Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted January 31 Paid Members Posted January 31 (edited) First Apex card of 2026ā¦ PARAMOUNT+ MAIN CARD Mario Bautista vs Vinicius OliveiraĀ Kyoji Horiguchi vs Amir AlbaziĀ Jailton Almeida vs Rizvan KunievĀ Michal Oleksiejczuk vs Marc-Andre BarriaultĀ Jean Matsumoto vs Farid BasharatĀ Dustin Jacoby vs Julius WalkerĀ PARAMOUNT+ PRELIMSĀ Alex Morono vs Daniil DonchenkoĀ Nikolay Veretennikov vs Niko PriceĀ Bruna Brasil vs Ketlen SouzaĀ Javid Basharat vs Gianni VazquezĀ Wang Cong vs Eduarda Moura Muin Gafurov vs Jakub WiklaczĀ Klaudia Sygula vs Priscila CachoeiraĀ Ā OK yeah. Very Apexy. Although Horiguchi being on there stands out like a sore thumb. I donāt get it. Beats Ulanbekov in his UFC return in Qatar, looks great, gets the finish. Now heās slumming it at the Apex? I donāt mind the fight itself, although Albazi isnāt the fight Iād have chosen for Guch. But whatever.Ā Main eventās alright, although Bautista hasnāt been great to watch recently. Oliveira can be fun, Iām just not sure heās ready for this step up. It could be decent though. Iām not gonna moan about Bantamweights getting main event positions anyway. Could be a lot worse.Ā Shows what the UFC think of Jailton Almeida when heās coming off being in a title eliminator against Volkov and now heās lumbered with this fat Russian in the UFC warehouse. Canāt even say I blame them. That performance from Almeida in the Volkov fight was rotten. Not much else to this. Oleksiejczuk vs Barriault is probably gonna be chaos for however long it lasts. That Donchenko fella was really entertaining in his UFC debut from what I remember. Early days but I kind of got mini Jiri Prochazka vibes off him.Ā Ā Apex. Edited February 6 by wandshogun09 Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted February 5 Author Paid Members Posted February 5 (edited) On 2/4/2026 at 12:36 AM, jimufctna24 said: What's the guy fighting Kyoji like? Albaziās alright but not great either. From what I remember heās got solid grappling, decent power in his hands but so-so striking. At one point I thought he might have some potential but itās kind of fizzled out now. Thereās been a lot of inactivity and pulling out of fights due to a bunch of different injuries and health problems. In his last fight he looked pretty bad against an off-form Moreno and that was late 2024. He missed all of 2025. And even the win streak before the Moreno fight, his best win was over Kai Kara-France by split decision and I remember thinking KKF shouldāve won. I think Horiguchi beats him. Especially if he comes in looking as sharp as he did last time. I read earlier that before that Moreno vs Loneāer Kavanagh fight was made for the Mexico headliner, Horiguchi was actually approached about stepping in against Moreno and he agreed but he wanted to still have this Albazi fight and then do a quick turnaround and fight Moreno. Wouldāve been cool but I get why the UFC didnāt go for that. If they agreed and then Horiguchi lost here or even if he won but picked up an injury or something, where would that have left them in regards to the Mexico main event?Ā Shame really. I donāt get why they didnāt just make Moreno vs Horiguchi for Mexico in the first place. Much better main event for a card than the original Moreno vs Almabayev fight or this Kavanagh replacement. And fighting Moreno in front of a crowd is the kind of fight Horiguchi shouldāve been having all along, instead of a going nowhere Albazi at the Apex.Ā Edited February 5 by wandshogun09 Quote
Dai Posted February 5 Posted February 5 You think after the UFC rejected the two fights plan for Horiguchi, then he'd have made a smart choice and binned off a nothing fight in front of no fans and took the Moeno fight instead. No idea what the logic is behind sticking with this one. Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted February 5 Author Paid Members Posted February 5 All I can think is that Horiguchi didnāt fancy switching his fight to Mexico because of the high altitude maybe? Especially this late in camp when he wouldnāt have prepared for that. But then, the stuff I read was saying he did agree to fight Moreno in Mexico but was still gonna do this Albazi fight. Fuck knows? Either way, it might be for the best. If youāre gonna take a fight at high altitude, you want some prep time. You certainly donāt want it sprung on you a few weeks out. The more I think about it the more I think it mightnāt have been such a good idea Loneāer Kavanagh taking that fight, especially coming off his first loss.Ā Quote
Dai Posted February 5 Posted February 5 What the hell!? 50 pounds and they weigh in tomorrow!? Impossible, so hoping there's some sort of lost in translation involved.Ā Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted February 5 Author Paid Members Posted February 5 (edited) I think he surely meant he walks around out of training camp around 50lbs above the Bantamweight limit and his weight cut during camp for each fight is roughly 50lbs. Surely. Nobodyās cutting 50lbs on fight week.Ā Edited February 5 by wandshogun09 Quote
Dai Posted February 5 Posted February 5 Haha oh yes, now that you say that then it makes alot more sense. Still sounds an insane amount. Surely someone at 170 doesn't drop from 220 or a 185er from 235, that sounds insane, even more so when the percentage body weight increases alot the lighter the ranks.Ā Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted February 7 Author Paid Members Posted February 7 As Apex cards go, weāve had a lot worse. I read that four fighters missed weight for this. Both Wang Cong and Eduarda Moura came in heavy for their fight. And Muin Gafurov and Gianni Vazquez came in 5lbs over for their fights. In fairness to Vazquez, he took the fight on two days notice. He agreed to the weight so thatās on him, and heās still getting fined 25%. But 2 days notice is ridiculous.Ā Quote
jimufctna24 Posted February 9 Posted February 9 (edited) As much as I like seeing Kyoji win in the UFC again, I really wish he would have returned to the UFC in early 2021 when he was closer to his physical prime.Ā Instead, he pratted around in Bellator and Rizin, where he fought at 135lbs half the time, instead of his natural weightclass of Flyweight.Ā Ā Edited February 9 by jimufctna24 Quote
Kfogg1991 Posted February 9 Posted February 9 I actually really enjoyed this overall even though we didn't get loads of finishes the fights were great and so back and forth scraps this even had two women's fights that were good and not boring snoozefests which is rare. However the Almeda fight was a abomination completely embarrassing and if they released him today I don't think anyone would be shocked at all, yes some blame is on the ref and he should have separated them from hugging at the cage for most the fight but both had to be aware the fight was unacceptable and they weren't walking away with fans and praise from Dana and everyone and Almeda was 6th/7th in the fucking rankings what a disaster the entire heavyweight division is they need to do something to help it in a big way it's a joke and the worst division by farĀ Ā Oh my god Nico price's Knock out was both mental and heart shattering he needs to retire and stop fighting immediately. I wouldn't go out my way to watch but if you have time it's good fights throughoutĀ Quote
Dai Posted February 11 Posted February 11 Horiguchi and Bautista both looked good in their wins. After the talk of Oliveira having to lose that much weight earlier in the thread, after this performance he needs to move up immediately, as he looked crap. Ā My main take away was this was the first time we have seen the Apex in ages, and its clear its never going away. They have added more seats by the looks of it, and they have also clearly spent time and money in the Winter break upgrading the general look/feel of the place. It even looked like theyve got rid of the smaller cage too, as it didnt stand out as being any smaller than the one they use on the road. You dont do all that if youre not planning on staying there.Ā Quote
Kfogg1991 Posted February 11 Posted February 11 3 hours ago, Dai said: Horiguchi and Bautista both looked good in their wins. After the talk of Oliveira having to lose that much weight earlier in the thread, after this performance he needs to move up immediately, as he looked crap. Ā My main take away was this was the first time we have seen the Apex in ages, and its clear its never going away. They have added more seats by the looks of it, and they have also clearly spent time and money in the Winter break upgrading the general look/feel of the place. It even looked like theyve got rid of the smaller cage too, as it didnt stand out as being any smaller than the one they use on the road. You dont do all that if youre not planning on staying there.Ā Yeah they've upgraded it to something like 5,000 cap or something like that. That's actually a good point you made I mentioned to my mate I was watching with. If you're a new or casual fan watching that card or a fight night for the first time off the back of the two back to back numbered events sold out arenas....man it came off a drastic drop from those and even down to things like the bellends in the crowd booing I can't actually remember which fighter it was after he won in cage interview and it didn't make sense because it was a good win but those are new factors you have to factor. We can't talk about the golden side with the 8 million new fans that have access to these shows through paramount plus are those people going to be as excited as the mainstay fans for Strickland Vs fluffy next week which is also a fight night....I wouldn't say so personally. Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted February 11 Author Paid Members Posted February 11 (edited) 10 hours ago, Dai said: My main take away was this was the first time we have seen the Apex in ages, and its clear its never going away. They have added more seats by the looks of it, and they have also clearly spent time and money in the Winter break upgrading the general look/feel of the place.Ā Yeah, theyāve expanded it a bit to increase capacity. And to be fair, as much as I shit on the Apex, itās never been something they couldnāt cure or at least improve simply by getting an actual proper crowd in there. The big negative about the Apex was always that the atmosphere was dead in there. Letting more people in is such an obvious fix and it makes the shows so much more watchable. I used to love the vibe and look of the old Fight Nights at the Hard Rock Casino in the mid 2000s. Thereās no reason why these Apex cards have to be completely devoid of atmosphere and life like they have been for so long. During Lockdown in 2020, fine, having shows with no crowd was the only way we could still get to see fights. I think we were all just grateful we could still watch MMA at all at that point. But the fact itās taken them five or six years to move past that and make more of the venue is mad really. Iād still rather they do all Fight Nights āon the roadā but if theyāre gonna insist on the Apex, and clearly they are, Iām glad theyāve finally made some effort to breathe a bit of life into the place. Long overdue. Mario Bautista was a class above in the main event. Clearly the stupid weight cut isnāt good for Oliveira and I donāt doubt it played a part in his lacklustre showing. But I think the main thing was just that Bautista was obviously the superior fighter from a skills perspective. The finish was cool as wellā¦ Happy to see Bautista get the decisive win like that. Iāve long felt like that hate heās been getting has been exaggerated and overblown. Yeah, the Aldo fight was dull but Bautista then being labelled a boring fighter based on one fight was way harsh, I thought. From what I remember of him pre-Aldo, he was decent to watch. He kind of needed a finish here though. Another decision win here, against an opponent who was a step down for Bautista on paper, and in his first main event, and at the Apex, it wouldnāt have been ideal. I saw Oliveira was saying he broke his arm in December and his camp was hindered as a result. Might be true but using that as an excuse now doesnāt really help after heās just missed weight and then got submitted. If he was that badly injured, he shouldāve pulled out of the fight. End of story. Why would you think youāre gonna do well, never mind beat, a fighter the quality of Bautista with one arm? Seen Bautista is calling for a rematch with Cory Sandhagen. I donāt even remember their first fight but I wouldāve seen it. Apparently it was Bautistaās UFC debut and he got subbed by Sandhagen. I wouldnāt hate that rematch myself. Nice to see Horiguchi bag another win. Felt like he really showed he was a different level here and Albazi didnāt have much for him at all. I wish he got the finish, just to make a strong statement and case for the next title shot, but overall he outclassed Albazi here for a clear decision win. Problem now is, heās gone and injured his hand. So now thatās gonna derail him. Good job they never let him take this fight and do the quick turnaround against Moreno in Mexico at the end of the month, right? If they did, that fight would be off now as well and theyād have had even less time to get a replacement in. But yeah, Horiguchiās entered the Top 5 in the Flyweight rankings now but sadly I donāt think heāll get the next shot. Seems like the consensus is itās gonna be Van against either Kape or Taira next. And then by the time thatās done and dusted, Pantoja might be back and heās getting a crack. Horiguchi is probably gonna have to win at least one more fight after his hand heals up. And all this for the sake of an Albazi fight at the Apex that we really didnāt need to see. It didnāt come as a shock to me, or Iām sure anyone, that Rizvan Kuniev vs Jailton Almeida was a load of arse. And Kuniev winning was just peak Heavyweight hilarity. What a shambles the division is. Almeida shat the bed again. Thatās two proper stinkers in a row now and two losses. And this, thisā¦ ā¦can piss right off. Iāve long felt that unless youāre Max Holloway, doing the āpoint at the centre of the canvasā bit should be illegal. Nobody does it right and Jailton doing that shit while losing the exchanges was so bad it was comical. I feel like a fool for ever thinking he might be a player at Heavyweight. Heās so frustrating. Looks like he has all the physical tools but it genuinely seems like he doesnāt actually want to be in there sometimes. Like he doesnāt have it in him to inflict damage. Itās like thereās a mental block there or something and at this point I donāt see him ever getting over it. Heās moving back down to 205 apparently. But that alone isnāt gonna fix his issues. Heās just adding weight cutting to his problems. This is back-to-back cards now where weāve had seriously fuck awful Heavyweight fights in prominent positions on main cards and theyāve completely stunk the place up. This turd and Teixeira vs Tuivasa at 325 will probably be in the running for Worst Fight Of The Year by the time December rolls around. Leave all these big stiffs and blobs on the prelims from now on please. I honestly believe the division is the worst itās been since the days when Tim Sylvia was defending the title against the likes of Gan McGee. Dogshit. Oleksiejczuk vs Barriault was a fun scrap as expected. Bit surprised it went the distance, to be honest. Felt like this had āslobberknocker ending with vicious KOā written all over it. They delivered half of that but just couldnāt put each other away. Felt like it was a bit more clear a win for Oleksiejczuk than the commentary made it sound though. Really enjoyed the Farid Basharat vs Jean Matsumoto fight. Never really had high expectations going in but it was a cracking fight. Seen a lot of talk about Matsumoto being ārobbedā but I didnāt feel like that watching it myself. It was a close one though. Iād have to rewatch it and score it properly but I didnāt have a problem with Basharat getting the decision. I say it all the time but Bantamweight is such a strong and deep division. These two are unranked and put on a fight that was better than most ranked fights in other weight classes. Dustin Jacoby got the win and the finish then proceeded to spend his post-fight interview tongueing out Trumpās ringpiece and begging to be on the White House card. Rancid stuff. Iāll be glad when that cardās out the way. Not that the Trump arse kissing is gonna end there but Iām sick of hearing MAGA wallies grovelling to a pedo to get on that card. Vomit inducing. Nothing massively notable about the prelims but, Christ, Nikolay Veretennikov straight murdered poor Niko Price. Horrific stoppage. Hard to watch. Actually kind of reminded me of Ray Mercerās brutal knockout against Tommy Morrison back in the 90s. This wasnāt quite that bad but not too far off. In fairness to Price, he did jump in on short notice here. But Iām pretty sure he regrets that now. This was his third loss in a row and heās now gone 2-6 in his last eight at 36 years old. Short notice or not, he probably should think about doing something else. Jakub Wiklacz pulling off the submission with one second to go in the fight was pretty sweet. Was kind of surprised to see the UFC have released Javid Basharat despite him winning his fight on this card. Granted heās not the most exciting fighter to watch and heās been a decision merchant in the UFC but, still, feels like a harsh release. Bit of a weird one unless it was at Javidās request. Edited February 11 by wandshogun09 Quote
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