🥊 The UFC Info and Prediction Thread

[inthelongrun]

From the 2020 era champs/superstars, (other than Khabib, who retired). Only Volk remains undefeated since. Who's up against another fighter who's been undefeated coming into the fight, Ilia Topuria. How will this end? Ilia's wrestling is sublime and that's where I'm not too confident about Volk.

I think it is time for a new champion. I'll be betting for Topuria in this fight. Volk has a huge experience compared to Ilia when it comes to high-level fights and 5 rounders. But that huge KO lost to Makachev should have mental effects on Volk and will boost the morale of Ilia. And Volk is not getting any younger, he will be a little slower, and his strength depreciated.

I expect Volk to be more careful in this fight. Ilia is the fresher fighter. He is younger, bigger, and maybe stronger, he should press the action and maybe Volk gets tired in the later rounds.

[tokeweed]

^  What's the line on Topuria?  If it's anything crazy like 3.50 then you're like forced to bet on him because it's starting to go into price that's going to be +EV.  Even if you lose, if the opportunity comes up again, the right move is to make the bet.  :/

But then again the books could think Volk is trying to get washed after seeing him lose vs Makhachev.  It was on short notice tho.  A lot of people don't factor that in.

Anyway, here's a couple more free fights...  This time replays of Ige and Fili, the guys fighting before the main event.

UFC Free Fight:  Ige vs Jackson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tY2XRZKisQE

UFC Free Fight:  Fili vs Moraes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTGlTMHQjrA

[jakelyson]

I was a little surprised that Imanov was dominating the fight and Dolidze was performing so poorly. I rarely watch these fighters but many people were commenting that Dolidze was performing poorly because he had to lost 15 Kilogram. By the way, there is an upcoming fight of Dvalishvili and Topuria, both of them are my favorites, Dvalishvili is a real machine that doesn't tire while Topuria is truly a new upcoming star, he has a chance to be a goat like Khabib.

Did anyone notice that these guys from small and poor countries, like Dagestan and Georgia, give a birth to too many UFC fighters? Especially when their population is so small compared to other countries.

I was really busy After 3 months of hiatus from the forum because I was so busy with my work I am now returning with the discussion about the UFC and after watching the highlights of the fights with the recent events I should say I finally caught up with you guys

actually, I have started watching the highlights of the fight between Nassourdine Imavov and Roman Dolidze and I truly noticed the difference between both fighters Nassourdine Imavov was very patient and more of a technical fighter he calculated every move of Roman Dolidze and accuracy he was beast that is why he always gets Roman Dolidze into the corner, while that upcoming fight is really interesting for me not the main event but the Co-main event is the interesting card in this event, but the next event the Alexander Volkanovski VS Ilia Topuria that will be a juicy one,

^  What's the line on Topuria?  If it's anything crazy like 3.50 then you're like forced to bet on him because it's starting to go into price that's going to be +EV.  Even if you lose, if the opportunity comes up again, the right move is to make the bet.  :/

But then again the books could think Volk is trying to get washed after seeing him lose vs Makhachev.  It was on short notice tho.  A lot of people don't factor that in.

Anyway, here's a couple more free fights...  This time replays of Ige and Fili, the guys fighting before the main event.

UFC Free Fight:  Ige vs Jackson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tY2XRZKisQE

UFC Free Fight:  Fili vs Moraes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTGlTMHQjrA

Right now the odds for Alexander Volkanovski and Ilia Topuria are close for us to say who's going to really win, right now Alexander Volkanovski is at 1.82 and Ilia Topuria is at 1.88 as for Sportsbet Odds, where Volkanovski is on a slight favorite for me I like the odds for Ilia Topuria, he can get the championship belt for sure I really feel we will be having a new Champion for the lightweight champion, but surely I don't really want to say that it could be possible because we all know what Alexander Volkanovski is capable of,

[OgNasty]

As a casual UFC fan, I’m just waiting for UFC 300. I suspect it will be the biggest UFC event of all time with no expense spared and maybe some assistance from the Las Vegas Sphere as Dana promised a big viewing experience coming to the UFC later this year. Everything else until then is just an appetizer.

[pawel7777]

^  What's the line on Topuria?  If it's anything crazy like 3.50 then you're like forced to bet on him because it's starting to go into price that's going to be +EV.  Even if you lose, if the opportunity comes up again, the right move is to make the bet.  :/

Per Unibet:
Volkanovski: 1.79
Topuria: 2.02

Pretty far from 3.5 
I rarely bet nowadays but if it goes above 2.5 for Ilia, I probably will throw some quids on him. He's got what it takes to beat Volk, both in terms of physical abilities and mentality.

So what is the recent news re UFC 300? Google search is showing some weird things for Gaethje Vs Holloway. It's not clear if the fight is confirmed or canceled.
I must be quite behind as I had no clue they were matched against eachother

[notblox1]

So now Dana White is saying Conor McGregor is maybe going to come back in fight against Michael Chandler in the fall of this year, and that means in winter or in 2025  
I knew it straight away that all this talk about him coming in UFC300 was fantasy and promotion of his new movie.
I dont have idea who is doing fight management in UFC but they are doing a terrible job  
https://www.mmafighting.com/2024/2/7/24065194/dana-white-conor-mcgregor-vs-michael-chandler-hopefully-happens-in-the-fall-of-2024

[TopTort777]

If I was Chandler, I would have accepted any other opponent. How long he is inactive already? Quite a period. He is not getting any younger, he has quite a family to feed at least. I dont know what Chandler is waiting for. For a biggest paycheck from a fight against Conor and to retire after? Imho Conor can do whatever he wants, Chandler mush fight at least to stay busy.

[Lykslyks]

But I should say that rule should be taken out from the book the fighter is not grounded just because his hands were on the ground, they should consider taking it out of the UFC.

every promotion has different rules for this and Nevada has its own too. but the common rule for grounded fighters is that if the hands hold the weight, it is somehow hard to recognize.

For me, they should just take down that rule if it is hard to be recognized as a ground fighter because referees can surely mistake it for something just like the Alexa Grasso VS Valentina Shevchenko fight it was also a ground knee from Alexa Grasso but it did not have a big issue like this one the fight took place on Nevada as well so why did the fight didn't stop? or the rules do not apply to that fight it should be the same kind of thing and with the Roman Dolidze VS Nassourdine Imavov it was a really big issue, is it because of gender? well that is not gender equality in my opinion.

If I was Chandler, I would have accepted any other opponent. How long he is inactive already? Quite a period. He is not getting any younger, he has quite a family to feed at least. I dont know what Chandler is waiting for. For a biggest paycheck from a fight against Conor and to retire after? Imho Conor can do whatever he wants, Chandler mush fight at least to stay busy.

I agree, Michael Chandler should fight a money fight, now that he still has it on him because if he further this up time is up to the essence, and if father time gets him even the Conor McGregor fight will be a hard one for him, or should I say maybe because he doesn't get any fight because he is not risking his reputation because if he got lost when the Conor McGregor fight would come then his credibility to fight McGregor will be gone.

[TopTort777]

If I was Chandler, I would have accepted any other opponent. How long he is inactive already? Quite a period. He is not getting any younger, he has quite a family to feed at least. I dont know what Chandler is waiting for. For a biggest paycheck from a fight against Conor and to retire after? Imho Conor can do whatever he wants, Chandler mush fight at least to stay busy.

I agree, Michael Chandler should fight a money fight, now that he still has it on him because if he further this up time is up to the essence, and if father time gets him even the Conor McGregor fight will be a hard one for him, or should I say maybe because he doesn't get any fight because he is not risking his reputation because if he got lost when the Conor McGregor fight would come then his credibility to fight McGregor will be gone.

Damn dude, this was really a challenge to read your post. Use dots to separate thought next time.

Imho Chandler should not wait for a money fight, but rather have any fight. Since November 2022 he hanst fought. Lightweight is a very challenging division. If you make big pause, chances to return and win melt like snow in spring. It was stupid for Chandler to wait for Conor. First he waited when Conor recovers from injury, then USADA (btw anyone knows what is with testing today in UFC?), then TUF, then Conor had some plans (that movie with Gyllenhaal and countless parties and vacations). Now anyone fighter from top4 will beat Chandler (btw they already did that). Chandler must fight somebody and make it fast. In UFC, he only beat old Fergusson and Hooker. 2-3 in UFC since 2021. That record and achievement is nothing today.

[tokeweed]

^  What's the line on Topuria?  If it's anything crazy like 3.50 then you're like forced to bet on him because it's starting to go into price that's going to be +EV.  Even if you lose, if the opportunity comes up again, the right move is to make the bet.  :/

Per Unibet:
Volkanovski: 1.79
Topuria: 2.02

Pretty far from 3.5  
I rarely bet nowadays but if it goes above 2.5 for Ilia, I probably will throw some quids on him. He's got what it takes to beat Volk, both in terms of physical abilities and mentality.

So what is the recent news re UFC 300? Google search is showing some weird things for Gaethje Vs Holloway. It's not clear if the fight is confirmed or canceled.
I must be quite behind as I had no clue they were matched against eachother

Yup I took a peek a couple of hours ago...  And I really think those odds are pretty good for Volk.  The books could be putting too much weight on his last loss vs Makhachev which Volk took on short notice hence saving the event.  Volk during interviews also seemed to give hints that he got paid well for it, saying that he has now enough to take care of his daughter and setting her up for life.

Now that he got that out of the way, he'll prolly now focus on himself and focus on retiring as one of the best 145 champions in history.  

As for Gaethje vs Holloway, afaik it's still on.  Check Tapology.

[fuguebtc]

If I was Chandler, I would have accepted any other opponent. How long he is inactive already? Quite a period. He is not getting any younger, he has quite a family to feed at least. I dont know what Chandler is waiting for. For a biggest paycheck from a fight against Conor and to retire after? Imho Conor can do whatever he wants, Chandler mush fight at least to stay busy.

I agree, Michael Chandler should fight a money fight, now that he still has it on him because if he further this up time is up to the essence, and if father time gets him even the Conor McGregor fight will be a hard one for him, or should I say maybe because he doesn't get any fight because he is not risking his reputation because if he got lost when the Conor McGregor fight would come then his credibility to fight McGregor will be gone.

Damn dude, this was really a challenge to read your post. Use dots to separate thought next time.

Imho Chandler should not wait for a money fight, but rather have any fight. Since November 2022 he hanst fought. Lightweight is a very challenging division. If you make big pause, chances to return and win melt like snow in spring. It was stupid for Chandler to wait for Conor. First he waited when Conor recovers from injury, then USADA (btw anyone knows what is with testing today in UFC?), then TUF, then Conor had some plans (that movie with Gyllenhaal and countless parties and vacations). Now anyone fighter from top4 will beat Chandler (btw they already did that). Chandler must fight somebody and make it fast. In UFC, he only beat old Fergusson and Hooker. 2-3 in UFC since 2021. That record and achievement is nothing today.

Yes he has to definitely do better. And the thing is if he actually takes up an opponent which is really good, I dont think he will be able to beat him at this moment. Probably he should fight Conor McGregor because that makes the most sense right now. i think that will also be a good money fight for him and he will also have a chance to beat Conor  McGregor because we all know Conor McGregor is not very good right now.

 but the problem is Conor McGregor is really interested in making money. We all know about the movies and parties he is currently interested in. So maybe that fight might not end up happening.  But it is for sure that if he takes a fight in which his opponent is really good, he will be beaten.

[Hirose UK]

~snip~

Yes he has to definitely do better. And the thing is if he actually takes up an opponent which is really good, I dont think he will be able to beat him at this moment. Probably he should fight Conor McGregor because that makes the most sense right now. i think that will also be a good money fight for him and he will also have a chance to beat Conor  McGregor because we all know Conor McGregor is not very good right now.

 but the problem is Conor McGregor is really interested in making money. We all know about the movies and parties he is currently interested in. So maybe that fight might not end up happening.  But it is for sure that if he takes a fight in which his opponent is really good, he will be beaten.

It will take longer if Chandler really prioritizes waiting for Conor to recover and of course this could cancel Chandler ambitions for the future, but fighting Conor is possible fight for Chandler to win and this could be the main reason.
Chandler has experienced several defeats and the most that made him seem to have decreased in hype as fighter was after his defeat against Justin Gaethje and now he is busy with fights that seem to have drama in them.
If Conor can fight soon then the opportunity for Chandler is also wide open, in this fight you will only be risking money because this is fight that can make lot of money for both fighters.

No, Chandler will still wait for Conor if he wants to win and one of the obstacles is that he has to wait longer time, for fighter when he has an injured opponent, it is quite sad fight.
Chandler couldn't have gotten what he wanted any quicker.

[TopTort777]

Its Friday and as usually I am going to post something funny

I hope you guys remember such guy as Chuck Liddell. I always remember he has that belly, but have somehow managed to get 6pack. I know that he isnt competing for long time already, but on a street you never know what can be a story of that big belly guy
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2x_w6ApL2a/?igsh=cnpuaGthdzNzY3lx

Glad to see him really enjoying his life after fighting.

[Lykslyks]

Damn dude, this was really a challenge to read your post. Use dots to separate thought next time.

Imho Chandler should not wait for a money fight, but rather have any fight. Since November 2022 he hanst fought. Lightweight is a very challenging division. If you make big pause, chances to return and win melt like snow in spring. It was stupid for Chandler to wait for Conor. First he waited when Conor recovers from injury, then USADA (btw anyone knows what is with testing today in UFC?), then TUF, then Conor had some plans (that movie with Gyllenhaal and countless parties and vacations). Now anyone fighter from top4 will beat Chandler (btw they already did that). Chandler must fight somebody and make it fast. In UFC, he only beat old Fergusson and Hooker. 2-3 in UFC since 2021. That record and achievement is nothing today.

Sorry about that, but you still understand what I am trying to say, anyway Chandler looks like he wanted the money but for sure you are right in pointing out that he needs to fight someone so he will be relevant and could contest someone if he still has it in him. but he has waited this long enough maybe to preserve him from sudden injuries or maybe losing to his opponent before the McGregor fight, yeah he needed a fight badly even though he is training the experience inside the ring has a big difference for sure.

Yup I took a peek a couple of hours ago...  And I really think those odds are pretty good for Volk.  The books could be putting too much weight on his last loss vs Makhachev which Volk took on short notice hence saving the event.  Volk during interviews also seemed to give hints that he got paid well for it, saying that he has now enough to take care of his daughter and setting her up for life.

Now that he got that out of the way, he'll prolly now focus on himself and focus on retiring as one of the best 145 champions in history.  

As for Gaethje vs Holloway, afaik it's still on.  Check Tapology.

I really wish he gets to focus on the fight now because I have heard that Volkanovski has been drinking every day for weeks, going to that Islam Makhachev fight and he said that he is going into the fight without a full training camp, and he is mentally prepared for this, and going into his Concussion injury because he got knockout in their last fight he compared it to his rugby days if you get knocked on a game you would want to get back into the game next week so what is a few months, this is absurd the way he is comparing different things. this might ruin his strategy and focus on the upcoming Topuria fight, and because of this even though Ilia Topuria would be the underdog for this fight. he could win this because Alexander Volkanovski is being himself.

[pawel7777]

If I was Chandler, I would have accepted any other opponent. How long he is inactive already? Quite a period. He is not getting any younger, he has quite a family to feed at least. I dont know what Chandler is waiting for. For a biggest paycheck from a fight against Conor and to retire after? Imho Conor can do whatever he wants, Chandler mush fight at least to stay busy.

I called it. I expected that the dream fight with Conor could turn into a career-trap for Chandler. The longer the wait the more fans' interest will dwindle.
Now, Chandler should move on and take some other fight, but there's a risk that if he loses, he would drop in the rankings and Conor would no longer want to fight him. Right now, from McGregor's perspective, losing a fight to high-ranked Chandler is not much of a shame, he could use the long break as an excuse. But losing to a low-ranked Chandler could mark the end of his career. There would be no justification to match him up with any of top fighters anymore.

Yup I took a peek a couple of hours ago...  And I really think those odds are pretty good for Volk.  The books could be putting too much weight on his last loss vs Makhachev which Volk took on short notice hence saving the event.  Volk during interviews also seemed to give hints that he got paid well for it, saying that he has now enough to take care of his daughter and setting her up for life.

I think Topuria is slightly more likely to win, so wouldn't consider anything below 2.0 on Volk as good odds. Not to take anything away from Alex, but I think Ilia is better than any of his previous opponents (with an exception of Islam).

[tokeweed]

^  Yeah maybe...  We'll see.  It's just we've been having lines of Volk at around 1.50 or lower in all of his championship matches at 145.  What changed?  Is it because he lost vs Makhachev on a few days short notice?

And I would've loved to see more of Topuria in the cage.  Like another 5 rounder vs a tougher opponent than Josh Emmett.  Dunno...  But it's going to be a good fight for sure.

Weigh ins in 4 hours guys...

UFC Fight Night:  Hermansson vs Pyfer - Official Weigh In
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrteD_CHai4

More replays...

UFC Free Fight:  Hemansson vs Gastelum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2p5KIh3GC4

UFC Free Fight:  Pyfer vs Alhassan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCJIW-HGlbU

Enjoy!

[jakelyson]

As a casual UFC fan, I’m just waiting for UFC 300. I suspect it will be the biggest UFC event of all time with no expense spared and maybe some assistance from the Las Vegas Sphere as Dana promised a big viewing experience coming to the UFC later this year. Everything else until then is just an appetizer.

I think the UFC and Dana White are trying their best to make UFC 300 the best event there is this year, but for me, if they want to make this the best event there is why not put a lot of their Main Event in this one event, so it could be a night that will not be forgotten by the audience, maybe if not all fight could be a championship fight maybe the 3 last fights will be a championship fight, and for sure they can also add Adesanya as the main event for this fight unless he is not shaking anymore and had a mental breakdown with Pereira,

Per Unibet:
Volkanovski: 1.79
Topuria: 2.02

Pretty far from 3.5 
I rarely bet nowadays but if it goes above 2.5 for Ilia, I probably will throw some quids on him. He's got what it takes to beat Volk, both in terms of physical abilities and mentality.

So what is the recent news re UFC 300? Google search is showing some weird things for Gaethje Vs Holloway. It's not clear if the fight is confirmed or canceled.
I must be quite behind as I had no clue they were matched against eachother

I like to bet it riskier and to bet on Underdog and if the Underdog could bear fangs because I think that Ilia Topuria is a dangerous opponent for Volkanovski. and knowing that I think this is a great opportunity for the risk taker in my opinion, and Topuria surely has the potential to prove himself against Volkanovski, I am truly excited about what may happen with this fight,

While the Justin Gaethje VS Max Holloway will still be ongoing and not canceled if you googled it aswell what I find interesting is the Main Event for the UFC 300 was now Weili Zhang VS Xiaonan Yan which it doesn't look great at all for an Anniversary event and the Main Event would be this one, no offense for women fighters but I would like to see an exciting match.

[pawel7777]

I like to bet it riskier and to bet on Underdog and if the Underdog could bear fangs because I think that Ilia Topuria is a dangerous opponent for Volkanovski. and knowing that I think this is a great opportunity for the risk taker in my opinion, and Topuria surely has the potential to prove himself against Volkanovski, I am truly excited about what may happen with this fight,

I agree with the exception that the odds are simply not attractive enough. x2.02 is hardly an underdog, it's more of an even fight according to bookies.

While the Justin Gaethje VS Max Holloway will still be ongoing and not canceled (...)

Yup, they updated it and the fight is no longer showing as cancelled.

(...) I find interesting is the Main Event for the UFC 300 was now Weili Zhang VS Xiaonan Yan which it doesn't look great at all for an Anniversary event and the Main Event would be this one, no offense for women fighters but I would like to see an exciting match.

I don't think women should be fighting in mma at all, but currently there are 2 main events, plus, Weili Zhang VS Xiaonan Yan may not be exciting to you or me, but both of them are Chinese so potentially it could bring a lot of views from their fellow countrymen. I understand mma is getting more popular in China, so it could be a way for the UFC to expand.

[Synchronice]

^  What's the line on Topuria?  If it's anything crazy like 3.50 then you're like forced to bet on him because it's starting to go into price that's going to be +EV.  Even if you lose, if the opportunity comes up again, the right move is to make the bet.  :/

Do you mean odds? I just checked odds on flashscore and the history of odds look like this:
Previous odds: Volkanovski - 1.53 || Topuria - 2.63
Current odds: Volkanovski - 1.91 || Topuria 1.91

It seems, bookmakers keen towards Topuria. I look at the comments and Topuria had higher odds, I think 1.91 will be the final odd or if they increase Volk's odds and decrease Topuria's odds, that will be a huge mental shock for Volk. It probably already is when it moves from 1.53 to 1.91 and you are getting anticipated. Many people even compare this fight to Aldo - McGregor.

[notblox1]

It seems, bookmakers keen towards Topuria. I look at the comments and Topuria had higher odds, I think 1.91 will be the final odd or if they increase Volk's odds and decrease Topuria's odds, that will be a huge mental shock for Volk. It probably already is when it moves from 1.53 to 1.91 and you are getting anticipated. Many people even compare this fight to Aldo - McGregor.

Volkanovski is favorite to win but some people are saying he is too old to fight in same level with Topuria so he made great funny video for this, and you must watch it.
It is only two minutes long so you wont waste time, and he did a good job acting and making fun of himself, and I think he earned some money from casino for doing this:
https://youtu.be/C2nsn2uzWog