🥊 The UFC Info and Prediction Thread

[tokeweed]

^  I think the last thing he wants to do is go back to the UFC after making enormous amount of money after just a couple of boxing matches.  But yeah, he'll never be considered as one of the greats in MMA.  He chose money over status which is ok if that's what he really wants.

But if he wants to build himself back up he could still do it by starching all comers in the PFL and Bellator.  It won't be the same as winning against Jones or Aspinall tho.

Edit:  The most exiciting event that everyone wants after 299...

Date:  Saturday, March 16
Main Card (ESPN/ESPN+):  6:00pm EST
Preliminary Card (ESPN/ESPN+):  4:00pm EST
Venue:  Apex Center, Las Vegas, Nevada
Live Streams:  



Main Card (ESPN/ESPN+)
Tai Tuivasa vs Marcin Tybura            
Bryan Battle vs Ange Loosa            
Ovince Saint Preux vs Kennedy Nzechukwu            
Christian Rodriguez vs Isaac Dulgarian            
Pannie Kianzad vs Macy Chiasson            
Gerald Meerschaert vs Bryan Barberena   

Preliminary Card (ESPN/ESPN+)
Natan Levy vs Mike Davis            
Josiane Nunes vs Chelsea Chandler            
Jafel Filho vs Ode Osbourne            
Joshua Culibao vs Danny Silva            
Cory McKenna vs Jaqueline Amorin            
Charalampos Grigoriou vs Chad Anheliger

[1715155402]

1715155402

[1715155402]

1715155402

[1715155402]

1715155402

[TopTort777]

At first I wanted to write "this one looks like a filler between UFC 299 and UFC 300", but opened ufc.com and just saw that before UFC 300 we are going to have 2 events with chick fights as main events This Tuivasa vs Tybura aint that bad after all Not many big names, but still would be fun to watch if one of them knockouts his opponent, but not fight oxygen for 15 minutes.

[Lykslyks]

After Saturdays boxing fight, somewhere laughs Gendalf the White Dana White I think that fight and Ngannou case in general now require some attention from us, best UFC and MMA experts So Ngannou has left UFC due issues with payment, went to boxing (earned there however), lost 2 fights and what is future now? Cool fight against Tyson Fury, awful against Anthony Joshua. His "value" now has dropped down significantly. Even if he wants to get back to UFC, Dana would have real doubts about that, specially if they talk about money.

It was really expected as for sure Tyson Fury was really surprised and I think we can still say that Fury is one of the greatest after this fight because many are speculating that Tyson Fury just underestimated Francis Ngannou, while it was very significant in this fight that Anthony Joshua has the experience needed to defeat Ngannou, but Francis Ngannou's strength was there the only thing that Anthony Joshua has was his experience and technique, as we all know that Francis Ngannou is not really for Boxing as we can see from his stance you don't want to fight Anthony Joshua like that his hands was not in the defensive position as MMA fighters always tend to bring their hands down as if they are going into the takedowns or get ready to defend a takedown,

As for Dana White even if he was happy with the results of the 2 fights Francis Ngannou is happier as he likely got what he wanted and at the same time gets the amount of money that he likely knows he deserves, and he can still fight in PFL and be great again, I really think that Francis Ngannou really needed this defeat as he would surely learn from them moving forward, While I totally missed the UFC 299 because I was busy with something but I have watched the replays for most fights including this Antony Joshua VS Francis Ngannou fight.

[pawel7777]

Boring main event. Both looked like non-championship fighters. I wonder how long Dana White protects this Pink Poodle from Dvalishvili. Cejudo was already taken care of. Long time champion Aljamain Sterling should've been given an immediate rematch but surprisingly his mind changed and is now moving up in weight, probably convinced or paid by Dana.

I wouldn't call it boring, it was a decent fight. I don't like O'Malley as a human being and I don't like what he represents, but I have to give him credit when it's due - he's a solid and consistent fighter. But yeah, he's probably not looking forward to a fight against Dvalishvili, he called out Ilia instead, which is a very good move. Losing to Topuria would bring him no shame at all, he would earn tonnes of money and by calling him out makes him look brave and confident in the eyes of the fans.
Sadly, Dana wasn't happy with the idea in the post-fight press conference.

Great wins by Maddalena and Poirier but heart-breaking losses by Gilbert and Saint-Denis. Damn, Gilbert should've stayed it safe but he has a heart of a warrior and risked his position in the last seconds of the final round. Saint-Denis was a bit reckless there and was finally caught hard.

Saint-Denis got some reality-check, fighting no-names is not the same as fighting guys from the top 5, but I don't think that loss would hurt his career in any way. He still managed to present himself well and caused Poirier a lot of troubles in the first round.

[TopTort777]

I really think that Francis Ngannou really needed this defeat as he would surely learn from them moving forward

Not that Ngannou needed that defeat to learn something, but athletes needed and example that you just cant go from other sports and compete on the same level with pros. If someone is able to run, does not mean he can compete with sprinters. He used to be a predator, not is isnt a boxer nor mma fighter. Now it is left that someone from PFL should finish him and his career would end.

[tokeweed]

At first I wanted to write "this one looks like a filler between UFC 299 and UFC 300", but opened ufc.com and just saw that before UFC 300 we are going to have 2 events with chick fights as main events This Tuivasa vs Tybura aint that bad after all Not many big names, but still would be fun to watch if one of them knockouts his opponent, but not fight oxygen for 15 minutes.

I was actually kidding.    The next event ain't really that bad but it isn't really want I wanna watch after 299.  But it is what it is...  There are some pretty good match ups in there tho like Battle vs Loosa, Rodriguez vs Dulgarian, Davis vs Levy and I'd like to see Culibao back in there.  I think the underdogs win in these match ups except the Culibao one.

Seems like there's money on Dulgarian as he isn't really tested.  He could gas out vs a guy like Christian Rodriguez.

Vids...

UFC Free Fight:  Tuivasa vs Lewis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tHEFoDa6L4

UFC Free Fight:  Tybura vs Harris
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf0FrrGpZdA

Edit:  The Multi Master is up in case some of you didn't see it.

UFC Fight Night 239:  Multi Master Challenge
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5488471.0

[cabron]

I really think that Francis Ngannou really needed this defeat as he would surely learn from them moving forward

Not that Ngannou needed that defeat to learn something, but athletes needed and example that you just cant go from other sports and compete on the same level with pros. If someone is able to run, does not mean he can compete with sprinters. He used to be a predator, not is isnt a boxer nor mma fighter. Now it is left that someone from PFL should finish him and his career would end.

I think we just expect too much from him after he nearly beat Fury. It disappointed many people when Ngannou showed his way to go into boxing.

There are disappointing fights from last week's event. I guess I was also expecting Chito to do exactly how he did it the first time. Also, Jailton Almeida risked himself by trying to takedown Blaydes in a crazy manner. I think Blaydes may be able to fight Jones if he beats Aspinall in their rematch. 

[notblox1]

I love watching heavyweight fighters in any MMA or boxing event, but except for the main fight Tuivasa vs Tybura, I really dont like this fight card.
There are no big names or fight for any title, and I feel they quickly added fighters and put them in UFC Apex just to fill the empty space.
Maybe this event is easier to predict so dont forget to make your prediction in Sportsbet Multi Master Challenge: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5488471.0

[pawel7777]

Curtis Blaydes VS Jailton Almeida - In this fight, I am very disappointed with how Jailton Almeida carried on with this he just knew 2 strikes and that was it if the takedown was not successful he doesn't have any option and he is predictable when getting into a takedown position that was the time when Curtis Blaydes will strike him and that was it Curtis Blaydes huge body and takedown defense have prevailed in this fight.

A very unfortunate fight for Almeida. He did his job well in the 1st, but got careless with that clumsy takedown attempt in the 2nd. You don't often see people getting KO'ed from that position, but yet, those short hammer fists of Blaydes turned out to be powerful enough to finish the fight.
That's a shame because Almeida had a good momentum in his career and was on the rise. If he had won, it's highly probable that he would get a shot at the interim belt (which shouldn't be a thing, but hey).
Now Blaydes will probably get to fight Aspinall simply because there are no better options unless Gane steps up to the challenge. None of those fights will be a good option for Tom, but that's better than wasting your prime years waiting for Jon Jones.

[TopTort777]

None of those fights will be a good option for Tom, but that's better than wasting your prime years waiting for Jon Jones.

Say this to Chandler

Btw Road House with McGregor is about to get into streaming service Prime video (dont know how it is going to be shown in cinemas worldwide). One week is left and it has been already premiered on SXSW. It would be funny if the movie succeeds and McGregor focuses on filming rather than fighting.

[Hanadawa]

I really think that Francis Ngannou really needed this defeat as he would surely learn from them moving forward

Not that Ngannou needed that defeat to learn something, but athletes needed and example that you just cant go from other sports and compete on the same level with pros. If someone is able to run, does not mean he can compete with sprinters. He used to be a predator, not is isnt a boxer nor mma fighter. Now it is left that someone from PFL should finish him and his career would end.

Ngannou is said to have the strongest punch in the world, or perhaps one of the athletes with the strongest punch in the world. I think that was his selling point when he decided to pursue a career as a boxer. Ngannou is great in MMA and I admit even Jon Jones would have a very hard time beating Ngannou. Or maybe we'll see Jones' first loss to Ngannou. Ignore Jones' record of 1 loss because that is a disqualification, not a defeat. I was even surprised when Ngannou showed a great level of wrestling against Gane. Everyone thought Ngannou would beat people with his fists but at that time I saw Ngannou who had evolved into a high level MMA fighter. However, payment problems made him prefer a career in boxing. At first I thought it was good because Ngannou was able to perform well against Tyson Fury. But in the end Anthony Joshua showed the true level of boxing. I think Ngannou needs some fights and training to adapt to a boxing style, not an MMA style.

[pawel7777]

Say this to Chandler
(...)

Don't get me started on him. I called it before and said that big-money dream fight could turn out to be his curse.
We don't know what happens behind the closed doors and whether he knows something we don't (e.g. they already have a set date of the fight etc), but so far, the decision to ignore all active fighters and just wait for Conor is not working too good for Chandler. He slowly becomes forgotten, many say he should be removed from the ranking, he now dropped by 1 place and got overtaken by Gamrot.

As for McGregor, I don't think I'll watch that show but I hear he's getting very good reviews for his acting. If that's true, there's a chance he would want to focus on that and give up fighting completely. We all know he's more likely to lose to whoever he would be fighting and possibly would retire straight after. So, from his perspective, it might not be worth it, as there's a risk many fans will turn away from him if he performs poorly. It makes much more sense just to keep his hype up with other activities, such as acting.

[inthelongrun]

Boring main event. Both looked like non-championship fighters. I wonder how long Dana White protects this Pink Poodle from Dvalishvili. Cejudo was already taken care of. Long time champion Aljamain Sterling should've been given an immediate rematch but surprisingly his mind changed and is now moving up in weight, probably convinced or paid by Dana.

I wouldn't call it boring, it was a decent fight. I don't like O'Malley as a human being and I don't like what he represents, but I have to give him credit when it's due - he's a solid and consistent fighter. But yeah, he's probably not looking forward to a fight against Dvalishvili, he called out Ilia instead, which is a very good move. Losing to Topuria would bring him no shame at all, he would earn tonnes of money and by calling him out makes him look brave and confident in the eyes of the fans.
Sadly, Dana wasn't happy with the idea in the post-fight press conference.

I would've appreciate if it he was fighting safe against a Cejudo or Sterling or Merab. The fight only became a little interesting in the late rounds only because O'Malley is obviously not used to 5 rounders and he cannot stop Vera because of his limited and play safe offense. If O'Malley won't fight Merab then I am happy to see him against Ilia.

Great wins by Maddalena and Poirier but heart-breaking losses by Gilbert and Saint-Denis. Damn, Gilbert should've stayed it safe but he has a heart of a warrior and risked his position in the last seconds of the final round. Saint-Denis was a bit reckless there and was finally caught hard.

Saint-Denis got some reality-check, fighting no-names is not the same as fighting guys from the top 5, but I don't think that loss would hurt his career in any way. He still managed to present himself well and caused Poirier a lot of troubles in the first round.

Saint-Denis is still young and can climb back in the rankings. But the stoppage can make or break him depending on how it affects him mentally. I just thought Poirier is already in the sunset of his career and the younger French is taking over. Saint-Denis was winning as expected but he really needs to address his bad habits if he wants to reach the top.

[OgNasty]

As for McGregor, I don't think I'll watch that show but I hear he's getting very good reviews for his acting. If that's true, there's a chance he would want to focus on that and give up fighting completely. We all know he's more likely to lose to whoever he would be fighting and possibly would retire straight after. So, from his perspective, it might not be worth it, as there's a risk many fans will turn away from him if he performs poorly. It makes much more sense just to keep his hype up with other activities, such as acting.

In his most recent interview McGregor looked pretty bad. He was seemingly high on drugs and looked like he hasn’t been training but instead going on benders. I’m starting to think that he’ll never fight again. After seeing his condition, I’m pretty sure he’ll never win another UFC fight whether he fights or not.

[TopTort777]

Say this to Chandler
(...)

Don't get me started on him. I called it before and said that big-money dream fight could turn out to be his curse.
We don't know what happens behind the closed doors and whether he knows something we don't (e.g. they already have a set date of the fight etc), but so far, the decision to ignore all active fighters and just wait for Conor is not working too good for Chandler. He slowly becomes forgotten, many say he should be removed from the ranking, he now dropped by 1 place and got overtaken by Gamrot.

Correct, we dont know what is happening behind the closed doors. Maybe Chandler was promised that big fight, maybe UFC just tricked him. Like they keep saying that Nate Diaz would have a fight against X, or Bones vs Miocic. UFC knows how to tell something and nothing particular, how to play for time, how to do nothing. As to ranking - they wont remove him. Like they kept Bones for year when he was inactive, like Conor was in top15, even though he fought rarely and lose, how they kept Ferguson there when he was at the beginning of losing series.

Say this to Chandler
(...)

As for McGregor, I don't think I'll watch that show but I hear he's getting very good reviews for his acting. If that's true, there's a chance he would want to focus on that and give up fighting completely. We all know he's more likely to lose to whoever he would be fighting and possibly would retire straight after. So, from his perspective, it might not be worth it, as there's a risk many fans will turn away from him if he performs poorly. It makes much more sense just to keep his hype up with other activities, such as acting.

The show? You mean the movie? I've read a bit different review. They release it on streaming platforms, because of to much CGI in fighting, and the quality of that CGI is not on a high level to show it on big screens. Ok for the tv screen size, but for a huge screens quality would be awful.

[tokeweed]

As for McGregor, I don't think I'll watch that show but I hear he's getting very good reviews for his acting. If that's true, there's a chance he would want to focus on that and give up fighting completely. We all know he's more likely to lose to whoever he would be fighting and possibly would retire straight after. So, from his perspective, it might not be worth it, as there's a risk many fans will turn away from him if he performs poorly. It makes much more sense just to keep his hype up with other activities, such as acting.

In his most recent interview McGregor looked pretty bad. He was seemingly high on drugs and looked like he hasn’t been training but instead going on benders. I’m starting to think that he’ll never fight again. After seeing his condition, I’m pretty sure he’ll never win another UFC fight whether he fights or not.

That guy has so much money now...  And he really doesn't need to fight anymore.  So I don't really know why he keeps teasing people that he will.  :/  Maybe just to stay relevant. 

Great wins by Maddalena and Poirier but heart-breaking losses by Gilbert and Saint-Denis. Damn, Gilbert should've stayed it safe but he has a heart of a warrior and risked his position in the last seconds of the final round. Saint-Denis was a bit reckless there and was finally caught hard.

Saint-Denis got some reality-check, fighting no-names is not the same as fighting guys from the top 5, but I don't think that loss would hurt his career in any way. He still managed to present himself well and caused Poirier a lot of troubles in the first round.

Saint-Denis is still young and can climb back in the rankings. But the stoppage can make or break him depending on how it affects him mentally. I just thought Poirier is already in the sunset of his career and the younger French is taking over. Saint-Denis was winning as expected but he really needs to address his bad habits if he wants to reach the top.

There's really nothing to climb back for Saint Denis as he's ranked lower than Poirier...  So he stays where he is and being the tough guy that he is, he'll really ask the UFC for another shot vs somebody in the top 5 again.

Edit:  Looking at the rankings at 155, nobody makes sense for Saint Denis except for maybe Gamrot.  But he recently just won.  So somebody from the top 10 is more likely for him.  Hopefully it's Fiziev.  I'd like to see that guy back in the cage.

[tokeweed]

Oof tough room...  It looks like no one's interested to see Tuivasa and Tybura.  And the co main event match up between Bryan Battle and Loosa?  No buyers?    Lolol.

Anyway, but the show must go on.  Weigh ins are gonna start in three hours or so.

UFC Fight Night:  Tuivasa vs Tybura Official Weigh In
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjRxElM4AYA

Here are some replays to watch.

UFC Free Fight:  Battle vs Fletcher
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovYqTuo_xjk

UFC Free Fight:  Loosa vs Mckee
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAvu8AF7rs4

But yeah, it's prolly right to stay away from this event from a betting perspective.  Most of the match ups are unpredictable...  Could be underdog city.  :/

[OgNasty]

Seeing more clips from McGregor’s drugged out interview… It seems like he’s now setting his sights on KSI and the boxing influencer circuit. This is the sort of thing he would have made fun of a few years ago but a YouTube boxing run is probably the only fights he has left. I don’t think he ever wins another UFC fight in his career. You can’t go from world class fighter to drug addict and then back to world class fighter.

[TopTort777]

One month left until UFC 300 and Tsarukyan vs Oliveira fight, and Charles recently posted in Instagram, that he has got a cut.



I hope that does not interfere and wont influence on his performance, or the fight got cancelled (previously, Olivera got eye cut in 2 weeks before fight against Makhachev and the fight got cancelled). Btw, he is an underdog in a fight against Tsarukyan.

[Google+]

One month left until UFC 300 and Tsarukyan vs Oliveira fight, and Charles recently posted in Instagram, that he has got a cut.



I hope that does not interfere and wont influence on his performance, or the fight got cancelled (previously, Olivera got eye cut in 2 weeks before fight against Makhachev and the fight got cancelled). Btw, he is an underdog in a fight against Tsarukyan.

I think this will not affect Oliveira's performance too much later, at first glance it can be seen from the picture if the wound obtained is a bit small so that the possibility of healing will be faster, at this time Oliveira should focus on training before facing Arman Tsarukyan who is also famous as a strong fighter and has many advantages, especially if you see when Tsarukyan fought with Makhachev,  didn't he capable of being a very tough opponent for Makhachev at that time and it even took longer for Makhachev to defeat Tsarukyan than when Makhachev fought oliviera at Ufc 280.

I think the fight between Makhachev vs. oliviera was deliberately canceled because Makhachev is currently injured and he is doing Ramadan fasting and it is only natural for Makhachev to cancel the fight which was planned to be played this year, but in an article I have read that actually oliviera is not a priority for Makhachev when he returns to the ring and reportedly Makhachev wants to fight Justin Gaethje more Rather than Oliviera when the month of Ramdhan ends.