Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted June 3, 2025 Paid Members Posted June 3, 2025 (edited) Back in business… PPV MAIN CARD Ilia Topuria vs Charles Oliveira - Vacant Lightweight Title Alexandre Pantoja©️vs Kai Kara-France - Flyweight Title Brandon Royval vs Joshua Van Beneil Dariush vs Renato Moicano Payton Talbott vs Felipe Lima ESPN PRELIMS Jack Hermansson vs Gregory Rodrigues Jose Delgado vs Hyder Amil Viviane Araujo vs Tracy Cortez Terrance McKinney vs Viacheslav Borshchev ESPN+/FIGHT PASS PRELIMS Niko Price vs Jacobe Smith Jhonata Diniz vs Alvin Hines That’s more like it. Not mega stacked but it’s way better than the vast majority of the shite they’ve been serving up this year. Still wish we were getting Makhachev vs Topuria but this is the way it is now in the UFC, I guess. Between this and the mess going on at Heavyweight, Dana’s ‘we make the fights the fans wanna see’ waffle once again proven to be bollocks. Not gonna grumble at Topuria vs Oliveira though. I’m guessing there’ll be a couple more fights added to this yet and the bout order is probably wrong but this is only a few weeks away now so we should probably get talking about it. If there’s any of you left still reading these things! Ilia Topuria vs Charles Oliveira feels like it’s came out of left field but what a fight it could be. It’s not ideal. It seemed like we were on track for Topuria vs Islam Makhachev and I was also hoping we’d get an Oliveira vs Max Holloway rematch next. But the result of that Belal vs JDM fight in Montreal changed the course of everything. Makhachev’s moving up to 170, so he’s had to relinquish his Lightweight belt and that’s how we’ve arrived here. Not the best and it’s a bit shit that Makhachev’s reign as 155 champ has came to an end with such anti-climax. Not even sure if he’ll be back at 155 anytime soon either so there’s a chance Makhachev vs Topuria is gonna end up on the ‘one that got away’ pile along with so many other fights that escaped us. On the plus side, how can you complain about a fight like this? Topuria vs Oliveira? Let’s have it. Topuria was hands down the Fighter Of The Year in 2024 for me. No question about it. He only fought twice but those two wins were 1) a knockout over Alexander Volkanovski to become UFC Featherweight champion and 2) a knockout over Max Holloway to defend the strap, also becoming the first man to ever knock Max out. There mightn’t have ever been a better two consecutive wins in MMA than that. He looks the business. He’s caught on as a huge star in Spain and Georgia and he’s still undefeated at 16-0 and still under 30 years old. After the Holloway win, all the talk was that we were most likely getting Topuria vs Volk 2 next. And I’ll be honest, I wasn’t feeling that. So while Topuria’s time on the Featherweight throne was short, I don’t hate him moving up to 155. There were a couple of fights I still wanted to see at 145 but there’s more options at 155 and it’s a new challenge for him. How can he really top those back-to-back knockouts over Volk and Max anyway? At that point you’ve already conquered two of the absolute greatest ever in the division. I get why he’d wanna move on to new things. The only negative is that Topuria moving up felt like the Makhachev fight was gonna be next. And that’s exactly the kind of fight MMA has been missing this year and could really do with at the moment. But now Makhachev’s off to 170. Topuria wasn’t happy about it. “Islam is the biggest hypocrite I’ve ever seen. He said he didn’t want to give me the opportunity because I was the little guy. Now he is the little guy looking for the same opportunity I was looking for. A hypocrite.” - Ilia Topuria He’s been saying Makhachev fled the division and ran from him and all sorts. I don’t buy that Makhachev’s ‘scared’ of Topuria but I do kind of get where Topuria’s coming from here with the “hypocrite” talk. There’d been a bit of talk about a potential Makhachev vs Topuria fight before either gave up their belts and Makhachev was a bit dismissive and saying Topuria hadn’t earned it, was a ‘nobody’ at 155 and so on. Then when Topuria vacated his 145 belt to move up and fight for the 155 belt, Makhachev decided to relinquish his 155 belt to go for gold at 170. He’s in the same boat Topuria is. He hasn’t technically ‘earned’ anything at 170 just like Topuria hasn’t at 155. However you chop it up, that is a bit of hypocrisy. The argument from Makhachev’s side is basically that he was dominant at 155 and ‘cleared the division out’ but, while Topuria’s run on top of 145 was way shorter, I’d say the quality of his wins over Volk and Max are higher than any of Makhachev’s. Whatever. It’s just a shame that fight couldn’t happen before Makhachev moved onto 170. Hopefully it can still happen somewhere down the line. For now, Topuria’s gotta get past this guy… Charles Oliveira is one of my favourite fighters on the roster and has been for years. Been a fan since the very first time I saw him in his UFC debut all the way back in 2010! It’s been a long road with lots of bumps and diversions, lots of ups and downs, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a boring or bad fight out of him. Ever. Genuinely can’t think of one. Win or lose there’s usually always something wild happening in a ‘Do Bronx’ fight. Although he actually went the distance with Michael Chandler in his last fight on the MSG card in November. A rare decision for him. Out of 46 career fights, he’s only been to the scorecards 6 times. Which is nuts really. Kill or be killed. He won that Chandler fight clearly but, I don’t know. He’s 35 years old now, he’s had so many hard fights, some bad losses, you have to assume he’s nearing the end of his career now. I don’t know if I’m reading too much into it but I was surprised he wasn’t able to put Chandler away that night. He’d knocked him out in their first fight in 2021 but couldn’t find the finish against an older version of him who was coming off a long layoff in the rematch. He lost to Arman Tsarukyan before that as well. I don’t know. I don’t wanna completely count him out because he’s had rough patches before and bounced back. And he is coming off a win here. But those previous rough patches were when he was a younger man with less miles on the clock. I don’t think he’s shot or anything but I do feel like he’s lost a step or two since he lost the title to Makhachev a few years ago. Here we go then. An interesting one. My head is saying Topuria wins and I’ve got a feeling it might be early and decisive. Just a gut feeling. But who knows? He is going up a weight class. And despite my concerns about Oliveira, he’s a big Lightweight and he’s definitely dangerous. Topuria’s fought at 155 once before. The Jai Herbert fight in London back in 2022. And I don’t know what to read into that because that’s the fight where Herbert dropped him with a brutal headkick, but then it ended with Topuria knocking him out cold. So he did show some vulnerability at 155 but he also showed that his punching power carried up to 155. Also think it’s clear that Topuria’s a better fighter than he was 3 years ago as well so I don’t know if it’s worth even looking too much into that Herbert fight really. Whatever happens, this is gonna be exciting for however long it lasts. Topuria’s straight in the deep end at 155 and could become a two weight champ. And on the other side, if Oliveira can be the first to beat him and reclaim the title, what an incredible accomplishment and legacy booster that would be. Alexandre Pantoja vs Kai Kara-France is a very solid co-main event. It’s been nice to see some fresh fights in the Flyweight division more recently. For the longest time the title picture at 125lbs felt like Groundhog Day, from the Figgy vs Moreno four fight series to Pantoja beating Moreno and Royval multiple times each. It’s been refreshing to get a few different guys in the mix lately. Kara-France has been in that mix before but never crossed paths with Pantoja until now. Pantoja’s been on a hell of a run. In my opinion, he’s probably the most overlooked and unsung champion on the roster right now. Whenever there’s talk of who the top fighters in the sport are, it seems like his name doesn’t come up as much as it probably should. I think he’ll probably be one of those fighters who’s appreciated more after he’s retired unfortunately. He’s great though. Never fucks about trying to pick and choose who ‘deserves’ a shot either, which is sadly becoming the way most champs are these days. He’s 35 years old now so he’s long in the tooth for a Flyweight and, truthfully, he’s probably already outstayed his welcome for a 125er. He’s still firing on all cylinders for now though. He looked fantastic in his submission win over former Rizin champ Kai Asakura in December. Awesome performance and a beautiful finish. Before that he beat Steve Erceg in one of the best fights of last year. Then you throw in the two wins over Royval, the wins over Moreno including the FOTY candidate in 2023. Pound-for-pound debates are pointless and go nowhere but he’s one of the best fighters in the game today for me, regardless of weight class. Kai Kara-France is 32 years old now with a record of 25-11-0-1 and 15 finishes. Fun fighter to watch and, like I said, I’m happy to see Pantoja against someone new again. But…it does feel like he’s only getting this title shot because he’s one of the only top ranked guys Pantoja hasn’t already gone through. No problem with that myself but when you look at it, KKF’s 1-2 in his last 3 fights and hasn’t been very active over the last few years. I mean, he did do this… …to Steve Erceg in his last fight back in August. I get it. Pantoja went five hard rounds with Erceg, KKF crushed him in less than a round. I guess it’s a case of ‘how you won last time’ more than ‘how many you won in a row’ in this scenario. But still, 1-2 in his last 3? Not the best. Whatever though. I’ll take it. I’d rather this than another Royval fight or something. And who else is there? They tried to build guys like Tatsuro Taira and Amir Albazi up and they both lost to the old guard. The only other option would’ve been the returning Kyoji Horiguchi. I wouldn’t have had any issue with him getting an immediate crack at Pantoja in his return but it turns out he’s injured anyway and his return is delayed. So it’s all worked out for the best in the end. And it should be a cracking fight, to be fair. Nothing to complain about here for me. Despite him getting up there in age now, I’d have to favour Pantoja myself on current form, plus Kara-France not being as active of late. But we’ll see. You never know. KKF showed last time out that he’s a threat and you have to wonder when all these gruelling battles are gonna catch up to the champ. Brandon Royval vs Joshua Van is a late change and now easily ***WAND’S ONE TO WATCH*** on this card. Originally supposed to be Royval vs Manel Kape but Kape’s gone and done what he does best, pull out of fights. This is an upgrade for me. Much more interesting fight and I think it’ll probably be a more exciting fight to watch as well. Kape’s got some skills, when he shows up, but it often seems like a 50/50 coin flip how watchable his fights are. One fight he’ll look good, next fight he seems gun-shy. I don’t think we’ll get any of that here. Royval’s ranked #1 in the Flyweight division. The only thing holding him back from getting a title shot at the moment is the fact that he’s already 0-2 down to the current champion Alexandre Pantoja. If Royval keeps winning and Pantoja is still champ, there’s gonna come a time, pretty soon, when they’re forced to give him another crack at it. He’s #1 in the rankings after all. And since losing to Pantoja in December 2023, he’s bounced back by beating Brandon Moreno and Tatsuro Taira in 2024. It’s gonna be hard to deny him any longer if he wins again here. He also has a submission win over Kai Kara-France back in 2020. So if KKF takes the belt off Pantoja on this card, a rematch there could be on the cards. There’s a few ways it can go. But now there’s a wild card thrown into the mix. Josh Van steps in on just over two weeks notice. I don’t think the short notice in itself is gonna be an issue in this fight though because Van’s always active and he literally just fought at UFC 316 on the 7th. Battered Bruno Silva for the third round TKO. Quick turnaround but I can’t blame him at all for jumping on this opportunity. He’s kind of got nothing to lose. He’s only just reached #10 in the rankings. It’s a big step up and on short notice. And if he does lose, at 23 he’s obviously got time to rebuild and he can chalk it up to experience. If he wins though? The risk vs reward factor for him here makes this all worthwhile. If he wins this fight then he just beat the #1 guy and he’ll be instantly catapulted into the title shot conversations. Big credit to Royval for taking a late notice replacement like this as well. Van’s gonna get the credit for jumping in but Royval’s the one taking the risk here really. He’s putting that #1 ranking on the line against #10, and against a different type of fighter than the one he was training for when camp started. Really like the pairing as well. Van’s still young and fearless and I think his aggression will bring out the best in Royval. Great fight. Beneil Dariush vs Renato Moicano is alright. Not loving it but it’ll do and it’s pretty logical matchmaking for both at this stage. This was actually scheduled to go down at UFC 311 in January but then that whole drama happened with Tsarukyan dropping out of the Makhachev fight just 24 hours before show time and they had to reshuffle the card. Moicano ended up getting the opportunity to go for gold against Makhachev, Dariush wound up as the odd man out with no fight. Felt bad for him. He’s coming off two losses and hasn’t fought since December 2023, he finally comes back and that happens? It’s never ideal for any fighter to essentially waste an entire training camp and then not even get to fight. But for Dariush, at 36 years old, he could really do without that shit. This is a bit of a must win situation for him. He really can’t afford another loss here. Three losses in a row at 36 is gonna be a bastard to bounce back from. Moicano’s looking to redeem himself as well. Short notice or not, Makhachev proper squashed him in January. Could actually make for a better fight now with both guys backs against the wall. Payton Talbott vs Felipe Lima just got chucked onto the card a couple of weeks out. This is a cool little prospect vs prospect fight actually but the way matchmaking seems so last minute a lot of times these days is weird. It’s like they can’t cope with the schedule anymore. How’s this only come together a fortnight before the show? Anyway, good fight. If they’ve had a proper camp and this wasn’t just sprung on them anyway. Talbott’s coming off his first loss here. His first career setback. Think we might’ve jinxed him. A few of us were bigging him up in the UKFF Awards at the end of last year, saying he was one of the breakout stars of 2024 and stuff. Then January comes and he loses to Raoni Barcelos, who’s a solid but ageing journeyman. Talbott’s still only 26 and he’s got potential and some time to fulfill it. But that loss was a bit of an eye opener. Needs a lot of work on his grappling especially. And now throwing him in with Lima could be a rough rebound for him. I’ve really liked what we’ve seen of Lima so far. He’s 27 years old, 14-1 and a former Oktagon champion. He jumped in on just a few days notice and subbed Muhammad Naimov in his UFC debut last June. Then took a decision off Miles Johns in December. It’ll be interesting to see how Talbott responds to that first loss. Lima is a tough matchup for him though. Jack Hermansson vs Gregory Rodrigues is a decent enough fight, although I don’t really know what to expect out of it. Don’t know what’s been going on with Hermansson but he barely fights anymore. He’s 36 and has been on a patchy run of results over the last few years so I’m assuming it’s injuries plaguing him because you’d think he’d wanna get as many paydays in as possible at this stage of his career. To be fair to him, he looked good in his last fight in February last year. He was coming into that one off a year plus layoff as well but still had enough about him to school that dickhead Joe Pyfer over five rounds. It was satisfying to see and he surprised me with how sharp he looked considering the inactivity going in. But that could be a case of Pyfer just not being anything special either. Now he’s been out another year plus. Fuck knows? And Rodrigues just got stopped by Jared Cannonier in his first main event back in February this year. He started well in that one but Cannonier’s five round experience paid off and he weathered the storm and got to ‘Robocop’ in the fourth round. Can see this being enjoyable to watch but not sure how it goes. At some point these layoffs are gonna catch up to Hermansson and Rodrigues is a heavy hitter. Feels like a recipe for a bad night for Hermansson but I thought that last time and he proved me wrong. Jose Delgado vs Hyder Amil should be worth at least checking into the prelims for. Don’t know much about Delgado. He’s 27 years old, 9-1 and had a short and sweet UFC debut in February, stopping Connor Matthews in the first round. Amil’s been a lot of fun so far though. He’s undefeated at 11-0 but he’s also 35 years old. My expectations aren’t particularly high and he’s been fighting with such a wild style at times that I can see him getting derailed badly soon. But so far? Fuck, he even dragged a bit of a belter out of boring arse William Gomis last time out! I thought that was impossible but he did it. And he won. He won a crazy one rounder against Jeong Yeong Lee before that as well. I don’t see him keeping his unbeaten record much longer but he seems like one of those fighters who’s always gonna be worth tuning in for wherever he is on the card. Viviane Araujo vs Tracy Cortez is just making up the numbers. A filler fight if there ever was one. It’ll get some attention because Cortez is in it and MMA fans are perverts but that’s it. It sounds harsh but the appeal of her has always been about her looks more than how she actually fights. Anyone pretending otherwise is lying to themselves. I don’t think I’ve ever watched a fight of hers and been entertained. And she’s 31 now. It’s not like she’s some 19 year old rookie with bags of time to get better. She is pretty much what she is at this point. Still far from the worst in the Flyweight division but not great either. She did manage to go a full five rounds with Rose Namajunas last time out but she lost clearly and it’s not like Rose is at her best these days. And Araujo’s similar in that I’ve never found her much fun to watch. But she’s 38 years old on top of it. Yeah, not into this one. Terrance McKinney vs Viacheslav Borshchev is one of those ‘don’t blink’ fights. McKinney’s never gonna be a contender, probably never gonna go higher than he is now, but for his level he’s about as pure a finisher as there is on the roster. In 23 pro fights, win or lose, he’s NEVER gone to the judges scorecards. Not once. And he’s only been out of the first round four times! He’s not that good, he’s got his flaws, but he goes for it. You can’t deny that. He’s 16-7 now and coming off a quick first round TKO over Damir Hadzovic on the Saudi card in February. Before that he got knocked out himself in 37 seconds by Esteban Ribovics. And that kind of sums him up. Live by the sword etc. And you know what Slava Claus is about. He’s got close to zero grappling and he likes to throw hands so he’ll meet McKinney head on. Niko Price vs Jacobe Smith just got added two weeks out from the show. Think this will be worth checking out. Smith looks like someone worth keeping tabs on. He’s 29 years old and undefeated at 10-0 with 8 by KO/TKO. Amateur wrestling standout from Oklahoma and when he made his UFC debut back in January, I remember Daniel Cormier hyping him up quite a bit as a can’t miss prospect. He looked good in the fight as well. Knocked out Preston Parsons just over a minute into the first round. Yeah, it was only Preston Parsons but it’s worth noting that Smith jumped into that fight on very late notice. Think it was like a week tops before the fight he stepped in. Price is a tough guy and I like him but it’s a hurdle I think Smith should clear quite comfortably if he’s gonna be anywhere near as good as he’s being cracked up to be. Price has gone 2-4 in his last 6 and is coming off a points loss against Themba Gorimbo in October. Jhonata Diniz vs Alvin Hines is a late card change. Was supposed to be Diniz against Justin Tafa but Tafa’s pulled out just a couple of weeks before show time. Not a huge blow. Wasn’t like I particularly cared about the original fight, to be honest. Diniz is 33 years old, 8-1 and coming off the first loss of his career, a TKO via doctor stoppage against Marcin Tybura at MSG in November. All I remember about that one is Diniz bleeding all over the place. Tybura made a bit of a mess of him. Hines is making his UFC debut. He’s also 33 and has an unbeaten record of 7-0 with 6 finishes. He’s coming off a headkick KO win on a LFA card in April. Finally a card worth a shit! Edited June 28, 2025 by wandshogun09 Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted June 9, 2025 Author Paid Members Posted June 9, 2025 Well… On 6/3/2025 at 7:55 PM, wandshogun09 said: Brandon Royval vs Manel Kape is on. We’ll see if it actually happens though. I’ve said it a lot on here but you can never really rely on Kape. He’s had a lot of fight cancellations… Would you believe it? Manel Kape’s out. Shocking news, I know. On the plus side, Joshua Van’s stepping in! Quote
Bruce85 Posted June 9, 2025 Posted June 9, 2025 1 hour ago, wandshogun09 said: Well… Would you believe it? Manel Kape’s out. Shocking news, I know. On the plus side, Joshua Van’s stepping in! Surely Kape is going to get the boot soon, seems so unreliable! This could be the making of Van, if, and it’s a big if, but if he gets past Royval then you’d think he’d be next in line for a title shot. Just wonder if he’d be better climbing the ranks a bit slower, look at Erceg for example. Quote
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted June 10, 2025 Paid Members Posted June 10, 2025 Joshua Van is not fucking about. Better fight for me giving Van's momentum, like it! Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted June 13, 2025 Author Paid Members Posted June 13, 2025 Has MMA even been deader on here? This is two weeks away. Granted it’s not a deep card but a fight like Topuria vs Oliveira being just a fortnight away and getting zero buzz or discussion on here is telling. We used to have 3 and 4 page threads for bog standard Fight Nights not too long ago, for fuck’s sake! ? Quote
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted June 13, 2025 Paid Members Posted June 13, 2025 Yeah, my interest is at an all time low right now, which sucks. I'll get drawn back in and im still following day to day but im struggling abit. Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted June 13, 2025 Author Paid Members Posted June 13, 2025 Same. They’re doing something wrong when fight addicts like you and me are talking like that. Quote
Paid Members Carbomb Posted June 13, 2025 Paid Members Posted June 13, 2025 For me, you guys' lack of enthusiasm is catching - and the Trump bootlicking kind of puts paid to the rest. Can't be doing with it. Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted June 15, 2025 Author Paid Members Posted June 15, 2025 Few changes/late additions. • Justin Tafa’s out, Jhonata Diniz is now fighting some late replacement called Alvin Hines. • Payton Talbott vs Felipe Lima and Niko Price vs Jacobe Smith have been added to the card. The Diniz vs Hines thing, whatever. Shit happens. I’m guessing they’ll reshuffle the bout order order the next week or so because it looks completely wonky at the minute. Diniz vs Tafa was scheduled to kick off the main card for some reason. I like the Talbott vs Lima and Price vs Smith additions. Anyone else find it really weird how late some of these fights just get thrown on cards now though? It’s not like these guys are stepping in as last minute replacements. These are completely new fights getting added just two weeks before the show. It’s pretty safe to assume these fights were probably in the works for a bit behind the scenes and those fighters will have had a bit more time to prepare than it appears at face value from the timing of the official announcements. But you never really used to get this until recently. Fights just getting thrown together and shoved on cards a couple of weeks before show time. It just gives an impression of there being complete chaos in the matchmakers office at UFC HQ. Just scrambling around trying to plug holes in the schedule, calling fighters trying to convince them to take short notice fights with limited training camps etc. Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted June 18, 2025 Author Paid Members Posted June 18, 2025 The Paulo Costa vs Roman Kopylov fight has been moved to 318 in July now, which is the Holloway vs Poirier 3 card. Not like it was a mega fight or anything but it just further weakens this card. It’s a shame because the two title fights on this are tremendous but the ‘support’ is Apex filth dressed up as a PPV undercard. Isn’t this the International Fight Week card as well? The big late June/early July/July 4th PPV was always historically one they’d load up. Just thinking back - UFC 100, that barmy Lesnar vs Carwin show in 2010, the Jones vs Cormier 2 card etc. Monster cards. You get dismissed as ‘nostalgic’ or an ‘old head’ if you say this shit on social media but things really aren’t the way they used to be. Some of us have been fans long enough that, in 2015/16, we could’ve been nostalgic for 2005/06 and slagging off the product at the time. I don’t remember that at all though. And that’s because the UFC was still delivering and still fun in 2015/16. They’ve stripped a lot of the fun out of it and it’s sad to see. There’s always gonna be little bright spots like this Topuria vs Oliveira fight but they’re making it hard to give much of a shite these days aren’t they? Quote
jimufctna24 Posted June 18, 2025 Posted June 18, 2025 On 6/3/2025 at 7:55 PM, wandshogun09 said: My head is saying Topuria wins and I’ve got a feeling it might be early and decisive. Just a gut feeling. But who knows? Topuria is the truth and I am picking him to win. But it will be very interesting to see how he deals with Oliveira's teeps and clinch. Great match-up. I like Volk a great deal, but I have to agree that Oliveira is the more interesting opponent for Topuria. Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted June 19, 2025 Author Paid Members Posted June 19, 2025 Yeah I think it’s an interesting fight. Partly due to the threats Oliveira brings and partly it being up at 155, where Topuria is yet to prove himself. It’s not worth basing too much on but the one time we saw Topuria at 155 in the UFC was the Jai Herbert fight in 2022 and…this happened… Like I said, I’m not putting too much stock in that because it was three years ago and Topuria did respond by winning the fight by brutal knockout. But it’s the one time we’ve seen Topuria get properly walloped in the UFC and it was at Lightweight. He took it well and recovered quick, which is encouraging, but Herbert is obviously no Oliveira either. Charles is a lethal finisher and he’s always got that chance of catching an opponent and closing the show. But I can’t help thinking the timing isn’t on his side. I don’t think he’s washed up by any means but I think his best days have been and gone. Even his last fight, he mostly dominated Michael Chandler but the fact he couldn’t put that ageing, inactive version of Chandler away wasn’t a great sign to me. Especially when he’d chinned him early in their first fight and fucking Paddy Pimblett was able to demolish him in his next fight after the Oliveira rematch. I’ve got Topuria to win within a couple of rounds. Just think he’s too sharp and dialled in right now and Oliveira might’ve lost a step and he’s always been hittable. Still, the danger Oliveira brings means he’s always in with a chance and it’ll make for an exciting fight however long it lasts. Quote
Bruce85 Posted June 19, 2025 Posted June 19, 2025 Call me crazy (and I feel it for typing this) but if Topuria wins I’d like to see him fight Paddy next. As has been mentioned in other threads Dana ignores rankings when it suits him, star power is at an all time low so just make the fight now before Paddy gets beaten and the fight loses it’s appeal. If they could do a big PPV in UK or Spain this would be a great headliner. I don’t think it’s a forgone conclusion that Topuria beats Oliveira. I’d definitely favour Topuria but ol Charly olives might have lost a step or 2 but he’s still dangerous and I think the whole image he had of looking for a way out when things got tough has well and truly passed and he should be well up for this as you’d assume it’s his last crack at the belt. I’m looking forward to this card but my interested in the UFC is flagging. Chatting on here is keeping it going for now! Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted June 21, 2025 Author Paid Members Posted June 21, 2025 (edited) On 6/19/2025 at 4:24 PM, Bruce85 said: Call me crazy (and I feel it for typing this) but if Topuria wins I’d like to see him fight Paddy next. As has been mentioned in other threads Dana ignores rankings when it suits him, star power is at an all time low so just make the fight now before Paddy gets beaten and the fight loses it’s appeal. If they could do a big PPV in UK or Spain this would be a great headliner. I never thought I’d say it but I can see it happening. Paddy’s obviously pushing for it and now I’ve noticed Topuria’s talking about it and seems very open to the idea. There’s a risk they’re both overlooking Oliveira but if Topuria gets past him, at this point I wouldn’t be shocked if Topuria vs Pimblett actually gets booked for later this year. Madness. I know Paddy was talking about wanting to fight Justin Gaethje next at one point but Gaethje’s since come out and said he wants a title shot next, he’s not interested in fighting anyone else and he’ll just retire if he doesn’t get a title shot. That’s crackers to me. He’s coming off one win over a short notice Fiziev who was also coming off a long layoff. Gaethje is one fight removed from that devastating Holloway KO loss. I think Paddy should have to win one more fight over one of the top guys at 155 but the UFC probably won’t wanna risk it when they’re so close to being able to justify him getting a title shot. They’re not gonna risk throwing him in with a Tsarukyan or Gamrot at this point. And now Gaethje’s publicly saying he won’t fight unless it’s for the title, it gives the UFC the perfect excuse to say ‘well Paddy wanted to fight Gaethje, Gaethje refused, so Paddy’s getting the title shot’. Then on top of everything else, Topuria and Paddy have a bit of history. They’re gonna do it. If Topuria beats Oliveira next week, I think that’s the way it’s going. Edited June 21, 2025 by wandshogun09 Quote
Paid Members Carbomb Posted June 21, 2025 Paid Members Posted June 21, 2025 The only real appeal of Pimblett vs. Topuria is seeing that little racist cunt finally get his comeuppance. Classic chickenshit heel booking. Gaethje/Topuria would be ace, but personally I think Tsarukyan/Topuria should be it. That can't be anything but fireworks, surely? And Arman deserves a shot by now, I reckon. Quote
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