Post#311 » by j4remi » Sat Oct 5, 2019 4:41 pm
We got an epic main event and a decent main card for UFC 243 tn fam, the prelims are...not really notable and losing Holm vs Pennington dampens the card a bit, but this still should be pretty good off the strength of the main and co-main.
Israel Adesanya vs Robert Whitaker to unify the Middleweight title is absolute flames. Whitaker is coming off two wars with Romero and then a serious medical issue, so he's more than a year removed from competing. He's an all tool fighter, great wrestling base, kicks at range and solid hands with knockout power to boot. Adesanya went to absolute war with Kelvin Gastelum six months back for an interim title and Whitaker's absence. Izzy is an elite striker through and through, he's all precision and super diverse in his attack coming from a fantastic career in muay thai. His ground game is fairly untested but he's shown a ton of promise there in the Tavares fight and avoiding takedowns vs Brunson. Dude is a clinch killer, uses all 8 weapons on the feet and I wanna shout out his damned question mark kick because it's vicious.
So how do they match-up? Well I feel like if Whitaker fight his perfect fight, then he wins. Against Romero he was able to make adjustments and create confusion by mixing wrestling with kicks and then punishing Romero when he closed distance. The wrestling will be key, we've seen Adesanya's offense thrown off a bit by a firm mix of wrestling and striking in the Vettori fight. Gastelum was able to get inside and use boxing that Whitaker will likely try to replicate and I think their footwork isn't so far off that Whitaker can't find success (but his hands aren't as good). The tools are there to retain the belt. That said, Whitaker isn't the most disciplined fighter. Romero gave him all sorts of hell and he hasn't fought an elite striker since Wonderboy knocked him out (sorry Uriah Hall but nah). That is to say, I'm actually leaning toward Adesanya in this one. Whitaker can be hurt and can be caught, he has openings that a technician like Adesanya will be able to exploit in ways guys like Jacare and Romero couldn't. I think those openings will be enough to take rounds, especially having seen Style Bender tough out a five round war already. I don't think Whitaker will hit Adesanya harder than Gastelum did, so he's gotta win with some takedowns and I'm curious to see if Adesanya can punish from in the clinch and defending the takedown. That oughtta decide this fight, what happens when the distance is closed.
The co-main is Dan Hooker vs Al Iaquinta. Hooker is almost a year removed from having his insides rearranged by Edson Barboza and KO'ed James Vick since to rebound. Al just took a ton of punishment against Cerrone in May. Both dudes are tough as nails and good technical strikers. Al has the boxing, really good hands on the offensive and countering. He's also got really strong wrestling defense though he rarely uses it for offense. Hooker can counter that boxing with a strong Muay Thai game that can take notes from Cowboy's performance and he has a solid ground game too with some subs. Al's fought way tougher competition though and on Hooker's one time stepping up, he got folded in half. I'm leaning toward Hooker on this one but it's a really tough call.
Then you've got Tuivasa vs Spivak. Tuivasa is a big hitter, Spivak has an impressive grappling set...but Spivak is pretty damned hittable and Tuivasa is so huge that I tend to think he'll be able to keep the fight standing. I think Tuivasa catches him.
Dhiego Lima is on the card, he was good on Ultimate Fighter but hasn't put it together in the UFC. His brother Douglas is a MONSTER though at Bellator of course and the potential has flashed. Everything else is prospects that I need to see more of or fighters I haven't really found worth paying attention to yet (probably locals I assume).
Haliburton/Lewis Jr/Sasser
Booker/Shamet
Barnes/Dick/Duarte
Washington/Barnes/Crowder
Zubac/Theis/Clowney
Sanogo, Castleton
Ex: Samar, K. Diop, Spagnolo