Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted March 22, 2025 Paid Members Posted March 22, 2025 (edited) We’re off to Miami. Known for palm trees, Scarface, Latinas with big arses and, of course, Razor Ramon. This one’s a beauty… PPV MAIN CARD Alexander Volkanovski vs Diego Lopes - Vacant Featherweight Title Michael Chandler vs Paddy Pimblett Yair Rodriguez vs Patricio Pitbull Bryce Mitchell vs Jean Silva Nikita Krylov vs Dominick Reyes ESPN PRELIMS Dan Ige vs Sean Woodson Yan Xiaonan vs Virna Jandiroba Jim Miller vs Chase Hooper Darren Elkins vs Julian Erosa ESPN+/FIGHT PASS PRELIMS Sedriques Dumas vs Michal Oleksiejczuk Su Mudaerji vs Mitch Raposo Tresean Gore vs Marco Tulio Nora Cornolle vs Hailey Cowan Look at that! Easily my favourite card of the year so far and probably the most stacked as well. 311 in January was a strong card but losing the Makhachev vs Tsarukyan 2 main event was a massive blow to that one. Hopefully none of that here. There’s some good stuff on the prelims but, honestly, I could live without any of those fights. Let us just keep that main card. Please. As long as that main card stays intact, I’m happy. That’s the current bout order but you know the score. They never stay the same. I’ll update as we go. Alexander Volkanovski vs Diego Lopes headlines and what a fight. Think this is a fascinating one myself. First just style-wise it’s a great fight but also the timing of it adds an extra twist. I think if this fight had been made 18 months ago, Volk would be being looked at as a heavy favourite. He still might be, I don’t take much notice of the betting odds and stuff. But coming off a couple of losses and a long layoff, and that combined with Lopes’ rise, the timing of these two colliding now makes it very interesting. There are understandably gonna be questions and/or doubts on Volk but this is also a big step up for Lopes. Like I said, Volk’s been off the grid for a while. Undoubtedly one of the best of all time and the run he had as Featherweight champion firmly established him as one of the all time greats and a future Hall Of Famer. By the end of 2022 he was coming off his third win over Max Holloway and was looking pretty much untouchable at 145lbs. So in early 2023, he moved up in weight to challenge Lightweight champ Islam Makhachev. He wound up losing a close decision but it was such an amazing fight, maybe FOTY that year, that his stock really didn’t take much of a hit and obviously he was still champ at 145. He went back down to defend that belt and completely outclassed Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290 and seemed well back on track. Then it all went tits up. Volk jumped in on short notice to rematch Makhachev at UFC 294 in October 2023. Charles Oliveira had suffered a nasty cut and pulled out of the fight less than two weeks out. Volk stepping up on that kind of notice was insane. Initially I think everyone was just swept up in the buzz that we were getting to see the rematch of the FOTY already. In hindsight, maybe it wasn’t such a good idea… This time it wasn’t a razor close decision and it wasn’t an epic back and forth battle. Makhachev walloped Volk with a headkick Mirko Cro Cop would’ve been proud of and that was that. Volk had been brutally stopped just 3 minutes into the fight and was now 0-2 down to Makhachev. It’s easy to look back now and say this but it baffles me a bit why Volk took the risk of jumping in with less than two weeks notice. The first fight with Makhachev was so close and so good that a rematch would’ve been inevitable at some point anyway and at least he’d have had a full camp. I get why he wanted another crack at it and I don’t doubt he fully fancied the job. But he knew from the first fight how tough a matchup Makhachev was, why dive in underprepared? I’m guessing the UFC took good care of him financially for saving the 294 main event but, still, at what cost long term? He went back down to 145 again after that loss and in February last year he headlined UFC 298 against fresh face and top contender Ilia Topuria. And, well… Topuria slept him with a nasty right to the chin followed by a left hook to the temple in the second round and that was the end of Volk’s incredible reign as champion. I remember there being concerns going into that fight because it was a fairly quick turnaround for Volk coming off the loss to Makhachev. I haven’t rewatched this Topuria fight since but I remember Volk looking good early and all three judges scored the first round for him. But it all unraveled in the second round and, as exciting as Topuria’s rise has been, it was sad seeing Volk slumped the way he was. Volk was all class post-fight. Made zero excuses and even when the media were talking about the loss to Islam and the quick turnaround and stuff, Volk shut it down and gave Topuria full credit. Got to respect that. Although, despite him not using it as an excuse, I do think those factors played their part. But looking at what Topuria went on to do, being the first man to KO Max Holloway in his next fight, I think Topuria’s also just that good. If he connects with clean shots like he did on Volk, it’s gonna be a wrap regardless. Volk said as much himself after the fight. I was actually glad he took some time out after that loss. Taking two bad knockouts like those Makhachev and Topuria ones within a four month span obviously isn’t good for you. And who knows what went on in sparring in between those losses? He’ll have been out of action 14 months by the time he steps into the Octagon here. Hopefully he’s all healed up and good to go now. Diego Lopes has been one of the best additions to the UFC roster in years for me. And like so many other cases, they kind of stumbled on him by accident. There’s been a lot of talk recently about the UFC’s inability to create new stars and there’s certainly truth to that criticism. But I’m not even sure how big a hand they have in ‘creating’ stars in this day and age anyway. Lopes isn’t some mega star or anything but he’s a perfect example of a guy the UFC had no real plans for and he’s caught on and got to this position purely off his own graft. And it’s crazy to think but the UFC mightn’t even have signed him in the first place if they weren’t scrambling for a late replacement at the time. There was a fight scheduled between Movsar Evloev and Bryce Mitchell at UFC 288 in May 2023. Bryce withdrew on fight week. Lopes got the call on just a few days notice… He said this in the pre-fight video and, man, truer words were never spoken. He was 21-5 coming in, had won his last couple of fights but had gone 2-2 in his last 4. So here he was, jumping in on fight week against undefeated Evloev. And Evloev wasn’t just unbeaten, he was known for his grinding wrestling and wasn’t exactly easy to look good against. I don’t think anyone had any real expectations for Lopes. He was just filling in. He did lose the fight on points but his performance and the fight itself way surpassed what anyone thought it would be. It was a banger, got FOTN and Lopes was instantly on my ‘must see’ fighter radar. I think a lot of us became instant fans of him after that showing. And since then he’s done nothing but win. He’s fully capitalised on the momentum he had coming off that valiant effort against Evloev. He immediately bounced back from that loss with three straight first round finishes over Gavin Tucker, Pat Sabatini and then blitzed Sodiq Yusuff in 90 seconds at UFC 300. He beat Dan Ige on points in a fight which came together under mad circumstances on just four hours notice. Then in September, he beat up Brian Ortega at the Sphere en route to an entertaining but one-way traffic decision win. He’s been flying. I guess some of the hype has cooled off a bit just because he was crushing opponents quick for a while but then his last couple of fights have gone the distance. But like I said, the way that Ige fight got thrown together last minute was fucked up for both of them and it’s harsh to hold that against Lopes. And it was really only Ortega’s insane durability which took that Sphere fight to the scorecards. He looked on the verge of being stopped more than once but somehow stayed in there. Ortega was ranked #3 going into that fight so that win catapulted Lopes into elite company at Featherweight. The only names above him were Volk, Holloway and the champ Topuria. So it was always gonna be a big fight next for him. Even then though, there was a twist coming… “Topuria has felt like he’s done all he can in that division, he feels like he’s cemented his legacy, and his body cannot make the weight anymore. So Topuria will be moving up to 155 pounds and will be vacating the Featherweight title.” - Dana White Don’t think anyone really saw this coming. Topuria taking a fight at Lightweight isn’t really shocking but I don’t think anyone was predicting he’d be relinquishing his Featherweight strap. Seen mixed opinions on this and Lopes himself seems to think the UFC have decided that, from now on, any champs in any division who are moving up will have to vacate their belt first. Don’t know if there’s truth to that but it does seem a bit weird that Topuria would give up the gold and the PPV cut that comes with it. I’d never heard that he had trouble making 145 before Dana said it either. Fuck knows? It’s happening now anyway. The title is vacant until one of these two claim it. Awesome fight. One of those cool old guard vs new blood clashes and, for the reasons I’ve waffled on about above, the timing of the whole thing adds an extra layer of intrigue to it. It’s obviously the biggest opportunity of Lopes’ career to date, by far. And Volk’s coming in to prove a point, get some redemption and reclaim his title. He sounds bang up for it… “Diego Lopes, obviously a dangerous dude. A bit of a different matchup to Ilia. Obviously both are dangerous fighters. I’m really looking forward to this one, very excited. Excited to show everyone - people are like, ‘Oh, he’s old, he’s done.’ I hope people are thinking that. Everyone knows I love the underdog story. I love to prove people wrong. Lopes is in for a very, very hard fight. He’s a gamer. He’s a great dude. I’ve got a lot of respect for him. Very nice fella. I’m sure he’s expecting to go out there and win the belt, but I’m sorry mate, that ain’t happening.” “I want to have one last crack and get really stuck into it. Win that belt, defend it, maybe defend it again, or one big fight after a defence, we’ll see. Then maybe I’m done. That’s where we’re at. I still love it but how much longer do I want to do this to myself and my body? I do want to eventually sail off into the sunset, right? But I want to be active as soon as I get this belt. When I get it back I’m like, ‘Alright, when we doing this next one? Who is it? Movsar Evloev, you ready? Let’s go.’ A couple of months after, whatever, I’m ready. That’s what I’m expecting to do.” - Alexander Volkanovski I like that he sounds fired up. No doubt he’s itching to get back to it after so much time away. But I don’t know. That’s the first time I’ve really heard Volk talk about “sailing off into the sunset” and I don’t know how to take it. On the one hand, I guess it’s healthy that he’s recognising he’s got limited time left at this level and I’d rather he think about getting out than just keep going way past the point of his prime like we see so many fighters do. On the other hand, there’s always that feeling you get when a fighter starts talking about exit strategies and stuff, that maybe they’ve lost their edge a bit, some of that bulletproof self belief is gone, the old ‘Eye Of The Tiger’ maybe isn’t there anymore. I don’t know. Volk’s 36 now. Definitely no spring chicken, especially in the lighter weight classes. I do like that he’s thinking about life after fighting. At the same time I wonder if we’ll look back on quotes like that and think ‘yeah, that’s where he lost his edge’. Great, great fight. And I’m really unsure how it goes. If it was 100% guaranteed that we were getting the absolute best versions of both, I’d be picking Volk all day. And I love Lopes. But Volk at his peak is an all timer and, as fun as Lopes is to watch, I think Volk’s just a different level. And that’s not a knock on Lopes. Fuck, Max Holloway couldn’t get the better of Volk over the course of their three fights. A combined 15 rounds they fought and the third fight was the most one-sided of their trilogy. Volk had widened the gap between them and put the final nail in their rivalry with that performance. I don’t see Lopes beating that guy. But is Volk still that guy? And that’s the crux of the whole thing for me. Lopes being so wild and aggressive could be his best friend or his worst enemy here. If Volk’s chin isn’t there anymore, or his reaction times and reflexes aren’t what they were, I could definitely see a scenario where Lopes cracks him and puts him down again. But it’s worth remembering that, while Volk’s 1-3 in his last 4, the losses were against Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria - two of the pound-for-pound best fighters in the game today, both at the peak of their powers. As good as Lopes is, it sounds mad but this is a step down from Volk’s last couple of opponents. I wouldn’t dismiss the possibility of him coming back, putting on a bit of a masterclass and reminding everyone who the fuck he is. Yeah, if you’ve got this far then you’ll be able to tell I’m a little bit into this fight. Michael Chandler vs Paddy Pimblett is 5 rounds in the co-main event. Heel vs heel for me this. Can’t be doing with cheeseball Chandler and can’t stand Paddy the laddy. Pair of twats. But not gonna deny, this’ll probably be fun. It does kind of feel a bit weird in the co-main spot for me because Chandler seems to be on the way out and Paddy co-headlining a PPV just feels wrong to me. But whatever. It’ll be an entertaining fight however long it lasts, I reckon. I’d be surprised if they need the full 5 rounds but stranger things have happened. If Mark Hunt vs Bigfoot Silva 1 went 5 rounds, with the power those two had behind them, any fight can. You know what this is though. We’ve been saying it forever, the UFC, Dana and the matchmakers are desperate to baby Paddy all the way to a title shot. And somehow, by hook or crook, they’re almost there. Chandler’s gonna turn 39 years old just days after this fight, he’s 23-9 and 1-4 in his last 5 with the only win being over the corpse of Tony Ferguson. Yet he’s still somehow ranked #7 at Lightweight? Make it make sense. Bear in mind he was inactive for a good chunk of time as well. He lost to Dustin Poirier on the MSG card back in November 2022 and never fought again until losing the Charles Oliveira rematch on the MSG card in November 2024! He spent a whole two years on the shelf, in his late 30s, waiting for some coked up rapist to get his shit together. Finally he saw sense and got back to work but that Oliveira loss last time out was almost a complete shutout. Chandler didn’t look great and really, why would he at 38 and after a two year layoff? Any ring rust should be gone now though so we’ll see how he looks here. Pimblett’s coming off the best win of his UFC run so far, submitting King Green in a round on the Manchester card in July. I’ve been shitting on Paddy’s entire UFC stint pretty much but even I couldn’t say much about that win. OK, Green’s looking weathered these days and it wasn’t like Paddy beat the best version of him. But still, Green had looked good beating up Jim Miller in his previous fight at UFC 300. And at the end of the day, I was picking Green to win going into the Paddy fight, so I can’t really switch up now and act like it was a nothing win, can I? Regardless, it’s a fact the UFC have mostly spoon fed him to this position. Feeding him gimmes against nobodies early on, the daylight robbery against Jared Gordon, serving him a completely bollocksed Tony Ferguson who was coming off SIX STRAIGHT LOSSES etc. They’ve got him to a #12 ranking off the back of all the smoke and mirrors and the PR job seems to be working because I’m starting to see idiots talk about him like he’s a Demian Maia level grappling threat and the possible boogeyman for Makhachev and Topuria ? Seriously, wins over the empty husk of Fergie and an ageing Green have got people talking silly again. Should be a laugh and at this point I’m genuinely about 50/50 on this. If it was a younger and more active Chandler, I’d be picking him no question, but it’s the timing of it. It feels like a blatant case of the matchmakers trying to get Paddy a big name win over an ageing veteran at the back end of his career. To Paddy’s credit, I don’t think it’s so much him looking for easy fights. He’s been calling out Renato Moicano and Benoit Saint Denis for a while and even Dustin Poirier recently. But there’s a reason the matchmakers have swerved those guys and gone with pushing 40, 1-4 in his last 5 Chandler, who also happens to be ranked #7. They know what they’re doing here. They probably see Chandler, at this stage in his career, as the biggest name most winnable fight for Paddy in the Top 10. But is he? I’m not sure. As much as Chandler’s clearly seen better days, I’m still not sold on Paddy and if nothing else Chandler does carry big punching power. He’s heavy handed and Paddy’s still very hittable (25 fights into his career) and basically carries his chin up on a flagpole. I could absolutely see Chandler clipping him. And really, while Paddy’s got his grappling skills, can he even get this fight to the ground given Chandler’s wrestling and short, stocky frame? Might still lean towards Chandler, to be honest. Think it could be a trickier fight for Paddy than many, including the matchmakers, probably think. If he can’t get him down, Paddy might have to stand with Chandler in this one and I’m never confident in any fight where Paddy can’t fall back on his grappling. Yeah, it’s heel vs heel but I can’t pretend I wouldn’t love to see Chandler spark him. Yair Rodriguez vs Patricio Pitbull then. Finally Pitbull is in the UFC! It feels a bit too late, he’s 37 years old now, but we’ll see what happens. Always enjoyed watching him and he was one of a few fighters who I’d make a point of tuning into Bellator for, long after I’d given up following the promotion regularly. Him making the move now is definitely late but I think it’s very much a case of ‘better late than never’. There’s a whole bunch of fresh and exciting fights for him in the UFC and this is one of them. Bellator champion at both Lightweight and Featherweight and left Bellator as their defending Featherweight champ. Has a record of 36-7 with 24 finishes and notably knocked out Michael Chandler in a minute back in 2019 to win the title at 155lbs. Also holds a win over AJ McKee and stopped Jeremy Kennedy in his last fight in the promotion in March 2024. There’d been talk of what would happen if he jumped to the UFC for years but nothing ever came of it and fights like Volkanovski vs Pitbull and Holloway vs Pitbull seemed like pipedreams. It honestly felt like Pitbull was destined to be a Bellator lifer and would end his career there. The trouble started when PFL took over Bellator in late 2023. Pitbull’s gripe was that they weren’t keeping him active enough. Which, in his late 30s and with limited time left in the sport, it’s understandable why he was getting frustrated. “They said they’d do eight Bellator shows a year and only ended up doing five. It hasn’t been a good year with them. I had a lot of problems with Donn Davis but every time we got some news, it was bad news. So that’s why I think it’s time to move on.” - Patricio Pitbull Towards the end of 2024, you could really sense how pissed off Pitbull had become with the whole situation. He took to social media and was practically begging Donn Davis to release him from his PFL/Bellator contract. Finally, in January, Pitbull’s wish was granted and Davis announced they were releasing him. Literally the same day… It wasn’t immediately clear if he’d definitely end up in the UFC but it seemed pretty obvious that’s what was most likely gonna happen. Pitbull had been vocal while he was asking to be cut loose from Bellator that the UFC was where he wanted to be. By February, it was confirmed by Dana that, not only was Pitbull signed, his debut was set and he’d be facing Yair Rodriguez. Love this fight. It’s one of many I’m happy we can finally get to see. I genuinely think if they’d kept him busy enough, Pitbull would’ve been quite content to see out the rest of his active fighting days in PFL owned Bellator. But I’m happy with how it’s worked out. There wasn’t anything left for him in Bellator anyway and it’s cool that he can now finish up his career with a whole choice of fresh fights and some big names. I don’t see him shaking the division up at 37 but whatever. He’s a fun fighter to throw into the mix. I said it before but I can see his UFC run looking like Chandler’s. Maybe not so great on the win/loss ratio front but plenty of fun fights to make and I’m sure he’ll have his moments. Yair’s no easy first fight in though. Really not sure how this is gonna play out. This card’s full of fights like that and that unpredictability makes it better for me. Bryce Mitchell vs Jean Silva is ***WAND’S ONE TO WATCH*** and I can’t wait to see what happens here. This one has kind of came out of nowhere but I’m fully invested in it. The fight itself is interesting enough in that they’ve got completely different fighting styles. Bryce’s bread and butter is obviously his ground game whereas Silva likes to bust opponents up with his striking. In that sense it’s a bit of a throwback to the style vs style early days of MMA. Then you throw the contrasting personalities into the mix and you’ve got a bit of everything. As great as this card is as a whole, don’t be surprised if this fight is the main talking point of this card by fight week. Mr Bryce Andrew ‘Thug Nasty’ Mitchell. 17-2 in MMA, coming off a win over Kron Gracie, was once considered a top prospect, pulled off only the second ever submission via twister in UFC history. But he’s mostly remembered as the hillbilly who thinks the earth is flat. The redneck who once almost ripped his own ballbag off with a power drill. The gonk who said “gravity ain’t real”. The pleb who talked about bumming Floyd Mayweather if they somehow, hypothetically ended up in jail together. The doofus who said he’s gonna homeschool his kid so “he doesn’t end up gay”. And the jelly brained cretin who said “I honestly think that Hitler was a good guy” recently. I’ve probably missed a few out but you get the idea. Bryce is a fucking knob. And this is the guy Helwani thinks is playing a gimmick? Some of these quotes are going back years and years. If you think Bryce has the intelligence and forethought to plant the seeds that far in advance and play the long game on creating this ‘gimmick’ then I think you’re giving the berk way too much credit. Again, the prick power drilled his own bollocks. Nobody’s convincing me he’s got a single coherent thought going on behind those eyes. The lad’s just a bumbling simpleton who probably grew up spending most of his time online, in a dark room, obsessed with conspiracy theories. And now he’ll just buy into any old shite and spouts absolute bollocks with zero self awareness as a result. He’s like basically 85% of the current day MMA fanbase, except he actually fights. Jean Silva only burst onto the scene in the UFC just over a year ago but he’s already made a big fan out of me and I know I’m not alone. He really seems to have caught on in a relatively short time. He made his UFC debut on the prelims of an Apex card in January 2024. Again, like Diego Lopes, I don’t think the UFC had any plans or expectations for him. He bashed up Westin Wilson in an easy but meaningless win. Since then though, he’s stopped Charles Jourdain, made a bloody mess of Drew Dober up at 155 and battered Melsik Baghdasaryan in a round on the Seattle card in February. He’s 28 years old, 15-2 with 14 coming inside the distance and I’m convinced he’s gotta be some relation to Wanderlei Silva. He’s ace. He called out Bryce after that win in Seattle, that’s where this all started and it’s taken on a bit of a life of its own since. Ha! Literally within a few days of Silva’s win on that Seattle card, it was announced that these two would be fighting each other at UFC 314 in Miami. So a quick turnaround for Silva but I don’t think that bothers him. He’s still young and new and he seems to wanna fight all the time at the moment anyway. So I’m sure he was down to get straight back in there. The UFC held a press conference for this card recently with all the guys from the top fights in attendance. And the Bryce and Jean bit stole the show. ? He actually brought a fucking globe to the press conference to demonstrate to Brainless Bryce that the earth is indeed round. Loved it. Bryce actually seemed a bit rattled by their whole interaction to me. He even said that he thinks Silva is “possessed by demons”. What’s this twat on? I’m not making this up. He posted a video online sometime after the press conference, that you can still find now, saying this… “Good morning, y’all. I need all my Christian warriors to pray for me that I have peaceful sleep. Every single night since the day before the press conference, I’ve had demonic dreams. Legions of demons are attacking me every single time I sleep and not one time have I seen any peaceful sleep since that day. These demons surround me and they try to fight me and provoke me to anger. And then the dream will switch, and they’ll send beautiful women and they’re trying to get me to lust, to cheat on my wife. Satan’s using two of my weaknesses to try to expose the evil in my own heart.” “I’m not just fighting a man on April 12th. I’m fighting a man possessed by a legion of demons. When I simply said the name Jesus, he was provoked to maliciousness and he started barking like a dog and chanting ‘F-You, F-You, F-You’.” - Bryce Mitchell What a fucking fruit loop. He’s since posted another video - where he’s wearing a t-shirt with a man fighting a demon on it - saying the prayers from his “Christian warriors” worked and he’s sleeping better now. Also reckons he doesn’t need therapy. I beg to differ, Bryce. Jean Silva’s seen all this carry on and seems quite amused by it. “Bryce, two things. These are not demons, it’s just you being afraid to face me. And second about the beautiful women, you have a hormone called testosterone and you probably have problems with it. Just be ready for April 12th, because I will be.” - Jean Silva It’s been a fight buildup like pretty much no other I’ve ever seen but I’m oddly enjoying it just because we’re getting to see a different side of Silva. Up until now he’s just been known as an exciting fighter to watch. Which is fine, and the UFC can always do with more of them. But this Bryce thing has allowed us to see a bit of personality from him and it’s been fun. Really looking forward to this. For one, there’s a clear divide in this one of bad vs good for me. And the funny thing is, the guy who’s been accused of being ‘demonic’ and ‘possessed’ in the buildup is by far the babyface in this one for me. Who’s rooting for a Hitler sympathiser other than the absolute dregs of the fanbase? And if you are rooting for Bryce, it’s purely to be an edgelord because there’s no way you see him as the more entertaining fighter to actually watch out of these two and he probably doesn’t have more upside either. There’s no reason to want Bryce to win this. Even disregarding the goofy shite Bryce comes out with, just the better result for the division is Silva winning. He’s the type who seems like he can have a fun fight with pretty much anyone, he’s a finisher and he’s a bit of a character. He’s a breath of fresh air at 145 and potentially 155 down the line. Hope he decks Bryce and shows him once again that gravity is actually real. Nikita Krylov vs Dominick Reyes I’m neither here nor there on really. It’s not bad but it’s typical Light Heavyweight stuff. We haven’t seen Krylov for over two years now for some reason. He last fought on the undercard of Merab vs Yan back in March 2023. Feels like a lifetime ago now. Krylov submitted Ryan Spann that night. He’s 33 years old now and has a record of 30-9 with 28 finishes. Reyes is 35 years old and 14-4 with 11 finishes. He’s just getting back on track after that horrible four fight losing streak. He went from the guy almost everyone thought beat Jon Jones in 2020 to a guy who looked completely done by 2022. He finally snapped out of that slump last year with back-to-back stoppage wins over Dustin Jacoby and Anthony Smith. OK, not amazing wins in themselves but for Reyes they must’ve been so sweet after that shitty couple of years he had. Not expecting much from this but I’m hoping Reyes can keep the wins going for a bit now. Dan Ige vs Sean Woodson is a solid little fight. Ige is usually in entertaining fights but he’s coming off a couple of points losses here. In fairness, one was that messed up fight on four hours notice against Diego Lopes so you kind of have to write that off. Then he dropped a decision in a good fight with Lerone Murphy at UFC 308 in October. Before those losses he’d absolutely flattened Andre Fili with a brutal one punch knockout and he also has wins over Nate Landwehr and even Edson Barboza back in 2020. Woodson’s been decent to watch himself, weirdly shaped sod that he is. He’s 13-1-1 and has gone unbeaten in his last 7 fights. He’s got wins over Terrance McKinney, Youssef Zalal, Charles Jourdain and Alex Caceres. He’s coming into this fight off a first round TKO over Fernando Padilla in December. I like this fight. Neither are world beaters but it should be a good standup battle. Yan Xiaonan vs Virna Jandiroba isn’t doing much for me. It’s Yan. Nothing against the woman and she’s not a terrible fighter or anything but I’ve just never got into her fights and she’s been on the roster since 2017. She’s 19-4-0-1 and coming off a decision win over Tabatha Ricci on the Macau card in November. That was my favourite Fight Night card of 2024 but Yan vs Ricci was probably the only dull thing on it. Most memorable thing about Yan’s career is her title fight loss against Zhang Weili at UFC 300 last year. And that’s only because Zhang basically unofficially beat her by TKO and submission in the same fight before officially winning on points. I do like Jandiroba, to be fair. Seems like an absolute gem and I enjoy her grappling when she sticks to it. Her striking is pretty horrible but her BJJ is class. She demonstrated that in her last fight when she armbarred Amanda Lemos in their Apex main event back in July. Yeah, hoping for a Jandiroba win here. Jim Miller vs Chase Hooper. Really like the sound of this. Old school vs new breed. Miller’s 41 years old and this’ll be his 58th pro fight. He’s had more wins by submission than Chase has had MMA fights full-stop. Miller’s 38-18-0-1 now. He’s obviously had his ups and downs and at this point I don’t know if he’s planning on ever retiring. The talk for ages was that he was hanging on to fight at UFC 300, well that’s came and went. He lost to King Green at 300 but has since rebounded with a quick guillotine finish over Damon Jackson at MSG in November. Hooper’s only 25 and has a record of 15-3-1 with 12 finishes. It was looking shaky for him at Featherweight for a while but, in fairness, he’s looked much better since moving up to Lightweight. He’s gone 4-0 since and has subbed his last three opponents. He’s coming off a sweet armbar finish over Clay Guida at UFC 310 in December. Good test for Hooper here and one I’m not sure he’s ready for but we’ll see. I’ve compared Hooper to a young Joe Lauzon in the past and Miller had one of my favourite Lightweight fights ever with Lauzon years ago. I don’t expect this to match that but I think it’ll be a fun watch for however long it lasts. Darren Elkins vs Julian Erosa is gonna get lost in the shuffle on a card like this but I expect this to be a bit of a wild scrap and might well end up being the highlight of the prelims. I get the feeling when Elkins was given the nickname ‘The Damage’ it was supposed to be a reference to the damage he inflicts on his opponents. It’s become more synonymous with the damage he takes himself though. Seriously, bless him but his face is almost falling off in seemingly every fight whether he wins or loses. He’s coming off a decision win over Daniel Pineda in October, which was another dogfight and, yet again, Elkins face was pissing blood. He can’t help himself. He’s Steve Corino in ECW in 2000. Except this loon’s been doing this shit for years now. Like a pig in shit. Loving life. Surely he can’t keep going much longer. He’ll be 41 in May, for fuck’s sake. Erosa’s not as known for it as Elkins but he’s a scrapper as well. He’s 35 years old and just got a fairly surprising submission win over Christian Rodriguez in his last fight in July. I think that was clearly put together to get C-Rod a win and Erosa scuppered plans. It was one of the best one rounders in a while as well. Erosa also had a tremendous fight with Sean Woodson a few years ago which he won by submission, and he stopped Nate Landwehr in under a minute with a flying knee. Honestly, it’s gonna generate zero discussion going in but I love this fight. Sedriques Dumas vs Michal Oleksiejczuk. Anyone who’s been reading these opening posts long enough will know where I stand on this. Can’t be doing with this Dumas prick at all. Woman beating scumbag. Even if he was a great fighter I’d dislike him for that stuff but he’s dogshit to watch as well. No redeeming qualities whatsoever. Hopefully Oleksiejczuk chins him here. He’s certainly got the power and capability to do that but I’m never confident in him actually delivering. He’s heavy handed as fuck but his grappling is awful so there’s actually a chance this Dumas dumbass could get a win here. Oleksiejczuk should deck him though. I hope. Su Mudaerji vs Mitch Raposo might be alright. I was quite high on Mudaerji at one point but he’s dropped off big time. He’s 16-7 now and coming off three straight losses. He had that crazy bloodbath against Matt Schnell that’s actually a bit of a forgotten gem now. Worth firing up Fight Pass for if you get chance, trust me. But he got choked unconscious and left in a puddle of his own blood that night. Then he lost to Tim Elliott and Charles Johnson. It’s just not panning out for him. Barely remember Raposo. He’s 29 years old and 9-2 with 7 finishes. He made his Octagon debut at UFC 302 back in June and lost to Andre Lima by split decision. Tresean Gore vs Marco Tulio is kind of just making up the numbers for me but I’ll probably give it a look. Gore came in with a bit of hype years ago and I seem to recall he was considered a favourite to win TUF whichever year he was on there. It hasn’t been plain sailing though. He lost his first couple of UFC fights, including getting knocked out by Cody Brundage of all people in one of them. That’s never a good look. He’s clawed it back with a couple of absolutely horrible guillotine choke subs over Josh Fremd and Antonio Trocoli though. He’s got a nasty guillotine on him. His record is 5-2 now so we’ll see if he can put a run together from here. Hasn’t helped that he’s had a bunch of layoffs though. Even his last two wins, there was a two year gap in between those fights. Tulio’s Brazilian, 30 years old and 13-1 with 10 finishes. He made his UFC debut on the first Apex card of the year in January and stopped Ihor Potieria in the first round. Nora Cornolle vs Hailey Cowan. Couldn’t give a bollocks but I’ll go through the motions. Cornolle’s French, 35 years old and 8-2 in MMA. Apparently she’s also 32-4-1 in Kickboxing whatever that’s worth. She’s fought in the UFC three times now and I can’t say much of it sticks in the memory. She got a TKO win over Melissa Mullins last April, then lost a split decision to Jacqueline Cavalcanti on the Paris card in September. Cowan’s 33 with a record of 7-3 and she barely fights. She won a decision on DWCS back in 2022, then lost a decision in her UFC debut against Jamey-Lyn Horth in April 2023. Hasn’t been seen since. The end. Edited April 12, 2025 by wandshogun09 Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted March 30, 2025 Author Paid Members Posted March 30, 2025 (edited) It’s starting. Knew this card was too good to be true. And from what I’m reading, they’re not looking for a replacement. Prates is off the card as well but apparently there’s “big news” coming for him. Guessing he’s getting a headliner against a ‘name’. My guess is Gilbert Burns. But outside chance of Ian Garry? Colby? Edit - Just seen Burns is already booked against Michael Morales at 315. Surely Colby won’t grow a pair and fight a guy like Prates? Goes against his whole M.O. Gotta be Garry or Buckley. Edited March 30, 2025 by wandshogun09 Quote
Paid Members Carbomb Posted March 30, 2025 Paid Members Posted March 30, 2025 Oh, I'd love it if it was Colby with his pathetic MAGA shtick, only to get smashed up and cut from the roster. Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted March 30, 2025 Author Paid Members Posted March 30, 2025 15 minutes ago, Carbomb said: Oh, I'd love it if it was Colby with his pathetic MAGA shtick, only to get smashed up and cut from the roster. Yeah I’d say the only thing we’re really missing and yet to see now from the Colby Covington story arc is for him to get properly knocked out. Like fully flattened, out cold, Hendo-Bisping at UFC 100 style. Prates could well be the man for that particular job. Which is why I can’t see Colby actually going for it but we’ll see. They’ve clearly got something lined up for Prates, he doesn’t seem too upset about this Neal fight going tits up so he must have been told there’s something good in the pipeline for him. Quote
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted March 30, 2025 Paid Members Posted March 30, 2025 Garry/Prates is a fight i'd love to see Quote
Bruce85 Posted April 8, 2025 Posted April 8, 2025 (edited) After the past few events not being anything special I had forgotten this was on this weekend. Really looking forward to this card, I don’t want to jinx it but there should be some really fun fights throughout the card. Although I dislike him, I think I want Paddy to win this one (feel sick typing that), essentially I want to see him fight Topuria! I can’t see Chandler getting back in the title picture either way but a win for Paddy might be better for freshening up the mid/top of the division and give us some fresh fights. How do we pick who we want to win in the main though, both seem like really good guys and I don’t want either to lose. With that said, I’ve got to cheer for Volk, he’s one of my all time favourites and it would be good to see him win this one and retire on a high (not that I think he will retire if he wins). Lopes is still young enough that I don’t think a loss here will be too damaging and you could see him getting back in the title picture with another couple of wins. Also, fuck Mitchell, I hope Silva gives him a prolonged beat down. Edited April 8, 2025 by Bruce85 Quote
theringmaster Posted April 9, 2025 Posted April 9, 2025 Quote Mr Bryce Andrew ‘Thug Nasty’ Mitchell. 17-2 in MMA, coming off a win over Kron Gracie, was once considered a top prospect, pulled off only the second ever submission via twister in UFC history. But he’s mostly remembered as the hillbilly who thinks the earth is flat. The redneck who once almost ripped his own ballbag off with a power drill. The gonk who said “gravity ain’t real”. The pleb who talked about bumming Floyd Mayweather if they somehow, hypothetically ended up in jail together. The doofus who said he’s gonna homeschool his kid so “he doesn’t end up gay”. And the jelly brained cretin who said “I honestly think that Hitler was a good guy” recently. I’ve probably missed a few out but you get the idea. Bryce is a fucking knob. And this is the guy Helwani thinks is playing a gimmick? Some of these quotes are going back years and years. If you think Bryce has the intelligence and forethought to plant the seeds that far in advance and play the long game on creating this ‘gimmick’ then I think you’re giving the berk way too much credit. Again, the prick power drilled his own bollocks. Nobody’s convincing me he’s got a single coherent thought going on behind those eyes. The lad’s just a bumbling simpleton who probably grew up spending most of his time online, in a dark room, obsessed with conspiracy theories. And now he’ll just buy into any old shite and spouts absolute bollocks with zero self awareness as a result. He’s like basically 85% of the current day MMA fanbase, except he actually fights. Poetry. Bryce is without a doubt one of the more interesting characters in MMA atm, he reminds me of a sitcom character who you would hate in real life but love him on the show, like Dwight or Sheldon. Won't lie I wasn't really feeling this card but after that read through I'm actually quite excited now, there are a few interesting match ups there. Quote
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted April 10, 2025 Paid Members Posted April 10, 2025 (edited) Any strong leans in terms of picks here? You know its a solid card when you're struggling to make picks. I think the main and co-main are coin flips here. I'll have Volkanovski, Chandler, Rodriguez, Silva & Krylov for the main card, but i'm not confident in any of those. Edited April 10, 2025 by Egg Shen Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted April 10, 2025 Author Paid Members Posted April 10, 2025 Jim Miller talking sense on the Apex… Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted April 12, 2025 Author Paid Members Posted April 12, 2025 (edited) On 4/10/2025 at 8:26 AM, Egg Shen said: Any strong leans in terms of picks here? You know its a solid card when you're struggling to make picks. I think the main and co-main are coin flips here. I'll have Volkanovski, Chandler, Rodriguez, Silva & Krylov for the main card, but i'm not confident in any of those. Agreed on all your main card picks but I wouldn’t say I’m confident in any of them either. Going with Volk in the main event. It’s a risky one because Lopes is lethal early in the fight but I think unless Volk gets walloped in the first round, he’ll take over and put some distance between them as the fight goes on. Thinking he wins on points but I don’t know what Diego’s gas tank is gonna be like if it goes long so maybe Volk can wear him down and force a late finish. Lopes has gone 5 rounds a couple of times earlier in his career (won one, lost one) but it’s going back years and obviously against a much lower level of opposition than Volk. Lopes is dangerous enough to where I’m doubting my pick but I just think Volk’s a different level and I feel like the talk of his decline has been overblown a bit. You’ve got to take into account those last two losses were against Islam Makhachev (up in weight and on short notice) and Ilia Topuria (back down in weight and on a fairly quick turnaround). At 36, Father Time isn’t on his side but I don’t think he’s anywhere near as diminished as many are making out. Co-main is almost a coin flip for me but I reckon Chandler might clip Paddy. For all the talk I’ve seen of Paddy’s grappling, it is solid but some of the shite I’ve read lately would have you believing he’s the second coming of Demian Maia on the ground. I think this is most likely gonna play out on the feet though unless Chandler decides to take it to the ground. Even if Paddy wants to grapple, I can’t see him having much luck getting Chandler down due to Chandler’s wrestling and short stocky frame. And assuming it stays on the feet, I just have a hard time seeing Paddy not getting caught with something. It’s a 5 rounder as well and he looked winded at times against a shot Tony Ferguson in a 3 rounder. No doubt he’ll be in better shape for this but he’s always been very hittable and if Chandler still has anything going for him it’s his punching power. Picking Yair Rodriguez over Pitbull but, again, really not sure about it. Should be a cracking fight though and I feel like it’s gone under the radar a bit as an actual fight. The talk around this card has all been focused on Volk’s return and what he has left, Chandler and Paddy, Bryce and Jean etc. The only real talk on this fight has been about Pitbull making his UFC debut more than the fight itself. I love it though. Just not sure what to expect out of Pitbull at this point and I think Yair’s gonna be tricky and awkward for him with his lankiness and unpredictable offence. Got Jean Silva to KO Bryce. Another one I’m not confident on though because we really haven’t seen enough of Silva’s takedown defence or his grappling in general. In cases like that there’s always the chance of a fighter getting badly exposed but we’ll see. If he can keep it on the feet though he’s probably gonna bust Bryce up pretty bad. Hopefully it’s a fun fight either way but I’m not sure if me picking Silva is more wishful thinking than anything. And yeah, Krylov over Reyes for me. Although I really don’t give much of a shit about this fight. It’s a shame that Neal vs Prates fight fell apart because the main card here was a legit 5/5 for me in terms of me being into every fight on the main card. This one isn’t hitting the spot. I’d like to see Reyes get another win here actually. Not a huge fan but it’s been cool seeing him get himself out of that slump. It speaks volumes about my lack of confidence in him though that I’m picking a Krylov who’s been on a milk carton for over two years over him. Volk and his Sopranos style tracksuit for the win! Edited April 12, 2025 by wandshogun09 Quote
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted April 12, 2025 Paid Members Posted April 12, 2025 Free'd up my schedule tomorrow afternoon to go in on this full hog, cant wait. Quote
Bruce85 Posted April 12, 2025 Posted April 12, 2025 (edited) It’s a tough card to predict, which I guess is a sign of good matchmaking?! But I’m going with: Volk by a 4-1 decision, I also don’t think he’s as shot as people make out and I can see him getting through an iffy round one then taking over on the score cards for the UD. Co-main I’m going with Paddy by rear naked choke in the championship rounds. I think Chandler will be picking him apart on the feet and winning on the score cards but will get caught in the 4th or 5th when both men are gassed and he goes for a sloppy take down. Not 100% sure on Yair and Pitbull, it’s been along time since I’ve seen anything from Pitbull and he’s getting on in age so not really sure what to expect from him so I’m going with a Yair win by split decision. Silva to KO Bryce in the second round. I think Bryce will spend the first round with a lot of cage control before getting a take down late in the round but will get caught by Silva in the second for a walk off KO. I think Reyes takes a one sided UD 2-1 as Krylov looks a bit rusty after the lay off. Edited April 12, 2025 by Bruce85 Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted April 12, 2025 Author Paid Members Posted April 12, 2025 Topuria is now 2-0 over Bryce by the way… Quote
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted April 12, 2025 Paid Members Posted April 12, 2025 Drake, what are you doing?! Cursing our boy Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted April 12, 2025 Author Paid Members Posted April 12, 2025 Prick. Can’t stand him anyway but he can fuck off with that. Here’s your fight day visuals. Actually considering setting the alarm for those last four fights and watching them live. We’ll see but I haven’t felt the need to do that for a while. Quote
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