UFC FN 124: Stephens vs Choi Prediction and Info Thread

[tokeweed]

Date: Sunday, January 14th
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass):  3pm PST / 6pm EST
Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1):  5pm PST / 8pm EST
Main Card (Fox Sports 1):  7pm PST / 10pm EST
Live Streams: http://www.fìrstrow.eu/




Main Card (Fox Sports 1)

Jeremy Stephens (26-14) vs. Doo Ho Choi (14-2) (Featherweight)
Uriah Hall (13-8) vs. Vitor Belfort (26-13) (Middleweight)
Paige VanZant (7-3) vs. Jessica Rose-Clark (8-4) (Women's Flyweight)
Kamaru Usman (11-1) vs. Emil Weber Meek (9-2-1) (Welterweight)

Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1)

Darren Elkins (23-5) vs. Michael Johnson (17-12) (Featherweight)
James Krause (24-7) vs. Alex White (12-3) (Lightweight)
Matt Frevola (6-0) vs. Marco Polo Reyes (7-4) (Lightweight)
Thiago Alves (22-11) vs. Zak Cummings (21-5) (Welterweight)

Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)

Kalindra Faria (18-6-1) vs. Jessica Eye (11-6) (Women's Flyweight)
Talita Bernardo (5-2) vs. Irene Aldana (7-4) (Women's Bantamweight)
Danielle Taylor (9-2) vs. JJ Aldrich (5-2) (Women's Strawweight)
Mike Santiago (19-10) vs. Mads Burnell (8-2) (Featherweight)
Kyung Ho Kang (13-7) vs. Guido Cannetti (7-2) (Bantamweight)

Thanks to the Puertorican for letting me use this content.

[tokeweed]

Hey guys, just dropping by to post this vid.  May you not use it as a guide in making your bets...  Trust me.  But I'm pretty sure some of you will.  Lol.

Enjoy. 

MMA Pros Pick:  Stephens vs Choi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaXCunNYxtQ

[Hydrogen]

I don't have many notes for this event & can't say I've been keeping up with MMA like I used to.

-I think this will be Paige Van Zant's 1st fight since she moved from Team Alpha Male in sacramento california to train with Team Quest in Oregon (Chael Sonnen territory) to be closer to her family. This will also be PVZ's first fight @ 125 pounds, moving up from her normal weight class @ 115 lbs. The weight class and gym change should make differences in PVZ's overall game, although I'm not certain what the end result will be.

-Uriah Hall appears to have issues where he starts slow in his fights and it takes time for him to get comfortable in the cage. That makes for an interesting match up with Vitor Belfort who is known to start fast at times and finish fights quickly. There's a contrast in styles with Vitor being a fast starter and Uriah Hall being a slow starter, which could make that fight more difficult to predict than people realize.

There should be some easy gambling picks on this card. Some of these fights could be mismatches and blow outs.

[eaLiTy]

Uriah Hall appears to have issues where he starts slow in his fights and it takes time for him to get comfortable in the cage. That makes for an interesting match up with Vitor Belfort who is known to start fast at times and finish fights quickly. There's a contrast in styles with Vitor being a fast starter and Uriah Hall being a slow starter, which could make that fight more difficult to predict than people realize.

Even i am confused with the Uriah Hall pick who is a slow starter that too against Vitor Belfort,if Hall can weather the storm in the first round then he will win the fight as Vitor Belfort is not is his huge hulk body with drug testing going on,i do expect Jeremy Stephens to win against Doo Ho Choi even though he is a tough fighter and he only knows to bang and Stephens can take shots,my other picks are Kamaru Usman and Michael Johnson making his debut at 145 which is interesting.
 

[bbc.reporter]

@eaLiTy. But Doo Ho Choi is a modest 60% favorite to win the fight according to the sportsbooks. Most of the time, going against the sportsbooks' statistical research will make you lose bets over time, especially at these type of set ups.

[tokeweed]

Hey guys, this is a must watch bout between Choi and Swanson.  I don't know how much you guys follow MMA but you will def love this one.  It's prolly my fight of the year.

Fight Night St. Louis Free Fight: Cub Swanson vs Dooho Choi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqEdE1vEMFo

[tokeweed]

Here are the weigh ins for the event.  Uriah Hall vs Belfort has been removed from the card due to Hall's bad weight cut.  Hall showed up for the weigh ins but then he fainted and was brought to the hopsital.  Hope he's ok.

Fight Night St. Louis:  Official Weigh-ins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnzjpK3TeK0

Fight Night St. Louis:  Weigh-in Face Offs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ7ehHMrNk8

Jeremy Stephens (145.5) vs. Doo Ho Choi (146)
Jessica-Rose Clark (125.5) vs. Paige VanZant (125.5)
Emil Weber Meek (170.5) vs. Kamaru Usman (169.5)
Darren Elkins (145.5) vs. Michael Johnson (145)
James Krause (155.5) vs. Alex White (155)
Matt Frevola (156) vs. Marco Polo Reyes (155.5)
Irene Aldana (135) vs. Talita Bernardo (134.5)
Guido Cannetti (135) vs. Kyung Ho Kang (135.5)
Jessica Eye (126) vs. Kalindra Faria (124.5)
J.J. Aldrich (115.5) vs. Danielle Taylor (113.5)
Mads Burnell (150*) vs. Mike Santiago (146)

[SaShiRaJaVu]

Hey guys, this is a must watch bout between Choi and Swanson.  I don't know how much you guys follow MMA but you will def love this one.  It's prolly my fight of the year.

It was a really good fight and Cub Swanson really took it to the next level in that fight,Choi was getting a decent push from the UFC and there was a good hype being created and if Choi could have won that fight he would have being a super star but Swanson had other plans,this is his come back fight and i would like to see how he performs after a loss.

[notserp]

my picks are Stephens, Elkins and a little on Meek for the odds.

[bbc.reporter]

@notserp. I have not watched or followed Jeremy Stephens closely but if he does not have the power to knock out Doo Ho Choi, then he will lose this fight. Doo Ho Choi is an open target but what he sacrifices in defense, he makes up for his offensive output. Not only that, Doo Ho Choi is also a power puncher with precision.

[notserp]

my picks are Stephens, Elkins and a little on Meek for the odds.

2 and 0 on my main picks, last few cards have been nice making up for that 5 card losing streak i had lol

[tokeweed]

I guess that ends all the hype on Choi then?  Maybe he isn't as high level as most of us have thought.  Losing to Swanson and now Stephens shows he needs to do a lot more work to be in the top 10 at FW.  It could be a good idea for him to train in a good gym in the US.

[eaLiTy]

@eaLiTy. But Doo Ho Choi is a modest 60% favorite to win the fight according to the sportsbooks. Most of the time, going against the sportsbooks' statistical research will make you lose bets over time, especially at these type of set ups.

See this is what i anticipated in the fight,Stephens just smoked Doo Ho Choi and finished in the second round,the problem with Choi is that he just hits hard and if the opponent does not go away he does not have any other way to finish the fight and Stephens can take a shot and that is what we saw in this fight too,disappointed with Johnson as he stared very well in the first round and then gave away his back in the second round,i thought Johnson coming down to 145 have more power and could knock people out but i was wrong with Elkins.

[bbc.reporter]

Paige Van Zant's arm was broken during her fight and yet she continued on and finished it. What a beast! But I also reckon she told her coach before the 3rd round that her arm was broken. Why did the coach not stop the fight? That is very irresponsible of him not to listen because the injury would have become worse and a career ending one.