Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted October 26, 2024 Paid Members Posted October 26, 2024 (edited) Back in the Big Apple. Back at Madison Square Garden. Does this actually happen this time? Do you care? PPV MAIN CARD Jon Jones©️vs Stipe Miocic - Heavyweight Title Charles Oliveira vs Michael Chandler Bo Nickal vs Paul Craig Karine Silva vs Viviane Araujo Mauricio Ruffy vs James Llontop ESPN PRELIMS Jonathan Martinez vs Marcus McGhee Jim Miller vs Damon Jackson Roberto Romero vs David Onama Marcin Tybura vs Jhonata Diniz ESPN+/FIGHT PASS PRELIMS Mickey Gall vs Ramiz Brahimaj Oban Elliott vs Bassil Hafez Veronica Hardy vs Eduarda Moura Remember this is on Box Office. Not the best or most stacked card this. There’s some alright stuff on there and obviously the main event is gonna provide a lot of talking points, if it actually happens. I’m not confident it does happen, how could you be? But for as pointless as Jones vs Stipe feels at this stage, there’s never a shortage of drama where Jones is concerned. Nothing is ever straightforward. Side note - those rule changes are coming into effect from the start of November so 12-6 elbows will be legal on this card and the rules about downed opponents are gonna change so just putting one hand on the canvas isn’t gonna cut it anymore. You’ll need a knee or shoulder or something down or you’re fair game to eat knees to the face. Jon Jones vs Stipe Miocic then. Where do you even start with this? A dream fight from about anywhere between 2016-20, in 2024 not so much. But they’re insisting that this is the fight that needs to happen so here we are. Whether it actually makes it to the cage or not, we’ll have to wait and see, but I’m never confident in Jones making it to fight night given his track record. And who knows how Stipe’s gonna hold up through a training camp at this stage? They were supposed to headline the last Madison Square Garden card, UFC 295 last November, but Jones pulled out with a torn pec. Hopefully he turns up this time because at this point I just want this over with. Feels weird saying that and I don’t like being negative about a fight like this because, like I said, if this had happened a few years ago it would’ve been absolutely mega and usually I look at these kind of fights with a ‘better late than never’ attitude. This one just isn’t really doing it for me though. The skipping over Tom Aspinall thing being a major factor but also it just feels like the ship sailed a long time ago on any chance of us getting a great fight out of this. There’s an overall feeling that this is a case of these two cashing out and the general consensus seems to be that they’re both gonna retire after this fight. So it’s not even leading anywhere after, the next generation at Heavyweight (such as it is) aren’t gonna get the opportunity to get ‘the rub’ and whoever wins this fight is gonna just vacate the title and bounce. Meaning the next champ (Aspinall) is gonna suffer from not taking the belt from the actual defending champion. They’ll be ‘the man’ but won’t actually have beaten ‘the man’. It’s a mess. But yeah, at this point, let’s get it over with. Heavyweight Jon Jones finally made his debut back in March 2023. After 3 years on the sidelines and after about a decade of teasing a move up to Heavyweight. Seriously. If you wanna do the digging, the articles are out there. The man was talking about moving up back when Cain Velasquez was champion, for fuck’s sake! Think about how long ago the Cain era feels and all the shit that’s happened between then and now. That’s how long Jones dragged this bollocks out. All credit to him, for all his faults, and there are many as we know, he was a great Light Heavyweight champion. He ruled over that division for almost a full decade, was the most dominant champ in 205 history by far and beat the likes of Shogun, Rampage, Machida, Evans, Teixeira, Gustafsson and Cormier along the way. But before his 3 year sabbatical started in 2020, it was looking like he was slowing down and the prime was coming to an end. A comfortable but lacklustre points win over Anthony Smith followed by a couple of surprisingly close (some say controversial) decisions over Thiago Santos and Dominick Reyes had people wondering if Jones’ reign of terror was on its last legs. The fact that Santos and Reyes went into career slumps immediately after taking Jones to the wire means those performances from Jones have aged even worse as well. A combination of Jones now being in his 30s, talk of him becoming complacent and disinterested at 205 and, of course, his chaotic and turbulent lifestyle outside the cage was all starting to suggest the wheels were about to come off his run on top. Then he fucked off. For years. He was always tweeting and deleting. Always throwing his two penneth in on what was going on in the MMA world. Always teasing fights and talking a big game about comebacks and how he was bulking up for his long awaited move up to Heavyweight. But after a while, I think everyone just stopped believing him. It went on for so long he became the boy who cried wolf. In the meantime the UFC had moved on without him. Francis Ngannou was now King of the Heavyweight castle. He’d knocked out Stipe Miocic in their rematch at UFC 260 in March 2021 to win the title. A hugely impressive performance, especially given how one-sided the first fight was in Stipe’s favour. Ngannou had clearly worked his arse off and made the necessary adjustments since their first meeting in 2018, and it paid off big time. Ngannou then became tangled up in a dispute behind the scenes with Dana White/UFC management over his contract and fighter pay in general. He wound up defending the belt the following January against Ciryl Gane, came in with a knee injury and won on points. From there he sat out the rest of 2022, still at odds with UFC brass, and his contract expired at the end of the year. In January 2023, it was announced that Ngannou and the UFC had parted ways and Ngannou had been stripped of the UFC Heavyweight championship. That very same day… This got announced out of nowhere. After 3 years on the shelf, Jon Jones would finally return, at Heavyweight, and face Ciryl Gane for the vacant title. Of course, Dana spun it as if Ngannou shat himself of Jones and ran from the UFC to avoid fighting him. But anyone who followed the whole thing closely and in real time knows the score. Jones was the one who stayed away for 3 years then suddenly resurfaced the second Ngannou was no longer under contract. Very convenient. Jones was also accusing Ngannou of ‘ducking him’, calling him a ‘pussy’ and all that. But during his 3 years off, he’d been at loggerheads with the UFC himself over the same issues Ngannou had. And again, if anyone was ducking anyone, check the date on this tweet from Jones at the time… That was literally 2 DAYS after Ngannou had ironed out Stipe and became champ. Not saying Jones was trembling with fear or anything but the timing of it is funny. He suddenly got into a contract dispute with the UFC just 48 hours after Big Francis got the strap? Yet Ngannou’s a bitch if you listen to Jones, Dana or the legions of UFC arselickers on social media. To make it even worse, when Jones was having his issues with the UFC, Ngannou publicly backed and supported him. When the roles were reversed, Jones called him a ‘pussy’ and went back to the UFC with his tail between his legs. Speaks volumes about the character of both men. Anyway, yeah, Jones finally got back in the Octagon at UFC 285 in March last year. Going in I really had doubts on Jones. 1) I was sceptical he’d even make it to fight night just because he’s Jon Jones and a habitual fuck up. 2) He hadn’t looked good in his last couple of fights at 205. 3) Those fights were 3 years ago so he might be rusty. 4) He was going up in weight after such a layoff and didn’t exactly look in the best of physical shape. And 5), I honestly thought Gane could pose some problems for him style-wise. The grappling was always gonna be a big gaping hole but I really thought Gane might be able to keep it on the feet, for a while at least, and give Jones some grief. As long as he didn’t do anything stupid or reckless… Gane fucked up big time. Looking back I kind of feel foolish for giving Gane a good chance but there were so many questions and unknowns about Jones coming off that layoff and going up to Heavyweight. He was always gonna have a massive advantage if he could grab hold of Gane and force any kind of grappling situation. But Gane made it so much easier for him by lunging wildly at him with no set up. Jones just ducked his punch, snatched the neck and throttled him. Whole thing lasted about 2 minutes and, frankly, it was embarrassing from Gane. Not that there’s shame in losing to Jon Jones but the way it happened, he basically served his neck up on a plate. You couldn’t move for the silly GOAT talk after the fight. Everywhere I looked, I kept seeing opinion pieces about how this proved Jones was the GOAT and there wasn’t even a debate to be had anymore. Absolute bullshit. He is great. I can’t stand the prick but I’ll never deny he’s one of the best ever. But to act like there’s no discussion when the likes of Georges St Pierre and Demetrious Johnson exist is just ridiculous. And those guys don’t have PED controversies staining their legacies either. People throw the ‘GOAT’ thing around way too loosely these days. Also find it funny how all the talk after Jones vs Gane was basically 50% ‘Gane is terrible’ and 50% ‘Jones is the GOAT!!!’ If Gane’s so shite then why did this win cement beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jones is the best to ever do it? Surely if Gane’s so awful then this win isn’t even that impressive. Which is it? Like I said, he’s undoubtedly one of the best ever. But the best? Nah, not having it. If he’d moved up when he first said he would and beat Cain, beat prime Stipe and then beat Ngannou, then yeah, he’d be a lock. But he didn’t, did he? He went life and death with Santos and Reyes at 205, sat out for years, waited for Stipe to get old, waited for Ngannou to leave, then came back and choked a Kickboxer with weak grappling defence. If that’s your GOAT that’s up to you. But to quote the real GOAT, “I’m not impressed with his performance.” In the meantime, Ngannou signed with the PFL and him and Jones actually came face to face at a PFL show last summer… Sadly, that’s as close as we’re ever getting to that fight happening. A fucking travesty but what can you do? Ngannou did what was right for him. People blindly believing Dana’s bullshit and saying Ngannou ducked Jones, it’s easy to spin that narrative now. But back in late 2022 when Ngannou’s contract expired, there was no sign of Stipe returning to do the rubber match and Jones seemed no closer to coming back than he did the previous 3 years. There wasn’t much for Ngannou to hang around for and that’s before you even factor in his issues with Dana and co behind the scenes. He got out, got his freedom to pursue his dream of Boxing, got a deal he was happy with from the PFL and even negotiated for higher purses for his opponents. What a guy! Who does that? While Dana/UFC bootlickers were laughing, taking the piss and claiming Ngannou “fumbled the bag”, Ngannou was inking a deal for the biggest fights and paydays of his life… Alright, in the end, the results didn’t go his way. But for a guy in his late 30s to jump into Heavyweight Boxing at the deep end, facing Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua in his first two fights, was insane. Granted, he was paid monster money. But it never felt like it was only about that. And just the fact he surprised everyone by fighting so well against Fury, it was a bit of a moral victory. He certainly didn’t embarrass himself. The AJ loss was devastating and brutal but, even that, there’s no disgrace in it. He was willing to walk away from the UFC while he was in a secure position as their champion, and gamble on himself. There was no guarantee when he left the UFC that he’d actually get these Fury and AJ fights signed. He took the chance, fought two of the best Heavyweights out there and made more money than his entire MMA career combined. However you chop it up, whatever the results were, it was an overall win for him. If you know Ngannou’s story, you’d have to be a right heartless cunt to not feel happy for him. Sadly, Jones vs Ngannou is one that’s gonna get away. And Dana’s as much, or more, to blame for that as anyone. The way he constantly slags Francis off publicly, any chance there might’ve been of Ngannou ever coming back is probably gone. Nice one Dana! Best promoter ever! And speaking of Jones fights that are never gonna happen… Current interim champ Tom Aspinall has been named as the official backup for this fight. In theory, if either Jones or Stipe drop out of this fight, and at this point there’s a high probability of that, Aspinall will step in and fight. Nice idea, never gonna happen though, is it? Let’s face it, Jones has blatantly been ducking Aspinall at every turn. He’s not even open to fighting Aspinall after a full training camp. Are we really expected to believe that, if Stipe withdrew from this fight, Jones would accept a fight with Aspinall as a late replacement? Zero chance of that happening. And if Jones drops out, I can’t see Stipe taking the Aspinall fight either. I think Stipe’s been done with fighting for a while, he’s back specifically for this Jones fight and that’s it. I think it’s Jones or nothing for him. So be prepared, if one of these guys drop out, we’re in for some craziness and the UFC are most likely gonna have to make a completely new main event. My guess is they’ve got Aspinall vs Alex Pereira as the emergency backup plan. We’ll see. Dana’s been saying recently that he hopes the winner of Jones vs Stipe sticks around and gives Aspinall his shot. He sounded more into making it happen than he has in the past so maybe he’ll offer the winner some extra money to fight Aspinall or something. I’m not convinced it happens though. I think this is it for these two and Aspinall’s just gonna be left with the scraps. Anyway… Stipe Miocic is back! For my money, Stipe’s probably the greatest Heavyweight in MMA history. It’s either him or Fedor. It’s easy to forget because he’s been off the grid for so long but I don’t think anyone’s got quite as strong a resume as Stipe in the history of the division. Wins over Francis Ngannou, Daniel Cormier x2, Junior Dos Santos, Alistair Overeem, Fabricio Werdum, Andrei Arlovski, Mark Hunt, Gabriel Gonzaga, Roy Nelson etc. OK, some of those losses don’t look so great with 2024 eyes but they were all legit and significant wins at the time. He had those losses to Cormier and JDS but avenged both. The only real glaring blemish on his record is the KO loss to Stefan Struve back in 2012. That looks ludicrous now, knowing what Stipe went on to do. What a run he had though. I don’t think any of those wins quite equal Fedor’s dominant wins over prime versions of Nogueira and Cro Cop but Stipe had a series of quality wins there that are gonna be hard to beat. Fedor’s my man but I might actually lean towards Stipe as the best Heavyweight ever. It’s close. Regardless, Stipe was a hell of a champion. He’s been on a milk carton since that Ngannou loss in 2021 though. And now he’s 42 years old. I don’t know. I just don’t know what we’re getting here. I think Stipe was pretty much content to just call it a day before Jones came back last year. He hadn’t publicly announced his retirement or made anything official but he seemed to be in no hurry to make a comeback and, at 40+, I just don’t think he was bothered about fighting again. His legacy was set already, Ngannou was leaving, he’d already hit 40 and I don’t think he’d have been arsed about sticking around to fight the next generation of Heavies like Aspinall, Pavlovich etc. But Jones returning opened up the door for one last big fight for him. One last big payday. Something worth coming back for. Stipe was in attendance when Jones beat Gane last March. Jones called him out after and, as you can see from Stipe’s face there, he couldn’t have looked less fussed about it ? Nothing phases him. I’ve got no doubt he’ll be motivated and he’ll train hard for this fight. Especially as it’s looking like his last hurrah. He’s a pro and it’s a legacy fight. While nothing seems to bother Stipe, he obviously won’t have been happy with how that last fight against Ngannou ended. It wasn’t the note he’d have wanted to end his career on. So this is his chance to go out the right way. Nobody’s expecting it but a win over Jon Jones here would be some way to finish up. “This fight means everything. I think this is what it’s all about. It’s what the fans wanted to see. It’s a fight he wanted, a fight I wanted. Two of the best ever going at it. Nothing gets better than that.” “I think my speed, my angles and my punching power will give him problems. I hit a lot harder than people think. I think I have a great IQ. I always change it up and when something happens, I’ll figure a way out. I feel strong, I feel good. You get some bumps and bruises along the way but it’s a training camp. Honestly, I feel great. My head’s right where I need to be.” - Stipe Miocic Bless him. Yeah, it’s “what the fans wanted to see”…in 2018. He’s saying the right things but this all just feels too late. They’re almost definitely both retiring after this fight. So it does make you wonder if Stipe’s coming back solely for the money. If that’s the case, you can’t really blame him but it doesn’t fill me with hope either. He was at MSG last November despite the planned Jones fight falling apart, and he walked out to cageside looking about 75. It was a big talking point at the time but it was very noticeable that he was walking with a limp. And it just hammered home that this is far from prime Stipe these days. And even that was a whole year ago. Fuck knows what state he’s in now. As for the fight itself, there’s a reason Jones waited so long and now he’s up for it. Stipe’s coming off a KO loss, a 3+ year layoff, he’s 42 years old and walks like your Grandad. You can see why Jones has chosen now to seize the opportunity to get a win over a name like Stipe. I’d love nothing more than for it to blow up in his face spectacularly and Stipe chins him. But I just don’t know what to expect, out of either of them really. For all the (probably justified) doom and gloom about Stipe, I’m not convinced by this version of Jones either. I think him running through Gane the way he did has made a lot of people forget how poor he looked in those last few fights at 205. While Stipe’s not fought in 3 years, we’ve only seen 2 minutes of Jones in almost 5 years! I think that’s being overlooked. We haven’t seen anywhere near enough of Jones, and in particular Heavyweight Jones, to base much off. While I totally get why people are focusing on Stipe’s age and inactivity and are expecting Jones to steamroll him in depressing fashion, are we a bit guilty of overplaying that? All we’ve seen of Jones at Heavyweight was the 2 minutes against Gane. And in that 2 minutes Jones faced no resistance, was put under no pressure, never got his chin tested, never got his conditioning tested and Gane made a huge error that Jones was able to capitalise on. There was nothing to get a proper read on. The questions we had on Heavyweight Jones going into that Gane fight are the same questions we still have now. None of them were answered. At the very least, I think even this old version of Stipe will put up a bit of a better fight than Gane did. You’d be hard pressed to do worse! And that’s where it gets at least a little bit interesting. I’m still not convinced Jones is ‘back’ based on the easy 2 minutes against Gane. So if Stipe can push him a bit, make it ugly, rough him up and tag him, we’ll see how Jones responds to that. Don’t get me wrong, I’m picking Jones just like everyone else probably will be. But the jury’s massively out for him at Heavyweight for me. Obviously favouring Jones but I don’t really know what the fuck to expect out of this. I just really, really, really hope it happens this time so we can all finally move on. Charles Oliveira vs Michael Chandler 2 then. Not a fight I’d have chosen next but whatever. It’ll be exciting whatever happens. The first fight was a corker and I expect no different in the rematch here. The way they both fight doesn’t really allow for anything else. Just feels like a bit of a strange one to me for some reason though. Feels like a case of them both being in a bit of a weird spot currently and the matchmakers just throwing them together for the sake of it. But with that said, despite Oliveira coming off a loss and Chandler being AWOL the last couple of years, they’re both still highly ranked at Lightweight. Oliveira’s at #2 and Chandler’s still somehow at #7 despite the lack of activity. So a win here still oddly puts either man in the thick of the title race. They fought back in May 2021 at UFC 262. If you remember, it was for the vacant Lightweight title after Khabib had retired and relinquished the gold in late 2020. They had a tremendous fight. I’ll definitely be revisiting it before the rematch but, going purely off memory, I remember Chandler having him in all kinds of bother early on but Oliveira managed to weather the storm and come back to knock him out in the second round. It was one of my favourite moments ever, seeing Oliveira with that UFC belt. One of those title wins you never expected to see and it was even more sweet because the knock on Oliveira was always that he crumbled under pressure and couldn’t fight through adversity. Chandler himself was basically calling him a quitter going in. So for Oliveira to take everything Chandler threw at him in that first round and come back to smash him in the second, it was a real redemption moment for him. Oliveira hit a bit of a rough patch after his brief but wildly entertaining run as champ though. He’s gone 1-2 in his last 3 now. He wrecked Beneil Dariush in between those losses to Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan. The Tsarukyan loss at UFC 300 was a close decision, in fairness. I did think Tsarukyan won and didn’t agree with the cries of robbery from some but it wasn’t like Charles looked out of his depth in there. He’s got some work to do now though. At 35 years old, the clock is ticking and sadly we’ve most likely already seen his peak. But he’s been one of the more likeable and fun fighters to watch on the roster for years now so I’m always gonna be rooting for him. We haven’t seen Chandler since the MSG card in 2022! He got stopped by Dustin Poirier in a barnburner and then spent the next couple of years begging and waiting for that Conor McGregor fight that never came. It’s mad to think he sat out for that long relying on a junkie to not let him down but here we are. He’s 38 now, he couldn’t wait forever. And after their scheduled fight in June went to bits, he’d have been absolutely mental to sit out even longer. People try to justify it with the talk of a McGregor fight being some life changing payday, ‘Red Panty Night’ and all that, and it is for some but I don’t even think that would’ve applied to Chandler. I’m not sure he even gets a cut of the PPV. In fact, he most likely doesn’t because I’m sure only champions and certain stars get that. So chances are, he was only gonna get his usual contract money anyway. Chandler’s tried to put a positive spin on it, as you’d expect… “I got more promo, more eyeballs, more of everything in the last year and a half than I would’ve gotten in three fights. And now I get the opportunity to take a title run. I beat Charles Oliveira, I become the No.1 contender. I beat Charles Oliveira, I can choose to go fight Islam or Arman. I believe it’s going to be Islam. Or, if Conor can finally get his house in order and put together a training camp and show up to a fight, maybe I go fight Conor. This is the ultimate bet on yourself.” “This is a revenge fight. Charles Oliveira stole my dream of becoming UFC champion. My number one goal, becoming the number one guy in the entire world. So now, we’re gonna go beat him in the rematch. I know Conor’s already out there talking. He has to talk and throw shade at me and tell me I’m an idiot for squandering the bag. This is the biggest fight and now he’s just upset, he’s got his feelings hurt because he realises what I’ve realised the entire time but haven’t been public about it. I don’t need Conor McGregor to cement my legacy in this sport. I’m here to be champion.” - Michael Chandler OK little Mickey, whatever helps you sleep at night. End of the day he badly wanted that McGregor fight and wasted 2 years, at the end of his career, waiting for Conor McGregor of all people to get his shit together. This talk of him getting title shots and stuff is cringe as well. He’s 1-3 in his last 4 and hasn’t fought since 2022 and he’s talking like he’s entitled to leapfrog everyone. Worst thing is, he’ll probably get what he wants if he wins this fight as well. He’s a guy the UFC clearly want in the mix and you look at cases like Colby Covington and Julianna Pena and you know they don’t give a bollocks about inactivity, dodgy form or who’s actually deserving anyway. They’ll throw any fucker in there if they think it might shift 2 more PPV buys. Hopefully Oliveira twats him back into place again. Chandler’s been so exciting to watch in the UFC but I just can’t take to him. And I’d never have rooted for him against Oliveira anyway so sod him. Hopefully Oliveira goes 2-0 here. Bo Nickal vs Paul Craig is what it is. A step up for Bo and has some potential to be tricky but it feels like he’s catching Craig at the right time. I’m just not sure with Bo though. I’m not sure I buy what the hype machine is selling. He’s a prospect, no doubt. But between everyone banging on like it’s a foregone conclusion that he’s a future UFC champ, to Bo himself talking shit on the likes of DDP, Adesanya, Pereira and Khamzat from pretty much the second he got in the door…I don’t know. He’s 6-0, it’s very early days but I can’t help but feel like he’s gonna bite off more than he can chew. Also can’t help but wanna see him get humbled. It’s not like he’s got a particular charm about his shit talk, he just comes off as a bit of a nob from bits I’ve seen. It took him nearly two full rounds to put Cody Brundage away in his last fight so maybe he should master walking before he starts trying to sprint. Craig’s kind of on his arse at the moment though. He turns 37 just days after this fight, he’s 17-8-1, he’s 1-4 in his last 5 fights and he’s been stopped by Brendan Allen and Caio Borralho in his last couple. I guess it’s kind of interesting styles-wise in that Bo’s a wrestler and Craig’s got a strong submission game. But it feels like Craig’s being set up as a stepping stone here. Karine Silva vs Viviane Araujo is an odd choice to stick on the main card but whatever. Not arsed about this, although I’ve enjoyed some of what I’ve seen of Silva. She’s 18-4, on a 9 fight winning streak and has gone 4-0 with 3 first round submissions since signing with the UFC in 2022. No real standout wins yet but not bad. She’s coming into this fight off a points win over Ariane Lipski in April that I vaguely remember being dull though. Hopefully she’s back on the hunt for a finish here but, while I don’t particularly rate Araujo, she’s not the easiest to put away or look good against. She’s 12-6 and has gone the distance in her last 10 fights, win or lose. She’s lost to Alexa Grasso, Amanda Ribas and Natalia Silva in 3 of her last 4 fights but none of them were able to finish her. Not expecting much from this. Mauricio Ruffy vs James Llontop has been added. Ruffy was supposed to fight Charlie Campbell on this card originally but Campbell’s out. Glad to see they found Ruffy a fight. Apparently he’s had trouble finding opponents since his UFC debut in May. He fought Jamie Mullarkey on the Brazil PPV and wrecked him in a round in very impressive fashion. OK, yeah, Mullarkey’s nothing special. But the way Ruffy just breezed through him caught a lot of people’s attention. There were comparisons to Conor McGregor’s debut against Marcus Brimage and, while the McGregor comparisons always feel a bit forced, it did kind of resemble that Brimage fight. One of the more memorable UFC debuts in a while for me. And it sticks out even more because Ruffy then fired a warning to Islam Makhachev in his post-fight interview. Obviously it’s way too soon for that talk but, who knows, if Ruffy goes on a tear now it’s a cool moment and soundbite they can revisit. Ruffy’s 28 years old with a record of 10-1 and all 10 wins came by knockout. Peru’s Llontop is 25 years old, 14-4 with 8 finishes and has gone winless in the UFC so far. He got in through DWCS last year but he’s gone 0-2 in the UFC this year. Not ideal as an opponent for Ruffy but there’s no rush. Guess they just wanna keep him active for now but he’s definitely gonna be one to keep an eye on going into 2025. Jonathan Martinez vs Marcus McGhee is ***WAND’S ONE TO WATCH*** for MSG. Might not leap off the page as an obvious choice but I really like the sound of this and thought it deserves highlighting. We last saw Martinez at UFC 301 in Brazil in May, where he got outclassed by Jose Aldo en route to a decision loss. No shame losing to a legend like Aldo but he’ll obviously be fired up to redeem himself here. He’s 19-5 and was on a solid 6 fight winning streak before running into Aldo, with wins over Cub Swanson, Said Nurmagomedov and Adrian Yanez in there. Pretty consistently in entertaining fights from what I remember. McGhee’s a newer face but I’ve become a bit of a fan based on his first 3 fights in the UFC. That’s him bashing up Gaston Bolanos in his last fight in January. He’d knocked out JP Buys and subbed Journey Newson prior to that. So 3-0 so far in the UFC with 3 finishes. OK, the opposition wasn’t the strongest but he’s off to a flying start. I like his style. He’s aggressive and exciting to watch and I’m interested to see how he does here because Martinez is a definite step up for him. McGhee’s clearly shown he’s got power but Martinez is no slouch himself and his leg kicks especially are nasty. Think these two match up well and I could easily see this stealing the show. Jim Miller vs Damon Jackson should be good. Can’t really go wrong with Miller and I think Jackson and his new Turkey hairline should make for a fun scrap with him. Must admit, as much as I’m a fan of Miller, I was kind of hoping he’d retire after that loss to Bobby Green at UFC 300. It was a dogfight and Miller proved to be as game and tough as ever but it was a rough loss. He’d been talking ages ago about 300 probably being his last fight but he changed his mind the closer the card got and decided to fight on. I was hoping he’d rethink that after the Green loss but here we are again. Jackson’s in a similar boat. He’s lost 3 of his last 4 and just dropped a decision against Chepe Mariscal in August. At 41 years old and this being his 57th pro fight, surely Miller’s not gonna fight much longer? It’s cool that he’s getting to fight at MSG, not too far from his home state of New Jersey. I’d love to see him win this fight and put the gloves down. Could just as easily see him trying to hang on for UFC 400 now though! Roberto Romero vs David Onama is a late switch. Onama was all set to face Lucas Almeida right up until about a week before this show when Almeida dropped out. It got so late in the day I assumed Onama was off the card as well but then Romero got announced as the replacement just a few days out. Never seen him before. He’s Mexican, 24 years old and 8-3-1 with 5 finishes. He’s coming off a first round submission win on a Combate Global card in July but lost his fight before that. Onama’s been great to watch in the UFC but unfortunately hasn’t been very active recently. Probably why he’s accepted such a late substitute here, guessing he just wants back in there at this point. He’s 12-2 now with 11 finishes and beat Gabriel Santos and Jonathan Pearce in his last couple of fights. If you wanna refresh your memory on Onama though, get Fight Pass on and give his stormer with Nate Landwehr from 2022 a watch/rewatch. Marcin Tybura vs Jhonata Diniz is a late addition to the card. An addition that actually adds nothing. Diniz was all set to fight Derrick Lewis on the Fight Night card in Edmonton, Canada but Lewis pulled out after the weigh ins for some reason. Nice to see they’ve managed to book Diniz quickly but this is probably a tougher matchup. Diniz is undefeated at 8-0 with 7 knockouts but from bits I’ve seen he seems to be all standup and little else. Lewis might’ve still chinned him but at least he’d have stood and traded, which would’ve maximised Diniz’s chances to land a bomb himself. I’m not sure Tybura’s gonna be willing to play that game, especially coming in on short notice. He’s coming off a first round submission loss against Sergey Spivac in their main event rematch at the Apex in August. Think that’s the first UFC headliner I’ve skipped since I started watching. Regardless, Tybura’s gonna be looking to get back in the win column as easily and risk free as possible, so I’m fully expecting him to be looking to get Diniz to the ground as quick as he can. Mickey Gall vs Ramiz Brahimaj is just prelim filler but inoffensive enough. It’s New Jersey vs New York! Gall’s 7-6 now and on a 3 fight losing streak. Gone are the days when he was thought to be a promising prospect. Still only 32 but it’s just not happening for him, is it? He’s coming off a very entertaining fight with Bassil Hafez at UFC 302 in June but, again, another loss. Brahimaj is 10-5 and going nowhere himself really. He lost a decision to Themba Gorimbo in his last fight in May and, aside from one fight where his ear nearly got ripped off Mick Foley style, his UFC stint has been very forgettable. Oban Elliott vs Bassil Hafez will be worth a look. Elliott is Welsh, 26 years old and 11-2 with 5 finishes. Seems a likeable lad and he’s a big pro wrestling fan so that instantly makes him eligible to be a forum favourite around these parts. He got in the UFC off a win on DWCS last year and has won decisions over Val Woodburn and Preston Parsons in the UFC this year. He said after the Parsons fight that he wanted to get on this MSG card. And being a wrestling fan, he’s got a few ideas… “Well, if they give me the MSG card, I might walk out to Hulk Hogan’s song, or The Rock’s song. I’ll have to mix it up. Get a bit of WWE in there. Or maybe get CM Punk to walk out with me in MSG? I know he’d be up for that.” - Oban Elliott Not sure how likely it is or if Punk would even be available but it would be cool if they can make it happen for Elliott. At the very least, he’s gotta walk out to a wrestler’s entrance music now, hasn’t he? Philly’s Hafez is 32 years old with a 9-4-1 record. I’ve only seen his two UFC fights but they were memorable for me. In his debut he stepped in on short notice and gave Jack Della Maddalena a way better fight than anyone expected. Then in June he took a decision off Punk’s old pal Mickey Gall in what was also a much more enjoyable fight than I thought it would be. This is a nothing fight really but it should be entertaining. Veronica Hardy vs Eduarda Moura is currently scheduled to kick off the Fight Pass prelims. This’ll be the fourth straight time Hardy’s jerked the curtain as the opening prelim on Fight Pass. You can’t tell me that’s a coincidence. I’m 100% convinced this is Dana still being petty about Dan Hardy, and taking it out on his wife. Granted, she’s no contender and she hasn’t been beating anyone very good. I’m not saying she should be on the PPV or anything. But opening the Fight Pass stream four times in a row? I don’t know if there’s another fighter in UFC history who’s been kept in that spot in four consecutive fights. She’s 9-4-1 now and since returning to regular competition last year after a 3 year layoff, she’s gone 3-0 and looked better than before the time away. I don’t really see her going much further but she’s clearly been putting the work in. Moura’s making her Flyweight debut here after missing weight in both her previous UFC fights at Strawweight. Genuinely seemed like she wasn’t even bothering trying to make weight and was happy to come in with an unfair advantage. So I was happy to see her lose to Denise Gomes last time out. Hopefully no controversies here but I’d like to see Hardy keep winning until the matchmakers are forced to move her up the card a bit. MSG here we come. Edited November 17, 2024 by wandshogun09 Quote
Kfogg1991 Posted October 27, 2024 Posted October 27, 2024 This one is finally happening and the day I've hoped for for many years being Jon Jones leaving the sport and no longer holding up division's and titles like only this man can do makes me so content while I know and completely accept I will be in a minority with this it's never changing and I hate him so deeply for so many reasons everyone that thinks he's the second coming refuses to accept and he's done it's mind-blowing. I'm with you here don't see it happening it's falling apart yet again with neither facing Tom as the official backup for it not a chance which leaves us with a recurring situation of no main event days apart it's good to know others fully expect it as well. Tom aspinal Vs Alex Pereira our short notice New main event for the interim interim heavyweight championship because Jon Jones has taken the original one hostage for life and Dana has accepted it. I'm so excited for this co main thank god chandler has accepted Conor is a burning prick and taken another fight now after two years that man waited enough hats off to the next human that gets excited for a McGregor fight that won't happen anytime soon cos Connors diet currently is coke on his Weetabix. Yeah not a huge stacked one but honestly after this year and what they've delivered it's alright not going mental for every ppv what a joke putting it on box office back to back with this weekend those numbers will be interesting after it's done and over. Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted October 31, 2024 Author Paid Members Posted October 31, 2024 They found Ruffy a fight… Happy to see him back on the card. Looked a handful in his UFC debut. This should be a bit of a knock-over job for him from what I’ve seen of Llontop but you never know. Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted November 6, 2024 Author Paid Members Posted November 6, 2024 Some rumblings that Chandler might be out of the co-main against Oliveira. Not sure how legit this is but if it’s coming from the coach there’s gotta be something to it. Bollocks. If a card really couldn’t afford to lose a fight right now, it’s 309. If the fight is off, it’s actually horrifying that we’re now relying completely on a battered and rusty old Stipe Miocic and Jon fucking Jones of all people, to keep this one alive. Especially when you know there’s a good chance one of those two pulls out over the next 10 days, and then the other one is almost certainly gonna refuse to fight ‘official backup’ Tom Aspinall. And TNT Sports want £20 for this? When it starts at 3am, they’ve already just charged £20 for the Topuria vs Holloway card and now this show might’ve just lost its best fight. Good luck with that. I know I won’t be paying for it. For what it’s worth, Renato Moicano is already offering to step in. Would be a solid replacement but I’m not really arsed about Oliveira vs Moicano for some reason. And especially as a PPV co-main. There’s still a couple of decent fights and some fighters I like on there but this card has to be the weakest they’ve done at MSG yet for me, and by quite a distance. Quote
Dai Posted November 6, 2024 Posted November 6, 2024 Yeah, strip away that match and look at whats left on the main card, and its shockingly bad for an MSG show. Actually, the last MSG show was piss poor in depth too from what I remember, so the prestige of being there seems to have worn off for the top brass at UFC. Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted November 6, 2024 Author Paid Members Posted November 6, 2024 This tweet from Marcel gives me hope that the Chandler withdrawal stuff was bullshit. Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted November 7, 2024 Author Paid Members Posted November 7, 2024 Card’s falling apart. Azamat Murzakanov is out of the fight with Nikita Krylov and Lucas Almeida is out of the fight with David Onama. Not sure if we’re getting replacements but it’s only a week and a bit away now. Seems like Oliveira vs Chandler 2 is still on though. For now anyway. 9 days for Jones not to fuck up and Stipe not to get injured. Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted November 10, 2024 Author Paid Members Posted November 10, 2024 Hopefully this time next week this will be a reality… Quote
Gooner Posted November 11, 2024 Posted November 11, 2024 I can't see past a Jones win, either dominant points decision or he wins inside the distance by submission. Quote
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted November 11, 2024 Paid Members Posted November 11, 2024 I think theres only a 3 month difference in time between what Stipe is doing by coming back to challenge Bones and what GSP did against Michael Bisping. That's blown my mind. Quote
Moderators neil Posted November 11, 2024 Moderators Posted November 11, 2024 I actually thought this card was this past weekend. I'm kind of interested to see Jones/Miocic but agree that it feels past the point of relevance now and will just be a retirement fight for both. I'm also having a hard time actually watching this as I am fully expecting Trump to show up. Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted November 12, 2024 Author Paid Members Posted November 12, 2024 Custom shorts for this are ? Quote
Dai Posted November 12, 2024 Posted November 12, 2024 (edited) Haha. Stripe has never exactly had the wow factor, physique wise, but is it only me who thinks he looks dreadful in that picture? Or maybe he looks exactly how a semi retired fighter in his 40s should look. Edited November 12, 2024 by Dai Quote
JakeRobertsParoleOfficer Posted November 13, 2024 Posted November 13, 2024 He looks pretty much the same as he always does to me. Some of the promo pics they do are very unflattering with the angles and lighting. There's a pic from JJ last fight where they for some reason to use one of him on an exhale and relaxed. Looked pregnant!! I'm supporting/backing Stipe on this. JJ is good but for me overrated, a proven cheat and whatsmore has some some deplorable things...I just can't vote for him! Quote
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