🥊 The UFC Info and Prediction Thread

[Hydrogen]

~
Tuivasa didn't take his first fights in the UFC seriously.

After his 3rd straight loss to Sergey Spivak, Tuivasa realized he needed to make a change and trained at American Kickboxing Academy in california. Apparently making that change and seeing many talented fighters in the gym everyday was what he needed to get motivated.

Tai Tuivasa just blew my mind with his performance. He was a fun loving guy but after seeing him loose three fights in a row, i thought he will not reach a title shot but he was improving after that he took his career seriously and i know he was knocking out his opponents but Derrick Lewis is a step up in competition.

Derrick Lewis surprised with his take downs which i never thought he would try and in the second round they stood and banged as promised and Tai Tuivasa knocked out Derrick Lewis .
Derek Brunson and Jared Cannonier was a crazy fight. Derek Brunson dominated the first round with his takedowns but in the second round Jared Cannonier knocked the sense out of him and that elbow strikes on the ground were nasty even the corner threw the towel.

Now time for the main event. I am expecting another great fight.

Tai Tuivasa used to train with Mark Hunt with both being native australians. Mark Hunt said Tai Tuivasa hits the hardest out of everyone he fought or trained with.

Brunson might have squeezed with 100% effort to finish that choke in round 1 and gased his arms out.

Not certain what happened to Adesanya after a dominant round 1. It looked like a few of Izzy's kicks hit Robert Whittaker on the point of the elbow. That could have hurt Adesanya and discouraged him from throwing more leg kicks.

There is also bellator 274 this week.  

Welterweight   Neiman Gracie   vs.   Logan Storley            
Welterweight   Andrey Koreshkov   vs.   Chance Rencountre            
Lightweight   Georgi Karakhanyan   vs.   Adam Piccolotti            
Heavyweight   Davion Franklin   vs.   Said Sowma            
Preliminary card (Youtube/Pluto TV)
Lightweight   Mandel Nallo   vs.   Nick Browne            
Catchweight (175 lb)   Brennan Ward   vs.   Brandon Bell            
Bantamweight   Chris Disonell   vs.   Jaylon Bates            
Lightweight   Aviv Gozali   vs.   Bobby King            
Women's Flyweight   DeAnna Bennett   vs.   Justine Kish            
Middleweight   Jordan Newman   vs.   Cody Herbert            
Lightweight   Corey Samuels   vs.   Justin Montalvo            
Featherweight   Isaiah Hokit   vs.   Theodore Macuka            
Welterweight   Orlando Mendoza   vs.   Jonathan DiLorenzo   

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellator_274

[1714296911]

1714296911

[TheNineClub]

~
Tuivasa didn't take his first fights in the UFC seriously.

After his 3rd straight loss to Sergey Spivak, Tuivasa realized he needed to make a change and trained at American Kickboxing Academy in california. Apparently making that change and seeing many talented fighters in the gym everyday was what he needed to get motivated.

Tai Tuivasa just blew my mind with his performance. He was a fun loving guy but after seeing him loose three fights in a row, i thought he will not reach a title shot but he was improving after that he took his career seriously and i know he was knocking out his opponents but Derrick Lewis is a step up in competition.

Derrick Lewis surprised with his take downs which i never thought he would try and in the second round they stood and banged as promised and Tai Tuivasa knocked out Derrick Lewis .
Derek Brunson and Jared Cannonier was a crazy fight. Derek Brunson dominated the first round with his takedowns but in the second round Jared Cannonier knocked the sense out of him and that elbow strikes on the ground were nasty even the corner threw the towel.

Now time for the main event. I am expecting another great fight.

Tai Tuivasa used to train with Mark Hunt with both being native australians. Mark Hunt said Tai Tuivasa hits the hardest out of everyone he fought or trained with.

Brunson might have squeezed with 100% effort to finish that choke in round 1 and gased his arms out.

Not certain what happened to Adesanya after a dominant round 1. It looked like a few of Izzy's kicks hit Robert Whittaker on the point of the elbow. That could have hurt Adesanya and discouraged him from throwing more leg kicks.

There is also bellator 274 this week.  

Welterweight   Neiman Gracie   vs.   Logan Storley            
Welterweight   Andrey Koreshkov   vs.   Chance Rencountre            
Lightweight   Georgi Karakhanyan   vs.   Adam Piccolotti            
Heavyweight   Davion Franklin   vs.   Said Sowma            
Preliminary card (Youtube/Pluto TV)
Lightweight   Mandel Nallo   vs.   Nick Browne            
Catchweight (175 lb)   Brennan Ward   vs.   Brandon Bell            
Bantamweight   Chris Disonell   vs.   Jaylon Bates            
Lightweight   Aviv Gozali   vs.   Bobby King            
Women's Flyweight   DeAnna Bennett   vs.   Justine Kish            
Middleweight   Jordan Newman   vs.   Cody Herbert            
Lightweight   Corey Samuels   vs.   Justin Montalvo            
Featherweight   Isaiah Hokit   vs.   Theodore Macuka            
Welterweight   Orlando Mendoza   vs.   Jonathan DiLorenzo   

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellator_274

There is no denying that Tuivasa hits hard and can take a punch, and even tho that can be a big factor in the HW division, I can't help but wonder how it will play out when coupled with a grappler, I remember Hunto not doing so well when on his back. Maybe Tuivasa can be considered a new generation of those types of fighters, so he will have much more to offer in the grappling department.

Also, there is a dedicated thread for Bellator and all other promotions that are not UFC, so feel free to join us there

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5197906.new#new

[Welsh]

To me Blaydes is the biggest challenge for Tuivasa. I thought when Lewis knocked out Blaydes we are somewhat lucky to do so, as I just saw Blaydes controlling the fight if he could get close with his wrestling, and it'll be interesting to see how Tui handles that. If he can handle that, and knock out Blaydes, then I'll be fully supporting him to take the title off of Ngannou despite that being a rather large mountain to conquer. I just love a underdog story, and considering Tui was cut from the UFC once upon a time, it's nice to see him not only winning again, but amounting a serious challenge to the bigger fighters. Also, he has the fans on his side which I believe is half the battle.

Not certain what happened to Adesanya after a dominant round 1. It looked like a few of Izzy's kicks hit Robert Whittaker on the point of the elbow. That could have hurt Adesanya and discouraged him from throwing more leg kicks.

Something definitely happened in that fight, because he was definitely more stationary than he usually is. I think it might just be the threat of takedowns though, remember he just suffered his first lost because of being controlled on the ground, well really he lost pretty much every where that night, but understandable considering the weight difference. However, I don't think it can be underestimated how much that has effected him stylistically, especially when he knows his opponent is looking to take him down.

[Betwrong]

The result of the UFC 271 was an amazing event and pretty much I was shocked by some results but it was worth it.

Israel Adesanya VS Robert Whittaker - WIN

It was a genius fight, Robert Whittaker doesn't stand a chance from the distance because Izzy is giving him leg kicks from the distance, and Whittaker is not checking on them or having any defense at all from Adesanya's leg kicks, and because of Israel Adesanya's reach this is 100% possible and effective against Whittaker, but still kudos to Robert Whittaker you can see that he improves his boxing, But it is not enough even though there are takedown attempts for Whittaker this kind of game plan is not effective against Adesanya because Israel Adesanya has pretty good takedown defense.
~

For those who, like me, missed the fight, you can watch it here until it's taken down. The quality of the video is not of the best, but normally you can't watch the full fight so soon in any quality. Also, as a top commenter said, "seeing the fights from this angle makes it feel like you're there live".

As it's been expected, Adesanya was fighting like dancing, beautifully and easily, taking all the hits like they were nothing to him. A well deserved victory, imo.

[TopTort777]

I am very excited to see Tuivasa against a top bjj or wrestler. I wonder what would be first, KO or he would be submitted. No matter how hard Tuivasa hits, you cant win all the time with one strategy. This is not Mortal Kombat, where you corner your opponent and win with sweep spamming. He should try different tactics next fight. Like unexpected takedowns by Ngannou instead of punches in the fight against Gane.

This is funny to observe that Tuivasa is more discussed than main event. A new star is born A star until he faces someone with iron head, someone that can survive his strikes.

[Welsh]

I am very excited to see Tuivasa against a top bjj or wrestler. I wonder what would be first, KO or he would be submitted. No matter how hard Tuivasa hits, you cant win all the time with one strategy. This is not Mortal Kombat, where you corner your opponent and win with sweep spamming. He should try different tactics next fight. Like unexpected takedowns by Ngannou instead of punches in the fight against Gane.

This is funny to observe that Tuivasa is more discussed than main event. A new star is born A star until he faces someone with iron head, someone that can survive his strikes.

It's why I think Blaydes is the best test for him next. Blaydes can not only hit like a truck, but he also has decent wrestling skills. I think Tui could find himself in hot water, because it didn't seem like he had much takedown defense against Lewis, who isn't really known for that himself.

Yeah, well the main even despite being a chess match, and not a bad fight at all, there wasn't much to talk about. Whereas, the Lewis fight came to a shock for many people. I'll be honest, I was routing for Tui, but by no means did I actually think he would pull it off against Lewis the knock out artist. If anything, I thought Tui had a small chance of surviving long enough to get a decision, then he goes, and does that. It wasn't just the shock of the knockout, it was the fact that he knocked him out with a elbow, and Lewis just sort of landed on his face. That's even more shocking than the win, since it seemed to be quite a short elbow, and not something I'd expect Lewis to get knocked out by.

[tokeweed]

^  Blaydes is taking on Chris Daukas next so Tuivasa will prolly get the winner.  *Please let it be Daukas.  Lol.

I'm going to get my predictions in early so I don't forget this time. Since I've had some moderately good success as of recent. Although, I often combine my UFC accumulators with football ones for maximum accumulator profit. Anyway:

Jamahal Hill (decision)      
Kyle Daukaus (decision)        
Parker Porter        
Nikolas Motta            
Abdul Razak Alhassan      
Khalid Taha            
Gabriel Benítez          
Stephanie Egger            
Mark Striegl            
Gloria de Paula            
Chad Anheliger

Although, that's my full card prediction I'll hopefully remember to do another one that are only ones I'm somewhat confident in, since this weekend's fight night is absolutely insane in terms of competitiveness. There's a lot of value in a lot of the underdogs, but it'll likely be close. I'm feeling especially confident in Jamahal Hill via decision, Kyle Daukaus to win, and Parker Porter to win. Other than that there's a lot up in the air for me in all those fights.

While it might not be the best idea to put an accumulator on this weekend, in terms of entertainment it should be a really good night of fighting, especially at the Apex.

I got Hill too but I think it’s going to be a KO/TKO.  Johnny Walker has got no chin no more.  Lol.  Just one touch from Hill and it’s nighty night sweet price.    I got Kyle Daukas too.  And I like your underdog pick in Alhassan, I’ll have him too.  But it’s a volatile match.  There are times he looks like a world beater then at other times he looks like total shit.

^  It sucks that they rescheduled RDA vs Rafael Fiziev.  It was supposed the headliner for that weekend event instead of Walker vs Hill.  Curious how Fiziev would be in a 5 rounder.  But yeah..  Let’s how Hill does vs Walker I guess.  Hill looked really good vs Crute.  A lot of people thought Crute would win that match, including me.  Lol.  Buckley vs Alhassan could be a banger too.

I am curious why a sudden reschedule I will look on it to see why, but still, a Johnny Walker fight was really OK I guess, I think that this is one great match to watch disregarding the Rafael Dos Anjos VS Rafael Fiziev fight that I was anticipated to watch, and regarding that the list of Cancelled matches on this event was staggering,

There was no news about it or at least I didn’t see one.  The UFC prolly thought Fiziev wasn’t ready for 5 rounds yet.  I don’t think he is too.  He slows down at R3.  But he’s in the main card of 272, so that’s good.

[Welsh]

Johnny in his last fight just seemed very hesitant to do wild stuff like he used to. Think it might be one of those fights where he's effectively avoiding enough damage not to get hurt, but won't be scoring many points in terms of damage himself. I do agree though, if he does get clipped even a little bit, it's likely good night for him. I guess five rounds is a lot to have someone like Johnny, and Hill up against each other considering their strengths, and weaknesses.

Alhassan has been brilliant at times, and then other times you question whether he should even be in there. Anyhow, I think he'll get it done. The thing is there's so many fights this weekend that could go either way. The last two weekends have been fairly predictable, this weekend is going to be absolute carnage, and I might even consider staying away from betting on anything. Maybe, to give myself the best chance I'll leave out specific ways of winning, and just say a Alhassan, and Hill win along with an accumulator from other sources.

[cabron]

Johnny in his last fight just seemed very hesitant to do wild stuff like he used to. Think it might be one of those fights where he's effectively avoiding enough damage not to get hurt, but won't be scoring many points in terms of damage himself. I do agree though, if he does get clipped even a little bit, it's likely good night for him. I guess five rounds is a lot to have someone like Johnny, and Hill up against each other considering their strengths, and weaknesses.

Alhassan has been brilliant at times, and then other times you question whether he should even be in there. Anyhow, I think he'll get it done. The thing is there's so many fights this weekend that could go either way. The last two weekends have been fairly predictable, this weekend is going to be absolute carnage, and I might even consider staying away from betting on anything. Maybe, to give myself the best chance I'll leave out specific ways of winning, and just say a Alhassan, and Hill win along with an accumulator from other sources.

Too many risky matches this time. Too many names that aren't in my memory.
Johnny always makes a show that could win him knockout of the night even when he is matched to a vicious fighter. He does somehow lose in the process of making it impressive.  Johnny must be cautious in taking down Hill but if sucessful in takingdown, time will be in his side.

[Welsh]

Maybe, my memory is flawed, but I was pretty sure that Johnny had curbed his fighting antics (the one's which got him in trouble more often than not), and started to be a more cautious fighter. In fact, I thought I remembered thinking he was quite boring the last time out, despite getting the victory. I'll have to rewatch, and might have to reconsider betting.

It's a very difficult week, even for the better known fighters, they're fighting opponents which I think are suitably matched. It's nice to have these weeks, you don't see this in boxing. In boxing all you see is prospects knocking out cans every week, in the UFC you do actually face some real tough challenges.

I'm still going for these I think:
Hill
Daukaus
Parker Porter 
Alhassan   

Those are probably my most confident picks in terms of outright winning. I think I'll scrap the idea of picking specific wins this week.

[notblox1]

I am expecting to see some crazy reckless main event Johnny Walker vs Jamahal Hill this weekend in UFC.
Bookmakers made Johnny Walker a big underdog and I can't resist betting something on him to win this time.
Johnny has reach advantage in this fight and he needs to win if he wants to stay in UFC, and I am expecting KO win for him.

[Hydrogen]

There is no denying that Tuivasa hits hard and can take a punch, and even tho that can be a big factor in the HW division, I can't help but wonder how it will play out when coupled with a grappler

Tai Tuivasa training at AKA (American Kickboxing Academy) was to work on his wrestling and grappling game.

AKA is full of good wrestlers like Daniel Cormier, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Cain Velasquez and has many of the dagestani wrestlers making a name for themselves in the UFC.

Its usually hard for heavyweights to find good sparring partners to work on their wrestling and grappling with. Being able to train with high level athletes in the same weight division is a big advantage for heavyweights.

[YuginKadoya]

For those who, like me, missed the fight, you can watch it here until it's taken down. The quality of the video is not of the best, but normally you can't watch the full fight so soon in any quality. Also, as a top commenter said, "seeing the fights from this angle makes it feel like you're there live".

As it's been expected, Adesanya was fighting like dancing, beautifully and easily, taking all the hits like they were nothing to him. A well deserved victory, imo.

Thanks for the link, I sometimes search different angle videos to watch the highlights and there are some people who are uploading their own video of the fight and in a different angle just to see some strikes if they connect or not, just to judge who is in advantage,

But I totally agree with you that Adesanya was like dancing and he is moving easily inside the octagon, but Robert Whittaker has some technical strikes as well but not very effective with Adesanya if the fight was a KO/TKO there is no doubt Adesanya nearly made that win but he is playing safe against Whittaker, so the fight in my opinion was a near draw,

There was no news about it or at least I didn’t see one.  The UFC prolly thought Fiziev wasn’t ready for 5 rounds yet.  I don’t think he is too.  He slows down at R3.  But he’s in the main card of 272, so that’s good.

Yup! there is no news about any of the canceled fights however if we look at each fighters wiki we can see the details on why and when their fights are going to schedule if a fighter does have any wiki page of his own, well if Fiziev VS Dos Anjos will be on the UFC 272 and it's going to be a co-main event from the Covington VS Masvidal fight.

Johnny in his last fight just seemed very hesitant to do wild stuff like he used to. Think it might be one of those fights where he's effectively avoiding enough damage not to get hurt, but won't be scoring many points in terms of damage himself. I do agree though, if he does get clipped even a little bit, it's likely good night for him. I guess five rounds is a lot to have someone like Johnny, and Hill up against each other considering their strengths, and weaknesses.

It always depends on his team's gameplan, if he has a good coach then the game will be brilliant aswell, last time all he is doing is listen to his coaches that his attack was not effective anymore and don't have explosiveness, I know it is very important to listen to what other are saying but I think there are times that needed to pull through if the current situation arises, if he would keep on evading his opponent strike and don't counter a strike of his own then it will be another lost for Johnny Walker.

[TopTort777]

There was no news about it or at least I didn’t see one.  The UFC prolly thought Fiziev wasn’t ready for 5 rounds yet.  I don’t think he is too.  He slows down at R3.  But he’s in the main card of 272, so that’s good.

The situation with Fiziev is rather simple and stupid - he has a visa problem. Maybe this is due to his move from Kyrgyzstani to Thailand due to bullying in his country because of his religion.

I dont even know what would be better for him. Fight on Fight Night 201 and be a main event. Or During UFC 272 where lots of PPV will be sold. Anyone knows of every fighter gets a % (little or big) from PPV or only big names can count on that, while others receive only contract stated amount?

[TheNineClub]

I am very excited to see Tuivasa against a top bjj or wrestler. I wonder what would be first, KO or he would be submitted. No matter how hard Tuivasa hits, you cant win all the time with one strategy. This is not Mortal Kombat, where you corner your opponent and win with sweep spamming. He should try different tactics next fight. Like unexpected takedowns by Ngannou instead of punches in the fight against Gane.

This is funny to observe that Tuivasa is more discussed than main event. A new star is born A star until he faces someone with iron head, someone that can survive his strikes.

The thing is, besides Blaydes (as Welsh pointed out), there is no one that could pose a wrestling/BJJ threat. I mean, Miočić could be a threat in wrestling if he fought as he did in the first Ngannou fight, but Blaydes has actually much more accomplishment under his belt, in terms of wrestling. However, as we have seen in the main event of this card, having wrestling accolades does not mean you will be able to implement it the right way. Tuivasa is in the right division for his fighting style. Long gone are the days of DC wrestling the HW division clean. 

[tokeweed]

Johnny in his last fight just seemed very hesitant to do wild stuff like he used to. Think it might be one of those fights where he's effectively avoiding enough damage not to get hurt, but won't be scoring many points in terms of damage himself. I do agree though, if he does get clipped even a little bit, it's likely good night for him. I guess five rounds is a lot to have someone like Johnny, and Hill up against each other considering their strengths, and weaknesses.

Walker switched camps and went to John Kavanagh at SBG Ireland.  It was his first fight under Kavanagh when he fought Thiago Santos.  It looks like the new camp took the exciting parts away and turned him into a point fighter of sorts.  But then again it could change and we see Walker of old but a better version.  That chin tho.  Hill is def the pick.

A couple of vids for you guys.  Enjoy.

UFC Free Fight:  Hill vs OSP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG3DTSVY_To

UFC Free Fight:  Walker vs Spann
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdK0YND-Ci8

Impressive recovery time for Walker tho.  Lolol.

[notblox1]

Stipe Miocic just became full-time firefighter for city of Westlake!
When I saw this news first I was thinking he is going to quit UFC and fighting game, but watching the video I found out he gained a lot of muscles, he is training hard and coming back soon.
That is going to happen only if Dana White allows him to do that, and it's known that he is not his biggest fan.
https://www.cleveland19.com/2022/02/15/former-ufc-champ-stipe-miocic-sworn-firefighter-city-westlake/

[eaLiTy]

~
Tai Tuivasa used to train with Mark Hunt with both being native australians. Mark Hunt said Tai Tuivasa hits the hardest out of everyone he fought or trained with.

Even during one of the recent interviews when asked who is the hardest puncher he faced, he said Mark Hunt and he was the punching bag for Mark Hunt for years and when asked about his granite chin he said it is genetically coconut heads throughout his family .

~
Tai Tuivasa training at AKA (American Kickboxing Academy) was to work on his wrestling and grappling game.

AKA is full of good wrestlers like Daniel Cormier, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Cain Velasquez and has many of the dagestani wrestlers making a name for themselves in the UFC.

Its usually hard for heavyweights to find good sparring partners to work on their wrestling and grappling with. Being able to train with high level athletes in the same weight division is a big advantage for heavyweights.

After the three consecutive losses he moved completely from Australia and moved to AKA and now he is doing his fight camps in Dubai. He said he was not taking it seriously like a professional should be as he will be out with friends drinking and partying all the time and only during fight camps he used to do any serious sparring and the losses changed his focus completely and the changes are incredible as he only needs a couple of fights to get a title shot.

To me Blaydes is the biggest challenge for Tuivasa. I thought when Lewis knocked out Blaydes we are somewhat lucky to do so, as I just saw Blaydes controlling the fight if he could get close with his wrestling, and it'll be interesting to see how Tui handles that. If he can handle that, and knock out Blaydes, then I'll be fully supporting him to take the title off of Ngannou despite that being a rather large mountain to conquer. I just love a underdog story, and considering Tui was cut from the UFC once upon a time, it's nice to see him not only winning again, but amounting a serious challenge to the bigger fighters. Also, he has the fans on his side which I believe is half the battle.

Curtis Blaydes is a serious challenge to all the Heavyweight fighters as he is an accomplished wrestler, the major difference i see in the game plan of Tai Tuivasa is that he is following the game plan rather than swinging wild like he used to.

I was not aware Tai Tuivasa was cut from the UFC, he was always a fan favorite even after three losses in a row i remember they kept him and even scheduled a fight against Jarjis Danho but was later scrapped.

[bbc.reporter]

Stipe Miocic just became full-time firefighter for city of Westlake!
When I saw this news first I was thinking he is going to quit UFC and fighting game, but watching the video I found out he gained a lot of muscles, he is training hard and coming back soon.
That is going to happen only if Dana White allows him to do that, and it's known that he is not his biggest fan.
https://www.cleveland19.com/2022/02/15/former-ufc-champ-stipe-miocic-sworn-firefighter-city-westlake/

I reckon he was a full-time firefighter already for another fire department before being sworn in for the city of Westlake. This might only be a transfer and a formality of the transfer.

In by case, there will be 3 sexy fighting kittens for this UFC event hehehe. We have Diana Belbita, Gloria de Paula and Jessica Rose Clark. Who is your winner?


Contestant no.1, Diana Belbita


Constestant no.2, Gloria de Paula


Constestant no.3, Jessica Rose Clark

[TheNineClub]

And this is why I am sick of this sport XD

https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2022/2/16/22938191/report-beneil-dariush-out-of-islam-makachev-fight-due-to-ankle-injury-ufc-vegas-49-mma-news

Just to summarize the article, Dariush sustained an injury in training and is out of the Makhachev fight. The UFC is deciding if they will postpone their fight or find a replacement for Makachev to fight. My bet is on a replacement. Even though Dariush had less chance of winning than Makachev, it was still a big opportunity for him, to break out of the position he was in.