🤛 Official UFC Thread - Part 8

[jolldan]

Murphy & Cummings are my two dogs to back for this weekend.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Khabib mauls another. That was just so physically painful to watch. Poirier looked helpless for so much of it. Also, Khabib defense to getting hit (namely walking straight back) is going to get him knocked out one day.

 

[B]

Caught the Poirier/Khabib fight this morning online, pretty much what I expected was going to happen. From what I was reading on social media last night people seemed quite down on Poirier that he didn't do more, people forget he's a former featherweight & I personally thought it was quite noticable at both the weigh in & during fight that while they may align similarly in height, reach etc Khabib look's noticably thicker than Poirier did even though he's been a LW for 3 or 4 years.

Poirier didn't really get anything going on the feet although he did near catch him with a guillotine although didn't seem to have it sunk in fully probably gassing out his arms in the process. Khabib's style when he gets hold of you looks so sufficating.

Khabib mauls another. That was just so physically painful to watch. Poirier looked helpless for so much of it. Also, Khabib defense to getting hit (namely walking straight back) is going to get him knocked out one day.

Khabib's striking always has been a weakpoint, I can still remember the fight he had with Michael Johnson at UFC 205. Michael Johnson tagged him repeatedly I believe even hurting him at one point, to his credit, Khabib took them, rallied & was able to get him down, tire him out & eventually submit him but the weakness was quite glaring. He's kind of like Damian Mia in the sense that he's one dimensional, but that one dimension is so strong he's able to negate the striking aspect.

That's one of the reasons why the Tony Ferguson fights a nightmare for him, probably why he's ducked him twice as well, because he's got sound striking & he's insane off his back. Pressure on the feet is what will beat Khabib, it will either force him into taking an ill-adviced shot or get him KO'd.

 

[TheGuy]

TBH, Connor got clobbered because he thought that after a long layoff his skills (striking) remained on point. He was dangerously slow in that fight. And the fame got into him as well, most of all.

 

[jolldan]

Hughes, Sanchez & Hall my picks this week if you're looking to bet on a couple dogs.

 

[jolldan]

Doubt the ufc will be in any hurry to go back and Mexico City after last night.

 

[Batmannerism]

Excited about UFC 243 ! Kiwi born
Whitaker vs Kiwi import via Nigeria Adesanya. So a big event for us down here in NZ.

My money would be on Whitaker via submisson.

Sadly here in NZ more than a few MMA clubs are associated with criminal gangs ( e.g. the Headhunters ran a notorious one as a fight club). Not sure if there's quite the same image in the USA, UK, Canada and Australia.

 

[B]

Adesanya smokes Whittaker inside 2 rounds, was surprised Whittaker didn't lean on his wrestling/grappling in the fight, I don't even think he attempted a single takedown, but then again I appreciate that's easier said than done given Adesanya's fighting style.

Here's the final 15 or so seconds of the fight leading to the finish -

 

[Batmannerism]

Well done Adesanya - glad I didnt put any money on Whitaker. Can't believe he went out so quickly. Thought his grappling would at least prolong the fight.

 

[jolldan]

Well after another big UFC PPV done its time for another What's Next for the winner's and losers!

Winner's



Israel Adesanya
Adesanya lived up to his own hype and manged to capture the Middleweight title against the previously undefeated at Middleweight Whittaker. He was patinet eventually picking his moment to land and stop Rob. Adesanya now has probably the most straightforward next opponent of the lot with fellow undefeated fighter Costa waiting in the wings for a shot at the winner confirmed as the next in line. Israel has quickly moved from contender to champion and now has a opponent that can potentially bring out the best in him and produce another 5 star fight.
Next Opponent: Paulo Costa


Dan Hooker
Hooker picked up by far the biggest and most impressive win of his career by not only beating Iaquinta but for the most part outclassing him this win does move him not quite but just on the fringes of that sort of title contender territory. The call-out of Dustin I think was more a case of Hooker going for the biggest name he could but I very much doubt he gets him next, as going from 15th to 2nd in two fights just seems too big a jump in arguably the most stacked division. He should get be looking for a top 5 opponent next though.
Next Opponent: Donald Cerrone


Sergey Spivak
At just 24 years old Spivak is still basically a toddler in the Heavyweight division with a potential for a very long future, he could easily go on to fight for 15+ years in the Heavyweight division if he really wants to and now having taken the spot of biggest young prospect in the top 15 from Tuivasa he surely will have earned himself another top 15 ranked opponent for his next fight.
Next Opponent: Shamil Aburakhimov


Dhiego Lima
Its pretty clear that Lima isnt quite the sme fighter his brother is but he's put together a decent 3 fight win streak, granted it has been against less than stellar competition but all the same he definitely deserves a bump up in competition for his next one, somebody who maybe inst quite a top 15 guy but who's at least maybe fought and lost to a few of those types of guys.
Next Opponent: Alan Jouban


Yorgan De Castro
This one is a little harder to really guess what's next as both of these guys were new unproven prospects, Yorgan definitely made the most of his opportunity though and with a POTN award and by far the best finish of the night he left a pretty good lasting impression. If it was any other division I think we'd likely see him matched up with some other fighter on the fringes of the top 15, Heavyweight's just not that deep in talent though so I bet they give him a crack at somebody ranked next.
Next Opponent: Alexey Oleinik



Loser's



Robert Whittaker
Unfortunately for Rob he didn't get the return to the cage he was hoping for after over a year out of the game he would have been wanting to show off new skills and show why he still the best but it just wasn't meant to be. Due to it being a relatively decisive enough loss and Rob not seeming to be as much of a drama queen as other fighters I think he just takes this loss and tries to work his way back to a rematch and try and stay more active. The only thing id say is we've seen enough of him vs. Yoel so hopefully he gets a fresh opponent.
Next Opponent: Jared Cannonier


Al Iaquinta
Al has now dropped 3 of his last 4 fights, granted they have all been to tough guys but he still finds himself now in a bit of a rut and in need of a return to winning ways. 2018 he was applauded after going 5 rounds with Khabib and defeating Lee but 2019 he just hasn't had the same impact and he will need turn that around if he doesn't want to end up with almost a gatekeeper status of if you beat him you're considered a legit contender.
Next Opponent: Paul Felder


Tai Tuivasa
Nobody took a bigger L during UFC 243 than Tuivasa did in my opinion, lets not sugarcoat what this fight was meant to be for him a easy W and it went about as wrong for him as it could possibly go. This makes 3 losses in a row for Tai now, the first to JDS we wrote off as just too much too soon, even Ivanov was a 12 year vet but now the Spivak loss is where things begin to look grim for Tai. I don't see him getting cut just because of how young he is and how thin Heavyweight is but a lot is likely going to be riding on his next one as he will likely drop out of the top 15 now and if he can't beat another fringes guy and loses 4 in a row I think you could see him cut from the promotion.
Next Opponent: Marcin Tybura


Luke Jumeau
Personally I think the split-decision made this sound better for Jumeau than it really was, think you could have gave Lima every round if you'd wanted without much controversy. Anyway Luke is now on a very average 2-2 run in his UFC career, his next one will likely decide if he has a future at the company as neither his wins or losses have been to any high level guys.
Next Opponent: Zak Ottow


Justin Tafa
Again much like I said about Yorgan Tafa is almost a complete unknown, this marked only his fourth professional fight and it was a brutal knockout loss. That's currently all he's known for in the UFC and he will surely be receiving a lengthy medical suspension after that knockout so we wont see him again in a hurry. Think about it this guy has less pro experience that Greg Hardy. If they really want to give this guy another fight its going to have to be against similar level compeption or another fighter who's future they are unsure of.
Next Opponent: Todd Duffee

Well done Adesanya - glad I didnt put any money on Whitaker. Can't believe he went out so quickly. Thought his grappling would at least prolong the fight.

I think you will see him try and implement it more if he can get a rematch. It's definitely a wrinkle to his game that is an unknown in terms of how Adesanya would deal with it so I don't think Whittaker will be massively disheartened.

 

[Areisius]

I'm taking Ribas to upset Dern and possibly Cub to upset Kron.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Greg Hardy, beyond being a crap MMA fighter and an even crappier human being, is also a cheating piece of ****.

Greg Hardy Had A UFC Win Overturned Because He Used An Inhaler Between Rounds

 

[B]

Weidman needs to retire, I can't remember where I heard or read it but I recall people questioning him a few years ago about whether he could be punch drunk not only because of how he'd lost a couple of fights but some of the interviews he did he sounded slow, slurred.. although maybe that's just the way he talks.

Then you see him get dropped so effortlessly making it 5 KO/TKO defeats in his last 6 fights, now fair enough he was moving forward after throwing an outstretched punch & Reyes kinda stepped into him but still, he should retire I don't like seeing guys get beat repeatedly like this particularly when some have been violent defeats.

 

[jolldan]

Greg Hardy, beyond being a crap MMA fighter and an even crappier human being, is also a cheating piece of ****.

Greg Hardy Had A UFC Win Overturned Because He Used An Inhaler Between Rounds

He's also just been given the fight against Volkov after JDS had to pull out.

Weidman needs to retire, I can't remember where I heard or read it but I recall people questioning him a few years ago about whether he could be punch drunk not only because of how he'd lost a couple of fights but some of the interviews he did he sounded slow, slurred.. although maybe that's just the way he talks.

Then you see him get dropped so effortlessly making it 5 KO/TKO defeats in his last 6 fights, now fair enough he was moving forward after throwing an outstretched punch & Reyes kinda stepped into him but still, he should retire I don't like seeing guys get beat repeatedly like this particularly when some have been violent defeats.

He posted to Instagram earlier saying that he has no intention of retiring, honestly think the guy could benefit from a move to Bellator.

 

[B]

The irony is really at peak level right about now.. Nate Diaz says he was notified he has tested for elevated levels of something.

 

[B]

Amusing.

UFC/USADA have given Nate Diaz a Brock Lesnar esque exoneration for his positive drug test which allows him to compete at UFC 244 because of another case of contaminated supplements.

What's extremely questionable for me regarding Diaz's failure, how come all this **** appears to have been cleared up nearly instantly? Yet with any other fighter who fails & proclaims innocence it takes them weeks/months to test the supplements the fighter previously took or is currently taking, analyse & cross check their data. Diaz I surmise was only notified of the failure roughly 48-72 hours ago I would imagine judging by his Twitter rant..

 

[B]

Demian Maia tapped Ben Askren on Saturday night with a RNC further solidifying himself as the best grappler in MMA today.. maybe ever. If he has a weakness in his grappling game, it's purely his takedown ability, when he came up against strong wrestlers or in general fighters with good takedown defense Woodley, Silva, Usman etc that's were he struggled.. because once he gets guys to the ground he ties them up in knots.

As for Askren, should have stayed retired then he & his fanbase could live with the illusion that he would have beat GSP if they'd fought.. because now I don't think even the most ignorant of Askren supporters would think GSP wouldn't have ragdolled him.

 

[jolldan]

Everyone made weight (except Maia for the second fight in a row, reckon she will be force up to Bantamweight after this)

 

[B]

I legit can't believe the UFC actually physically made Masvidal & Diaz a 1 off fake belt to fight for..

 

[Lobo]

Masvidal or Diaz tonight? Who's your pick?

 

[B]

**** the doctor.. that was not that bad a cut for MMA, maybe for boxing but not MMA.

 

[B]

The ending to the Diaz/Masvidal fight last night was so anticlimactic, Masvidal was clearly winning, he'd basically smacked Nate around for 3 rounds & I'd be astounded if at the point of the stoppage Masvidal hadn't won all 3 rounds on the judges scorecards.

Perhaps in hindsight maybe the doctor took the fact that he had some cuts on his face, which as I said, weren't bad for MMA & especially Diaz who gets cut if his opponent even looks at him. But perhaps the doctor saw he was getting slapped around & was effectively a walking punching bag into his decision to stop the fight.

I don't think Nate would have turned it around though, every blow Masvidal hit Diaz with looked like it was a lot more damaging & was hurting Nate, he dropped him twice, wobbled him 2 or 3 times & a couple of the blows he landed to the body looked like they winded Nate. They looked a weight-class apart, which they are, despite them having similar physical measurables. He's like Cerrone, he's big for LW & looks like he finds the cut difficult, but he's also small for welterweight.. the only guys he's going to beat there are the guys that shouldn't at welter to begin with ie Pettis & McGregor, both of them 2 are comfortable LW's, both small enough to even make FW for goodness sake.

 

[Doc Samson]

Masvidal easily has some of the best boxing in the whole promotion, let alone the division. I know Nate comes on late but I couldn't see him changing the course of the fight, Jorge looked to be in shape and ready for championship rds.

Also, that scar tissue will never not be a problem, so I hope he gets a rubber match with Conor and just calls it a day...

 

[B]

Masvidal easily has some of the best boxing in the whole promotion, let alone the division. I know Nate comes on late but I couldn't see him changing the course of the fight, Jorge looked to be in shape and ready for championship rds.

Also, that scar tissue will never not be a problem, so I hope he gets a rubber match with Conor and just calls it a day...

I think it said in the build up to the Askren & Diaz fights that he has come from a boxing heavy backround, not to mention the dudes a former backyard brawler so you'd expect his hands to be good. He was lighting Nate up with nice combos he didn't just headhunt, he landed 2 or 3 really brutal body shots with his hands.

 

[jolldan]

Well after another big UFC PPV done its time for another What's Next for the winner's and losers!


​

Winner's

​

Jorge Masvidal

Masvidal put on a fantastic performance against Nate on Saturday consistently landing the harder shots, more takedowns and more knockdowns and appeared to likely be on his way to a UD victory for the BMF belt before the cut stoppage. Now granted its definitely not the ending he would have wanted for the fight to end but Masvidal had won pretty much every moment of it from start to finish so there's no real reason to assume rounds 4 and 5 would have been any different. He now closes out 2019 with it undoubtedly being his year having went from the guy only the hardcore's know to one of the biggest stars in the UFC.​

Next Opponent: After the 2019 this man has had I don't understand how they can give him anything next other than the Usman/Covington winner.

Darren Till
After thinking that this move up in weight was a wise one but just the level of opponent for his fight was very foolish I was proved very wrong by Till on Saturday. Now this wasn't a one sided whitewash of his opponent but it was a very good tactical performance from Till who I thought controlled the majority of the fight and did more than enough to get the W. What will give Till & all of his fans even more confidence is that Gastelum has previously went 5 hard rounds with the current Middleweight champion so it will probably only be big fights from now on at Middleweight for Till.
Next Opponent: Now granted Till just beat the number 4 ranked guy in the division but im hoping they have learned lessons with how quickly they pushed him at Welterweight and give him one more solid fight at Middleweight before really throwing him in to the title mix. Derek Brunson is a great choice for his next opponent imo.


​

Stephen Thompson

Lately Thompson has gained a reputation for having fights that aren't exactly that exciting to watch like the second Woodley fight, the Masvidal fight and the Till fight all come to mind. That's why it was so refreshing to see a far more aggressive version of Thompson in the cage on Saturday who was not only winning but controlling the action and fighting at a very high pace. A loss to Luque would have left him on 1-4 in his last 5 fights and at 36 would have probably ended his time as legitimate title contender but with that win you start to notice there are plenty of fresh matchups for him in the top 10.
Next Opponent: Of all the fresh matchups available to him surprisingly the one that intrigues me the most is potentially the ultimate specialist vs. specialist fight. Matching Wonderboy's striking against Demian Maia submissions would make for an interesting fight to say the least.



Derrick Lewis
Honestly I had no idea what version of Derrick Lewis was going to show up on Saturday. The guy has had such ongoing issues with his back its hard to predict if he will be coming in 100%, if he's been able to train to the best of his abilities and how he would look coming back from that TKO loss to JDS. For the most part he answered all of those questions with flying colours and managed to just edge past Ivanov who will Lewis even admitted was one of the toughest guy's he's ever fought. With the way the landscape of the Heavyweight division is right now one more win and he's right back in to contention for a shot at the title.
Next Opponent: I initially thought a bout with Hardy would make the most sense here especially if he can beat Volkov, Lewis just seems to want him out of the UFC though and didn't seem to have much interest in fighting him. He mentioned Curtis Blaydes which seems a perfectly logical next fight to me especially with the lack of fresh opponents at Heavyweight.



Kevin Lee
Well I said going in to this card that one guy that massively needed a win was Kevin Lee and he went out there and got himself about the most decisive and violent a victory as he possibly could with that incredible highlight real headkick. Now that he's got a new camp and back at Lightweight he just need to keep this momentum going and because he's already a popular fighter and very young he will be back in the title picture with another win or two in no time.
Next Opponent: Islam Makhachev seems to be next in line for Lee as both men want and have verbally agreed to the fight. This could be a smart ploy for Lee to get himself back on a decent winning streak before making a run at the top of the division again.



Loser's



Nate Diaz
What was a great fight for however long it lasted was unfortunately it got had to be stopped short due to the two cuts that Diaz had sustained earlier on from Masvidal. Now some Diaz fans will undoubtedly be very upset as Nate's famously know for his great cardio and said he was looking to really turn up the pressure in the fourth & fifth rounds. So some will point to us not knowing how the full fight would have paned out. Im more in the camp that I have seen enough of that fight. Nate didn't get completely dominated but personally I never felt their was any length of time in that fight where Nate was winning.
Next Opponent: Now because of just how big Nate has also become its really hard to predict who he could fight next or even if he will, I mean we waited over 2 years for this one. The Conor trilogy is always gonna be there but a more realistic potential option at the minute I think is Dustin Poirier.



Kelvin Gastelum
The biggest surprise of the card for me. I predicted Kelvin to win this one but it wasn't just that he lost the fight that surprised me so much but more the fact that he was largely neutralized for the majority of the fight, now it wasn't the most exciting of fight by any means but Till got it done. Im not saying Till beat him from pillar to post but if Till was going to win I expected it to be a razor close fight and to me it really wasn't that close despite that one judge having it 30-27 in Gastelum's favour. Now on his own two fight skid he will really need a win in his next one if he wants to stay a top contender in the title hunt.
Next Opponent: Next one is a big fight for Kelvin he loses three on the bounce plus the whole elbowgate controversy that followed this fight he could be in a tough spot. Now after saying that it might seem weird that I think his next fight should be against Robert Whittaker. The fight should have happened before and there's no reason for it to not happen now.


Vicente Luque
Luque was just unlucky in that he came up against the best version of Wonderboy we have seen since the Johny Hendricks fight in my opinion. He got plenty of good licks in on Thompson don't get me wrong it wasn't a total whitewash but without any big knockdowns he always looked to be playing catchup to Thompson who landed just shy of double the amount that Luque did. Anybody else in the top 10 and I think Luque's brawling style likely helps him get it done but Wonderboy just turned out to be a terrible stylistic fight for him. If you can match him up against another brawler then you are going to get the best out of him.
Next Opponent: Watching Luque I can see a lot of similarities on the feet between him and Robbie Lawler and personally I don't think you could make a better more fan friendly fight for him for his next one than a showdown with Ruthless.



Blagoy Ivanov
Even after losing it was hard not to become a little bit of a Blagoy fan during that fight the dude might just be the most durable guy in the UFC right now and if he's not he's right up there. I get the feeling that if this had been a fight night main event I think another two rounds could have made all the difference and swung the fight for Ivanov but it wasn't so I suppose that's neither here nor there. Now 2-2 in his first UFC run I wouldn't be surprised to see Ivanov get matched up against someone next in that 10 to 15 bracket of the rankings.
Next Opponent: The Bulgarian has displayed an incredible chin so far, im not sure how much higher up the rankings he can really go but I think he could likely hold his place for a while. Shamil Aburakhimov is in a similar sort of position and they are ranked right next to each other this is an easy one.


Gregor Gillespie
Unfortunately for Gregor his first real shot at a high level opponent ended about as badly for him as you can possibly imagine, not only losing to Lee but now he's going to be part of a highlight real of the worst UFC knockouts for quite a few years to come I would wager. What was initially pegged as a potential coming out party for him to really display his skills has ended up being more of a back to the drawing board experience for him. No matter how bad a loss it was it was still only his first one so I think you will see him back against top 15 guy in the near future.
Next Opponent: I think quite a few months off after a knockout like that wouldn't be a bad thing for Gregor first, its his first pro loss, an emphatic on top of that and at 32 he's not young. Someone who I felt had similar trajectory is Alexander Hernandez who lost his first real big test to Cowboy.


Prelim Standout


​

Corey Anderson

Corey finally established himself as a legitimate contender in line for a shot at Jon Jones with his latest and most dominant victory over Johnny Walker. This feels like the push he needed to get as previously with his 3 fight win streak I feel like nobody wanted to see him face the best in the division and now with that vicious finish of Walker he's very much in that mix.
Next Opponent: As much as he wants one I just can't see Corey getting a crack at Jones off that performance, Anthony Smith has called him out though and I can't see him getting a higher ranked opponent than him right now so I would definitely take that fight as one more win surely does get him a shot at Jones.​

The ending to the Diaz/Masvidal fight last night was so anticlimactic, Masvidal was clearly winning, he'd basically smacked Nate around for 3 rounds & I'd be astounded if at the point of the stoppage Masvidal hadn't won all 3 rounds on the judges scorecards.

Perhaps in hindsight maybe the doctor took the fact that he had some cuts on his face, which as I said, weren't bad for MMA & especially Diaz who gets cut if his opponent even looks at him. But perhaps the doctor saw he was getting slapped around & was effectively a walking punching bag into his decision to stop the fight.

I don't think Nate would have turned it around though, every blow Masvidal hit Diaz with looked like it was a lot more damaging & was hurting Nate, he dropped him twice, wobbled him 2 or 3 times & a couple of the blows he landed to the body looked like they winded Nate. They looked a weight-class apart, which they are, despite them having similar physical measurables. He's like Cerrone, he's big for LW & looks like he finds the cut difficult, but he's also small for welterweight.. the only guys he's going to beat there are the guys that shouldn't at welter to begin with ie Pettis & McGregor, both of them 2 are comfortable LW's, both small enough to even make FW for goodness sake.

Yeah he had just out boxed him for pretty much the entire fight. Personally (and im not saying you are doing this) I found far too many of Nate's fans have that as an excuse for him. "He would have taken over in rounds 4 & 5". I honestly can't think of anything we seen in the first 3 rounds that makes people think the last 2 would be any different.

• 
  
  
  • Masvidal was controlling the pace of the fight
  • Masvidal was landing the harder & cleaner shots
  • Masvidal in no way appeared to be tiring
  • Also Diaz has only ever fought a full 5 rounds twice (and lost both fights)