UFC 218: Holloway vs Aldo II (12/2)

REDDzone · Post #1 » by **REDDzone** » Mon Nov 27, 2017 3:27 pm

I didn't see a thread for this, feel free to delete if I just missed it. I think most discussion took place in the nonthreadworthy thread.

Main Card - PPV
Max Holloway vs. José Aldo
Alistair Overeem vs. Francis Ngannou
Henry Cejudo vs. Sergio Pettis
Eddie Alvarez vs. Justin Gaethje
Tecia Torres vs. Michelle Waterson

Preliminary Card - FS1
Charles Oliveira vs. Paul Felder
Alex Oliveira vs. Yancy Medeiros
David Teymur vs. Drakkar Klose
Felice Herrig vs. Cortney Casey

Preliminary Card - Fight Pass
Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Sabah Homasi
Jeremy Kimball vs. Dominick Reyes
Justin Willis vs. Allen Crowder
Amanda Cooper vs. Angela Magaña

REDDzone · Post #2 » by **REDDzone** » Mon Nov 27, 2017 3:33 pm

Couple of thoughts:

It'll be interesting to see how Aldo/Max goes. I recall at the time cbr speculated that Aldo was injured and that's why he didn't use his leg kicks. Well for the first time, Aldo's camp is validating that suspicion. So we will see how that dynamic plays out this time around.

UFC seems to be pushing Ngannou as hard as anyone. If he beats Alistair he may just be the real deal. In a career full of transformations, Alistair has morphed once again. This time to a crafty vet who just knows how to win fights. I would think Overeem would be third best heavyweight in the world at worst at this point, so this would be a statement win.

No idea why Pettis pushed for this fight vs Cejudo so hard (continuous callouts on his social media, etc.). I think its a terrible stylistic matchup for him. Cejudo's wrestling speaks for itself and he hits hard as it gets for a 125er.

Alvarez vs Gaethje is a crazy fight. War Gaethje.

Boo Cowboy Oliveira.

How the hell is Angela Magana still in the UFC?

Post #3 » by **Headliner** » Mon Nov 27, 2017 4:43 pm

This was me after the fight:

Headliner wrote:I dont agree with the theory that Aldo wasn't able to throw a single leg kick because of being clipped over and over. He dominated the first round and threw no kicks, there was no fear of being clipped there.
Other fighters, inferior to past Aldo were landing 20 + leg kicks on Max, and they are far inferior leg strikers than Aldo is.
It had to be something else.

ALdo also was huffing at the end of the first round. Cardio wise, he looked terrible to me.

Going into the fight he made it a point to say he was going to attack the leg over and over, so I think seems very odd he didn't throw a kick. Almost like he wanted that to be on Maxs mind, despite him not going to do it.

To me, if I had to speculate I would say he injured his leg at some point. Not throwing kicks, standing flat footed, and lack of conditioning due to being unable to do cardio exercises are all signs that point in that direction.

Post #4 » by **Headliner** » Mon Nov 27, 2017 4:47 pm

I hate bringing Conor into it, but I think he brain humped Aldo, and if this was before the Aldo vs Conor fight, he would have pulled out. Conor calling him a pull out merchant and all of the insults got to him imo.

If Aldo is healthy, I think im going with him. He showed up well in the first round, if he can snap some leg kicks off, im thinking he will chop him down.

Nemesis21 · Post #5 » by **Nemesis21** » Mon Nov 27, 2017 5:55 pm

Fight week!

Post #6 » by **NO-KG-AI** » Tue Nov 28, 2017 2:00 pm

Aldo is going to take a bunch of punches to the face when he's throwing kicks, slowly gas, and Max will take over again. Aldo already has the short camp excuse ready to roll to, so it's business as usual.

Post #7 » by **NO-KG-AI** » Wed Nov 29, 2017 1:23 pm

All that said, Jose is a pretty big underdog for such a talented fighter. Might have to put some money down on him. :lol:

The heaviest puncher on record is fighting the flimsiest chin in the HW division. What are the odds on Reem's head coming completely off.

Post #8 » by **CPT** » Wed Nov 29, 2017 2:25 pm

Card looks pretty good.

I still have a bit of a hard time accepting Holloway as the best FW in the world, but he's on such a sick run. Hopefully both guys are 100% and it can be settled. I still think Conor casts a bit of a shadow over the division, which is a shame, because he's never going to fight there again.

The rest of the fights are all good matchups with real implications in their divisions, down to two or three fights deep in the prelims. Might have to get in on this one early.

REDDzone · Post #9 » by **REDDzone** » Wed Nov 29, 2017 3:05 pm

^ That's surprising to me. Holloway is one of those guys who I can't even really imagine losing at this point. Like, its hard for me to even picture it.

REDDzone · Post #10 » by **REDDzone** » Wed Nov 29, 2017 3:11 pm

I'm not even a Gaethje fan really but I'll be so depressed if he loses to Alvarez. The notion of him entering that Tony/Khabib/Barboza mix is so exciting to me. I just low LW. On the flipside if Eddie wins it just continues to stagnate the division because they will never make him and Conor again.

duppyy · Post #11 » by **duppyy** » Wed Nov 29, 2017 3:16 pm

REDDzone wrote:^ That's surprising to me. Holloway is one of those guys who I can't even really imagine losing at this point. Like, its hard for me to even picture it.

He's just keeping the belt safe and warm till Zabit comes to take it.

NZB2323 · Post #12 » by **NZB2323** » Wed Nov 29, 2017 6:19 pm

REDDzone wrote:^ That's surprising to me. Holloway is one of those guys who I can't even really imagine losing at this point. Like, its hard for me to even picture it.

I don't know how anyone can feel that way about anyone in this sport. So many fighters have looked unbeatable and then lost.

Nemesis21 · Post #13 » by **Nemesis21** » Wed Nov 29, 2017 6:25 pm

NZB2323 wrote:
REDDzone wrote:^ That's surprising to me. Holloway is one of those guys who I can't even really imagine losing at this point. Like, its hard for me to even picture it.

I don't know how anyone can feel that way about anyone in this sport. So many fighters have looked unbeatable and then lost.

Demetrious Johnson says hello. He's looked unbeatable since the loss to Cruz at 135 in 2011.

REDDzone · Post #14 » by **REDDzone** » Wed Nov 29, 2017 6:31 pm

duppyy wrote:
REDDzone wrote:^ That's surprising to me. Holloway is one of those guys who I can't even really imagine losing at this point. Like, its hard for me to even picture it.

He's just keeping the belt safe and warm till Zabit comes to take it.

Zabit has looked awesome but I'll hold off on claims like that until he beats someone I've heard of before.

duppyy · Post #15 » by **duppyy** » Wed Nov 29, 2017 7:02 pm

REDDzone wrote:
duppyy wrote:
REDDzone wrote:^ That's surprising to me. Holloway is one of those guys who I can't even really imagine losing at this point. Like, its hard for me to even picture it.

He's just keeping the belt safe and warm till Zabit comes to take it.

Zabit has looked awesome but I'll hold off on claims like that until he beats someone I've heard of before.

I should mention that he's from the same city in Russia that I was born in, hence my bias lol.

REDDzone · Post #16 » by **REDDzone** » Wed Nov 29, 2017 7:11 pm

duppyy wrote:
REDDzone wrote:
duppyy wrote:
He's just keeping the belt safe and warm till Zabit comes to take it.

Zabit has looked awesome but I'll hold off on claims like that until he beats someone I've heard of before.

I should mention that he's from the same city in Russia that I was born in, hence my bias lol.

I looked at his record after this exchange and was floored to see he has been armbarred twice. I literally didn't know it was possible to submit Russians.

NZB2323 · Post #17 » by **NZB2323** » Wed Nov 29, 2017 8:27 pm

Nemesis21 wrote:
NZB2323 wrote:
REDDzone wrote:^ That's surprising to me. Holloway is one of those guys who I can't even really imagine losing at this point. Like, its hard for me to even picture it.

I don't know how anyone can feel that way about anyone in this sport. So many fighters have looked unbeatable and then lost.

Demetrious Johnson says hello. He's looked unbeatable since the loss to Cruz at 135 in 2011.

DJ had a draw following that fight. He certainly didn't look unbeatable when Uncle Creepy had his back and was raining down bombs on his head. He also didn't look unbeatable in his split decision against Benavidez.

Didn't Ronda Rousey look unbeatable? Didn't Chris Weidman look unbeatable? Didn't Jose Aldo look unbeatable? Didn't Daniel Cormier look unbeatable? Didn't Cain Valesquez look unbeatable? Didn't Machida look unbeatable?

Do you think Demetrious Johnson would beat Cruz in a rematch? Would he beat TJ Dillishaw or Cody Garbrant?

High 5 · Post #18 » by **High 5** » Wed Nov 29, 2017 9:07 pm

Age and injuries catch up to everyone and flash KO's can happen at anytime. So, sure, no one is truly "unbeatable." It also gets weird when you start moving weight classes.

It's interesting how Jones and DC are intertwined in that debate, though. Is Jones still undefeated without the juice or is DC? Maybe neither. Thanks for making sure no one ever knows, Jon.

As for Max, it's hard for me to think of him as unbeatable because I always have that image of him throwing down the gauntlet against Lamas. As entertaining as it is, I expect that type of mentality to bite him one day.

Nemesis21 · Post #19 » by **Nemesis21** » Wed Nov 29, 2017 10:09 pm

NZB2323 wrote:
Nemesis21 wrote:
NZB2323 wrote:
I don't know how anyone can feel that way about anyone in this sport. So many fighters have looked unbeatable and then lost.

Demetrious Johnson says hello. He's looked unbeatable since the loss to Cruz at 135 in 2011.

DJ had a draw following that fight. He certainly didn't look unbeatable when Uncle Creepy had his back and was raining down bombs on his head. He also didn't look unbeatable in his split decision against Benavidez.

Didn't Ronda Rousey look unbeatable? Didn't Chris Weidman look unbeatable? Didn't Jose Aldo look unbeatable? Didn't Daniel Cormier look unbeatable? Didn't Cain Valesquez look unbeatable? Didn't Machida look unbeatable?

Do you think Demetrious Johnson would beat Cruz in a rematch? Would he beat TJ Dillishaw or Cody Garbrant?

I feel confident he would be Cruz and Garbrant. Maybe on Dillashaw. That would be the toughest matchup of those 3.

AirCanadaMouse · Post #20 » by **AirCanadaMouse** » Thu Nov 30, 2017 10:11 am

I think Overeem wins. I'm not sold on the Francis hype, and while Overeem is always prone to being KO'd when he's winning a fight, I think his second round prediction comes true. Besides carrying power (and yes, bad recipe for Reem given his chin), is Ngannou's stand up even considered good? It looks very sloppy to me, just loads up and wings it. Overeem is just too accomplished with his stand up, and he's a bad match-up for Francis.

Another underdog I like is Michelle Waterson. I think it's going to be a close fight, but even with a win, I can't see either girl getting past Andrade, JJ, or Rose

Alex Oliveria needs to lose already.... Tim Means really let me down....

I dislike Felice Herring a lot too, and I'm sure i'm not the only one who feels that way. Angela Magana is on this card too? Yikes. lol

Teymur-Klose is going to be a good one, but I'm not a fan of pairing the two already after they both are coming off really big wins. Feel like this fight is being slept on as well.