Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted November 24, 2024 Paid Members Posted November 24, 2024 (edited) Back in Vegas for the last PPV of the year… PPV MAIN CARD Alexandre Pantoja©️vs Kai Asakura - Flyweight Title Shavkat Rakhmonov vs Ian Garry Ciryl Gane vs Alexander Volkov Bryce Mitchell vs Kron Gracie Nate Landwehr vs Doo Ho Choi ESPN PRELIMS Anthony Smith vs Dominick Reyes Vicente Luque vs Themba Gorimbo Movsar Evloev vs Aljamain Sterling Randy Brown vs Bryan Battle ESPN+/FIGHT PASS PRELIMS Chris Weidman vs Eryk Anders Cody Durden vs Joshua Van Michael Chiesa vs Max Griffin Clay Guida vs Chase Hooper Kennedy Nzechukwu vs Lukasz Brzeski Alright not the most stacked card, especially when you compare it to some of the big December PPVs we’ve had over the years. But there’s enough stuff on there that I like. And to be fair, it’s been battered by pullouts and card changes. This card has kind of became the home for fights that got scrapped from other cards. Hopefully it all stays intact now with just a couple of weeks to go. And in case you missed it in whichever thread I posted it in, this won’t be on TNT Box Office. The UFC website had the next few PPVs 310, 311 and 312 all down as being on TNT Box Office at one point but it seems that was a mistake. TNT confirmed on Twitter that this’ll be on regular TNT Sports and Discovery+ with no extra charge and the UFC website was updated shortly after. Alexandre Pantoja vs Kai Asakura will be the final title fight of 2024. Not exactly a blockbuster and I’ve seen a bit of complaining but when don’t MMA fans complain? I’m well up for this. It’s nice to see a fresh face in the Flyweight title picture if nothing else and I think it’s a pretty cool fight. UFC champ vs Rizin champ. Rare that you see a fighter challenge for the title in their UFC debut. Very unusual. I’ve seen people cite Jose Aldo and Ronda Rousey as previous examples but it wasn’t quite the same. Aldo and Rousey did both fight for UFC gold in their debuts but those divisions didn’t exist in the UFC previously. The UFC were merging those divisions into their roster. When they came in, Aldo was the WEC Featherweight champ and Rousey was the Strikeforce Bantamweight champ. They were basically defending champs who’d just swapped to a different actual belt. The closest example to this Asakura situation would probably be Gilbert Melendez back in 2013. Melendez was the Strikeforce Lightweight champion and challenged UFC champion Benson Henderson for the belt in his debut. I guess if you go back further, a similar example would be Dan Henderson coming over with the Pride belts at 205 and 185 and immediately doing unifications with Rampage Jackson and Anderson Silva. They’re closer scenarios to what this is. Anyway… Pantoja’s been putting together a strong run of performances. He’s on a six fight winning streak now, won the title last July in an absolute barnburner FOTY contender against Brandon Moreno and has since successfully defended it against Brandon Royval and Steve Erceg. The Erceg fight in May was tremendous, one of the best fights this year for me. A close one but Pantoja got the job done and left the arena that night with the belt still intact. Must’ve been even sweeter that it was on home turf in Brazil as well. He hadn’t fought at home since 2013 on a Shooto Brazil card. During his UFC career he’s fought everywhere from Scotland to Chile to Argentina to Canada to South Korea to Abu Dhabi. He’s been all over the place but he never got to fight in Brazil until this year. So it must’ve been a special moment for him to return as UFC champion. Big fan of Pantoja and it’s always nice to see a guy like him reach the pinnacle of the sport. He’s earned every bit of it. He’s heard the bits of criticism about this fight… “I think it’s all about time. The life is about time. And right now, I think it makes sense. I don’t need to apologise to anyone. All the potential challengers have fights lined up and Royval just fought for the belt in 2023. Asakura is very popular in Japan and has an interesting fighting style, he’s going to challenge me, which I like. He’ll need to adapt to UFC rules, which differ from those in Rizin, but I don’t think that will be a problem. It’s amazing that the UFC can bring a champion from another promotion here. It’s going to be UFC vs Rizin and fans enjoy this kind of crossover.” - Alexandre Pantoja Kai Asakura is looking to become the first ever Japanese UFC champion here. He just turned 31 years old and has a record of 21-4 with 16 inside the distance, 13 by knockout. He’s probably best known for his shocking first round KO over Kyoji Horiguchi back in 2019. I’m not gonna pretend I’ve seen a ton of his fights, I’ve almost completely lost track of the Japanese scene in recent years, which is a shame really, so I haven’t followed his career that closely. I’ve seen enough though. Enough to be excited about him coming in. Great addition to the Flyweight division. He hasn’t fought in about a year now. He stopped Juan Archuleta on the Rizin New Year’s Eve card last year to win the vacant Rizin Bantamweight title but hasn’t fought since. He vacated the belt in June when it was announced that he’d signed with the UFC. There were rumours earlier in the year that both him and Horiguchi were UFC bound but Horiguchi stayed in Japan. Deal done. Exciting times but I don’t really know what to expect. Asakura’s entertaining to watch but he’s no world beater. I’m not sure where he’s gonna fit in the pecking order in the UFC but it’s gonna be fun finding out. One of the main questions on him will be how he adapts to the UFC ruleset. Anyone who watched him in Japan will know that he’s a dangerous offensive striker but a massive part of that offence has been soccer kicks, stomps and knees to grounded opponents. That’s obviously all off the table in the UFC. The other question is the weight cut. He was a Bantamweight in Rizin and as far as I’ve read, he’s never actually made 125lbs before and the lowest he’s fought at was 125.7lbs and that was way back in 2015. This being a title fight, there’s no one pound allowance, he’ll have to hit ‘championship weight’ and make 125. He’s been asked about it and doesn’t seem worried about making weight… “Totally zero concerns. I think a lot of people don’t realise I’ve fought at Flyweight before. I’m accustomed to fighting at that weight. But with regards to my Bantamweight fights, I wasn’t cutting a lot of weight. I was cutting a lot less than everybody else. So I’m cutting a normal amount of weight at Flyweight.” “I’m a little bit different than the other fighters. They’re bringing me in because they have expectations of me putting on a great show. I’m not here awe-struck. I’m here to show what I can do, to show how great I am. I’m not trying to brag or say anything out of turn but when you look at my Rizin fighting career, I’ve finished a lot of UFC guys. So to me, I wasn’t surprised to be put in this position where I was placed in a title shot right away, because my record demonstrates I’m deserving of being there.” - Kai Asakura We’ll see. Hopefully he makes weight and there’s no controversy. The weight thing is a bit confusing, to be honest. A lot of the Japanese promotions seem to have different weight limits in their divisions so it might not be a case that Asakura couldn’t make 125, it might’ve just been that he wasn’t required to if the limit was 125.7 or whatever. It’s a brilliant fight on paper. Pantoja’s obviously known for his grappling skills and toughness and Asakura’s definitely more known for his striking, power and finishing ability. But Pantoja’s shown time and time again that he’s game to get into a war wherever the fight goes and, for Asakura, with the year layoff, the doubts on the weight cut and the different rules, this is really a baptism of fire for him making his Octagon debut. Really not sure how this one plays out. Probably lean towards Pantoja but Asakura brings the kind of danger where you can’t count him out. And while 34 is by no means old, Pantoja’s no spring chicken for a Flyweight, especially after some of the tough battles he’s been in. Pantoja’s never been finished either in a 33 fight career. If Asakura can come in on his first night in and knock him out and become UFC champion in one go, that’ll be a massive statement and would shake up the Flyweight division big time. Not saying that’s the likely outcome at all, just saying it’ll be a huge accomplishment if he can pull it off. Really like this fight. After years of the same few guys dominating the title picture at Flyweight, it’s been quite refreshing this year to see Pantoja defend the gold against Erceg and now Asakura. Shavkat Rakhmonov vs Ian Garry is your 5 round co-main event. 18-0 vs 15-0. ‘Someone’s O’s gotta go’ etc etc. Not the original plan but a pretty great save, to be fair. Shavkat was supposed to be challenging Belal Muhammad in the main event on this card but Belal pulled out with a fucking horrid toe infection. I’ll spare you the pictures. If you never saw them, try to keep it that way. As soon as the news broke, Shavkat was making it clear he wanted to stay on the card and fight someone else. The initial main rumours were that he’d either face Garry or Kamaru Usman in an interim title fight. This won’t be for an interim belt but I’m fine with that. Belal only won the title in July, assuming he’s not gonna be out too long, there’s no need for another belt. In mid November, the announcement was made. It would be Shavkat vs Garry, 5 rounds to determine the next challenger for Belal’s belt. It was surprising how little Leon Edwards was talked about as a potential replacement. As for Usman, he explained his reasoning for not stepping in and I totally get it. He’s 37 years old and coming off 3 losses. In all likelihood, if he gets another title shot it’ll be his last chance. Jumping in underprepared on short notice against a beast like Shavkat isn’t the best idea. I don’t blame him for wanting an actual training camp for a guy like that at all. 18 fights, 18 wins, 18 finishes. Ballsy move he’s making here actually. How many fighters in his position - undefeated and already had a title fight signed and scheduled - would take a risk like this against another undefeated contender? He had the title shot in the bag. I’d guess most would opt to just sit and wait for the champ to heal up but here we are. He’s putting it on the line. I don’t think he’s getting enough credit for that. Just shows the confidence the man has in himself. The fact he’s already been inactive for a year will also be a factor. He last fought at UFC 296 last December, submitting Wonderboy Thompson in the second round. It wasn’t his best performance but he still got the finish. And in fairness, it came out after that he went into that fight with his ankle all messed up and delayed surgery so he could still fight. I’m guessing that’s why he’s been on the shelf so long since that win. Absolutely deserves the title shot though. If he’d been healthy at the time, he might’ve got the shot against Leon before Belal did. It was between him and Belal. It really feels like it’s just a matter of time until he gets there. A win here would absolutely cement him as undeniable. Ian Garry stepped up with less than a month to prepare. Fair play to him. I’m not his biggest fan, I find him a bit annoying and cringe myself. But he’s got the undefeated record, he’s young enough and he seems to have the UFC’s backing to where he probably could’ve bided his time and got an easier route to a title shot than this. Shavkat’s not a guy people are calling out but Garry was name dropping him as a fight he’d be interested in as far back as June. Right after he beat MVP he was telling the media… “I’ve trained with him. I have nothing but respect for the guy but I want to be the first guy to take his O and I know I can do it.” - Ian Garry after UFC 303 in June Shavkat responded on Twitter… Who knew “in the future” would be so soon? Now it’s happening and it’s being billed as a title eliminator. It has to be a nailed on #1 contenders fight, doesn’t it? Who would be ahead of the winner of this? Shavkat already had the title shot secured before Belal withdrew. If he wins another one he’s set in stone. And if Garry beats that guy, he’s the next in line too, no question. It’s perfect really. They’ve both beat some of the same opponents like Geoff Neal and Neil Magny but Shavkat’s coming off a layoff and Garry’s coming off a bit of a lacklustre decision over MVP. They could both do with a standout signature win right about now and this would be it for either of them. How does this one go? Who comes out with their perfect record intact? I’ve gotta go with Shavkat myself. I just think he’s too dangerous and Garry makes too many mistakes to not be made to pay for them. Garry’s probably the better striker but I think Shavkat’s power closes the gap there and if it goes to the ground I think Shavkat has a significant advantage from what I’ve seen of both. I just can’t see Garry being able to keep Shavkat off him or backing him up. And while it’s definitely easier said than done, I think you almost have to meet Shavkat head on with aggression or he’s just gonna steamroll you. I’m not sure Garry can do that. I think he’s gonna try and be cute in there and outpoint Shavkat but he’s only gonna be able to keep him at bay for so long. Still, good fight and about as strong a substitute as we could’ve hoped for with the title fight falling to bits. Ciryl Gane vs Alexander Volkov 2 then. A rematch absolutely nobody asked for but here we are. It was supposed to go down at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi but got delayed due to a Volkov knee injury. To be fair, we all know there are much worse Heavyweight fights they could’ve, and have, made. And with Gane currently ranked #2 and Volkov ranked #3, I guess now is as logical a time as any to run it back. They headlined the Apex back in June 2021, it went the full 5 rounds and Gane won clearly on the judges scorecards. From what I remember, it wasn’t a very good fight to watch. It was only Gane’s 9th pro fight though so winning basically a shutout against a big, awkward veteran like Volkov was a fairly impressive win for him. A lot’s happened since then. Gane went on to win the interim title but came up short in the proper title fight against Francis Ngannou. He headlined the first Paris card knocking out Tai Tuivasa, shat the bed in his second title shot against Jon Jones, then it was back to Paris where he bashed up Sergey Spivac. He hasn’t fought in well over a year now. Last I heard he was doing a bit of acting. Volkov’s been pretty busy though… ? This from his last fight killed me. Actually, that whole situation with him and Sergei Pavlovich was bizarre. I still don’t know if the entire thing was just Volkov bluffing everyone, including Pavlovich. He had me fooled. I was convinced going in that he was rattled and didn’t wanna be there. He spent the whole buildup talking about how Pavlovich used to terrorise him in sparring and how he never won a round against him in the gym. Then on the night he puts in one of his best performances and just casually outworks him like it’s no bother. So unworried about it that he sat there getting his hair combed between rounds. I think I’d like to see Volkov win this one actually. Nothing against Gane but it seems like he’s kind of half checked out anyway and that whole thing where he was blatantly swerving the Aspinall fight a while back soured me a bit. Volkov’s having a decent little run of form at the minute as well. He’s on a 4 fight win streak and, while some of those wins weren’t stellar, you don’t see a lot of win streaks at Heavyweight these days. Not a fight I’m particularly looking forward to watching but it’s not the worst. Bryce Mitchell vs Kron Gracie in a battle of flat earthers. This is one of those fights where the watchability and enjoyment of it is gonna depend almost entirely on how these two decide to fight. It could be awesome if they both fancy their chances in the grappling…or it could be the ugliest kickboxing match you’ve ever seen. I fear it’s gonna sway more towards the latter but I’m hoping they both wanna test the grappling. Bryce is coming off that terrifying KO loss at the hands of Josh Emmett last December. He got left curled up in the foetal position on the canvas, twitching like a dreaming dog. Scary knockout, I’m glad he took some time off after that one. As for Kron, to be honest, after his pitiful showing against Charles Jourdain last time, I wasn’t fussed whether we’d ever see him in the Octagon again. But if he was gonna fight again, Bryce was about the only fight I’d be interested in. So I’m happy enough with this. But yeah, I don’t know what else to say about it. Both were once thought to be big prospects but both are floundering now. Hopefully they go out there and decide to just tie each other in knots. I’ve got zero interest in seeing their ‘striking skills’. Winner gets bragging rights and the loser, I dunno, maybe the loser has to admit the earth is round. Nate Landwehr vs Doo Ho Choi is ***WAND’S ONE TO WATCH*** and sounds like the perfect way to kick off the main card. Nate The Train vs Korean Superboy. Sign me up. Can’t go wrong with this matchmaking can you? Neither are ever gonna sniff a title shot in the UFC but when one of these two are fighting, it’s must see for me. So them against each other? No brainer. “WHOOP MY ASS AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS! I’m in here feeling like a young Jean Claude Van…DAMN!!” - Nate Landwehr That was after he knocked out Jamall Emmers in March. To be honest though, looking back through his UFC career, I don’t recall a single dull moment yet. Win or lose, he’s been consistently entertaining to watch. He genuinely seems to just love a scrap. It’s like he never feels more normal than when he’s taken a couple of digs and the blood starts flowing. Sick freak. Then you watch him in interviews and he’s just calmly talking about growing potatoes and stuff. He’s a funny little character. And Choi picked up his first win in 8 years in July! He’s had a horror show of setbacks, injuries and inactivity over the years. The young babyfaced kid who burst on the scene and had that crazy war with Cub Swanson is 33 years old now. He probably doesn’t have a ton of fights left sadly, but it was lovely seeing him get that TKO over Bill Algeo in July. Nate’s 36 as well. For Featherweights, they’re getting up there in age now but they’ve both shown recently that they’ve still got some ammo left. Shite one of them has to lose but this should be a fun one. Anthony Smith vs Dominick Reyes is alright, I suppose. Not arsed really. I think I’m just over seeing Smith fight at this point. He’s 36 years old now, this’ll be his 59th pro fight and he’s looked done for a while to me. He did have that little bright spot in May when he subbed Vitor Petrino but then he was right back to looking terrible against Roman Dolidze in June. There’s just something about Smith these last couple of years where I get the vibe he’s going through the motions and his heart isn’t in it like it used to be. Maybe I’m being harsh but it feels like it’s just a job to him these days. Reyes has been on his arse career-wise himself since the Jones fight in 2020 but I’ve never got the impression it’s a motivation thing like I do with Smith. In June, Reyes finally snapped a miserable 4 fight losing skid when he knocked out Dustin Jacoby in 2 minutes. I’m not even particularly a fan of Reyes but it was a feel-good moment. Not like Jacoby’s an amazing win or anything but Reyes badly needed to stop the rot, he needed that win desperately and he got it. Let’s see if he can build from there. I definitely think he’s better than that losing streak suggested and I’m sure I had him winning the Jones fight at the time. Just shows how rough the sport can be and how quickly trajectories can change. If he’s legitimately got anything left, I think he should be beating Smith at this stage but fuck knows really. It’s not a fight I’m confident to pick a winner in one way or another. Vicente Luque vs Themba Gorimbo is a weird one. This was supposed to be Luque fighting a returning Nick Diaz. It was actually the second attempt this year to get that fight on. But Diaz is out. And hopefully that will put to bed any plans on him fighting again. He’s got no business in there anymore and the last thing I saw of him was a video going around a few weeks ago where he looked off his face and was trying to set a patch of grass on fire. The bloke doesn’t need a fight, he needs help. Saying that, I’m not exactly comfortable with Luque being in there either. Wasn’t long ago he had a brain haemorrhage and he hasn’t looked right to me since, understandably. On paper it’s a step up for Gorimbo. One he’s been working hard towards all year. He’s gone 3-0 this year with wins over Pete Rodriguez, Ramiz Brahimaj and Niko Price. He’s looked decent but not spectacular. Likeable guy though and his story is incredible. If you’re hazy, he’s the guy The Rock bought a house for a year or so ago and the video went viral. He’s clearly been putting the graft in since but I’m not convinced he goes much further. Yeah, bittersweet one this. I wanna see Gorimbo keep winning but at the same time I’ve got an uneasy feeling about Luque still trading punches. Hopefully Gorimbo by armbar in 10 seconds and then Luque retires. Movsar Evloev vs Aljamain Sterling was all set for UFC 307 in October but Aljo pulled out with an injury. Now it’s back on. Bit baffled why this isn’t on the main card but whatever. I understand it mightn’t be a barnburner but it’s a really interesting fight and the winner shouldn’t be too far away from a title shot. Evloev’s still undefeated at 18-0 but there’s very little buzz around him. His style hasn’t been the best to watch in general but I did enjoy his last fight against Arnold Allen in January. And to be fair, you look at Evloev’s last few wins and he’s beat Dan Ige, Diego Lopes and Arnold Allen consecutively. Not too shabby. That Lopes win is ageing nicely as well, although Lopes did take that fight on short notice. Evloev’s a handful though. Not the most popular fighter at 145 but he keeps winning and if he beats a name and former champ like Sterling here, you have to think it’s gonna be difficult to keep him out of the title mix much longer. Aljo’s coming off a successful Featherweight debut, beating Calvin Kattar by decision at UFC 300 in April. Wasn’t the most exciting fight to watch but I thought he looked good for his first time at 145, and against a guy like Kattar who’s beatable but certainly no pushover. I remember a lot of negativity about Aljo’s performance that night but I thought he looked decent myself. I definitely think going up to Featherweight was the right move. It was well documented that he’d been struggling for a while with the cut to 135 so it’s only gonna be a good thing sacking that cut off and fighting at a more healthy weight. Intrigued to see how this goes though because it feels like this is kind of the ultimate test to see whether Aljo’s style can truly work at 145. No secret Sterling’s bread and butter is his grappling but can he make that work against a strong wrestler like Evloev who’s already settled in and acclimated to 145? Like I said, don’t expect a FOTY contender or anything but I’m definitely interested to see how their styles match up. Randy Brown vs Bryan Battle is a solid undercard fight and both are coming in with some momentum. Brown’s 19-5, on a 3 fight winning streak and has won 7 of his last 8 with the only loss being against Jack Della Maddalena. He’s knocked out Muslim Salikhov and decisioned Elizeu Zaleski Dos Santos this year. As for Battle… He bashed up Kevin Jousset on the Paris card in September and then told the booing French crowd to piss off. I liked it, to be honest. I think I said it at the time but too often you’ll see a fighter getting booed in their post-fight interview and they start licking arse about the city or whatever in an attempt to win the crowd over. Battle was having none of that. He’s 11-2-0-1 now and on an OK little run. Don’t see either of these two ever making a splash in the rankings but it’s a decent enough fight. Chris Weidman vs Eryk Anders is yet another fight that was supposed to happen on another card but got delayed and shoved on this one. These two were meant to fight at UFC 309 at MSG, they’d got as far as weighing in and facing off and everything. Then Anders pulled out on the day of the show due to food poisoning. I guess they just had to rebook it. Such a crucial fight like this. Yeah, does nothing for me this fight. It’s not an interesting, exciting or relevant fight in 2024. Weidman’s looked shot for years now. Even before the gruesome leg injury in 2021, he was in a horrible slump before that. He’s coming off his first ‘win’ in years here but it was about the shittiest way to win possible with him repeatedly gouging Bruno Silva’s eyes until he couldn’t continue. Then Weidman carried on like a right bellend after the fight basically calling Silva a ‘quitter’ and having a pop at him for ‘looking for a way out’ for how he reacted to multiple eyepokes. Unbelievable. Soured me big time on Weidman, to the point I wouldn’t mind seeing Anders chin him here. This should still be a winnable fight even for 2024 Weidman though. Anders is 16-8-0-1 and has been bouncing around aimlessly, winning but mostly losing, for years now. Cody Durden vs Joshua Van might well be the sleeper show stealer on this card. Genuinely think this is one of the best actual fights on the whole card. Never warmed to Durden, seems a bit of a knob, but credit where it’s due he’s had some cracking fights over the last couple of years. If you never saw his corker against Jake Hadley from last year or his losing effort against Bruno Silva from July, give them a watch. He bounced back from the Silva loss with a submission over Matt Schnell in September. And Van, I’ve been singing his praises since his UFC debut last year. Great to watch, only just turned 23 years old, 11-2 and hasn’t been involved in anything but fun fights in the UFC so far. He lost to Charles Johnson in one of the best fights of the year in July but came back with a points win over Edgar Chairez in another banger on the Sphere card in September. High expectations for this one. Michael Chiesa vs Max Griffin. Eh, whatever. Not fussed. Chiesa’s turning 37 the day of this fight and his only win in the last 3 years was the submission over the corpse of Tony Ferguson in August. Before that he was on a 3 fight losing streak. And even in that Ferguson fight, I don’t remember Chiesa looking great while it lasted and he was basically being served a complete squash match on a plate. And Griffin’s 39 with a 20-10 record and 2-2 in his last 4. Looking back over his record, nothing really stands out in the memory about any of his fights and considering I probably watched all of them, that’s not good is it? Clay Guida vs Chase Hooper is kind of a cool little old vs new clash but I could do without ever seeing Guida fight again really. I read a stat somewhere that Hooper was only 6 years old when Clay was making his UFC debut ? The bloke turns 43 the day after this fight. I mean, fair play to him for his longevity. You’d have never guessed back when he was having those wars with Diego Sanchez and Roger Huerta that he’d still be going in his 40s. Doesn’t mean he should be though either. He’s coming off a couple of losses now and hasn’t fought in a year, surely another loss here will be it for him? Surely? Hooper’s just turned 25, is 14-3-1 and coming off 3 straight wins. He’s looked pretty good since moving up to 155 actually. It was starting to look like he wasn’t cut out for this game when he took a couple of beatings at 145 but maybe the weight cut was just taking too much out of him. It’s a decent test for him, to be fair. It’s a fight he really should be winning at this stage in both their careers but Guida’s a crafty old veteran so we’ll see how Chase tackles it. Kennedy Nzechukwu vs Lukasz Brzeski is jerking the curtain. Where it belongs. No interest in this. I like Nzechukwu, I just can’t be arsed with basically any Heavyweight fight outside the Top 5 anymore. And even some of them will be crap. This was supposed to be Brzeski against newcomer Tallison Teixeira but that went tits up and Big Kennedy’s stepped in on a couple of weeks notice. Kennedy’s coming off battering Chris Barnett in a round at UFC 308 a few weeks ago. Brzeski got chinned by Mick Parkin on the Manchester card in July in his last fight. Kennedy should do him. Merry Christmas ? Edited November 24, 2024 by wandshogun09 Quote
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted November 24, 2024 Paid Members Posted November 24, 2024 I'm not lying when I say this is one of my favorite cards of the year, just a mish mash of everything the UFC has to offer plus a proper wild card main event. Quote
Zebra Kid Mark Posted November 24, 2024 Posted November 24, 2024 1 hour ago, Egg Shen said: I'm not lying when I say this is one of my favorite cards of the year, just a mish mash of everything the UFC has to offer plus a proper wild card main event. Agreed. I never watch the early pre lims but I’ll be watching them for this show. I’m actually weirdly annoyed the card is so stacked, I’d much rather see some of these early prelim fights pad out the main card of a weak apex show. Sterling on the prelims is ridiculously disrespectful. He deserves better. He must be a nightmare to deal with because he ticks every other box you’d want in a fighter. Quote
Panhead Posted November 25, 2024 Posted November 25, 2024 5 hours ago, Egg Shen said: I'm not lying when I say this is one of my favorite cards of the year, just a mish mash of everything the UFC has to offer plus a proper wild card main event. I was thinking the same as I was reading Wand's excellent write up. Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted November 25, 2024 Author Paid Members Posted November 25, 2024 (edited) 20 hours ago, Zebra Kid Mark said: Sterling on the prelims is ridiculously disrespectful. He deserves better. He must be a nightmare to deal with because he ticks every other box you’d want in a fighter. Yeah it’s an odd one. That fight is definitely more main card worthy than Bryce vs Kron and Landwehr vs Superboy (as much as I love that fight). To then see it playing third fiddle on the prelims to Smith vs Reyes and Luque vs Gorimbo is nuts. Speaks volumes about how little Dana and pals like Aljo behind the scenes. It’s a weird one because Evloev vs Sterling almost feels like it should be a contender fight but you’ve got the Topuria vs Volk rematch and Diego Lopes ahead of them anyway so this feels like them just throwing these two together specifically to eliminate one from the title race. Edited November 25, 2024 by wandshogun09 Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted November 30, 2024 Author Paid Members Posted November 30, 2024 Forgot about this… Quote
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted December 4, 2024 Paid Members Posted December 4, 2024 Get some Kai Asakura down you: Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted December 5, 2024 Author Paid Members Posted December 5, 2024 Not exactly GOES OFF but this amused me. He’s got a point as well. There was a lot of talk about Garry vs Covington being targeted for that Tampa card at one point. Covington seemed to go quiet. Shavkat also confirmed that Covington was one of the names who declined the offer to step in against him at 310. Then once Shavkat and Garry are locked in to fight each other, Colby magically resurfaces and takes the Buckley fight. Like I said in the Tampa thread, it’s still a risky one for Colby and I’m actually favouring Buckley to win. But I get the feeling Colby, rightly or wrongly, saw that as an easier win. Quote
Paid Members Bus Surfer Posted December 6, 2024 Paid Members Posted December 6, 2024 Yeah it's weird to me because I think Colby at this point loses to both of them, And whilst Garry is very good, Buckley hits like a monster truck and I feel like he puts Colby's lights out... I'm struggling to see why he took this one and not the bigger fight with Garry. Hard to figure out how it unfolded like this. Maybe the UFC have had enough of Convington and there was some pressure to take the Buckley fight after sitting out so long. Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted December 6, 2024 Author Paid Members Posted December 6, 2024 I don’t know what’s happened to Volkov but nearly 50 fights deep into his career he’s decided to become a great big rascal. The Olympic gold level troll job he did to mindfuck Pavlovich off his game a few months ago, now this throwaway line and his dry delivery is cracking me up… Quote
Ironic Indie Lad Posted December 6, 2024 Posted December 6, 2024 On 11/24/2024 at 4:26 PM, wandshogun09 said: Clay Guida vs Chase Hooper is kind of a cool little old vs new clash but I could do without ever seeing Guida fight again really. I read a stat somewhere that Hooper was only 6 years old when Clay was making his UFC debut ? The bloke turns 43 the day after this fight. I mean, fair play to him for his longevity. You’d have never guessed back when he was having those wars with Diego Sanchez and Roger Huerta that he’d still be going in his 40s. Doesn’t mean he should be though either. He’s coming off a couple of losses now and hasn’t fought in a year, surely another loss here will be it for him? Surely? Hooper’s just turned 25, is 14-3-1 and coming off 3 straight wins. He’s looked pretty good since moving up to 155 actually. It was starting to look like he wasn’t cut out for this game when he took a couple of beatings at 145 but maybe the weight cut was just taking too much out of him. It’s a decent test for him, to be fair. It’s a fight he really should be winning at this stage in both their careers but Guida’s a crafty old veteran so we’ll see how Chase tackles it. Strange little tidbit here for you, These two have already competed against each other. A grappling bout where Hooper won via Calf Slicer submission. Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted December 6, 2024 Author Paid Members Posted December 6, 2024 8 minutes ago, Ironic Indie Lad said: Strange little tidbit here for you, These two have already competed against each other. A grappling bout where Hooper won via Calf Slicer submission. Right you are! I had a vague recollection of Chase subbing someone in a grappling match with a calf slicer but it being Clay completely escaped my memory. Quote
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted December 6, 2024 Paid Members Posted December 6, 2024 The ol' Forrest Griffin sound-alike has had a mare on the scales: Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted December 6, 2024 Author Paid Members Posted December 6, 2024 (edited) Anthony Smith missed weight as well. Not by 4lbs but it’s just another thing making me think he’s checked out and just going through the motions at this point. Edit - he’s made weight on the second attempt, dropping 2lbs in an hour. Still, doesn’t fill you with confidence, does it? Edited December 6, 2024 by wandshogun09 Quote
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted December 7, 2024 Paid Members Posted December 7, 2024 Anthony Smith's media day explains it. He's lost a close friend recently and basically said he doesn't care it he wins or loses, he's just wants to do damage and use it as means to get his anger out. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.