Official MMA discussion thread: UFC 231 Holloway vs Ortega finally!

bringbackhoffa · Post #401 » by **bringbackhoffa** » Thu Jun 22, 2017 7:32 pm

j4remi wrote:Bellator on PPV this weekend with Fedor (was damn near the consensus GOAT as Silva and GSP were making their cases and taking over the convo), Chael finally fighting Wandy (world's most awkward grudge match), two title fights and arguably the biggest prospect in MMA history. Got a preview up, Aaron Pico is so hyped that he's 0-0 debuting on a PPV against an opponent with 10 career bouts. I'm psyched to see how he looks.

https://fteswl.com/2017/06/22/bellator-180-preview/

Picks
Chael (needs to win or retire), or Silva will likely fail post fight drug test
Mitrione wins by knock out 2nd round, Fedor last 5 fight were against scrubs and prior to that lost 3 in a row to Hendo, Big foot, Wedrum
Chandler
Lima

Bader (look for a knock out)
PICO!!! (wildcard)
Machida

Post #402 » by **j4remi** » Thu Jun 22, 2017 7:38 pm

bringbackhoffa wrote:
Picks
Chael (needs to win or retire), or Silva will likely fail post fight drug test
Mitrione wins by knock out 2nd round, Fedor last 5 fight were against scrubs and prior to that lost 3 in a row to Hendo, Big foot, Wedrum
Chandler
Lima

Bader (look for a knock out)
PICO!!! (wildcard)
Machida

I'm going
Chael
Mitrione
Chandler
Larkin
Pico (BIG expectations for him)

Davis (I'm a Bader hater)
Gallagher

...I'm pulling for Fedor and Chinzo though. Chinzo is just plain fun to watch and Fedor is friggin' Fedor!!!

Post #403 » by **j4remi** » Mon Jun 26, 2017 7:42 pm

Bellator was a complete flop. Two title fights were skillset stalemates pretty much, the third saw an immediate injury but was still the best fight of the main card, Fedor looked old and Chael lay and prayed. I missed the UFC, but seeing the main two stories on the night were a woefully bad stoppage wrecking the Chiesa/Lee grudge match and a fighter defecating on herself...let's just say it wasn't a great weekend for MMA. Also, BJ Penn still needs to retire.

matchman · Post #404 » by **matchman** » Thu Jun 29, 2017 1:46 am

j4remi wrote:Bellator was a complete flop. Two title fights were skillset stalemates pretty much, the third saw an immediate injury but was still the best fight of the main card, Fedor looked old and Chael lay and prayed. I missed the UFC, but seeing the main two stories on the night were a woefully bad stoppage wrecking the Chiesa/Lee grudge match and a fighter defecating on herself...let's just say it wasn't a great weekend for MMA. Also, BJ Penn still needs to retire.

Sorry I didn't follow MMA much besides UFC, is Bellator another league or something?

Post #405 » by **j4remi** » Thu Jun 29, 2017 2:15 pm

matchman wrote:
Sorry I didn't follow MMA much besides UFC, is Bellator another league or something?

Bellator is the consensus second best MMA promotion in the sport. It's run by Scott Coker who was key in discovering a lot of great fighters who went on to make noise in the UFC (Ronda Rousey and Daniel Cormier being the best examples but the list is longer as he ran Strikeforce). It never had the means to compete with UFC money wise, so they tend to pick up developmental guys and grow them into homegrown stars (Eddie Alvarez fought for Bellator as an example). Their model is basically to pick up past their prime UFC guys that help draw attention and place prospects on the undercard to develop in front of fans. The best part is they rarely do PPV, so as long as you have Spike, you can watch the vast majority of their events. Some recent UFC studs are fighting there now, Benson Henderson, Rory MacDonald, Lorenz Larkin, not quite the same but Roy Nelson...so it's starting to take UFC talent largely thanks to the Reebok and WME deals imho. They're worth a watch, you'll see former UFC guys and future UFC guys all over their cards.

bringbackhoffa · Post #406 » by **bringbackhoffa** » Thu Jun 29, 2017 2:22 pm

Sucks that Megan Anderson has dropped out of her fight with Cyborg, was really looking forward to that fight. Two legit 145lb champions.
In other news Dana White, aka Donald Trump, stated that Conner wants Khabib in Russia for his first UFC fight back. Highly unlikely as the UFC wants to book Conner for its new years card in Vegas if he actually does decide to comeback after being embarrassed by Mayweather

Post #407 » by **j4remi** » Thu Jun 29, 2017 2:38 pm

bringbackhoffa wrote:Sucks that Megan Anderson has dropped out of her fight with Cyborg, was really looking forward to that fight. Two legit 145lb champions.
In other news Dana White, aka Donald Trump, stated that Conner wants Khabib in Russia for his first UFC fight back. Highly unlikely as the UFC wants to book Conner for its new years card in Vegas if he actually does decide to comeback after being embarrassed by Mayweather

Agreed on both though I'm glad Evinger gets to fight in the UFC as a consolation prize. McGregor in Russia is a weird one, it'd be tough for Irish fans to travel to and I don't picture Conor giving Khabib home field or even wanting to fight dude based on previous comments (after Khabib's weight cut issues mainly). Now if it's in a soccer stadium, maybe, but why not a soccer stadium in Ireland? Conor's the real draw, he's the champion and he'll have all the leverage. So I'm guessing this is a reach. If Mystic Mac returns, my guess is he either targets GSP at a catch weight or Nate Diaz, those are the biggest money fights he could aim for. Him being a mad man, I would give an off chance on him trying to fight whoever the Welterweight champion is as well...and like you said, this could all be speculation over nothing because he might get in, get paid and then move on to Hollywood.

Post #408 » by **j4remi** » Fri Jul 7, 2017 2:32 pm

TUF Finale tonight has a main event that could be fight of the year. Gaethje is tough as nails and likes to brawl, he's fighting Michael Johnson whose striking is fun to watch but prone to getting into scraps himself. Marc Diakese is on the card also, big time prospect who has been near blows with his opponent Klose all week. Douglas Lima the Bellator champ has a younger brother in the TUF finals as well, Dhiego Lima is nice on the feet and decent at grappling but his opponent Jesse Taylor is incredibly strong and a great grappler...but he'd have lost to a fresh James Krause imo.

bringbackhoffa · Post #409 » by **bringbackhoffa** » Fri Jul 7, 2017 2:38 pm

j4remi wrote:TUF Finale tonight has a main event that could be fight of the year. Gaethje is tough as nails and likes to brawl, he's fighting Michael Johnson whose striking is fun to watch but prone to getting into scraps himself. Marc Diakese is on the card also, big time prospect who has been near blows with his opponent Klose all week. Douglas Lima the Bellator champ has a younger brother in the TUF finals as well, Dhiego Lima is nice on the feet and decent at grappling but his opponent Jesse Taylor is incredibly strong and a great grappler...but he'd have lost to a fresh James Krause imo.

I think Gaethje style may hurt him in the UFC, MJ is a huge step up in talent from what he was used to at his former promotion. Gaethje is tough as nails, but only so many slobber knockers you can get involved in. MJ is too smart and technical ill take MJ by decision

Post #410 » by **j4remi** » Fri Jul 7, 2017 2:44 pm

bringbackhoffa wrote:I think Gaethje style may hurt him in the UFC, MJ is a huge step up in talent from what he was used to at his former promotion. Gaethje is tough as nails, but only so many slobber knockers you can get involved in. MJ is too smart and technical ill take MJ by decision

Yeah, Gaethje is tailor made for guys who don't like pressure...Pettis, maybe even Barboza...but I think MJ and Ferguson are the worst match-ups for him. I'm interested to see if he can utilize his leg kicks to change momentum though, dude chops people down and I remember Nate peppering MJ's legs all fight. I got Johnson by decision as well (with Gaethje pressing late and stealing the third but not the fight).

Two of my personal favorites also fighting are Angela Hill (great striker, developing grappler, TOUGH fighter) and Jared Cannonier (if he learns takedown defense at any point, he'll become a top 10 205'er). For a free card, this is great. Gotta love international fight week.

bringbackhoffa · Post #411 » by **bringbackhoffa** » Fri Jul 7, 2017 2:51 pm

j4remi wrote:
bringbackhoffa wrote:I think Gaethje style may hurt him in the UFC, MJ is a huge step up in talent from what he was used to at his former promotion. Gaethje is tough as nails, but only so many slobber knockers you can get involved in. MJ is too smart and technical ill take MJ by decision

Yeah, Gaethje is tailor made for guys who don't like pressure...Pettis, maybe even Barboza...but I think MJ and Ferguson are the worst match-ups for him. I'm interested to see if he can utilize his leg kicks to change momentum though, dude chops people down and I remember Nate peppering MJ's legs all fight. I got Johnson by decision as well (with Gaethje pressing late and stealing the third but not the fight).

Two of my personal favorites also fighting are Angela Hill (great striker, developing grappler, TOUGH fighter) and Jared Cannonier (if he learns takedown defense at any point, he'll become a top 10 205'er). For a free card, this is great. Gotta love international fight week.

not to familiar with the prospects on the card but cant complain its free.

tomorrow PPV is not bad either, thinking we may see a title chancge if Shevchenko come out strong like she ended her previous fight with Nunes. Whittaker i think will have a pretty easy time with Yoel, i see a stoppage in the second. Yoel was being beaten by Wideman in his previous fight till he landed that nasty knee to the head, and he may experience some ring rust as well as dude is old and on USADA protocol now. Werdum and Overeem interesting HW match up , but will in different to it, more excited with the new young blood in the HW division now. Miller vs Pettis should be a fun fight, but a win does not really get them any closer to title contention due to the log jam at 155

Post #412 » by **j4remi** » Fri Jul 7, 2017 3:11 pm

bringbackhoffa wrote:not to familiar with the prospects on the card but cant complain its free.

tomorrow PPV is not bad either, thinking we may see a title chancge if Shevchenko come out strong like she ended her previous fight with Nunes. Whittaker i think will have a pretty easy time with Yoel, i see a stoppage in the second. Yoel was being beaten by Wideman in his previous fight till he landed that nasty knee to the head, and he may experience some ring rust as well as dude is old and on USADA protocol now. Werdum and Overeem interesting HW match up , but will in different to it, more excited with the new young blood in the HW division now. Miller vs Pettis should be a fun fight, but a win does not really get them any closer to title contention due to the log jam at 155

Yeah free card is fun, keep an eye on those prospects...only because I like them tho :lol:

Diakese is real deal though, the hype is gonna blow up for him soon.

My preview for the PPV should be up some time later today. I'm hype for the fights. Short takes:
- 100% agreed on Valentina, she outstruck Nunes all first fight but got taken down to lose the rounds. I think if she sures up her takedown D she'll win and even if not the extra rounds will help.

- I'm taking Yoel over Whitaker. Whitaker looked amazing vs Jacare but got clipped repeatedly by reckless Brunson on explosions. Romero's last four opponents are epic too, Kennedy KO, Machida KO, Souza decision, Weidman KO...that's one of the better streaks in all of mma.

- Werdum vs Reem 1 was awful. Werdum was scared to stand at all. I hope he comes out vengeful and makes it interesting but I got Reem handily on this as one of my favorite bets.

- Miller/Pettis is cool because Pettis needs to get his game back on track but Miller is a real test. It'll be a nice jump off for starting back at lightweight.

- Blaydes vs a Russian name I can't spell at all replaced Lawler/Cerrone...Blaydes is a really good HW wrestler and up and comer, so he's worth a peak to see how he's developing but that's about it.

So for me, Valentina; Yoel; Reem; Pettis; Blaydes on the main card.

newyorker4ever · Post #413 » by **newyorker4ever** » Fri Jul 7, 2017 5:11 pm

j4remi wrote:
bringbackhoffa wrote:I think Gaethje style may hurt him in the UFC, MJ is a huge step up in talent from what he was used to at his former promotion. Gaethje is tough as nails, but only so many slobber knockers you can get involved in. MJ is too smart and technical ill take MJ by decision

Yeah, Gaethje is tailor made for guys who don't like pressure...Pettis, maybe even Barboza...but I think MJ and Ferguson are the worst match-ups for him. I'm interested to see if he can utilize his leg kicks to change momentum though, dude chops people down and I remember Nate peppering MJ's legs all fight. I got Johnson by decision as well (with Gaethje pressing late and stealing the third but not the fight).

Two of my personal favorites also fighting are Angela Hill (great striker, developing grappler, TOUGH fighter) and Jared Cannonier (if he learns takedown defense at any point, he'll become a top 10 205'er). For a free card, this is great. Gotta love international fight week.

I'm not sure on this but the MJ vs Gaethje fight will probably be 5 rounds instead of 3 since it's the main event so i'm not sure i can see this fight going 5 with the way these two fight.

Post #414 » by **j4remi** » Fri Jul 7, 2017 5:22 pm

newyorker4ever wrote:I'm not sure on this but the MJ vs Gaethje fight will probably be 5 rounds instead of 3 since it's the main event so i'm not sure i can see this fight going 5 with the way these two fight.

You're right, main events are supposed to be five rounders and the way these two rock it's tough to see it going the distance. I think that gives Gaethje better odds than before as it can go longer but I'm still leaning toward MJ.

My preview went up too for the PPV, really keen to discuss people's predictions on these fights because they're tough to call and could go either way.
https://fteswl.com/2017/07/07/ufc-213-preview/

HarthorneWingo · Post #415 » by **HarthorneWingo** » Sat Jul 8, 2017 4:01 am

Gaethje is a monster.

Thoughts?

islanders11040 · Post #416 » by **islanders11040** » Sat Jul 8, 2017 4:31 am

Craaaaaaazy fight. FOTY

Post #417 » by **j4remi** » Sat Jul 8, 2017 12:05 pm

HarthorneWingo wrote:Gaethje is a monster.

Thoughts?

Yeah, the guy is like a bigger Korean Zombie. He just keeps coming forward and he actually has pretty good striking behind just the most ridiculous chin ever. Michael Johnson did a great job outside of ignoring leg kicks, he never mentally broke...he just got caught. Gaethje will break a lot of guys. I want to see him fight Eddie Alvarez...exact same style of fighter, neither will want to give an inch and they will go to war. I think Ferguson eats Gaethje alive because Gaethje's footwork and head movement leave a lot to be desired, but against guys that he can walk down it'll always be fun. Alvarez, Barboza, Lee...let's see how he does with one of those fellas.

matchman · Post #418 » by **matchman** » Sat Jul 8, 2017 12:51 pm

Ouch I miss this session, gotta get a chance to watch the replay.

newyorker4ever · Post #419 » by **newyorker4ever** » Sat Jul 8, 2017 2:03 pm

HarthorneWingo wrote:Gaethje is a monster.

Thoughts?

He's a monster and i've been a fan of this kid for a while in the world series of fighting but in the UFC and his stacked division, he isn't gonna make it with some of these hard hitters but he'll give us a show every time he fights. I guess it doesn't really matter to him if he gets knocked out anyway but he's gonna be fun to watch in the UFC where he's belonged for a long time.

HarthorneWingo · Post #420 » by **HarthorneWingo** » Sat Jul 8, 2017 4:18 pm

j4remi wrote:
HarthorneWingo wrote:Gaethje is a monster.

Thoughts?

Yeah, the guy is like a bigger Korean Zombie. He just keeps coming forward and he actually has pretty good striking behind just the most ridiculous chin ever. Michael Johnson did a great job outside of ignoring leg kicks, he never mentally broke...he just got caught. Gaethje will break a lot of guys. I want to see him fight Eddie Alvarez...exact same style of fighter, neither will want to give an inch and they will go to war. I think Ferguson eats Gaethje alive because Gaethje's footwork and head movement leave a lot to be desired, but against guys that he can walk down it'll always be fun. Alvarez, Barboza, Lee...let's see how he does with one of those fellas.

The Chin! And even when got caught good and wobbled, he never went down. ("You never got me down, Ray. You never got me down.") And all those freaking leg kicks. They had to hurt. Doesn't he know how to block them?

Eddie Alvarez would be a perfect next fight for him. Good call on that.

What's Gaethje's background in?