UFC 322: Maddalena vs Makhachev - Nov 15 🇺🇸

[wandshogun09]

Won’t be long now.

[Bruce85]

That was a really enjoyable card up until the co-main and main events. I didn’t find the fights borning, just far too one sided to be really entertaining. 

 

I expected a bit more from JDM, I thought the size difference and his takedown defence would at least make it interesting and give Islam some problems. But nope, Islam just out there proving he’s one of the best to ever do it. I really don’t know who you give him next as I can’t see any of the top welterweights being able to stop the take downs enough to make it interesting. Maybe Shavkat if he ever comes back but I can’t see the UFC giving him a title shot after such a long layoff. Seen talk of old man Usman getting a title shot, I don’t think he should but I also don’t hate the idea. 
 

JDM looked absolutely defeated and lost coming out for the final round, his facial expressions said it all. Not sure if he got injured early on as he was grimacing but not sure it made much difference. Maybe give him Brady next. 
 

I’m never making drunk predictions on here again, picking Zhang to knock out Shev might be the worst pick ever. They looked about 3 weight classes apart, Shev was massive. In hindsight, maybe Shev by decision was the obvious pick but I genuinely thought Zhang would offer a lot more than she did. 
 

Morales and Prates both putting their names in the title picture with 2 great performances. Depending who’s next in line I wouldn’t mind these two fighting for number one contender. The welterweight division is certainly not short on contenders. 
 

I still can’t work out how Prates managed to send Leon up in the air like he did, it was some kinda dragon ball Z shit! I think Leon is done, I wouldn’t mind seeing him on the next UK card and hanging the gloves up. No chance he’s ever getting near the title again. 
 

Another solid performance from BSD, he’s bounced back well from those couple of losses he had. I like BSD so was happy to see him win but poor Dariush, he managed to get back in the win column after the beatings he took from Olivera and Armen only to get put out even quicker this time out. Not sure what’s left from him either at this point. 
 

Bo Nickel turning into Mirko Bo Cop with that head kick! Viera is no world beater but Bo can only beat what’s in front of him and I thought he looked massively improved here. Also enjoyed him flipping the fans off, he might as well go full heel at this point. 
 

Overall a very fun card, just a bit let down by the one sidedness of the title fights. 

[Dai]

Yeah, I enjoyed it, and even watched the prelims which I rarely do. Wands write up of a crappy Blanchfield/Cortez gave me the inspiration to watch them, bizarrely.

One of the main events went exactly as I predicted, and the other I got completely wrong. From 10 seconds into the second round of Shev/Zhang, where Shev just easily took Zhang down with a sloppy bodylock, you knew this one was over. Utter dominance, without ever being interesting. Classic Shev from the last five years. I said that the weight wouldnt be an issue and that Shev was well into the decline. Cant really tell about her decline as it was obvious that the weight and strength difference here was insane. Back down for Zhang now, who probably has a more interesting fight now compared to Shev.

 

The Islam fight went exactly as how I predicted. The weight was no factor here, and that meant the gulf in quality between him and JDM really showed up. Great performance from Islam, but a finish here never really seemed that likely. JDM, on the other hand, looks abysmal. Whatever the opposite of a star making performance is. Everything about him main eventing a numbered show, an MSG show, his entrance in a main event fight, his performance, just screamed like he shouldn't be there or was a late replacement. I know Ive sounded harsh on him in this thread, but he did strike me as just being a jobber to the stars here.

Cant believe they showed Usman post fight. Who really wants to see that? Even moreso after the star making fights the other two had just before.

One last thing about the Islam fight, has it been brought up on social media that it looked like he had a dick on the back of his tights? Hopefully Wand can post a screen grab of it. Totally distracting.

Unbelievable performances form Morales and Prates. Both look huge for the division too. That's the way to get noticed. Do you put them in a fight together and do the Usman one next? Or do you line both of them up to fight Islam next? Do you now headline a Fight Night with Leon and JDM too now?

Poor Leon, he was looking pretty good up until that point. Wonder how he responds mentally to another bad defeat here though, as it means hes out of the title situation for at least a year now.

Another scary KO loss for Dariush. Seems like this is it for him now in terms of being elite.

 

Prelims were all OK. Nickal looked class, the Cortez fight was OK for what it was. In Wands write up for the first one, he said it was strange how Cortez went for takedowns. She did so in this one too and it cost her the fight. Kopylov was clearly losing the fight and still didnt do anything in R3 to try and win, which is a pet peeve of mine.

[wandshogun09]

Late to this again. It’s the way it’s gonna be until the Christmas overtime is done. I’m ending up watching these shows in instalments lately and getting half of it spoiled beforehand. Shite.

On 11/15/2025 at 8:45 AM, wandshogun09 said:

Going Makhachev, Zhang, Brady, Leon and Dariush for my main card picks. 

This aged well 🤣 only Makhachev stopped it from being a complete 0-5 main card washout.

Speaking of 0-5 washouts. Fuck me. I thought Makhachev had a problem style for Maddalena but I didn’t expect it to be that one-sided. JDM got absolutely dominated. Became clear from very early on that it was gonna be a rough night for him. Unlike the women’s title fight, Makhachev looked right at home at the higher weight. Looked strong and was still obviously able to be majorly effective with his wrestling the whole fight. Won every round for me and the scorecards agreed. There was really no other way to score this one. Makhachev’s a beast. Sadly for JDM, I think he was always gonna have a fairly short run as champ. There’s just too many strong grapplers at the top of the Welterweight division at the moment. Even if Makhachev had stayed at Lightweight, I think Brady and Shavkat would’ve been big problems for JDM anyway. But Makhachev was probably the worst style-wise of the lot in the end. The only thing giving me doubts going in was the question of the size but Makhachev quickly rendered that question redundant early into the fight the way he was able to control Jack.

Seen loads of people shitting on JDM for having ‘no grappling’ but it’s bollocks. His takedown defence is certainly a weakness in his game but if he had no grappling then Makhachev would’ve subbed him at some point in that 25 minutes. I think if it wasn’t for the work JDM’s been putting in with Craig Jones, he’d have been finished. His BJJ defence is actually really good, he just couldn’t stop the takedown so that left Makhachev having a hard time finding the sub but he was still able to dominate positionally. It lead to a fairly dull fight because of its lack of competitiveness but that’s mostly because Jack was able to defend the subs so well. If he hadn’t, Makhachev would’ve probably subbed him within two or three rounds and this tired ‘all Islam does is lay and pray’ bollocks wouldn’t be a thing. It’s hilarious to me that Makhachev gets called boring. Before this fight he’d finished 8 of his last 10 opponents and one of the ones he didn’t finish was the FOTY candidate with Volk in their first fight. “Boring”. Get out. This wasn’t as bad as Khamzat vs DDP either. I saw that comparison doing the rounds but the difference here was that JDM was at least trying to escape and make stuff happen from the bottom, which meant there was at least movement. DDP seemed to just accept his fate.

The double champ thing is cool but not technically true in this case because he had to vacate the Lightweight strap to move up for this fight but whatever. Still a great achievement. Two-division champ regardless. Think I read somewhere that he’s the first fighter to win both the Lightweight and Welterweight titles since BJ Penn all the way back in 2004. I’m really interested to see what Makhachev can actually do now at 170. This was an impressive performance no doubt. But it was kind of favourable style-wise given JDM’s suspect defensive wrestling. The risk was in moving up in weight but he appears to have done it the right way. Looking at the rest of the division and potential challengers though, there’s some very intriguing ones. I think he rags someone like Prates about all day, probably Garry too. But how would he match up with a Shavkat, a Brady or a huge Welterweight like Morales? Very interesting times ahead. I’m really not feeling this talk of Makhachev vs Usman though. No disrespect to Usman, he’s one of the best Welterweights ever, but in 2025? At 38 years old? Coming off one win over Buckley and a load of time on the shelf? Why’s it even being talked about? I think they’re gonna do it as well. Makhachev wants it, Usman obviously wants it and Dana’s been saying recently that Usman is the “greatest Welterweight of all time” or something. Which is fucking bullshit and clear anti GSP propaganda. But maybe it’s all to try and position Usman as the next in line. It’s not Jones vs Stipe level of shameful matchmaking or anything, Usman showed against Buckley this year that he’s still got something left. But I’m not buying into Makhachev vs Usman as the next title fight to make at all.

Someone else chirped up as well…

I’m gutted but I think the ship actually might’ve sailed on that Makhachev vs Topuria fight at this point. It’s a fight I was dying to see and I really wish Makhachev would’ve stuck around at 155 for one more fight just so we got that before he moved up to 170. But now we’re in this spot where I can’t see Makhachev ever going back down in weight. He hasn’t closed the door on it himself and he has seemed more open to the Topuria fight in some bits I’ve seen recently. But I don’t know. As great as Topuria is, if Makhachev decides to never drop back down (and why would he now?) I just feel like Topuria has no business at Welterweight. He’s one of the very best fighters in the sport but there’s a limit to everything and I feel like him trying to go up to 170 to chase the Makhachev fight would be a step too far. That fight at 155 would’ve been tremendous. At 170, I think it’s too much to ask for Topuria. Him against the tank we saw in WW Makhachev on Saturday wouldn’t be that interesting to me.

Oh and while I’m here…

On 11/17/2025 at 10:33 AM, Dai said:

One last thing about the Islam fight, has it been brought up on social media that it looked like he had a dick on the back of his tights? Hopefully Wand can post a screen grab of it. Totally distracting.

🤣 It’s funny you mention that. I somehow didn’t even notice it myself but Mrs Wand was in the room during the walkouts and she actually said “Erm, why’s that bloke got a big fucking willy on his shorts?” Spoken like a true Brummie princess.

Valentina Shevchenko vs Zhang Weili was really deflating, disappointing and dull to watch. There was always the chance that Shevchenko might just be able to out-strength her physically, it’s always a possibility whenever a fighter goes up in weight, but I never expected it to be as one-sided as it was. 

The old ‘there are weight classes for a reason’ cliche rang true watching this. I wasn’t on board with the feeling that Shev was shot, she’s clearly past her prime but she’s not washed up or anything. But I really thought Zhang would be too quick for her and I didn’t think the size and strength difference would be as evident as it was. Zhang got nothing going at all sadly. The thing is, there are still a lot of Flyweights I’d pick Zhang to beat. The ones who are more standup based she’d probably do well against. But against a bigger opponent who literally only wants to take and hold her down, it turned out to be the nightmare matchup. She’ll really have to go back down go Strawweight now. This loss was so clear and such one-way traffic that it’s basically killed her Flyweight campaign dead right out the gate so, if she’s gonna fight on and I think she will, it’s most likely back down to 115. Which is bad news for Mackenzie Dern. You had your fun, love. But that gold’s going back to China in 2026.

As for Shevchenko, it’s pretty much what she said in the post-fight interview. Either Natalia Silva or Erin Blanchfield, unless they wanna do another ‘Superfight’ but I can’t see how. She threw out Kayla Harrison’s name in the cage but mentioned on Helwani’s show in the week something about “maybe Kayla will want to come down to 125”. Yeah, that’s not happening so we might as well forget it. Kayla nearly kills herself trying to make Bantamweight, expecting her to drain herself down to Flyweight, you might as well just say you want her to die. There’s also been some rumblings of a third fight with Amanda Nunes, with Nunes actually mentioning the possibility of beating Kayla then going down to 125 to take Shev’s belt. Again, not gonna happen is it? Unless Shev goes up in weight for those fights, which she seems to have no interest in, they’re absolutely pointless talking about because Nunes isn’t making 125 and Harrison certainly isn’t. So Silva or Blanchfield it is.

Well, I was hesitant to fully buy into the Michael Morales buzz. I’m sold now. He might be a serious problem. This was always a gamble for Brady to take a fight like this. I admire his attitude and willingness to get in there with a risky opponent like Morales when he didn’t really need to, but it backfired big time here.

Morales looked like a monster. He’s skyrocketed up five places in the rankings with this win, he’s now at #3. The only names in front of him are Jack Della Maddalena and Belal Muhammad. And both of them have just lost the title this year in one-sided fashion. It’s mad because it still feels too soon for Morales to get a title shot but after a win like this? Brady was pretty much the next guy waiting in the wings. If Makhachev didn’t move up to 170 when he did, Brady might’ve got the title shot against Maddalena. So Morales knocking that guy out of the race was huge. But at the same time, does Makhachev vs Morales feel like the fight to make? I don’t know. I actually think they’re gonna try and spin Usman as the next contender for Makhachev. Which is nuts and makes no sense but I think that’s the way it’s heading.

The Carlos Prates KO was nasty. Rough seeing Leon put out like that. Think it was more of a shock than your average knockout just because we’ve never seen Leon stopped like that before. Prates can definitely whack. Thought Leon was doing well before that with the grappling and some counters on the feet as well. He was certainly in the fight and it felt competitive enough that it could still go either way. Then it happened…

No surviving that. Huge win for Prates. Biggest of his career to date by far. Both in who he beat and the way he did it. He’s moved up to #5 with this win. Looking at the rankings, I’d love to see him against Morales. Coming off this show and both their big wins, it feels like the natural fight to make. But I don’t know. They’re both fresh and interesting potential contenders at 170, do you wanna eliminate one of them at this stage? I’d still be down for it but it might not be the way the matchmakers wanna take it. Prates or Morales vs a returning Shavkat could be cool as well. As for Leon, man, tough times for him. What a plummet from just last summer. He was on top of the world going into that Belal fight in Manchester. Now look at him. It’s not even like he looked bad here before the KO but it was a brutal one. And for a guy who’d never been finished coming into this year, he’s now been finished in back-to-back fights. The submission to Brady and now this brutal knockout against Prates. Leon vs JDM feels like the obvious move for both really.

Man, Benoit Saint Denis absolutely smoked Beneil Dariush quick! 16 bastard second demolition job…

I feel stupid picking Dariush now. It genuinely felt like a bit of a coin flip to me going in. I did mention in the opening post that Dariush has become quite susceptible to getting clipped early, as we saw in the losses to Oliveira and Tsarukyan, and obviously Benoit’s always been a strong starter. But Dariush was also coming off a decent win over Moicano and I felt like he had the grappling to give BSD problems if he could just weather that initial blitz. He couldn’t.

Poor prick got wrecked. Don’t know where Dariush goes from here. At 36 he’s not that old but not a spring chicken. But I don’t even know if it’s an age issue. He just seems like one of those fighters who is vulnerable early. When he’s in with guys who aren’t particularly big hitters, he can get his game going and do well. We saw that in his wins over Moicano and Gamrot. But he doesn’t hold up well when it gets put on him early. He’s now in a tough spot where he’s been put to bed in the first round in three of his last four fights but he’s also still ranked so he’s not gonna be given any easy fights. BSD’s done well to get back on track this year after a shite 2024. This year he’s gone 3-0 with 3 finishes, derailed the Ruffy hype train and now wipes out Dariush in seconds. Not bad. Again though, not sure what the next move could be for him either. He’s ranked #8 now but the names above him are all either onto bigger things or holding out for a title shot.

Fair play, Bo Nickal looked good. I’ve been quite critical of him and I do think a lot of the hype around him early on was forced. It’s not to say he’s never gonna amount to anything though and I’d actually say this was his best overall performance so far in the UFC. And that’s coming off his first loss against De Ridder in May. Could actually be a case of that loss being good for him in the long run. Based on how he bounced back against Vieira here, it’s a positive sign and a step in the right direction anyway. Still something about him that bugs me and I can’t see me being a fan really but fair’s fair, this was a solid showing. The finish was a beauty as well…

Christ. @Bruce85’s call of ‘Mirko Bo Cop’ indeed. He then went and cut the dorkiest of dork promos post-fight. “Frick you, motherfrickers!” What kind of Ned Flanders shite was that? Not sure what you do with Bo next. I don’t think they should rush him though. He’s only just about to turn 30, he’s got a bit of time. Give him a couple more fights around this Vieira level and see where he’s at this time next year maybe?

Gregory Rodrigues vs Roman Kopylov was surprisingly lacklustre and uneventful. It wasn’t terrible but I expected more. Not a lot else to even say other than I was a bit disappointed. Robocop didn’t look bad himself but he was winning comfortably and the fight just never seemed to get out of second gear. Thought Kopylov was really flat though.

Erin Blanchfield had little bother with Tracy Cortez. Having watched the first fight from 2019 the other day, then watching this rematch, it really doesn’t even look to me like Cortez has improved much at all. And still making those questionable mid-fight decisions to take Blanchfield down where she’s strongest, six years later, is baffling. It’s like she’s learned nothing and made zero progress. And while Blanchfield’s never gonna be a great striker, watching both fights at least she’s improved a little bit in that area. Her striking was still subpar here but it was nonexistent in their first fight. In the end though, it was Blanchfield’s superior grappling which decided it…

Didn’t even have to control the lower body and still had Cortez tapping pretty easily. Blanchfield is at #4 in the Flyweight rankings now. I know they were on about her possibly challenging Shevchenko for the title next and, I don’t know, maybe that’s what will happen. I’d have thought #2 ranked Natalia Silva would be next but we’ll see. I was happy to see Blanchfield get the win and finish here though. She needed a performance like this and it must’ve been extra sweet to avenge that dodgy loss from 2019. I saw so many people picking Cortez going in and I didn’t really get it. Can only guess it was half people just looking at Cortez’s win the first time on Wikipedia and assuming she actually beat Blanchfield, and the other half just horny sods who pick women’s fights based on who they think is more fit. But even that, maybe it’s just me but I think Blanchfield is hotter anyway.

Really enjoyed the Ethyn Ewing vs Malcolm Wellmaker fight. What a debut for Ewing. I think everyone was high on Wellmaker and excited to see him back in there going in. For Ewing to come in on just a couple of days notice and beat him was quite a way to introduce himself on the big stage. Like I said in the opening post though, Ewing had just fought earlier this month so it wasn’t like he was just stepping in out of shape or something. He was bang up for this. Thought it was a belting fight. For some reason there was no FOTN bonus given on this card, I think that was harsh on these two. They deserved something extra, I reckon. Not only because the fight was so good but also Ewing taking it on 48 hours notice and Wellmaker accepting a third different opponent on 48 hours notice. But no. They got no bonus from the company that recently signed a 7 BILLION dollar deal. Cheapskate twats. I’ve liked the little snippets I’ve seen of Ewing doing the interview rounds since Saturday as well. Seems a good lad and I was happy to see him shoot down the tired “fraud check” bollocks that’s been being aimed at Wellmaker for the loss.

Kyle Daukaus throttling Gerald Meerschaert in 50 seconds was a right downer. Really looks like it’s over for our Gerald. This was his fourth loss on the bounce, he’s been finished in three of them, he’s now been finished in the first round in his last two fights, he’s 57 fights deep in his career and he turns 38 in a few weeks. I think it’s time to pull the plug but he probably won’t. Daukaus has got off to a hell of a start in his return to the UFC though, with the quick knockout of Michel Pereira and now this. He’s stopped Pereira and Meerschaert in a combined 93 seconds since coming back to the UFC. OK neither are in great form but it’s not a bad start is it? Don’t see him troubling the rankings and he’s calling for a fight with Robert Whittaker, which I don’t see going well for him if it happens. But fair play, he’s already doing better in this second UFC stint than he did the first time around.

Sabatini vs Mariscal pretty much went how I expected sadly, with Sabatini just outgrappling him for the points. Never even realised this was a rematch until they said it on commentary. Apparently they fought back in 2018 on a Victory FC card and Mariscal actually won by split decision. I’d have watched and reviewed that in here if I hadn’t completely missed that when knocking up the opening post.

Thought Fatima Kline looked good again. Angela Hill is clearly past her best and, let’s be honest, even at her best she wasn’t a contender. But even in recent years she’s derailed a couple of younger fighters who I was pretty sure would roll over her. Kline didn’t give her much at all though. Really liked this performance from her and, at 25 years old, I genuinely think she’s got real potential. There isn’t a lot of new blood at Strawweight I’m arsed about but I think Kline’s got something.

Wasn’t massively impressed by Baisangur Susurkaev this time. He got the big finish eventually so it’s probably gonna be mostly overlooked but I didn’t think he looked all that before the KO. I felt like he was up on the cards before that but he wasn’t really living up to the hype for me. McConico doesn’t look like anything special, he went to a close decision with Cody Brundage before this FFS. So Susurkaev should’ve run through him if he’s as good as he was being cracked up to be. Still young, not gonna write him off and he did find the knockout. But there’s clearly a lot of room for improvement.


Yeah, good card overall. Main and co-main fell a bit flat just because they weren’t competitive. But there was enough on the undercard to kind of make up for it and Makhachev winning the second belt was a cool moment. Three cards left of the year now. Qatar looks good, 323 looks good…then there’s some Apex cack to close out ‘25. Hopefully we get some bangers and/or surprises and moments on those cards to finish up a fairly quiet year.
 

Edited November 22, 2025 by wandshogun09

[jimufctna24]

3 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

Think I read somewhere that he’s the first fighter to win both the Lightweight and Welterweight titles since BJ Penn all the way back in 2004. I

Penn didn't become Lightweight Champ in the UFC until 2008.

He was ROTC LW Champ when he beat Hughes to win the UFC WW title in early 2004 though. 

I agree with your points about the main event. 

 

[wandshogun09]

On 11/22/2025 at 12:40 PM, jimufctna24 said:

Penn didn't become Lightweight Champ in the UFC until 2008.

He was ROTC LW Champ when he beat Hughes to win the UFC WW title in early 2004 though. 

Ah yeah that’s right. For some reason my brain fog meant I had it in my head that he won the Lightweight title first and then had the Welterweight title win over Hughes in 2004 to solidify the two-weight champ status. Mad really that it took until 2008 and the Sherk win for him to bag 155 gold but he did have that spell outside the UFC in the early 2000s which delayed things.

Oh and @Dai, a bit more info on Makhachev’s shorts with the penis design. According to a guy on Twitter who gave a bit of background on it, it’s something called the Khanjali, which is apparently both a weapon and “cultural emblem used in Dagestan which symbolises honour and bravery and is part of traditional male attire sometimes in dance and social ceremonies”. 

Does resemble a spam javelin though. 

[jimufctna24]

@wandshogun09

Sherk was actually the challenger when Penn beat him in May of 2008. Sherk had been stripped of the belt the previous year after failing a drugs test.

Penn beat Stevenson to first become the LW champ in January of 2008. You were in attendance IIRC?

Edited November 23, 2025 by jimufctna24

[jimufctna24]

Double post tosser.

Edited November 23, 2025 by jimufctna24

[wandshogun09]

7 minutes ago, jimufctna24 said:

@wandshogun09

Sherk was actually the challenger when Penn beat him in May of 2008. Sherk had been stripped of the belt the previous year after failing a drugs test.

Penn beat Stevenson to first become the LW champ in January of 2008. You were in attendance IIRC?

Fuck sake. I’m losing it. I was in attendance as well but for some reason I had it in my head that the Stevenson fight was for an interim belt on the way to the eventual Penn vs Sherk fight for the undisputed. I used to have a sharp memory for all this shit. Can you get CTE just from watching fights? 

[Dai]

Thanks for the info about the Member on the butt cheek shorts! Definitely wont be buying them from the online shop.

[wandshogun09]

Anyone read this stuff about Sean Brady talking about moving down to 155? Sounds like a terrible idea to me that. Doesn’t look like he has any fat on him at 170 so he’d have to lose muscle. Then on top of that a harder cut. Just feels counterproductive and a knee-jerk reaction to getting chinned. I don’t think the loss to Morales showed Brady is too small for 170, Morales is just a massive Welterweight. He’s gonna have the size advantage against pretty much anyone at 170. We just saw Jack Hermansson try to do the same, cutting down from Middleweight to Welterweight on the Qatar card and he got his lights completely shut off by what looked like a glancing shot to the ear. Obviously Brady is younger and fresher than Hermansson but I don’t think cutting more weight is the answer at all. 

Edited November 27, 2025 by wandshogun09

[Bruce85]

2 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

Anyone read this stuff about Sean Brady talking about moving down to 155? Sounds like a terrible idea to me that. Doesn’t look like he has any fat on him at 170 so he’d have to lose muscle. Then on top of that a harder cut. Just feels counterproductive and a knee-jerk reaction to getting chinned. I don’t think the loss to Morales showed Brady is too small for 170, Morales is just a massive Welterweight. He’s gonna have the size advantage against pretty much anyone at 170. We just saw Jack Hermansson try to do the same, cutting down from Middleweight to Welterweight on the Qatar card and he got his lights completely shut off by what looked like a glancing shot to the ear. Obviously Brady is younger and fresher than Hermansson but I don’t think cutting more weight is the answer at all. 

I did see he was on about moving down. Maybe with how many title contenders are at welterweight he thinks he’ll have an easier chance of getting a title shot at 155.  With how many top contenders there are at welterweight he could find himself low down the pecking order with the loss to Morales. 

[wandshogun09]

Yeah that’ll be his thinking and I’d see the logic if he wasn’t built like a tank at 170. He’s solid. With a fucking back like a turtle shell. I just think him draining himself down to 155 will harm him more than help him. So many fighters seem to think the answer to a bad loss is just to cut more weight. Sure the size of Morales was a factor but it wasn’t the sole reason Brady lost. He got lit up like a Christmas tree. Cutting more weight doesn’t address the actual issue of why he lost, it just feels like a lazy attempt at problem solving to me. Like he thinks his only way to bounce back is to be bigger than his future opponents rather than focusing on trying to close the very real gaps in his striking and defence. 

[Dai]

Yeah, doesn't make much sense when he's two fights removed from his Leon mauling. He is only 5'10 I guess, and maybe he's thinking that when you get to the top end of the elite fighters, the smallest of percentage advantages make a huge difference, and he's thinking that against the likes of even Prates he will be undersized. If he's thinking he's not getting a look in until 2027 for a title shot, even if everything goes to plan, then it might be worth making an impact and keeping his intruige at the lower weight.