obviously bagged him this title shot. Would Max still have got the shot at Topuria here if he hadn’t scored that buzzer beater KO, and just won a clear decision instead? Maybe but I don’t think it’s a lock. People forget but there was a lot of talk of going straight into Topuria vs Volk 2 before UFC 300 went down. I feel like Holloway’s KO made him undeniable. A certain someone was watching. He gave Max his due initially but later said it was “nothing special”, that the ending was just mindless swinging with “no strategy” and that Max is “too basic” and would be “a really easy fight as usual”. Christ. Again, I actually like the confidence, to a point, and that he’s willing to put himself out there like this. But it’s easy to see why it winds some people up. Especially when, in back-to-back fights, it’s Volk and Max he’s talking like this about. Two of the most respected and loved fighters in the game. It’s one of those things though where, if Topuria keeps backing his words up, I think you’ll see a lot of the haters become fans eventually. Fight fans are fickle, glory hunting twats for the most part. If he keeps winning, a lot of them will jump on board. If he loses though, after talking like this, fuck. He better have thick skin because he’s gonna get absolutely pelted with unhinged messages, trolling and memes. For now, Topuria seems dialled in… “If he brings the same energy, when he points to the ground to stand and bang, I’m going to knock him out in the first round. As soon as he starts to really fight me and start exchanging blows, that’s the end of the fight. Nobody can exchange blows with me. Not only because of my power but because of the technique I apply to each movement. They don’t see me coming. The changes of pace that I introduce are something they are not used to. I recommend him to use a helmet because he’s going to need it.” - Ilia Topuria Once again he’s talking big and, so far, who are we to doubt him? It’s one of the many things that makes this fight so fascinating. A couple of guys have claimed to be a better boxer than Holloway in the past and they’ve found out the hard way they were wrong. Topuria’s the first who might well give him a run for his money though. But then you factor in that Max has never been knocked out in his career. Christ, he never even got knocked down until the Gaethje fight and that wasn’t scored as an official knockdown for some odd reason. Max’s durability is well documented. He’s known for it, which isn’t always a good thing and you worry about what state he’s gonna be in after fighting. But I’ve seen no signs of his chin fading yet. Even that Gaethje knockdown looked like more of a balance issue than Max being hurt or anything. So it’ll be very interesting to see if Topuria can put a dent in Max’s armour here. I’ve said a bunch of times I’m not really a fan of the whole BMF thing. It’s gimmicky and a bit cringe. But I do think if there was ever gonna be a belt for ‘Bad Mother Fuckers’, it fits a guy like Max Holloway better than most. There was a point in the early talks for this fight when Topuria was pushing for the BMF belt to be on the line as well, with him even going as far as to say he only wanted the fight if both belts were up for grabs. Doesn’t seem like that’s happening though and I’m glad about that. Don’t really like the idea of a made up belt like that being directly paired with the actual world title going forward. Unless they just unified them and quietly retired the BMF thing that way, I’m not into it. This fight really doesn’t need any gimmicks anyway, does it? “I feel like I was put on this Earth to fight. If I was born in a different time, I probably would’ve been a gladiator. And last time I checked, gladiators didn’t walk around with a scale asking what weight you was. If you’re the BMF, you gotta step up and fight anybody.” “I can’t wait. I’ve been going hard over the last few years trying to regain my throne. A lot of people laughed, but we’ll see who gets the last laugh come October 26th. A lot of people said I wouldn’t be in this position, I wouldn’t be able to fight for the Featherweight title again. I’m here. Everybody thought UFC 300 was amazing, wait till they get to see the outcome of UFC 308.” - Max Holloway Goosebumps. I don’t know if it’s because the sport isn’t as hot as it used to be, or because there aren’t as many huge stars as there once was, or just the fact I’m getting older and I’ve been watching combat sports for about 30 of my 39 years on the planet and maybe I’m a bit numb and desensitised now. But it’s not that often I get that true ball tingly, goosebumpy, hair on the back of the neck standing up feeling for as many fights these days. There are always fights I’m looking forward to, fights that I like and fights that I love and can’t wait for. I’m excited for certain fights on and off throughout the year. But that feeling when you can’t stop thinking about a specific fight, you keep changing your mind on how you think it’s gonna go, those fights that really get the blood pumping. That doesn’t happen much now. It’s almost like I’ve been married to watching combat sports for so long, I’ve seen it naked from every angle and we’ve done every position. It takes something a bit special to light the spark again at this point. Fury vs Usyk did the trick in May and Topuria vs Holloway has me completely hooked now. And we’re still a month out. There hasn’t even been any promotional stuff yet. By the time fight week rolls around, the UFC start pumping out their content and we get the first face-offs, the press conference, the weigh ins and all that good stuff…I can’t wait. Robert Whittaker vs Khamzat Chimaev is 5 rounds in the co-main. Or is it? Do we reckon this actually happens this time? Does Khamzat make it to the cage? I don’t know what the fuck to make of it and it genuinely feels like a 50/50 coin flip whether he shows up on the night. But let’s try and be glass half full and assume he does. It’s a great fight if it comes off. Of course, they were all set to headline the Saudi Arabia card in June but Khamzat once again called in sick. I wanna be sympathetic because I know he’s had some health issues in the past but it’s getting really frustrating at this point. Almost seems pointless getting excited about any fight involving him because there’s a high probability it ends up in the bin. Whittaker ended up taking a late replacement fight in Saudi and bashed up Ikram Aliskerov in less than 2 minutes. Just ran through him. I actually fancied Aliskerov to pull the upset in that one. Feel foolish about that in hindsight but it really felt like a recipe for a bad result to me going in. Whittaker proved he was on a different level though and just steamrolled him. To make it even more impressive, it came out after the fight that Whittaker had been suffering with a severe mouth abscess and had to have emergency surgery just before he left Australia for the fight. So Khamzat dropped out, Whittaker accepted a dangerous last minute replacement who was a ‘more risk than reward’ type opponent and he was dealing with that? And he still wrecked Aliskerov quick. There was some talk of him getting a title shot off that win and I wouldn’t have hated it. There was also a bit of noise about him and Strickland fighting. In the end though, I’m happy they’ve rescheduled this Khamzat fight. It was really disappointing when the fight in June fell apart, hopefully it happens this time. Yeah, Khamzat’s a strange one. Undoubtedly one of the scariest fighters in the sport. Undefeated at 13-0, 11 of them didn’t require judges, 8 never made it out of the first round. The insane hype that surrounded him early in his UFC career hasn’t always matched what we’ve seen in the Octagon though, and I think that’s led to a bit of pushback from some fans and people playing his skills down. His last fight with Kamaru Usman didn’t help. He looked about as scary and dominant as ever for a round but he slowed down significantly after that, to the point Usman got back in it and arguably won the second and third rounds. Some had Usman winning the fight and were calling it a robbery but I’m not having that. I think that was more because Usman did better than expected. I had it a draw myself. I think you have to give Khamzat a 10-8 for the first round, he was too dominant for it to be a 10-9. But yeah, his pace and conditioning dropped off a cliff after that and Usman probably took the last couple of rounds. Khamzat ultimately got the decision but it wasn’t a good look for him, especially considering Usman had taken the fight on short notice. It was a close one and I’d have to rewatch it and score it properly but I don’t remember having a big problem with him getting the nod. It was one of those things though where if it was 5 rounds, it could’ve been very ugly for him down the stretch. So I get why there are doubts on him. Between the questions on his cardio and his health problems and layoffs, you can see why his aura has been dented. Still, that Khamzat first round is a hell of a storm to weather and I really don’t think there’s many at either 170 or 185 who survive it. The problem with Khamzat seems to be that he doesn’t manage his pace at all. He generally comes out going 100% from the off and, while that’s usually too much for most opponents to withstand, it’s gonna be his undoing sooner or later at the elite level. I’m not even so sure it’s an actual cardio issue, I think he either just doesn’t know how or thinks he doesn’t need to pace himself. Anyone’s stamina would be flagging going balls-out like that. He seems to think he can just bulldoze everyone and, as he found out against Usman and Burns, at the top level not all of these guys are just gonna roll over and go away quietly. If he can find a healthy balance, he’s gonna be an absolute nightmare to deal with. He’s a handful now, when he shows up, but if he can limit his bursts of aggression to the point he can maintain it over 3 or 5 rounds, he’s gonna be a right bastard to beat. Whittaker’s up for the challenge though. “I asked for the fight. It wasn’t offered to me. Straight after my last fight, I saw that there was an Abu Dhabi card in October, timeline fits perfectly and I was like, ‘I’ll fight Chimaev. I’ll do it again. Just make sure he turns up.’ Because I look forward to hard fights. I look forward to these fights and I know that if I beat Chimaev, there is nothing in the way to getting my belt back.” - Robert Whittaker Fair play to him. It’s not like there’s a long line of Middleweights calling Khamzat out as it is. But for Whittaker, who’s already been burned once by Khamzat pulling out injured, I don’t think anyone would’ve blamed him if he wanted to just move onto different opponents after that Saudi fight fell through. A lot of fighters say they love hard fights but it’s clear Whittaker means it. You only have to look at his track record. The 10 brutal rounds against Yoel Romero alone is more than enough proof that Bobby Knuckles is one granite hard man. And he is right. Despite Khamzat’s time on the shelf, there’s still a mystique about him, he’s still undefeated and he’s Dana’s boy. If Whittaker can be the first to hand him a loss, it looks great on the record and it might just be his ticket to another title shot and the DDP rematch. Fascinating one this. It’s got to the point with Khamzat now where the easy prediction is just to say ‘if Whittaker can get through that initial onslaught and survive the opening round, it’s his fight to lose.’ But I’m not sure it’s as simple as that. Like, how much damage is he gonna take in that first round and what shape will that leave him in as the fight goes on? I’ve got no doubt Whittaker is tough enough to potentially take whatever Khamzat throws at him for 5 minutes but I also believe Khamzat is dangerous enough early that he can finish almost anyone in that opening round if he gets into a good position on the ground or something. This being a 5 rounder adds another layer of intrigue though. Khamzat’s first 5 rounder. I wouldn’t be surprised if, for once, we see a bit more of a cautious approach from him early this time, with him being conscious that he might need to conserve some energy for the later rounds. He’s gonna have to try to reign himself in a bit. If he doesn’t, and he banks on getting Whittaker out of there quick, this could go off the rails for him big time. You’d think the way the Usman fight played out will have been a lesson to him that these top level fighters and former champions won’t necessarily go away easily. But we’ll see. Let’s just hope it happens this time. If Khamzat drops out again, man, I don’t know what you do with him. Magomed Ankalaev vs Aleksandar Rakic is OK, I suppose. Not in love with it or anything but it’ll do. I think pretty much everyone was a bit surprised that Ankalaev wasn’t next up for the title shot against Alex Pereira but I’ve gone into that in the 307 thread. Ankalaev did seem like the obvious choice but I don’t have a problem with Pereira vs Rountree at all. Ankalaev is ranked #2 though so he’s certainly in the conversation. Although it does kind of feel like they’re gonna just keep putting him against other contenders and stalling him until someone beats him, so they don’t have to give him a title fight. Let’s face it, he’s not the most entertaining fighter to watch and, right or wrong, that’s always gonna be a big part of the decision making when it comes to this stuff. He’s coming into this fight off a typically cartoonish KO over Johnny Walker in January but it’s been a bit of a weird and disjointed run in the UFC for him otherwise. Rakic is somehow ranked #5 despite only just returning from a 2 year knee injury layoff and then getting stopped by Jiri Prochazka at UFC 300. Not sure what to think about Rakic anymore. At one point he looked like he might grow into a legit contender in time but that injury and the time off threw that out. He’s never been amazing, to be fair, but I actually thought he was looking decent against Jiri before it all went wrong for him. Given that he’d been out of action for 2 years, he was doing better than I expected. Not sure about this one. Ankalaev probably wins at this point but fuck knows really? Lerone Murphy vs Dan Ige is ***WAND’S ONE TO WATCH*** this time. Didn’t wanna go for the obvious and pick the main or co-main event and I think this is a cracking fight that could get lost in the shuffle and deserves highlighting. These two were actually supposed to fight at the Apex in February but an injury took Murphy out. It’s been the slowest of burns with Murphy and setbacks like that are partly why. But things are finally moving for him now. He beat Edson Barboza over 5 rounds in their Apex headliner in May. Easily the biggest win and the highlight of his career so far. Hopefully he can stay busy and build on that now. He’s undefeated at 14-0-1 but he’s 33 years old already. He doesn’t really have a ton of time so he needs to stay active now. It’s kind of now or never before that window closes on his prime years. The last time we saw Dan Ige… It was that nutty situation at UFC 303 in June. Diego Lopes was supposed to fight Brian Ortega, Ortega dropped out the day of the show, Ige just happened to be there on fight week and stepped in on FOUR HOURS notice. Just a bonkers set of circumstances. Him and Lopes had a good fight, although it almost certainly would’ve been better if they’d both had an actual training camp for each other. But it was enjoyable enough and, although Ige lost on points, the fact he went the distance with Lopes when most get smoked by him was a bit of a moral victory in itself. Especially on basically zero notice. He’d knocked out Andre Fili before that in brutal fashion. Quality fight here. They’re both just about ranked at Featherweight and a win here for either should see them in with a Top 10 opponent next. Shara Magomedov vs Armen Petrosyan is supposed to be kicking off the main card. Quite interesting matchmaking actually. Shara’s undeniably been fun to watch so far and he’s managed to put together a 14-0 unbeaten record. It’s clear that his skillset is limited though, he’s pretty much just a striker. The few glimpses of clinching and grappling we’ve seen from him so far, he hasn’t looked too clever there. Up until now though, he’s been matched with guys who were mostly willing to stand and trade with him. This might be a different story. I’m a bit hazy on Petrosyan but he’s 9-3 and has notable wins over Gregory Rodrigues and Christian Leroy Duncan in the UFC. He’s also gone the distance with Caio Borralho. From what I recall he is mostly a striker himself but I’m sure I remember him mixing it up and using grappling a bit in the win over CLD. And considering Shara, like CLD, is purely standup, it’s probably a good time for Petrosyan to dust off his grappling again here. I don’t think Petrosyan’s great on the ground but fucking Michal Oleksiejczuk managed to take Shara down last time so you don’t have to be Demian Maia to outgrapple him. Shara called out the corpse of Nick Diaz after that Oleksiejczuk win as well. Sick fuck. For that reason alone, I wanna see him lose. Ibo Asian vs Raffael Cerqueira. Not a clue. I’ve only seen Aslan once, his UFC debut in March and he knocked out Anton Turkalj in a fun slugfest. That was revenge for Aslan as well, they’d fought previously on a Brave card and Turkalj subbed him. It was Aslan’s only loss so that win in March must’ve been extra sweet. Winning his debut and avenging his only defeat in one night. He’s Turkish, 28 years old and 13-1 with all 13 wins coming by KO/TKO. Never heard of this Cerqueira bloke. Sherdog tells me he’s Brazilian, 33 years old and undefeated at 11-0 with 10 finishes. Doesn’t sound bad on paper for a prelim, to be fair. Geoff Neal vs Rafael Dos Anjos is an alright fight but it’s one that I definitely would’ve been more into a few years ago. At this stage I feel like Neal’s gone off the boil a tad and RDA’s decline is finally fully kicking in. Still not a bad fight but I’m not expecting much from it really at this stage. In fairness to Neal, he’s lost his last couple of fights but they were against Shavkat Rakhmonov and Ian Garry, and he was giving Shavkat a good scrap before getting choked. He’s got a win over current champ Belal Muhammad, which I completely forgot about but, I don’t know, I just feel like he’s probably gone as high as he’s ever gonna go. RDA turns 40 literally on the day of this fight! Incredible fighter in his day and it’s not like he’s embarrassing himself out there now. It does feel like the time has come for him to call it a day though. He had his turn as champion, he’s beat some great fighters and now he’s coming off losses to Gamrot and Luque in fights where he didn’t get wrecked or anything but he didn’t really look at the races either. He’s probably got no intentions of retiring anytime soon but this’ll be his 49th fight, maybe 50 would be a good time to stop. This one and then maybe have a farewell fight on a Brazil card next year or something. Myktybek Orolbai vs Mateusz Rebecki. I like it. Already a fan of Orolbai after just two UFC fights. He’s from Kyrgyzstan, 26 years old and 13-1-1 with 11 finishes. He made his UFC debut in November and submitted Uros Medic, almost twisting his head off in the process. Then his last fight on the Brazil PPV in May, he beat Elves Brener on points in a really entertaining scrap. He’s on an 8 fight winning streak now and he’s definitely on my radar as a ‘must see’ fighter. As for Rebecki… That’s the last image we have of him. Poor prick. He got proper fucked up by Carlos Diego Ferreira back in May. It wasn’t all one way traffic, Rebecki had his moments. But Ferreira took over and put a serious beating on him before finally stopping him with a few seconds to go in the fight. Rebecki’s a solid fighter actually. He’s got a 19-2 record with 16 finishes and was on a 16 fight winning streak going into that Ferreira fight. Tough rebound fight for him against Orolbai here but I like the matchup. Abus Magomedov vs Brunno Ferreira is nothing special but there’s potential for fireworks. Magomedov’s 26-6-1 with 20 finishes. He scored a 19 second TKO in his UFC debut and then was immediately thrown into an Apex main event against Sean Strickland. It was such a weird piece of matchmaking and card placement and it looks even stranger in hindsight. Abus basically turned up to a 5 round fight with about 1 round’s worth of conditioning and got stopped. I’ve held it against him ever since because Strickland actually got a title shot off the back of that win and became champion. Fuck Abus Magomedov. He’s since lost a decision to Caio Borralho and won a decision against Warlley Alves. I’m definitely a Brunno Ferreira supporter for this fight. Brunno The Hulk! That’s what he did to Dustin Stoltzfus in his last fight in June. Brutal finish. He knocked out both Gregory Rodrigues and Phil Hawes in a round apiece before that as well. Although he did have a TKO loss to Nursulton Ruziboev in the middle of all that. He’s 12-1 with all 12 wins coming inside the distance. Actually, looking through his record now, only 2 of his fights have made it out of the first round. Hoping he blasts Abus out of there quick. Middleweight needs all the exciting fighters it can get and Ferreira’s definitely one of them. Kennedy Nzechukwu vs Chris Barnett might happen. Might not. Fuck knows at this point. This is the third scheduled opponent for Nzechukwu on this card. He was originally booked against Marcos Rogerio De Lima, that went tits up. Then Justin Tafa was the replacement but was out of the fight almost as quickly as he’d stepped in. Now it’s Barnett. And he’s coming in after his planned fight against Waldo Cortes-Acosta on the Oct 12th Apex card went in the bin. Absolute shambles. It’ll be good to see ‘Beastboy’ Barnett back. If he makes it to fight night. Love the bloke. Just a big fat ball of fun. Every time you see him he seems to be having the time of his life. His happiness, in a sport where probably 80% of the people involved are horrible miserable fucks, is infectious. He hasn’t fought since 2022, and even then he missed weight. At Heavyweight!! He knocked out Jake Collier that night but, for whatever reason, he’s been off the grid since. He’s never gonna amount to much, he’ll probably never sniff a ranking or even put three consecutive wins together but if he can just show up every now and then and knock a fool out, I’m happy. I kind of like Nzechukwu as well, he’s just not very good unfortunately. He’s 12-5 and there was a very brief time when I thought maybe he a decent little midcard run. Admittedly that thinking was mostly based off his come from behind KO win over Carlos Ulberg. He’s done nothing since though and now he’s taking this fight at Heavyweight for some reason. He’s a big boy but I don’t know if this is him legitimately trying to make a serious run in a new division or if it’s just a thing like when Alexander Gustafsson moved up to HW because he couldn’t be bothered to train hard. Either way, he lost to a badly washed up OSP last time out so I’ve got zero confidence in him at this stage. Farid Basharat vs Victor Hugo. Not familiar enough with Hugo to really give a shite but I’ll check it out to see how Basharat looks. He’s quietly been racking up the wins, 12-0 now and he’s looked pretty good from what I remember. He subbed Kleydson Rodrigues on last year’s Paris card and beat Taylor Lapilus on points in January. This feels like a step backwards actually but whatever. Hugo’s 25-4 and made his UFC debut back in April, beating fellow Octagon newbie Pedro Falcao by decision in a fight I don’t think I saw. Bruno Silva vs Ismail Naurdiev. Kind of feel bad for Silva. His last fight against Chris Weidman in March left a sour taste for me. Of course Weidman’s had a lot of sympathy over the last few years because of the career slump he was in and the horrific leg injury he suffered in 2021. But Weidman managed to turn himself heel for me in that Silva fight. He was extending his fingers in Bruno’s face the whole fight, to the point it seemed like it was a deliberate tactic. And sure enough, in the third round… Weidman managed to land a 1-2, left-right combo of eyepokes and Silva couldn’t continue. To add insult to injury, they went to the scorecards and ruled it a technical decision win for Weidman. I wanted to give Weidman the benefit of the doubt that it was an accident but then he carried on like a massive twat post-fight. Basically insinuating that Silva was a pussy for complaining about the eyepokes instead of just taking it like a man. Came off like such a dickhead. Naurdiev’s 23-7 with 18 finishes and actually fought in the UFC for a spell in 2019/20. He went 2-2 and was let go after a loss to Sean Brady. He went away and fought in Brave with very mixed results. Honestly, I’m a bit confused why he’s being brought back now. Since parting ways with the UFC he’s gone 4-3, has lost 2 of his last 3 fights and was stopped in both losses. He’s coming in on a whopping one fight win streak. He’s not even a late replacement, this fight’s been booked for a bit. There must be a reason. Rinat Fakhretdinov vs Carlos Leal is a late card switch. Rinat was scheduled to fight Nursulton Ruziboev but that’s off. Leal steps in, making his UFC debut on about a week’s notice. Apparently he was set to fight on a UAE Warriors card this week so he was in camp anyway and will be coming into this fight on weight and in shape. Not familiar with him but he’s 21-5 with 12 finishes and has fought in LFA and PFL previously. He’s fought twice this year and won both by first round TKO. Doesn’t sound like a bad replacement or signing, to be fair. Fakhretdinov a solid but unspectacular fighter. Apart from dropping and submitting Kevin Lee in less than a minute last year, he’s been a decision merchant in the UFC. He’s no pushover though. He’s 21-1-1 and hasn’t lost since his second pro fight back in 2013. So he’s on a 22 fight stretch where nobody’s been able to beat him. The only blemish in that spell was his draw against Elizeu Zaleski Dos Santos on the São Paulo card last November. He’s since beat Nicolas Dalby on points in June. The end. Edited October 23, 2024 by wandshogun09 Quote
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted September 24, 2024 Paid Members Posted September 24, 2024 Fight down Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted September 24, 2024 Author Paid Members Posted September 24, 2024 (edited) Yeah that got binned as I was making the opening post. Like I’d literally typed up the preview and then saw the announcement on Twitter so I didn’t even bother posting it. Think I mentioned it at the top of the opening post but the talk is that it’s being rescheduled for UFC 310 in December. Hilarious seeing all the Jones fans suggesting Tom Aspinall steps in to defend the interim title again against Gane. Why would he when he’s been confirmed by Dana as the official backup for Jones vs Stipe? Not that I have any expectations that either of them would accept a fight with Aspinall as a late replacement but why would Aspinall jump in on short notice again here to fight Gane, just a few weeks before Jones vs Stipe, and risk potential injury himself when he’s already the official backup? Jones fans are so desperate to get him out of the conversation it’s pathetic. They’re praying he fights Gane now and either 1) shits the bed and loses to him, 2) looks bad even if he wins so they can point to Jones’ easy win over Gane in comparison or 3) gets banged up win or lose so he isn’t even an option if Jones or Stipe pull out. They just want this Aspinall problem to go away by any means necessary so they can argue that Jones wasn’t ducking him and there was some other reason the fight didn’t happen. Edited September 24, 2024 by wandshogun09 Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted September 24, 2024 Author Paid Members Posted September 24, 2024 Latest bout order and with Gane vs Volkov 2 off, Murphy vs Ige gets the bump up to the main card. Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted October 14, 2024 Author Paid Members Posted October 14, 2024 Absolute set of bastards. Quote
Paid Members Bus Surfer Posted October 15, 2024 Paid Members Posted October 15, 2024 The last few shows on TNT Box Office couldn't be recorded which means waiting for the allocated repeat time. Absolute archaic nonsense and hopefully won't be the case for these 2 shows. Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted October 15, 2024 Author Paid Members Posted October 15, 2024 The thing is, if they were gonna put any UFC card on Box Office this year, I can see why they’d go with 308 just because it’s on at a decent time for the UK. But back-to-back PPVs is taking the piss, especially when 309’s gonna be on US time. I’ll throw down the money for Topuria vs Holloway on a Saturday evening but fuck am I paying another £20 a couple of weeks later to watch Jones and Stipe clocking out for the last time at 5am on a Sunday morning. Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted October 16, 2024 Author Paid Members Posted October 16, 2024 Yeah, I’m a fan of this guy… You know McGregor was absolutely seething reading that ? Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted October 22, 2024 Author Paid Members Posted October 22, 2024 The bad news is it’s on Box Office, the good news is Rogan’s not gonna be shitting things up. Quote
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted October 24, 2024 Paid Members Posted October 24, 2024 Anyone not liking what their seeing out of Khamzat this week? Just seems a different fella, seems happy and content, he's changed his team, he's complimentary of other fighters and that sinister and dismissive edge he always had seems to be gone. Good on the bloke for seemingly doing well, but I ain't sure how it's translates to him as an actual fighter. Give me Bobby Knuckles between rounds 3-5. Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted October 24, 2024 Author Paid Members Posted October 24, 2024 Haven’t followed anything really yet as far as media goes so can’t say, but I did see a clip of Khamzat saying his 1 year old son’s going through some health problems at the moment so maybe that’s why his aggression has taken a backseat and he seems different. Hopefully the lad’s OK but yeah I’m leaning towards Whittaker myself. If he can get through that first round, his chances should increase significantly. And when you think Khamzat hasn’t actually beat a legit Middleweight yet, and barely scraped by Usman who was coming up from 170 and on short notice, facing Whittaker as your first proper 185 opponent should be a massive test for him. Especially with Khamzat coming off another layoff. Might mean absolutely nothing but I saw this pic from the press conference as well. Is he sick again? Or are we in for another weight missing shitshow at the weigh in tomorrow? In other news, Dana’s apparently signing people from the crowd now… Hopefully this guy’s actually what he says he is and not just some mechanic or waiter trying his luck. To think of the talent they’ve let go and the legit fighters they’ve passed up on or let slip away. Then this lad seemingly gets a shot just for asking. You know he’s gonna be paid in Just Eat vouchers though. Quote
Paid Members Carbomb Posted October 24, 2024 Paid Members Posted October 24, 2024 It's the part of Plastic Caesar that thinks he's the descendant of P.T. Barnum that's done that. All a gimmick to get the ratings up. Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted October 24, 2024 Author Paid Members Posted October 24, 2024 @Egg Shen he’s back. Quote
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted October 24, 2024 Paid Members Posted October 24, 2024 The blokey who asked for a fight will need to win one more to get a crack: Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted October 25, 2024 Author Paid Members Posted October 25, 2024 Volk ? Quote
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