🥊 The UFC Info and Prediction Thread

[TopTort777]

So its pictures, video from the doc and nothing much official. First of all I dont want to protect Gane somehow (btw people have forgotten about him and talk only about Aspinall injury, but dont talk about dirty fighting by Gane), but Aspinall reaction is very strange imho. He is a professional fighter, that was not his first fight, he has gained so much damage during his career, but that eye poke was so  damaging, that Tom keeps on making excuses day by day. I might be wrong about him, because I was never eye poked like that, but I have seen others being eye poked in sport and they continued training and competing.



Reddit is ruthless

[Synchronice]

The UFC is turning into a joke.

Out of the three: Arman, Justin and Paddy, it was Arman who was the most deserving to fight for the interim in the UFC 324.
I hear Paddy expressed his willingness to face Arman next, should he defeat Justin, but demands that Arman fights and wins another fight. Paddy has little to no say in the matchmaking though, and I wouldn't trust his word. If he wins the interim belt, Topuria will be next in line, unless he decides to extend his absence.

But there are more controversies. In the UFC 325, we're going to see Volkanovski Vs Lopes 2. They either screwed Evloev big time, or maybe he refused to fight (which I doubt). Evloev is the number one contender and he defeated Lopes back in 2023.

This is definitely ridiculous. Okay, Justin makes sense but Paddy? And the winner of Justin VS Paddy fights for the Lightweight Title? That doesn't make sense. How on earth Paddy deserves to fight for the title but not Arman Tsarukyan? Dana White is punishing him but punishment of this level is insane, he doesn't deserve it, he fought very well against Dan Hooker (funny surname though).

I bet that Paddy VS Topuria is not a super fight as many think. First of all, there is really no beef between them, they are very friendly. Once, there was a beef but not now. I would say that today, Arman VS Ilia would sell much better than Paddy VS Topuria but that might be only me thinking that way, who knows Me, as an MMA fan, would definitely want to see Arman against Topuria, that will be an amazing match.

[tokeweed]

^  Meh...  I don't know about you guys, but I'd def watch a 'champ vs champ' match up between Topuria and Pimblett.  These guys have bad blood going on for as long as both of them went in the UFC.    I think it's about time they go inside the cage and beat each other up.  Lolol.  Can't wait. 

That's prolly one of the match ups in the White House event?  It could prolly even be in Spain at the Santiago Bernabeu...  That would be huuuge!!!  I don't care what all you whiners say. 

[Pumared]

So its pictures, video from the doc and nothing much official. First of all I dont want to protect Gane somehow (btw people have forgotten about him and talk only about Aspinall injury, but dont talk about dirty fighting by Gane), but Aspinall reaction is very strange imho. He is a professional fighter, that was not his first fight, he has gained so much damage during his career, but that eye poke was so  damaging, that Tom keeps on making excuses day by day. I might be wrong about him, because I was never eye poked like that, but I have seen others being eye poked in sport and they continued training and competing.

Reddit is ruthless

I think that's the problem with this category. It seems like all the big winners in this category always fight to stay in it at all costs, even creating this kind of thing. Before, he complained about Jones, now he's doing the same. And what he should do now is accept the memes and try to remind all those people criticizing him that Gane was to blame. He can move people just like he did with Jones.

[trendcoin]

^  Meh...  I don't know about you guys, but I'd def watch a 'champ vs champ' match up between Topuria and Pimblett.  These guys have bad blood going on for as long as both of them went in the UFC.  :D :D  I think it's about time they go inside the cage and beat each other up.  Lolol.  Can't wait. 

That's prolly one of the match ups in the White House event?  It could prolly even be in Spain at the Santiago Bernabeu...  That would be huuuge!!!  I don't care what all you whiners say.  :D

Yeah huuuge... :) It is like watching the sunset. But the sun sets every day. So, it is nothing special. In fact, it is been happening for about 4 billion years. So, how can something with a predictable outcome be exciting? However, the fight between Arman and Ilia won't be like that. It will be a fight filled with apocalyptic, chaotic scenarios. So, I don't think the UFC is giving us the best fight. The one most excited about this situation should be Ilia. I'm sure he is more happy than Paddy... :)

[Pumared]

^  Meh...  I don't know about you guys, but I'd def watch a 'champ vs champ' match up between Topuria and Pimblett.  These guys have bad blood going on for as long as both of them went in the UFC.    I think it's about time they go inside the cage and beat each other up.  Lolol.  Can't wait. 

That's prolly one of the match ups in the White House event?  It could prolly even be in Spain at the Santiago Bernabeu...  That would be huuuge!!!  I don't care what all you whiners say. 

Yeah huuuge... It is like watching the sunset. But the sun sets every day. So, it is nothing special. In fact, it is been happening for about 4 billion years. So, how can something with a predictable outcome be exciting? However, the fight between Arman and Ilia won't be like that. It will be a fight filled with apocalyptic, chaotic scenarios. So, I don't think the UFC is giving us the best fight. The one most excited about this situation should be Ilia. I'm sure he is more happy than Paddy...

I'm almost certain that the UFC organization and Dana White personally are angry with Arman because of his near-fight against Islam. It was a very big event and they must have lost a lot there, which he's probably still paying for with that kind of punishment. It was even the fight where Moicano was the replacement fighter, if I'm not mistaken, that was one of the ugliest things to watch.

[trendcoin]

I'm almost certain that the UFC organization and Dana White personally are angry with Arman because of his near-fight against Islam. It was a very big event and they must have lost a lot there, which he's probably still paying for with that kind of punishment. It was even the fight where Moicano was the replacement fighter, if I'm not mistaken, that was one of the ugliest things to watch.

Yes. Nina injured Arman's back before that fight (https://x.com/Ninadrama/status/1992236874224762909). Nina is an agent specially trained for these kinds of missions. She had also done something to Alex before he lost to Ankalaev. She has only been unable to do anything to Merab so far, despite trying... :)

If Islam fights Morales, we will see a great fight, but if he fights Usman, I will say again damn it, what are the UFC and Dana planning again? I want to see the best fight. Ilia at his best, Arman at his best, if they fight now, we will see a great fight...

Arman couldn't make weight for the Islam fight, so he used his injury as an excuse. Many fighters have been through this before. So, it's not the end of the world. I think punishing Arman is a very emotional approach or an attempt to promote Ilia, which is ridiculous to me...

[notblox1]

We have a decent looking fight card in UFC this weekend, and I hope you made predictions for Rainbet UFC prediction competition: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5567122.0

I checked the bookmakers odds and Dvalishvili is a huge favorite, but I am expecting to see much closer fight and full five rounds against Petr Yan.
There are other good fights, and it is worth tuning on early to watch prelims because of Marvin Vettori vs Brunno Ferreira fight.

[pawel7777]

@pawel7777. This might be a joke for you, however, this is not a joke on uncle Dana's business. Similar to what I have argued before, why would uncle Dana let Paddy the baddy and Arman fight if they are both having a high rank that will be enough to fight the champion, the big headed Topuria?

In any case, if Topuria will not come back for a longer time, I reckon the UFC will certainly let Arman fight the lightweight interim champion. I predict that Paddy the baddy will win against Justin Gaethje with a rear naked choke!

There are some speculations that Topuria's family issues break is the UFC's deliberate action to prop up Paddy and to create a massive build-up and maximise profits. Personally, I don't think that's true, but it's definitely not impossible.
Sports-wise, Arman should get the shot next, or they should allow Topuria to fight Islam (if he really wants to) but that wouldn't be the most optimal move in terms of money-making potential. Ilia Vs Islam would be big, but it would also be a one time event, after which one of them would lose his invincible aura. Arman Vs Ilia wouldn't be as profitable as say Paddy Vs Ilia, and Arman as a champion is not something the UFC wants to see.

Strangely enough, Arman seems to be gaining on this whole situation. Despite his rather off-putting personality (or at least that's how the media like to portray him), mma fans are moving on his side and demand to see him fighting for the belt. People have a natural sympathy towards those who are treated unfairly etc.

[TopTort777]

^  Meh...  I don't know about you guys, but I'd def watch a 'champ vs champ' match up between Topuria and Pimblett.  These guys have bad blood going on for as long as both of them went in the UFC.    I think it's about time they go inside the cage and beat each other up.  Lolol.  Can't wait. 

That's prolly one of the match ups in the White House event?  It could prolly even be in Spain at the Santiago Bernabeu...  That would be huuuge!!!  I don't care what all you whiners say. 

Yeah huuuge... It is like watching the sunset. But the sun sets every day. So, it is nothing special. In fact, it is been happening for about 4 billion years. So, how can something with a predictable outcome be exciting? However, the fight between Arman and Ilia won't be like that. It will be a fight filled with apocalyptic, chaotic scenarios. So, I don't think the UFC is giving us the best fight. The one most excited about this situation should be Ilia. I'm sure he is more happy than Paddy...

I'm almost certain that the UFC organization and Dana White personally are angry with Arman because of his near-fight against Islam. It was a very big event and they must have lost a lot there, which he's probably still paying for with that kind of punishment. It was even the fight where Moicano was the replacement fighter, if I'm not mistaken, that was one of the ugliest things to watch.

Then UFC are making that punishment for too long. If they really wanted to punish him, then it strange that Arman was preparing to replace Topuria/Oliveira if anyone got injured. If they really wanted to punish him, they would not have given Hooker who was #6, would force him to fight someone low ranked. It is hard to understand logic of such punishment. Making him not to fight or give opponents that would not give any rank or respect points, that would be real punishment

[tokeweed]

^  Meh...  I don't know about you guys, but I'd def watch a 'champ vs champ' match up between Topuria and Pimblett.  These guys have bad blood going on for as long as both of them went in the UFC.    I think it's about time they go inside the cage and beat each other up.  Lolol.  Can't wait.  

That's prolly one of the match ups in the White House event?  It could prolly even be in Spain at the Santiago Bernabeu...  That would be huuuge!!!  I don't care what all you whiners say.  

Yeah huuuge... It is like watching the sunset. But the sun sets every day. So, it is nothing special. In fact, it is been happening for about 4 billion years. So, how can something with a predictable outcome be exciting? However, the fight between Arman and Ilia won't be like that. It will be a fight filled with apocalyptic, chaotic scenarios. So, I don't think the UFC is giving us the best fight. The one most excited about this situation should be Ilia. I'm sure he is more happy than Paddy...

Bro..  Sunsets are awesome even if you see them everyday.  Like cherry blossoms blooming during the spring in Japan.  They're all perfect and beautiful.  

But as for the UFC, pretty sure Topuria vs Tsarukyan will happen after Topuria vs Pimblett.  And I'm ok with that.  I just wanna watch these guys throw leather and make some bets.  So not really sure what everybody is whining about.

UFC 323:  Pre Fight Press Conference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWcZ2eygmKU

[TopTort777]

It was a surprise for me to find out that this is going to be Merabs 4th fight this year. For the 4th time he is doing weigh cutting btw. Is that good for health? I dont remember any other champion that fought so many times in one year. Usually champs defend their title 0-2 times a year That could be a flag to bet against champ, but not in Merabs case To bad I did not save link with statistics, but rarely former champs get their belts back. That is another flag for those who wants to bet on Merab. Merab already built name in UFC, even if the fight will be close, no one would give Yan victory. Yan can win only by KO, and last time he did that was 2020. Another flag

[trendcoin]

...
Strangely enough, Arman seems to be gaining on this whole situation. Despite his rather off-putting personality (or at least that's how the media like to portray him), mma fans are moving on his side and demand to see him fighting for the belt. People have a natural sympathy towards those who are treated unfairly etc.

When I watch the UFC, I never consider geographical rivalries or religious differences, so I never had any hatred towards Arman, but as a Turk, I can mention the sympathy towards Arman that has been rising in Turkish discussion groups on Twitter. So, I think your observation is largely correct. I didn't feel the need to explain, but relations between the Armenian people and the Turkish people or between the Greek people and the Turkish people are often not good. If sympathy for Arman is growing even here, I'm sure there's even more support among more neutral people...

Also, he recently said that he was training with his Azerbaijani friends in Russia. He said something like, “If it is just sports, I'm in, but if other topics are going to be discussed, then no.” So, I think he is a rational man...

In fact, even if he didn't finish Dana with an RNC, he deserves to be called a rational man. If I were in his place, I wouldn't be able to decide which was more logical... :) If someone is going to do this one day, why shouldn't that person be me? :)

[TopTort777]

Btw there is another guy who is treated unfairly in UFC. I am talking about Movsar Evloev. He has now #1 of featherweight, has 8 wins in a row, victory over former bantamweight champ, victory over Lopes, and UFC matchmakers made Volkanovski vs Lopes 2... Why not give Evloev a chance? A victory over #11 gave Lopes another title shot, when victory over #5 does not give that opportunity. Because Evloev is modest that makes him less attractive for title fight ?

[Synchronice]

So its pictures, video from the doc and nothing much official. First of all I dont want to protect Gane somehow (btw people have forgotten about him and talk only about Aspinall injury, but dont talk about dirty fighting by Gane), but Aspinall reaction is very strange imho. He is a professional fighter, that was not his first fight, he has gained so much damage during his career, but that eye poke was so  damaging, that Tom keeps on making excuses day by day. I might be wrong about him, because I was never eye poked like that, but I have seen others being eye poked in sport and they continued training and competing.

What he does right now about his eye poke is really strange Did you watch his TikTok video where he walks outside? You think it's his another walk video where he talks about fight? The funny thing is that this time we walks with dark sunglasses Who wears dark sunglasses? People with eye problems and more specifically, blind people. This is crazy Now he is really making excuses. I don't support what Gane did but Tom's videos speak themselves.

^  Meh...  I don't know about you guys, but I'd def watch a 'champ vs champ' match up between Topuria and Pimblett.  These guys have bad blood going on for as long as both of them went in the UFC.    I think it's about time they go inside the cage and beat each other up.  Lolol.  Can't wait. 

That's prolly one of the match ups in the White House event?  It could prolly even be in Spain at the Santiago Bernabeu...  That would be huuuge!!!  I don't care what all you whiners say. 

In that fight, there is no way these guys beat each other. I would say that Topuria beats Paddy and that's it Paddy has zero chance against Topuria.
By the way, I think that Topuria VS Islam will be the best fight. Double Champion against Double Champion, has this ever happened in UFC? I don't remember.

It was a surprise for me to find out that this is going to be Merabs 4th fight this year. For the 4th time he is doing weigh cutting btw. Is that good for health? I dont remember any other champion that fought so many times in one year. Usually champs defend their title 0-2 times a year That could be a flag to bet against champ, but not in Merabs case To bad I did not save link with statistics, but rarely former champs get their belts back. That is another flag for those who wants to bet on Merab. Merab already built name in UFC, even if the fight will be close, no one would give Yan victory. Yan can win only by KO, and last time he did that was 2020. Another flag

Is that good for health? Hell no, that's devastating. Such an extreme weight cuts negatively affect heart, kidney, endocrine system and the whole body. At the moment, his testosterone levels might be at kid's or old grandpa's levels because of these brutal weight cuts and especially with the frequency that he did them. But that's not everything, this guy plans to protect his belt for 5 times in 2026. 5 times, can you imagine? That's really crazy! There is no way anyone beats 5 title defense record in UFC.

[tokeweed]

It was a surprise for me to find out that this is going to be Merabs 4th fight this year. For the 4th time he is doing weigh cutting btw. Is that good for health? I dont remember any other champion that fought so many times in one year. Usually champs defend their title 0-2 times a year That could be a flag to bet against champ, but not in Merabs case To bad I did not save link with statistics, but rarely former champs get their belts back. That is another flag for those who wants to bet on Merab. Merab already built name in UFC, even if the fight will be close, no one would give Yan victory. Yan can win only by KO, and last time he did that was 2020. Another flag

I think overall Dvalishvilli is more like a Khabib kind of guy.  So I wouldn't worry much about the weight cut for now.  I'll still treat it like his past fights.  Business as usual. 

And his opponent is Yan, who's a slow starter.  That's prolly a couple of rounds assured for Dvalishvilli in the first three.  The championship rounds will be a different scenario as Yan prolly could make the necessary adjustments and try to win those rounds.

But overall I lean Dvalishvilli via DEC.

The upset could be the Pantoja fight.

[TopTort777]

Weight cutting actually was a real problem for Khabib 2/3 times his fight against Ferguson was cancelled due health issues during weight cuts Recently saw Dvalishvilli video where he smells pizza, but eats vegetables during his weight cuts With Khabib, its always his whole team around, sauna, bath, cardio. Always something difficult, when Dvalishvilli is making fun out of all that

[pawel7777]

(...) but I have seen others being eye poked in sport and they continued training and competing.

It's almost like not all eye pokes are the same. One can be a slight inconvenience while other could be a life-changing injury.

Media are reporting that Aspinall was diagnosed with a rear eye condition resulting from that poke(s): a bilateral Brown’s syndrome (as per article linked below "a rare condition where the eye cannot move upwards, particularly when looking inward"). On top of that, he's still suffering from persistent double vision, reduced eye motility and substantial field loss.
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/ufc/tom-aspinall-eye-injury-update-ufc-b2875460.html

Looks like he might need a surgery. If that's the case, I don't think we'll see him anytime soon.

[Pumared]

(...) but I have seen others being eye poked in sport and they continued training and competing.

It's almost like not all eye pokes are the same. One can be a slight inconvenience while other could be a life-changing injury.

Media are reporting that Aspinall was diagnosed with a rear eye condition resulting from that poke(s): a bilateral Brown’s syndrome (as per article linked below "a rare condition where the eye cannot move upwards, particularly when looking inward"). On top of that, he's still suffering from persistent double vision, reduced eye motility and substantial field loss.
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/ufc/tom-aspinall-eye-injury-update-ufc-b2875460.html

Looks like he might need a surgery. If that's the case, I don't think we'll see him anytime soon.

From what I'm seeing, the community is starting to take a closer look at Aspinall's problem. And if he really does have surgery, he'll be out for a long time. Will there be any punishment or at least a rule change from the UFC? This is serious and will bring the entire division, which is practically the most famous, to a standstill. What do you think about this?

[TopTort777]

Community are not ophthalmologists so they or we can talk lots of stuff about his eyes and never be close to truth I wish Aspinall to recover soon, but the way he acts is weird. He talks more about injury than about sports, return, rematch and training. As if he is excusing all the time. That is not how champions behave imho. Vacate the belt (like Jiri Prochazka did when he was injured) and have treatment as long as you wish. First Bones was pausing whole division, now Aspinall. Whole heavyweight division is such a crap now due that.

Paddy Pimblett was KOed in a boxing match. And this guy wants to fight against Topuria. (Guys, remember, its Friday )