Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted August 31 Paid Members Posted August 31 (edited) Back in California. LA hosts this oneā¦ PARAMOUNT+ MAIN CARD Joshua VanĀ©ļøvs Alexandre PantojaĀ - Flyweight TitleĀ Arman Tsarukyan vs Mauricio RuffyĀ Patricio Pitbull vs Doo Ho Choi Gable Steveson vs Sean SharafĀ Alonzo Menifield vs Iwo BaraniewskiĀ PARAMOUNT+ PRELIMS Marlon Vera vs Charles JourdainĀ Tai Tuivasa vs Robelis DespaigneĀ Michael Aswell Jr vs Joo Sang Yoo Ryan Gandra vs Ozzy DiazĀ FIGHT PASS PRELIMS Edmen Shahbazyan vs Brunno FerreiraĀ Casey OāNeill vs Eduarda MouraĀ Giga Chikadze vs Joanderson BritoĀ Ā Ā When they did the initial press conference for this show when tickets went on sale, TNT Sports were tweeting clips of the presser and their caption on all the clips was saying that this is on Box Office. Seems a weird choice, to be honest, given the start times and the fact there arenāt any Brits on the card. But it mightāve been an error on their side because the UFC website still has it listed for normal TNT and TNTās more recent tweets havenāt said āBox Officeā. With that out of the way, this is a pretty fun card, I reckon. Co-main should be a decent watch, feels a bit mismatchy but Iāve thought that with a few cards this year and itās been a pretty good year for the underdogs. The main event should be a hell of a fight, hopefully we get the classic we shouldāve got in December. Rest of the card isnāt bad either. Itāll do. Ā Ā Joshua Van vs Alexandre Pantoja 2 then. A rematch of the brief first fight back in December and a very necessary one. Really looking forward to this and Iām glad they gave them the headline spot. The Flyweights often get relegated to co-main under another title fight so itās refreshing to see them go on last here. Fully aware that itās almost certainly more because PPV is a thing of the past now the Paramount deal is in full swing so they donāt have to worry about putting on main events that ādrawā anymore. Itās not some noble choice by the UFC to boost the Flyweights. But still, itās good to see them get top billing for a change. Iām genuinely buzzing for this one. Got a really good feeling about it. So yeah, they crossed paths at UFC 323 in December, co-main under Merab vs Yan 2. Pantoja had been a pretty dominant champ. He won the title from Brandon Moreno in a FOTY contender in 2023 and had successfully defended it four times over the next couple of years. With his high level grappling, his aggression, toughness and his granite chin, it was hard to pick anyone to beat him by late 2025. There was a sense going in that the title shot might be coming a bit too soon for Van. Heād been looking good but he was still only just 24 and didnāt have anywhere near the big fight experience some of the top ranked Flyweights did. I saw him as a serious prospect, one for the future. I didnāt expect him to be challenging for the title so soon. But in June 2025, heād jumped in on short notice against #1 ranked Brandon Royval and beat him in a tremendous fight. It was hard to deny him after that. Van and Pantoja faced off in the cage immediately after the fight and the stage was set for them to square off in December with the gold on the line. It was an opportunity Van couldnāt pass up and kind of a no lose situation for him in a way. If he lost, it was the result most expected and he was young enough to come back from it. If he won though, massive. The risk vs reward factor was heavily weighted towards the reward side for him. Unfortunately it ended in disaster. The fight got underway and they were going at a frantic pace. Pantoja threw a headkick, lost his balance and as he fell he posted his arm to break his fall. Something heās probably done hundreds of times in fights and in the gym. This time, he landed awkwardly, injured his arm and couldnāt continue. For old school fans it was very reminiscent of the first Shogun Rua vs Mark Coleman fight in Pride. Just one of those freak injuries. Whole fight lasted just 26 seconds and was ruled a TKO victory for Van. Making him the new Flyweight champion. For Van, it was a far from ideal or satisfactory way to win the title. And for such a great champion like Pantoja to lose the title that way sucked arse. On top of all that, although the fight only lasted 26 seconds, in that short space of time it looked like it was shaping up to be a really fun scrap. 2025 wasnāt exactly full of FOTY contenders. It felt like we mightāve been robbed of one in Pantoja vs Van. Just really disappointing. You knew as soon as the fight ended, given how it ended and considering the reign Pantoja had as champ, there had to be a rematch. But Pantoja was obviously gonna be out a while. The division had to move on. Joshua Van was now the champion. He was an active fighter on the come up. He made his UFC debut in mid 2023 and has fought 11 times since. And he fought four times in both 2024 and 2025. He had that knockout loss to Charles Johnson in 2024, which looks like more of a weird upset as time goes on, but because of his activity, he got straight back on the horse and that loss kind of got forgotten. Following that loss, he rattled off five straight wins in less than a year and put himself in position for that first Pantoja fight. Mad really. So considering how he likes to stay busy, I donāt think anyone was surprised that he didnāt wanna sit and wait for Pantoja to heal up. He was gonna defend the title in the meantime. He took on Tatsuro Taira at UFC 328 in May. Again, co-main under Khamzat vs Strickland. Itās a bit of trivia that makes me feel old as fuck but it was pretty cool that Van vs Taira was the first title fight in UFC history where both fighters were born in the 2000s. The fight itself was tremendous. Van came through with the fifth round stoppage but it was an incredible fight. I wouldnāt have it at number one but itās on the list for FOTY for me. One of the best fights in Flyweight history for me as well. Although probably a shade behind Figgy vs Moreno 1 and Pantoja vs Moreno 2. A real back and forth war. A fight so good people were talking after about possibly doing the immediate rematch. But thereād been footage of Pantoja back in the gym around the time of that fight and I always felt like he was getting a title shot straight away whenever he was given clearance to fight again. And rightly so. The way he lost the title, you have to give him his rematch. Plus I think Taira will benefit more from not being thrown straight back in the fire. Heāll come again. Pantoja deserves a re-run. Itās the right fight to make. Plus heās 36 now. He doesnāt have time on his side like some of the younger contenders do. Thisāll be fight 37 for him. Heās 30-6 with 20 finishes and wins over Brandon Moreno twice (three times if you count their first meeting on TUF), Brandon Royval twice, Manel Kape, Steve Erceg, Kai Asakura and Kai Kara-France. Heād subbed the two Kais in back-to-back fights before suffering the injury against Van. That made it feel even more harsh. He was always a top tier Flyweight but heād gone the distance three times in a row starting with his title win against Moreno in 2023. Him submitting Asakura and KKF felt like he was finally getting some momentum going and people were finally talking about him as the beast he is and giving him the respect he deserved all along. Then the injury happened. Could be worse. Couldāve been a knee or shoulder or something. Mangling your elbow is no fun either but heās back fairly quick from it. Hopefully heās fully fit and not rushing his recovery. āIām ready. After December, what happened to my arm, two days after that I went to the gym, started training with just one arm. Thatās who I am. Iām not done. Iām not done. I have so much to conquer. I have so much to prove. I want to take the belt again. I want to be UFC champion one more time. Thatās what I want.ā - Alexandre Pantoja I do wonder though, in the future are we gonna look back at this injury as the beginning of the end of Pantojaās prime? Heās 36 years old regardless. Had this injury never happened, heās already had a good innings on top. Then you factor in some of the wars heās been in, now this injury. Then you think about this wave of new blood thatās came into the Flyweight division over the last few years whoāve now found their feet and are up there at the top end of the division. Van, Taira, Kape etc, Kavanagh could be one for the future, youāve still got vets like Royval and Horiguchi lurking. Itās a shark tank. How much longer can Pantoja compete at the level weāve seen from him? All that said, Iām definitely not writing him off. Even at 36, he was showing no signs of slowing down in his last few fights before Van, and that one ended in seconds due to injury. He hasnāt had that long of a layoff either so shouldnāt be too rusty. Like he says in the quote above, he was back in the gym almost immediately. Again, if it was a knee or neck or whatever, itād be different. But while never ideal, an arm injury isnāt gonna stop you training completely and thereās still stuff you can do. Unless his arm is completely knackered beyond repair now, any talk of a possible decline is pure guesswork at this point. He mightāve got old overnight but that can happen to any fighter in the later stages of their career. Iām not sure this injury will be a major factor in that. They had a press conference recently and I was surprised how heated Van and Pantoja were getting. Dana actually had to hold Pantoja back at one point. I didnāt watch the full thing, I never do with the pressers anymore, but from the clips I saw they were going back and forth talking some shit. Van seemed to be instigating most of it, kind of heeling it up, which I didnāt expect. They were both really respectful in the run up and aftermath of the first fight. What changed in eight months, I donāt know. I kind of like the more vocal Van but I hope he doesnāt go full on with it now and force it. It doesnāt feel like it really fits him being the dickhead. I think Pantoja even commented that Van was basically trying to be something heās not. Vanās always came across quite likeable in the past from bits Iāve seen. I donāt wanna see him go the Strickland route. Plus he doesnāt need to. Unlike Strickland, heās a ridiculously entertaining fighter. He doesnāt need to overcompensate by creating a ācharacterā. And also, with no PPV to sell anymore, whatās the point anyway? If we were still in the days of them trying to flog PPVs, Iād kind of get Van trying to force some manufactured beef. Thereās no need in 2026 though. Just be yourself. If a rivalry organically materialises, great. But Iām not into the forced shite. Yeah, excited for this. As long as thereās no injury this time, I canāt see any way these two donāt deliver a really good fight. Van is the type who has fun scraps with everyone and Pantoja hasnāt been too shabby in that regard himself over the last few years. That Moreno FOTY and the Erceg fight were incredible. Pantoja is gonna be bang up for this as well. He wouldāve been anyway given how the first fight ended but now Vanās getting mouthy itās gonna add an extra layer of motivation. And for Van, thereās gonna be no shortage of motivation either. A win here really solidifies and legitimises him as champ. Heās the champ officially anyway and the Taira win was certainly a championship calibre performance. But thereās always gonna be an asterisk next to that title āwinā over Pantoja. Many at the time were saying it shouldāve been ruled a No Contest. I disagree but those are the type of conversations that were, and still are, going on when it comes to Van as champ. That heās not the āreal champā and all that bollocks. In a way I get it because Pantoja has every reason to still feel like heās the true champion. It wasnāt like he was beaten or out-fought or out-skilled. It was just one of those shitty things that happens in MMA sometimes. But Van didnāt commit any fouls and his actions kind of led to the chain of events that caused the injury and the fight to be stopped. It had to go down as a win. And the only fair course of action then was to give Pantoja an immediate crack at whoever the champ was, as soon as he was healthy. And here we are. Canāt fault it. Itās all worked out in the end and thankfully Van held onto the belt long enough to be waiting for Pantojaās return so we get the rematch. Wouldnāt have been quite the same if Pantoja came back to Taira holding the belt. We needed to see the unfinished business settled. Ā Arman Tsarukyan vs Mauricio Ruffy is our five round co-main event. Came a bit out of left field this one. It was heavily rumoured that we were gonna get a Tsarukyan vs Charles Oliveira rematch on this card. Not 100% sure what happened there but Iām guessing the recent shocking death of Allan Nascimento - Oliveiraās teammate and friend - had a lot to do with it. Never really saw this Ruffy fight coming but I donāt hate it. I think Tsarukyan is most likely gonna steamroll him but itās a fresh fight and I donāt see it being boring. Not sure why itās five rounds either. Seems proper random which non-title co-mains they make five rounds but whatever. I donāt think theyāre gonna need the full five rounds anyway. In the unlikely event Ruffy wins, I think itās gonna have to be by knockout. And if Tsarukyan wins, itās gonna be via grappling and I donāt see how Ruffy survives 25 minutes without getting subbed. I know Iāve probably gone and jinxed it now but I just donāt see this going the distance one way or the other. Tsarukyan is pretty much smack bang in the middle of his prime right now. Which is what has made his last couple of years in the UFC all the more frustrating. Heās 29 years old and 23-3 with 15 of his wins not making it to the scorecards. He made his UFC debut back in 2019, at just 22 years old, and fought Islam Makhachev his first night in! He lost on points but it was a brilliant fight. One of the fights I always recommend if someone asks for fun grappling heavy fights to watch. Since then heās gone 10-1 in the UFC but, in my opinion, it should be 11-0. That one blemish was a decision loss against Mateusz Gamrot in 2022, which I remember thinking Tsarukyan absolutely won. That aside, heās managed to officially bag wins over the likes of Joel Alvarez, Beneil Dariush, Charles Oliveira and Dan Hooker. He completely squashed Hooker in his last fight on the Qatar card in November. But typical of Tsarukyan, he kind of self sabotaged and undone the positives by dropping the nut on Hooker at the weigh in. Thereās always some shit with Tsarukyan š¤£ Dana clearly hates him. It seems to stem from Tsarukyan pulling out of the scheduled Makhachev rematch last year but that canāt be the only issue. Fighters drop out of fights all the time. It seems to go deeper than that with Dana to me. Tsarukyan had weighed in as the official backup when Topuria fought Oliveira last June. Turned out he wasnāt needed but he made championship weight. That usually puts you in the mix for the next title shot. Fuck all for Arman. Then before the Hooker fight, Dana flat out said Tsarukyan would get a title shot with a win. Tsarukyan did win and then nothing. Then they made an interim title fight between Gaethje and Pimblett. Despite Tsarukyan being ranked #1 in the Lightweight division. How do you do an interim title fight and not include the top ranked guy? Jokers. I get that Tsarukyanās a bit of a loose cannon but whatās the point of even having rankings if Dana just ignores them when he doesnāt personally like you? Tsarukyanās been left out in the cold so far this year. I think he was holding out hoping for the title shot but Dana obviously didnāt wanna give him that. So Tsarukyanās been keeping himself busy elsewhere. At one point it seemed like there wasnāt a week that would go by without him competing in a wrestling or grappling match. Seriously, heās barely stopped. Since the Dan Hooker fight in November, heās had four submission grappling matches and has gone 7-1 in freestyle wrestling on RAF shows between January and July this year. Urijah Faber and Tony Ferguson were two of his victims. With him spearing Faber off the stage during their match. Like I said, thereās always some shit with Tsarukyan. He lost his last match against Colby Covington in July unfortunately. I was hoping Tsarukyan would embarrass that dickhead but he was giving up size to Covington in that one. Back on the UFC front, for what itās worth, Helwaniās saying that Tsarukyan has been told by the matchmakers that heās getting the title shot if he wins this Ruffy fight. Yeah, weāll see. Why should we believe it this time? Sounds like Tsarukyan doesnāt even buy it anymoreā¦ āIn this sport, nothing is guaranteed. Youāve got to be ready. Youāve got to beat anyone. If they give me one more fight, Iāll beat. Ten more fights, Iāll beat. Eventually, Iāll become champion. I was waiting for the title fight, but Gaethje, he doesnāt want to fight again this year. So they gave me an opportunity to fight in LA, I said yes. Oliveira, I said yes. Unfortunately, he pulled out because of the situation with his friend (Nascimento). But Ruffy is a great fight too. Wrestler vs striker. I think the fans are going to love the fight and Iām excited as well.ā - Arman Tsarukyan Itās a shame theyāve fucked about so long giving him the title shot. Weāre unlikely to ever see that Makhachev rematch now unless Tsarukyan ever goes up to Welterweight. And I donāt think thatās a wise move. And then when Topuria was champ, him against Tsarukyan couldāve been a hell of a fight but they shoved Tsarukyan in with Hooker instead and did Gaethje vs Pimblett with the winner challenging Topuria. We saw how that went and now Gaethje unexpectedly has the belt. Ruffyās the wildcard here, and in the Lightweight division in general really, but I canāt see this ending well for him myself. He just turned 30 and has a record of 14-2 with 13 knockouts. Heās a really exciting fighter to watch, always has some wacky strike to pull out of his bag of tricks and heās looked really impressive when heās been able to do his thing and let loose on the feet. His spinning wheel kick KO against King Green early last year was spectacular. But he did have that awful showing against Benoit Saint Denis last September, where he was schooled in the grappling and then submitted. It was the first time we got to see his grappling put to the test and, well, he flunked that test. Failed miserably. He actually left the Fighting Nerds camp after that loss and went to train with Alexander Volkanovski and his team in Australia. Iām always sceptical when a fighter just switches gyms after a loss because it feels like theyāre blaming it all on the gym and not dealing with their actual shortcomings. But, to be fair, there are much worse places he couldāve picked to revamp his training than with Volk, one of the greatest of all time. And so far, since switching teams, heās gone 2-0 with two knockouts over Rafael Fiziev in January and then Michael Chandler on the White House card in June. Not sure how much stock to put into it but thereās talk coming from his camp that Ruffyās tightened up and made significant improvements in his ground game. Coach Joe Lopez claims Volk even struggles to keep Ruffy down in the gym now. Yeah, Iām not falling for it. No doubt training with Volk canāt do Ruffyās grappling any harm and he will make progress there eventually if he consistently spends time on the mats with him on a regular basis. But Iām not having that heās got that much better in less than a year and with just two training camps there. Feels like theyāre putting that out there trying to convince everyone but both of his fights since switching gyms have ended on the feet. Until we actually see these supposed improvements in the cage, Iām not buying it. And either way, even if he has made big gains, itās not gonna be enough to close the gap and catch up to where Tsarukyanās grappling is at. āMy opponentās plan is the same every time I fight. To grab me and take me down. Iāve been working on this, putting myself out of my comfort zone. I go to the gym to try to get better and evolve. This fight is an opportunity to show myself, not anyone else or fans, how my dedication has helped me. Iām still learning this sport and I like what Iām seeing.ā - Mauricio Ruffy Despite the scepticism I mentioned having about fighters gym-hopping after losses, it was clear as day after that Saint Denis loss that Ruffy had to change something and shake things up a bit. So credit to him for recognising that and doing what he needs to do. As for Tsarukyan, he was asked how he thought the fight would play out and he kept it short and to the point. āMy prediction is a stoppage. Itās a five round fight so probably a round three stoppage. TKO. Elbows. Cut his face.ā - Arman Tsarukyan Dana made sure he got right between them during the press conference face-off. Always a smart move where Tsarukyanās concerned. Hopefully they beef up security for the fight week presser and weigh in face-offs as well. Because if they leave him to his own devices and let him get too close, one of these times, Tsarukyan is gonna do something stupid that gets a fight cancelled. It couldāve happened when he headbutted Hooker. That couldāve so easily opened up a cut or something and then the fightās off and the show loses its main event (or in this case co-main). Letās hope thereās none of that here. Youād think Tsarukyan wouldnāt risk it either. At this point he knows Dana isnāt a fan of him. Why give him reasons to be able to justify not giving you a title shot? Also, why fight for free when you have a paid fight coming up? Heās not wired right. If it all goes off without a hitch though, I just canāt see past Tsarukyan winning. Either by submission or a bloody ground and pound beat down. Ruffyās coaches can talk about his improved grappling until the grass turns blue, I just donāt see how he stops Tsarukyan from taking him down. Iām hoping Ruffy can at least make a good fight of it but, even in a year when weāve seen some mad upsets, Iād be surprised if Tsarukyan doesnāt win this fight decisively. Ā Patricio Pitbull vs Doo Ho Choi should be an entertaining enough fight. Although with Pitbull, it really doesnāt look like thereās much fight in the old dog these days. When he finally made the jump to the UFC last year, he was already past his prime and I think everyone accepted it was too late for him to make a real impact in the Featherweight division. But I did kind of hope that he might still have some fun scraps in him. Like when Michael Chandler came over from Bellator, he was also clearly past his peak but, win or lose (and it was mostly lose), he still had some bangers in the UFC and stayed in the mix and somewhat relevant for years as a result. Pitbull just looks a bit knackered though. Heās 39 now, record of 37-9 with 24 finishes and heās gone 1-2 in the UFC. We last saw him on the Miami card in April, losing a decision to Aaron Pico. Hopefully Choi āThe Korean Superboyā can drag one last bite out of the old Pitbull. Choiās 35 himself, which is hard to believe because he looks like a school leaver. Heās 17-4-1 with 15 finishes and has always been an exciting fighter to watch. The highlight of his UFC run would have to be his losing effort against Cub Swanson in their FOTY contender back in December 2016 (Christ, that fightās nearly a decade old?!). That was his best fight but heās never dull. Heās coming into this fight on a three fight win streak with three knockouts against Bill Algeo, Nate Landwehr and Daniel Santos. The Santos fight last time was another belter. Ā Gable Steveson vs Sean Sharaf. Here we go again. Another glorified squash match for Steveson. Understandable, I guess. Heās 26 years old and only 4-0 in MMA. No rush. I want them to rush him though. Ideally Iād like them to rush him straight into a KO loss. Bollocks to him. As promising as he looks, and as much as the Heavyweight division could do with him, I want him to fail and fuck off like he did with the WWE and NFL. Blokeās a sex pest whoās only walking free due to a technicality and a loophole that got changed because of his case later. I wish nothing good for him. He made his UFC debut in July, fittingly on the undercard of fellow rapist Conor McGregorās disastrous return. As expected, he put no hoper Elisha Ellison away in a round. It was a pure showcase but, even in the short time it lasted, I thought he was a bit sloppy and over-aggressive and Ellison landed more shots on him than youād expect before getting chinned. Unless he tightens up big time, someoneās gonna clip him somewhere down the road and itās gonna be beautiful to see. Until then, we have to endure him being fed these jobbers. And speaking of Sharaf, heās 33 years old, 4-2 overall, heās gone 0-2 so far in the UFC and was stopped both times. You know what this is. Ā Alonzo Menifield vs Iwo Baraniewski is opening up the main card and is gonna beĀ ***WANDāSĀ ONE TOĀ WATCH***Ā this time. Totally get why they went with this to kick off the main card. Of all the fights on this show, this is probably the one that screams āfirst round knockoutā the most. Menifield hasnāt typically been a KO machine in the UFC. He had a few good ones early in his UFC stint but in more recent years heās either been winning decisions or getting stopped himself. His last fight was a different story though. He fought Zhang Mingyang on the Macau card in May and they had a batshit one round slobberknocker. Menifield fought like a man possessed and battered Zhang to a TKO late in the round. I actually missed that whole card but made a point to go back to watch that fight later after reading about it. Genuinely one of the best one rounders of the year. Polandās Baraniewski is very much a finisher. Heās undefeatedĀ at 9-0, all finishes, all in the first round, 7 by KO/TKO. Heās 3-0 in the UFC so far with knockouts over Ibo Aslan, Austen Lane and Junior Tafa. Alright, absolute ham and eggs level of opposition but old Barry-ski treated them as such. He smashed all of them in 90 seconds or less. Ā Marlon Vera vs Charles Jourdain could be good. Iām just not sure Chito gives a shite anymore. The knock on him has always been that heās a ridiculously slow starter and lets big chunks of rounds slip by. Itās frustrating because, when he does go on the offence, heās fun to watch. But itās been an issue in a bunch of his fights and he actually seems to be getting worse for it in his more recent fights. Heās 23-12-1 with 18 finishes. He had that hot streak a few years ago where he beat Frankie Edgar, Rob Font and Dominick Cruz in consecutive fights but his form has dropped off a cliff at this point and heās coming into this fight off the back of four straight losses. We last saw him on the Mexico City card in February, dropping a decision to David Martinez. Heās still only 33, itās not like heās ancient. But itās hard to see a way out of this slump now. Especially because he seems so disinterested and like heās just going through the motions. Jourdainās a few years younger at 30 and has a record of 18-8-1 with 15 finishes. Hasnāt been the most consistent fighter over the years but heās usually pretty entertaining to watch. And to be fair, heās won his last three in a row against Victor Henry, Davey Grant and Kyler Phillips and got POTN or FOTN bonuses for all three. Form-wise, it feels like the timing is right for him to beat Chito. Desperate times for Chito now. If he loses a fifth fight in a row here it might be time to consider a career change. He doesnāt seem to even wanna be in there at times anymore. Ā Tai Tuivasa vs Robelis Despaigne is on. Not a clue what to make of this. For one, I canāt believe theyāve given Tuivasa another fight. His record standsĀ at 14-10Ā now and heās coming into this fight off, count āem, SEVEN straight losses. Seven. At the start of the slump he was losing to the likes of Gane, Pavlovich, Volkov etc. As the losing streakās gone on though, the opposition has got weaker, theyāve scaled back the level of his opponents, he still canāt get a win and heās looking awful every time. He lost to Louie Sutherland by decision last time, on the Perth card in May, and it was one of the worst fights so far this year. Sutherland has fought four times in the UFC and the only one he was able to beat was Tuivasa. That says a lot about how arse Big Tai is these days. Yet here we are again. And heās welcoming Despaigne back to the Octagon. Thatās the last image we saw of Despaigne. It took him about three minutes to bulldoze poor old Junior Dos Santos on the Rousey vs Carano show on Netflix back in May. Sad to watch as a fan of JDS but thatās the game. Despaigne turns 38 just before this fight and heās 6-2 in MMA with all his wins coming by first round knockout. Heās a one trick pony and his previous UFC stint didnāt pan out. He went 1-2 the first time around and was swiftly let go after a points loss to useless Austen Lane. Weāve seen no evidence that heās any better now than he was then but, as one dimensional as he is, heās a knockout artist and the Heavyweight division can always do with more of them. Seriously, there was a four fight stretch early in his career where he knocked out all four opponents and the longest fight in that four was just 18 seconds. He had a 3 second KO followed by a 4 second KO at one point. No matter what the level of opposition, thatās insane. He also went 7-0 with 6 knockouts in Karate Combat after the UFC binned him, whatever thatās worth, and 5 of them were also in the first round. If he makes short work of Tuivasa here, theyāre surely gonna cut Tai loose this time. I donāt know why theyāve kept him around this long. Ā Michael Aswell Jr vs Joo Sang Yoo is alright. Aswellās 25 years old and has a record of 11-5 with 6 by KO/TKO. Heās gone 1-3 in the UFC so far, not great. But he kind of got thrown to the wolves against Bolaji Oki and Luke Riley. He had a cracking fight against Gaston Bolanos last time out in June. Again though, a loss. He badly needs to stop the rot here. South Koreaās Joo Sang Yoo is 32 years old and 9-1 with 5 finishes. He got off to a solid start in the UFC, faceplant KOing Jeka Saragih with a vicious left hook in just 28 seconds in his debut. He got stopped by Daniel Santos in his last fight in October though. Fun fight but from what I remember Yoo kind of threw it away by showboating and taunting, and Santos made him pay. Hopefully he learned a lesson there. Ā Ryan Gandra vs Ozzy Diaz should be a knockover job for Gandra. Heās Brazilian, 31 years old and 10-1 with 8 finishes. Not sure how good he actually is but heās been ironing out guys at Diazās level without much bother so far. He scored a first round knockout on DWCS last August. Then he made his UFC debut on the Mexico City card in February and disposed of Jose Medina in just 41 seconds. Then in his last fight on the Holloway vs McGregor undercard in Julyā¦ Sparked Zach Reese with a peach of a left hook in just over a minute. We havenāt seen enough of him to base much of an opinion on his overall game but heās not needed a well rounded approach for these lads. And Diaz is shite from what Iāve seen. Heās 35 years old, 10-4 overall and 1-2 in the UFC. He just got bashed up by Ateba Gautier in May. Gandra shouldnāt have much hassle here. Reese is better than Diaz so this is actually a bit of a step backwards for Gandra if anything. Ā Edmen Shahbazyan vs Brunno Ferreira is OK. Canāt say Iām that arsed one way or the other but itās perfectly fine prelim filler. Both have had their moments. Shahbazyan is still only 28, I always forget how young he was when he first came into the UFC as an unbeaten Ronda Rousey protege. He was knocking guys out left and right initially but the hype train came right off the tracks in 2020/21 when he lost three in a row to Brunson, Hermansson and Imavov. Heās never been quite the same since. He did manage a three fight win streak last year but then that got derailed when he dropped a decision against Brendan Allen in June. Ferreiraās 33 years old and 15-4 with 14 finishes. Heās a heavy hitter but thereās not a whole lot else to his game. Heās got some decent wins over Gregory Rodrigues and Marvin Vettori but heās coming into this fight having lost back-to-back fights. Ā Casey OāNeill vs Eduarda Moura is whatever. OāNeill is a Scottish born Aussie, 28 years old and has a record of 11-2 with 6 finishes. There was a time when I thought she might have some potential but then she scraped a split decision against Roxanne Modafferi and suffered back-to-back losses to Jennifer Maia and Ariane Lipski. She bounced back with a forgettable points win over Luana Santos in 2024 and then disappeared until March this year. She surprised me a bit in her return, swarming Gabriella Fernandes for the first round knockout. Still not expecting her to go any higher than she is but, coming off a layoff, I thought sheād lose that Fernandes fight so fair play. Brazilās Moura is 32 years old and 12-2 with 9 finishes. She lost a decision to Wang Cong back in February. Canāt remember much about her really other than the fact sheās a serial weight misser. She missed the Strawweight limit two fights in a row back in 2023/24, moved up to Flyweight, won a couple of fights and then still missed weight at Flyweight for the Cong fight last time out. So three weight misses in five fights! Inexcusable. If she does it again here, they should sack her off. Ā Giga Chikadze vs Joanderson BritoĀ is kicking off the night apparently. Itās hard to believe Chikadze was once being talked about as a potential title contender at Featherweight and now here he is jerking the curtain. He was on quite a little streak at one point and started calling out all the top names at 145. Then he took a bad beating from Calvin Kattar (another guy who looked legit then fizzled out) in 2022 and heās never been the same since. Heās gone 1-4 in his last 5, has lost his last three fights and got knocked out by Kevin Vallejos in his last fight in December. Britoās 31 and 19-5-1 with 16 inside the distance. Heās looked a handful at times, lacklustre at others. Heās coming off a couple of wins here though and just subbed Jordan Leavitt in June with a first round ninja choke. Ā Summerās over. Edited Wednesday at 12:24 AM by wandshogun09 Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted Tuesday at 01:58 PM Author Paid Members Posted Tuesday at 01:58 PM Wouldnāt be fight week without a cancellation. Moicano vs Ortega 2 is off. And surprise surprise, itās Ortega whoās pulled out. The manās career seems to be circling the drain at this point. Moicanoās been taken off the card completely and is now headlining the Apex on October 31st against Tom Nolan. The 331 card a few days outā¦ Surprised thereās been zero discussion in here, to be honest. Itās a fun card, I think. The main event is great, the co-main is probably gonna be a squash but itās gonna be worth a watch, and youāve got Superboy, the Menifield vs Baraniewski fight which has high early KO potential, rapey Gable is back whatever thatās worth, maybe Jourdain can drag some of the old Chito out, Tuivasa vs Despaigne is either gonna be a hilarious 12 second meme fight or the worst thing youāve ever seen, Gandraās walloping ham and eggers left and right and theyāve given him another one here and even the Chikadze vs Brito curtain jerker could be very entertaining. How we seeing the main event going? I think pretty much everyone is gonna be favouring Tsarukyan in the co-main, although Ruffy has that wildness and unpredictability where maybe his āpuncherās chanceā is a tad higher than most, I just donāt see it ending well for him. The main event is much more interesting though and I keep going back and forth on it. Part of me thinks itās time for the new breed of Flyweights to properly take over and Van is gonna get it done and solidify himself as champ. But I think Iām leaning more towards Pantoja taking the belt back and reminding everyone who he is. Should be a cracking fight whatever happens but Iām fancying Pantoja to reclaim the gold myself.Ā Quote
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted yesterday at 07:13 AM Paid Members Posted yesterday at 07:13 AM Sean Sharaf gave it to Steveson at the presser. #teamsharaf Ā Quote
Dai Posted 21 hours ago Posted 21 hours ago Main event should be a belter. Van is somehow the odds on favourite in this one, which I don't really understand. Its close, but surprised and a bit confused as to why Pantoja is odds against. Quote
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted 18 hours ago Paid Members Posted 18 hours ago I initially picked Pantoja, but I think this may be one of those true passing of the guard moments. Age is gonna catch up up to Pantoja pretty quickly I think and Van is just getting better. I hope i'm wrong. Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted 2 hours ago Author Paid Members Posted 2 hours ago (edited) 18 hours ago, Dai said: Main event should be a belter. Van is somehow the odds on favourite in this one, which I don't really understand. Its close, but surprised and a bit confused as to why Pantoja is odds against. It is a bit of a weird one. I get that Pantoja is getting up in age now but there were no signs of him declining before that first Van fight and that fight didnāt last long enough give us any indication of that either. Neither he or Van had established an advantage when the fight ended. It was over before it got going. So unless people have just decided that Pantojaās arm injury is gonna be the death knell of his career, Iām not sure why heās being counted out by so many people.Ā I do also think the way Vanās last fight against Taira played out is a factor here though. If Van had waited and just gone straight into an immediate rematch with Pantoja after their first fight, Iām guessing itād be more of a 50/50 split or Pantoja might even be favoured. But with that Taira fight in between, I think Vanās performance against Taira gained him a lot of fans and believers though. Itās fight day and Iām still back and forth on it myself. Iāve gone Pantoja in the poll and I am slightly leaning that way but Van does seem to be improving all the time.Ā Edited 2 hours ago by wandshogun09 Quote
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