OT: Official MMA discussion thread pt 3 UFC 319: DDP vs Chimaev, Aaron Pico vs Lerone Murphy

[Ghetto Gospel]

ufc putting out snoozers, they need to somehow convince poatan to fight every week or something

[MrDollarBills]

Read on Twitter

Yoooooooo !!!!!!

[HarthorneWingo]

ufc putting out snoozers, they need to somehow convince poatan to fight every week or something

UFC has just adopted a new set of rules that loosen up the prior restrictions on (1) 12-6 elbows, and (2) knee strikes on grounded opponents. I believe that they go into effect within the next few months.

We're waiting on Fearless Leader for the official announcement.

[j4remi]

ufc putting out snoozers, they need to somehow convince poatan to fight every week or something

The UFC's recently been on a model of two snoozers for every one good card lately. The good news is we're getting a good card this weekend at least, with some beef between fighters. I'll carve out a bit of time to throw up some of the fun match-ups coming up. For a nice preview, we had a straight up brawl between two teams at the hotel last night. Manel Kape and Mohammed Mokaev took a picture to squash beef, then Mokaev's brother attacked Kape

Read on Twitter

and Belal Muhammed and Leon Edwards had a funny encounter.

Read on Twitter

[MrDollarBills]

Read on Twitter

Yoooooooo !!!!!!

I'm mad that Conor deleted this tweet. It was the gods honest truth that needed to be said.

[MrDollarBills]

ufc putting out snoozers, they need to somehow convince poatan to fight every week or something

The UFC's recently been on a model of two snoozers for every one good card lately. The good news is we're getting a good card this weekend at least, with some beef between fighters. I'll carve out a bit of time to throw up some of the fun match-ups coming up. For a nice preview, we had a straight up brawl between two teams at the hotel last night. Manel Kape and Mohammed Mokaev took a picture to squash beef, then Mokaev's brother attacked Kape

Read on Twitter

and Belal Muhammed and Leon Edwards had a funny encounter.

Read on Twitter

Please do, we're in a sports dead zone right now.

[j4remi]

So we've got UFC 304 coming up with a pair of title fights at the top (one's an interim title), exciting striking match-ups, and a lot of no-reason beef...that's when fighters hate each other with no apparent reason other than not liking each other. This has more name-droppable fights than usual, and some seriously dope striking matchups.

Prelims have bangers:
Muhammad Mokaev vs Manel Kape:
I'll start with the beef from my previous post. The fight between Mokaev and Kape is good enough to be on a PPV main card. Mokaev is one of the hottest prospects at Flyweight (only Tatsuro Taira competes). Kape is a vet with a CRAZY resume, but he's slept on because a lot of his best opponents were outside of the UFC (Kyoji Horiguchi and Kai Asakura).

Their fight has been dropped from main card to prelime to early prelims, and fans were worried it meant there was an injury. But I think it might relate to the beef that's got them fighting each other in the hotel. Either way, this is ELITE talent competing. Mokaev is a MONSTER wrestler with good (not great) striking. Kape is susceptible to grappling, but has great striking and KO talent. Mokaev has had gas tank issues though, so this is a fight where Kape may have to weather a storm to get a chance to win.

I lean toward Mokaev eke'ing out a decision. But this is a pick 'em in my book. Kape is REALLY good!

Molly Mccann vs Bruna Brasil:
This one's not a technical joy, but Molly Mccann is well-known. She has some highlight KO's, fun celebrations, and rolls with Paddy Pimblett. Brasil is 1-2 in the UFC, and couldn't get close to Loma Lookboonme (an elite striker with weak takedown defense). So the UFC probably picked Brasil because Mccann can keep the fight standing...seems like it's meant for Molly to win, but she's not a great fighter so I'm uncertain.

Nathaniel Wood vs Daniel Pineda:
While neither of these guys is a contender, they both BRAWL. So this makes sense for the top of the prelims. Granted, they do a LOT of work from the ground game, but they're scrappy everywhere. They've got 70 fights between the two of 'em and only 14 made it to decision.

I think Wood's better than Pineda, but he had a disappointing performance last time out. I'll take Wood but the betting odds are too lopsided.

Main card is loaded with striking:
Arnold Allen vs Giga Chikadze:
I am HYPE for this! Arnold Allen is coming off back-to-back losses, but that's to Max Holloway and Movsar Evoloev. They're probably the next two title contenders. Allen's hands are fast and strong, he's improved consistently, and he's fought the best of the best. Giga's the best kicker in the division, and he's only lost once in the UFC.

NO ONE has been able to stand with Giga. Calvin Kattar is a boxing ace, and he had to wrestle to upset of Giga. Arnold Allen isn't the best wrestler, so he's gonna have to use his striking to get inside those kicks. It's genuinely tough to predict, but I think Allen is the superior fighter with more experience against elite opponents.

Christian Leroy Duncan vs Gregory Rodrigues:
Every time Gregory Rodrigues fights, I hype him up. He's a giant for MW, he's won a BUNCH of BJJ national championships in Brazil, and yet he wants to stand and bang 24/7. The man has 3 submission victories in 20 fights and 10 KO's...but I'm pretty sure he could tap out half the guys he punched to sleep instead. His nickname is ROBOCOP. He's that dude!

Christian Leroy Duncan is 10-1, with 8 KO's and only 2 fights that went to decision. He's fought a weaker schedule, but I can't recall seeing him fight off his backfoot ever.

So we have two guys who exclusively move forward and aim to knock opponents out. Someone's getting a PotN bonus and this fight will have some highlights!

Bobby Green vs Paddy Pimblett:
Here's one of those "no reason beef" fights. But it kinda does have a reason. Bobby Green has fifty career fights. He has fought the best of the best for years, and only recently has he gotten more credit and recognition. Paddy Pimblett got Golden Prospect treatment as a potential star from England, but he hasn't reached his potential despite remaining undefeated. So Green sees a cocky kid, and Paddy sees an old hater.

Style wise? Paddy's the vastly superior grappler, Green is the vastly superior grappler. Paddy HAS to get takedowns, but his wrestling is mid while Green is generally tough to takedown (not counting the Islam fight). I think Green is in a perfect position to play spoiler, but Paddy's got a home crowd advantage and he's won some sketchy decisions before. They're almost a pick 'em on the betting odds.

Tom Aspinall vs Curtis Blaydes:
Listen, Jon Jones is my undisputed GOAT of MMA, but this is the true Heavyweight championship fight IMO. These guys have fought the who's who of great HW's, while Jones has one fight in the division and Stipe Miocic hasn't won a fight since 2020. Blaydes and Aspinall have been the most consistently great HW's of the past 5 years, and their first fight ended with a knee injury after just 20 seconds.

For those who don't know, Aspinall is probably the most well-rounded fighter in the division (not counting Jones). He's a GREAT grappler, but has KO power and near-elite speed. Blaydes is an ELITE wrestler, with KO power but his striking has holes that get him knocked out periodically. I think Aspinall's speed will be the difference, but this is a much closer fight than the odds suggest (Tom's a heavy favorite on the books).

Leon Edwards vs Belal Muhammad:
I don't enjoy Belal's fighting style but he's earned this fight. He hasn't lost in 10 fights, with one no-decision against Leon who damn near blinded him with an eye poke. Edwards hasn't lost a fight since 2015, and he's 4th on the P4P list.

So, let's talk about their first fight. It lasted for one round. Belal never got close enough to do anything, and Leon's kicks were hitting guard but rocking Belal's entire body from side to side. The reason we didn't get a rematch sooner is because people assumed Edwards would eventually KO Muhammad.

Since then, Leon has only become sharper. But Belal's awkwardness has proven advantageous. No one hits him clean, and he's tough enough to hold up through a lot of damage. So, even the best strikers have gassed out trying to keep Belal at bay and he eventually gets to wrestle them. Muhammad's also got Khabib coaching him now, and Khabib is an EXCELLENT X's and O's coach.

I'm still picking Leon, but Muhammad has an interesting path to victory. He has a coach that will dissect Usman's successes against Leon, and Belal can do a poor-man's version of Usman. But regardless of who wins...Shavkhat will take the belt before 2025 is over.

Notes for my gambling fam:
This fight is taking place in Manchester England, but they're running the event according to American time. So fighters will be dealing with fights at bizarre hours which I think gives an advantage to the folks who aren't gonna be jet lagged.

The oddsmakers went a little wild on the favorites. I think they picked all the right winners, but some fights have extreme gaps in the odds. Molly Mccann is too favored over Brasil, Leon slightly overfavored against Belal, and Aspinall is overfavored against Blaydes. I just wouldn't risk much to bet on the underdogs, but I may have to put feelers out in case of a surprise.

No reason beef clips:
And now...here's random trash talk...

Paddy and Bobby have a hilarious beef:

Spoiler:

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Here's Kape sharing sparring stories which led to an altercation that Kape's coach claims was a setup...

Spoiler:

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

And here's Belal and Leon's face to face moments since they've been jawing for a while now...

Spoiler:

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

[Ghetto Gospel]

I'm still picking Leon, but Muhammad has an interesting path to victory. He has a coach that will dissect Usman's successes against Leon, and Belal can do a poor-man's version of Usman. But regardless of who wins...Shavkhat will take the belt before 2025 is over.

wow, i think i have leon over shakhat. the technical striking difference is a little too high and i don't think shavkhat has enough grappling to take leon down consistently

Read on Twitter

i have no idea how people don't flinch. i imagine it takes practice? cause id flinch even if a 5 year old tried do that to me

[j4remi]

I'm still picking Leon, but Muhammad has an interesting path to victory. He has a coach that will dissect Usman's successes against Leon, and Belal can do a poor-man's version of Usman. But regardless of who wins...Shavkhat will take the belt before 2025 is over.

wow, i think i have leon over shakhat. the technical striking difference is a little too high and i don't think shavkhat has enough grappling to take leon down consistently

I think Shavkhat's comfort at kicking range makes him the worst match-up for Leon in the division. A lot of other fighters will get chewed up before they can get into range, but Shavkhat can fight at distance which would open up level changes and parry entries. It's definitely a tough fight, because Shavkhat's defense isn't the best. But I think he'd get Leon against the cage and wear him down over the course of 25 minutes.

Read on Twitter

i have no idea how people don't flinch. i imagine it takes practice? cause id flinch even if a 5 year old tried do that to me

Idk how they stay like that either. I just copped a VR headset, and even knowing that nothing can touch me, I'm constantly ducking and jumping .

[Jkam31]

The really heavyweight championship this weekend

[HarthorneWingo]

Whitaker is the real deal.

Watch on YouTube

[brutalitops]

So we've got UFC 304 coming up with a pair of title fights at the top (one's an interim title), exciting striking match-ups, and a lot of no-reason beef...that's when fighters hate each other with no apparent reason other than not liking each other. This has more name-droppable fights than usual, and some seriously dope striking matchups.

Prelims have bangers:
Muhammad Mokaev vs Manel Kape:
I'll start with the beef from my previous post. The fight between Mokaev and Kape is good enough to be on a PPV main card. Mokaev is one of the hottest prospects at Flyweight (only Tatsuro Taira competes). Kape is a vet with a CRAZY resume, but he's slept on because a lot of his best opponents were outside of the UFC (Kyoji Horiguchi and Kai Asakura).

Their fight has been dropped from main card to prelime to early prelims, and fans were worried it meant there was an injury. But I think it might relate to the beef that's got them fighting each other in the hotel. Either way, this is ELITE talent competing. Mokaev is a MONSTER wrestler with good (not great) striking. Kape is susceptible to grappling, but has great striking and KO talent. Mokaev has had gas tank issues though, so this is a fight where Kape may have to weather a storm to get a chance to win.

I lean toward Mokaev eke'ing out a decision. But this is a pick 'em in my book. Kape is REALLY good!

Molly Mccann vs Bruna Brasil:
This one's not a technical joy, but Molly Mccann is well-known. She has some highlight KO's, fun celebrations, and rolls with Paddy Pimblett. Brasil is 1-2 in the UFC, and couldn't get close to Loma Lookboonme (an elite striker with weak takedown defense). So the UFC probably picked Brasil because Mccann can keep the fight standing...seems like it's meant for Molly to win, but she's not a great fighter so I'm uncertain.

Nathaniel Wood vs Daniel Pineda:
While neither of these guys is a contender, they both BRAWL. So this makes sense for the top of the prelims. Granted, they do a LOT of work from the ground game, but they're scrappy everywhere. They've got 70 fights between the two of 'em and only 14 made it to decision.

I think Wood's better than Pineda, but he had a disappointing performance last time out. I'll take Wood but the betting odds are too lopsided.

Main card is loaded with striking:
Arnold Allen vs Giga Chikadze:
I am HYPE for this! Arnold Allen is coming off back-to-back losses, but that's to Max Holloway and Movsar Evoloev. They're probably the next two title contenders. Allen's hands are fast and strong, he's improved consistently, and he's fought the best of the best. Giga's the best kicker in the division, and he's only lost once in the UFC.

NO ONE has been able to stand with Giga. Calvin Kattar is a boxing ace, and he had to wrestle to upset of Giga. Arnold Allen isn't the best wrestler, so he's gonna have to use his striking to get inside those kicks. It's genuinely tough to predict, but I think Allen is the superior fighter with more experience against elite opponents.

Christian Leroy Duncan vs Gregory Rodrigues:
Every time Gregory Rodrigues fights, I hype him up. He's a giant for MW, he's won a BUNCH of BJJ national championships in Brazil, and yet he wants to stand and bang 24/7. The man has 3 submission victories in 20 fights and 10 KO's...but I'm pretty sure he could tap out half the guys he punched to sleep instead. His nickname is ROBOCOP. He's that dude!

Christian Leroy Duncan is 10-1, with 8 KO's and only 2 fights that went to decision. He's fought a weaker schedule, but I can't recall seeing him fight off his backfoot ever.

So we have two guys who exclusively move forward and aim to knock opponents out. Someone's getting a PotN bonus and this fight will have some highlights!

Bobby Green vs Paddy Pimblett:
Here's one of those "no reason beef" fights. But it kinda does have a reason. Bobby Green has fifty career fights. He has fought the best of the best for years, and only recently has he gotten more credit and recognition. Paddy Pimblett got Golden Prospect treatment as a potential star from England, but he hasn't reached his potential despite remaining undefeated. So Green sees a cocky kid, and Paddy sees an old hater.

Style wise? Paddy's the vastly superior grappler, Green is the vastly superior grappler. Paddy HAS to get takedowns, but his wrestling is mid while Green is generally tough to takedown (not counting the Islam fight). I think Green is in a perfect position to play spoiler, but Paddy's got a home crowd advantage and he's won some sketchy decisions before. They're almost a pick 'em on the betting odds.

Tom Aspinall vs Curtis Blaydes:
Listen, Jon Jones is my undisputed GOAT of MMA, but this is the true Heavyweight championship fight IMO. These guys have fought the who's who of great HW's, while Jones has one fight in the division and Stipe Miocic hasn't won a fight since 2020. Blaydes and Aspinall have been the most consistently great HW's of the past 5 years, and their first fight ended with a knee injury after just 20 seconds.

For those who don't know, Aspinall is probably the most well-rounded fighter in the division (not counting Jones). He's a GREAT grappler, but has KO power and near-elite speed. Blaydes is an ELITE wrestler, with KO power but his striking has holes that get him knocked out periodically. I think Aspinall's speed will be the difference, but this is a much closer fight than the odds suggest (Tom's a heavy favorite on the books).

Leon Edwards vs Belal Muhammad:
I don't enjoy Belal's fighting style but he's earned this fight. He hasn't lost in 10 fights, with one no-decision against Leon who damn near blinded him with an eye poke. Edwards hasn't lost a fight since 2015, and he's 4th on the P4P list.

So, let's talk about their first fight. It lasted for one round. Belal never got close enough to do anything, and Leon's kicks were hitting guard but rocking Belal's entire body from side to side. The reason we didn't get a rematch sooner is because people assumed Edwards would eventually KO Muhammad.

Since then, Leon has only become sharper. But Belal's awkwardness has proven advantageous. No one hits him clean, and he's tough enough to hold up through a lot of damage. So, even the best strikers have gassed out trying to keep Belal at bay and he eventually gets to wrestle them. Muhammad's also got Khabib coaching him now, and Khabib is an EXCELLENT X's and O's coach.

I'm still picking Leon, but Muhammad has an interesting path to victory. He has a coach that will dissect Usman's successes against Leon, and Belal can do a poor-man's version of Usman. But regardless of who wins...Shavkhat will take the belt before 2025 is over.

Notes for my gambling fam:
This fight is taking place in Manchester England, but they're running the event according to American time. So fighters will be dealing with fights at bizarre hours which I think gives an advantage to the folks who aren't gonna be jet lagged.

The oddsmakers went a little wild on the favorites. I think they picked all the right winners, but some fights have extreme gaps in the odds. Molly Mccann is too favored over Brasil, Leon slightly overfavored against Belal, and Aspinall is overfavored against Blaydes. I just wouldn't risk much to bet on the underdogs, but I may have to put feelers out in case of a surprise.

No reason beef clips:
And now...here's random trash talk...

Paddy and Bobby have a hilarious beef:

Spoiler:

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Here's Kape sharing sparring stories which led to an altercation that Kape's coach claims was a setup...

Spoiler:

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

And here's Belal and Leon's face to face moments since they've been jawing for a while now...

Spoiler:

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

This card is a monster card, Kape V Mokaev is insane,

I have Mokaev as probably the best flyweight in the world.

Arnold V Chiadze is also insane, Allen is legit, lost his last two, but he was on a tear before, Chikadze was also hyped as a next up type challenger, Lost to Kattar and nobody talks about him anymore, Insane fight

Green V Pimblett should be good, Green is always in some entertainng fights

Duncan V Rodriguez...Ehhhhhh

Aspinal V Blades, Im glad Blades is getting another shot, ultra talented heavyweight and something different to kinda fat dudes just throwing haymakers, But tends to **** the bed

Good to see Aspinal get a challenge

And Belal V Edwards, Have to Rep my brother Belal here. represent my people during a genocide, I honestly think thought Belal will win this.

[j4remi]

This card is a monster card, Kape V Mokaev is insane,

I have Mokaev as probably the best flyweight in the world.

Arnold V Chiadze is also insane, Allen is legit, lost his last two, but he was on a tear before, Chikadze was also hyped as a next up type challenger, Lost to Kattar and nobody talks about him anymore, Insane fight

Green V Pimblett should be good, Green is always in some entertainng fights

Duncan V Rodriguez...Ehhhhhh

Aspinal V Blades, Im glad Blades is getting another shot, ultra talented heavyweight and something different to kinda fat dudes just throwing haymakers, But tends to **** the bed

Good to see Aspinal get a challenge

And Belal V Edwards, Have to Rep my brother Belal here. represent my people during a genocide, I honestly think thought Belal will win this.

I agree that Mokaev is the most talented flyweight, but I think he's still wet behind the ears. Which is to say, he makes unforced errors that could cost him. But I already see him cleaning that up and the more experience he gets, the cleaner his performances will get.

Giga really lost all momentum after Calvin Kattar. It's like fans forgot what he did to Edson Barboza one fight earlier. He's a killer.

Blaydes and Aspinall both represent the direction I'd like to see the HW talent move in. I want more athletes with technical skills and fewer guys cutting down from 265 who can crush an opponent in the first 5 minutes but have NOTHING after that.

Belal is definitely a good dude. He flew a father and son from Gaza to the Chicago, and I saw him tear up talking about it. That's made him a lot easier to root for, because his trash talk always bothered me

[j4remi]

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

[HarthorneWingo]

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

?s=46

[j4remi]

Read on Twitter

?s=46

Exactly! I have no idea what they were thinking. These guys have been selling the hell out of their fight (unintentionally). Idk what the UFC is thinking or doing, but both guys are potential near-future opponents for Pantoja. Then they complain about the lack of attention for 125 lbs fighters.

[j4remi]

Read on Twitter

?s=46&t=c7eg_0vf10KosEyBJaEgQw

Why we watch the prelims.

[Ghetto Gospel]

good thing the ufc didnt promote that snoozer lmao

[Ghetto Gospel]

Read on Twitter

[Ghetto Gospel]

admittedly, leon is not as good as i thought he was. i thought his tdd would hold better than it did especially after the kamaru fights but belal just ragdolled him the entire fight. leon had nothing for him even on the feet, granted leon has to worry about the takedowns but yeah, belal looked great