🥊 The UFC Info and Prediction Thread

[pawel7777]

(...)
Silva is a decent striker but he's not really high level as an MMA fighter.  It's just two different games.  But Weidman is also washed so that prolly evens it out.  Lol.  He could eek out a win tho.

The way the MMA has evolved, striking game has become more significant and as pretty much every fighter nowadays is trained (to at least some degree) in the ground game and/or takedown defence, it's way harder to win a fight just by having some slight advantage in grappling.
Only the very top of wrestlers/grapplers can capitalise on that by rag-dolling their opponents throughout the entire fight (or submitting them) and Weidman is not quite one of them. He might have some wrestling background, but he seemed to prefer stand-up fights in the past.
Not knowing much about Silva, I'm sure he's not a complete stranger to grappling, he even took Alex Pereira down a few times in their fight.

[1714262533]

1714262533

[1714262533]

1714262533

[OgNasty]

Interesting that the UFC is going to be free on ABC now… Seems like they’re taking a note from the Jake Paul and Mike Tyson fight. I’ll be glad to see them get away from pay per view as a business model because I get tired of going out to watch fights and I’ll never pay for a UFC pay per view.

[CryptoBuds]

Weidman got his last win in 2020. After that, he does not have a single win if I recall correctly. (...)

You made it sound like his on a massive, 4 years-long losing streak, but after that win he suffered a badly broken leg in a fight against Uriah Hall which side-lined him for years. He returned in Aug 2023 and lost by decision to Tavares.
I don't predict Chris will achieve any notable success in his career, but I'm glad the UFC respects his past achievements and lets him fight. Of course, if he loses another 1 or 2 fights he might get forced into retirement.

Honestly, I don't think a lot of people are going to be very interested in this fight. Maybe the people who are interested to see how Weidman might end his career will probably be interested. But too many people are not going to be interested, (...)

I don't think you appreciate the value of having recognisable name. As a former champion who dethroned the legendary Anderson Silva, he made a name for himself, and for many (myself included) is still more interesting than better skilled but unknown fighters.

^ You talked about a lot of things. But let me say what I believe. Nobody freaking cares if a fighter had a close fight or a good fight if he loses that fight. Nobody cares about how big the name of a fighter is if he keeps losing. Beating a world-class fighter once in the carrier of a fighter is not going to be enough for his sustainability.

Just look at Tony Ferguson. He was definitely one of the best in the world once. But now he keeps losing and people are wanting him to retire. So at the end of the day, if a fighter does not win, nobody actually cares about him.

[TopTort777]

Why I am seeing everywhere on YouTube, that Chimaev vs Whittaker is in development for UFC 302? Am I the only one to get this info and in some kind of fake news trend or the rumors are real? Wiki is silent about it. I got this mostly from Russian mma related channels, but have vids from English language media. This would be a nice test for Chimaev. I think he isnt that good against good strikers with nice wrestling (like Burns for example).

[tokeweed]

^  Wouldn't mind that match up tbh.  Whittaker is taking on all comers and all the tough match ups because he wants another run at the belt and a potential rematch vs the guy who TKO'd him...  DDP.  As for Chim, he didn't look good in all his matches vs better competition.  If Chim fought at 170 I think Rakhmonov would make it look easy vs Chim.

Interesting that the UFC is going to be free on ABC now… Seems like they’re taking a note from the Jake Paul and Mike Tyson fight. I’ll be glad to see them get away from pay per view as a business model because I get tired of going out to watch fights and I’ll never pay for a UFC pay per view.

Uh no...  Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson is just a side show.  Lol.  And UFC on ABC have been going on since 2021.  They have exposure on all formats.  Streaming, PPV, cable TV and free air TV.

Ceremonial weigh ins in 6 hours or so...

UFC Atlantic City:  Ceremonial Weigh In
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARUxon07Ekk

[TopTort777]

But wait, wasnt Chimaev was to face Costa? Or I am confusinf something? Wasnt this fight finally to happen? And wasnt Chimaev injured in a fight against Usman (hand if not mistaken) and was talking that he is missing any fights for next half or whole year. As to Whittaker, he has won recently, now he needs new fights if he wants to join belt race. Good that you have reminded me about Rakhmonov. Gonna check what he is doing now. After a victory over Thompson, he needs someone from top5.

[tokeweed]

^  Yup but it fizzled out when Costa got injured during training.  By the time he got back from it Whittaker was the first available guy who signed the contract.  Chim on the other hand get Kamaru Usman on short notice.  It was a match that got Usman's stock up even at a loss.  Chim's stock slightly went down as he wasn't able to make it a dominant performance against a guy who fights at 170.  Lol.

Anyway here are the weigh ins...

Erin Blanchfield (125) vs Manon Fiorot (125.25)
Joaquin Buckley (170) vs Vicente Luque (170)
Bruno Silva (186) vs Chris Weidman (186)
Sedriques Dumas (185) vs Nursulton Ruziboev (185)
Bill Algeo (146) vs Kyle Nelson (145)
Rhys McKee (170.25) vs Chidi Njokuani (170)
Nate Landwehr (145.25) vs Jamall Emmers (145)
Loopy Godinez (115) vs Virna Jandiroba (115)
Julio Arce (147)* vs Herbert Burns (145)
Dennis Buzukja (145.25) vs Connor Matthews (145)
Ibo Aslan (205) vs Anton Turkalj (205)
Viktoriia Dudakova (125) vs Melissa Gatto (125)
Jacob Malkoun (185) vs Andre Petroski (186)
Caolan Loughran (135) vs Angel Pacheco (135)

*Missed weight

UFC Atlantic City:  Weigh In
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARUxon07Ekk

As always, last call to jeremypwr's Multi Master.

UFC on ESPN 54:  Multi Master Challenge
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5490133.0

Erin Blanchfield
Vicente Luque
Chris Weidman
Nursulton Ruziboev
Bill Algeo
Chidi Njokuani
Nate Landwehr
Loopy Godinez
Julio Arce
Dennis Buzukja
Ibo Aslan
Melissa Gatto
Caolan Loughran
Andre Petroski

[Hirose UK]

But wait, wasnt Chimaev was to face Costa? Or I am confusinf something? Wasnt this fight finally to happen? And wasnt Chimaev injured in a fight against Usman (hand if not mistaken) and was talking that he is missing any fights for next half or whole year. As to Whittaker, he has won recently, now he needs new fights if he wants to join belt race. Good that you have reminded me about Rakhmonov. Gonna check what he is doing now. After a victory over Thompson, he needs someone from top5.

I looked at their fight schedule and there was cancellation that happened, and indeed the fight took place but replaced Costa with Usman and in this fight Chimaev managed to win by decision.
It just that after Costa injury caused him to withdraw from the fight against Chimaev, he now doesn't want to repeat the postponed fight against Chimaev Costa said he was not interested in Chimaev and needed fighter who was at higher level than Chimaev.
But in reality, after the decision to contact the fight against Whittaker, it turned out that Costa suffered defeat and this was quite humiliating defeat, he didn't want to fight Chimaev but lost the decision that had been taken.
Moreover, the two of them previously almost met at UFC 284 in the middle class but failed due to cancellation, and indeed Whittaker, after successfully defeating Costa, had to have another fight to fight for the championship belt.
But I read that there will be fight between Whittaker vs Chimaev next June and this will be the main card fight that has been approved by Dana as UFC president.

[TopTort777]

I havent watched latest event, but from wiki I have found our that there are a lot of TKOs this time. Not like most of the fights ended with UD week ago. I guess I will search for a tournament review

Manon Fiorot is on the first page of ufc.com pointing that she wants a belt a fight. She has got 12-1 record, all victories in UFC. I am not an expert in women UFC; is she able to beat Grasso or Shevchenko?

[tokeweed]

^  Blanchfield's loss was her own fault.  It wasn't like Fiorot was the way better fighter...  It was more like Blanchfield didn't have a good game plan.  He just kept doing the same thing over and over and she wasn't doing what she does best.  Her grappling.  She preferred to strike vs an elite striker in Fiorot.  Lol.

As for Grasso or Shev vs Fiorot.  I think Fiorot could win vs both if it was just all striking.  Both Grasso and Shev have some grappling in their back pocket so slight edge goes to them.  Dunno..  It could also be Fiorot's size that makes it hard to grapple against her.

Results...

Manon Fiorot def Erin Blanchfield  UD
Joaquin Buckley def Vicente Luque  TKO R2
Chris Weidman def Bruno Silva  UD (Technical)
Nursulton Ruziboev def Sedriques Dumas  TKO R1
Kyle Nelson def Bill Algeo  TKO R1
Chidi Njokuani def Rhys McKee  SD
Nate Landwehr def Jamall Emmers  KO R1
Virna Jandiroba def Loopy Godinez  UD
Julio Arce def Herbert Burns  TKO R2
Dennis Buzukja def Connor Matthews  TKO R3
Ibo Aslan def Anton Turkalj    TKO R3
Jacob Malkoun def Andre Petroski  TKO R2
Caolan Loughran def Angel Pacheco  UD

[pawel7777]

Looks like good old Weidman still has it in him. Despite being 39 he looked really motivated and hungry for a fight. They both pulled off a nice show for the fans.
You don't always get a TKO granted from a double-eye poke, but a win is a win. And it opens a possibility for a rematch.
Even without the controversial ending Chris looked better than Silva and won the first two rounds (at least that's what I got from the fight highlights I've just watched).

[karabiber]

Ibo Aslan vs Anton Turkalj was a very tough match. It was Ibo's first match and it was exciting. Ibo proved himself in this fight even though it was his first fight. He took some hard punches from time to time but he didn't give up, he didn't give up and he destroyed his opponent.
I think Ibo Aslan has made a very good start and from now on, he will work harder to improve himself in ground games and if he improves his conditioning and kicks, he will be a much more solid fighter. Ibo needs to identify his shortcomings in this fight and keep improving. If that happens, he will be one of the best fighters in the UFC.

[TopTort777]

UFC Fight Night: Allen vs. Curtis 2



Date: April 6, 2024
Preliminary Card : SAT, APR 6 / 10:00 PM GMT+3
Main Card: SUN, APR 7 / 1:00 AM GMT+3

Venue:    UFC Apex

Main card (ESPN)
Middleweight: Brendan Allen vs. Chris Curtis            
Featherweight: Alexander Hernandez vs. Damon Jackson            
Featherweight: Morgan Charrière vs. Jose Mariscal            
Lightweight: Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Christos Giagos            
Heavyweight: Valter Walker vs. Łucasz Brzeski            
Lightweight: Trevor Peek vs. Charlie Campbell   

Preliminary card (ESPN)
Welterweight: Court McGee vs. Alex Morono            
Women's Bantamweight: Norma Dumont vs. Germaine de Randamie            
Bantamweight: Alateng Heili vs. Victor Hugo            
Women's Strawweight: Piera Rodríguez vs. Cynthia Calvillo            
Bantamweight: Dan Argueta vs. Jean Matsumoto            
Middleweight: Dylan Budka vs. César Almeida            
Women's Bantamweight: Nora Cornolle vs. Melissa Mullins

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC_Fight_Night:_Allen_vs._Curtis_2

[cabron]

^
Chris Curtis is set to lose. Allen looks well improved since their first while Curtis is almost in retiring age. 
There are a few old names on the card, they used to be remarkable when they fought some names in the past. I would hope to see Allen, Damon Jackson, and Alex Morono win their fight.  Piera Rodriguez will likely win too.

These are the fighters matched up to someone who is also on a losing streak. Anyway, card like this is better than having no event while waiting for the 300 next weekend.

[TopTort777]

You know, the event that was before Allen vs Curtis 2 also looked weak on the paper, but I think that even is close to setting a record of early finishes in one event Back to next event, I always thought that Chris Curtis is in top10 and he is a light heavyweight Turns to be top14 of middleweight. Went to wikipedia and found some interesting facts. He has fought recently, in the end of January 2024, and this week he is replacing Vettori. Curtis had only 1 month to prepare for Allen. Fun fact - Chris Curtis has retired 3 times already from mma, yet he is only 36

[Hirose UK]

It on the UFC 300 main card and I interested in the three main fights.
- Alex Pereira vs Bukit Jamahal
- Justin Gaethje vs Max Holloway
- Charles Oliveira vs Arman Tsarukyan
However, it seems very unfortunate because there is news that the second fight between Justin Gaethje vs Max Holloway has been cancelled, Gaethje as the BMF champion has bet his belt on Holloway as the featherweight champion challenger.
I don't know whether it was actually canceled or is still continuing but this is quite an interesting fight in my opinion because what is certain is that Gaethje will destroy Holloway.
I hope someone can provide information about this fight, I really want to see it on April 13th.

[pawel7777]

However, it seems very unfortunate because there is news that the second fight between Justin Gaethje vs Max Holloway has been cancelled, Gaethje as the BMF champion has bet his belt on Holloway as the featherweight champion challenger.
I don't know whether it was actually canceled or is still continuing but this is quite an interesting fight in my opinion because what is certain is that Gaethje will destroy Holloway.
I hope someone can provide information about this fight, I really want to see it on April 13th.

I think the fight is still on as there's no news about it being  cancelled. When you google "UFC 300" there's an event info page showing the fight as both on and cancelled (it has been like that for quite a long time" which is confusing.
Max is phenomenal striker,.while Justin is a brawler. I don't think either of them will be looking to take it to the ground, so we should expect an intensive strking match,.likely ending in KO.
Holloway has already fought in 155 against Poirier, despite losing, he gave a really good fight, so I don't think it'll be an easy one for Justin.

[cabron]

You know, the event that was before Allen vs Curtis 2 also looked weak on the paper, but I think that even is close to setting a record of early finishes in one event Back to next event, I always thought that Chris Curtis is in top10 and he is a light heavyweight Turns to be top14 of middleweight. Went to wikipedia and found some interesting facts. He has fought recently, in the end of January 2024, and this week he is replacing Vettori. Curtis had only 1 month to prepare for Allen. Fun fact - Chris Curtis has retired 3 times already from mma, yet he is only 36

If Curtis wins again I would really believe the guy is out to kick Allen even when he is older than 36. It's uncommon for someone to get a rematch when Allen was KO'd.

Allen was actually great in the first meeting and then Chris KO'd him. So if Chris accepts a call from Dana to take the replacement, he must see this as a good opportunity. Chris winning this fight again will rank him up on 8th since Gastelum isn't around anymore in MW. He only needs to counter Allen as he is good at that.

But I couldn't disregard the fact that Allen had improved a lot since.

[pawel7777]

What do you guys think about Bo Nickal? He's rarely discussed in this thread. Obviously he's getting fast tracked to be a nef UFC superstar and have an impressive 5-0-0 record with all being first round finishes: 2 KOs and 3 submissions - all scored on "no-names", and his next opponent is also not really well-known either (which begs a question on why is it a main card fight of the UFC 300, when much more established fighters are on prelims or early-prelims). But I like how hardworking and dedicated he is. If the hype is real, he might be an American response to all the successful Dagestani/Chechen fighters. I wouldn't mind seeing him matched up against Khamzat.

[TopTort777]

What do you guys think about Bo Nickal? He's rarely discussed in this thread. Obviously he's getting fast tracked to be a nef UFC superstar and have an impressive 5-0-0 record with all being first round finishes: 2 KOs and 3 submissions - all scored on "no-names", and his next opponent is also not really well-known either (which begs a question on why is it a main card fight of the UFC 300, when much more established fighters are on prelims or early-prelims). But I like how hardworking and dedicated he is. If the hype is real, he might be an American response to all the successful Dagestani/Chechen fighters. I wouldn't mind seeing him matched up against Khamzat.

I have pointed out on Bo Nickal several times, but people seemed to pay low attention. He is an elite wrestler, but a really bad striker. I would say awful striker 5 fights, and he managed to slip two times during high kicks lol For me he seems like a new UFC gem and match makers gonna lay a red carpet for him on a way to top. Like they did with Alex Pereira who got only strikers as opponents. Similar Nickal will get wrestlers or no-names. Right now he can match Khamzat in wrestling match and beat him (honestly, what are Khamzat best wrestling achievement? Champ of Sweden? And Dagestany DNA?). I have also noticed, that he is doing to much accented strikes. He wants to knock out opponent with every strike. With that, he is spending to much stamina. No feints, no fake strikes, no testing jabs. He is very unexperienced in striking imho.