UFC 320: Ankalaev vs Pereira 2 - Oct 4 ??

[wandshogun09]

Back in Sin City for the first of two big PPVs in October…

PPV MAIN CARD
Magomed Ankalaev©️vs Alex Pereira - Light Heavyweight Title 

Merab Dvalishvili©️vs Cory Sandhagen - Bantamweight Title

Jiri Prochazka vs Khalil Rountree 

Josh Emmett vs Youssef Zalal 

Abus Magomedov vs Joe Pyfer 

ESPN PRELIMS
Ateba Gautier vs Treston Vines 

Daniel Santos vs Joo Sang Yoo

Patchy Mix vs Jakub Wiklacz

Edmen Shahbazyan vs Andre Muniz  

ESPN+/FIGHT PASS PRELIMS
Punahele Soriano vs Nikolay Veretennikov

Macy Chiasson vs Yana Santos 

Farid Basharat vs Chris Gutierrez

Ramiz Brahimaj vs Austin Vanderford 

Veronica Hardy vs Brogan Walker 

 

 

I like it. I mean I could’ve lived without seeing Ankalaev and Pereira running it back but overall I think that’s a strong main card just on the strength of those top three fights. Some good stuff scattered here and there on the prelims as well. Not the most stacked card ever and there’s some juicier ones coming up later in the year but it’s not bad at all this. Bout order is right, according to Marcel Dorff, as I’m typing this. As usual I’ll update it when the inevitable pullouts and changes start. 

 

 

Magomed Ankalaev vs Alex Pereira 2 is our headliner for this one. I’m never usually a fan of immediate rematches unless there was real controversy around the first fight. In this case, there was no controversy. But whatever. There’s not much going on in the Light Heavyweight division anyway. It’s not like there’s a long line of interesting challengers at the moment so I’m fine with this. Not buzzing for it or counting the days or anything but it’ll do.

They fought back in March at UFC 313 and Ankalaev won a unanimous decision to take the title off Pereira. It wasn’t the best result for the division or as a spectator. Ankalaev isn’t the most exciting fighter and Pereira had been having a fun reign as champion racking up knockout wins over the likes of Jiri Prochazka, Jamahal Hill and Khalil Rountree along the way. Ankalaev just had to spoil the party. I think it’s what Pereira fans were quietly fearing. The truth was Ankalaev had been the most deserving contender for a while before he actually got the title shot. He definitely deserved it more than Rountree who was ranked #8 in the division at the time of his shot. But every time Pereira would successfully defend the belt, talk would naturally turn to who was next and Pereira fans would be throwing out every name but Ankalaev. It was a bit weird because all I was reading was ‘Ankalaev is shit and an easy fight for Pereira’ takes but then they still insisted he shouldn’t get the title shot despite him being the #1 ranked contender and pretty much the only fresh fight for Pereira at 205 at the time. They’d never admit it but I really believe they secretly saw him as a threat, didn’t want Pereira to risk it and were praying someone else would eliminate Ank from the title race. It’s similar to the whole Aspinall vs Jones bollocks. Aspinall is so clearly the biggest threat to Jones but Jones fans can’t admit that so they have to pretend he’s not ‘worthy’ of even sharing the Octagon with him or come up with shite about him not being a big enough star instead. This is where MMA fandom is at. Nobody wants their favourite to actually take on the real challenges anymore. Anyway…

Big Ank took the gold. He’s not a favourite of mine and I was disappointed that Pereira’s run had came to an end. But that’s the way it goes in combat sports sometimes. Ankalaev deserved the opportunity and he seized it. I can’t actually remember that much about the fight itself, which is weird because it’s still quite recent. I recall thinking it was fairly dull but it wasn’t the worst fight we’ve ever seen or anything. I’ll have to rewatch it and do my little review in here before the rematch. Looking back at the thread for the first fight, I had Ankalaev winning but I did say you could probably make a decent case for Pereira getting the nod as well. So I’d be interested to see how I’d see the fight on a rewatch. Opinions seemed to range from ‘Ank won clearly’ to ‘Pereira edged it’ to ‘Pereira was robbed’ so fuck knows. You always get the robbery talk any time a big title fight goes the distance, especially if it’s a fan favourite on the losing end. I don’t remember thinking it was anything close to a robbery though. I’ll give it another look on fight week. My main takes seemed to be 1) frustration that Pereira failed to pull the trigger at crucial times and 2) that, for once, Ankalaev actually fought smart and stuck to a sound gameplan.

“I think the rematch will be much easier than the first fight because statistics always show that fighting me in a rematch is very dangerous. I think we’ll prove again that it’s not a good idea to face me in a rematch. I’ll do whatever it takes to dominate. If I need to wrestle, I’ll wrestle. If I need to strike, I’ll strike. I don’t think we’ll have problems anywhere. I want him to come into this fight 100 percent so there are no questions about the outcome. I don’t want to hear talk like last time about him not being ready or something not being done. I want him to be in great shape so that after our fight, he has no excuses.” - Magomed Ankalaev

Pereira’s got his work cut out here. It’s a fight he can definitely win. He’s got the kind of power where you can never count him out of a fight. But he’s gonna have to do something different or switch something up this time. After the first fight people were moaning and giving Ankalaev a load of shit for the fight being boring. But Pereira’s just as much to blame for that, if not more. He had 25 minutes to find Ankalaev’s chin and he couldn’t make it count. Pereira’s never been a point fighter or a decision winner, he’s a pure finisher. If you’re a knockout artist, it’s on you to make something happen and create those openings. You can’t just expect the opponent to walk onto a KO punch all the time. Of course sometimes that’s what happens and Ankalaev’s the kind of goof at times that I did think he might march straight into a haymaker. But he didn’t. And he was putting rounds in the bank along the way. Pereira’s gonna have to be more proactive this time. If he does it would make for a more entertaining fight to watch and it would certainly increase his chances of winning. But there’s obviously risk that comes with that as well. He’s gotta do something though.

Repeat or revenge? I was favouring Pereira going into the first fight because of his power and Ankalaev not always being the smartest fighter. But Ank did better than I thought and rose to the occasion, while Pereira was a bit flat from what I remember. It’s made the rematch harder to call for me. I’m sure there’ll be loads of ‘Pereira by murder’ predictions this time because it’s the result people want but I’m not sure. The thing is, he’s 38 now. People might not wanna hear it but he’s on borrowed time regardless. I think people forget how old he is because he’s still relatively new and fresh in MMA but when you factor in his Kickboxing career, he’s got a lot of miles on him on top of approaching 40. If he goes 0-2 here, it could be the beginning of the end for him. Don’t get me wrong I could absolutely see a scenario where he chins Ankalaev and it’s business as usual again at 205 for a bit. But he’s gonna have to change something and I’m not sure he can at this stage in his career. He’s set in his ways now and it’s worked so many times for him in the past. He’s gotta trust in his power and fully commit to it this time though, not wait around for the perfect opportunity to land in his lap. Not sure how this goes. Hopefully it’s a better fight to watch this time but I can see Ankalaev outworking him again, to be honest. Although saying that, no sooner had Ank won the 205 belt, he was already making noises about taking fights at Heavyweight. Sick of that now from almost every champ.

 

Merab Dvalishvili vs Cory Sandhagen is a quality co-main. Great fight this. One of the few fresh fights left for Merab at Bantamweight at this stage. Little fucker’s dominating 135 so bad it’s pretty much all rematches after this. I’ve seen a fair few people bigging up Sandhagen’s chances here but I don’t know. I’m not feeling it. I’m not seeing him as this lethal threat some seem to be. Hopefully I’m wrong because it’d be cool to see someone really drag Merab into a war but, as good as Sandhagen is, I’m not convinced he’s the one to do it. I’m not sure how many people actually believe he might pull it off or whether they’re just hedging their bets so they can say ‘told ya’ and look like a genius if it actually happens. But I think that belt’s staying on Merab for a while yet.

I read a stat the other day that the record for most successful title defences at Bantamweight is three, with Aljamain Sterling and Dominick Cruz holding the record. If Merab beats Sandhagen here, he’ll tie that record in one calendar year! Madness. And he’s not stopping there. He’s already talking about taking a quick turnaround and getting another fight in later this year on the November or December cards. Nutcase. He’s relentless in the cage and out of it. He’s like my 7 year old son when he’s had too much sugar. Just zero chill. He’s putting together a hell of a run. Not just as champion either, even before he got the belt he was on a streak. It’s funny looking back at his record because he went 7-4 initially and by April 2018 he was coming off back-to-back losses and really didn’t look like he’d be around much longer. Something must’ve switched for him after that submission loss to Ricky Simon though because he hasn’t lost since. He’s on a 13 fight winning streak now including Ws over Jose Aldo, Petr Yan, Henry Cejudo, Umar Nurmagomedov and Sean O’Malley twice. An incredible run and honestly he’s gotta be in the conversation for best Bantamweight ever at this point. He hasn’t been on top as long as others but his record stacks up against any Bantamweight’s in history. This year alone he’s had the Umar fight, which is probably Top 5 for FOTY for me so far, and then subbed O’Malley in their rematch in June. So he’s not just starting to beat guys twice now, he’s beating them better the second time around. He’s 34 now so the good news if you’re a 135er is he shouldn’t be around too much longer. Or will he?…

“My goal is to fight until I’m 50 years old. I hope I can still be champion at that time but it’s impossible. I’m 34 now. 16 more years staying champion, it’s impossible.” - Merab Dvalishvili

Coming from anyone else I’d just laugh this off but Merab actually seems crazy enough to attempt to fight into his 50s. On a serious note, he’s gotta start showing some signs of slowing down soon, right? Right?! The pace he sets is insane and it’s not like he’s a big puncher. Having a style that relies so heavily on stamina and pace usually doesn’t lend itself to longevity but he’s still drowning these guys at 34 so who knows when it’s gonna fade? Until he does start to decline though, I honestly don’t see anyone on the horizon who beats him. Nobody’s unstoppable. He’s been finished before and, while he’s massively improved, he’s not unbeatable. He could get clipped and I think that’s pretty much the only way he loses on this kind of form. You’re not likely to take a decision off him. But I don’t think there’s a Bantamweight on the planet I’d actually favour to beat him while he’s fighting like this.

Enter Sandman. Yeah, like I said, I just don’t see him being the man to stop Merab. Maybe I’m missing something but I don’t see where he wins this fight or what he can do that O’Malley, Umar, Yan, Aldo etc couldn’t. He’s got some dangerous striking but so did a lot of guys who ended up getting ragged about by Merab. The only way I could see Sandhagen winning on the feet is if he landed a flying knee like the one he killed Frankie Edgar with years ago. I could possibly see a scenario where Merab shoots in and Sandhagen gets him that way. But the chances of that are so slim. Sandhagen’s gonna have very small windows of opportunity to land strikes like that. He’s shown he’s got skills on the ground and we just saw him mangle Figgy’s knee in his last fight in May. I’m guessing people are looking at that and thinking he can put Merab in danger that way but I doubt it. Merab’s not gonna piss about over-committing going for low success rate leg locks like Figgy did and leaving himself vulnerable. If they’re on the ground, Merab’s gonna make sure he’s the one in control. Sandhagen’s talking a good game and he sounds confident…

“I’m not going to buy into any of that narrative that Merab’s this cardio machine, that he’s this unbeatable guy. That he’s on a tear and can’t be stopped. I’m not buying into any of that. I fully plan on going out and beating Merab and wearing gold on my waist. That’s all that I know in my heart. Obviously, now he’s a submission threat too, along with his wrestling. But outside of that, he’s not the most dangerous guy in the world.” - Cory Sandhagen 

I get it. This is the kind of attitude a challenger almost has to have. Problem is, it doesn’t actually address the issue. Merab is a cardio machine. It’s not a narrative and you can’t just talk it away and convince yourself it’s not gonna be a problem. I remember Sandhagen saying very similar stuff to this before the Umar fight in Abu Dhabi last year as well. Saying ‘I’m not buying into the Nurmagomedov hype’ and stuff like that. He then lost 50-45 and 49-46 across the board. I get you’ve gotta have a positive mindset but you can’t just talk a win into existence. Sandhagen’s a very good fighter but I just don’t see him dealing with Merab’s style at all. And I know MMA Maths is bullshit but we saw the trouble Sandhagen had with Umar’s style just last year. He was competitive but ultimately got outworked every round. And we saw Merab basically big brother Umar for big chunks of their fight in January. I just don’t see what Sandhagen will have changed in one year since the Umar loss, to deal with a better version of that guy. Again, I hope I’m wrong and Sandhagen makes a great fight of it, I just don’t favour it.

 

Jiri Prochazka vs Khalil Rountree is an easy choice for ***WAND’S ONE TO WATCH*** this time. I’ve shat on the modern day Light Heavyweight division a fair bit over the last couple of years but this is a rare case of a truly great fight at 205. A throwback to better times. I could just see these two mixing it with all those names from the glory years of LHW in the mid 2000s. Can’t see any way this isn’t a wild standup battle with a bunch of fireworks and most likely a spectacular finish either way. They’re both coming in fresh off giving that berk Jamahal Hill a spanking as well, which is always a good time…

Jiri knocked him out at UFC 311 in January. It was a pretty good fight from what I remember but Jiri getting the win and the knockout was very satisfying to see. Not just because Hill’s a knob, Jiri seems like one of the few good guys we have left in the sport as well. Weird and eccentric but a good guy. He really needed the win coming off a second loss to Pereira in his previous fight and I remember him looking really sharp against Hill. Looked a bit less reckless and like there was actually a method to his madness for once and it worked out well for him. Obviously Hill being Hill, he’s not great and that might’ve flattered Jiri’s performance a bit. But it was the perfect way to get back to winning ways for him. He looked better than he had in a while to me.

Rountree had his turn to batter Hill on the Azerbaijan card in June. And Rountree was also coming off a rough loss to Pereira. Seems Hill is the go-to guy they feed you when you lose to ‘Poatan’. I guess we know who Ankalaev’s fighting next if Pereira reclaims his belt on this card. I was surprised Rountree vs Hill went the distance actually. Never saw that going 5 rounds but it was a miserable night for Hill. Wasn’t a great fight to watch but Rountree won clearly so I was OK with it. He dropped Hill a few times and smashed his legs in repeatedly with brutal leg kicks en route to basically a shutout on the scorecards. Hill hilariously acted shocked when the scores were read but he lost clearly. A rare lacklustre fight for Rountree. We’ll blame that on Hill. I think Prochazka and Rountree together is perfect matchmaking though. Both are lethal on the offence and kind of vulnerable defensively so there’s definitely a recipe for a big finish here either way. Really looking forward to this. Should be a fun one.

 

Josh Emmett vs Youssef Zalal. Fun fact - these two are the only two fighters who have gone the distance with Ilia Topuria so far in the UFC! Should be a good fight. It’s probably gonna get dismissed or shat on because a lot of fans seem to have decided Zalal’s the most boring fighter on the planet now after that snoozer with Calvin Kattar last time out. But that wasn’t typical of him. Before that he’d finished six opponents in a row and was coming off back-to-back POTN bonuses and a submission over Jack Shore. But he had one dull fight so now he’s a ‘boring fighter’. I think there’s better to come from him. Although I can see him possibly trying to fight more conservatively again here due to Emmett’s punching power. It’s the one thing Emmett still has going for him at this stage in his career. He’s 40 now, has lost three out of his last four and he’s coming off a loss to Lerone Murphy in April. But he still packs a punch and you can’t get careless or complacent in there with a heavy handed sod like him. On current form you kind of have to favour Zalal here but I wouldn’t sleep on Emmett. I just hope it’s a good scrap.

 

Abus Magomedov vs Joe Pyfer is set to open up the main card. Not feeling it myself. Never really rated Abus and he was dead to me the second he crapped the bed against Strickland that time and ended up being the stepping stone for Strickland to challenge for (and ultimately win) the title. Fuck him. But I’m gonna have to root for him this time because Pyfer’s an absolute bellend. Always moaning about something, came off like a right twat when he pulled out of the Gastelum fight in Mexico earlier this year then blamed Mexico for him getting sick. Proper dickhead. Can’t wait for the day someone sparks him. And he’s not that good so that day is coming sooner or later. We’ve already seen him get old manned by Hermansson and that was sweet but I wanna see him get properly flat-packed and ironed out. Abus on paper has the tools to possibly do it, 14 of his 28 wins came by KO/TKO. But sadly he’s a bit shite and I’ve got no confidence in him actually pulling it off. Pyfer probably wins unfortunately.

 

Ateba Gautier vs Treston Vines wasn’t the original plan. Gautier was supposed to face Ozzy Diaz here but Diaz withdrew a few days out from the fight. In steps newcomer Vines. Probably gonna be a complete squash match but I’m cool with it. It’s still early days for Gautier and he’s only 23 so no need to rush him. I’m quite happy with them just feeding him a body every couple of months for now. It worked for young Mike Tyson in the 80s. Just keep him busy and let him get some time and reps in.

‘The Silent Assassin’. Really like the look of him so far. He’s Cameroonian and built like a Hasbro so of course the comparisons to Francis Ngannou are flying. I can see it though. Again, it’s very early days and he’s got a long way to go. He could be exposed in his next fight for all I know. But at the very least he looks worth keeping an eye on. He’s 8-1 so far with 7 knockouts and he actually moved to the UK and trains at Manchester Top Team alongside Lerone Murphy. The more I read and hear about Gautier, the more I like him and want him to succeed. Seems to have his head screwed on right and, despite how scary he looks, he seems like a big kid and a genuine sweetheart of a man. Read this quote and you’ll see what I mean. Only a couple of fights into his UFC career and his first thought when he made life changing money was to sort his mum out…

“My mum used to wake up at 5am and go home at about 10 or 11pm every single day. It was so bad. I always knew it would destroy her over time but I didn’t have any opportunity to change it. I knew one day I would make that change. I was ready to do everything to make my mum stop working. She didn’t expect her son to be able to buy her a house and she didn’t expect me to always have it on my mind because I’m still young. Young people normally go out and party, maybe forget about important things, but I’m not going to forget about important things. No way. As soon as I bought the house, she couldn’t believe it. It’s beautiful. She was so happy. The best thing I could’ve ever achieved is to see my mum happy and proud of me. That’s most important to me, more than anything else.”

“I don’t want the biggest car. I don’t want the biggest house. I won’t use it. I’m not one of the guys who always says I want this jewellery, this, this and this. You can ask everyone around me, even the guys who live with me, they will tell you I’m the simplest person. At home, my life is one room. Eat, sleep and anime. Nothing crazy. Now I’ve got two cats. I love cats!” - Ateba Gautier 

What a quote. He genuinely seems too nice for MMA. So far in the UFC he’s made short work of Jose Medina in March and Robert Valentin in July and banked $50K POTN bonuses for both on top of whatever lowly sum base pay he’s getting. So he’s basically just taken his bonus money, retired his mum and bought her a new house to finally put her feet up in. He’s living off whatever’s left. How many 23 year olds would be that selfless if they got hold of $100K at that age? Anyway yeah, he’s fighting this Vines chap. Don’t know anything about him but his Tapology page says he’s 29 years old and 10-3 with 7 finishes. He’s won his last four fights but hasn’t faced anyone of note. I expect/hope Gautier steamrolls him and hopefully bags another cool $50K so him and his cats can live the life of Riley for a bit.

 

Daniel Santos vs Joo Sang Yoo could be an undercard sleeper actually. If it actually goes ahead that is, because Santos pulls out a lot. When he actually shows up he’s usually pretty fun to watch but he’s probably had more fight cancellations in the UFC than he’s had fights at this point. He’s 12-2 now and coming off a decision win over Jeong Yeong Lee at UFC 315 in Montreal back in May. Was an exciting fight from what I remember. And Yoo…

That’s how his Octagon debut ended at UFC 316 in June. Absolutely smoked Jeka Saragih in just 28 seconds and had him doing the Flair Flop for good measure. Never seen anything other than that from Yoo and, for context, Saragih is a jobber so we shouldn’t get too carried away with that KO. But as far as making a first impression goes and as far as just a KO that has style points visually goes, it doesn’t get much better. Yoo’s 31 years old, South Korean, unbeaten at 9-0 and goes by the nickname ‘Zombie Jr’ apparently. Obviously a tribute to Chan Sung Jung. I like this fight. Santos is a scrapper and he’s never been finished so he’s not the type to just fall over when he gets hit. So this should be a tougher test on paper for Yoo.

 

Patchy Mix vs Jakub Wiklacz could be an interesting one. What a drop off for Mix though. Came in after a decent amount of hype in June and was straight on a PPV main card. Now here he is barely making the televised prelims. It’s all down to how shite his debut fight was. Him and Mario Bautista went out and had a bit of a stinker, and Mix lost. So the demotion here isn’t exactly a surprise. To be fair to him though, he did step in on short notice for that fight and he’d been on the shelf a year prior to that. He got the usual pelters online for his shitty performance against Bautista (and it was a shit showing), but people calling him a bum and a fraud was a bit much, I thought. He rolled the dice under crappy circumstances and it backfired. I’m still happy he’s in the UFC. Hopefully he has a better fight here. Wiklacz is making his UFC debut. He’s Polish, 29 years old, 16-3-2 with 10 by submission and he’s the KSW Bantamweight champion. Sounds like a good bit of matchmaking, especially for the Fight Pass bit.

 

Edmen Shahbazyan vs Andre Muniz isn’t doing much for me. I think everyone abandoned the Shahbazyan bandwagon many moons ago didn’t they? Genuinely looked like a fun prospect at one point and came in with the extra added buzz of being Ronda Rousey’s protege back when that meant something. Then he hit that wall and went from being undefeated to losing three in a row against Brunson, Hermansson and Imavov. He’s had wins here and there since but he’s never fully recovered from that. He’s 15-5 now, coming off a couple of wins and he’s still only 27 but I just don’t see him ever finding a consistent run of form and his ceiling was hit a long time ago. He might win this one though. Muniz is nothing to write home about. He’s 35 years old, 24-7 and has lost three of his last four. His career highlight was breaking Jacare’s arm back in 2021 but it’s been diminishing returns since then. He got stopped in a round by Ikram Aliskerov in his last fight on the Kansas City card in April.

 

Punahele Soriano vs Nikolay Veretennikov is alright. Just making up the numbers really but I quite like Soriano and I kind of dislike Veretennikov so it’s got a mild babyface vs heel thing going for it for me. There was a brief time when I thought Soriano might actually be a bit of a prospect. Them days are long gone but he went 8-0 with 7 finishes initially and scored a couple of genuinely brutal knockouts early in his UFC run. It went tits up and he’s now 11-4 but he’s still quite enjoyable to watch for a lower card guy. Not everyone’s gonna be a contender and the prelims need fighters like this. He can still whack as well. He just bombed out Uros Medic in 31 seconds in his last fight in January. Veretennikov’s 13-6 and coming off a split decision win over Francisco Prado in July. He got stopped by Austin Vanderford before that though and I remember him carrying on like a bit of a helmet post-fight so balls to him. Another Soriano KO please.

 

Macy Chiasson vs Yana Santos is doing fuck all for me. Both have been on the roster for years and done nothing memorable really. Just stayed at the same middle of the pack, going nowhere spot forever. Actually, thinking about it, the only things I do instantly remember about them are losses. Chiasson for when she lost via upkick to the body by Irene Aldana. And Santos for getting bludgeoned by Cyborg in a UFC PPV main event years ago. Chiasson’s 34 with a 10-4 record and coming off a decision loss to Ketlen Vieira at the Apex in May. Didn’t watch, don’t care. Santos is 35 years old, 16-8-0-1 and coming off a decision win over a washed up Miesha Tate. Nothing to see here. Piss or snack break if you’re watching live, fast forward button if you’re watching after the fact. Life’s too short.

 

Farid Basharat vs Chris Gutierrez. Decent enough prelim fodder. Farid’s the more likeable Basharat brother to me. Javid revealed himself to be a bit of a cock after that fight where he kicked Victor Henry in the bollocks then had the cheek to blame Henry for being a ‘quitter’ and not being able to continue. Twat. Farid’s seemed alright so far though. Also think he’s probably the more talented of the Basharats. He’s undefeated at 13-0 and coming off a points win over Victor Hugo on the Topuria vs Holloway card last October. He beat Taylor Lapilus as well before that. Gutierrez is a bit of a step up in a way in that he’s at least mixed with a few good names. And he did knock out Frankie Edgar, although Frankie was as washed as the laundry by that time. It’s a fight Farid should be winning at this stage in both their careers. Gutierrez is OK but any prospect worth their salt shouldn’t be losing to him.

 

Ramiz Brahimaj vs Austin Vanderford is another fairly solid little bit of matchmaking for the Fight Pass stream. Brahimaj is 32 years old and 12-5 with a 100% finish rate. He’s coming off a couple of first round POTN winning finishes over Mickey Gall and Billy Goff. Vanderford’s obviously better known for being Paige VanZant’s fella. He’s 35 years old now and 13-2 with 8 finishes. His UFC signing kind of came out of nowhere, think everyone thought that ship had sailed, to be honest. But he made his debut on the Seattle card in February and got the second round TKO over Nikolay Veretennikov. He’s not gonna go too far, Mr VanZant. At 35 and with how tough the top end of the Welterweight division looks these days, he’s got no chance. But hopefully he can have a few good fights and pick up some bonus money on the undercards.

 

Veronica Hardy vs Brogan Walker is currently slated to kick off the card on Fight Pass. Don’t know what it is about Hardy jerking the curtain. Looking at her record, her last six fights have been the very opening prelim and that’s going back to 2019! She hasn’t been higher than opening match in six years. I thought it might be pettiness because she’s Dan Hardy’s wife but it predates that. She was still Veronica Macedo in 2019. And it’s not like she’s especially boring to watch, there’s much worse than her on the roster. Whatever. She’s 9-5-1 now and coming off a decision loss to Eduarda Moura on the MSG card last November. She was on a nice little three fight streak before that and actually seemed to be making improvements but Moura was just too strong and got the better of the grappling. Walker’s 37 years old, 7-4, coming off back-to-back losses and she hasn’t fought since April 2023. This is a fight Hardy can’t afford to lose.

 

 

304 then.

Edited October 4, 2025 by wandshogun09

[jimufctna24]

On 9/8/2025 at 5:45 PM, wandshogun09 said:

Repeat or revenge? I was favouring Pereira going into the first fight because of his power and Ankalaev not always being the smartest fighter. But Ank did better than I thought and rose to the occasion, while Pereira was a bit flat from what I remember. 

That was my read too. 

I didn't think much of Ankalaev prior to the first Pereira bout and was convinced he was going to walk into Pereira's left hook. 

 

[Bruce85]

Not much chatter for this considering it’s this weekend! I’m flying to Japan on Saturday morning so not sure when I’ll get to watch this. 
 

I thought this was a really good card so surprised it’s gone under the radar a bit. Seems like since the loss to Ankalaev the hype and aura around Pereira has cooled off a lot. I’ve gone for Pereira in the poll but I think that’s more wishful thinking than anything, I think it most likely plays out in a similar way to the first fight. 

[JakeRobertsParoleOfficer]

I like Pereira, and was really into the hype heading into the fiest fiest and thought Ank would eat one and go "night, night"  at some point.

Was totally one sided in fight one and think it totally took all the steam and momentum out of Pereira hype train.

I did think Pereira wasn't himself come fight one, and think he just has to 'go for broke' otherwise he'll lose another UD.

I do think the weight is an issue as saw him ripped and weigh in at 243 a few weeks ago, so how you lose 40 lbs is insane.

Im going for Alex here as i really want him to move to heavy as it'll light that division up and then be genuine interest with him against Aspinall, Jones etc

 

[wandshogun09]

15 hours ago, Bruce85 said:

Not much chatter for this considering it’s this weekend! I’m flying to Japan on Saturday morning so not sure when I’ll get to watch this. 

I thought this was a really good card so surprised it’s gone under the radar a bit. 

Yeah definitely a strong card. It’s rare these days you get a top three on a PPV as good as Ankalaev vs Pereira 2, Merab vs Sandhagen and Jiri vs Rountree. Think it’s just the way it is now on here, there’s so few of us in the MMA section that if any one of us doesn’t post for a few days you notice it a lot more than you do in On or Off Topic. I’ve had stuff going on lately myself and I’ve also noticed Egg hasn’t been posting recently. That probably leaves about four or five other MMA posters tops ? 

For what it’s worth I’ll be rewatching and reviewing the first Ank-Pereira fight in a bit and I’m gonna try and get stuck into Embedded and all that seeing as I’ve got a day off work and it’s absolutely hammering down with rain outside. 

15 hours ago, Bruce85 said:

Seems like since the loss to Ankalaev the hype and aura around Pereira has cooled off a lot. 

Yep. Luke Thomas raised a good point this week about that. He was one of the ones, like me, who was arguing that Topuria was hands down the Fighter Of The Year last year based on who he beat and what he achieved, when others were arguing for Pereira. Then as soon as Ankalaev beat him, where did they all go? They were so vocal that he was FOTY over Topuria because he was ‘saving cards’ and taking short notice fights and he was such a ‘gangsta’ and all that shite. Hyping him up as the second coming. Then the fairweather fucks forget about him and hop off the bandwagon the second he loses. If he wins this rematch tomorrow it’ll be all ‘CHAMA’ and Pereira profile pics again but it’s amazing how quick this generation of MMA fans will jump ship. Gone are the days when there’d be 7 page heated debates on forums about Chuck Liddell vs Wanderlei Silva, with fans on both sides going to war over it for their guy no matter how many losses he had. Fan base is almost entirely full of glory hunters now. It’s funny to me though how all that campaigning for Pereira as Fighter Of 2024 was heavily based on him saving cards, then he’s forgotten due to one competitive decision loss like he’s nothing. If you’re a fighter, save a card if it benefits you and you only. Fuck saving cards to please MMA fans. You’ll never please them and they’ll forget about it the nanosecond you’re no longer in the win column.

[Carbomb]

1 hour ago, wandshogun09 said:

Yep. Luke Thomas raised a good point this week about that. He was one of the ones, like me, who was arguing that Topuria was hands down the Fighter Of The Year last year based on who he beat and what he achieved, when others were arguing for Pereira. Then as soon as Ankalaev beat him, where did they all go? They were so vocal that he was FOTY over Topuria because he was ‘saving cards’ and taking short notice fights and he was such a ‘gangsta’ and all that shite. Hyping him up as the second coming. Then the fairweather fucks forget about him and hop off the bandwagon the second he loses. If he wins this rematch tomorrow it’ll be all ‘CHAMA’ and Pereira profile pics again but it’s amazing how quick this generation of MMA fans will jump ship. Gone are the days when there’d be 7 page heated debates on forums about Chuck Liddell vs Wanderlei Silva, with fans on both sides going to war over it for their guy no matter how many losses he had. Fan base is almost entirely full of glory hunters now. It’s funny to me though how all that campaigning for Pereira as Fighter Of 2024 was heavily based on him saving cards, then he’s forgotten due to one competitive decision loss like he’s nothing. If you’re a fighter, save a card if it benefits you and you only. Fuck saving cards to please MMA fans. You’ll never please them and they’ll forget about it the nanosecond you’re no longer in the win column.

They never land it. They're either fairweather fucks, as you say, or they become die-hards completely in hock to a cult of personality, like with McGregor or Jones. 

They're all about personality - they ditched Pereira because they're simply incapable of measuring a fighter by his ability and nuance. He lost, sure, and it didn't match the persona they'd stuck him with - but it doesn't make him a bum all of a sudden. They're basically penalising him for disappointing them.

[wandshogun09]

Exactly. I genuinely think there’s a chunk of the fanbase that don’t actually even watch the fights themselves. It’s the only logical explanation for why dullards like Strickland have a following. I think it was the first DDP vs Strickland fight where he lost a close one and his fans were crying robbery after and posting that pic of him with blood flowing down his face with captions like “WARRIOR” and acting like he was some crazy wild scrapper. They can’t have actually watched him fight if they thought that. I think some fans now literally just consume MMA entirely through tweets and clips on social media that are no more than 30 seconds long. Which, whatever, I get that I’m an old cunt and young people now have the attention span of a toddler. But then they try to argue with people who actually watch the sport for the sport. The actual fights. Crazy concept. I got days of the Strickland wet wipes whinging in my notifications after that first DDP loss because I joked about them thinking he was some blood and guts brawler all of a sudden. To the point they were even trying to argue with me that he was as exciting as Robbie Fucking Lawler! It’s hilarious.

This theory also makes sense when you see them defending the most dogshit of Apex cards as well actually. Whenever one of those really terrible cards pops up, there’ll almost always be someone on Twitter shitting on it, met with a load of angry replies that you’re a “casual” for not enjoying it, that it’s “actually these cards that turn out to be bangers” and “this isn’t the sport for you then”. Their defence almost makes sense if they’re not actually watching the fights. They just feel the need to defend the billionaires for some reason. 

Edited October 3, 2025 by wandshogun09

[jimufctna24]

Not that I disagree with anything typed above, especially the parts about bandwagon fans on Twitter, Topuria being fighter of the year in 2024, and the daft "the cards that look bad on paper turn out to be bangers" line. 

But I will add that from what I recall that Liddell and Silva were mostly a part of an online proxy war between UFC and Pride fans. It wasn't that Silva and Liddell didn't have huge fanbases of their own, they did, especially the former. It was more so that their fanbases also supported the organisation they were fighting for, and were at best indifferent to the other organisation and their fighters. You also had fans who were not really a fan or hater of either fighter who would argue passionately that one was better than the other purely because of the organisation they fought for.

It's true that fans could be very loyal in those days though. A lot of Fedor's fanbase in particular were very loyal. 

Edited October 4, 2025 by jimufctna24

[wandshogun09]

Meant to do this last night but got sidetracked. Revisiting the first Pereira vs Ankalaev fight from March. Memory’s really hazy on this despite it being recent and being both guys last fight. I recall it being fairly dull and uneventful, which is probably why I barely remember it. Always like to give fights another look before the big rematch though so here we are.

It went down at UFC 313 in March. At the time, Pereira was riding a wave a serious momentum coming off a hell of a 2024 which saw him defend his Light Heavyweight title three times, scoring three finishes in the process. The meme-tastic KO over Jamahal Hill at UFC 300 was a real highlight but then he followed that with a headkick knockout over Jiri Prochazka in their short notice rematch in June, then put a drawn out beatdown on Khalil Rountree in October. Three really solid title defences that had some declaring him Fighter Of The Year. I strongly disagree, I’ve gone into why a few times, it was Ilia Topuria’s year. But whatever. Pereira had a great 2024 himself. It always felt like Ankalaev was lurking in the shadows though. Not sure exactly when he got the #1 ranking but, truthfully, he’d been the most deserving contender for a while before he actually got the shot. He should’ve really challenged for the title in 2024 but the UFC seemed hesitant to do it and Pereira fans were vocal that Ank ‘didn’t deserve it’. Even though he was the top ranked guy and the only fresh challenger in the Top 5 for Pereira at the time. I get he’s not the most exciting fighter to watch but come on. He definitely deserved the shot more than Rountree who was ranked #8 at the time. Pereira fans never had a problem with that funnily enough. Regardless, Ank got the opportunity in March, mostly because there wasn’t really any other options at that point.

Alex Pereira©️vs Magomed Ankalaev - Light Heavyweight Title

UFC 313: Pereira vs Ankalaev

March 8th 2025

Las Vegas, Nevada

Usual PPV commentary squad of Jon Anik, Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier for this one. Referee is Marc Goddard. Crowd buzzing more than I remembered as the fight is about to get underway. Guess it’s just the Pereira factor where they know his fights can end in the blink of an eye. I think there was an element that people knew Ankalaev had legit banana skin potential as well though. As much as Pereira fans never wanted to admit it and as much as they dismissed him, there was a reason they didn’t want their guy to face him. They probably thought he could win, but deep down knew it was probably gonna be trickier than his last few fights.

Round 1: Pereira looking to kick early, which may be a tad surprising given Ankalaev posed more of a takedown threat than his previous opponents. But he’s almost exclusively calf kicking at the start here. I do remember Jan Blachowicz hurt Ankalaev with leg kicks in their fight so I guess Pereira picked up on that. Ankalaev trying to answer with his hands and some low kicks of his own but not really finding the target. Pereira throws a headkick that’s blocked and a spinning wheel kick which would’ve beheaded Ank if it connected but hits nothing but air. “CHAMA” chants from the crowd now as Pereira methodically goes about his business. Pereira chipping away with the kicks. Ankalaev looks a bit more urgent in the last minute of the round, he’s coming forward and looking more aggressive but Pereira’s calmly countering. Ankalaev goes for a takedown with about twenty seconds to go, Pereira defends it well and Ank has to settle for just holding him against the fence until the buzzer goes. Not a lot happened but that’s a Pereira 10-9.

Round 2: Ankalaev coming forward a lot here. More than I remember. Pereira seems content to just stay on the backfoot and counter. Ank switching stances, likely because the leg kicks are bothering him.

Nice teep for Ankalaev. Man, Sean Strickland would be proud. Actually, he’d be jealous. That was better than his weak arse front kicks. Pereira looks almost insulted that Ank even dared to do that to him! He responds with a hard headkick but Ank blocks it again. He’s wisely keeping that left hand high. Ankalaev with a hard body kick and some nice leg kicks of his own. Pereira trying to get the jab going now. Ank’s not shying away at all in the striking and lands a nice straight left to the body. Pereira throwing up that headkick again, Ankalaev blocks again.

Ankalaev with a one-two. Best and cleanest punches of the fight so far. They both throw and Ankalaev lands a little right in the exchange. He’s connecting with some decent stuff here. Another calf kick and a stiff jab from Pereira. Ankalaev having success landing the left from southpaw. Decent exchanges in the last minute with both finding the mark. Then in the last seconds of the round…

Ankalaev cracks Pereira and has him reeling on his heels. Might’ve even been a knockdown if the cage didn’t kind of stop Pereira falling backwards. He composes himself and ties Ankalaev up but that was the biggest moment of the fight so far and a powerful visual to the judges right at the end of the round. Easy 10-9 for Ankalaev there. Pretty good round as well.

Round 3: Same thing to start. Pereira throwing out calf kicks and the odd jab, Ankalaev trying to answer with punches up top. Neither having a great deal of success. Commentators are talking about Pereira being forced to hesitate and it’s clear that’s what’s happening. Never has he looked so gun-shy. He took his time with Rountree but he did significant damage in bursts whenever he found openings. Here though, he’s not really finding the openings. All the best head strikes have came from Ankalaev so far and Pereira seems a bit bamboozled and at a loss as to figuring him out. Maybe it’s the threat of the takedown in the back of his mind or something but he’s definitely having a hard time pulling the trigger here, which isn’t something we’re used to seeing with Pereira. Ank with a bit of an attempt at shooting for the legs and Pereira easily avoids it. More leg kicks from Pereira but Ank closes the distance, whacks him with a nasty knee to the body and briefly gets the clinch against the cage. Pereira does a good job turning out of it though and they’re back in striking range. Pereira actually tries to trip Ankalaev! Goes nowhere and Pereira with a couple of decent punches. Ank with a really nice quick jab which seems to surprise Pereira in the last minute. Ankalaev tries a headkick but gets blocked. And that’s the round. Man, it’s a tricky one. Very, very close round. Neither really put a stamp on it but, on this watch at least, I’m leaning towards Pereira 10-9. Just. 

Round 4: Championship rounds. This one starts and Ankalaev immediately walks across the Octagon and pushes Pereira against the fence. And that’s where they stay for the next three minutes…

Until Marc Goddard mercifully separates them with about two minutes to go in the round. Both potshotting with one strike at a time now but Ankalaev’s landing with a tad more frequency. And he’s the one constantly coming forward, which probably isn’t good optics for Pereira in the eyes of the judges. Aaaaaand Ank’s pushed him back against the fence again.

Lovely jubbly. Crowd’s booing, my eyes are getting heavy. This round is pretty fucking awful. But…it’s effective and it’s clearly Ankalaev’s round at a crucial point in the fight. Not good to watch but if the tactic is to put a round in the bank, which it obviously is, then job done. Especially after a razor close third round. I’ll say this for Pereira, his takedown defence has improved. Ankalaev has initiated the clinch or a takedown attempt a bunch of times in this fight and he’s never been able to get further than just holding Pereira against the fence.

Not that Ank’s a stellar wrestler or anything but you’d have expected him to have more success than this. Team Pereira clearly prepared well for that aspect of the fight. Just a shame they can’t get anything else going. Some solid clinch work in the last minute from Ank, to be fair. Lands some good knees and an uppercut. Rotten round but a clear 10-9 for Ankalaev. So I’ve got them even at 2-2 going into the last round.

Round 5: Both kicking until Ankalaev connects with a right hand about thirty seconds in. Pereira actively coming forward now for probably the first time in the fight. There seems to be a sense of urgency there now that he could’ve done with finding two rounds or so ago. He must know this is close. He’s not really landing anything but, just by coming forward, he’s got Ankalaev on the retreat a bit. Bafflingly he doesn’t do anything with it though and it’s not long before he’s back to hanging back and trying to counter by throwing really casual looking leg kicks out there. We’re 21 minutes into the fight at this point. The fact he keeps falling into this lackadaisical, sleepy, almost light sparring pattern at a time when he really needs to put his foot on the gas is so frustrating to watch. The sense of urgency I mentioned before seems to have evaporated. But right when I say that…

It’s not a flush connection, Ankalaev’s left arm was up and seemed to deflect the worst of it, but it makes a loud sound and Pereira must’ve felt or noticed something in how Ank reacted to it because he’s suddenly woke up and coming forward. Once again though, nothing comes of it. Pereira seems to just freeze and Ank tags him with a straight left and that’s that moment gone. The only saving grace for Pereira here is that Ankalaev seems to be doing even less. He’s walking forward but that’s about it. Pereira with a couple of nice jabs and Ankalaev clinches up with him. Christ. One minute left. He just hangs onto the waist lock, occasionally kneeing Pereira’s legs until the round ends. Pereira 10-9 for me despite the way the round ended.

So I’ve actually got Pereira winning 48-47! I said in the thread for that event that I had Ankalaev winning but that I thought there was “a case to be made to score the fight for Pereira”. Well I had him just about edging it on this watch.

Winner - Magomed Ankalaev by unanimous decision.

No problem with that. Like I said, I scored it to Pereira “on this watch”. If I watched it again in a week’s time (and I’m not gonna), I might have it for Ankalaev. It was very close. I see a lot of takes that Ankalaev won clearly or dominated but, watching it back, he just didn’t. The clearest rounds (2 and 4) were his and he had those ‘moments’ with the eye catching punches and I think that’s why there might be an overall feeling for some that he won more decisively than he did. Looking at the fight as a whole, it feels like Ankalaev got the better of him. But round by round is how these things are scored and, under that criteria, it really can go either way. Ank never ran away with it and Pereira definitely wasn’t “robbed” like some have claimed. It was a razor thin decision which basically hinged on that swing third round. And I was close to 50/50 on that. That’s why I say if I watched it again, I might score it differently. That’s not a cop out, I genuinely think I could watch that third round again and notice something which makes me score it the other way. It was one of those fights.

The rematch is on. I wasn’t sure who to favour when this was announced and rewatching the first fight hasn’t really cleared up any doubts. Still kind of feel none the wiser. My thinking going into the first fight was that Ankalaev could be an awkward defence for Pereira but I had no confidence in him actually sticking to a gameplan for 25 minutes without putting himself in danger and getting walloped. I thought Pereira would most likely catch him at some point and close the show. Ank fought a better and smarter fight than I thought he had in him though. Can he do it again in the rematch is the question? There’s a chance he comes in a bit overconfident now and is more willing to trade for longer spells and that could backfire. But he might get away with it if Pereira’s having problems pulling the trigger again. I said in the opening post that if Pereira comes in believing in his power and just lets those hands go a bit more, his chances go up massively. It’s not rocket science. You waste 100% of the punches you think about but don’t throw and Pereira spent a lot of time not committing to throwing punches last time. It sounds simple and it’s easy for me to say but he just needs to throw and what happens happens. What’s the alternative? If he doesn’t, where’s the threat for Ankalaev? It’s why Ank was so comfortable walking him down last time. Being more aggressive obviously opens Pereira up to potentially being taken down or clipped on the feet but that’s the game. Pereira’s just not naturally a point fighter. It goes against his strengths. He’s a finisher.

There’s been a bit of needle in the run up to this rematch. Wasn’t aware of that until watching a few bits just now. Apparently, it’s all social media bollocks. Thing is, it’s pretty much common knowledge that Ali Abdelaziz controls most of his guys social media accounts. Generally when you see a Dagestani fighter talking shit online, chances are it’s Ali typing. From what I can gather, Pereira then said something about Ankalaev “hiding from him” when they were both at the UFC Performance Institute or something. Ank got wind of that and he’s not happy. Which led to this hilarious image of them running into each other this week and having to argue through Google Translate ?

“Honestly, up until recently, I had respect for him as a fighter and a person. I no longer respect him. Okay, trash talk is something to hype up the fight, maybe you say something funny. But when you lie to people and say, ‘I saw him and he hid’, stuff like that, I don’t respect people like that. Why would you lie about something that never happened?”

“The problem here is that he was talking all this crap just a few days ago. And then today I saw him, it was just me and my coach and him and his whole team. I approached him and I said, ‘Hey, guys. You were lying that I was hiding and stuff. I’m right here now. What are you going to do? He responded by saying, ‘Oh, this girl said that, this guy said that’, and he started making stuff up on the spot.” - Magomed Ankalaev

Something of nothing. Pereira’s actually saying he’s gonna release the full footage of the ‘hiding’ incident at some point. Combined age of 71 these two! There was also some talk that Pereira went into that first fight with an injured left hand and was getting over norovirus. Ankalaev’s taken exception to the ‘excuses’ and I don’t know how much truth there is to that anyway. Although, thinking back to the fight, I really don’t remember Pereira throwing that left hand much at all and the left hook is usually his best weapon. So I don’t know, maybe there’s something to the left hand being compromised.

Whatever. Yeah, I don’t really know what to expect tonight. Even though I had Pereira just shading it this time, I’m kind of leaning towards Ankalaev going 2-0 for some reason. Can’t even put my finger on why but I’ve got this gut feeling that he might actually knock Pereira out this time. Can see Pereira trying to be more aggressive either way, and that’s either gonna work for him or against him. I feel like, maybe, Ank catches him. Hopefully it’s a more entertaining fight than the first one anyway.

[wandshogun09]

Full card, start times, face-offs…

Going Ankalaev, Merab and Jiri in the top three fights. 

[jimufctna24]

The UFC were clearly giddy as fuck that Pereira won. They uploaded the entire fight on their YouTube almost immediately after the show ended.

Credit to Pereira. I suspected he would be gun shy on the back foot and get dominated for 5 rounds, instead he pissed it.

[Bruce85]

Managed to catch the mainevent, outstanding work from Pereira, he wasn’t messing around! 
 

I thought he clearly had a game plan and had learnt from the first fight. Like Jim, I also half expected him to be a bit gun shy and thought he might take awhile to find his feet. But nope, he had a plan and excicuted it, and got him out in no time. I don’t think there was anything lucky about it, he looked like he had a stratergy with the overhand and leg kicks and executed it perfectly. 
 

Before I saw the whole fight I’d only seen the finish and thought the stoppage might have been a tad early but after watching the whole thing you can see the overhand wobbles Ankalaev and he’s not all there after that. 
 

Id be amazed if Dana gives Ankalaev an instant rematch, and tbh although he was the clear number 1 contender and overdue a title shoot I don’t think he warrants a rematch. Stick him in with Jiri and give Ulberg the next shot. 
 

If Aspinal beats Gane, I wouldn’t be against Pereira vacating the belt and getting the next shot at heavyweight. There isn’t that many good matchups for Tom, and you’d imagine Periera isn’t going to be around much longer so I’d be all for it. 

[Dai]

The Jiri/Rountree 3rd round was crazy. Jiri was getting beat comfortably, and then a flip just switches and it becomes instant chaos, and he destroys poor Rountree. Cracking stuff.

The Pereira finish just felt a bit flat and unsatisfying. Wasnt as if it was massive ground and pound, and Ankalalaev just sort of accepted it. Oddly unsatisfying way for a title fight to end.

Rest of the main card was decent. Merab just did what Merab does, but fair play to Cory, he never seemed completely out of it or gassed. He just wasnt good enough.

[Kfogg1991]

Well what a main card this turned out to be.

The main event just ellated me and everyone in my living room all deep down praying Alex would get the win but after the first fight and how off pace he looked and afterwards saying he wasn't well it clearly showed that wasn't a lie and he was pissed with the disrespect from Ankalalaev leading up.

Not a chance there's any immediate rematch claims for this and the UFC and Dana will be more than happy to distance him from the title picture rather quickly. 

Jiri absolutely stole the limelight and spot from ulberg if anything in that division the trilogy with jiri is most exciting.

 

I loved watching merab do what merab does so smoothly and efficiently, really rocked Cory in the second round which I scored 10/8 that man isn't being stopped anytime soon.

Khalil Vs jiri fight was always going to be fight of the night but that 3rd round and the mortal Kombat esque finish was flat out perfection.....when MMA treats us..... MMA absolutely spoils us ?

 

Josh Emmett getting subbed at the blink of an eye was jaw dropping.

 

And the UFC continue to try and force Joe Pyfer down our throats as a future superstar leaves a bitter taste (like Roman reigns winning the rumble and bi proxy getting the rock booed areas) giving him a bonus and not zalal ??

 

I wave the white flag patchy mix UFC career has gone down as the most dumpster fire disaster of all time.

 

 

[wandshogun09]

Nightmare week but finally caught up on everything. Normal service resumes…

I said I was slightly leaning towards an Ankalaev stoppage, couldn’t have been more wrong. Pereira approached this one completely differently than the first fight. Total opposite. I thought it was strange how much he stayed on the back foot last time but I guess there was truth to the talk of him being sick and/or injured going in. Looking back I definitely think his left hand was hurt. This time right from the off he was coming straight at Ankalaev and you could see the confidence was different. He knew he could let loose with those hands this time. Oddly, it was an overhand right which started Ank’s demise here, not the signature left hook he usually goes to. Seen a bit of chat about the stoppage being early but I was fine with it. Pereira was fucking him up with them 12-6 elbows. And the ones in the ribs were brutal. It’s come out since that Ankalaev had a broken rib going in. Well that’s according to Cormier anyway. Kind of funny how Pereira fans are completely dismissing it while fully claiming Pereira only lost last time because he was injured. So I guess it’s ’reasons’ when you like the guy and ‘excuses’ when you don’t? Although, to be fair, there was a fair bit of talk from the Ankalaev side that Pereira was “making excuses” for the loss in March, so it’s a bit rich them revealing the rib injury now.

Can’t believe Pereira did this again…

Christ ? You could see Ankalaev realised what was happening and sat up quick but it was too late by then. He was already a meme. Feel a bit bad for Ankalaev really. Seems like most of the ‘beef’ and bad vibes here were stirred up by Ali Abdelaziz. There’s a photo Pereira posted from the fight that shows Pereira dropping the finishing ground and pound and you can clearly see Ali in the crowd smiling. He doesn’t give a fuck. Stirs shit up, then sits back and watches ‘his guy’ catch an arse kicking. Proper snake.

Lots of talk about Pereira fighting everyone from Jon Jones to the Aspinall vs Gane winner to fucking Khamzat. Well, the Khamzat one is because Khamzat tweeted calling Pereira out. Pereira seems uninterested in that one, probably a wise move because even with a size advantage Khamzat’s style obviously isn’t great for Pereira. He doesn’t seem too fussed about Aspinall or Gane either. He seems all in on fighting Jones at the White House. Fuck knows? Dana’s already shot down Jones fighting at the White House but you know what Dana’s like. And if Pereira’s the one pushing for it, they might do it as a favour to him. That can be Dana’s excuse for changing his mind on Jones, the old “after what Pereira’s done for us, how can I say no?” I can see it being signed anyway. Whether Jones actually shows up and doesn’t sabotage himself again, we’d have to wait and see. Plus, with Jones just losing his brother, maybe he won’t even wanna fight. One thing’s for sure, I doubt we see Ankalaev in another title fight anytime soon. They didn’t wanna give him the shot in the first place. Can see Jiri vs Ulberg for an interim title next while Pereira does whatever he’s planning to do at Heavyweight. Then if he doesn’t come back to 205, the interim champ will just get upgraded. Mad we’re even talking about Pereira in Heavyweight fights though considering he was at Middleweight not long ago.

Don’t even know what to say about Merab anymore. He’s reached that point in his career where, on this form, I can’t see anyone at 135 beating him. The only way to do it is surely by catching him with the perfect shot. You’re not likely winning a decision so it’s literally the old ‘puncher’s chance’ thing with him. Problem is, his grappling game is so effective that even when Merab stays on the feet a bit like he did in spells here, strikers freeze in front of him because they know the consequences if they leave themselves vulnerable to the takedown. There were times on the feet here where you could see openings for Sandhagen but he couldn’t pull the trigger and Merab actually rocked him at one point. That’s the power of the takedown threat. I’ve got no doubt that in a straight striking match, Sandhagen would beat Merab. But throw grappling, or even just the threat of it, in the mix and good strikers turn into hesitant ones.

Genuinely don’t see him losing to anyone on the horizon currently. It’s not even like Sandhagen fought badly here, he was just in with someone better. And that’s probably gonna make the loss even harder to deal with for Sandhagen. He didn’t even do much wrong and still lost pretty much a shutout. And Merab’s showing no interest in moving up to Featherweight, which is refreshing really. A champ who knows what his weight class is and is content to stay there and just keep racking up defences is a rare thing these days. I still think an Umar rematch is probably the most difficult fight for Merab but even that, based on the first fight I’d have to pick Merab again. Looking like the Petr Yan rematch might be next and Merab’s already on about fighting in December! Oddly I think the fights I’d be most interested in with Merab now aren’t even guys in his division. I think Merab vs Pantoja and Merab vs Volk could be fun. Maybe Pantoja comes up at some point for that one but with Merab not being arsed about 145, looks like the Volk fight will probably never happen. Merab will be 35 in January, he can’t keep this up much longer surely?

Jiri vs Rountree was fucking wild. What a barmy fight. Exactly what you’d have pictured it to look like yet still somehow provided a shock at the end. Actually felt bad for Rountree. He seemed to be doing everything right for two rounds, was easily 2-0 up going into the third and looked well on his way to the best win of his career. Then the last round happened.

Jiri just went berserker mode and Rountree buckled under the sheer violence. This is what we love about Jiri and why he’s one of the most exciting fighters in the game. He’s never out of a fight until it’s over. Never mentally breaks. We saw it in that classic against Glover Teixeira where he won the title. You can never count him out. I almost did here after watching the first two rounds but you kind of knew he was gonna come out balls to the wall in the third round. He went all out and made it count. He was still getting tagged in the chaos but he had to put himself in the danger zone if he had any chance of winning at that point and it paid off big. That’s the difference between Jiri and a lot of guys. After going 0-2 in the first two rounds and coming out for a third against a big hitter like Rountree, a lot of fighters would’ve just made peace with losing a decision and trying to survive. Not Jiri Prochazka. He was 100% willing to commit to finding the finish or be knocked out himself.

Brutal. It’s a shame Jiri’s already 0-2 to Pereira. I could still see him getting a third crack. Maybe. He did take the second fight on short notice after all and he’s rattled off two big stoppage wins since. Guess it depends on if Pereira even fights at 205 again though. Like I said, I can see Jiri vs Ulberg for an interim belt now. 

Youssef Zalal pissing through Josh Emmett in about 90 seconds wasn’t how I expected that one to play out. But I was happy to see Zalal remind everyone what he’s about. He had that stinker against Calvin Kattar last time and it seemed like two thirds of the fanbase instantly decided he’s a boring fighter. Despite the fact he went into that fight on a six win/six finish streak and back-to-back POTN bonuses. Nice to see the crowd still booing him though, pricks. I get that he beat an American but to run through a guy like Emmett like that? You’d expect some begrudging respect or applause. There was nothing about Zalal’s performance or how he conducted himself during fight week to dislike. Either they didn’t realise there’s such a thing as a verbal tap or they were gonna boo regardless because ‘Muslim bad’. Either way, happy to see Zalal return to form here. Don’t know what happened with that Kattar snoozer but it’s not typical of Zalal at all. Big win for him here. I know Emmett’s getting up in age now but when you consider Topuria didn’t get him out of there in five rounds, this was impressive. Zalal’s moved to #7 in the rankings with this win. Looking at the names above him, I wouldn’t mind seeing him and Arnold Allen tangle. Can’t see Aljo or Yair taking the fight at this stage but they’d be good as well. Doubt he’s getting the Murphy fight he called for as it looks like Murphy’s fighting Volk for the strap next.

Joe Pyfer, the prick, got the win. Can’t stand him. A bloke so thick he went to the trouble and paid for a hair transplant, then shaved his head completely bald anyway. I don’t particularly rate Pyfer as anything more than a mediocre heavy handed goof. I had a feeling he’d win this one just because I have no confidence in Abus Magomedov ever since he turned up to a five round main event against Strickland with one round’s worth of gas in the tank. And right enough, he did it again here. He was giving Pyfer all kinds of grief in that first round, then seemed to fall to bits as soon as the second round started and got himself subbed despite winning all the grappling exchanges prior to that. Bollocks.

Ateba Gautier predictably steamrolled the ham and egger whose name I’ve already forgotten. Just walked through him in less than two minutes.

Not sure what you do with him next. There’s a real likability there and with his personality, his look and his knockout power there’s clearly potential there for him to catch on and become a bit of a star if he can keep the ball rolling. But at the same time, he’s still only 23 years old and green and raw. I think I said in the opening post that I’d be happy with the matchmakers just feeding him bodies for a bit but it’s clear these guys they’re giving him are woefully outmatched. To be fair this guy stepped in on late notice but I don’t think it would’ve made much difference. I think a gradual step up for Gautier is necessary but I get the feeling they’re gonna try and fast-track him and that’s obviously a big gamble. I noticed they played a little video before his fight and Rogan was giving it the “this guy is SPECIAL” bit during his walkout. I’m all for them actually getting behind a prospect and actually promoting him but the “special” talk after beating the jobbers he’s beaten so far feels way premature. We’ll see. He’s looked dangerous so far and I really like him. I hope he does well. But there’s a fuckload of questions he has to answer and tests he has to pass yet. So far he’s in that phase of his Goldberg streak where he’s beating the likes of Glacier and Sick Boy on Thunder and Saturday Night. He’s got a long way to go. I can see them giving him a huge step up though and he’ll either get exposed badly or he’ll actually rise to the occasion. It doesn’t usually work out well but time will tell, I guess.

Daniel Santos vs Joo Sang Yoo was fun while it lasted. Anyone who’s seen Santos fight before knows he brings it when he shows up, the issue has been getting him to show up. And Yoo showed in his debut that he can crack. So this was always gonna be entertaining. Santos made Yoo pay for the all the showboating though. I liked Yoo’s debut but he looked a right twat here, taunting his way through the whole first round then gets walloped right at the start of the second. It’s all fun and games showing off and being funny but when it backfires it’s brutal. Frustrating because Yoo probably has some actual potential but he fought like an absolute whopper here. Frankly he deserved to get chinned carrying on like that.

Jakub Wiklacz had a successful UFC debut but, man, what’s going on with Patchy Mix? I don’t think anyone expected him to come into the UFC and dominate but I don’t think anyone expected him to totally flop either. It’s not just that he’s losing, he doesn’t look at the races at all out there. There were times in this fight, and the debut against Bautista, where Mix looked absolutely lost. I never would’ve predicted that old Pitbull would get off to a better start in the UFC than Mix but here we are.

Deary me. And it’s not even like you can use the age/miles on the clock excuse with Mix like you could with Pitbull or Chandler when they came over. This and Pico getting flatlined in his debut feel more shocking because they both came in relatively young and presumably still in their prime. Worst thing about this is it just fuels that narrative from the UFC bootlickers that fighters from other promotions are typically inferior. I think Mix will get another fight but if he goes 0-3, I honestly think that could be it for him. Nice win for Wiklacz though. His performance has kind of gone under-appreciated because the talk has all been about Patchy’s shitting of the bed. But this was a strong first night in for Wiklacz.

Edmen Shahbazyan made short work of Andre Muniz. Crazy to think Edmen’s still only 27. Feels like he’s been around for an eternity but then I remember he debuted at 18 or something didn’t he? Seems to have settled down now and doesn’t rush and try to force the finish so much and it’s serving him well and oddly he’s finding the finish anyway. Muniz seems about done to me, he was never elite but his durability seems shot now so he can’t even get by on toughness. Still don’t see Edmen troubling the rankings. Just think he’s found his level but he might not be the total bust he seemed a couple of years ago.

Punahele Soriano vs Nikolay Veretennikov was boring as fuck. Worst fight I’ve seen out of Soriano, so I’m putting the blame on Veretennikov. Sod it. Neither are much good but at least Soriano’s been fun at the bottom of the cards in the past. Veretennikov is just useless.

I skimmed through the Yana Santos vs Macy Chiasson fight because, well, why would I sit through it when the fast forward button is right there? Saw enough to know it looked exactly as you’d think it would. Went the distance (shock horror) and looked very lacklustre. I was glad to see Santos won though. Chiasson missed weight by 1.5lbs, making her the fourth opponent Santos has faced who’s missed weight. Santos was understandably pissed off at the bullshit and she’s come out since the fight and outright said that the UFC have pressured her in the past to still take the fights when her opponents have came in heavy. So she felt like she didn’t have much choice but to go ahead with this fight here. Doesn’t surprise me one bit but it’s nice to see a fighter actually speak up on it. She’ll probably be given the toughest matchup possible next and be stuck in the Fight Pass curtain jerker as punishment but she’s obviously had enough.

Farid Basharat got the win again, improves to 14-0 and he’s still only 28. Beat Chris Gutierrez without much bother. Problem is there’s just nothing of note about him. He’s got a bit of time yet but, based on what we’re seeing now, there’s not much to get excited about really. Proper decision merchant, which doesn’t necessarily have to be a huge negative. I remember Tyson Griffin used to get called a decision machine back in the day but it wasn’t for the lack of trying for the finish and he was putting on FOTN bangers for fun. There doesn’t seem to be much urgency in Basharat’s game though and that combined with his all business, workmanlike approach and seemingly beige personality, there’s absolutely zero of the buzz around him that you’d expect of a young undefeated fighter.

Ramiz Brahimaj got a decent win over Austin Vanderford. Thought Mr PVZ got way too careless chasing the takedown, felt like a matter of time until Brahimaj snatched his neck and, sure enough, the guillotine came in the second round. Vanderford seems too one-note for someone at his stage of his career and 35 years old. Solid control when he gets on top but not much else and it makes him predictable because you know he’s gonna shoot in the second it gets rough on the feet. Brahimaj made him pay the price.

Nice to see Veronica Hardy back to winning ways and she looked pretty good. It’s one of them though where you can’t really take much from it because Walker had been out a couple of years and wasn’t anything special to begin with. It got Hardy back in the win column and I like her but I just can’t see her going much further than this never ending early prelims spot. You can tell she’s worked on her grappling but it’s still a bit ropey and if she’s not able to put away opposition at this level then it doesn’t fill me with confidence whenever she steps up again. Happy to see her get the W though.

 

Solid card all in all. Looking forward to actually watching 321 live in two weeks with it being on at UK prime time. 

Edited October 10, 2025 by wandshogun09