🥊 The UFC Info and Prediction Thread

[TopTort777]

Strickland Vs Costa wasn't as much of a dog fight as expected but was still OK. Costa had a good tactic of getting out of Sean's way and chopping him with those calf kicks, but he needed to take a risk and go all in in the last rounds, but that just didn't happen as he was just too gassed out.

Despite a loss, Dustin has nothing to be ashamed of after that fight and probably has gained a lot in the eyes of the fans and the UFC. Both gave a really good show. But situation in the lightweight gets a bit complicated. Islam wants to move up to face the winner of Leon/Belal, is not looking to fight Tsarukyan, but says he will if that's what the UFC wants him to do.
Poirier has announced his "half-retirement", meaning he probably won't be looking any regular fights, unless there's something on the line there. Since he's not getting a title fight anytime soon, this probably leaves only a fight for the BMF belt with Holloway, which would make sense as both had a great fight first time around. But I believe Holloway was set for a title shot against Topuria, so this might not happen. The other option I see for Dustin, is to get another high profile win against someone from the top 5, and hoping that Islam will lose to Arman (if they'll fight at all) and then he could get his final fight for the 155 belt against Arman.

You liked Costa vs Strickland fight? I personally dont. There were better fights in the card. In their fights I saw that Strickland mostly threw jabs and front kick (leg jab lol). And only in last round fighters switched on fighting mode. For me it was a boring UD by Strickland. In fact, wtf is with Costa? He used to be a brutal 1 round finisher, pumped beast that attacks from very start. Now his fights are long lasting fights, decision>decision>decision...

[Polkeins]

This is what we have been waiting for the time has finally come and indeed Islam Makhachev vs Dustin Poirier is the main fight that has been eagerly awaited, they have created their own hype in the fight for the lightweight title.
In my opinion, their fight is much more interesting and more important than Paulo Costa vs Sean Strickland.

In the end we can see how Islam Makhachev fights and shows his ambition in defending his title for the third time because this is very important fight for Islam Makhachev.
But on the other hand, Poirier will try to fight as best as possible and get win in order to become the undisputed champion.
In just matter of hours we will see how they fight for the title, I will still make Islam Makhachev the favorite.

For Poirier it was the most important fight in his career, because for him it was the third attempt to take the title and he spent it perfectly, but Islam Makhachev was objectively stronger and it is logical that he still ended the fight with a choke hold, but still Poirier did everything to protect himself from the transfer to the floor, defended desperately, but apparently in the 5th round was not enough strength and Makhachev fulfilled to the end of his plan.
It should be noted that Makhachev looked very good in the standup, although before the fight it seemed that Poirier was much stronger in the standup and his punching power is better than Makhachev's, but Makhachev was able to surprise everyone when he looked equal or even better than Poirier in the standup.

Their faces say it all. But does anybody think it's the new gloves the UFC? It looks like it's all foam inside there.
Dustin must have been exhausted in defending all the attempts to go behind him, it looks very tight in the 5th round, and he taps. There's still more than 2 mins left and Islam still has the gas. Not quite what I expected. Strickland vs Costa seems the most expected result.

Oleksie didn't tap but Herb Dean stepped in to stop the fight. They tend to make the rules safer for fighters.   

Poirier hit Makhachev's head a couple of times very well and it was obvious that Makhachev was losing a lot of blood, so Poirier did a lot of damage, but as you rightly say he just didn't have enough strength and although it's more likely that Makhachev would have won by referee's decision, but still Poirier had some chances to win or at least draw, but he couldn't hold on for the last 2 minutes.

Herb Dean kept Oleksie healthy because it's not clear how long he will recover his arm now, because the painful hold was extremely tough and Oleksie held on for more than 20 seconds, which is a lot in such a situation.

[tokeweed]

Here's the roster for the next event.  It's not that good but it's not that bad either.  Pretty much average but there are a couple of good match ups in there...

Besides the main event, can't wait to watch Rosas, Brunno Ferriera, Baeza vs Soriano could be a banger and what could be the best match up for the event is Moises vs Klein.

Date:  Saturday, June 8
Main Card (ESPN/ESPN+):  6:00pm EST
Preliminary Card (ESPN/ESPN+):  4:00pm EST
Venue:  KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Kentucky
Live Streams:  




Main Card (ESPN/ESPN+)
Middleweight:  Jared Cannonier vs Nassourdine Imavov            
Light Heavyweight:  Dominick Reyes vs Dustin Jacoby            
Bantamweight:  Raul Rosas Jr vs Ricky Turcios            
Middleweight:  Brunno Ferreira vs Dustin Stoltzfus            
Middleweight:  Julian Marquez vs Zachary Reece            
Welterweight:  Miguel Baeza vs Punahele Soriano

Preliminary Card (ESPN/ESPN+)
Lightweight:  Thiago Moises vs Ludovít Klein            
Welterweight:  Charles Radtke vs Carlos Prates            
Women's Flyweight:  Andrea Lee vs Montana De La Rosa            
Bantamweight:  Brad Katona vs Jesse Butler            
Bantamweight:  John Castañeda vs Daniel Marcos            
Women's Strawweight:  Eduarda Moura vs Denise Gomes            
Bantamweight:  Cody Stamann vs Taylor Lapilus            
Women's Strawweight:  Rayanne dos Santos vs Puja Tomar

[Pumared]

Strickland Vs Costa wasn't as much of a dog fight as expected but was still OK. Costa had a good tactic of getting out of Sean's way and chopping him with those calf kicks, but he needed to take a risk and go all in in the last rounds, but that just didn't happen as he was just too gassed out.

Despite a loss, Dustin has nothing to be ashamed of after that fight and probably has gained a lot in the eyes of the fans and the UFC. Both gave a really good show. But situation in the lightweight gets a bit complicated. Islam wants to move up to face the winner of Leon/Belal, is not looking to fight Tsarukyan, but says he will if that's what the UFC wants him to do.
Poirier has announced his "half-retirement", meaning he probably won't be looking any regular fights, unless there's something on the line there. Since he's not getting a title fight anytime soon, this probably leaves only a fight for the BMF belt with Holloway, which would make sense as both had a great fight first time around. But I believe Holloway was set for a title shot against Topuria, so this might not happen. The other option I see for Dustin, is to get another high profile win against someone from the top 5, and hoping that Islam will lose to Arman (if they'll fight at all) and then he could get his final fight for the 155 belt against Arman.

You liked Costa vs Strickland fight? I personally dont. There were better fights in the card. In their fights I saw that Strickland mostly threw jabs and front kick (leg jab lol). And only in last round fighters switched on fighting mode. For me it was a boring UD by Strickland. In fact, wtf is with Costa? He used to be a brutal 1 round finisher, pumped beast that attacks from very start. Now his fights are long lasting fights, decision>decision>decision...

Yes, there were better fights but Strickland is showing his potential in each fight, he is awkward when fighting and it takes a while to get into the fight, but it is his game and it ends up being interesting to watch.

[LogitechMouse]

Strickland Vs Costa wasn't as much of a dog fight as expected but was still OK. Costa had a good tactic of getting out of Sean's way and chopping him with those calf kicks, but he needed to take a risk and go all in in the last rounds, but that just didn't happen as he was just too gassed out.
~

You liked Costa vs Strickland fight? I personally dont. There were better fights in the card. In their fights I saw that Strickland mostly threw jabs and front kick (leg jab lol). And only in last round fighters switched on fighting mode. For me it was a boring UD by Strickland. In fact, wtf is with Costa? He used to be a brutal 1 round finisher, pumped beast that attacks from very start. Now his fights are long lasting fights, decision>decision>decision...

I find it boring as well. I guess the 4 inch reach advantage of Strickland made it hard for Costa to land some punches all throughout the fight.

What bothers me is the judge that scored 49-46 in favor of Costa. I mean if you watched the whole fight, you will see that Strickland have the control almost the whole fight. Maybe there are times, but most of the time, Strickland is the one that is landing some huge punches so I wonder who that judge is, and whoever that judge is, I hope that they will not get him anymore because he's a bit bias on that one. After the match, I really thought that it would be a Unanimous decision in favor of Strickland, but I just surprised that it ended up as a Split Decision.

Anyway, am I the only one who find the fighting position of Strickland kind of awkward. 2 hands at the top all the time. He's like a moving wood, but it works for him so... yeah. I just find it different compared to other fighters.

[bittraffic]

Strickland Vs Costa wasn't as much of a dog fight as expected but was still OK. Costa had a good tactic of getting out of Sean's way and chopping him with those calf kicks, but he needed to take a risk and go all in in the last rounds, but that just didn't happen as he was just too gassed out.
~

You liked Costa vs Strickland fight? I personally dont. There were better fights in the card. In their fights I saw that Strickland mostly threw jabs and front kick (leg jab lol). And only in last round fighters switched on fighting mode. For me it was a boring UD by Strickland. In fact, wtf is with Costa? He used to be a brutal 1 round finisher, pumped beast that attacks from very start. Now his fights are long lasting fights, decision>decision>decision...

I find it boring as well. I guess the 4 inch reach advantage of Strickland made it hard for Costa to land some punches all throughout the fight.

The leg-up defense is very effective in making Costa back away every time. This leg-up defense can also be a counterkick making Costa think twice. This is the same strategy he is doing but outboxed Izzy as well. It's boring, Sean is always pushing Costa to the corner so his jabs are more effective that his opponent can't move away.

What bothers me is the judge that scored 49-46 in favor of Costa.

That judge is influenced by Rogan. Rogan has been making comments over hyping Costa like Sean is about to go down. 

[Pumared]

Strickland Vs Costa wasn't as much of a dog fight as expected but was still OK. Costa had a good tactic of getting out of Sean's way and chopping him with those calf kicks, but he needed to take a risk and go all in in the last rounds, but that just didn't happen as he was just too gassed out.
~

You liked Costa vs Strickland fight? I personally dont. There were better fights in the card. In their fights I saw that Strickland mostly threw jabs and front kick (leg jab lol). And only in last round fighters switched on fighting mode. For me it was a boring UD by Strickland. In fact, wtf is with Costa? He used to be a brutal 1 round finisher, pumped beast that attacks from very start. Now his fights are long lasting fights, decision>decision>decision...

I find it boring as well. I guess the 4 inch reach advantage of Strickland made it hard for Costa to land some punches all throughout the fight.

What bothers me is the judge that scored 49-46 in favor of Costa. I mean if you watched the whole fight, you will see that Strickland have the control almost the whole fight. Maybe there are times, but most of the time, Strickland is the one that is landing some huge punches so I wonder who that judge is, and whoever that judge is, I hope that they will not get him anymore because he's a bit bias on that one. After the match, I really thought that it would be a Unanimous decision in favor of Strickland, but I just surprised that it ended up as a Split Decision.

Anyway, am I the only one who find the fighting position of Strickland kind of awkward. 2 hands at the top all the time. He's like a moving wood, but it works for him so... yeah. I just find it different compared to other fighters.

I agree with you, this judge needed to see very small things, details of the details to be able to have some kind of argument and it still won't be valid to justify this score. Anyone who watched it can say that Strickland was superior at all times.

[TopTort777]

Anyone wants here wants to discuss Poirier vs Makhachev fight? I've seen some stats: Makhachev tried 16 takedowns and only 5 of them were successful. That is around 30% of success. People say that this is the worst result in Makhachevs career. Does it means that Poirier TD defence has improved, or he was focused on them to much (as he has landed quite a few strikes in this fight imho). Anyway, people compare Islam and Khabib, and say that Islam is a copy or follower of Khabib. But Khabib was better. I never saw any damage on Khabibs face.

[Google+]

Anyone wants here wants to discuss Poirier vs Makhachev fight? I've seen some stats: Makhachev tried 16 takedowns and only 5 of them were successful. That is around 30% of success. People say that this is the worst result in Makhachevs career. Does it means that Poirier TD defence has improved, or he was focused on them to much (as he has landed quite a few strikes in this fight imho). Anyway, people compare Islam and Khabib, and say that Islam is a copy or follower of Khabib. But Khabib was better. I never saw any damage on Khabibs face.

We know that the fighting style possessed by Islam may be almost similar to Khabib's fighting style so far and of course Poirier who has also been defeated by Khabib certainly understands a little bit to anticipate attacks from Islam, yesterday match was really quite exciting and although Islam did get pressure from Poirier but he was really like Khabib who only had to wait for the right moment to make a slam and strangle that ended the fight For Islam victory, I think Poirier was only a little unlucky in the fight because throughout the round he was able to provide resistance and also a strong defense in repelling Islam attacks.

Islam managed to follow in the footsteps of his compatriot and mentor in defending the UFC championship belt, actually we can't compare Khabib with Islam, because both of course have their own advantages in fighting, in my opinion, compared to Islam, of course Khabib is superior because so far Khabib has ended his career in the UFC with an undefeated record, besides that isn't Islam a junior from Khabib so it is often Kali Islam received training from Khabib in his training, although Islam has now managed to defend his championship belt, but in my opinion Khabib is still superior and complex with grappling and ground pound fights so far.

[FinePoine0]

Strickland Vs Costa wasn't as much of a dog fight as expected but was still OK. Costa had a good tactic of getting out of Sean's way and chopping him with those calf kicks, but he needed to take a risk and go all in in the last rounds, but that just didn't happen as he was just too gassed out.

Despite a loss, Dustin has nothing to be ashamed of after that fight and probably has gained a lot in the eyes of the fans and the UFC. Both gave a really good show. But situation in the lightweight gets a bit complicated. Islam wants to move up to face the winner of Leon/Belal, is not looking to fight Tsarukyan, but says he will if that's what the UFC wants him to do.
Poirier has announced his "half-retirement", meaning he probably won't be looking any regular fights, unless there's something on the line there. Since he's not getting a title fight anytime soon, this probably leaves only a fight for the BMF belt with Holloway, which would make sense as both had a great fight first time around. But I believe Holloway was set for a title shot against Topuria, so this might not happen. The other option I see for Dustin, is to get another high profile win against someone from the top 5, and hoping that Islam will lose to Arman (if they'll fight at all) and then he could get his final fight for the 155 belt against Arman.

You liked Costa vs Strickland fight? I personally dont. There were better fights in the card. In their fights I saw that Strickland mostly threw jabs and front kick (leg jab lol). And only in last round fighters switched on fighting mode. For me it was a boring UD by Strickland. In fact, wtf is with Costa? He used to be a brutal 1 round finisher, pumped beast that attacks from very start. Now his fights are long lasting fights, decision>decision>decision...

They took enough time in this match to move to the next step. Although more or less attacked first, it was one of the sights for the fans. But towards the end of the game they both attacked heavily Costa though was a little weak in attack but the opponents were strong

[tokeweed]

Anyone wants here wants to discuss Poirier vs Makhachev fight? I've seen some stats: Makhachev tried 16 takedowns and only 5 of them were successful. That is around 30% of success. People say that this is the worst result in Makhachevs career. Does it means that Poirier TD defence has improved, or he was focused on them to much (as he has landed quite a few strikes in this fight imho). Anyway, people compare Islam and Khabib, and say that Islam is a copy or follower of Khabib. But Khabib was better. I never saw any damage on Khabibs face.

If Makhachev is gonna bring the of performance that we saw last weekend vs Tsarukyan then Makhachev better watch out.  But there are words swirling around that Makhachev wants the winner of Leon Edwards vs Belal Muhammad...  So we'll see.  If the UFC allows him to go at 170 then it's prolly best to give Tsarukyan a chance to fight for an interim title at 155.  That at least would give him a pay increase.

Here's a fight vid of Cannonier going at it vs Vettori.

UFC Free Fight:  Cannonier vs Vettori
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBWBwgzP8bE

Who you guys got for the main event this coming weekend?

[BALIK]

Anyone wants here wants to discuss Poirier vs Makhachev fight? I've seen some stats: Makhachev tried 16 takedowns and only 5 of them were successful. That is around 30% of success. People say that this is the worst result in Makhachevs career. Does it means that Poirier TD defence has improved, or he was focused on them to much (as he has landed quite a few strikes in this fight imho). Anyway, people compare Islam and Khabib, and say that Islam is a copy or follower of Khabib. But Khabib was better. I never saw any damage on Khabibs face.

We know that the fighting style possessed by Islam may be almost similar to Khabib's fighting style so far and of course Poirier who has also been defeated by Khabib certainly understands a little bit to anticipate attacks from Islam, yesterday match was really quite exciting and although Islam did get pressure from Poirier but he was really like Khabib who only had to wait for the right moment to make a slam and strangle that ended the fight For Islam victory, I think Poirier was only a little unlucky in the fight because throughout the round he was able to provide resistance and also a strong defense in repelling Islam attacks.

Islam managed to follow in the footsteps of his compatriot and mentor in defending the UFC championship belt, actually we can't compare Khabib with Islam, because both of course have their own advantages in fighting, in my opinion, compared to Islam, of course Khabib is superior because so far Khabib has ended his career in the UFC with an undefeated record, besides that isn't Islam a junior from Khabib so it is often Kali Islam received training from Khabib in his training, although Islam has now managed to defend his championship belt, but in my opinion Khabib is still superior and complex with grappling and ground pound fights so far.

As expected this fight has ended in favor of Islam Makhachev. It was a round five submission from Makhachev. Almost everyone expected that if Makhachev is the winner of this fight it is going to be through a submission. But of course, it was not easy for him to win. First of all, I have to say the condition of Makhachev is absolutely incredible. When his opponent looked like tired he looked like he was not even out of breath. Secondly and most importantly he just did not go for takedown one after another. He was actually standing there and boxing against a boxer. That was truly incredible to see.

Dustin_broke_his_nose

Makhachev_injured a lot

Both fighters got hurt but in the end, Islam Makhachev was the winner through submission. And it was a very clever submission. If it was any other fighter and he was bleeding like that, it would have definitely had a bigger effect on his fighting but not Islam Makhache. A true fighter and a true prodigy of Khabib .

[OgNasty]

What’s going on with Conor McGregor all the sudden? It looks like they’ve stopped including him in any advertising for the PPV event. Makes me wonder if Conor has pulled out or something. Maybe I’m just out of the loop to what’s going on but I suspect this week will bring some explanations because this is a pretty big event not that far away…

[cabron]

^^
I thought Dana wasn't really considering Islam to be a p4p no. 1 despite his win with Dustin. In the ranking, Islam ranked up and Jones moved down to no. 2.  

What’s going on with Conor McGregor all the sudden? It looks like they’ve stopped including him in any advertising for the PPV event. Makes me wonder if Conor has pulled out or something. Maybe I’m just out of the loop to what’s going on but I suspect this week will bring some explanations because this is a pretty big event not that far away…

Must be true the ESPN pulled the marketing down.

There's been lots of marketing on his coming fight but Conor has even partnered with Duelbits but looks like he deliberately trying to make this fight cancelled. He's been partying like crazy and they are saying that he isn't doing training. It could be that he knew already the result of the fight which is him lying on the ground with a broken face from Chandler's front kick.

[pawel7777]

You liked Costa vs Strickland fight? I personally dont. There were better fights in the card. In their fights I saw that Strickland mostly threw jabs and front kick (leg jab lol). And only in last round fighters switched on fighting mode. For me it was a boring UD by Strickland. In fact, wtf is with Costa? He used to be a brutal 1 round finisher, pumped beast that attacks from very start. Now his fights are long lasting fights, decision>decision>decision...

I'm not saying it was the best fight, but it was decent. I get that some people want to see high-intensity brawls, but this is also a sport, not only a show business, so the primary goal for fighters is to win. And both needed the win. Costa's team knew that going for a brawl will benefit Strickland, so had to come up with a different strategy. The plan wasn't bad but id didn't work.

As for Costa going to the distance more often, it's a general tendency that the higher the level of competition, the harder it is to get a finish. Plus, the more there is at stake, the less risk the fighters are willing to take.

What bothers me is the judge that scored 49-46 in favor of Costa. I mean if you watched the whole fight, you will see that Strickland have the control almost the whole fight. Maybe there are times, but most of the time, Strickland is the one that is landing some huge punches so I wonder who that judge is, and whoever that judge is, I hope that they will not get him anymore because he's a bit bias on that one. After the match, I really thought that it would be a Unanimous decision in favor of Strickland, but I just surprised that it ended up as a Split Decision.

I strongly suspected that the judge in question (Dave Tirelli) simply confused the sides of the scoring sheet and was scoring it the wrong way around. But Strickland without a doubt won the last round and he correctly gave it to him, so I don't know.

[OgNasty]

What’s going on with Conor McGregor all the sudden? It looks like they’ve stopped including him in any advertising for the PPV event. Makes me wonder if Conor has pulled out or something. Maybe I’m just out of the loop to what’s going on but I suspect this week will bring some explanations because this is a pretty big event not that far away…

Must be true the ESPN pulled the marketing down.

There's been lots of marketing on his coming fight but Conor has even partnered with Duelbits but looks like he deliberately trying to make this fight cancelled. He's been partying like crazy and they are saying that he isn't doing training. It could be that he knew already the result of the fight which is him lying on the ground with a broken face from Chandler's front kick.

I’m still waiting to hear more about it. After seeing recent interviews with Conor I thought his career was already over. He seems like he’s addicted to some bad drugs… I was surprised he was able to make a deal to fight again in the UFC and I’m not surprised it’s already falling apart. As much as I want to see prime Conor (and prime Mike Tyson) fight again, I think it’s time to accept that he is not the fighter or the person he was before the injury.

[fuguebtc]

You liked Costa vs Strickland fight? I personally dont. There were better fights in the card. In their fights I saw that Strickland mostly threw jabs and front kick (leg jab lol). And only in last round fighters switched on fighting mode. For me it was a boring UD by Strickland. In fact, wtf is with Costa? He used to be a brutal 1 round finisher, pumped beast that attacks from very start. Now his fights are long lasting fights, decision>decision>decision...

Strickland might be a terrible human being but he is definitely a good fighter. His striking game is definitely one of the best. and in this fight, it definitely looked like he was able to win all the rounds. Maybe it was not convincing enough for some. But I think he was definitely able to win all the rounds. By the way, I did not expect anything less from this fight. Strickland actually got hurt on his leg even though it did feel like nothing happened to his leg. But Costa was definitely landing those leg kicks. Strickland was always going forward and putting pressure on his opponent and was also doing really well to counter when his opponent tried to attack him. Even though it was a split decision,  it should have been a unanimous decision.

[Pumared]

What’s going on with Conor McGregor all the sudden? It looks like they’ve stopped including him in any advertising for the PPV event. Makes me wonder if Conor has pulled out or something. Maybe I’m just out of the loop to what’s going on but I suspect this week will bring some explanations because this is a pretty big event not that far away…

Must be true the ESPN pulled the marketing down.

There's been lots of marketing on his coming fight but Conor has even partnered with Duelbits but looks like he deliberately trying to make this fight cancelled. He's been partying like crazy and they are saying that he isn't doing training. It could be that he knew already the result of the fight which is him lying on the ground with a broken face from Chandler's front kick.

I’m still waiting to hear more about it. After seeing recent interviews with Conor I thought his career was already over. He seems like he’s addicted to some bad drugs… I was surprised he was able to make a deal to fight again in the UFC and I’m not surprised it’s already falling apart. As much as I want to see prime Conor (and prime Mike Tyson) fight again, I think it’s time to accept that he is not the fighter or the person he was before the injury.

It's all really sudden. Both the fight and his injury now, very close to everything. I hope he can recover, because him being away ends up being a bad thing for the UFC, despite everything he's a good fighter and we all lose with him out.

[TopTort777]

You liked Costa vs Strickland fight? I personally dont. There were better fights in the card. In their fights I saw that Strickland mostly threw jabs and front kick (leg jab lol). And only in last round fighters switched on fighting mode. For me it was a boring UD by Strickland. In fact, wtf is with Costa? He used to be a brutal 1 round finisher, pumped beast that attacks from very start. Now his fights are long lasting fights, decision>decision>decision...

I'm not saying it was the best fight, but it was decent. I get that some people want to see high-intensity brawls, but this is also a sport, not only a show business, so the primary goal for fighters is to win. And both needed the win. Costa's team knew that going for a brawl will benefit Strickland, so had to come up with a different strategy. The plan wasn't bad but id didn't work.

As for Costa going to the distance more often, it's a general tendency that the higher the level of competition, the harder it is to get a finish. Plus, the more there is at stake, the less risk the fighters are willing to take.

Some people speculate that Costa slowly repeating Overeem history. When Overeem wasnt clean, he used to be huge, pumped and knock people out. During USADA period (btw who is testing fighters now?), Overeem was different. With Costa it looks similar. We dont know whole drama that happens in the shadows of UFC, but here is what I saw in media. We know that UFC sometimes give green flag to fight for fighters that isnt clean (like Lesnar for example). At the start of career, Costa wasnt clean, was knocking people in first rounds, generate money for UFC and it was ok. When he started asking for a raise, and disrupt fights, UFC warned him about his his dirty past, and now we get more or less clean Costa that ends fights by UD or isnt able to finish opponent.

If Makhachev is gonna bring the of performance that we saw last weekend vs Tsarukyan then Makhachev better watch out.  But there are words swirling around that Makhachev wants the winner of Leon Edwards vs Belal Muhammad...  So we'll see.  If the UFC allows him to go at 170 then it's prolly best to give Tsarukyan a chance to fight for an interim title at 155.  That at least would give him a pay increase.

I have also heard that Makhachev wants to move to next weight division. Imho both Edwards and Muhammad (who used to train with Khabib) wont be a problem for Islam.

[tokeweed]

I feel like Makhachev is a little bit small for 170 tho.  Edwards is 6'2" while Makhachev is at 5'10".  Muhammad is 5'11" but the guy is thick...  I don't think Makhachev could just rag doll Muhammad like he does all the guys at 155.  But all in all sure, would like to see him take a shot at 170 but would rather see him fight Tsarukyan first then move up.  But that's just me, I know there are a lot of guys who looove these double champ stuff.

Here's another free fight to watch before the next event.

UFC Free Fight:  Imavov vs Buckley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax9Gae3pTc8