🥊 The UFC Info and Prediction Thread

[yazher]

I don't know. Maybe it's just me not being huge fan of Aldo, in fact, he wasn't on my radar until he suffered that humiliating defeat to Conor, but I can easily name at least 5 other fights that would be much more interesting than Aldo.

He can still fight and that would be another good chance for Aldo to regain his honor because he was waiting for that chance and wanted to prove once again, after all, it was just a slight mistake underestimating McGregor's punch and taking it as if he gonna survive with that. he got knocked out and prove made McGregor an instant celebrity after that fight which really pissed him off, he can take his revenge now while still having the opportunity to land for a good fight in the UFC, he should not waste such a thing or else he will bring that "what if" mindset until he retired.

[jakelyson]

To be honst, I don't understand why fans want to see McGregor fights. He is not a fighter anymore, he is retired, good old days are gone, does it bring them pleasure to see how once great fighter loses every time? He wants to become Tony Ferguson V2.

I am more confused actually why some fans still want to see Conor McGregor fight inside the octagon I rather see Jose Aldo and even Derrick Lewis inside the octagon than Conor McGregor but for sure Conor McGregor is the hype king and we can not take it out on him as many people want to see his antics and because of that he is beloved by his fans it could be negative for people like us but some people Conor McGregor is a definition of a not boring fighter for them.

Jon Jones' decision to come back will depend on his injury and if he feels like fighting.  The UFC could give fighters some offers, but the final say is always the fighters' decision.  So knowing Jones, he'll prolly come back at the end of the year.  Who the opponent might be is up in the air...  Hope it's not Miocic now.  All this wait just to see him vs Miocic?  Lmao, no thanks.

Here's another replay...

UFC Free Fight:  Lewis vs Browne
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqvNmba46H0

Anyway looking at closer at the event, it could be underdog city.  :/  Parlay busters all around.

Doing this I really don't know if some fans will likely forget about Jon Jones because of the time of his absence but we all know that we have defeated Cyril Gane after his long break from the UFC so maybe he will likely do it again, actually, I am not a fan of Jon Jones and surely that fight against Ciryl Gane that is the 1st fight that I have seen him or the fight that I have known him since my interest in the MMA world so yeah it is not that great and it is OK for me if he would not really return in the UFC and make Tom Aspinall the real champion.

Mainly age and the fact that he got really bloated after that injury, to the point he doesn't even look like the same person. He might have lost some weight recently and improve his shape, but it's just not the same.

Those thin chicken legs, but for sure he will change his appearance depending on the things he does, and if he does not return soon enough maybe his fans will forget about him, or maybe not, but yeah even with his long break there are still fans that wants to see him fight inside te octagon.

[Pumared]

If I'm not mistaken, there are three categories that are still very still, right? Which would be Jon Jones's and two others that I can't remember now. What are the UFC's plans to move? Will they bring Jones back?

Jon Jones' decision to come back will depend on his injury and if he feels like fighting.  The UFC could give fighters some offers, but the final say is always the fighters' decision.  So knowing Jones, he'll prolly come back at the end of the year.  Who the opponent might be is up in the air...  Hope it's not Miocic now.  All this wait just to see him vs Miocic?  Lmao, no thanks.

Knowing Jones, chances that he will fcuk up and do something stupid are higher than chances he will return this year I am not in Jones fan club, so I dont want for his return, not expect anything from it. For me, it seems that he will be looking for easy fight, for big cheque, for special contract. So he will get something like old Stipe, finish him in first rounds and disappear for few years again to chill with his millions. Why UFC will give him Stipe? Because of big name. Why not Aspinal, Pavlovich? Because they can win, and if they win, UFC milking cow can be send to burgers.

Precisely, Jones is very protected by his past. And if he is fighting today or has any morals, it is still precisely because of his past. I have no doubt that his next defense fight will be a year apart from the previous fight.

[TopTort777]

I am more confused actually why some fans still want to see Conor McGregor fight inside the octagon

That confuses me for a long period also. For me it is obvious that Conor has no motivation or interest to fighting anymore. It is kind ambitious that are pushing him all the time. He is in a trap of his image. He can't fall flat on his face. He must keep his badass, biggest mouth, money hype image. But in his last fight we see a boring guy who is not hungry anymore. How much tickets cost for McGregor vs Chandler? I have heard that around 2k and they were sold out instantly. I would never ever pay so much to look on a fighter who isnt in his prime, isnt motivated. Instead I would better buy a licensed dvd (if there are such) with his past fight during prime.

[Synchronice]

Cutting weight is risky though, riskier for Conor, especially on short notice becuase brain dehydration is the first to be affected, and wouldn't recover fast even after drinking a barrel of water the night before the fight. But they could ask for 6 months as well like the preparation for Chandler's fight.

A rematch with Aldo would still be a huge money to be made. After Aldo won in Rio, several fighters expressed their interest in fighting him including Sean Omalley. Win or lose this is a big opportunity for Aldo and for whoever he fights.

I guess, at his age it would be very risky, especially after everything he has done, I mean, drug abuse. Extreme cutting is extremely dangerous for heart and kidneys, it destroys both organs and sometimes when they cut too much, blood is very dehydrated, prone to clotting.

I am more confused actually why some fans still want to see Conor McGregor fight inside the octagon I rather see Jose Aldo and even Derrick Lewis inside the octagon than Conor McGregor but for sure Conor McGregor is the hype king and we can not take it out on him as many people want to see his antics and because of that he is beloved by his fans it could be negative for people like us but some people Conor McGregor is a definition of a not boring fighter for them.

He has too many fans. I don't know why but besides kids, adults are his fans too. I know a person who is a well-grown adult and is still his fan till this day and thinks he is the coolest person in this universe. There are many like him. By the way, I'll never forget Dana White's face when he says word Connor. He can't hide his smile.

[tokeweed]

Jon Jones' decision to come back will depend on his injury and if he feels like fighting.  The UFC could give fighters some offers, but the final say is always the fighters' decision.  So knowing Jones, he'll prolly come back at the end of the year.  Who the opponent might be is up in the air...  Hope it's not Miocic now.  All this wait just to see him vs Miocic?  Lmao, no thanks.

I've lost the track on recent heavyweight affairs. I thought the fight with Miocic got pushed back and it's a done deal. But then we have Jones asking fans on twitter who should he be fighting next (Aspinall or Alex Pereira), so I don't know.
All I know is Tom should just ignore Jones if he doesn't want to fight him, and move on. The best fight for him would be Alex Pereira if they allow him to move up, other than that, Cyril Gane could be a good fight. In the meantime, Pavlovich should get a fight or two, and if he does well, we could see Aspinall Vs Pavlovich 2.

Hmmm...  Actually I'd rather watch Aspinall vs. Pereira than Jones vs Aspinall at this point.  But I think it's just mind games from Jones.  He wants to agitate Aspinall.  Everybody knows Aspinall is next after Miocic or if Jones keep stalling the division, he's need to vacate and the UFC will need to officially make Aspinal HW champ. 

Ceremonial weigh ins will start in around 9 hours.  I can't find the YT stream for the live weigh ins...  If anybody has it please post it itt.  Thanks.

UFC Fight Night:  Lewis vs Nascimento Ceremonial Weigh In
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBVTuZbPi_0

[pawel7777]

Hmmm...  Actually I'd rather watch Aspinall vs. Pereira than Jones vs Aspinall at this point.  But I think it's just mind games from Jones.  He wants to agitate Aspinall.  Everybody knows Aspinall is next after Miocic or if Jones keep stalling the division, he's need to vacate and the UFC will need to officially make Aspinal HW champ. 

Nah, despite all the negative things that can be said about him, Jones is still one of the best fighters the world has ever seen, so he's by far the best possible opponent for Aspinall, both from sport and money perspective. But if Jones keeps it stalling for too long, he will eventually get too old and it will just not be the same. Just like nobody is hyped to see Miocic, despite him having great record and only losing to the best etc.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think we've ever seen a situation when, upon return, the original champion does not fight the interim champ but someone else instead, and still gets to keep his belt. That kind of negates the entire concept of interim belts, creating a split in the weight class where 2 belts exist in parallel.

[Pumared]

Hmmm...  Actually I'd rather watch Aspinall vs. Pereira than Jones vs Aspinall at this point.  But I think it's just mind games from Jones.  He wants to agitate Aspinall.  Everybody knows Aspinall is next after Miocic or if Jones keep stalling the division, he's need to vacate and the UFC will need to officially make Aspinal HW champ. 

Nah, despite all the negative things that can be said about him, Jones is still one of the best fighters the world has ever seen, so he's by far the best possible opponent for Aspinall, both from sport and money perspective. But if Jones keeps it stalling for too long, he will eventually get too old and it will just not be the same. Just like nobody is hyped to see Miocic, despite him having great record and only losing to the best etc.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think we've ever seen a situation when, upon return, the original champion does not fight the interim champ but someone else instead, and still gets to keep his belt. That kind of negates the entire concept of interim belts, creating a split in the weight class where 2 belts exist in parallel.

Maybe so, but what kind of best fighter of all time is that one who fights once a year? He's good, but he should show more of his performance, many fighters in the past simply didn't stop regardless of their condition/age etc.

[Hanadawa]

Maybe so, but what kind of best fighter of all time is that one who fights once a year? He's good, but he should show more of his performance, many fighters in the past simply didn't stop regardless of their condition/age etc.

Correct me if I'm wrong. Jones being the best fighter of all time is because of the report card he has. No. #1 P4P for several years, the record for most title defenses in history, the record for most title shots in UFC history, in fact almost all of his fights were for the belt. And became the youngest champion in UFC history. I think this is a crazy record that is hard for anyone else to break. And if I ignore his 1 loss due to disqualification I think we have one fighter with a record of 27 wins in a row. There have been some controversial fights such as against Thiago Santos and Dominick Reyes but history has been written.

I actually didn't like it when Jon Jones never fought Ngannou and went with Gane. Everyone knows Gane's poor wrestling ability and Jones seems to pick an easy opponent. This is the same as today when Jones called out Miocic with the title Goat vs Goat. I agree Miocic was the goat of the heavyweight class but his era is over. Miocic is already 40 years old so I don't think this can be called goat vs goat.

[cabron]

Maybe so, but what kind of best fighter of all time is that one who fights once a year? He's good, but he should show more of his performance, many fighters in the past simply didn't stop regardless of their condition/age etc.

Correct me if I'm wrong. Jones being the best fighter of all time is because of the report card he has. No. #1 P4P for several years, the record for most title defenses in history, the record for most title shots in UFC history, in fact almost all of his fights were for the belt. And became the youngest champion in UFC history. I think this is a crazy record that is hard for anyone else to break. And if I ignore his 1 loss due to disqualification I think we have one fighter with a record of 27 wins in a row. There have been some controversial fights such as against Thiago Santos and Dominick Reyes but history has been written.

I actually didn't like it when Jon Jones never fought Ngannou and went with Gane. Everyone knows Gane's poor wrestling ability and Jones seems to pick an easy opponent. This is the same as today when Jones called out Miocic with the title Goat vs Goat. I agree Miocic was the goat of the heavyweight class but his era is over. Miocic is already 40 years old so I don't think this can be called goat vs goat.

I think Jon is not fighting anymore. It seems like he already wasted lots of his energy looking for boy toys in a bar lol Hope that rumor is not real actually. It's just too much to think about the dirty talk he did on stage.

He should fight actually but not Miocic, we already know the result of this. Aspinall is waiting for him and even Alex Pereira is willing to go up if there is just an assurance he'd be given a fight in the HW. He is the only one who could do skipp not fight for a year while not pissing Dana off, I'm beginning to think they are in a complicated relationship as well.  

[tokeweed]

Hmmm...  Actually I'd rather watch Aspinall vs. Pereira than Jones vs Aspinall at this point.  But I think it's just mind games from Jones.  He wants to agitate Aspinall.  Everybody knows Aspinall is next after Miocic or if Jones keep stalling the division, he's need to vacate and the UFC will need to officially make Aspinal HW champ.  

Nah, despite all the negative things that can be said about him, Jones is still one of the best fighters the world has ever seen, so he's by far the best possible opponent for Aspinall, both from sport and money perspective. But if Jones keeps it stalling for too long, he will eventually get too old and it will just not be the same. Just like nobody is hyped to see Miocic, despite him having great record and only losing to the best etc.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think we've ever seen a situation when, upon return, the original champion does not fight the interim champ but someone else instead, and still gets to keep his belt. That kind of negates the entire concept of interim belts, creating a split in the weight class where 2 belts exist in parallel.

Mmm never said he wasn't any good.  All I'm saying is sooner or later he should be stripped off the title to keep the division moving.  It shouldn't stall just for Jon Jones and knowing the UFC, if a fighter is causing something that's bad for business, they will move on.  And the funny thing is the UFC will get a lot for it from 'the fans'.  Well boohoo and if they stop being 'fans' of the UFC then good riddance.

Anyway, I think I change my mind on Buckley...  The other guy could win it.  He's way bigger than Buckley.     Everybody could see it in the face off.

UFC Fight Night:  Lewis vs Nascimento Face Off
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ2J3ChUEVU

Last call...

UFC on ESPN 56:  Multi Master Challenge
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5495557.0

As far as betting goes, I'm thinking of Ricci at 1.67, Borshchev at 1.75 and Rebecki, Lewis parlay at 2. NFA.

[tokeweed]

Here are the results for the event.  All in all it was decent.  There were a couple of quick finishes in there which makes you jump up your seat and yell.  There's just nothing like it esp the Ribovics one.

Derrick Lewis def Rodrigo Nascimento  TKO R3
Joaquin Buckley def Nursulton Ruziboev  UD
Carlos Ulberg def Alonzo Menifield  KO R1
Carlos Diego Ferreira def Mateusz Rębecki  TKO R3
Sean Woodson def Alex Caceres   Decision  UD
Waldo Cortes-Acosta def Robelis Despaigne  UD
Chase Hooper def Viacheslav Borshchev  SUB R2
Esteban Ribovics def Terrance McKinney  KO R1
Tabatha Ricci def Tecia Pennington  SD
Trey Waters def Billy Goff  UD
Charles Johnson def Jake Hadley  UD
Veronica Hardy def JJ Aldrich  UD

Here's the post fight press conference.  Haven't watched it yet but I think Dana White is in there.  Good to listen to him for what's next in the UFC.  It's always entertaining with him around. 

UFC Fight Night:  Lewis vs Nascimento Post Fight Press Conference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8G1YccmWNM

As for what I learned with this set of matches.  Mmm...  Jake Hadley is really not as good as they said him to be.  He's prolly be out of the UFC aftee his next match if he still has a fight left in his contract.

Chase Hooper has improved a lot.  Like a whole lot.  Can't wait to see him back in there again.

And never parlay if one of the legs is 1.60 or better.  Rebecki the pie shtter burned me for chasing the 2.  Should've just went straight with Lewis at 1.60.

[pawel7777]

Derrick Lewis delivered big time. Despite his age and self-admitted poor cardio, he managed to pace himself well enough to make it to round 3 when he KO'd Nascimento.
It wasn't a masterclass performance by either of them but fairly entertaining. A much-needed win for Lewis, who, before that fight, had lost 4 out of the last 5 fights. Now he's back in the game, although I don't think he'll be moved up in the ranks.

To me, the biggest upset was Mateusz Rebecki's loss to Ferreira. Rebecki was a big favourite and it was his chance to break into the top 15 in the most entertaining weight-class in the UFC, but he lost by TKO in rd 3. Hope he'll bounce back as he has potential.

[Ayers]

Derrick Lewis won his fight against Rodrigo. It was a knockout. It was also a heavyweight fight so I did not think this was going to go the distance.

Buckley won against Nursulton. This went to the decision by the way.

Alonzo v Ulberg was definitely the craziest finish in this fight night. Ulberg knocked out his opponent in 12 seconds of the first round. Definitely one of the quickest finishes ever.

Really looking forward to see the UFC 302. I am definitely not going to miss the event and also the main event.

[Pumared]

Maybe so, but what kind of best fighter of all time is that one who fights once a year? He's good, but he should show more of his performance, many fighters in the past simply didn't stop regardless of their condition/age etc.

Correct me if I'm wrong. Jones being the best fighter of all time is because of the report card he has. No. #1 P4P for several years, the record for most title defenses in history, the record for most title shots in UFC history, in fact almost all of his fights were for the belt. And became the youngest champion in UFC history. I think this is a crazy record that is hard for anyone else to break. And if I ignore his 1 loss due to disqualification I think we have one fighter with a record of 27 wins in a row. There have been some controversial fights such as against Thiago Santos and Dominick Reyes but history has been written.

I actually didn't like it when Jon Jones never fought Ngannou and went with Gane. Everyone knows Gane's poor wrestling ability and Jones seems to pick an easy opponent. This is the same as today when Jones called out Miocic with the title Goat vs Goat. I agree Miocic was the goat of the heavyweight class but his era is over. Miocic is already 40 years old so I don't think this can be called goat vs goat.

The problem in my view is that Jones is over his past, and simply doesn't want to fight anymore. If that's what he wants, he should definitely retire and let his category run, as him standing still on top of his glory and doing nothing will only hinder new fighters.

[TopTort777]

UFC Fight Night: Barboza vs. Murphy



Date: May 18, 2024
Preliminary Card : Sun, May 19 / 2:00 AM GMT+3
Main Card: SUN, May 18 / 2:00 AM GMT+3

Venue: UFC Apex

Main card (ESPN)
Featherweight: Edson Barboza vs. Lerone Murphy            
Welterweight: Khaos Williams vs. Carlston Harris            
Light Heavyweight: Oumar Sy vs. Antonio Trócoli            
Bantamweight: Adrian Yanez vs. Vinicius Salvador            
Women's Strawweight: Luana Pinheiro vs. Angela Hill   

Preliminary card (ESPN)
Welterweight: Themba Gorimbo vs. Ramiz Brahimaj            
Middleweight: Abusupiyan Magomedov vs. Warlley Alves            
Lightweight: Victor Martinez vs. Tom Nolan            
Women's Strawweight: Piera Rodriguez vs. Ariane Carnelossi            
Women's Strawweight: Vanessa Demopoulos vs. Emily Ducote   

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC_Fight_Night:_Barboza_vs._Murphy

[tokeweed]

^  Somewhat of a decent event...  Main event should be good.  Co main with Williams vs Harris should be good too and there's Yanez vs Salvador, Magomedov vs Alves.  It's not a stacked card but as I keep saying...  Better than nothing.  Lol.

Here's a promo vid just to add some hype into it.  Who do you guys got for the main event?

UFC Fight Night:  Barboza vs Murphy Promo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhxKzBIl1n4

Derrick Lewis delivered big time. Despite his age and self-admitted poor cardio, he managed to pace himself well enough to make it to round 3 when he KO'd Nascimento.
It wasn't a masterclass performance by either of them but fairly entertaining. A much-needed win for Lewis, who, before that fight, had lost 4 out of the last 5 fights. Now he's back in the game, although I don't think he'll be moved up in the ranks.

To me, the biggest upset was Mateusz Rebecki's loss to Ferreira. Rebecki was a big favourite and it was his chance to break into the top 15 in the most entertaining weight-class in the UFC, but he lost by TKO in rd 3. Hope he'll bounce back as he has potential.

The thing with Lewis is even though he's gassed and tired, he could still carry the power in the later rounds.  He did it in his match vs Volkov and a couple of other guys.  So I'm not totally surprised at all.

[TopTort777]

Once again I am amazed to see Barboza fighting. I think I have been observing him fighting forever. He was fighting when Cerrone was in prime, Ferguson, Khabib. To bad he did not get top opponents today. I think will fit well in current top11-top15. In fact, by looking on him, he does not look old somehow, nor tired from sport.

[pawel7777]

The problem in my view is that Jones is over his past, and simply doesn't want to fight anymore. If that's what he wants, he should definitely retire and let his category run, as him standing still on top of his glory and doing nothing will only hinder new fighters.

I wouldn't go as far as to say he doesn't want to fight. He's an odd guy and it's hard to figure what's his ultimate goal, if there's any. He had a very intensive career when he was in his early twenties, fighting very often, which resulted in him reaching for the belt at only 23. From that perspective, it's hard to blame him if he wants to slow down and cherry-pick the few fights he has left in him. But then again, he wasted a lot of time being suspended and was inactive for like 3 years when he was bulking up for the heavyweight.
I think he became conscious of his age and the fact that he didn't have much time left in the sport, so he eventually got himself together and decided to come back. He fought Gane in March 2023 and was scheduled to fight Stipe in Nov 2023, two fights in a year is what you'd normally expect from an active fighter. Unfortunately, he got injured and that's beyond his control.
He's probably not as confident as he once was, likely due to most of his latest light-heavyweight bouts being won by decision rather than finishes, with some fights being very close ones. So I don't expect him to agree to fight anyone on short notice, he'd probably require a minimum of 6-7 months to prepare.
As for him being scared of fighting Tom - right now it might look like it, but I've seen some analysis explaining that it makes sense for him to wait till Tom has 1-2 more high profile fights to get him much more hyped-up, so if the fight actually happens, it'll be huge. To be fair, there aren't any better options for Jones, other than maybe Alex Pereira.

So, to summarise, the best option for Jones, money and legacy-wise is to: fight Stipe first (he will be rusty after the injury and Stipe should be easy + still have a name), next: Alex Pereira (if he doesn't lose until then), in a meantime, Tom could beat Gane + maybe one other guy and get more recognition so they could do a mega-fight: Jones Vs. Aspinall. Then he could retire.

[Pumared]

The problem in my view is that Jones is over his past, and simply doesn't want to fight anymore. If that's what he wants, he should definitely retire and let his category run, as him standing still on top of his glory and doing nothing will only hinder new fighters.

I wouldn't go as far as to say he doesn't want to fight. He's an odd guy and it's hard to figure what's his ultimate goal, if there's any. He had a very intensive career when he was in his early twenties, fighting very often, which resulted in him reaching for the belt at only 23. From that perspective, it's hard to blame him if he wants to slow down and cherry-pick the few fights he has left in him. But then again, he wasted a lot of time being suspended and was inactive for like 3 years when he was bulking up for the heavyweight.
I think he became conscious of his age and the fact that he didn't have much time left in the sport, so he eventually got himself together and decided to come back. He fought Gane in March 2023 and was scheduled to fight Stipe in Nov 2023, two fights in a year is what you'd normally expect from an active fighter. Unfortunately, he got injured and that's beyond his control.
He's probably not as confident as he once was, likely due to most of his latest light-heavyweight bouts being won by decision rather than finishes, with some fights being very close ones. So I don't expect him to agree to fight anyone on short notice, he'd probably require a minimum of 6-7 months to prepare.
As for him being scared of fighting Tom - right now it might look like it, but I've seen some analysis explaining that it makes sense for him to wait till Tom has 1-2 more high profile fights to get him much more hyped-up, so if the fight actually happens, it'll be huge. To be fair, there aren't any better options for Jones, other than maybe Alex Pereira.

So, to summarise, the best option for Jones, money and legacy-wise is to: fight Stipe first (he will be rusty after the injury and Stipe should be easy + still have a name), next: Alex Pereira (if he doesn't lose until then), in a meantime, Tom could beat Gane + maybe one other guy and get more recognition so they could do a mega-fight: Jones Vs. Aspinall. Then he could retire.

For me, he would fight Poatan and, yes or no, he would retire right there. If he wins this fight it's a glorious retirement, if he loses he's had a great legacy with few defeats.

With this he lives off income being the UFC's poster boy. It's the ideal path