UFC 303 - Int'l Fight Week - Pereira/Prochazka II saving the card and more

Post #1 » by **Clav** » Mon Jun 24, 2024 12:28 am

https://www.ufc.com/event/ufc-303

This Saturday in Las Vegas 6PM ET/3PM West

What was supposed to be the Mac's return, has turned into a fight that fight-fans will actually prefer (at least, I think so). Poatan vs Prochazka is a killer fight, and both fighters recently won by KO at UFC 300, just 2 months ago.

On paper, the Chandler/Conor fight was intriguing only because of the trainwreck it has been to get it scheduled. No one is truly sure what Conor's capable of in the octagon after 2 years off (+ moving up to WW for this one), lots of drama surrounding his personal life, and ultimately, his desire to fight anymore. I stopped caring about this fight last year. Let's enjoy the card because it's pretty much stacked without the Conor storm. He's 35 this year, give him maybe 3 years maximum before he is just done (if not already just done with the sport).

That being said, the fight card is great if you want action. Here are my pre-fight picks!

Spoiler:

I'm picking Jiri by submission vs Poatan rd2. Crazy, I know. I hope the strategy changes for Jiri and he tests Alex on the ground.
Dolidze steps in [and I'm picking him] vs Anthony Smith (this fight has been plagued with issues, originally being Hill v Rountree, then Hill vs Ulberg. Then Ulberg v Smith, now Dolidze v Smith. :lol:

)
I think Garry will beat MVP in a sneaky interesting matchup. Could be a banger, could be a point snoozer.
I'm also picking Barriault over Joe Pyfer.

cowboyronnie · Post #2 » by **cowboyronnie** » Mon Jun 24, 2024 8:15 pm

It's wild that Garry has become sympathetic, relatively speaking, in the 170 division. What a group of **** this division has become. I'll be rooting for him over Page, for sure.

You're absolutely right that Pereira vs Jiri is an improvement over Chandler vs Conor. And I think Jiri has a chance, I agree.

RamonSessions7 · Post #3 » by **RamonSessions7** » Sun Jun 30, 2024 3:08 am

Garry won’t be a fan favorite as he doesn’t back up his mid level trash talk since he isn’t exciting as he doesn’t take risks and takes the smart path to winning.

RamonSessions7 · Post #4 » by **RamonSessions7** » Sun Jun 30, 2024 3:09 am

This card is cursed. Boring Garry win, weaaaaaak doctor stoppage win.

GoRapstheoriginal · Post #5 » by **GoRapstheoriginal** » Sun Jun 30, 2024 4:28 am

MAXX CROSBY IN ATTENDANCE! GO LAS VEGAS RAIDERS GO!

!

GoRapstheoriginal · Post #6 » by **GoRapstheoriginal** » Sun Jun 30, 2024 4:55 am

That was f*cking ridic! Hope Jiri is ok

Post #7 » by **Prez** » Sun Jun 30, 2024 5:00 am

Poatan has legitimately speedrun one of the greatest resumes of all time lmao. It's unbelievable

Post #8 » by **Clav** » Sun Jun 30, 2024 5:04 am

I wanted Jiri to win

but that was not a logical pick for me. I knew Alex was going to do something crazy and sure enough, could be a contender for KO of the year at this point, it was awesome.

ItsDanger · Post #9 » by **ItsDanger** » Sun Jun 30, 2024 5:13 am

Post #10 » by **NO-KG-AI** » Sun Jun 30, 2024 6:58 am

Alex looked so crisp. Jiri had no way to get his offense started outside of a chaotic blitz, and he clearly wanted to go that way. Lost with Alex’s power is just how measured and precise he is with all his movements.

He’s incredible. What an incredible run. Crazy how the most stoic and stone faced warrior somehow has so much personality and charisma.

jc23 · Post #11 » by **jc23** » Sun Jun 30, 2024 2:38 pm

Rather see Pereira vs Jones, then Stipe. Who i think has brain damage. Pereira has a great chance to win while they are standing.

Post #12 » by **kdawg32086** » Sun Jun 30, 2024 6:32 pm

Hoping we can see Alex fight Adesanya again and hopefully cave Adesanya's face in, regardless of how the Dricus fight goes.

Mehar · Post #13 » by **Mehar** » Mon Jul 1, 2024 2:07 am

Prez wrote:Poatan has legitimately speedrun one of the greatest resumes of all time lmao. It's unbelievable

If Pereira moves up to Heavyweight, and becomes a Champion in a third different weight class- the argument can be made that he should be in the conversation of one of the Greatest Ever.

Post #14 » by **Clav** » Mon Jul 1, 2024 2:36 am

Mehar wrote:
Prez wrote:Poatan has legitimately speedrun one of the greatest resumes of all time lmao. It's unbelievable

If Pereira moves up to Heavyweight, and becomes a Champion in a third different weight class- the argument can be made that he should be in the conversation of one of the Greatest Ever.

I think everyone is kind of pushing for this, but I would like to see Pereira/Ankalev and Jones/Miocic. They need to get that Jones/Miocic fight in the books finally because Stipe is one fight away from retirement and they've been trying to get this last PPV buy for him for like a year now- Jones injured his pec so yeah, hopefully this happens by February next year.

Meanwhile I would kind of like to see Poatan fight Ankalev @ Madison Square Garden for the end of the year PPV. I also wouldn't mind to see Ulberg in the mix if he wins one more fight because he has also been starching his opponents easily.

Dupp · Post #15 » by **Dupp** » Mon Jul 1, 2024 8:50 am

Alex is everything Khamzat was suppose to be

Jiris style was always gonna catch up to him. I remember early saying he’ll get slept bad against guys like Jan but managed to avoid them until Alex.

His defense is as bad as anyone ever to fight for a title. This was an easy easy fight for Alex. There was no resistance to the left hook and the head kick in the end.

I actually wanna see jan and Alex again but where the **** jan been? No one cares about ankalaev

Post #16 » by **Clav** » Tue Jul 2, 2024 12:01 am

I only was able to catch the main-card for 303. Here's my review of the 5 fights I got to see.

Garry / MVP - This was a super close fight, and I kind of thought it would play out this way. I picked Garry DEC and it happened because he point fights and surprisingly did some work on the ground (thx Chute Boxe?). If MVP was going to win he needed to be forcing more control, which he gave up in R3, and that basically cost him a very close fight. Garry is still undefeated and comes across as a pompous ass, but he does win fights despite having a lot of haters. He's a good heel for the UFC to capitalize on and I expect him to fight Covington, Usman, or Shavkat next.

Bueno Silva / Chiasson - The elbow from Chiasson was perfect, DrStoppage.... However I think MBS is falling after her poor title fight and now this.

Dolidze / Smith - Was a pretty good scrap with a mix of control and striking. I thought Roman could have been more apt to take it down than strike, but Smith seemed slow and both guys who came in on short notice didnt' look as sharp as possible. Nothing really to gain from this one except a paycheck.

Lopes / Ige - Brian Ortega got sick (after not making weight) and was replaced last-minute by Ige, who was game to take this fight on literally less than a day's notice. That's impressive and so is Lopes for pushing himself to fight any opponent. It was good fight and Lopes looked like he was gassing, lost R3. Game fight and one people will remember due to Ortega's weight issues and these guys never backing down.

Pereira / Prochazka - Jiri with his unorthodox style and suspect defense is always an issue, but he's an interesting fighter with a strong following and cult hero classic feel. That doesn't help him against the stone hands on the other side. Or should I say stone feet. Alex's head kick KO was insane good and he then popped his toe back in place or something like that after he won. Expected finish though I picked Jiri to SUB R2 because I wanted a legacy trilogy fight with all on the table :lol:

Yeah, that's what I get.

It was a solid card, wish I had been able to see the other fights, I went to my friend's baby shower and I guess I do actually have a life outside of posting here.

cowboyronnie · Post #17 » by **cowboyronnie** » Tue Jul 2, 2024 2:36 am

MVP is so boring when not beating in tomato cans. Lol. What a bum.

Alex is really looking scary. It's wild to think Izzy shut his lights off only a short while ago. (Let's do #5)

How much longer they gonna hype this Phypher sob story? Lol. Can you imagine they tried to do this for a Black guy? Where there were hours of pre-fight videos of a Black person rising up despite social circumstances? There would be so much outrage at the wokeness. But not when it's a ruddy faced white guy. Nothing wrong about it directly. But when the UFC has become an arm of MAGA, it's a little transparent what theyre up to(Pat Buchanan had names for it...). There are like 8-10 minute segments broadcast during events. The guy has like 5 fights in the organisation, I've seen him walk the halls of his high school(s) talking about being bullied just as many times.

Dupp · Post #18 » by **Dupp** » Wed Jul 3, 2024 11:46 pm

MVP has the best stand up at 170 save for Leon and maybe wonderboy.

The bum talk is so silly. He’s just one dimensional.

cowboyronnie · Post #19 » by **cowboyronnie** » Thu Jul 4, 2024 2:06 am

What's MVP's best striking showcase / win? An SD against Lima (in a rematch after getting KOd)?

Dude is 37. He has zero signature wins. None.

Shavkat murders him. Colby even has shutout striking wins (Lawler, for example).

Post #20 » by **NO-KG-AI** » Thu Jul 4, 2024 5:27 am

cowboyronnie wrote:MVP is so boring when not beating in tomato cans. Lol. What a bum.

Alex is really looking scary. It's wild to think Izzy shut his lights off only a short while ago. (Let's do #5)

How much longer they gonna hype this Phypher sob story? Lol. Can you imagine they tried to do this for a Black guy? Where there were hours of pre-fight videos of a Black person rising up despite social circumstances? There would be so much outrage at the wokeness. But not when it's a ruddy faced white guy. Nothing wrong about it directly. But when the UFC has become an arm of MAGA, it's a little transparent what theyre up to(Pat Buchanan had names for it...). There are like 8-10 minute segments broadcast during events. The guy has like 5 fights in the organisation, I've seen him walk the halls of his high school(s) talking about being bullied just as many times.

The Izzy fights are aging like wine tbh. Alex stands upright and doesn’t move his head a lot, and Izzy was able to hit him decently enough, so everyone just assumes he’s very hittable, but in practice, he’s basically taking no damage before putting people out.

Izzy have two close fights and being 1-1 looks better and better, given how easily Alex is just slicing through everyone else. Even the Jan fight just felt like Jan was holding on for dear life and not doing anything.