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Renan Barao vs. Michael McDonald
Travis Browne vs. Cheick Kongo
Jake Ellenberger vs. John Hathaway
Francis Carmont vs. Ed Herman
Jimi Manuwa vs. Cyrille Diabate
Matt Riddle vs. Che Mills

Paul Sass vs. Danny Castillo
Tom Watson vs. Clifford Starks
Terry Etim vs. Renee Forte
Josh Grispi vs. Andy Ogle
Vaughan Lee vs. Motonobu Tezuka
Phil Harris vs. Ulysses Gomez

Updated card...

Renan Barão (ic) vs. Michael McDonald
Dennis Siver vs. Cub Swanson
Jimi Manuwa vs. Cyrille Diabaté
Gunnar Nelson vs. Justin Edwards
James Te-Huna vs. Ryan Jimmo
Che Mills vs. Matthew Riddle

Preliminary Card (Facebook)
Terry Etim vs. Renee Forte
Paul Sass vs. Danny Castillo
Andy Ogle vs. Josh Grispi
Tom Watson vs. Stanislav Nedkov
Vaughan Lee vs. Motonobu Tezuka
Phil Harris vs. Ulysses Gomez

Manuwa and Diabate looks like a banger.

I thought you said MINOWAMAN and I was like "Banger? No. KNEEBAR". Then my next thought, was "is this card in Japan?", then I read your post correctly and was disappointed.

haha! That would be nutty.

I have always been a big Cyril fan, although his MMA game has always had glaring holes.

Still, his walkouts are always dripping in confidence and he has that "I've been doing this a long f'ng time look", and I dig it.

He screwed me against Perosh. **** that guy.

Man, Barao is so much fun to watch.

If Cruz can come back with the stems working, that'll be a sweet fight.

This is a lot to ask from young McDonald.

I feel like this may be a KZ/Poirier type thing, where McDonald will learn a lot and come back stronger.
Tough, tough fight against a stud fighter from a top-notch gym. (Nova União)

Dennis Siver is out.

Dustin Poirier steps in to face Cub Swanson.

That is a sick fight!

Justin Edwards is out against Gunnar Nelson, Jorge Santiago is in.

Santiago will get destroyed in this fight, and in two more losses, he'll be cut again.

This is a classic showcase fight for Nelson, who the UFC knows will make great inroads for them in Scandinavia,
and if they want to, they can go the Irish route.

Why did I think Gunnar was a WW?

I don't think he will finish Jorge Santiago.

REDDzone wrote:Why did I think Gunnar was a WW?

I don't think he will finish Jorge Santiago.

He is a WW, RZ.

Santiago is going to to drop to WW after loses to Stann and Maia at 185.
(He won two outside the org since then)

I think Nelson will punish this guy.

Ohhh okay, thanks.

Man, this really needed that Jake Ellenberger vs. John Hathaway fight. Otherwise, aside from the title fight, this is a Cage Rage card.

Oof, Jimmo's in for a tough one.

^ Poirier/Swanson is a potential classic.

I favor Poirier but I swear to god I've picked against Swanson in his last 3 fights and he has finished them all by KO.

oh right, hadnt noticed the update.

though I think Cub wins that one by TKO, he's a stud.

What was the turning point for Cub?

I'm still kinda stuck with this outdated notion that he's mediocre.

Favorable matchmaking with a little luck, or did he actually make huge improvements to his game?

his boxing has continued to improve, he moves beautifully.

edit: checking fightfinder, he's got 3 T/KOs straight, none past the 2nd. Roop, Pearson, Oliveira...not a one of those guys are slouches on the feet, to KO all three?

I agree his striking looks better, but I honestly think the dude is just past his injuries and more confident now as well. He had some lingering crappy injuries for awhile didn't he?