UFC 241 Saturday Aug 17th: Cormier vs Miocic 2....

[Nemesis21]

Daniel Cormier vs Stipe Miocic *** For the UFC Heavyweight Championship***
Anthony Pettis vs Nate Diaz
Yoel Romero vs Paulo Acosta
Gabriel Benitez vs Sodiq Yusuff
Derek Brunson vs Ian Heinisch

Clay Collard vs Devonte Smith
Raphael Assuncao vs Cory Sandhagen
Manny Bermudez vs Casey Kenney
Drakkar Klose vs Christos Giagios

Hannah Cifers vs Jodie Esquibil
Kyung Ho Kang vs Brandon Davis
Sabina Mazo vs Shana Dobson

[cowboyronnie]

Raphael Assuncao vs Cory Sandhagen << this is good matchmaking.

Romero vs Acosta is nuts. It's further nuts to think a 41 year old could even be put in the ring with Acosta. Who is the favorite?

[REDDzone]

I'm not as high on Costa as most people, but wouldn't be surprised to see Yoel take a step back here. I think the type of fight that he and Whitaker were in last spring would take a toll on anyone. Neither guy has made it to the cage since.

[Bernman]

Yoel is a freak of the lab, but at a point he's going to take a step back. Just a question of when. We won't know when it's going to happen. Going off what we already know, gotta like Romero. His opponent is a freak of the lab too, but Yoel has better technique - leg sweeps, sets up kicks, straight punches, etc. Costa from what I've seen bullies opponents. But Romero isn't one to be bullied.

Can't wait for this event. It's loaded.

[NZB2323]

Romero is the betting favorite, but that may be because he's the more popular, established fighter.

I think betting on underdogs in this sport is a smart move, because underdogs win all the time in the UFC. I have no idea who Devonte Smith or Khama Worthy are, but you can get odds for Khama Worthy at +625.

[Headliner]

Who do ya’ll got in the Pettit vs Nate match up?

I’m going Pettis

[cowboyronnie]

Who do ya’ll got in the Pettit vs Nate match up?

I’m going Pettis

I am shocked that it looks like Diaz might actually make it to the cage without pulling out. I never thought we'd see him again, short of some superfight. This is not that, this is not a clash of personality. This is two old dogs fulfilling a not-all-that-intense grudge match. Neither of them are talkers or wits or driven for media game or crossover appeal. A Kevin Lee or someone would have made more sense - someone with a real vision for their career and making the most of publicity - someone looking to reproduce Conor.

I couldn't pick who wins. I have no idea how Nate has ever landed a punch (never mind won a fight) given that the appearance (appearance only, I guess) of his technique is so sloppy.

[cowboyronnie]

As with the first fight, I feel like Stipe is likely to crush DC but am hoping against hope that DC can somehow pull it off. I think these two face-off 10 times, DC can maybe pull it out twice. But the other 8 go to Stipe. So Stipe is due.

[NO-KG-AI]

I honestly feel like DC is better than Stipe at everything. Stronger and more athletic, quicker in and out, better boxing, better clinch boxing, far better wrestling and submissions, better pressure.

I dunno, I just think Stipe is like a notch down in each category at the least, all he has going for him is height and length, and DC doesn't have a lot of trouble getting in and landing on guys that are just as long, but quicker with their strikes than Stipe.

Pettis vs Diaz is fun, because Diaz is going to do what Pettis wants everyone to do, just stand and fight. Fight should be 5 rounds.

[NO-KG-AI]

Not that Stipe isn't close, or isn't good enough to get a victory, but does anyone disagree with any of that from the individual breakdown? I thought the Francis fight was a perfect picture of what Stipe's wrestling is. His takedowns are really nice, but after he would shoot, he really couldn't advance position or threaten to get the opponent into dangerous spots. Francis basically sat there like a lump, and Stipe was just stuck to him. He's shown his TDD is nice in other fights too. Does anyone think he can wrestle like DC? What about his submissions?

CBR, I respect your opinions on boxing and how they use it in an MMA sense, so maybe I'm missing something, but I think in terms of technique, fluidity, actual punches, defense, all that, Cormier is superior. Stipe can make up some ground with his length, but I don't think it's enough, and I think both have plenty enough power... they aren't Francis, but you can't let them tee off on you either.

Anyone think Stipe's chin is less weathered than Cormier's?

I'm just not seeing where Stipe holds any distinct advantages, even if he's not far behind in a lot of categories.

[REDDzone]

IDK if it's here or not, but time HAS to run out for DC eventually. He's on the wrong side of 40 and I don't like some of the comments he's made leading up to this fight. He's been injured and he told Ariel (paraphrase) that he felt so bad when he started camp (as in, he wasn't fighting well, couldn't put it all together) that he was going to pull out of the fight and retire if he didn't improve. And apparently he did improve since he didn't pull out, but still. Dude stays injured and is now old and injured. And we know how he trains at AKA. It's a ticking timebomb, and Stipe is a tough test, this isn't Derrick Lewis.

[AirCanadaMouse]

Romero is the betting favorite, but that may be because he's the more popular, established fighter.

I think betting on underdogs in this sport is a smart move, because underdogs win all the time in the UFC. I have no idea who Devonte Smith or Khama Worthy are, but you can get odds for Khama Worthy at +625.

I do the complete opposite, I throw in a lot of money to win a sum that's a lot less than I bet. I find that you're collectively throwing away money and when you finally win a surprise bet, you really don't end up winning much. I've been reeling in a lot of money on pick em fights, throwing out multiple parlays, and when I do bet on the dogs, it's throwing 3 units on them when I find that they have really high odds of winning. GDR, Khalil Rountree vs. Anders... before we even knew Rountree went full Muay Thai, and I also made a ton of money on Masvidal vs. Askren.

I throw everything on Cyborg vs. Spencer, Valentina vs. FLW Jobbers.... I've already won a few hundred based on those two alone.

I would go all in on a parlay of: Saandhagen, Cormier, Romero, Yusuff, Heinisch. $50 dollars wins you $400 (CDN).. enjoy the ride.
Maybe throw in Pettis and Cifers, but I tend to stay away from WMMA unless they're really established contenders.

[cowboyronnie]

Not that Stipe isn't close, or isn't good enough to get a victory, but does anyone disagree with any of that from the individual breakdown? I thought the Francis fight was a perfect picture of what Stipe's wrestling is. His takedowns are really nice, but after he would shoot, he really couldn't advance position or threaten to get the opponent into dangerous spots. Francis basically sat there like a lump, and Stipe was just stuck to him. He's shown his TDD is nice in other fights too. Does anyone think he can wrestle like DC? What about his submissions?

CBR, I respect your opinions on boxing and how they use it in an MMA sense, so maybe I'm missing something, but I think in terms of technique, fluidity, actual punches, defense, all that, Cormier is superior. Stipe can make up some ground with his length, but I don't think it's enough, and I think both have plenty enough power... they aren't Francis, but you can't let them tee off on you either.

Anyone think Stipe's chin is less weathered than Cormier's?

I'm just not seeing where Stipe holds any distinct advantages, even if he's not far behind in a lot of categories.

Oh, I agree. I have long said that DC is a top 3 boxer in MMA. Right from the Strikeforce days, you could see it. His movement is fluid and beautiful. The man has amazing, intelligent hips. But Stipe's not terrible and he uses simple, effective distant punching. His 1-2s and his right hand especially are straight and clean, he stands tall, he keeps range with his angles and feet. I'm not saying anything profound, we all see this. He finds angles for his straight punches and KOs dudes.

Meanwhile, a shorter guy has to work really hard to get past those straight punches, it's a massive deficit. In all other divisions, at least, the short guy is going to have a muscle advantage. He's going to be stronger and hit harder than the lanky dude with the reach. But at HW, they don't even have that advantage. DC has to use his technique to make up a lot of basic advantage Stipe has as a matter of his simple proportions.

[NO-KG-AI]

Yea I can see that, just seems like Cormier’s gas tank is crazy though, weaving in and out and constant pressure doesn’t seem to bother him. The only person he’s ever fought that looked less tired than him was Jones, and Jones beat his body up bad...

I love the fight. Rooting for DC, but I think Jon would jump on a potential fight with Stipe for the title.


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[Jasen777]

D.C. coming in at 236.5, Stipe at 230.5

[Susan]

Watch on YouTube

Re-watched DC-Stipe 1 a few days ago and saw DC closing the distance this way.

CBR and other striking guys, what do you think of DC's striking defense? It seems that this leads perfectly into his grappling game and he's been able to avoid a lot of power from his opponents (outside of Jones' headkick).

[Susan]

D.C. coming in at 236.5, Stipe at 230.5

Stipe coming in 12.5 lbs lighter than last time, 16 lbs lighter than his Francis fight. Kinda wild.

[Nemesis21]

I'll go with,

Stipe
Diaz
Romero
Yusuff
Brunson

[Headliner]

Love DC, maybe the greatest ever, but he had a plan to retire at 40 because he wouldn’t be the same, snd now I feel like he’s manifesting it with his comments, and possibly some self doubt regarding injuries etc

Fighting is such a mental war, guys lose fights before they enter the cage. I hope DC hasn’t

[cowboyronnie]

Yeah, those comments from DC / Bob Cook are pretty worrying. And he looked to be moving pretty gingerly at the open workout.

In contrast of which, I expect this will be the best Stipe we've ever seen.