🥊 The UFC Info and Prediction Thread

[TopTort777]

^ I still don't understand why a lot of people say that Khabib is not as good as everyone thinks he is.

I think people just want to hype on Khabibs fame. Just check Khabibs face when he is asked about his possible return. He is fed up answering same question with same answers. He does not need to fight anymore. It is enough for him to train with AKA gym and his brothers and friends. Workload is the same, but you dont have to go octagon and avoid getting hit.

Btw, imagine how cool person would look, how huge fame and popularity he would get, if he would be the one who got Khabib back in octagon. His "level of celebrity" will be similar to Drake

The main attraction of UFC 280 is obviously going to be Islam vs Oliveira. But I am quite interested in seeing Sterling vs Dillashaw as well. If I have to predict I am going to say that the winners of the main card of UFC 280 are going to be
Islam Makhachev
Sterling
O'Malley

One of the rare events, where fight between two guys is main event is more interesting than a fight for a champions belt is only co-main event, and a fight between Yan vs O'Malley is more desired by fans than champions belt fight. Funny.

The hatchet of war is buried.

Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan may be rivals, but that doesn’t mean they don’t respect each other. I am glad that they left their hate in octagon, and outside they are regular people.

[1714702180]

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[1714702180]

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[tokeweed]

^  It's because of the rematch...  Yan never thought Sterling could take him into deep waters and make the fight hard for him.  And same goes for a lot of people, including me.  I never thought it would be that close.

Weigh ins start in around 1.5 hours for anybody interested.


UFC Fight Night:  Grasso vs Araujo Live Weigh Ins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2_t99IOTEw

Now I feel responsible if the match ends in a loss.    Keep in mind, I'm no pro, I'm just like you and I mostly bet small in these events for fun.

No, I think I chose the wrong words when I said that.  
I mean, honestly, I didn't know that she (Araujo) was the underdog although my bet was already locked for her. I can say I am lucky because I don't have to doubt the bet. If she is the favorite which means lesser profits then I would have to go thru thinking twice before taking it and I don't like being in that position.

Ah kk.  That makes me feel better.  Lol.  And yeah, I think the lines are a little wide.  I mean, I totally agree that Grasso should be the favorite but I don't think she's that huge of a favorite.  Araujo can def hang in there vs Grasso.  The only wrinkle in this match up for Araujo is her cardio. 

[Welsh]

Yeah Charles get underestimated since on the bookies he's an underdog while based on the rankings, he's currently the top 1 on lightweight division. Charles has fought many fighters before and he already suffering many losses in the past, until he become like a beast right now. IMO Makhachev haven't fought any best fighters and this is his biggest match, he need to prove if he's a great fighter and not cherry picked.

Izzy fight would be exciting since he will fight against the one who have beat him twice on kickboxing event.

Usually, when you start fighting the top 10 or 5 that's when you start picking up losses on your record. That's been the story for plenty of fighters, and I don't think either of these two are an exception of that. It's almost expected in UFC. What Khabib done was a outlier, and was rather exceptional. That's why he's considered the goat by many. However, if he did continue fighting I'd imagine he would've lost sooner rather than later.

What Khabib had going for him over Charles is he was a much safer fighter. Whereas, Charles likes to stand, and be punched as we've probably seen far too often. Makhachev doesn't take massive risks, but he isn't as safe as Khabib's style either. I don't expect Makhachev to become this all dominant force in the UFC that the production seem to be pushing.

[bittraffic]

Charles suffered a lot of defeat to climb to the top 1 than Izzy though. Still, they both made it. The more challenging part is maintaining to be the top 1 because sure thing there will always be someone better than someone. Not saying it's Islam. He is not safe even on the ground because Charles is also skilled on the ground.  

Many fighters come back after a few years of inactivity or retirement, and that's when they lose. a Champion with a tainted record like retiring with the last fight being defeated badly will not sound good for his biography.  Khabib staying a champ after retiring is good for him. The discipline must be superb, he knows when to stop.

[CryptoBuds]

^  Khabib vs McGregor rematch needs to happen for one reason and one reason alone:  To generate as much cash and profit as much as possible.  Other than that, the fight would mean nothing.  We already know who wins in a rematch.  Khabib...  I mean just look at the contrast between those guys.  McGregor loves partying, drinking, snorting coke and hanging out with the celebs.  Khabib on the other hand only does training and worshipping Allah.  Train, then worship Allah, train then worship Allah...  Train, Allah, train, Allah.  Who does everybody think is the winner in that scenario?  Most def Khabib!

^ Nice, Andrew Tate impression. (train, Allah, train, Allah) .

Anyway, I don't think there is any chance of Khabib versus Connor rematch happening. One is retired and another did not fight for almost more than 2 years now.

Khabib did what he said he would do. He beat the poster boy of Dana White and rode off into the sunset. I don't see a rematch happening.

There are more chances of Khabib versus GSP happening than Khabib Vs Connor.

The main attraction of UFC 280 is obviously going to be Islam vs Oliveira. But I am quite interested in seeing Sterling vs Dillashaw as well. If I have to predict I am going to say that the winners of the main card of UFC 280 are going to be
Islam Makhachev
Sterling
O'Malley

One of the rare events, where fight between two guys is main event is more interesting than a fight for a champions belt is only co-main event, and a fight between Yan vs O'Malley is more desired by fans than champions belt fight. Funny.
The hatchet of war is buried.

Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan may be rivals, but that doesn’t mean they don’t respect each other. I am glad that they left their hate in octagon, and outside they are regular people.

^ A lot of times we have seen the fighters do things inside the octagon and in front of the media just to raise a good pay-per-view. But a lot of times after the fight they actually shake hands. Even we saw Connor McGregor do that with Cowboy and many others. So it is not a surprise for me to see this picture.

Which generally don't see the co-main event being a title fight and the main event being a regular fight. But if we look at the skill set of the fighters we have to agree that Islam Vs Oliviera was going to be the main event always.

[Welsh]

Charles suffered a lot of defeat to climb to the top 1 than Izzy though. Still, they both made it. The more challenging part is maintaining to be the top 1 because sure thing there will always be someone better than someone. Not saying it's Islam. He is not safe even on the ground because Charles is also skilled on the ground.  

Charles isn't just good on the ground, he's one of the best on the ground. You see it after he gets tagged, and to be honest at times I've questioned whether him getting tagged is just a way of enticing them in on the ground, but you see it time, and time again. He'll get rocked, take guard, and sub them out within a minute or so. He's exceptionally talented on the ground, and while for some reason some people think Makachev is better on the ground, we haven't seen any signs of that in the UFC.

Striking it might be even, but I'm pretty confident in Charles being the better fighter on the ground.

[danherbias07]

Ah kk.  That makes me feel better.  Lol.  And yeah, I think the lines are a little wide.  I mean, I totally agree that Grasso should be the favorite but I don't think she's that huge of a favorite.  Araujo can def hang in there vs Grasso.  The only wrinkle in this match up for Araujo is her cardio. 

And that's why Araujo must keep this fight on the mat and her above Grasso to preserve that cardio. If she can start wrestling in the first round and exhaust Grasso first then she has a higher chance to win. Don't let her stand if possible and just work it out so the refs won't make them stop.
And after a long wait, we will soon witness this fight.
Later for our friends in the East and tomorrow morning for us here in +8.
Good luck to everyone and to your bets.

[tokeweed]

^  We'll just have to see what happens but I feel like Araujo's stand up willbe a bit too much for Grasso.  Araujo's a tough chick and prolly the toughest fighter Grasso has ever faced bar Herrig.  That's just on top of my head...  Could be wrong, will edit the post after I check Tapology.

Anyway here are the weigh ins.  Askarov vs Royval is scrapped due to a botched weight cut by Askarov.  It would've been the best match up of the event.

UFC Vegas 62:  Weigh Ins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ3MqMentig

UFC Vegas 62:  Face Offs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kH1hAaKV4M

Alexa Grasso (125.5) vs Viviane Araujo (126)
Cub Swanson (135) vs Jonathan Martinez (135.5)
Jordan Wright (185) vs Dusko Todorovic (186)
Raphael Assuncao (136) vs Victor Henry (136)
Misha Cirkunov (206) vs Alonzo Menifield (205.5)
Mana Martinez (136) vs Brandon Davis (136)
Nick Maximov (185.5) vs Jacob Malkoun (185.5)
Joanderson Brito (146) vs Lucas Alexander (145.5)
Piera Rodriguez (115.5) vs Sam Hughes (115)
Tatsuro Taira (126) vs CJ Vergara (129)*
Mike Jackson (170) vs Pete Rodriguez (170.5)

*Missed weight

That's a big miss on Vergara. 

[YuginKadoya]

I will be following the bet for Martinez and Askarov's fight but not the Grasso vs Araujo.
I think all my picks are for the favorites except for the main card.

Great picks then, I really like Jonathan Martinez but sad to say Askarov Botched their Weight Cut, and his fight with Brandon Royval was canceled, that is really a bummer knowing Askar Askarov could win against Royval  I can not do a thing because their fight was canceled, but at least I still not Jonathan Martinez and Alexa Grasso for me Cub Swanson looks really old and Jonathan Martinez has good conditioning and I really think this is the time for the new generation to step up, while Alexa Grasso is a fighting Kitten and the ambassador of Stake.com, so I will surely be rooting for her I think there is a bonus for betting on her and if she wins,

The hatchet of war is buried.

Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan may be rivals, but that doesn’t mean they don’t respect each other. I am glad that they left their hate in octagon, and outside they are regular people.

Aljamain Sterling really got the respect he deserves with Petr Yan, I also never thought that the fight would be that close, so close that I was shocked and thought about what happened to Petr Yan, he was really so good inside the Octagon I thought that Yan will be dominant the entire fight, and right now I am still scratching my head what the hell, happened how does Sterling get so much smooth inside the Octagon, but I guess Petr Yan was underestimating Sterling at all, because of their 1st fight his 1st impression with Sterling was no good at all,

[cabron]

I will be following the bet for Martinez and Askarov's fight but not the Grasso vs Araujo.
I think all my picks are for the favorites except for the main card.

Great picks then, I really like Jonathan Martinez but sad to say Askarov Botched their Weight Cut, and his fight with Brandon Royval was canceled, that is really a bummer knowing Askar Askarov could win against Royval  I can not do a thing because their fight was canceled, but at least I still not Jonathan Martinez and Alexa Grasso for me Cub Swanson looks really old and Jonathan Martinez has good conditioning and I really think this is the time for the new generation to step up, while Alexa Grasso is a fighting Kitten and the ambassador of Stake.com, so I will surely be rooting for her I think there is a bonus for betting on her and if she wins,

The hatchet of war is buried.

Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan may be rivals, but that doesn’t mean they don’t respect each other. I am glad that they left their hate in octagon, and outside they are regular people.

Aljamain Sterling really got the respect he deserves with Petr Yan, I also never thought that the fight would be that close, so close that I was shocked and thought about what happened to Petr Yan, he was really so good inside the Octagon I thought that Yan will be dominant the entire fight, and right now I am still scratching my head what the hell, happened how does Sterling get so much smooth inside the Octagon, but I guess Petr Yan was underestimating Sterling at all, because of their 1st fight his 1st impression with Sterling was no good at all,

The comments about his illegal knee act seem to have died also. He worked hard to gained that respect to deal Yan on their rematch. Time to bury that hatchet after all both of them benefited from the hype. I actually lost money from both fight since all I thought he'd gonna get his revenge this time. I don't think he underestimated Alja but Alja was cautious enough to avoid Yan's strikes in the beginning rounds and made it behind Yan's back twice and controlled him too..

[TopTort777]

^ A lot of times we have seen the fighters do things inside the octagon and in front of the media just to raise a good pay-per-view. But a lot of times after the fight they actually shake hands. Even we saw Connor McGregor do that with Cowboy and many others. So it is not a surprise for me to see this picture.

There were so much hate between Aljo and Yan, that McGregor shaking Cowboys hand is not a very good example McGregor shaking Khabibs hand would be a proper example. But that will never happen.

Masvidal and Covington drama. Former friends became rivals in octagon. That lead to Masvidal caught Covington off guard near restaurant and throw two sucker punches. Now Masvidal is to face trial.

Yan stupidly lost his belt and was super angry with Aljo. Also he has thought that he has won second fight. So he is double pissed, but shook Aljo hand. I like that behavior of both fighters.

[notblox1]

Anyway here are the weigh ins.  Askarov vs Royval is scrapped due to a botched weight cut by Askarov.  It would've been the best match up of the event.

Maybe Misha Cirkunov vs Alonzo Menifield will be good to watch now, and in Dusko Todorovic vs Jordan Wright we should see one of this guys getting knocked down.
Main event is starting soon so anyone can join  live stream and maybe place some bets on all main event matches on Sportsbet website.
They have total of seven betting options for all fights:
https://sportsbet.io/sports/mma/ufc/matches/today

[Smack That Ace]

Charles suffered a lot of defeat to climb to the top 1 than Izzy though. Still, they both made it. The more challenging part is maintaining to be the top 1 because sure thing there will always be someone better than someone. Not saying it's Islam. He is not safe even on the ground because Charles is also skilled on the ground.  

Charles isn't just good on the ground, he's one of the best on the ground. You see it after he gets tagged, and to be honest at times I've questioned whether him getting tagged is just a way of enticing them in on the ground, but you see it time, and time again. He'll get rocked, take guard, and sub them out within a minute or so. He's exceptionally talented on the ground, and while for some reason some people think Makachev is better on the ground, we haven't seen any signs of that in the UFC.

Striking it might be even, but I'm pretty confident in Charles being the better fighter on the ground.

In my honest opinion, I feel that Islam Makhachev has a lot to learn and improve upon when it comes to the ground game. We have seen in previous fights of him when he was good in ground fights but he was actually doing well when Khabib was giving instructions from outside the ring. So, I think Charles Oliviera might actually be better. But when it comes to striking standing up I think both fighters are quite close and probably Islam Makhachev is a bit more proficient.

But I have to say another thing which is often we can see predictions go wrong because of the age difference between the fighters. But that is not going to happen here because both the fighters are almost of the same age. This is shaping up to be a really compelling fight in my opinion.


Duke Khan

[danherbias07]

Well, that's it. Alexa Grasso won.

I was waiting for Araujo to surprise Grasso using that preserved energy she saved from 1st round to 3rd.
She made some takedown attempts but most of them failed. Only two were successful in the 2nd round but she didn't really damage Grasso at that moment. She was too focused on getting a good position instead of doing some ground and pound.
This will be a good lesson for her. 5 rounds of fighting, how to budget her cardio while staying close in the scorecards, and how to pull a takedown successfully against a good defender like Grasso.

Congratulations to the winners.

[YuginKadoya]

The comments about his illegal knee act seem to have died also. He worked hard to gained that respect to deal Yan on their rematch. Time to bury that hatchet after all both of them benefited from the hype. I actually lost money from both fight since all I thought he'd gonna get his revenge this time. I don't think he underestimated Alja but Alja was cautious enough to avoid Yan's strikes in the beginning rounds and made it behind Yan's back twice and controlled him too..

Well, Aljamain Sterling sure needs all the credit from the doubter now believers, but I am more of a let's see on his next match if he can still do it, I am kind of still torn in between, it could still be a fluke, but maybe not, well Aljamain Sterling really work through the top, he might be lucky on their 1st fight but he really deserves the 2nd win, because he works really hard for it, well maybe he didn't underestimate Aljamain but in their previous fight Yan has to know what he will do but gets surprised on seeing a new sterling that he is fighting,

Now here is the result of the UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Araujo

Alexa Grasso VS Viviane Araujo ROUND 5 - DECISION - WIN

Alexa Grasso looks buff and in the fight Vivian Araujo got those reach advantages going inside Grasso, but Alexa Grasso didn't seem to care about it and she can surely withstand those punches, she remains cool and compressed all the time Viviane Araujo got the 1st takedown but Grasso had already stop it and proceed with the stand-up, and on the 2nd round Grasso was taken down again but it all stop by Grasso again, Alexa Grasso has become a solid fighter,

Jonathan Martinez VS Cub Swanson ROUND 2 - KO/TKO - WIN

It was really a brutal fight surely Cub Swanson has landed a kick to the leg but Martinez is not checking them, and maybe the southpaw Martinez and orthodox Swanson has the big thing with Cub Swanson's loss, and so that leg kick was really brutal and did Swanson down and so much power for an Orthodox fighter, that is how Jonathan Martinez have gotten Cub Swanson,

Askar Askarov VS Brandon Royval - CANCELLED

Sad to say but the fight was canceled due to the Askarov Weight Cut problem,

[CryptoBuds]

^ A lot of times we have seen the fighters do things inside the octagon and in front of the media just to raise a good pay-per-view. But a lot of times after the fight they actually shake hands. Even we saw Connor McGregor do that with Cowboy and many others. So it is not a surprise for me to see this picture.

There were so much hate between Aljo and Yan, that McGregor shaking Cowboys hand is not a very good example McGregor shaking Khabibs hand would be a proper example. But that will never happen.

Masvidal and Covington drama. Former friends became rivals in octagon. That lead to Masvidal caught Covington off guard near restaurant and throw two sucker punches. Now Masvidal is to face trial.

Yan stupidly lost his belt and was super angry with Aljo. Also he has thought that he has won second fight. So he is double pissed, but shook Aljo hand. I like that behavior of both fighters.

^ Khabib Vs Connor handshake, lol! There is no way in a million years that that is going to happen.

It is obvious to me that Masvidal did not do the right thing by punching Covington. They are both professional martial artists. It is not appropriate for them to just go around punching people whenever and wherever they want. Seeing as they want to do that I think they can just go ahead and do it, there is no reason for them to get paid by the UFC or to have a contract with them as long as they do what they want to do.

Ajio and Yan shook hands with each other, and that is something I really like to see from them. It is good that they are realizing that this is a sport that should be respected. I am really pleased to see the show of respect between these two people.

[eaLiTy]

~
Charles isn't just good on the ground, he's one of the best on the ground. You see it after he gets tagged, and to be honest at times I've questioned whether him getting tagged is just a way of enticing them in on the ground, but you see it time, and time again. He'll get rocked, take guard, and sub them out within a minute or so. He's exceptionally talented on the ground, and while for some reason some people think Makachev is better on the ground, we haven't seen any signs of that in the UFC.

Striking it might be even, but I'm pretty confident in Charles being the better fighter on the ground.

This is the same curiosity i had when Khabib and Tony Ferguson fights were scheduled and how each of them will handle their ground game. One is a superior submission threat and the other is a superior grappler. There is no debate about the grappling advantage of Islam Makhachev but my curiosity is whether Charles Oliveira will be able to catch him in a slick submission on the ground even though rear naked choke is his preferred method against Makhachev expect guillotine or an anaconda during grappling transition or even a calf slicer and the question will be whether Makhachev can handle them. The anticipation is huge and hopefully the fight will deliver a classic.

[Swordsoffreedom]

Well, that's it. Alexa Grasso won.

I was waiting for Araujo to surprise Grasso using that preserved energy she saved from 1st round to 3rd.
She made some takedown attempts but most of them failed. Only two were successful in the 2nd round but she didn't really damage Grasso at that moment. She was too focused on getting a good position instead of doing some ground and pound.
This will be a good lesson for her. 5 rounds of fighting, how to budget her cardio while staying close in the scorecards, and how to pull a takedown successfully against a good defender like Grasso.

Congratulations to the winners.

This was a very competent fight by Grasso. In the first three rounds, Araujo was able to conserve energy, but was unable to capitalize on that energy in the last two rounds. In fact, as a result of trying to save energy, she ended up falling far behind on the scorecard. It is for this very reason that we can see throughout the whole fight, Grasso was ahead on the scorecard except for the takedown scored by Araujo. But obviously at the end that was not going to be enough for Grasso.

It would have been better if Araujo concentrated on how to hurt her opponent. Instead, she should have tried to get into a more advantageous position, especially when she was in a position to do some damage to her opponent. That would have been the better play. It is evident that she was not able to put her opponent under any pressure during the match.

[YuginKadoya]

^ Khabib Vs Connor handshake, lol! There is no way in a million years that that is going to happen.

It is obvious to me that Masvidal did not do the right thing by punching Covington. They are both professional martial artists. It is not appropriate for them to just go around punching people whenever and wherever they want. Seeing as they want to do that I think they can just go ahead and do it, there is no reason for them to get paid by the UFC or to have a contract with them as long as they do what they want to do.

Ajio and Yan shook hands with each other, and that is something I really like to see from them. It is good that they are realizing that this is a sport that should be respected. I am really pleased to see the show of respect between these two people.

It was really something but surely Khabib and Connor have some long-time beef with each other and by giving some handshake I guess they will surely make a hand gesture that is for sure, even though they had beef for one another as a professional they will leave all that beef inside the octagon that is what I think about what they will do,

Masvidal is a real non-professional fighter here, he will surely not make amends with Covington what so ever, I really think that their beef is not easily washed for me Covington could be forgiving but Masvidal I really think he is not,

while Aljamain and Petr are really respecting one another there is no more beef and it only stays inside the ring, it is all pure respect, for the two right now,

This is the same curiosity i had when Khabib and Tony Ferguson fights were scheduled and how each of them will handle their ground game. One is a superior submission threat and the other is a superior grappler. There is no debate about the grappling advantage of Islam Makhachev but my curiosity is whether Charles Oliveira will be able to catch him in a slick submission on the ground even though rear naked choke is his preferred method against Makhachev expect guillotine or an anaconda during grappling transition or even a calf slicer and the question will be whether Makhachev can handle them. The anticipation is huge and hopefully the fight will deliver a classic.

Well, I am not curious at all about who's the better wrestler, or grappler it is nonother than Khabib NUrmagomedov, even though they haven't fought one another I surely believe in the power of the Dagestan Wrestling that Khabib and the other Dagestan fighter like Makhachev, Chimaev, Khabib Nurmagomedov is that good, looking at him and Tony Ferguson, and when they fight Khabib will just rug dolled Ferguson that is for sure,

[danherbias07]

This was a very competent fight by Grasso. In the first three rounds, Araujo was able to conserve energy, but was unable to capitalize on that energy in the last two rounds. In fact, as a result of trying to save energy, she ended up falling far behind on the scorecard. It is for this very reason that we can see throughout the whole fight, Grasso was ahead on the scorecard except for the takedown scored by Araujo. But obviously at the end that was not going to be enough for Grasso.

It would have been better if Araujo concentrated on how to hurt her opponent. Instead, she should have tried to get into a more advantageous position, especially when she was in a position to do some damage to her opponent. That would have been the better play. It is evident that she was not able to put her opponent under any pressure during the match.

Correct, she should've just started it aggressively instead of preserving a lot of energy.
Both fighters look fresh even in the final round so I guess they are successful with their strategy but she lacks the number of thrown punches and Grasso also gave her a difficult time seeing an opening whenever she attempts a takedown.
Grasso on the other hand has just one strategy, end the fight in a standing position where she has the upper hand. She neither attempted a takedown attack nor a fake.