🥊 The UFC Info and Prediction Thread

[Jating]

Interesting talk about Khabib faceing GSP. I have not heard about the legend for a while now. What's the update on him? Is he still in shape to fight in case something match comes up?

It can be remembered that Khabib Nurmagomedov once asked Georges St-Pierre to delay the retirement so they can have fight on November this year. Dana White is open to the idea about Khabib Nurmagomedov versus Georges St-Pierre but there's a stipulation, and that is to fight at 155. Take note that Georges St-Pierre is open to come out of retirement to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov.

I wasn't aware of that. Who set the weight stipulation? Was it Khabib? That's a lot of shredding on the part of GSP and it could be dangerous for him. It's going to affect his performance a lot. If only they can be both allowed to fight at 165...

Very interesting read here:

https://www.mmamania.com/2019/6/4/18652776/ufc-khabib-renews-contract-includes-georges-st-pierre-clause-mma

Wasn't aware about the clause though, but 155 would put a lot of demand on GSP's body to go down that weight. Perhaps they can agree on a catch weight so that we can this fight happen before the end of the year or early 2020.

Only thing that I don't like about this so called catch weight fight is that this could be always used as an excused specially if the losing party in that drain himself. St. Pierre is a natural welterweight solid and I'm sure his performance will be drastically affected if he try to squeeze 155 lbs on his huge frame, it could include a lot of muscle mass loss.

But can Khabib go up to welterweight though?

[tokeweed]

We got a couple of decent main events (Cerrone vs Gaethje, Rodriguez vs Stephens) and one I don't care about (Cannonier vs Hermansson) before 243 (can't wait for some Adesanya action again, yay!).

I could see a Cerrone KO with a right high kick to Gaethje's head.  

UFC Vancouver Free Fight:  Cerrone vs Iaquinta
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnOItOzJq2k

Date:  Saturday, September 14
Main Card (PPV):  20:00 EST
Preliminary Card (FX):  17:00 EST
Venue:  Rogers Arena, Vancouver Canada



Main Card (ESPN+)
Lightweight:  Donald Cerrone vs Justin Gaethje            
Light Heavyweight:  Glover Teixeira vs Nikita Krylov            
Heavyweight:  Todd Duffee vs Jeff Hughes            
Welterweight:  Michel Pereira vs TBD            
Middleweight:  Uriah Hall vs Antônio Carlos Júnior            
Light Heavyweight:  Misha Cirkunov vs Jimmy Crute

Preliminary Card (ESPN+)
Heavyweight:  Marcin Tybura vs Augusto Sakai            
Bantamweight:  Cole Smith vs Miles Johns            
Middleweight:  Andrew Sanchez vs Marvin Vettori            
Bantamweight:  Brad Katona vs Hunter Azure            
Featherweight:  Chas Skelly vs Jordan Griffin            
Bantamweight:  Louis Smolka vs Ryan McDonald            
Featherweight:  Kyle Prepolec vs Austin Hubbard

All info from Wikipedia:  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC_Fight_Night:_Cerrone_vs._Gaethje

[eaLiTy]

If Khabib wants wants to prove he’s one of the greats he’ll need to go up in a weight class & try to dominate another division. Not sure if he will though, he might not be able to hug his way to every win at a heavier weight.

If Khabib is dominant enough in a division who has more talents than any other division you could call him the greatest fighter and that too with his undefeated record which is unprecedented in MMA. You cannot find a champion in UFC that is undefeated and Khabib is the only fighter with that pedigree.

I could see a Cerrone KO with a right high kick to Gaethje's head.  

Justin Gaethje likes to play in close range and i do not think Donald Cerrone will get enough space to land a high kick and on the other hand Justin Gaethje has brutal close range chop kicks and with real power, i am expecting a great fight.

[lemipawa]

Khabib will meet his match. Maybe his is the king in his division for now, but there will be a time that someone will dethrone him in the 155 division. He has high respect to the sport and does not believe in thrash talk and hyping up a fight. He has high respect to coaches and team mates. You can see on his interviews and videos how disciplined he is and how he was trained. Discipline, Respect and Skills, put them all together and you have an undefeated fighter.

[rosezionjohn]

UFC Vancouver Free Fight:  Cerrone vs Iaquinta

Cerrone doesn't know how to take a break  I understand that he loves to fight but he doesn't need to fight many times in a year.

I've watched many of Donald's fight but I still have to watch Iaquinta's before I can take a pick.

You cannot find a champion in UFC that is undefeated and Khabib is the only fighter with that pedigree.

I still consider Jon Jones as undefeated in the UFC. His only lost was a DQ and he was surely going to win that fight.

[pereira4]

If Khabib wants wants to prove he’s one of the greats he’ll need to go up in a weight class & try to dominate another division. Not sure if he will though, he might not be able to hug his way to every win at a heavier weight.

The only fight which makes sense for Khabib at 170 is GSP. Other than St Pierre it just doesn't make sense risk:reward at losing that shinny 0 on your record. And it could be argued at this point if Khabib isn't already ranked #1 p4p. I understand the argument of how you need to be a multi division world champion to opt for p4p hall of fame, however if you were to dominate a division in the way Khabib is doing, he may not even need to do that.

What im saying is if he continues to rule with an iron fist at 155 and ends Tony Ferguson in a deciding fashion, then what can you even do about it but give the guy p4p #1 status?

As far as Cowboy vs Gaethje, I believe Donald can get back on a good track and attempt to get another title shoot down the lane. Granted, he was getting busted by Tony, but I saw good things.

We've also got Conor asking for a rematch on twitter, 250k retweets already, and people say "nobody wants to see that rematch". It's clear people into MMA sometimes don't understand the general public is outside internet forums. There will be a rematch and it will be huge once again, so start thinking about betting stats on that one. I will be the crazy guy that puts money on Conor winning when the time arrives.

[Bttzed03]

Glover still fighting huh? He still hungry for that belt.

Khabib will meet his match. Maybe his is the king in his division for now, but there will be a time that someone will dethrone him in the 155 division.

He will if he does not retire early or if he does not choose/avoid his opponent later on. 

Discipline, Respect and Skills, put them all together and you have an undefeated fighter.

You can also add tough chin (at the moment) in there. He has been hit hard a few times but his chin held up. There will come a time where he will lose it and will be knocked out.

[ene1980]

The only fight which makes sense for Khabib at 170 is GSP.

GSP will not come out of retirement if there is no belt involved, he is only looking to cement his legacy and for that the UFC has to either create a 165 division or GSP has to come down to 155 pound which is a hard task as he never tried.

As far as Cowboy vs Gaethje, I believe Donald can get back on a good track and attempt to get another title shoot down the lane. Granted, he was getting busted by Tony, but I saw good things.

If Donald wants to fight for a title he needs to choose his fights rather than fighting all the time, the damage he took will come back to haunt him, it is a tough fight for Donald as he usually starts slow while Gaethje starts right from the start which is always a threat for Donald Cerrone.

We've also got Conor asking for a rematch on twitter, 250k retweets already, and people say "nobody wants to see that rematch".

No one cares about Conor now, if you check his social media page, he is calling out everyone and now Dustin Poirier responded, lets see how that will go.

[YuginKadoya]

Justin Gaethje can pressure Donald Cerrone so he wouldn't have any success with his knee kicks and Cerrone doesn't have the footwork to escape on Gaethje's Pressure, So Donald Cerrone may have trouble getting his high kicks when Gaethje has closened up their range, But if Cerrone can manage to cook up a strategy for Gaethje's pressure and ability to fight a close-range combat then he might surprise Justin from this matchup, I guess there are a lot of points for Gaethje to have this match, but we can not make a conclusion that Donald Cerrone will be done with such pressure against Gaethje, But I think I will go with Justin Gaethje on this one.

[tokeweed]

^  Sure he does.  They wouldn't be at the top without some foot work.

If Khabib wants wants to prove he’s one of the greats he’ll need to go up in a weight class & try to dominate another division. Not sure if he will though, he might not be able to hug his way to every win at a heavier weight.

If Khabib is dominant enough in a division who has more talents than any other division you could call him the greatest fighter and that too with his undefeated record which is unprecedented in MMA. You cannot find a champion in UFC that is undefeated and Khabib is the only fighter with that pedigree.

I could see a Cerrone KO with a right high kick to Gaethje's head.  

Justin Gaethje likes to play in close range and i do not think Donald Cerrone will get enough space to land a high kick and on the other hand Justin Gaethje has brutal close range chop kicks and with real power, i am expecting a great fight.

Yeah...  I guess it's my first impression of the match up.  Gaethje just moves forward and he's easy to hit.  I could imagine Cerrone counters and when Gaethje backs off a bit, Cerrone goes for the right high kick to the face.  Dunno.

But yeah, it's gonna be great.

[ene1980]

Ali Abdelaziz came out claiming how there is more interest in Khabib vs GSP than Tony Ferguson. This guy is a joke. And he goes around lecturing people in peaceful practices. I believe Conor was onto something with some of his claims, calling him a terrorist snitch, looking into it.

Ali Abdelaziz really has a shady past as he was an informer and a spy and it is not a secret and he might have contacts to get things done too and hence he is managing more fighters and if you noticed he was no where present near Khabib for UFC 242 may be he is afraid to land in UAE.

Conor is still the cashcow and Vegas will go crazy when he comes back. I can't wait because betting nights are always fun when he fights.

There is no doubt he is a cash cow when it comes to big fights and there is no doubt UFC will try their best to get Conor back in the octagon, i heard earlier this year that Conor refused to fight because he was not the main event.

[YuginKadoya]

^  Sure he does.  They wouldn't be at the top without some foot work.

If Khabib wants wants to prove he’s one of the greats he’ll need to go up in a weight class & try to dominate another division. Not sure if he will though, he might not be able to hug his way to every win at a heavier weight.

If Khabib is dominant enough in a division who has more talents than any other division you could call him the greatest fighter and that too with his undefeated record which is unprecedented in MMA. You cannot find a champion in UFC that is undefeated and Khabib is the only fighter with that pedigree.

I could see a Cerrone KO with a right high kick to Gaethje's head.  

Justin Gaethje likes to play in close range and i do not think Donald Cerrone will get enough space to land a high kick and on the other hand Justin Gaethje has brutal close range chop kicks and with real power, i am expecting a great fight.

Yeah...  I guess it's my first impression of the match up.  Gaethje just moves forward and he's easy to hit.  I could imagine Cerrone counters and when Gaethje backs off a bit, Cerrone goes for the right high kick to the face.  Dunno.

But yeah, it's gonna be great.

Well I am not talking about just the footwork but how they differ in their move set, but we can all see that each fighter had their own footwork and Cerrone may have a difficult time with Gaethje's inside combo pressure because Cerrone is good with long-range kicks, But if Donald Cerrone would have an opportunity to lock Justin Gaethje in a submission maybe there is a chance for him to play an inside match, but let just see on the actual match if who's gonna with The Cowboy or The Highlight would triumph in the end.

[bbc.reporter]

Glover still fighting huh? He still hungry for that belt.

Khabib will meet his match. Maybe his is the king in his division for now, but there will be a time that someone will dethrone him in the 155 division.

He will if he does not retire early or if he does not choose/avoid his opponent later on. 

Discipline, Respect and Skills, put them all together and you have an undefeated fighter.

You can also add tough chin (at the moment) in there. He has been hit hard a few times but his chin held up. There will come a time where he will lose it and will be knocked out.

Khabib's chin was never tested by Dustin. He tried on the 2nd round, but he did not have a strong convincing punch on Khabib's head.

Also, Dustin appeared to be weaker than his fights before this. It might be the heat.

[TravelMug]

Glover still fighting huh? He still hungry for that belt.

Khabib will meet his match. Maybe his is the king in his division for now, but there will be a time that someone will dethrone him in the 155 division.

He will if he does not retire early or if he does not choose/avoid his opponent later on. 

Discipline, Respect and Skills, put them all together and you have an undefeated fighter.

You can also add tough chin (at the moment) in there. He has been hit hard a few times but his chin held up. There will come a time where he will lose it and will be knocked out.

Khabib's chin was never tested by Dustin. He tried on the 2nd round, but he did not have a strong convincing punch on Khabib's head.

Also, Dustin appeared to be weaker than his fights before this. It might be the heat.

I agree, I'm not really sure if he hit Khabib clean in the second round, he may have clip him, but I don't think it's solid enough.

Dustin appeared to be weaker because Khabib was all over him in the first round. Took a toll on him that's why he try to swing at every angle in the second round. However, when Khabib is on his back again, his energy was drained perfect for the Khabib attempted choked in the 3rd.

[mich]

I think we are in for a real treat with JUSTIN and DONALD in this 5 round main event.  A real toss up match I am too scared to bet so I will just enjoy with my feet up 
I suspect they both will come into this fight in good shape and we shall see tonight at the weighins
Something to note is this that there isnt 1 female fight on this fight card which is very uncommon with the populairty of womens UFC

[TopTort777]

Conor is still the cashcow and Vegas will go crazy when he comes back. I can't wait because betting nights are always fun when he fights.

There is no doubt he is a cash cow when it comes to big fights and there is no doubt UFC will try their best to get Conor back in the octagon, i heard earlier this year that Conor refused to fight because he was not the main event.

If that cash cow loses his next fight, I think it will be time for him to retire.
He will drop himself to the level of trashtalk/joker Charles Bennett

[tokeweed]

Here are the weigh ins for the event.  You guys got any predictions?  And get over Khabib already.  He could retire undefeated.  Lol. 

UFC Vancouver:  Weigh Ins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XY9-3TBeY8

[TopTort777]

Hope Michel Pereira would be as quick and agile as he was during weigh ins 

[target]

Glover still fighting huh? He still hungry for that belt.

Khabib will meet his match. Maybe his is the king in his division for now, but there will be a time that someone will dethrone him in the 155 division.

He will if he does not retire early or if he does not choose/avoid his opponent later on. 

Discipline, Respect and Skills, put them all together and you have an undefeated fighter.

You can also add tough chin (at the moment) in there. He has been hit hard a few times but his chin held up. There will come a time where he will lose it and will be knocked out.

Khabib's chin was never tested by Dustin. He tried on the 2nd round, but he did not have a strong convincing punch on Khabib's head.

Also, Dustin appeared to be weaker than his fights before this. It might be the heat.

I agree, I'm not really sure if he hit Khabib clean in the second round, he may have clip him, but I don't think it's solid enough.

Dustin appeared to be weaker because Khabib was all over him in the first round. Took a toll on him that's why he try to swing at every angle in the second round. However, when Khabib is on his back again, his energy was drained perfect for the Khabib attempted choked in the 3rd.

Khabib would have out balance and fall if he were tagged in the 2nd round. His hip and foot wasn't in the position while he was backing away. Dustin is bigger, more knuckle power but is out of luck and Khabib's wrestling took in control. Khabib has defeated super stars in MMA nothing, he is still young so he will be challenged every time by the rising stars.

[eaLiTy]

I've watched many of Donald's fight but I still have to watch Iaquinta's before I can take a pick.

If you missed that, Donald Cerrone is facing Justin Gaethje and not Al Iaquinta, Cerrone already won against Al Iaquinta in his last match  .

You cannot find a champion in UFC that is undefeated and Khabib is the only fighter with that pedigree.

I still consider Jon Jones as undefeated in the UFC. His only lost was a DQ and he was surely going to win that fight.

Jon Jones is undefeated in my eyes too and he is a diverse fighter than any other fighter i have seen, he takes the fight against his opponent strength which is incredible but he has lost rounds in his career, especially against Alexander Gustafsson in their first fight, he lost rounds against Thiago Santos and all of his doping scandals but when it comes to Khabib Nurmagomedov everyone knows his game plan and yet one is able to defend that and he never lost a round inside the cage and that was his dominance in a stacked division.

Yeah...  I guess it's my first impression of the match up.  Gaethje just moves forward and he's easy to hit.  I could imagine Cerrone counters and when Gaethje backs off a bit, Cerrone goes for the right high kick to the face.  Dunno.

But yeah, it's gonna be great.

The reason i am going with Justin Gaethje is because Donald Cerrone starts really slow and if you look at the fight against Benson Henderson, Anthony Pettis, Rafael dos Anjos, Jorge Masvidal and Darren Till he was not in the grove to start the fight when they are marching forward and start punching from the start and Justin Gaethje does the same the second the bell rings, march forward and start punching and that is the antidote to defeat Cerrone.