UFC London: Evloev vs Murphy - Mar 21 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[NeverYield]

6 hours ago, jimufctna24 said:

I'm curious as to why 2012 is seen as the end of the glory years? Is it because of the Strikeforce sale to the UFC in 2011? The end of the first MMA boom period around late 2010/early 2011? (IIRC, TV and PPV numbers peaked in 2010 before McGregor and Rousey got hot later in the decade). Is it because of the year on year increase in shows between 2010 and 2014? 

I've seen others claim that the UFC started to really decline when Joe Silva retired as matchmaker in 2016. Then there is the more recent theory that guaranteed TV money from ESPN (and now Paramount) has made the matchmakers and Endeavour lazy. Some also believe that the rot only really started to kick in during the Pandemic, with the addition of the Apex cards. There is probably some truth to all of these claims and others that I haven't mentioned. 

I'd personally have the glory years as starting around the mid-2000s, probably around 2003 (I find the early 2000s to be a fascinating time for the sport, but there was a lot of pish during that period), and lasting up until around the late 2010s. I stopped trying to watching every UFC show in the early 2010s due to the number of shows they were putting out, electing instead to cherry pick the shows I watched, something I still do today. However, that was more due to the number of shows, rather than the quality of them. 

 

I'm not too sure either really mate, I'm sure others who are more clued up on it all might be able to weigh in on it better than me but it seems to be the start of a shift in dynamics structurally and the beginning of a more business like model rather than some of the reckless rock 'em sock 'em match-ups of the earlier eras where it was very raw, a time I look back on with lots of nostalgia. 

I've also seen talk in different areas of fighters back then being hellbent on winning whatever the cause and today being a much more athletically driven "survive the fight" kind of era. 

I agree with this point partly, and see why people say that, but in most sports with the advancements of sports science and training we have seen a difference in how pro's play, football is also played differently to how it was years ago, as is basketball etc, coaching methods change and whatever else but I do get peoples points, especially when most people watch MMA to see someone get annihilated in an exciting fashion, this is also partly what turned a lot of casual combat sports watchers off of boxing to primarily UFC.

I personally find training really interesting, what a fighter has done in camp, how he's peaked and all the rest of it, but I do like to see grit in a fight as well, not just trying to survive, I don't like that style in any sport, and talking of football England are guilty of that all the time, they'll get a goal and think they can sit back and play it safe and hold the victory rather than batter it home, but I'll stop now before I keep going on a massive tangent. 🤣

Edited March 24 by NeverYield

[Egg Shen]

In cage, the well rounded nature of fighters has definitely had an effect. I'd like to see Submission stats but i'd imagine they are way down on what they were in 2012. When was the last time you saw a straight arm bar? It just doesn't happen anymore.

I've mentioned this here before also but the rise of the calf kick in my opinion has 100% harmed the in-ring "product". Fighters can be debilated so quickly with them, it's a prime target and it's not particulary exciting to see someone continually kick someones lower leg. I'd happily see the things outlawed.

[jimufctna24]

4 hours ago, Egg Shen said:

In cage, the well rounded nature of fighters has definitely had an effect. I'd like to see Submission stats but i'd imagine they are way down on what they were in 2012. When was the last time you saw a straight arm bar? It just doesn't happen anymore.

 

Comparing 2012 with 2025, submission finishes are only marginally down- UFC Fight Outcomes By Year – Fight Matrix

2012: 341 fights and 70 submissions (20.53%)

2025: 551 fights and 96 submissions (17.42%)

16 hours ago, NeverYield said:

I've also seen talk in different areas of fighters back then being hellbent on winning whatever the cause and today being a much more athletically driven "survive the fight" kind of era. 

I can kinda see why some people hold that perception, but I don't think it was 2012 where this became an issue as such. 

Jones and GSP were not especially enthralling to watch fight after 2012, often winning via decision in one-sided bouts, but GSP's bouts hadn't been all that exciting since 2008 truth be told (I'm not hating, GSP is the GOAT in my eyes). Meanwhile the entertainment value of Anderson Silva fights was always dependent on how his opponent fought, if they fought aggressively he'd be dazzling (Griffin, Leben, etc), whereas if they were cautious and hesitant to lead his fights could be snoozefests (Cote, Maia, etc). But by 2012, Anderson's dominant run was nearly over, and the snoozefests he was involved in actually occurred between 2008 and 2010. 

Mighty Mouse did emerge as the Flyweight kingpin in 2012, and was an exceptional fighter, easily one of the greatest fighters in MMA history. I'm not sure if he warrants the "survive the fight" tag as such, but he never really caught on with the UFC's fanbase, so I can imagine he would be an example of what you're referring to. I'm embarrassed to admit that I also didn't appreciate Johnson's talent as much as should have done at the time. 

Edited March 25 by jimufctna24

[Egg Shen]

Yeah, I don't agree with that a "survive the fight" mentality has infiltrated the game. It's more that fighters are more evenly matched and better trained to survive in bad sitautions now.

There is also no doubt a rose-tinted glasses aspect when talking older MMA though. There were many a stinker back in the day.

[jimufctna24]

1 hour ago, Egg Shen said:

Yeah, I don't agree with that a "survive the fight" mentality has infiltrated the game. It's more that fighters are more evenly matched and better trained to survive in bad sitautions now.

You're right that the game has evolved. Somewhat in terms of professionalism, but mostly in terms of technique. It reminds me of a comment that Slack made on his podcast about Bas Rutten's commentary in the 2010s. 

Rutten: "He should roll for the kneebar" 

Slack: "No that doesn't work anymore Bas" 

However, I maintain that a lot of the great talents from past eras, think Fedor, Sakuraba, etc, would have still been great fighters had their athletic primes occurred in this era. They would just train and fight a bit differently. 

Edited March 25 by jimufctna24

[Dai]

Ebbs got me thinking. Youre right, you just dont see straight arm bars at all in the UFC now. Same with guillotine chokes, or Kimuras/Americano's now.

Id say the vast majority of submissions these days are just rear nakeds.

[jimufctna24]

23 minutes ago, Dai said:

Ebbs got me thinking. Youre right, you just dont see straight arm bars at all in the UFC now. Same with guillotine chokes, or Kimuras/Americano's now.

Id say the vast majority of submissions these days are just rear nakeds.

A graph showing the percentage of submissions in UFC history - Reddit - https://external-preview.redd.it/table-on-the-most-common-submissions-in-ufc-history-v0-TS1kMhl47ubgBdE-hFkToDrptZ8jXTfEdG-LWJSDxGU.jpg?width=1080&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=4a65289a7ffaa6036fbd61662bfa84eb4f9eefca

The % of RNCs has increased over the years, the % was only 32% in 2013 as compared to 38% by 2024.

So you and Ebb are probably right. 

[Carbomb]

So Valter Walker is doing good work, keeping up the quotient of kneebars.

Hope they eventually get Mokaev back. He seems to have a wide range of submissions, including something called a Brabo choke.

[Egg Shen]

14 hours ago, Dai said:

Ebbs got me thinking. Youre right, you just dont see straight arm bars at all in the UFC now. Same with guillotine chokes, or Kimuras/Americano's now.

Id say the vast majority of submissions these days are just rear nakeds.

Plenty of head and arm chokes too, which I don't recall ever becoming a thing until the last 10 years.

Did guys like Mark Kerr/Mark Coleman ever use a head and arm choke? You'd think dominant wrestlers as strong as those guys were would have killed everyone if they used that technique.

Edit* actually here's Mark Coleman winning via head & choke (of sorts) in 2005. The technique i think is all wrong here, Coleman just squishes the fellas head.

 

Edited March 26 by Egg Shen

[jimufctna24]

@Egg Shen

Kerr did won fights with a keylock and a can opener according to his Wiki. Neither are submissions you see often in MMA today. Granted, GSP did use the can opener to open up his opppenent's guard and to throw elbows, but I suspect his version of the can opener was far more advanced (in its earlier form, can opener attempts could easily be countered with arm bars).

I strongly suspect that Kerr, Coleman, Hammer House, etc, had very primitive submissions even for their era. Remember when Baroni, a Hammer House fighter, fought that Japanese boxer in Pride and submitted him with a kimura? Baroni literally approached someone pre-fight (I forget who), and asked them to "teach me a submission".

[Egg Shen]

Yeah, Kerr was king of the can opener 😄

 

[wandshogun09]

On 3/25/2026 at 9:28 AM, Egg Shen said:

When was the last time you saw a straight arm bar? It just doesn't happen anymore.

 

On 3/25/2026 at 9:56 PM, Dai said:

Ebbs got me thinking. Youre right, you just dont see straight arm bars at all in the UFC now. Same with guillotine chokes, or Kimuras/Americano's now.

Ha, so weird to me that this has came up now. Me and my brother were genuinely talking about this during one of the recent cards. Think it was the Oliveira vs Holloway rematch we were watching at the time and he just blurted out “What the fuck happened to armbars?” And I had to stop and think before saying ‘yeah, you’re right’. It used to be such a go-to thing, from top position or from the bottom. Sakuraba was a demon for it, they were a staple of Fedor’s game etc. It just died out and I barely even noticed. I think guillotines are still around and a bit more regular in comparison but definitely less than they used to be. But yeah, mostly RNCs these days outside of Valter Walker and his foot fetish. But even then, that’s Heavyweight which exists in a world of its own and the overall skill level with the big lads in general is lower so that shit still works. I suspect we’ll be seeing the armbar make a one night return during Rousey vs Carano though. Or at the very least you know there’ll be an attempt for it.

Anyway…

This’ll be a long one. Watched most of this live, caught up on the bits I missed since and meant to get around to posting about it before but it’s been one thing after another lately.

Evloev vs Murphy has caused quite a bit of debate. I haven’t watched it back since it aired live on the night but, like many, I did feel like Murphy was gonna get the nod when it was over. It was close enough that I wasn’t sure though. Seen a lot of outrage about the decision, watching live I never felt like it was some crazy robbery. But I was surprised when Evloev got his hand raised. Felt like Murphy definitely won the first two rounds and Evloev won the last two but had the point deduction in the fourth. The third was the swing round for me. From what I remember that was the real close one but live I gave it to Murphy. So I had it for 48-46 for Murphy. I could see maybe giving Evloev the third for the strong finish to the round but even then that’s a 47-47 draw at best.

Better fight to watch than I think most expected. But in a way it’s a bit fucked up that Evloev felt like he had to neglect his bread and butter, his wrestling, and stand and strike for large spells of the fight instead because he felt like he wouldn’t get the title shot with his actual style. Bit of a sorry state of affairs when fighters feel that way. Even if it’s not implicitly said to them that they need to ‘stand and bang’ more, it’s understood that that’s what Dana and co prefer and you’re more likely to get opportunities if you go that route. I don’t even think Evloev’s anywhere near as boring as many make out either. His three fights before this were all really good. He’s better to watch than a lot of fans would have you believe. But the stigma is there and it’s hard to shift. Seeing how effective and how easily Evloev was getting the takedowns later on though, he probably could’ve made this fight so much easier if he’d focused on that from the start. Murphy was really good at some of the defensive grappling but I think a fresh Evloev implementing that gameplan from round one would’ve given him serious fits.

It’s gotta be Volk vs Evloev next right? Surely. But maybe not. Whatever you thought of the decision here, it was about as clear a number one contender fight as you’re gonna get and Evloev officially got the win. Volk’s already saying it should be Evloev and he’s more than up for the fight. You have to give him his shot. But you know how it goes. I can definitely see a press conference coming where Dana’s asked about this and says something like ‘Look, Murphy got robbed. We can’t give Evloev the title shot coming off a robbery win, can we?’ It’s the only excuse they can use. Even though Paddy getting a robbery decision over Jared Gordon didn’t slow his push and as recently as October we saw Ciryl Gane get a title shot coming off that dodgy decision over Volkov. Maybe I’m just being a sceptical prick but I’ve got a feeling Dana’s about to suddenly care about robberies now so he can swerve having to give Evloev the title shot. I’m still not convinced we’re not getting Volk vs Jean Silva, which would be entertaining, no doubt, but total bollocks. Seen Murphy and Diego Lopes have had a little back and forth. Wouldn’t mind seeing that next, assuming whatever Murphy’s hip injury is doesn’t keep him out too long.

Riley vs Aswell was an enjoyable fight. Still thought it was an odd choice as co-main event but whatever. Worked out alright in the end because it was a pretty good scrap and a fight like this was much needed as a palate cleanser after the shitshow that was MVP-Patterson just before it. Thought Riley was a bit harsh on himself in the post-fight interview. He obviously holds himself to higher standards and was disappointed he didn’t get the finish. But this was a good performance on the whole against a durable guy, he got three rounds experience banked and he won comfortably. Think it’s just a case that the optics weren’t the best because Aswell isn’t well known at all and most probably expected this to be a showcase for Riley and a quick blowout. But Aswell has never been stopped before so I guess he always had the potential to extend Riley to the scorecards.

MVP vs Sam Patterson was arse. Unwashed, unwiped arse on a sweaty, sticky Summer day. Awful. If Jones vs Sola is the front runner for FOTY coming out of this card, MVP vs Patterson was the opposite. This was the worst fight I’ve seen in a while. Even taking into account the low expectations I always have going into MVP’s fights, this was like having a root canal done with no anaesthetic.

On 3/24/2026 at 7:29 AM, Egg Shen said:

Page/Patterson was the worst fight of the year. Absolutely horrendous. I know it's how Page fights but considering he was all over news outlets slamming fighter pay, he's got some front to come out and perform like that😄 

The gall on him is unbelievable 🤣 He actually came out after the fight and said “It’s getting more and more difficult when nobody really wants to engage. Everyone’s on the back foot. It’s more difficult to fight somebody that doesn’t want to fight than fight someone difficult that wants to fight”. The cheek of it! And I know it takes two to tango when it comes to bad fights. Patterson looked crap as well and had no idea how to handle MVP’s style. It’s on both of them. But it’s the fact that MVP’s got a track record and form for these low output bullshit ‘fights’ then has the nerve to blame it on the other guy not engaging. His whole style is built on not engaging, evading, darting in to land single digit strikes in a round and dance around the rest of the time.

On 3/24/2026 at 12:49 PM, Dai said:

Complaining about MVP fights in 2026 seems crazy to me. You know exactly what you will get from him, so dont know how anyone can be shocked or suprised about it. 

To be fair though, I don’t think it’s about being surprised. But he’s a big enough name that his fights are always gonna be a talking point, but then all there is to talk about after his fights is how boring they are. The only alternative is for nobody to talk about him at all. He gives you nothing else to work with. Been saying it for years he’s been fucking rotten to watch way more often than he’s been entertaining to watch. Yet it’s like a big section of the fanbase develop amnesia between his fights every single time and talk about him like he’s prime Anderson Silva. Until his next fight happens and it’s once again a load of insufferably tedious bollocks.

The mad thing is, there are still a vocal bunch of the fanbase and media who are dying on the hill of defending MVP and acting like the criticism he gets is unwarranted or unfair. It genuinely baffles me. Probably a lot of the same fans who cry about grapplers who are/were absolutely not boring like Makhachev and Khabib but will go to bat for MVP who is basically the standup equivalent of Jake Shields. There’s undeniably skill to what he does. I’ve never denied that and I’ve never said he’s a bad fighter. But that’s why it’s so annoying and frustrating to watch. He’s always had the capability to be so much more but it’s almost like he’s only got 50% of his game working. He’s great at getting in and landing a strike without being hit, fantastic, that’s what every fighter should aim for. But it’s like he’s so enamoured with getting out of the way that he forgets to actually get in there and do damage himself a lot of the time. But yet there’s still people acting like you’re crazy for not enjoying it.

State of it. This is a journalist with 92K followers trying to tell people they’re wrong for finding a boring fight boring. His point about people saying MVP should be cut, whatever, I wouldn’t be upset if he never fought in the UFC again but I’m not screaming for his release or anything. Makes no odds to me. MMA fans, by and large, have very much a “what have you done for me lately” attitude but this isn’t an example of that. Acting like people are being ungrateful and calling MVP “one of the most entertaining fighters in the sport for more than a decade” is fucking bonkers. Each their own and opinions are whatever but my opinion is Aaron needs medication. Because that’s a shocking take. “Unless you’re new here…”. Like we haven’t been sitting through MVP stink cards up since the Bellator days. And he’s got worse for it as time has gone on. He used to at least sprinkle a few highlight reel knockouts in between the dogshit decisions. Now we don’t even get that.

Also saw a quote from Joe Rogan basically blaming it on the matchmakers. How? Yeah, Patterson was a strange choice of opponent from a names standpoint. But Patterson was also on a four fight winning streak with four first round finishes and hadn’t been in a boring fight once, win or lose, in the UFC before this. What can the matchmakers do? Whoever they put MVP in with you get some variation of what we saw in this fight. Some of his fights in the UFC have been more watchable than others but in general they’re all just bare minimum, low output, low damage, point striking matches. Doesn’t matter who the matchmakers throw at him so blaming them is shite. People putting all the blame on Patterson is also shite. Seen people literally saying “it’s not MVP’s fault Patterson is a pussy who avoided the fight”. Yet MVP gets a pass? I’ve never understood why MVP gets more leeway than most for being such a dull cunt. It’s everyone’s fault but his apparently. Poor sod has the worst luck. Just keeps finding himself in these stinkers through no fault of his own. 

Iwo Baraniewski was not fucking about. This felt like the easiest fight to predict on the card from the second it was announced. Austen Lane looks like a monster but his chin appears to have all the durability of a prawn cracker. And even though I’d only seen one Baraniewski fight, this one always felt like bad news for Lane from the off. And it always felt like it was gonna be early.

Yep. 28 seconds. Lane’s surely gone now. He actually seems like a good guy from bits I’ve seen so it’s kind of sad seeing him repeatedly get ironed out like this. Hopefully he finds another career path because there’s no positive ending for a big guy routinely getting knocked unconscious by other big guys. He’s gone 1-5 in his last six, was finished all five times and knocked out in four of them. He’s 38 years old as well. Don’t need to see him flatlined again thanks. As for Baraniewski, I don’t know. Just give him another unranked slugger for now. Ion Cutelaba would be ideal.

Christian Leroy Duncan vs Roman Dolidze was just there really. Didn’t do much for me. Wasn’t paying it much attention live though admittedly. From what I saw, CLD did show flashes of real quality. There were times in the fight where I thought it was the best he’s looked in the UFC so far. But the fight as a whole didn’t look anything to write home about. CLD is basically a much less boring version of MVP for me. Some similarities in their styles but CLD is more proactive for me and better to watch as a result. Nice win for him, although I thought Dolidze looked a bit checked out here. Seemed to just put all his eggs in the ‘let’s try the leg lock’ basket and just kept dropping for the legs every time CLD touched him. Frustrating performance from him.

Well, Danny Silva completely pissed all over Kurtis Campbell’s UFC debut. Dealt with Campbell’s early grappling attempts, defended everything he tried for the whole first round, then absolutely wasted him early in the second.

I’d seen nothing of Campbell going in but the fact he was put on the main card and got the pink shorts for his debut and all that silliness told you the matchmakers must’ve seen something in him. And to be fair, he was undefeated with a high finish rate. Silva was never gonna be an easy first fight in though. He’s one of those fighters who’s just on the cards and nobody really talks about but every time I watch him he’s clearly got skills. Good striking, especially the hands, never been finished and just went the distance with Kevin Vallejos in his previous fight in August. I don’t know if the matchmakers genuinely wanted to give Campbell a tough debut or if they were underrating Silva. Either way, Silva spoiled the ‘Pink Panther’ party big time. Nothing against Scousers but I’m glad Silva addressed Paddy’s “Scousers don’t get knocked out” quote in his post-fight interview. Seen that parroted so many times like it’s fact. Tony Bellew and David Price would like a word, to name just two. Add Campbell to the list now as well.

Mason Jones vs Axel Sola was the FOTN and the best thing on the card by fucking miles! Not only that, I know it’s early in the year but for me this is easily currently the FOTY a quarter of the way into 2026. Just tremendous stuff. I’ve been saying it since Jones returned last year but he really does feel almost like a different fighter this time around in the UFC. He looks so much more ready for the big stage and bright lights now than he did in that first stint. Sola’s a good fighter from what I’ve seen as well, awkward, solid striking and he looked massive at 155. But Jones just kept digging in, soaking up whatever Sola threw at him and giving it back two-fold.

Awesome fight. These two set the bar for FOTY so far. Loved every second of it. Feels like we used to see fights like this more often, it feels rare now, so this was almost like a throwback. Jones is quickly becoming one of the most exciting fighters in the game, certainly one of my current favourites anyway. Just a breath of fresh air at a time when there’s so much bad taste and apathy towards the UFC. There were points in this fight where I was getting Robbie Lawler vibes off Jones. And that’s about as high praise as I can give because Lawler is one of my probably Top 5 favourite fighters of all time. I don’t see Jones going too much further up the ladder sadly but I’d be absolutely chuffed to be proven wrong. Who do you give him next? There’s so many potential bangers to be made with him at Lightweight. I wouldn’t be at all against them giving him someone at the lower end of the rankings now. Manuel Torres (#14) or Fares Ziam (#15) would be tremendous. But I don’t even think you need to go that high for another barnburner. I’d have said give him Esteban Ribovics because that has crazy written all over it but Ribovics is already booked. Jones vs Mateusz Rebecki would be guaranteed insanity as well but Rebecki is coming off losses. Maybe do Sola vs Rebecki actually. But yeah, it might actually be Jones vs Torres or Ziam next. And I’m good with that because Jones absolutely has earned a crack at the rankings after his last two performances especially. I think it’s time they did a UFC card in Wales. Mad that they haven’t already but Jones headlining a Fight Night in Wales would be ideal right now.

Wood vs Keita was…fine. Just fine though. Nothing actually wrong with it and I kind of enjoyed spells of it. It just never fully got going. It was almost like a technical sparring match for big chunks of it. It was one of the fights I was most looking forward to on the entire card and it was a bit of a letdown in the end. Happy to see Wood get the win and hopefully he’ll actually, finally, get a ranked opponent now. Based on this fight, I saw nothing that makes me think Keita is gonna make a splash at 145. Maybe him giving 155 a bash wouldn’t be the worst idea? Not like he looked terrible or mega drained at 145 or anything but he did miss weight for his planned debut against Pitbull and I’m sure I read that it’s not an easy cut for him. Might seem hasty after one UFC fight but why not? Less of a weight cut, would probably be much faster than most of the 155ers but at 5’9” I don’t think he’d be significantly undersized. It’s worth a shot surely?

The Mario Pinto fight was so weird and disappointing. He was just starting to get talked about as one of the few glimmers of hope for the future of the Heavyweight division. And Franco was said to be such a bum that this felt like a proper mismatch that Pinto should’ve treated like a squash match. First round nothing happened but I wasn’t alarmed because Pinto did seem to be a cautious starter in his first couple of UFC fights, then went into kill mode from the second round on. Not here though. It’s like he just fought the cautious first round for the whole three rounds. I don’t know if part of it is that Franco isn’t quite as shit as people were saying or what. He didn’t look good either. But any little bit of stock Pinto had going into this fight plummeted. It’s not the end of the world or anything. He’s young enough to still make improvements and adjustments. But he’s gonna have to based on this showing. Horrible fight to watch, which probably didn’t get as much stick as it deserved because MVP and Patterson went out and had an even worse fight later on.

Brando Pericic vs Louie Sutherland looked like a typical pub brawl. Two fat drunks having a straightener over the last bag of pork scratchings. At least it had the good grace to be short though. Small mercies.

Yeah I think this little Shem Rock experiment is over lads. Another terrible showing from him, 0-2 in the UFC now, anything resembling the hype or buzz he had coming in has completely evaporated. Talks a big game but has absolutely failed to deliver. Shat the bed, the sheets are caked in it, skid marks on the pillow, the lot. And bear in mind, Al-Selwady had been inactive for two years prior to this. It genuinely seemed like the matchmakers were trying to give Shem a winnable bounce back fight here and he fumbled it bad. Then he had the cheek to go up to Al-Selwady when the fight ended and start some shit and nearly caught a post-fight dig for it. Remember the days when Paul Daley got blackballed for that? Cut an exciting fighter like ‘Semtex’ and never let him back in the UFC. But Shitarse Shem’s probably still gonna get another fight despite being 0-2 and fucking awful. Gotta be one of the worst UFC signings ever. I get why they picked him up but he’s been 100% useless since the nanosecond he put pen to UFC paper. Noticed he was taking his gloves off as the decision was about to be announced, thought he was gonna retire on the spot and he probably should to be honest. If he was gonna retire in that moment though, it’s bold of him to assume they were actually gonna give him mic time to announce it after that limp dicked performance 🤣

Shanelle Dyer looked pretty good in the curtain jerker. Nice to kick the night off with a UK fighter winning. At least the night started positively for the Brits, I guess. Hard to take much from this because I don’t recall Oliveira being much good. But a successful debut for Dyer and she got the finish which is always a plus.


Yeah, right mixed bag that one. Seen people going ‘they shouldn’t go back to London’, which is hilarious to me. Yeah, blame it on the city. Not the fact that UFC cards in general have mostly been dead this year. I’ve been saying for ages that I wish they’d go to more cities in the UK than just London all the time but to blame cards not delivering on the location is a bit mad. Wish they would mix it up a bit over here though. I’m still salty they never came back to Brum even when Leon Edwards was champ. In the Fertitta days you know they absolutely would’ve capitalised on Mason Jones’ current momentum and popularity and done a card in Wales. But this is 2026 UFC and they don’t like fun anymore. See you in the thread for the O2 card again next March, with a Louie Sutherland vs Shamil Gaziev headliner and the tickets setting fans back £2K a pop for nosebleeds or something mad. 

Edited March 28 by wandshogun09

[jimufctna24]

On 3/28/2026 at 7:36 PM, wandshogun09 said:

Ha, so weird to me that this has came up now. Me and my brother were genuinely talking about this during one of the recent cards. Think it was the Oliveira vs Holloway rematch we were watching at the time and he just blurted out “What the fuck happened to armbars?” And I had to stop and think before saying ‘yeah, you’re right’. It used to be such a go-to thing, from top position or from the bottom. Sakuraba was a demon for it, they were a staple of Fedor’s game etc. It just died out and I barely even noticed.

Funnily enough, Team Fedor are seemingly luddites when it comes to grappling (and probably otherwise). I've seen Nemkov attempt armbars and kimuras (Fedor's other go-to submission), both of which are indeed incredibly rare nowadays. He has had success with arm triangles and RNCs though.