🥊 The UFC Info and Prediction Thread

[trendcoin]

Honestly I don't know if there is any indication that Dagestani fighters want the Islam vs Topuria fight since Topuria is from Georgia just like Mehrab? But if we talk about eligibility I think it would be unfair if fighters in other classes immediately fight for the belt in their new class even though they are world champions. But as far as I remember there was a fight like that, namely Adesanya vs Blachowiz at UFC 259 when UFC promoted a double champ for Adesanya. But of course it would be better if Topuria gave one proof. He could fight Oliveira who is looking to regain the right to fight for the belt. Or he could also fight Arman who is also looking to regain it.

Conor Mcgregor got such a chance and became a double belt holder. The UFC is a company that prioritises its financial interests. I think it's in its nature to protect and polish some fighters...


Dana set up a Ramadan trap for Ankalaev, but it didn't work. He looked devastated when it was announced that Ankalaev had won the belt. I expected him to be a bit more neutral or at least give the impression of being neutral... :)

[l99l]

Honestly I don't know if there is any indication that Dagestani fighters want the Islam vs Topuria fight since Topuria is from Georgia just like Mehrab? But if we talk about eligibility I think it would be unfair if fighters in other classes immediately fight for the belt in their new class even though they are world champions. But as far as I remember there was a fight like that, namely Adesanya vs Blachowiz at UFC 259 when UFC promoted a double champ for Adesanya. But of course it would be better if Topuria gave one proof. He could fight Oliveira who is looking to regain the right to fight for the belt. Or he could also fight Arman who is also looking to regain it.

Conor Mcgregor got such a chance and became a double belt holder. The UFC is a company that prioritises its financial interests. I think it's in its nature to protect and polish some fighters...


Dana set up a Ramadan trap for Ankalaev, but it didn't work. He looked devastated when it was announced that Ankalaev had won the belt. I expected him to be a bit more neutral or at least give the impression of being neutral...

What a setup but I think you are underestimating Dana White too much. If he had prepared a set up there wouldn't have been such a setup, I mean the statements that he deliberately brought it to Ramadan etc. Seem very empty to me.
UFC is a private institution, of course they will think about their finances first. Ultimately, they are the institutions that have done the best in this MMA organization.
Ankalaev won deservedly. He completely neutralized Perreria's fight. Pereria couldn't adjust the distance at all. It was a fair fight and the good side won.

[Synchronice]

UFC 313 left strange feeling. Strange after taste after watching main fight... Probably because Pereira we saw wasnt usual Pereira. I think he has made less striking and action than in previous fights. I visualise Pereira as a fed cat. He isnt hugry, he does not want to purr or rub on your legs asking for food, nor he does not want to play. Regular food does not admire him anymore, and he is waiting for little shrimps. Ankalaev was usual Ankalaev, focused, pushing, cautious, aggressive, but without a sparkle. Co-main event was much better.

I'm really very upset, I lost a thousand dollars. I'm not as much upset about the financial loss as I'm upset about the fact that Pereira let Ankalaev to win. This fight was very boring because of Pereira, he did nothing, he was standing and trying to protect himself, he wasn't aggressive, he didn't attack. Ankalaev is really nothing compared to Pereira but we didn't saw the Pereira we know. I don't know what happened but this wasn't Pereira that I knew.

I hate fights like this one (can we call it a fight? I don't know, I don't call it a fight). I don't consider anyone a winner in such fight. It's a shame for Pereira that he didn't act like a champion and it's no win for Ankalaev either to my mind. You have to beat the Champion to consider yourself a Champion, which Ankalev didn't do but for Alex, he has to fight like a Champion to consider himself a Champion, which he didn't do either.

I think that there should be a rematch ASAP and I hope the next fight won't be as boring as current one.

[TopTort777]

Yeah, a rematch would be nice, especially after Ankalaev said that he is ready for rematch. I guess he understand how close he was to losing it or how unconfident his win was. However I wont say that it was a close fight, it was a fight without a sparkle, just a fight, a fight that did no look like a champions fight, both were kind of lacking emotions.

Btw, when people have +10 wins in a row on a way to a belt, they are more happy than smiling Ankalaev who finally got belt. It is clear that he is very humble, but come on Maga, gives us more emotions. I know how Dagestani guys celebrate, with +1000 guest weddings that last for days and shooting AK47 in the air.



That is Ankalaev who finally won belt.

[mammusu]

Yeah, a rematch would be nice, especially after Ankalaev said that he is ready for rematch. I guess he understand how close he was to losing it or how unconfident his win was. However I wont say that it was a close fight, it was a fight without a sparkle, just a fight, a fight that did no look like a champions fight, both were kind of lacking emotions.

Btw, when people have +10 wins in a row on a way to a belt, they are more happy than smiling Ankalaev who finally got belt. It is clear that he is very humble, but come on Maga, gives us more emotions. I know how Dagestani guys celebrate, with +1000 guest weddings that last for days and shooting AK47 in the air.



That is Ankalaev who finally won belt.

In addition to successfully taking the light heavyweight title from Pereira, Ankalaev has shown incredible dominance and courage from the Dagestani fighters in the UFC today.
When it comes to rematches, of course it has the potential to happen especially when Ankalaev has stated that he is ready to fight again if Pereira wants revenge, so maybe Dana White will see the potential business benefits of the possibility of a second fight between Pereira vs Ankalaev later, and maybe if the rematch will be wrapped in the form of a trilogy fight that is more interesting to watch.

[TopTort777]

Iincredible dominance by Ankalaev? Seems like you have misclicked some buttons. Official scorecard show that Ankalaev won 3:2 on two judges scorecards, and 4:1 by third judge. 50:45 would be dominance, but two judges scored it 48:47 in Ankalaev favor. Pereira took first round definitely, and I would say last round. Maybe he has though that if he took ending, judges would give him victory.

If it was a incredible dominance there were zero talks about possible rematch. Look at trendcoin post, look at Danas face. Does not look like Dana is interested in rematch He has paid huge money to Pereira but got average performance

[tokeweed]

It was a close fight but Ankalaev clearly won.  It wasn't one of those ones that we could say it could go either way.  Even Dana White said he thinks Ankalaev won at the post fight press conference...  

Anyway, the next event sucks.  Lol.  But why do I have a funny feeling that we have another underdog winning in the main event.  

Date:  Saturday, March 15
Main Card (ESPN/ESPN+):  7:00pm EST
Preliminary Card (ESPN/ESPN+):  4:00pm EST
Venue:  UFC Apex, Las Vegas, Nevada



Main Card (ESPN/ESPN+)
Marvin Vettori vs Roman Dolidze            
Chidi Njokuani vs Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos            
Choi Seung-woo vs Kevin Vallejos            
Alexander Hernandez vs Kurt Holobaugh            
Da'Mon Blackshear vs Cody Gibson            
You Su-young vs AJ Cunningham

Preliminary Card (ESPN/ESPN+)
Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs Ryan Spann            
Stephanie Luciano vs Sam Hughes            
LDiyar Nurgozhay vs Brendson Ribeiro            
Carlos Vera vs Josias Musasa            
Daniel Barez vs Andre Lima            
Josiane Nunes vs Priscila Cachoeira            
Yuneisy Duben vs Carli Judice

Edit:  Typos

[TopTort777]

tokeweed, have you ever tried UFC free prediction contest that Duelbits runs for almost a year? If you have tried it, then I am curious how successful your predictions are I've been UFC fan for years, we have discussions here, but I am so bad at predicting results Even though I thought I understand sports well

[Hanadawa]

-snip-

In my personal opinion, I think Pereira's team has also prepared for this fight quite well. After getting success in 2024 and this is a belt fight, I think it is impossible for Pereira's team to underestimate Ankalaev and this fight. From some footage and clips on the internet we can see that Pereira's team has done a very intense training camp. Pereira has improved his takedown defense because Ankalaev has the DNA of a great Dagestani fighter in wrestling.

What happened during the fight seemed to be something that Pereira's team did not predict. Ankalaev is a southpaw fighter who puts his right foot in front. This makes Pereira unable to maximize the kicks that are his weapons. And in that fight it was also seen that Ankalaev's right hand really disturbed Pereira in trying to do a deadly left hand punch.

That is the result of my analysis. Of course it is not entirely true. And it is also impossible for Pereira and his team not to know how to deal with a Southpaw fighter. Because Pereira has fought Jamahal Hill who is also a southpaw fighter. We can say that Pereira's defeat was because Ankalaev and his team prepared much better than Pereira.

[cabron]

Honestly I don't know if there is any indication that Dagestani fighters want the Islam vs Topuria fight since Topuria is from Georgia just like Mehrab? But if we talk about eligibility I think it would be unfair if fighters in other classes immediately fight for the belt in their new class even though they are world champions. But as far as I remember there was a fight like that, namely Adesanya vs Blachowiz at UFC 259 when UFC promoted a double champ for Adesanya. But of course it would be better if Topuria gave one proof. He could fight Oliveira who is looking to regain the right to fight for the belt. Or he could also fight Arman who is also looking to regain it.

Conor Mcgregor got such a chance and became a double belt holder. The UFC is a company that prioritises its financial interests. I think it's in its nature to protect and polish some fighters...


Dana set up a Ramadan trap for Ankalaev, but it didn't work. He looked devastated when it was announced that Ankalaev had won the belt. I expected him to be a bit more neutral or at least give the impression of being neutral...

What a setup but I think you are underestimating Dana White too much. If he had prepared a set up there wouldn't have been such a setup, I mean the statements that he deliberately brought it to Ramadan etc. Seem very empty to me.
UFC is a private institution, of course they will think about their finances first. Ultimately, they are the institutions that have done the best in this MMA organization.
Ankalaev won deservedly. He completely neutralized Perreria's fight. Pereria couldn't adjust the distance at all. It was a fair fight and the good side won.

Rumor was that Dana wants Pereira to fight Tom Aspinall which the UFC planned they didn't need Jones to fight and pay him millions because there is a super fight they are cooking which is Pereira vs Aspinall. But now that Pereira losts, Dana's plan just collapsed.

To which it is now possible that Tom vs Jones will be ready. They were just waiting for the Pereira vs Anka fight. Well it turns out this is a great ending.

[trendcoin]

What a setup but I think you are underestimating Dana White too much. If he had prepared a set up there wouldn't have been such a setup, I mean the statements that he deliberately brought it to Ramadan etc. Seem very empty to me. :)

Other things may seem empty to you. Everything can be empty to you. That's your subjective opinion. We can't even discuss it.

But I'm talking about more objective things.

1- Dana took Alex away from Ankalaev as long as he could. In the end, he gave Alex to Ankalaev, but he did it in a position where he put Ankalaev in a dilemma.

2- Dana said that Alex should be p4p number 1 if he wins this fight and he talked very highly about Alex for days.

3- The UFC is a centralised company and in a centralised company these things are natural.

I wish fighters could talk about these issues in an environment where they can be more free. They probably wouldn't be able to talk like modern civilised people. :) But I can see it from here, they live it there...


There are thousands of religions in the world. Preparing a special match programme for all religions is not something that the UFC or any other organisation can do. However, when there is so much in common at the top and there is the possibility to make things better with small touches, making things more difficult for some groups does not seem to me to be in accordance with the normal flow of life...

[pawel7777]

Yup, it was a horrible night for Dana White and the UFC. Their golden goose got dethroned by a non-exciting fighter with no hype potential, but they had no choice and had to give Ankalaev a shot at the belt.
The fight was a bit disappointing, both sides were risk-averse and tried to play it safe. As I expected, Ankalaev didn't show much in terms of his (alleged) wrestling skills, but, surprisingly, he did outstrike Alex and there was no controversy in the decision.

Are they going to do an immediate rematch? Possibly. Prochazka could get the next shot, but that would mean that Alex would have to take a break or fight some lower calibre fighter.

And let's not forget that Blachowicz is returning after an injury to fight Ulberg on the 22nd March. He's not a favourite due to his age, but if he wins, he might get a chance to fight either Ankalaev or Pereira. He already caused troubles to both of them: he nearly finished Ankalaev but ran out of steam and the fight ended with a draw, and he lost by a split decision to Alex.

[bbc.reporter]

What a setup but I think you are underestimating Dana White too much. If he had prepared a set up there wouldn't have been such a setup, I mean the statements that he deliberately brought it to Ramadan etc. Seem very empty to me.

1- Dana took Alex away from Ankalaev as long as he could. In the end, he gave Alex to Ankalaev, but he did it in a position where he put Ankalaev in a dilemma.

I very much agree! It was very headshaking when uncle Dana has announced that Poatan Chama will be fighting Magomed Ankalaev during Ramadan where Ankalaev's nutrition and water is limited heheheh. I speculate that uncle Dana expected Magomed to not accept the fighter and create a storyline that he is avoiding Pereira hehehehehe. However, it appears Magomed very much know about uncle Dana's tricks heheh. He accepted the fight and won this while he was hungry with no food in belly hheheheh.

What type of fight will everyone witness if Magomed has 100% nutrition and water? This rematch will certainly be a victory with a knockout for this smiling Russian. But uncle Dana is very much afraid to offer this fight again hehehehehehe.

[TopTort777]

What type of fight will everyone witness if Magomed has 100% nutrition and water? This rematch will certainly be a victory with a knockout for this smiling Russian. But uncle Dana is very much afraid to offer this fight again hehehehehehe.

Dont bother listening or reading subtitles, but take a look on a table or what is around https://youtu.be/TA-KSPF81vc?si=lHTYj2WXyQAbs1eC&t=858

This video was taken by former UFC fighter (Dmitry Smolyakov, 0-3 in UFC) who has been filming some backstage. Video was taken straight after UFC 313 event, Ankalaev friend, team went to celebrate his win and congratulate him. Just go through rest of the video and pay attention to the table. It was full with food, water, soft drinks and etc. These people are Ankalaev surrounding. Understandable that people wants to celebrate long awaited victory, but by the look how they act, it does not look that they follow Ramadan and fasting strict (however I admit that I am not good at Islam religion). I doubt that his team was eating and drinking all that stuff, and Ankalaev sit besides silently and being shy. By seeing how guys fill their bellies with nice food, I think that nobody of them limit themselves. I doubt that after the fight, Ramadan and fasting suddenly was over.

For me, that Ramadan story with Ankalaev wasnt true for 100%. He might have followed it in the beginning, or planned. But he definitely had a normal camp and nutrition before the fight. 

[tokeweed]

tokeweed, have you ever tried UFC free prediction contest that Duelbits runs for almost a year? If you have tried it, then I am curious how successful your predictions are I've been UFC fan for years, we have discussions here, but I am so bad at predicting results Even though I thought I understand sports well

Nope...  Pretty much not aware of it.  The only prediction I play is Fortune Jack's Majestic 7 and even that I stopped playing.  Lol.  But I'll check out Duelbits later.  Thanks for the heads up.

And yeah, been watching the UFC for years too and it's still hard to pick winners consistently.  But it's a process tho.  To be a good capper you have to keep at it until you have a bit of proficiency.  That's why I like maintaining this thread...  It's part of the process of keeping tabs of what's going on. 

Anyway here are a couple of replays.

Marvin Vettori vs Paulo Costa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBBBrlN5gfE

Marvin Vettori vs Roman Dolidze 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VekL1KtzFzY

[l99l]

What a setup but I think you are underestimating Dana White too much. If he had prepared a set up there wouldn't have been such a setup, I mean the statements that he deliberately brought it to Ramadan etc. Seem very empty to me.

Other things may seem empty to you. Everything can be empty to you. That's your subjective opinion. We can't even discuss it.

But I'm talking about more objective things.

1- Dana took Alex away from Ankalaev as long as he could. In the end, he gave Alex to Ankalaev, but he did it in a position where he put Ankalaev in a dilemma.

2- Dana said that Alex should be p4p number 1 if he wins this fight and he talked very highly about Alex for days.

3- The UFC is a centralised company and in a centralised company these things are natural.

I wish fighters could talk about these issues in an environment where they can be more free. They probably wouldn't be able to talk like modern civilised people. But I can see it from here, they live it there...


There are thousands of religions in the world. Preparing a special match programme for all religions is not something that the UFC or any other organisation can do. However, when there is so much in common at the top and there is the possibility to make things better with small touches, making things more difficult for some groups does not seem to me to be in accordance with the normal flow of life...

Dana White kept Alex away from Ankalaev for as long as he could, yes that's true. Ankalaev has been chasing this fight for a long time and it seems strange that this fight was given at the right time.
I mean if Dana White wanted to prevent this match or wanted Ankalaev to lose he would have done it because as you said UFC is a centralized company and anything can happen here.
By the way I'm really glad Ankalaev won. He became the third Dagestan fighter to win the UFC belt.

[bittraffic]

What a setup but I think you are underestimating Dana White too much. If he had prepared a set up there wouldn't have been such a setup, I mean the statements that he deliberately brought it to Ramadan etc. Seem very empty to me.

Other things may seem empty to you. Everything can be empty to you. That's your subjective opinion. We can't even discuss it.

But I'm talking about more objective things.

1- Dana took Alex away from Ankalaev as long as he could. In the end, he gave Alex to Ankalaev, but he did it in a position where he put Ankalaev in a dilemma.

2- Dana said that Alex should be p4p number 1 if he wins this fight and he talked very highly about Alex for days.

3- The UFC is a centralised company and in a centralised company these things are natural.

I wish fighters could talk about these issues in an environment where they can be more free. They probably wouldn't be able to talk like modern civilised people. But I can see it from here, they live it there...


There are thousands of religions in the world. Preparing a special match programme for all religions is not something that the UFC or any other organisation can do. However, when there is so much in common at the top and there is the possibility to make things better with small touches, making things more difficult for some groups does not seem to me to be in accordance with the normal flow of life...

Dana White kept Alex away from Ankalaev for as long as he could, yes that's true. Ankalaev has been chasing this fight for a long time and it seems strange that this fight was given at the right time.
I mean if Dana White wanted to prevent this match or wanted Ankalaev to lose he would have done it because as you said UFC is a centralized company and anything can happen here.
By the way I'm really glad Ankalaev won. He became the third Dagestan fighter to win the UFC belt.

Ankalaev didn't really want to wrestle even when he is a Dagestan. Since Dana White approved there will be a rematch between Poatan and Ankalaev, should they allow this to be an immediate rematch?

I think Ankalaev will still win in the rematch and he will stay on top for a long time and  Poatan will be the gatekeeper. Such a terrible situation for the UFC fighters in this weight class.

[pawel7777]

Ankalaev didn't really want to wrestle even when he is a Dagestan. Since Dana White approved there will be a rematch between Poatan and Ankalaev, should they allow this to be an immediate rematch?

Has Dana said he'll be happy with the rematch? If so, then it'll probably be an immediate one. Unless the UFC is not confident Alex could win it, then they might let Prochazka fight Ankalaev, in hopes that he would defeat him and then do Prochazka Vs Pereira 3.
Ankalaev didn't wrestle because he didn't have to, his striking game was working and he knew he was winning rounds. Wrestling can drain your energy much quicker than striking and, as I mentioned multiple times before, I think Ankalaev's wrestling skills are overrated.

I think Ankalaev will still win in the rematch and he will stay on top for a long time and  Poatan will be the gatekeeper. Such a terrible situation for the UFC fighters in this weight class.

I don't think Alex would be satisfied with a gatekeeper role. He still has a big enough name for better options, i.e. he could either move up or down the weight classes to fight for the belt there.

[Hirose UK]

~snip~

Ankalaev is not fighter like Jamahal Hill, Jiri Prochazka or Khalil Rountree who can be easily defeated by Pereira and I sad for the lost of the bet or you favorite fighter but at least this is fierce fighter even though Pereira lost you should still be happy because he did not experience KO from Ankalaev.
Pereira is considered the best UFC fighter and many people say this fight gives Pereira an advantage but well we can see how he has to lose the title and light heavyweight belt, but there is no need to be too disappointed with this lost because Dana said there is chance for rematch which even Pereira himself said he wants, it would be much more interesting if rematch for the title was done one day.

A bit of let down though a fan would really want something big to happen like a KO. However its Pereira that almost fall to the floor it he wasn't fast enough to grab Ankalaev.

If you are a fan of Ankalaev, I think you would also be expecting a KO from him too bad he couldn't also execute well for he knows one mistake he'd do, Pereira will send him down. Well the rematch is needed, we'll see what adjustments they do in the second fight.

At least this fight left lot of satisfaction and some mixed responses, especially about how the UFC should accept that their plan to make Pereira new face in the current era must fail.

Yes, I like fighters from Dagestan including Ankalaev because basically Dagestan fighters can always show surprises and have an impressive fighting style, not just relying on nonsense and arrogance, KO is highly expected but if Ankalaev tries to pursue KO then it could be mistake and Pereira can easily to create chance.
This winning is more than enough and let see how it goes regarding their rematch.

[TopTort777]

Ankalaev didn't really want to wrestle even when he is a Dagestan. Since Dana White approved there will be a rematch between Poatan and Ankalaev, should they allow this to be an immediate rematch?

I think Ankalaev will still win in the rematch and he will stay on top for a long time and  Poatan will be the gatekeeper. Such a terrible situation for the UFC fighters in this weight class.

That the interesting part - Ankalaev did only one take down, I think either Pereira countered it or Ankalaev did not get anything strategical or useful from it. On other hand, Ankalaev beat Pereira on his field of striking, but Pereira did not show maximum of what he is capable of.

What I am interested in is what Ankalaev is going to do next. As if he has already cleaned half of division, and the rest comes from a loss and it would be weird to give them title fight.