Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted July 24, 2025 Paid Members Posted July 24, 2025 (edited) Off to Chicago and it’s a big one… PPV MAIN CARD Dricus Du Plessis©️vs Khamzat Chimaev - Middleweight Title Lerone Murphy vs Aaron Pico Geoff Neal vs Carlos Prates Jared Cannonier vs Michael Venom Page Tim Elliott vs Kai Asakura ESPN PRELIMS Baisangur Susurkaev vs Eric Nolan Gerald Meerschaert vs Michal Oleksiejczuk Jessica Andrade vs Loopy Godinez Alexander Hernandez vs Chase Hooper ESPN+/FIGHT PASS PRELIMS Edson Barboza vs Drakkar Klose Karine Silva vs Dione Barbosa Alibi Idiris vs Joseph Morales - TUF Flyweight Final OK, first off, that’s not the final bout order. I’ll update it as and when the changes happen. The co-main event is a mystery though. They put a graphic up during UFC 318 and it had the main card in that order, but with TBA vs TBA in the co-main spot. No idea. We’re only three weeks away. My only thinking is maybe they’re gonna reschedule that Evloev vs Pico fight for this card but I’m not even sure that’s an option because I don’t know what Evloev’s injury was or how long he’s gonna be out. Fuck knows? If it’s a completely new fight then it’s a bit shit throwing one together this late in the day. Whatever, decent card overall, not the deepest for PPV but that main event! Don’t wanna get too excited because you know Khamzat’s track record but…that main event! Dricus Du Plessis vs Khamzat Chimaev is finally happening. Well, hopefully. You know how it goes with Khamzat. As good as he obviously is, he’s proven himself to be pretty unreliable over the years. Even if it gets to fight week, even if it gets to the weigh ins, you just can’t count on him or be confident he shows up on the night. When he does though, Christ. And that’s the thing with him. No matter how many times we get burned, we’re sucked back in the second he’s booked again because he’s such a beast when he does step in the Octagon. And this fight, if it happens, is gonna be pure chaos. I honestly can’t even picture in my head how these two are gonna match up when the cage door locks behind them. Will DDP’s weird style be the kryptonite to Khamzat’s dominance? Fuck knows what’s gonna happen here. I just hope the fight goes ahead because it’s genuinely one of the best and most interesting fights the UFC can possibly make in 2025. I never would’ve called it when he first came into the UFC back in 2020 but Dricus Du Plessis has solidified himself as a legitimate champion at this point. He came in with a decent record and was already a two division champ in the EFC promotion in South Africa. But early in his UFC run I think I doubted him in every fight until he gave me no choice but to believe in him when he bashed up Robert Whittaker in 2023. Since then he’s became champion, beat Sean Strickland twice and submitted Israel Adesanya. He’s proven that, while his style is unorthodox and far from technically pretty to watch, it’s been effective. It works for him anyway. There’s a method to his weirdness. Then you add in other factors like his toughness, his relentlessness even when tired and just his physicality in there, he’s a lot to handle. He’s a guy I think opponents probably watch on tape and think he’s sloppy and that they can exploit his weaknesses, but it’s a different ball game once you’re actually in there with him. He’s a handful. It’s taken longer than I think anyone expected but Khamzat is finally challenging for UFC gold. He also made his UFC debut in 2020, back in that crazy summer of the lockdown he burst on the scene almost out of nowhere and fought on two Fight Island cards within 10 days, absolutely squashing John Phillips and Rhys McKee with ease. He then fought again just two months later, knocking out Gerald Meerschaert in just 17 seconds. I think everyone assumed he was gonna be this mega active beast who would get fast-tracked through the ranks but it obviously hasn’t gone that way. From health problems to injuries to struggling to make weight (or sometimes not even trying) to Visa issues and rumours he couldn’t even enter the US, it’s been a right mess and has really stalled his career. Since 2021, he’s fought roughly once a year with the exception of one year when he fought twice. He crushed Li Jingliang and Kevin Holland but was taken the distance in his two big step up fights by Gilbert Burns and Kamaru Usman. He still got the wins in those fights but questions were raised on his potential at the highest level and particularly on his cardio. Then in October last year, he erased a lot of the doubts… …when he mangled Robert Whittaker with a brutal face crank in the first round. Everyone assumed it was a broken jaw in real time but apparently Khamzat just crushed Whittaker’s teeth inwards. Sounds fucking grim. Whittaker had to have the teeth taken out and have implants in. Terrifying stuff from Khamzat. His scariest performance against what arguably should’ve been his toughest opponent to date. I’ll say this though, as impressive as that win was, we still didn’t really learn anything new about him. The questions on his gas tank still remain. We all knew going in that he’s a monster early in a fight. He has the capability to do that to anyone if he has a good start in the grappling and gets a strong position on the ground early. But those Burns and Usman fights showed he’s not quite the same threat later in a fight and he’s yet to show otherwise. Now obviously, actually surviving that opening round against Khamzat and dragging him into deep waters is a lot easier said than done. But he’s not gonna bulldoze every single opponent in a round so it’s a talking point that’s gonna keep coming up until he deals with it. I’m hoping DDP will be able to take this into the later rounds, make a dogfight out of it and we see what Khamzat’s really about. This fight has actually been brewing for a while. They’ve been having digs at each other on social media for about a year or so now. And after Khamzat beat Whittaker in October I think everyone thought DDP vs Khamzat was the fight to make. This was the highlight of their social media exchanges… DDP’s a menace ? For some reason though, the UFC decided to go with a Du Plessis vs Strickland rematch despite Khamzat coming off a much more impressive win. Even DDP seemed a bit confused by it and actually said he’d have preferred to fight Khamzat but the UFC wanted the Strickland rematch. It only fuelled the speculation that Khamzat couldn’t fight in the US and that they were probably delaying it until he could challenge the winner later in the year in Abu Dhabi or something. Of course, DDP beat Strickland again (have it Prickland, 2-0!) reopening that door for the big showdown with Khamzat. In May it was finally announced. DDP vs Khamzat is on. And in Chicago! So whatever the stumbling blocks were for Khamzat fighting in America, apparently they’ve been resolved now. How the fuck does this one go then? Anyone confident either way? It’s seems like really lazy analysis now because every time Khamzat fights we basically say the same thing. ‘Either Khamzat crushes him early or fades late and loses on points’. But I feel like it’s the same thing here. I think DDP is certainly durable enough to get through that initial onslaught and he’s shown a few times now that he can go five rounds and maintain his pace and still be a threat in the later rounds. He’s pretty tried and tested as a five round fighter at this point. But I thought the same with Whittaker and look how that ended. As tough as DDP is, he could still get finished early here. Khamzat is just that dangerous. But I do think DDP has as good a chance as anyone to drag Khamzat into a longer fight. On the other hand, scary as he is, Khamzat’s never gone five rounds and he’s only gone three rounds twice (Burns/Usman). And like I said, those were the only two times he’s been made to look human. I think DDP has the tools and toughness to do the same but I’m far from confident in that. If Khamzat gets the momentum going early, and he gets you down and can get hold of your neck while he’s fresh and you’re both dry, he’s gonna be close to impossible to stop. I honestly don’t have a clue with this. I’m slightly feeling a Khamzat win but, like I said, I’ve doubted DDP a bunch of times and he keeps finding ways to win. There isn’t really any result or ending to this fight that would shock me, I don’t think. Unless it’s something proper off the wall like a twister or Buckley’s modified enziguri KO or something. Really feels like one of those crazy fights where anything can happen. Now we just have to sit and wait and hope that it actually goes ahead. Lerone Murphy vs Aaron Pico is the co-main event. Pico’s UFC debut and it’s casually thrown together just three weeks out from the show. Not sure if it’s three rounds or five. Probably three given the short notice. This is one of those things that I’m not really a fan of these days, the way they seem to chuck more fights together last minute. I get that Pico’s fight with Movsar Evloev on the Abu Dhabi card fell through but this card had no co-main even before that. This is a good fight on paper and Pico was in camp anyway so that’s a plus, but the circumstances with Murphy taking it on really short notice and Pico now having a completely different style opponent mean we probably won’t get as good a fight out of this as we might’ve if they both actually had a full camp to prepare specifically for each other. Oh well. It’s a boost to this card regardless and with Murphy at #6 in the Featherweight rankings it’s a great opportunity for unranked Pico to come in and catapult himself straight into that Top 10. Murphy’s taking all the risk here. Like I said, he’s ranked #6, he’s undefeated at 16-0-1 and he’s 34 years old. He’s been beating some solid names lately. He’s coming into this fight off the back of three consecutive decision wins over Edson Barboza, Dan Ige and Josh Emmett. But he’s not the most exciting fighter to watch and you get the impression the UFC aren’t exactly chomping at the bit to put him in a title fight anytime soon. He’s gonna be one like Leon Edwards where they’ll end up giving him a shot if he keeps winning and there’s no other obvious contender but they’d rather not. So he’s in a position where, at 34, any slip up at this stage could completely kill off his chances of ever getting a title shot. You know if a fighter like Murphy loses one now, he’ll go straight to the back of the line and at 34 it’s not likely he works his way back up with a string of wins again. So him taking this fight on short notice is ballsy. And it’s probably the type of risk he’s gonna have to take to maybe score some brownie points with the matchmakers and possibly improve his chances of title contention. Aaron Pico has arrived. Mr Bellator. Or as Brendan ‘Yoghurt For Brains’ Schaub once described him - ‘Our LeBron James’. Remember that shit? I know Pico’s been wanting to sign with the UFC for a while. He was another one of those guys who became really disgruntled when PFL took over Bellator and sat a bunch of fighters on ice. Pico hasn’t fought since February 2024 because of all that bollocks. No wonder he wanted out. There was a ton of buzz around him when he first came into MMA. He’d been an amateur wrestling prodigy as a teenager, had sponsorship deals with Nike and stuff and was attempting to make a run at the 2016 Olympics but never quite made the squad. If I’m remembering right, Scott Coker signed him to a long term contract when he was ridiculously young. Pico was training at AKA at the time and had been planning to transition to MMA for a while. The hype on him before he’d even made his pro debut was nuts. Big things were expected of him. He finally made his debut at Bellator 180 in June 2017 and… It didn’t end well for him. His first ever pro MMA fight, after all the build up and anticipation, all the expectations, only for him to get submitted by Zach Freeman in just 24 seconds. Disaster. In hindsight, maybe the occasion was too much for him. It was his debut and it was at Madison Square Garden on a card with a Wanderlei Silva vs Chael Sonnen main event and Fedor on the undercard, for fuck’s sake! It was a lot of pressure to put on a young kid coming in. He bounced back with four straight quick knockout wins and everything seemed to be back on track. Then he got stopped in back-to-back fights by Henry Corrales and Adam Borics and that was that. Hype train derailed. This is where the whole ‘Our LeBron’ thing became a bit of a running joke on here as I recall. Think it was the Corrales loss and Rogan and Schaub were on their Fight Companion podcast doing a live reaction and they were proper sucking Pico off. Bigging him up to silly levels with Rogan saying “he looks like a world champion boxer” and Schaub giving it the “MMA’s LeBron” twaddle. It was hilarious seeing their faces when Pico got chinned. I drifted away from watching Bellator much over the next few years so I never really followed Pico’s career closely after that. Might’ve seen one or two fights. To be fair, he’s clawed back a respectable record of 13-4, went 9-1 since that Borics loss and he avenged the Corrales defeat in his last fight. Like I said though, he’s been on the shelf well over a year now. He’s still only 28, he’s got time and he can definitely be an exciting fighter to watch. My big memory of him from those early fights was that he seemed like he’d basically been infected with that ‘grappler but loves to bang’ mentality so many have fallen victim to over the years. Obviously he can strike as well but I think he fell in love with it a bit too much in the early days. Not sure if he ever addressed that in later fights but if he can use his striking and power (which he does have) to compliment his wrestling instead of replace it, he could be onto something. “I don’t want a participation trophy for the UFC. I want a belt and I’m not stopping.” - Aaron Pico Intriguing fight. It’s not as interesting to me as Pico vs Evloev would’ve been but it’s a different kind of fight and still a really good test for Pico coming in the door. I’m not sure whether the UFC are matching Pico like this because they genuinely see something in him and think he can mix it with the top guys, or if they’re doing that thing of getting a fighter who was synonymous with a rival promotion and trying to humble him or make him look inferior on his first night in. Whatever the motives, Pico has the opportunity to turn it into a positive here. If he can come in and immediately hand #6 ranked Murphy the first loss of his career, he’s gonna be fast-tracked into the title mix right away. And let’s face it, 145’s kind of wide open at the minute. With Topuria and Holloway moving up and Volk convincingly beating Lopes, there’s an opening there for some new blood in the title picture. An impressive showing from either man here could be their ticket to a title shot. Geoff Neal vs Carlos Prates was supposed to go down at UFC 314 in April but Neal had to withdraw due to injury. Glad they’ve rebooked it. Really like this pairing. Neal’s hit a bit of a rough patch in recent times, 1-2 in his last 3, but I don’t think that tells the whole story. The losses were against Shavkat Rakhmonov, in a fight where Neal really brought it, and a split decision against Ian Garry. He stopped the rot in his last fight in October, getting a win over Rafael Dos Anjos. But even then, it was a weird ending where RDA’s knee went out on him and Neal got the TKO that way. Not ideal. Prates is coming off his first UFC setback here. He had a hell of a 2024, made his UFC debut and went 4-0 with four knockouts. He was looking like he was on the fast-track but when Neal dropped out of their fight at 314, Prates was matched up with Ian Garry on the Kansas City card, lost on points and had a pretty flat performance. Good stuff. They should both be coming in with a point to prove here. Neal’s gonna be looking to make a statement after a shaky couple of years. And Prates will be looking to rebound, redeem himself and get back on track with a big win. It’s not an easy bounce back fight for Prates but I’m assuming the matchmakers have set this up with that in mind. He’s exciting to watch and they seemed quite high on him going into that Garry fight. And Neal’s about to turn 35 and hasn’t had the best run of form lately. But I wouldn’t count Neal out. I’d probably favour Prates myself but Neal’s no pushover and he’s fought an overall higher level of competition. Not sure what happens here. Both are dangerous and it could just come down to whoever is able to capitalise on that first mistake. Jared Cannonier vs Michael Venom Page is alright. I know I’m a broken record but I just can’t force myself to get up for MVP fights at all anymore. His fights never match the hype and enthusiasm they get going in. He’s not a terrible fighter but, for me, he’s not the guy people talk him up as. He looks great styling on jobbers but whenever he faces someone with anything about them, it’s usually a load of old lacklustre, dull shite. And at 38 years old, this is what he is. He’s not gonna get any better. He’s coming off a points win over Shara Magomedov on the Saudi card in February. Not MVP’s worst performance and he won clearly but, even then, it was a typically frustrating showing from him in that it felt like he could’ve pulled the trigger and really shone in that fight. But he just coasted to the scorecards instead. Can’t be arsed with him. I like Cannonier though so hopefully he’ll be able to drag something watchable out of this. He’s 41 now, clearly on borrowed time, but he’s still a tough bastard. He’s coming off a stoppage win over Gregory Rodrigues in their Apex slugfest in February. He had to get though a rough start in that one as well and came through with the finish himself. Could see him getting outpointed in typical frustrating MVP style here but I’m hoping Cannonier can force the action a bit at least. Tim Elliott vs Kai Asakura is this card’s ***WAND’S ONE TO WATCH*** and should be an absolute cracker. Really looking forward to this. Always enjoyed watching Elliott but he hasn’t fought since December 2023 due to injuries. He subbed Su Mudaerji that night but then missed all of 2024. At 38 years old, he’s long in the tooth for a Flyweight and surely only has a very limited number of fights left, so hopefully he can stay healthy now for one last little run. For me he’s one of those fighters whose record doesn’t really do them justice. He’s 20-13-1 but he’s fought pretty much everyone and he’s definitely had his moments. Even gave Mighty Mouse a great fight back when he was dominating as champion. Kai Asakura returns after an unsuccessful UFC debut in December. To be fair, he was dropped straight in the deep end his first night in against Alexandre Pantoja for the title. He came up short and got submitted in the second round but he’s still a fun addition to the division. Plenty of good fights you can make with him, this being one of them. And even in defeat, he looked dangerous in spells and caught Pantoja with a nasty knee at one point. A lot of 125ers would’ve been taken out by that knee, but unfortunately for Asakura, Pantoja has a cement chin. Honestly, if Asakura wins this fight, I wouldn’t mind seeing him welcome Kyoji Horiguchi back to the UFC for Horiguchi’s re-debut. Fuck it. They’re 1-1, why not settle the trilogy? Baisangur Susurkaev vs Eric Nolan has been casually chucked onto the card just four days before show time. I’m not even familiar with either but I’ve caught just enough on social media this week to make this an interesting one. Susurkaev is Russian, 24 years old and undefeated at 9-0, 8 came by KO/TKO, 7 came in the first round, 4 came inside the first minute! There’s been worse starts to a MMA career. He’s also Khamzat Chimaev’s training partner… Susurkaev just scored a quick stoppage on DWCS on Tuesday (12th), he immediately campaigned directly to Dana to put him on this card with his teammate Khamzat. Wish granted. Nolan is 27 years old and 8-3 with 6 finishes. He’s on a four fight winning streak and coming off a first round knockout on a Cage Fury card in May. Saw a little snippet earlier of these two at the 319 press conference yesterday and Nolan was talking some smack and calling Susurkaev “Khamzat’s little butt buddy”. It’s obviously not the ideal way for either man to make their UFC debut but I’m invested in this more than most prelims we get these days. Gerald Meerschaert vs Michal Oleksiejczuk is one of the highlights of the prelims for me. Big fan of Gerald of course but Oleksiejczuk, for all his shortcomings, is never really involved in anything dull himself. As a Meerschaert fan though, I like this matchup for him. Oleksiejczuk is heavy handed and you really don’t wanna get clipped by him, so it’s not a fight without risk. But Oleksiejczuk also has pretty much zero grappling and grappling is Meerschaert’s bread and butter. He’s had 56 fights and 37 wins. And 29 of those wins came by submission. He doesn’t play around down there. Oleksiejczuk is no De Ridder. This should be lively however long it lasts though. And there’s a strong possibility Gerald gets cracked early because he tends to do that. Then it all depends whether he can weather the storm. If he does, I think it’s his fight to lose. Jessica Andrade vs Loopy Godinez. Not a bad little fight, although I’m not sure how much Andrade has left at this stage of her career. She’s still only 33 but she’s got 40 fights worth of miles on the clock and she’s been in some rough ones. She’s never been one of those female fighters who looks like she’s light sparring in there. She always goes for it. And in her last few fights, it’s seemed like maybe that’s finally started to catch up to her. She’s always had a bit of a hot and cold win/loss ratio, she’s 26-14 now, but I don’t know. Watching her last couple of fights she just looked off. Especially her last fight, where she just got ran over and subbed in a round by Jasmine Jasudavicius. Shame because Andrade has been one of the more entertaining fighters in the women’s game for years but it’s not looking good lately. And Loopy could be another hard fight for her. She hasn’t been the most consistent herself but she’s a couple of years younger, a lot fresher and she has a really solid wrestling game which could be a problem for Andrade here. Whatever happens, hopefully it’s a good fight. Alexander Hernandez vs Chase Hooper is a solid fight and an easy one for me in terms of choosing a side. Can’t stand Hernandez. Always thought he seemed a bit of a dick. And Hooper comes across as a bit of a likeable nerd type. I’ve said before he reminds me of a young Joe Lauzon. And that’s both in personality and his fighting style. Definite J-Lau vibes from him. He’s 25 years old, 16-3-1 and on a nice five fight win streak. He had some rough setbacks a few years ago at Featherweight but he’s been looking good since moving up to Lightweight in 2023. He’s coming off a couple of good wins over the old guard as well. Subbed Clay Guida in December then took a decision off Jim Miller in April. Hernandez is 32 and 16-8. He’s beat Austin Hubbard and Kurt Holobaugh in his last couple of fights but went 1-4 in his previous five before that. Not 100% confident in Chase here because I still don’t feel like he’s fully shaken off the memory of him getting battered a couple of times at 145, but I think, think, he should get the job done here. Edson Barboza vs Drakkar Klose will be worth a look. Barboza’s fights always are. Enjoy him while he’s around because at 39 it can’t be too much longer, surely? Great to watch over the years, maybe pound-for-pound the best pure kicker in MMA, but he’s slowing down now. Nobody told his physique to slow down though… Definitely eats his chicken and broccoli. Seriously, he’s had a bunch of ups and downs in his career in terms of wins and losses but he’s one of those fighters that whenever you see his name on a card, you’re buzzing. The spectacular knockout of Terry Etim, to this day, is one of the best in MMA history. The perfectly timed knee against Beneil Dariush isn’t far behind. Then chuck in wins over Anthony Pettis, Gilbert Melendez, Dan Hooker and Paul Felder, he’s had his moments for sure. He’s coming off a decision loss against Lerone Murphy last May but beat Sodiq Yusuff in a great fight before that. I think he’s still got something left but it’s coming to an end now obviously. Klose is alright, nothing special but he’s been down for a scrap the times I’ve seen him. Beat Bobby Green and Marc Diakiese earlier in his career, scored a crazy powerbomb KO over Joe Solecki in 2023. He’s not bad. He’s coming off getting his arse kicked badly by Joel Alvarez in December though. Karine Silva vs Dione Barbosa is whatever. Not arsed. I don’t mind Silva and I remember thinking she might actually be a decent prospect when she first came in. She won her first four fights in the UFC, three by submission and one was a nasty kneebar. But then she lost to 38 year old nothing happening Viviane Araujo last time out on the MSG card in November, so my expectations have lowered a fair bit since. She’s 18-5 and still only 31 years old, maybe there’s better to come but I don’t think her ceiling is particularly high. She was supposed to fight JJ Aldrich here but Aldrich dropped out. Barbosa steps in on a couple of weeks notice. No real recollection of her. She’s 33 with a record of 8-3 and she’s coming off a submission win over Diana Belbita in April. What’s this? Three banger PPV main events in a row? Edited August 15, 2025 by wandshogun09 Quote
jimufctna24 Posted July 24, 2025 Posted July 24, 2025 2 hours ago, wandshogun09 said: He’s proven that, while his style is unorthodox and far from technically pretty to watch, it’s been effective. It works for him anyway. There’s a method to his weirdness. Then you add in other factors like his toughness, his relentlessness even when tired and just his physicality in there, he’s a lot to handle. He’s a guy I think opponents probably watch on tape and think he’s sloppy and that they can exploit his weaknesses, but it’s a different ball game once you’re actually in there with him. He’s a handful. This. DDP and his team are also craftier than some think. For example, they studied Whittaker's fight footage and found he was open to the southpaw jab. 3 hours ago, wandshogun09 said: How the fuck does this one go then? Anyone confident either way? Nope☺️ Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted July 26, 2025 Author Paid Members Posted July 26, 2025 Confirmed as co-main just now during the Abu Dhabi show… Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted August 8, 2025 Author Paid Members Posted August 8, 2025 Poirier’s gonna be doing commentary on this one. Never really saw that coming but it’s a cool way for him to still be involved with MMA and hopefully this will help him transition into retirement smoothly without being too tempted to come back. It seems to have been the ideal way for some past fighters to move into their post-fighting career. Obviously Bisping was forced to retire due to having one eye. But guys like Cormier and Felder could’ve easily taken more fights but seem to get enough of their fix from being cageside calling the action. Hopefully Poirier is good at this and it becomes a regular thing to where it satisfies that potential itch. Wish Rogan would just fuck right off now though. The quality of work he puts out these days compared to the money he must get is insane. And he wasn’t always that way. I watched some old fights recently and whenever I watch old fights I’m reminded that Rogan was actually good once. He hasn’t cared in years at this point though and it shows in his work. I’ve gone from being educated and entertained by his commentary early on, to bored of him when he clearly stopped giving a shit, to finding him annoying and grating, to now thinking he’s genuinely fucking awful. He’s by far the worst commentator the UFC has now in my opinion. Quote
jimufctna24 Posted August 8, 2025 Posted August 8, 2025 17 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said: Wish Rogan would just fuck right off now though. The quality of work he puts out these days compared to the money he must get is insane. And he wasn’t always that way. I watched some old fights recently and whenever I watch old fights I’m reminded that Rogan was actually good once. He hasn’t cared in years at this point though and it shows in his work. I’ve gone from being educated and entertained by his commentary early on, to bored of him when he clearly stopped giving a shit, to finding him annoying and grating, to now thinking he’s genuinely fucking awful. He’s by far the worst commentator the UFC has now in my opinion. Aye, when I first got into MMA I found Rogan quite helpful because he would help me understand what was transpiring on the ground (names of techniques, when a fighter was properly in trouble, etc). He did seem to genuinely love the sport back then. Even during his peak years he could have bad performances though. I remember Goldberg of all people had to rein him in during the Rampage vs Griffin bout because he was acting as if Griffin was dominating the fight with ease. Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted August 8, 2025 Author Paid Members Posted August 8, 2025 Oh yeah he was never perfect. But you don’t really realise just how much he’s declined until you watch older stuff back. Like you say, more than anything the enthusiasm and energy he had for MMA back then was noticeably different. He always had his faults (getting stuck on a certain point or narrative then just beating it to death) and it reared its head in certain fights. But I think his enthusiasm went a long way back then and made people a bit more forgiving. Now he’s just utter shit. Doesn’t care, phones it in, adds nothing of value to the commentary and just blurts out stock lines like a talking action figure with three phrases. Not only does he not add to the experience, I feel like he actually detracts from it now. A big moment will happen, a huge finish in a title fight or something, Anik will be calling it and Rogan will step all over the call, shouting over him and it’s nothing but “WOW! WOW! WOW! OH MY GOODNESS! OH MY GOODNESS! WOW! WOOOOOOW!” Delivered in such a way where it sounds like the colour commentary equivalent of faking an orgasm. He knows he should be into it and should have something to say and be enthusiastic but he’s got nothing so he overcompensates by repeating himself and being louder than everyone else. And that happens every show he works now. That and the goofy, over the top, fake gurning for the reaction cam hoping the clip goes viral. He’s fucking wank. Quote
Dai Posted August 8, 2025 Posted August 8, 2025 Surely in the TKO era, where they dont want stars who can hold them over a barrel for lots of cash, and they just want the brand to be the star, then Im suprised that they havent questioned the insane money Rogan must be on and got rid of him. TKO always seem to want ways to cut costs, so cutting what must be millions of dollars a year by binning Rogan would be an easy one. Quote
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted August 9, 2025 Paid Members Posted August 9, 2025 I 15 hours ago, wandshogun09 said: He’s by far the worst commentator the UFC has now in my opinion. Bisping is the worst, he's on a shit island all by himself. Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted August 9, 2025 Author Paid Members Posted August 9, 2025 He’s crap but he’s not as bad as Rogan for me. For as poor as Bisping’s commentary can be, at least there’s some life in it and it sounds like he’s genuinely enjoying it. Rogan sounds like he’s being held there against his will half the time. And that’s even with him only working select cards. I find most of the ex fighters aren’t great at commentating, to be honest. Anik’s very good at what he does and I think Brendan Fitzgerald is underrated. The ex fighters have been letting the side down for a while now though. Cormier is pretty shite. Not Rogan shite but shite. And Cruz has that thing Kenny Florian had where the actual content of what they’re saying isn’t bad in general (well, Cruz has had a few howlers) but the sound like the most boring men alive. I think Felder’s the best of the former fighters at it. Hopefully Poirier can be one of the rare good ones as well. He’s definitely a good speaker, whether that translates to the commentary desk we’ll have to see. Anyway, we’ve made it to a week away from this bastard now. I’m still not counting my chickens. Khamzat’s still got to make it through fight week, he’s gotta make weight, he’s gotta not get ill or injured etc. One week. Saw this yesterday… Bald Khamzat is back. What I take away form this picture though, is just how big Khamzat is. Anderson was a big Middleweight who fought at 205 and probably would’ve comfortably been able to hang there if he’d moved up permanently before the decline started. Khamzat’s fought at 170 not that long ago (when he actually made weight) which is bonkers. All that said, DDP is a bit of a lump for 185 himself so size probably isn’t gonna play a major role in this one. Seen a clip of a Khamzat interview this week where he’s on about winning the title from DDP here, then possibly moving back down to 170 to challenge the Maddalena vs Makhachev winner, or moving up to 205 to challenge the Ankalaev vs Pereira 2 winner. He’s planning to become the first 3 weight UFC champion. Not sure if this was just something said to get people talking but if he’s serious I think he’s getting way ahead of himself and possibly overlooking DDP. I like the ambition and I get why he’d wanna make up for lost time with how stop/start his career has been up to now. But 1) he hasn’t even won one title yet, calm down. And 2) he probably shouldn’t even attempt Welterweight again. And the UFC shouldn’t let him. Most of all though I’m just sick of fighters wanting to hop divisions the second they win a title. Champ vs champ fights used to be so rare that they always felt special when they happened just by default. Now they’re almost just another standard PPV headliner. Can’t wait for this fight now. Still don’t really have a strong idea on who I think will win. Just got a feeling it’s gonna be total chaos. Quote
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted August 10, 2025 Paid Members Posted August 10, 2025 And DDP is the opposite, he wants to stay in his division and clear the fucker out. I like that. Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted August 10, 2025 Author Paid Members Posted August 10, 2025 Absolutely. It’s mad that that’s refreshing now, used to be the standard. Pantoja is another one, he’s content to just keep racking up title defences at Flyweight. Don’t think Merab’s shown much interest in jumping up to 145 either. Champ vs champ is cool in certain situations but I think there’s something to be said for a champion really establishing dominance on a division over a prolonged period of time against different opponents and styles. Winning titles at two weights is great but it’s one win in one fight and that could be a favourable style matchup. It’s more impressive to me if you’re able to stay in your weight class and continually see off challengers. That’s what was so impressive about Jones reign at 205, Anderson’s reign at 185 and GSP’s reign at 170. If they’d jumped up a division the second they won those belts, they might’ve got a second belt but would their legacies be remembered as being as great as they are now? I don’t think so. A dominant champ is something special. Quote
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted August 12, 2025 Paid Members Posted August 12, 2025 Nice to see Jack Shore get a look in on this: Quote
Dai Posted August 13, 2025 Posted August 13, 2025 "The best shit fighter in the world" - Izzy. "Hes so slow" - Whittaker. Suprised UFC dont put those on the posters for this. Quote
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