🥊 The UFC Info and Prediction Thread

[TopTort777]

I remember I was saying that Ankalaev will be Pereiras kryptonite. My thoughts were, Ankalaev; Dagestani; wrestling; no chances Pereira, as a kickboxer, would survive. But, I was wrong. Check out Ankalaev profile, take down attempt success 30%, and lower % of them were really useful. And recently I saw Pereira winning some (probably local) bjj championship. And remembered that he hangs out and trains with Texeira. No chance Ankalaev would win.

[tokeweed]

Pereira hasn't fought someone like Jones so that going to be a big puzzle for him when they fight.  Tom is not getting the belt easily, Dana is just not letting Jones go despite not being around anymore. The belt wasn't stripped either.

Poatan has become one of the "GOATS" in the UFC after successfully winning championship titles in 2 divisions. Alex Pereira is even said to be able to win 3 divisions because he has a unique body. It is very difficult for fighters to fight in 2 divisions because of the problem of a fighter's weight. Moreover, fighting in 3 divisions will require a fighter to cut or gain extreme weight.

But like you said there are a lot of great fighters in HW. Pereira must really prepare great endurance and stamina to fight Jones. He also had to prepare for better Jiujitsu and wrestling skills. Jones is a smart fighter who can exploit his opponent's weaknesses. Like when he beat Gane with his wrestling. I think even Jones will be able to win the match against Miocic because of the fact that Miocic is already 40 years old and of course Jones can take the match to the ground and wrestle which will drain a lot of Miocic's stamina.

Is it just me or would you guys also rather watch Aspinall vs Pereira than Jones vs Pereira?  And it would prolly work out on the end since Jones is still recovering from his shoulder injury and he'll be fighting Miocic when he gets back.  Aspinall on the other hand will have no opponent after his match vs Blaydes.  So why not Aspinall vs Pereira for the interim heavyweight strap?  Winner gets Jones.  That will make a lot of money too, so pretty sure there's a high possibility both guys will take it...  I hope.  Lol dunno tho.

But yeah, what do you guys think?

[TopTort777]

What about Gane and Volkov? Even if then met and Aspinal won via armabar, they possible can meet again, if (I suppose) Volkov would fight and win Gane. He would be on a series of 5 wins, quite a nice chance for a title fight. I think we wont live till we see Bones vs Aspital. I feel like Bones wants to finish Miocic (as an easy opponent), and retire. With his low motivation to fight, I dont see Bones being into business for a long period.

[cabron]

Pereira hasn't fought someone like Jones so that going to be a big puzzle for him when they fight.  Tom is not getting the belt easily, Dana is just not letting Jones go despite not being around anymore. The belt wasn't stripped either.

Poatan has become one of the "GOATS" in the UFC after successfully winning championship titles in 2 divisions. Alex Pereira is even said to be able to win 3 divisions because he has a unique body. It is very difficult for fighters to fight in 2 divisions because of the problem of a fighter's weight. Moreover, fighting in 3 divisions will require a fighter to cut or gain extreme weight.

But like you said there are a lot of great fighters in HW. Pereira must really prepare great endurance and stamina to fight Jones. He also had to prepare for better Jiujitsu and wrestling skills. Jones is a smart fighter who can exploit his opponent's weaknesses. Like when he beat Gane with his wrestling. I think even Jones will be able to win the match against Miocic because of the fact that Miocic is already 40 years old and of course Jones can take the match to the ground and wrestle which will drain a lot of Miocic's stamina.

Is it just me or would you guys also rather watch Aspinall vs Pereira than Jones vs Pereira?  And it would prolly work out on the end since Jones is still recovering from his shoulder injury and he'll be fighting Miocic when he gets back.  Aspinall on the other hand will have no opponent after his match vs Blaydes.  So why not Aspinall vs Pereira for the interim heavyweight strap?  Winner gets Jones.  That will make a lot of money too, so pretty sure there's a high possibility both guys will take it...  I hope.  Lol dunno tho.

But yeah, what do you guys think?

In an interview, Pereira says it doesn't make sense for him to chase an interim belt when he could go directly for a HW belt. Too confident to get that belt but if Tom wasn't booked to fight Jones, Pereira might not also get that shot. But business-wise I think Pereira would be Dana's choice between Tom and Pereira to fight Jones.

What about Stipe? If Chandler gets a reward for waiting Conor, Stripe would probably get a reward as well. This is money wasted for nothing to which Daana would rather be seeing Stipe vs Jones. Make Jones inactive again after this fight. 

Anka though is marketing himself over and over to fight Pereira standing. This is more exciting to watch by Nov-Dec since Pereira is planning to waste time too.

[pawel7777]

There's some news from Dustin Poirier on his future plans. Apparently he doesn't want to retire yet, he wants to do it with a win. He called out Nate Diaz, who, to me, would be a rather disappointing opponent for Dustin's last fight, but he's still popular and can sell a fight so not a bad call.
Diaz apparently didn't get paid for his last fight against Masvidal (and is suing the organiser), so who knows, he might go for that if the money is right.

A list of opponents that Poirier said he'd be happy to fight: Nate Diaz, Conor McGregor, Alexander Volkanovski, Justin Gaethje, Max Holloway, Charles Oliveira, and Colby Covington

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/ufc/dustin-poirier-retirement-next-fight-ufc-b2581158.html

[TopTort777]

How come Poirier plan to have a fight against Nate Diaz, if Diaz is no longer in UFC. And it seems, that Diaz was a pain Danas ass. I dont remember those two were in good relationships, and UFC were giving Diaz opponents he did not really wanted to fight. Ferguson who is old. Almost knocked out Edwards, but decided to slap and take a laugh instead (Diaz was thrown on Edwards like an easy fight). Not to mention he barely fought last years. No way UFC would sign Diaz for 3 fight contract again.

[tokeweed]

What about Gane and Volkov? Even if then met and Aspinal won via armabar, they possible can meet again, if (I suppose) Volkov would fight and win Gane. He would be on a series of 5 wins, quite a nice chance for a title fight. I think we wont live till we see Bones vs Aspital. I feel like Bones wants to finish Miocic (as an easy opponent), and retire. With his low motivation to fight, I dont see Bones being into business for a long period.

If you asked me that before Volkov vs Pavlovic, I'd so wtf are you thinking.  But after seeing how well Volkov did vs Pav, yeah that for sure is an intruiging match up.

And yeah, I'm also starting to think that we won't see Jones vs Aspinall too or Jones is prolly playing mind games.  Dunno...  I guess only time will tell.

Pereira hasn't fought someone like Jones so that going to be a big puzzle for him when they fight.  Tom is not getting the belt easily, Dana is just not letting Jones go despite not being around anymore. The belt wasn't stripped either.

Poatan has become one of the "GOATS" in the UFC after successfully winning championship titles in 2 divisions. Alex Pereira is even said to be able to win 3 divisions because he has a unique body. It is very difficult for fighters to fight in 2 divisions because of the problem of a fighter's weight. Moreover, fighting in 3 divisions will require a fighter to cut or gain extreme weight.

But like you said there are a lot of great fighters in HW. Pereira must really prepare great endurance and stamina to fight Jones. He also had to prepare for better Jiujitsu and wrestling skills. Jones is a smart fighter who can exploit his opponent's weaknesses. Like when he beat Gane with his wrestling. I think even Jones will be able to win the match against Miocic because of the fact that Miocic is already 40 years old and of course Jones can take the match to the ground and wrestle which will drain a lot of Miocic's stamina.

Is it just me or would you guys also rather watch Aspinall vs Pereira than Jones vs Pereira?  And it would prolly work out on the end since Jones is still recovering from his shoulder injury and he'll be fighting Miocic when he gets back.  Aspinall on the other hand will have no opponent after his match vs Blaydes.  So why not Aspinall vs Pereira for the interim heavyweight strap?  Winner gets Jones.  That will make a lot of money too, so pretty sure there's a high possibility both guys will take it...  I hope.  Lol dunno tho.

But yeah, what do you guys think?

In an interview, Pereira says it doesn't make sense for him to chase an interim belt when he could go directly for a HW belt. Too confident to get that belt but if Tom wasn't booked to fight Jones, Pereira might not also get that shot. But business-wise I think Pereira would be Dana's choice between Tom and Pereira to fight Jones.

What about Stipe? If Chandler gets a reward for waiting Conor, Stripe would probably get a reward as well. This is money wasted for nothing to which Daana would rather be seeing Stipe vs Jones. Make Jones inactive again after this fight.  

Anka though is marketing himself over and over to fight Pereira standing. This is more exciting to watch by Nov-Dec since Pereira is planning to waste time too.

Hah!  And that def means one thing...  He wants to fight the guy who'll bring him a lot more money and way up in the P4P rankings.  It's really the only thing to do.  Losing vs Aspinall has huge downside with not a lot of upside if Pereira wins.

[TopTort777]

The more I look on UFC 304 card, the more redicilous the fight between Aspinall and Blaydes is He is defending interim title This is even sound stupid. What next, defending a place in card with a none aired and official fight against someone?

Just realized, that we read Blaydes surname the same as "blades", and his nickname is razor, which seems to be one and the same thing Curtis "Blade" Blaydes

[notblox1]

I want to see Dustin Poirier in octagon again after losing big fights against Makhachev and Gaethje, this divison is packed.

Diaz apparently didn't get paid for his last fight against Masvidal (and is suing the organiser), so who knows, he might go for that if the money is right.

Are you talking about last boxing fight between Daz and Masvidal?
I didnt hear anything about that until now, this is $9 million owed to him by Solomon Engel and his company Fanmio.
Everything about that guy sounds fake and shady

[pawel7777]

How come Poirier plan to have a fight against Nate Diaz, if Diaz is no longer in UFC. And it seems, that Diaz was a pain Danas ass. I dont remember those two were in good relationships, and UFC were giving Diaz opponents he did not really wanted to fight. Ferguson who is old. Almost knocked out Edwards, but decided to slap and take a laugh instead (Diaz was thrown on Edwards like an easy fight). Not to mention he barely fought last years. No way UFC would sign Diaz for 3 fight contract again.

It's not like they have to offer him a 3 fight contract. They could easily do that as a one time thing only, if they wanted to.
But I'd be disappointed if Poirier fights Diaz as his final opponent. Even young Diaz was not on the level of the current top 5 lightweights. I know Poirier will be desperate to win it, but that's aiming too low.

Are you talking about last boxing fight between Daz and Masvidal?
I didnt hear anything about that until now, this is $9 million owed to him by Solomon Engel and his company Fanmio.
Everything about that guy sounds fake and shady

Yup, he's not getting that $9 mills as the promoter is rumoured to be going bankrupt to avoid the lawsuit.
The $9 mills figure was unrealistic anyway, there's no way boxing bout between 2 retired mma fighters would generate revenue high enough to justify it. I don't think Engel ever intended to pay him at all.

[tokeweed]

The more I look on UFC 304 card, the more redicilous the fight between Aspinall and Blaydes is He is defending interim title This is even sound stupid. What next, defending a place in card with a none aired and official fight against someone?

Just realized, that we read Blaydes surname the same as "blades", and his nickname is razor, which seems to be one and the same thing Curtis "Blade" Blaydes

But if we're talking about the money Tom Aspinall will be receiving, holding an interim championship strap will pay Aspinall higher than not holding any belt.  And it's a PPV event, he'll get PPV points too since he has a belt.  It's better than nothing.

And Aspinall prolly wants the match up since the previous match ended up with Aspinall blowing up his knee.  I'm really curious how Aspinall matches up with Blaydes and if Aspinall could defend TD's from a guy who's good at wrestling.

Here are the weigh in results.

Amanda Lemos (116) vs Virna Jandiroba (115.5)
Seungwoo Choi (145) vs Steve Garcia (144.5)
Kurt Holobaugh (155) vs Kaynan Kruschewsky (154)
Cody Durden (125.5) vs Bruno Silva (126)
Bill Algeo (146) vs Dooho Choi (146)
Hyder Amil (145) vs Jeong Yeong Lee (145.5)
Cody Gibson (136) vs Brian Kelleher (136)
Dione Barbosa (125.5) vs Miranda Maverick (125.5)
Trey Ogden (156) vs Loik Radzhabov (155.5)
Luana Carolina (125.5) vs Lucie Pudilova (126)
Thomas Petersen (258.5) vs Mohammed Usman (236.5)

Park vs Tavares has been cancelled.

UFC Fight Night:  Official Weigh In
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE7iHZolK7c

UFC Fight Night:  Face Off
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxaABnYB-tg

[tokeweed]

I missed the first three matches on the event as I thought it would start at 7:00pm ET...  :-/  So I started with Maverick vs Barbosa which was meh...  But then starting at Kelleher vs Gibson the event was a banger.  Even the one that ended with a decision was a banger.  Overall not bad for a Fight Night at the Apex imho. 

Here are the results...

Virna Jandiroba def Amanda Lemos  SUB R2
Steve Garcia def Choi Seung-woo  TKO R1
Kurt Holobaugh def Kaynan Kruschewsky  UD
Bruno Gustavo da Silva def Cody Durden  TKO R2
Choi Doo-ho def Bill Algeo  TKO R2
Hyder Amil def Lee Jeong-yeong  TKO R1
Cody Gibson def Brian Kelleher  SUB R1
Miranda Maverick def Dione Barbosa  UD
Trey Ogden def Loik Radzhabov  UD
Luana Carolina def Lucie Pudilova  UD
Thomas Petersen def Mohammed Usman  UD

[Hanadawa]

Pereira is not #2 in pound-for-pound ranking Bones is only third. Yesterday while watching YouTube, I have caught myself thinking where is Gane? He has started so active career. Every year he fought 2-3 times. Now, half of 2024 has passed and there is not even a single rumour about his next fight, not a single word. I dont remember him being injured or have controversies with UFC. Neither he wasnt released from UFC.

Cyril Gane was one of my favorite fighters when he debuted in the UFC. But it's a shame that Gane had a short career because he started his MMA career at the age of 28. I think this is really crazy because within 3 - 4 years of starting to train in MMA, Gane managed to enter the ranks of top level fighters in the UFC's heavyweight class. Yes, I also thought, where is Gane and why didn't I get any news about him? Did two defeats in the fight for the heavyweight belt make him mentally down? Gane is 34 years old and that means his chances of becoming champion will be even more difficult. Gane has the talent to be a fighter but unfortunately he still has to learn wrestling and that will take a long time. Gane's 2 losses to Ngannou and Jones were also due to wrestling and the ground game. I think everyone would be very disappointed if they lost twice in such an important battle.

[TopTort777]

34 years for a heavyweight isnt much. Many heavyweight fighters in roster are 40+, some managed to become champions at 40+.

Since we all love McGregor so much, I think we have missed the news when he has bought bare knuckle fighting championship promotion (at least I dont remember discussing it here). And he has already managed to fire Mike Perry (former UFC fighter, former king of violence champ (analogue of BMF probably lol )) for fighting against Jake Paul

[tokeweed]

Stacked card...  The main and the co main are just ok but the rest of the match ups in main card are really good imho.  I kinda like Manel Kape in this spot if he gets a good weight cut tbh.  And as the slight underdog.    But yeah...  All good match ups for the whole event except a couple ones with guys I do not know.  :-/

Date:  Saturday, July 27
Main Card (PPV):  10:00pm EST
Preliminary Card (ESPN/ESPN+):  8:00pm EST
Early Prelims (ESPN+/Fight Pass):  6:15pm EST
Venue:  Coop Live, Manchester
Live Streams:  



Main Card (PPV)
Welterweight:  Leon Edwards vs Belal Muhammad
Heavyweight:  Tom Aspinall vs Curtis Blaydes   
Lightweight:  Bobby Green vs Paddy Pimblett                  
Featherweight:  Arnold Allen vs Giga Chikadze   

Preliminary Card (ESPN/ESPN+)
Featherweight:  Nathaniel Wood vs Daniel Pineda            
Women's Strawweight:  Molly McCann vs Bruna Brasil            
Heavyweight:  Mick Parkin vs Łukasz Brzeski   

Early Prelims (ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass
Welterweight:  Oban Elliott vs Preston Parsons   
Flyweight:  Muhammad Mokaev vs Manel Kape               
Welterweight:  Sam Patterson vs Kiefer Crosbie            
Middleweight:  Christian Leroy Duncan vs Gregory Rodrigues            
Light Heavyweight:  Modestas Bukauskas vs Marcin Prachnio

Some vids...

UFC 304:  Countdown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMZEjU5aj-k

UFC 304:  Embedded Episode 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nHgu-VmFr8

[pawel7777]

Here are the odds for all of the main card fights:

Leon Edwards x1.44 vs. Belal Muhammad x2.80
Tom Aspinall x1.27 vs. Curtis Blaydes x3.80
Bobby Green x1.86 vs. Paddy Pimblett x1.94
Christian Leroy Duncan x1.70 vs. Gregory Rodrigues x2.15
Arnold Allen x1.38 vs. Giga Chikadze x3.05

Not the main card, but Mokaev has decent odds at 1.68 against Kape (x2.18).

[TopTort777]

Do you think we would see a new champion this weekend? Frankly, both, Belal and Edwards are not best options for being champions One is boring, other needs to be cheered during rounds as he does not believe in himself

I feel sure that Aspinall is going to finish Blaydes. Tom is simply way better than Blaydes. Blaydes, I dont know, that guy seems to be always near becoming a champ, but always looses his chance.

And God how I want Green to whoop Pimblett ass. Pimblett is way to much arrogant. A short film how Pimblett destroyed his reputation in 31 sec

[tokeweed]

^  I think Edwards gained a lot of confidence after his rematch vs Usman.  The match vs Covington sucked tho as it looks like Covington wasn't 100% when he took the fight.

Here are the odds for all of the main card fights:

Leon Edwards x1.44 vs. Belal Muhammad x2.80
Tom Aspinall x1.27 vs. Curtis Blaydes x3.80
Bobby Green x1.86 vs. Paddy Pimblett x1.94
Christian Leroy Duncan x1.70 vs. Gregory Rodrigues x2.15
Arnold Allen x1.38 vs. Giga Chikadze x3.05

Not the main card, but Mokaev has decent odds at 1.68 against Kape (x2.18).

Wow...  The winner of Mokaev vs Kape could fight for the title next and they schedule the match at the prelims..?  That's fcked up.  Lol.  Not to mention the disrespect.  But yeah, it is what it is.  Still glad we'll be seeing Mokaev finally tested by one of the better fighters in 125.  But the weigh cut...  Let's hope it's not going to be too bad for Kape.  He's always had this problem in the past.

[Hanadawa]

Do you think we would see a new champion this weekend? Frankly, both, Belal and Edwards are not best options for being champions One is boring, other needs to be cheered during rounds as he does not believe in himself
-snip-

I think I agree with what you said. Leon is a boring fighter because he is not explosive and tends to play it safe. But that seemed to be Leon's fighting style. What makes him great is that he mastered basic skills to the highest level. That's what made him the first fighter to successfully take down Kamaru Usman and lose his 100% takedown defense record. I think Leon is also the type of fighter who really carries out his team's game plan. It makes the fight "seem" boring but a win is still a win.
To be honest, I don't know much about Belal. He is one of the top 10 at welterweight. I just knew Belal was the type of fighter who needed to be encouraged.  . CMIIW

[TopTort777]

Do you think we would see a new champion this weekend? Frankly, both, Belal and Edwards are not best options for being champions One is boring, other needs to be cheered during rounds as he does not believe in himself
-snip-

I think I agree with what you said. Leon is a boring fighter because he is not explosive and tends to play it safe. But that seemed to be Leon's fighting style. What makes him great is that he mastered basic skills to the highest level. That's what made him the first fighter to successfully take down Kamaru Usman and lose his 100% takedown defense record. I think Leon is also the type of fighter who really carries out his team's game plan. It makes the fight "seem" boring but a win is still a win.
To be honest, I don't know much about Belal. He is one of the top 10 at welterweight. I just knew Belal was the type of fighter who needed to be encouraged.  . CMIIW

I am not surprised As Belal is really a boring fighter. Check out his record. I think I had more finishes in my school backyard fighting career than Belal in his professional fighting career And I cant explain what is wrong with him. He trains with the best, always talk about finishing his opponent. But during fight he is to much cautious, fights from defence, prefers control over risk, have pillow fists.