🥊 The UFC Info and Prediction Thread

[pawel7777]

If Poirier retires after winning the BMF belt, a BMF belt match between Alex and Jones could be set up because the belt will be vacant. Actually, I don't want that to happen, but Dana might do something like that for save Jones from Aspinall...

There's no escaping from Aspinall this time around. The decision has been made to match them up now it's just a matter of working out the details including money negotiations.
Sure, Jones could still refuse, but then he would 100% get stripped of his belt and would have to retire as a coward. That would be a much worse ending to his career than just losing to a younger guy.

I've just learnt that Aspinall has just broken the record for the longest-reigning interim champion in UFC history:
https://www.the-sun.com/sport/14142992/jon-jones-tom-aspinall-fight-dana-white-strip-ufc/

[TopTort777]

The reason why there is so low interest in Holloway vs Poirier fight is the BMF title. I cant see Poirier in a role of a BMF How many times did he cried that he cant beat Dagestani wrestling? How many times he talked about lack of motivation? Cry baby title is what he deserves Poirier and Holloway already met. I would love to see peak Poirier vs peak Holloway, instead of guys who think firstly about paycheck and retirement and secondly about the fight. I can draw some similarities in Canelo vs GGG fights. First two fights were great, third fight, that happened after 5 years wasnt as exciting and first two, and wasnt really needed. There is a proverb that fits nice here - "A stitch in time saves nine"

If Poirier retires after winning the BMF belt, a BMF belt match between Alex and Jones could be set up because the belt will be vacant. Actually, I don't want that to happen, but Dana might do something like that for save Jones from Aspinall...

Other than that, I like Poirier's style and character. There was a moment when he guillotined Khabib. Who else has done that to Khabib?

I think he's a good fighter, but he became invisible amongst very good fighters...

It will be a huge joke if Poirier wins, get BMF belt, retires, makes title vacant (whole title is a joke to me, who would wish to get such a belt anyway?), Jones and Aspinall fights against the belt, Dana makes something that their fight does not count as a heavyweight champs fight (dunno, Aspinall misses weight or they fight in catch weight), Apinall wins BMF belt instead of heavyweight, but Jones keeps on ducking him

[cabron]

The reason why there is so low interest in Holloway vs Poirier fight is the BMF title. I cant see Poirier in a role of a BMF How many times did he cried that he cant beat Dagestani wrestling? How many times he talked about lack of motivation? Cry baby title is what he deserves Poirier and Holloway already met. I would love to see peak Poirier vs peak Holloway, instead of guys who think firstly about paycheck and retirement and secondly about the fight. I can draw some similarities in Canelo vs GGG fights. First two fights were great, third fight, that happened after 5 years wasnt as exciting and first two, and wasnt really needed. There is a proverb that fits nice here - "A stitch in time saves nine"

If Poirier retires after winning the BMF belt, a BMF belt match between Alex and Jones could be set up because the belt will be vacant. Actually, I don't want that to happen, but Dana might do something like that for save Jones from Aspinall...

Other than that, I like Poirier's style and character. There was a moment when he guillotined Khabib. Who else has done that to Khabib?

I think he's a good fighter, but he became invisible amongst very good fighters...

It will be a huge joke if Poirier wins, get BMF belt, retires, makes title vacant (whole title is a joke to me, who would wish to get such a belt anyway?), Jones and Aspinall fights against the belt, Dana makes something that their fight does not count as a heavyweight champs fight (dunno, Aspinall misses weight or they fight in catch weight), Apinall wins BMF belt instead of heavyweight, but Jones keeps on ducking him

Belt is a bragging right. Kinda like the GOAT that these fighters want to claim all the time. Yes it has a stupid name but it means the fighter is one bad ass. Why do you think they keep fighting for it still.  Still if Poirier leaves that belt after winning, it keeps the ball rolling for UFC will still match fighters to claim the belt.

Poirier wanted to fight someone big at least before retiring and its going to be in his hometown. Win or lose, there is nothing to be ashamed of for this is Max Holloway. And at the same time Max retains his position in the rank and if he loses, he loses against an elite fighter. Good for both guys in the division, they just need great fighters in the main card.

Ending career with BMF title isnt best option either I would call it even a fail if he wins and retires. How many time Poirier fought for a belt? 3 or 4 and lost all of them. I remember Khabib, Oliveira, Makhachev. Btw he even lost BMF to Gaethji. But now he might get useless BMF belt and end career after so many years. I would cry Dana set him up That BMF title fight is a hint for him to retire. There are no good opponent left, who Poirier havent fought. As he has zebra record, this means that he will win now - that is also a flag for retirement, as two more fights after will bring nothing good him.

Its Doostin's last wish before retiring and Dana I believe gave a nod. It doesn't matter whether he failed taking a belt except this BMF, he gave a good run in his MMA career.

[moneystery]

For Poirier, very likely, at least if he intends to stick to his word. But why are you retiring Max? He's only 33 and is doing pretty good. He might not have big chances when it comes to winning the belt, and he got KO'd by Topuria in his last fight, but he's still highly ranked (4th) in the most entertaining (and therefore most profitable) weight class in the UFC.
Before that loss to Topuria, he KO'd Justin and his popularity was at an all-time high. Win or lose against Dustin, he'll still have decent options.
So, unless he hinted at the retirement himself, I think he'll stick around for at least 2 more years.

poirier to announce that he's going to retire after the fight with max makes sense, considering that he's not really got the desire to fight anymore and just wants to retire and focus on his family. he just wants to finish things off one last time -- close out his trilogy with max. but for max to retire, i don't think so either. he's not that old yet, and he still has the stamina and mentality to fight. i think that if he stays motivated and doesn't get too injured, his career could last quite a while.

[Synchronice]

There's no escaping from Aspinall this time around. The decision has been made to match them up now it's just a matter of working out the details including money negotiations.
Sure, Jones could still refuse, but then he would 100% get stripped of his belt and would have to retire as a coward. That would be a much worse ending to his career than just losing to a younger guy.

I've just learnt that Aspinall has just broken the record for the longest-reigning interim champion in UFC history:
https://www.the-sun.com/sport/14142992/jon-jones-tom-aspinall-fight-dana-white-strip-ufc/

People easily forget and I think it's clear that John really doesn't care about what people will think about him if he doesn't take his fight, he said that he is on another level in life right now where he has to think about his family and kids and if he takes this fight, that's because of them, he needs money, so that's what he wants to make from his last fight. I'm sure he will lose and then he might make some more money but if he wins this fight (which I hugely doubt), then he will immediately retire and keep the GOAT status.

To be completely honest, Jon Jones is not a goat for me. The guy has been abusing PEDs and coke for years, how can we call him a GOAT? Enhanced GOAT? Probably. The guy is really very talented but not the GOAT. I think that there are some other better candidates for that name.

[trendcoin]

It will be a huge joke if Poirier wins, get BMF belt, retires, makes title vacant (whole title is a joke to me, who would wish to get such a belt anyway?), Jones and Aspinall fights against the belt, Dana makes something that their fight does not count as a heavyweight champs fight (dunno, Aspinall misses weight or they fight in catch weight), Apinall wins BMF belt instead of heavyweight, but Jones keeps on ducking him :D

I don't know, Dana may face Aspinall for defending Jones' belt, or he may close up shop and declare bankruptcy... For 600 days, he has been protecting Jones. He can do anything from here after that... :)


By the way, there have been some fun discussions on social media lately about 1 gorilla vs 100 UFC fighters. What do you think about this?

[TopTort777]

1 gorilla vs 100 ufc fighters interesting. From which division those fighters going to be? Heavyweights? Or flyweight? Or mix? Was it mentioned about their skills? Wrestlers or strikers? Those 100 should attack at once or one by one? If ufc give full insurance than 100 guys will make gorilla down. Many will go down, but gorilla will get tired at one moment. Btw what will be condition to win? Death or tap?

[tokeweed]

It will be a huge joke if Poirier wins, get BMF belt, retires, makes title vacant (whole title is a joke to me, who would wish to get such a belt anyway?), Jones and Aspinall fights against the belt, Dana makes something that their fight does not count as a heavyweight champs fight (dunno, Aspinall misses weight or they fight in catch weight), Apinall wins BMF belt instead of heavyweight, but Jones keeps on ducking him

I don't know, Dana may face Aspinall for defending Jones' belt, or he may close up shop and declare bankruptcy... For 600 days, he has been protecting Jones. He can do anything from here after that...

'Protecting Jones'??  From what?  Isn't he like the 'goat'?    But yeah, I think we'll never see Jones fight again and Aspinall already said that he doesn't care who he's fighting next as long as it's for the real belt.  So I guess Jones will be forced to vacate the title and Aspinall's next match will be for the real belt.

Anyway, here's a vid of Bo Nickal's opponent this weekend.

Reinier de Ridder vs Kevin Holland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwM0K_9iU_8

[TopTort777]

'Protecting Jones'??  From what?  Isn't he like the 'goat'?   

He is the goat because he is protected You cant lose if you dont fight.



If Nickel wins, he will enter top15, but I expect his fight against de Ridder to be boring. We will have two wrestlers, grapples match-up, who will be very cautious all the fight, avoid any danger and the fight will be in stance, throwing strikes. Like the fight against Paul Craig. Both were uber cautious all the time.

[trendcoin]

Every human needs a real/true friend like Dana. I think we are all jealous of Jones because he has a real/true friend like Dana (myself included). It may be hard to admit it here, but when we face ourselves in the mirror, we all see this naked truth... :)

...
Anyway, here's a vid of Bo Nickal's opponent this weekend.

Reinier de Ridder vs Kevin Holland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwM0K_9iU_8

Bo Nickal seems to be the favourite, but I think it's hard to predict the winner because some fighters make it difficult to make accurate comparisons and Kevin Holland is one of them. However, I think we will watch a good fight between equal forces...

[cabron]

Every human needs a real/true friend like Dana. I think we are all jealous of Jones because he has a real/true friend like Dana (myself included). It may be hard to admit it here, but when we face ourselves in the mirror, we all see this naked truth...

This could be the most naive way of looking at it. But the reality could be different from what you see because this is a relationship of a employee and employer who sees Jones still have few fights in his contract.

Bo Nickal seems to be the favourite, but I think it's hard to predict the winner because some fighters make it difficult to make accurate comparisons and Kevin Holland is one of them. However, I think we will watch a good fight between equal forces...

Reinier de Ridder is also an experience fighter with high submission rating. Sure a good fight to watch.  If Nickal wins this he be ranking up and time is right he could be the one to unseat Khamzat if ever Khamzat becomes a champion.  

[tokeweed]

'Protecting Jones'??  From what?  Isn't he like the 'goat'?    

He is the goat because he is protected You cant lose if you dont fight.

Oh you're right.  

But seriously tho, I think it's Jones who's being difficult.  He prolly wants more money before he agrees to a tough match up as if he loses to Aspinall, that's the end of him.  He won't be seen the same way again.

...
Anyway, here's a vid of Bo Nickal's opponent this weekend.

Reinier de Ridder vs Kevin Holland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwM0K_9iU_8

Bo Nickal seems to be the favourite, but I think it's hard to predict the winner because some fighters make it difficult to make accurate comparisons and Kevin Holland is one of them. However, I think we will watch a good fight between equal forces...

Nickal isn't the huge of a favorite if we compare the lines from his prior matches tho.  This is one of the more 'affordable' ones, if not the most.

Anyway here are the weigh in results.  Everybody made weight.

Cory Sandhagen (135.5) vs. Deiveson Figueiredo (135)
Reinier de Ridder (185.5) vs. Bo Nickal (185.5)
Santiago Ponzinibbio (170) vs. Daniel Rodriguez (170.5)
Montel Jackson (136) vs. Daniel Marcos (135.5)
Serhiy Sidey (135.5) vs. Cameron Smotherman (135.5)
Mason Jones (155.5) vs. Jeremy Stephens (155)
Yana Santos (136) vs. Miesha Tate (135.5)
Azamat Bekoev (185.5) vs. Ryan Loder (185.5)
Gillian Robertson (115.5) vs. Marina Rodriguez (115.5)
Gaston Bolanos (135.5) vs. Quang Le (135.5)
Don'Tale Mayes (259) vs. Thomas Petersen (250)
Juliana Miller (126) vs. Ivana Petrovic (125.5)

Sandhagen vs Figueiredo Event Weigh Ins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNNMU15fxek

Sandhagen vs Figueiredo Event Face Offs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M7O5PMd4dg

My picks for the event...

Sandhagen
Nickal
Ponzinibbio
Jackson
Smotherman
For the lulz Stephens
Santos
Bekoev
Rodriguez
Bolanos
Petersen
Petrovic

[TopTort777]

But seriously tho, I think it's Jones who's being difficult.  He prolly wants more money before he agrees to a tough match up as if he loses to Aspinall, that's the end of him.  He won't be seen the same way again.

Same number of haters or those who make fun of Jones, same number of true fans he has. If he even loses to Aspinall, people will still count his as goat. They will either find bunch of excuses why Jones has lost, or it isnt a tragedy to have 1 loss in record when you have lots of wins. Dana will still make everything to make Jones most paid ufc fighter and continue to worship his legacy. Even if Aspinall wins and becomes a champ, Dana knows how to make champions look bad, or even kick them out (like in a story with mighty mouse).

[takuma sato]

^ Jeremy Stephens and Mason Jones?  Am I seeing that right?

Lol yeah I went checking that and it is said that he is returning to UFC To bad not many were awaiting for his return. I went looking his latest MMA fights, and it would be better if I would not be doing that 6 losses in a row, draw and a win against noname. I wonder why he decided to return, when he was bad in UFC, bad in PFL, but good at bare knuckle fighting.

Why didn't anybody tell me that Max Holloway is fighting Dustin Poirier at UFC 318 in July?

I've seen this announcement, but I dont what to tell about it. Both are one step close to retirement and getting heavily beaten, as both have taken so much damage, that a wind swing can knockout them. Max will get a huge beating, then they meet in centre and start exchange, where Diamond knockout Max. I think everyone realize that and dont want to talk much about how Max is going to be knocked out, as they have sympathy for him.

If Poirier retires it will suck because I really wanted to see the McGregor vs Poirier rematch. Conor wasn't doing bad before his leg injury happened. Some say that injury ruined his career and he will never return. He was talking about lesser leagues like the BKFC that he is now invested in since he wouldn't need to recieve kicks, or perhas another boxing match. I was just hoping to get a decent McGregor fight again but looks like he is really done for good. When all these fighters from his era start retiring he isn't going to have anyone with a big name to fight that isn't an up and coming younger fighter and these could be dangerous. I don't see him beating Islam or even Topuria when he starts fighting on LW. And Chandler may as well retire before he comes back if ever. I think Conor has high skills and his latest fights didn't show his true abilities and was hoping he would recover and give some decent fights but so far he is just goes around in circles, probably too rich to get serious anymore.

[pawel7777]

1 gorilla vs 100 ufc fighters interesting. From which division those fighters going to be? Heavyweights? Or flyweight? Or mix? Was it mentioned about their skills? Wrestlers or strikers? Those 100 should attack at once or one by one? If ufc give full insurance than 100 guys will make gorilla down. Many will go down, but gorilla will get tired at one moment. Btw what will be condition to win? Death or tap?

Gorillas are way overrated as fighters. They might be strong, but has anyone ever seen one actually fighting anyone/anything? Can they do anything other than aimlessly waving their arms around and making scary faces?

One smarter UFC fighter could get the job done. Give the gorilla a banana to win its sympathy, then pull out a rear-naked choke when it's not expecting it.

If Poirier retires it will suck because I really wanted to see the McGregor vs Poirier rematch. Conor wasn't doing bad before his leg injury happened. Some say that injury ruined his career and he will never return. He was talking about lesser leagues like the BKFC that he is now invested in since he wouldn't need to recieve kicks, or perhas another boxing match. I was just hoping to get a decent McGregor fight again but looks like he is really done for good. When all these fighters from his era start retiring he isn't going to have anyone with a big name to fight that isn't an up and coming younger fighter and these could be dangerous. I don't see him beating Islam or even Topuria when he starts fighting on LW. And Chandler may as well retire before he comes back if ever. I think Conor has high skills and his latest fights didn't show his true abilities and was hoping he would recover and give some decent fights but so far he is just goes around in circles, probably too rich to get serious anymore.

McGregor is not coming back to the UFC. He might get a boxing exhibition match against some retired, out-of-shape smaller fighter, but I don't see him in any other fight.
All it takes is a quick look at him. He doesn't even look or talk like the old Conor. His a completely different person now, and that's fine. He had a great career and capitalised on it like nobody else.

[TopTort777]

So, have you guys watched current event?

First of all, I was surprised to see Jeremy Stephens return, but it turned to be that his opponent was also previously in UFC. Stephens was so hungry for return, that ate all the strikes Mason Jones threw Lol, if Jones wasnt so bad, Stephens would not cause him so many face damage

Secondly, de Ridder imho declassed Nickal. de Ridder was an underdog, but totally dominated raw striking of Nickal. How many times de Ridder won "wrestling" moments? A lot. Nickal should train striking defense more.

Thirdly, main event. Figueiredo got leg lock move button stuck. He was hunting for legs all the time... Weird gameplay, why dont his corner gave him suggestions?

[tokeweed]

What a bad night for bets for me in this event.  Lol.  How about you guys?  

Anyway here are the results.  Bo Nickal man, I thought he was value at the line where he was at.     But he does need to lose to improve as an MMA fighter.  He's been in the sport for less than three years? 

Cory Sandhagen def. Deiveson Figueiredo  TKO R2
Reinier de Ridder def. Bo Nickal  TKO R2
Daniel Rodriguez def. Santiago Ponzinibbio  TKO R3
Montel Jackson def. Daniel Marcos  UD
Serhiy Sidey def. Cameron Smotherman  UD
Mason Jones def. Jeremy Stephens  UD
Yana Santos def. Miesha Tate  UD
Azamat Bekoev def. Ryan Loder  TKO R1
Gillian Robertson def. Marina Rodriguez  TKO R2
Quang Le def. Gaston Bolanos  SUB R2
Thomas Petersen def. Don'Tale Mayes  UD
Juliana Miller def. Ivana Petrovic  UD

UFC Des Moines:  Post Fight Press Conference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuW4D3Wu38Y

[pawel7777]

I don't know what the odds were for Nickal, but I'm guessing he must've been a favourite. It was his big chance of jumping into the top 15, but he failed big time. And it's not like he got surprised by one lucky punch that decided on the outcome. He got his takedown early on, but couldn't do anything with it, and it was de Ridder who looked better on the ground, attempting submissions etc. Then he got outstruck in the 2nd round. He was already resigned and ready to go before that final knee to the chest.
So fast-tracking him to the top didn't quite work. I don't know what's next for him, maybe they will pair him against someone ranked in the top 15 but who is not as good on the ground as de Ridder is (e.g. Roman Kopylov). But it's probably best for Nickal to take a step back and improve his general mma skills, wrestling itself is not enough for the top level.

[Synchronice]

It will be a huge joke if Poirier wins, get BMF belt, retires, makes title vacant (whole title is a joke to me, who would wish to get such a belt anyway?), Jones and Aspinall fights against the belt, Dana makes something that their fight does not count as a heavyweight champs fight (dunno, Aspinall misses weight or they fight in catch weight), Apinall wins BMF belt instead of heavyweight, but Jones keeps on ducking him

I don't know, Dana may face Aspinall for defending Jones' belt, or he may close up shop and declare bankruptcy... For 600 days, he has been protecting Jones. He can do anything from here after that...


By the way, there have been some fun discussions on social media lately about 1 gorilla vs 100 UFC fighters. What do you think about this?

Jon Jones is Dana's BF and he also is his type, so I think it's clear why Dana White protects Jon Jones so much but I'll be bold and tell you that Dana is not stupid, nor he gives a shit to Jon Jones in real life. Dana White is a money addict who wants to earn from each fight as much money as possible. He praises Jones during these years because he wants to create a hype around him. He has a young and aspiring athlete Tom Aspinall, which should become his future profit maker. Jon is already well-established and highly paid athlete. By hyping Jon, he will skyrocket the price of Tom Aspinall once Tom beats him and that's guaranteed to happen. Then Dana White will make lots of money from Tom Aspinall for years.
Mate, Dana white is smart, he is not a bbc addict, he is money addict businessman, he knows what he does.

[TopTort777]

Nickal showed in this fight all his weaknesses - bad striking. As a wrestler, there are no questions to him. As a striker - why did he start with punches immediately, with that overhand? And how many knees did he get? De Ridder tested Nickal and proved that Nickal was given a huge discount before signing. He has got so few fights, and wanted to join top15. I dont know why Nickal use his wrestling so little. Anyway, Craig showed that Nickal isnt as good as wanted to be, de Ridder proved that fact.