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

[Stannis]

How is he not in prison? Sucker punch and a head stomp???? He could have killed that dude ffs

What a piece of garbage

It is Russia... I'm sure the Russian authorities have some "gentlemen" agreements with the Dagestanis so they continue to be proud "Russians" and not rebel.

And I'm sure the victim didn't press charges because he know whatever courts wouldn't back him. And it probably would have put his life at risk from Russian/Dage mafias.

[MrDollarBills]

How is he not in prison? Sucker punch and a head stomp???? He could have killed that dude ffs

What a piece of garbage

Apparently, the victim of the assault didn't file any official complaints. Dude took the lumps and just kept it moving (which sounds sketchy, but I won't speculate).

https://www.essentiallysports.com/ufc-mma-news-wtf-is-wrong-with-this-dude-attacking-a-man-for-pda-disturbing-clip-shows-sharaputdin-magomedov-landing-a-cheap-shot-as-fans-fume-over-controversial-ufc/

Shara's comment is rich:
"The situation must be understood, in Makhachkala there are unwritten laws, a kind of moral code of our own. In Moscow it is common, but for us it is unacceptable. I couldn’t keep quiet.”

A real hero for his hometown

at a sucker punch and head stomp being moral.

There's some sick people in this world. Street fighting is dumb as hell and should be avoided at all costs but it takes a certain type to try and kill a downed man for doing PDA with another consenting adult.

I hope he gets some extra necessary clubs to the head one of these days when he gets knocked out

[MrDollarBills]

How is he not in prison? Sucker punch and a head stomp???? He could have killed that dude ffs

What a piece of garbage

It is Russia... I'm sure the Russian authorities have some "gentlemen" agreements with the Dagestanis so they continue to be proud "Russians" and not rebel.

And I'm sure the victim didn't press charges because he know whatever courts wouldn't back him. And it probably would have put his life at risk from Russian/Dage mafias.

Disgusting.

America has warts but hell I'm glad I live here where more than likely someone doing this to another person ends up being held accountable

Well, most of the time..

[Stannis]

How is he not in prison? Sucker punch and a head stomp???? He could have killed that dude ffs

What a piece of garbage

It is Russia... I'm sure the Russian authorities have some "gentlemen" agreements with the Dagestanis so they continue to be proud "Russians" and not rebel.

And I'm sure the victim didn't press charges because he know whatever courts wouldn't back him. And it probably would have put his life at risk from Russian/Dage mafias.

Disgusting.

America has warts but hell I'm glad I live here where more than likely someone doing this to another person ends up being held accountable

Well, most of the time..

Thing is. Everybody in that video knew what to do when the guy got KO'd. It's like it's an everyday occurrence there lol.

[HarthorneWingo]

I see that Umar attended the Khabib School of Public Speaking. Sounds just like him.

[j4remi]

Read on Twitter

A rolling thunder KO!

[MrDollarBills]

Read on Twitter

A rolling thunder KO!

Goddamn. That was nasty

I wish we could have gotten another angle for that kick. I wanna see his heel crack his jaw.

What a sick way to get knocked out. I hope that dude is alright

[j4remi]

Read on Twitter

A rolling thunder KO!

Goddamn. That was nasty

I wish we could have gotten another angle for that kick. I wanna see his heel crack his jaw.

What a sick way to get knocked out. I hope that dude is alright

Most fighters won't even bother throwing it, because it's such a rare strike to land. Gaethje tries it every once in awhile, and Tenshin Nasukawa had it mastered...but he moved into boxing now. So, rolling thunder KO's are crazy rare. Rolling Thunder KO's and Twister Submissions are super rare, but always epic.

[j4remi]

Good news, Francis Ngannou is returning to MMA. I'm curious to see how the lengthy time out of MMA and working on boxing will effect him...also, his opponent is the real deal who I suspect would be a high-ranked HW in the UFC.

Read on Twitter

13 wins, 11 KOs, 1 submission. 3 losses total, but only 1 in the past 5 years. Renan Ferreira is a beast who trains out of the Noguiera bros' camp...also, he once played Fabricio Werdum in a movie. Werdum was a hilarious and great HW, who once hit Colby Covington with a boomerang over Covington calling Brazilians filthy animals.

[j4remi]

This weekend's card is a "we just had two stacked cards in a row, you'll take what you get this week" card. A main event that includes two second-tier journeymen HWs, and a card devoid of top-tier prospects. Basically, it's a filler week...

Marcin Tybura vs Sergei Spivak: This is the only fight with any real implications toward its division's immediate future. These guys are the 8th and 9th-ranked HWs, with genuine UFC careers. Spivak's got better hands and speed, Tybura has more diversity of attack and size. Honestly, this could be a decent scrap. But it's not a main or co-main event most weeks.

Damon Jackson vs Chepe Mariscal: Jackson's not bad, with a solid all-around game that gets him to his strength as a grappler. But when he fights guys that are or could be ranked, he loses. Mariscal is on a nice little run with 3 straight wins in the UFC and 6 straight wins overall. He's no stranger to ground and pound KOs, so I'm expecting some grappling exchanges.

Quang Le vs Chris Guttierez: Quang Le is relatively unknown to me. He's 8-0 out of Lion Fights Alliance, which is a very respectable league. But he's probably being set up to showcase Chris Guttierez. Guttierez had some real prospect hype, but when he took the step up to top-notch vets and contenders, he faltered. This seems like a fight to get him back on track.

That's it for the standout names IMO. There are a bunch of unproven prospects that could make a name for themselves with a good performance, but this card is the definition of mid.

If you're looking for world-class athletes in head-to-head match-ups for 3 rounds of back-and-forth action...I suggest tuning in for the Olympics Breaking tournament. The women start at 2 PM today, and the men at 2 PM tomorrow. Breaking and battling took early influences from martial arts, and a good battle can pit two very different styles in a situation where the creativity decides the winner. What I'm saying is, Breaking is the MMA of the danceworld.

[HarthorneWingo]

Good news, Francis Ngannou is returning to MMA. I'm curious to see how the lengthy time out of MMA and working on boxing will effect him...also, his opponent is the real deal who I suspect would be a high-ranked HW in the UFC.

Read on Twitter

13 wins, 11 KOs, 1 submission. 3 losses total, but only 1 in the past 5 years. Renan Ferreira is a beast who trains out of the Noguiera bros' camp...also, he once played Fabricio Werdum in a movie. Werdum was a hilarious and great HW, who once hit Colby Covington with a boomerang over Covington calling Brazilians filthy animals.

Francis vs Sergei?

[j4remi]

Welp...we got a couple of strong cards recently, so UFC 305 is kinda meh. It's being carried by a grudge match main event between Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya. The rest of the card is decent, but some potential mismatches. So what's worth checking for?

DDP defense the MW belt against Izzy:
This feels like more is on the line than usual. Dricus Du Plessis called himself the first African UFC champion (ignoring the birthplaces of Ngannou, Usman, and Adesanya) which put a target in his back. Izzy fired back in one of the awkwardest faceoffs ever, then proceeded to get smoked by Sean Strickland shortly after. That was his second loss in three fights, and he hasn't fought since...so his grip as one of the P4P top dogs is slipping.

On paper, Du Plessis hits harder but punches sloppier. Izzy tends to pick strikers like that apart, but he'll have to be extremely cautious because DDP has MUCH better grappling and a very good chin. Izzy's in more danger of losing by submission or boring decision than in any prior fight.

That said, prognosticators are leaning toward Adesanya, and I get it. He was a very active champion and seemed worn down physically and mentally. I don't think Sean Strickland is a better fighter than Izzy by any stretch, and prime Izzy would smoke Sean AND DDP in my book. But Adesanya's 35, and the slowdown might not just be fatigue...

Kai Kara-France vs Steve Erceg:
Kai Kara-France is coming off a close loss to Amir Albazi and a body-kick TKO (a really nice KO) to Brandon Moreno. Those aren't bad losses but they put him a tier below the contenders. Steve Erceg got rushed into a title shot, then proceeded just barely lose to Alexandre Pantoja in a fight that most fans think he won.

Kai's striking is very good, with timing that surprises a lot of opponents. Erceg is technically sharper everywhere, and I think he could mimic a lot of Moreno's success. So, I give this one to Erceg, but it's worth remembering that Steve's relatively green in the UFC. Kai's team is great at scouting and would be more familiar with Erceg than most. So a surprise isn't out of the question.

Mateusz Gamrot vs Dan Hooker:
Gamrot gives Islam a run for his money as best wrestler in the division. Hooker hasn't looked great for a while and doesn't have great wrestling defense. The one thing Hooker has going for him is some skill at timing knees and elbows. Gamrot sometimes shoots double legs without feinting to set them up, which is a habit that's seen him eat knees in multiple fights. But Gamrot SHOULD win this.

Tai Tuivasa vs Jairzinho Rozenstruik:
Listed because this is a likely first-round KO. Jairzinho has fought tougher opponents, while Tuivasa is just a MUCH bigger guy. It's brute force vs some technique and both guys' chins have some wear and tear.

Carlos Prates vs Li Jingliang:
Prates is a Tuesday Contenders Series darling who has looked very impressive so far. Jingliang has been really good but not active. His only bad loss is a close decision loss to Daniel Rodriguez, but they were in two different weight-classes (on the infamous Khamzat vs Kevin Holland card). I mention all this because I feel like Jingliang is being slept on a bit. DWTCS fighters have had a habit of looking like world-beaters until they meet ranked UFC talent, and Jingliang was around that level last time we saw him.

Stylewise it's Jingliang's power vs Prates' athleticism and gas tank.

The Prelims don't have much to tune in for but...
Junior Tafa vs Valter Walker:
This isn't a great fight, but it's good on spectacle. Tafa is a fairly undersized modern HW with crazy power. Walker is a gigantic modern HW, but couldn't bully an even smaller HW last fight.

Joshua Culibao vs Ricardo Ramos:
If there's a banger on the prelims, my money's on this one. Two mid-level guys but they're both scrappy and fairly evenly matched.

Luana Santos vs Casey O'Neill:
Casey O'Neill has a surprising number of entertaining fights because she scraps her way past technical deficiencies. Luana Santos is new, and has a flashy style with some judo throws. It's hard to picture O'Neill getting tapped out by Ariana Lipski and staying on her feet against Santos...but Casey's surprised me before.

[Jkam31]

UFC did an amazing job promoting this undeserved title ****, Dana needs to go

[HarthorneWingo]

Is the PFL card tonight on TV?

[j4remi]

Is the PFL card tonight on TV?

The main card is on ESPN if I'm not mistaken. The prelims which have some solid talent are ESPN+ only.

[j4remi]

UFC did an amazing job promoting this undeserved title ****, Dana needs to go

It seems like they're trying everything to preserve the handful of guaranteed draws that they still have. They just booked Alex Pereira's next opponent, and while everyone agreed it should be Ankalaev, we're getting a match-up with Khalil Rountree instead.

Granted, I really like that match-up from an entertainment perspective. But it's obvious why they chose a striker instead of Rakic or Ankalaev that would try to take him down. Rountree's signature win is way past prime Anthony Smith, and his last fight was cancelled because he took a tainted supplement (he self-reported rather than failing a test, which is probably why he got so much leeway).

[HarthorneWingo]

UFC did an amazing job promoting this undeserved title ****, Dana needs to go

It seems like they're trying everything to preserve the handful of guaranteed draws that they still have. They just booked Alex Pereira's next opponent, and while everyone agreed it should be Ankalaev, we're getting a match-up with Khalil Rountree instead.

Granted, I really like that match-up from an entertainment perspective. But it's obvious why they chose a striker instead of Rakic or Ankalaev that would try to take him down. Rountree's signature win is way past prime Anthony Smith, and his last fight was cancelled because he took a tainted supplement (he self-reported rather than failing a test, which is probably why he got so much leeway).

AND he gets rewarded with a title fight!

[j4remi]

So I didn't realize the Craig Jones Invitational starts tonight. The big deal here is that Jones set this up with the biggest payouts BJJ players have seen. ADCC has made a handful of people very wealthy, but Jones is supposedly trying to really share the wealth.

The tournament is stacked with talent! And they've had fun promoting Craig Jones vs Gabi Garcia as the main event

Watch on YouTube

He also made it as accessible as possible. Here's a youtube link...

Watch on YouTube

[HarthorneWingo]

Impa Kasanganay reminds me of Jarod Cannonier. Throws everything with power.

[HarthorneWingo]

So I didn't realize the Craig Jones Invitational starts tonight. The big deal here is that Jones set this up with the biggest payouts BJJ players have seen. ADCC has made a handful of people very wealthy, but Jones is supposedly trying to really share the wealth.

The tournament is stacked with talent! And they've had fun promoting Craig Jones vs Gabi Garcia as the main event

Watch on YouTube

He also made it as accessible as possible. Here's a youtube link...

Watch on YouTube

The anti-wokesters’ heads will explode when Gabi kicks his ass. lol