RealGM

https://www.ufc.com/event/ufc-308

https://www.tapology.com/fightcenter/events/112501-ufc-308


Looking forward to this one. Can Holloway beat Topuria and regain the FW title ?

Some nice fights on this card -- in Dubai/Abu Dhabi this time so early card for US folks. 7 am Prelims for west coast. 10am for east coast


should be mid-day adjacent for the main card, watch out for it!

my picks this week

Since this card begins at 7AM for prelims for me on the west coast, I probably won't actually catch the earliest part, but I think it will be pretty solid action.

Styles to watch on Sat....

Basharat v Hugo
- Farid is a really strong wrestler and grappler, I'm looking for him to dominate as a huge favorite.

Abus Mago v Ferreira
- muythai v power striker and I think we get fireworks. Magomedov has been messed up in a few top-level fights by strikers but significantly won his last fight vs a can. Bruno is kind of wild, but he has very strong punching power, Abus isn't really that durable in some fights so I'm picking Bruno KO and expecting it to be a highlight.

Murphy v Ige
- Murphy is a striker and so is Ige - odds are one connects very hard. Ige is a +235 dog and just because Murphy is undefeated does not mean he will survive against a top-level veteran. We think Ige is older than he is, but they are both 33. It's closer than the odds present. Dan is a well known performer on big fights and he's very hard to put out.

Ankalaev v Rakic
- IF the winner here is Alex Pereira's next opponent, that winner needs a finish and not a decision where doubt creeps in. That means that Ankalaev's counters, kickboxing and wrestling are gonna be put to test against the more forward pressure and striking based Rakic. There is an edge for Magomed as favorite [he has avenues to win without a KO exactly] but I'm picking Rakic in my pre fight picks because I think he has been forgotten about a bit, even after Jiri KO'd him in his last fight, he looks huge this week, he can touch Ankalaev, and I think he's prepped for a return to form. Ankalaev needs the exact same result but his style is less conducive to a going forward KO, he will need to counter and place perfectly. If Rakic gets that touch and changes the narrative of the fight, he's going to push forward to end it which I think gives him a healthy respect as an underdog here.

Whittaker v Chimaev
- Should be quite the fight -- expecting Borz to be attack early. IF Rob makes it through a couple of rounds without being completely **** ed up, I think he outlasts Chimaev. I am picking Whittaker to do exactly that and hold on and KO in Rd4, but this could be the quickest fight of the night as well. Chimaev could dive in R1, submit Rob, or beat the hell out of him right out the gate with all the energy in his pocket. Unsure how well Khamzat will fight because vs Usman he was gassed, though blamed illness for it. Not sure what to take because he's far out of the USA media limelight generally, hard to gauge if he's truthful about being healthy or not. It's easy to see him be the same guy who demolished the Leech, but easy to also see him get wiped out if Whittaker stands and holds ground. Whittaker +200 is dangerous, I wouldn't bet on this fight, I'm just make picks from my information I can relay

Topuria v Holloway
- I love Max's style and he's been great for so long. But against my heart, I picked Topuria... Why ? I deathtouch. Ilia wants to KO him in R1 and point to the canvas and swing. Max will not want to get into that battle right off the bat so I hope it makes Ilia go crazy and do something stupid. I just don't see Topuria going back on his word, he is going to walk right up and swing heavy. If this isn't going to DEC or Championship rounds, he's going to connect and walk through the fire. Holloway never finished in a fight, but I have a bad feeling about this one.

Hopefully Max continues with another legendary moment and proves me wrong, counters or swings and puts Ilia's lights out, would be beautiful. Cheers everyone

The top two fights are so good.


Khamzats aura is down 10 billion points. Hopefully he can put on a show.

I don’t like Max going back to 145 at his age, after making such a great effort to build size and streength for 155, and looking fresher and more powerful than he has in years. I’d favor him at 155, but im nervous at 145

NO-KG-AI wrote:I don’t like Max going back to 145 at his age, after making such a great effort to build size and streength for 155, and looking fresher and more powerful than he has in years. I’d favor him at 155, but im nervous at 145

exactly my thoughts. I didn't think Holloway looked that great in the face at the weigh in this morning.

I guess we'll find out Saturday night. <--- Max's phrase he says all the time lol

NO-KG-AI wrote:I don’t like Max going back to 145 at his age, after making such a great effort to build size and streength for 155, and looking fresher and more powerful than he has in years. I’d favor him at 155, but im nervous at 145

He looked so bad at the presser

Two bouts ended due to injury [Barnett - leg and then was KOd with a knee, and RDA had a knee injury stoppage] but there have been some amazing performances on this card.

Orolbai / Rebecki might be my FOTY

Shara Bullet just did a spinning backfist into a second spinning backfist to get a KO, it was perfect.

Khamzat is back

**** give him a title shot already

Dupp wrote:**** give him a title shot already

Absolutely agree.

Neither of these guys were ranked? I'm confused.
Can't wait for main event

Dude is the best fighter since Jones.

Chimaev crushed Rob's jaw and broke it with that submission. That's insane

Ilia with the stoppage.

Ilia is so good and I don’t like it

Fights to make -- main card plus

Welterweight - Geoff Neal (W) and RDA (L)
Neal v Buckley main event Fight Night
RDA - 1 year off for knee injury and retire (or do a retirement fight somewhere of his choice)

Light Heavyweight - Aslan (W) and Cerqueira (L)
Aslan v Modestas Bukauskas -- A move up the rankings with a strong standup fighter
Cerqueira - Anyone, prelims

Middleweight - Magomedov (W) - Petrosyan (L)
Shara v Robocop - win this and get Adesanya, or **** it, just book the sneaky good fight of Shara/Izzy right now, why not. co-main in Sydney 25
Petrosyan v Brad Tavares - loss streak fight

Featherweight - Murphy (W) - Ige (L)
Murphy v Arnold Allen - co-main or main event of a card in England, but please, don't have the main card at 2AM local time.
Ige v William Gomis - would be excellent matchup, a co-main of a Fight Night ??

Light Heavyweight - Ankalaev (W) - Rakic (L)
Ank v Poatan - give the title fight in Rio to Alex and Magomed. Get it over with.
Rakic v Spann - co-main or main event for a fight night

Middleweight - Chimaev (W) - Whittaker (L)
Chimaev v Dricus du Plessis - **** the Strickland rematch. Give us the fight we want.
Whittaker (jaw bone injury) - Surgery and dental repair work will require months off, it was brutal trust me. 6 months off minimum and then we'll see what card for AUS they have cooking up in September 25. I'm sad that Rob went through a tough camp and fought Khamzat and now he cannot even enjoy food for months because his face is broken

Featherweight - Topuria (W) - Holloway (L)
Ilia -- Wait. Allow Volk and Diego Lopes to fight for a title eliminator (Main event, Sydney 25)
or if he wants to get back in, winner of Evloev/Sterling fight on DEC 7. For example, Topuria/Sterling or Topuria/Evloev in Spain 25
Holloway - return to 155 - wait 6 months and target International Fight Week to defend BMF belt vs 'do Bronx', McGregor, or Dan Hooker

Dupp wrote:Ilia is so good and I don’t like it

Haha. Yeah. His boxing and movement is crazy good. Too bad that there don't seem many headtoheads at 145, beyond Volk. Lol Lopez is a joke.

But that length could be a problem ... lack of length, that is. He is not getting through Islam. Islam stands tall, and can crack.

Would love to see Chimaev vs. Adesanya.

kdawg32086 wrote:Would love to see Chimaev vs. Adesanya.

Great conflict of styles, but I don't see Izzy making out of R1 if Chimaev fights like he did last wknd

kdawg32086 wrote:Would love to see Chimaev vs. Adesanya.

We’re 2-3 years late on that one. Just get him the title shot already.