🥊 The UFC Info and Prediction Thread

[Pumared]

https://x.com/Home_of_Fight/status/2009665229907509622

Some update on Topuria's case. One of the comments says it's another 1st round victory for him, but it's going to take more time.
I didn't realise he was separated from his child for 4 months. This is really messed up.
If the quoted post is true, his ex is quite a piece of work. She lied about online harassment being the reason she wanted to move her daughter abroad, but she bought the tickets 12 days before Ilia made his announcement.
I hope this will end up with a fairly quick and fair resolution.

It's good to see that justice is being served. If he continues at this pace, he should be back fighting this semester. I feel sorry for whoever will face him after this whole story is over; the guy will be furious, and someone will suffer the consequences.

[TopTort777]

We have now two champs that are pausing their divisions Topuria and his family issues and Aspinall and his eye injury. Whos destiny worry you the most? One has paused division for 1.5 months, other for 2.5 (unbelievable, 2.5 months passed already since Aspinall vs Gane fight) months. UFC is silent on their decision. Wait for their return? Make a fight for interim belt? UFC should make rules about such situations. Because Topuria case may continue for months and years. Aspinall is having surgeries, planning new, nobody even knows what tf he is doing, how really badly he is injured.

[tokeweed]

^  They'll be back..  They can't afford not to.  Lmao.  And the funny thing is I think Jones is coming back this year and will he given the Aspinall fight right away.  Maybe it could be even be in the White House event..?    That would be awesome imho.

Anyway, here are a couple more vids to watch to prepare for UFC 324.

Paddy Pimblett vs Michael Chandler
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCJBnCVlLQ0

Seeing this makes me think that Pimblett chin is gonna get tested.  

Every Justin Gaethje Knockout
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Zz6UFJjL_I

Enjoy...

[Pumared]

We have now two champs that are pausing their divisions Topuria and his family issues and Aspinall and his eye injury. Whos destiny worry you the most? One has paused division for 1.5 months, other for 2.5 (unbelievable, 2.5 months passed already since Aspinall vs Gane fight) months. UFC is silent on their decision. Wait for their return? Make a fight for interim belt? UFC should make rules about such situations. Because Topuria case may continue for months and years. Aspinall is having surgeries, planning new, nobody even knows what tf he is doing, how really badly he is injured.

Honestly, neither. I want all the weight classes to be active and constantly fighting for the title. Only then will we have good fighters making history and preventing fighters who only fight one way from always winning.

[pawel7777]

(...)
It's good to see that justice is being served. If he continues at this pace, he should be back fighting this semester. I feel sorry for whoever will face him after this whole story is over; the guy will be furious, and someone will suffer the consequences.

To my understanding, he is VERY popular in Spain, which should work in his favour at least in the sense of the speed at which the court will process his case. He will still get hit financially, there's no doubt about that, but hopefully, they will go for a quick resolution. If the court stalls his case resulting in prolonging his inactivity, the Spaniards will not be happy about that.

(...) And the funny thing is I think Jones is coming back this year and will he given the Aspinall fight right away.  Maybe it could be even be in the White House event..?
(...)

I don't see it tbh
I think it's almost certain that Aspinall will face Gane again. And if the White House event is scheduled for July, then he won't have enough time to fully recover and then fight two times in such a short period.
And I don't think Dana White would trust Jones enough to make him a main event of that White House thing. Jones promised Dana he would fight Tom, but later bailed and decided to retire instead despite, allegedly, being offered what he was asking for.

[TopTort777]

I was looking on announced fights on wikipedia, wanted to find more info about even at White House, and found that in the end of March, Israel Adesanya will be fighting Joe Pyfer. Pyfer, is only #15 in the middleweight division. UFC could have made a more challenging fight for Izzy return Last place in top15. Guy whos biggest win is Gastelum in the end of his career. Easy more for Izzy and all bettors

[tokeweed]

^  Joe Pyfer is decent actually...  And on the other hand, Adesanya is on the decline.  I think the UFC chose a hard fight for Adesanaya to get back on the saddle.  Lol. 

What are the lines for the fight?  I'm def taking Joe Pyfer if he's the underdog.  But I think the bookies will make this close and might even make Pyfer the slight favorite.

Vid to watch...

Kayla Harrison vs Julianna Peña
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXzljw_gvkI

[Pumared]

(...)
It's good to see that justice is being served. If he continues at this pace, he should be back fighting this semester. I feel sorry for whoever will face him after this whole story is over; the guy will be furious, and someone will suffer the consequences.

To my understanding, he is VERY popular in Spain, which should work in his favour at least in the sense of the speed at which the court will process his case. He will still get hit financially, there's no doubt about that, but hopefully, they will go for a quick resolution. If the court stalls his case resulting in prolonging his inactivity, the Spaniards will not be happy about that.

You're right about that. I remember some famous legal disputes in Spain, and they tend to be quite quick. I don't think the UFC would even need to lobby to speed things up. But as I said, I'll feel sorry for the fighter who faces Topuria when he returns to the octagon. He'll suffer all the anger that Topuria went through.

[TopTort777]

^  Joe Pyfer is decent actually...  And on the other hand, Adesanya is on the decline.  I think the UFC chose a hard fight for Adesanaya to get back on the saddle.  Lol. 

What are the lines for the fight?  I'm def taking Joe Pyfer if he's the underdog.  But I think the bookies will make this close and might even make Pyfer the slight favorite.

Lol. I havent checked Pyfer background. Thought Izzy was given punching bag to recover reputation and end lose streak. Turns out Izzy is an underdog in this fight. Now I have doubts that Izzy would win. If he loses, if he wasnt a former champ and had big fan group, he would be kicked out immediately. Dont know if UFC will keep him as a trampoline for others, and doubt if Izzy would wish to continue after 4 losses.

[Synchronice]

There is such a theory why Arman is not getting title shot.

In Russian MMA community, it is greatly discussed that Dagestani fighters or fighters from mountain region fight only opponents who they are sure to beat. They so dont like losing their 0 in record or losing, that they better not fight. There is a joke that Nurmagomedov clan only fight in UAE, because Sheiks help them to hide medicine boosts before the fight. Islam or Khabib love to say that nobody wants to fight them, but it might be that they always choose guys much weaker, and wait for a better opponent to be given by UFC. Islams last two opponents were not very top. Khabib when took belt fought nearly once a year only.

The next is Chimaev. Rarely fights. Took the belt. Is injured now. Is off till Ramadan (that is March 2026) as minimum.

The idea is once they took the belt, they fight once or twice (with a huge pause between) per year only. The idea is that if Arman takes the belt, he will fight one or times per year. Lightweight division has lost its popularity partly, and if the belt takes the guy who will start pausing things, it won be good for business.

Unpopular theory - nobody wants to see another low level trashtalk-blanket in the octagon (sorry, I meant control 5min*5rounds ).

I don't think that Arman is a type of guy that will fight only once per year. I'm sure that he will stick with fight twice a year but I really doubt he will fight 3 times per year. By the way, when it comes to fighting, you can always count on Merab. The guy was planning to fight 5 times in a row in 2026 if he could defend his title against Petr Yan. No one is ever going to beat 5 title defense record though.

Connor McGregor was actually true about many things, including how Dagestan fighters pump their fight records and the thing about Ali was true as well. To my mind, Dagestan fighters aren't as kind an humble as many people think. When 0 changes with another number, they quickly find excuses and get out of their role. While 0 stays here in the losing record, they are humble.

[TopTort777]

Vid to watch...

Kayla Harrison vs Julianna Peña
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXzljw_gvkI

Found out that Kayla Harrison has injured her neck and the fight is being cancelled now. I am not much of a women MMA fan, but as far as I remember, Nunes was kinda a GOAT and has retired. She took challenge to return to face exactly Harrison. I dont think that UFC will search for replacement, because other opponents are not interested for Nunes. She has decided to return for Harrison skull only.

Neck injury that is always nasty and takes months to recover. As Harrison was from wrestling originally, her neck muscles have been trained well which means if she has a neck injury, then it is something serious. Maybe UFC will try to postpone this fight to UFC White house.

[tokeweed]

^  Joe Pyfer is decent actually...  And on the other hand, Adesanya is on the decline.  I think the UFC chose a hard fight for Adesanaya to get back on the saddle.  Lol. 

What are the lines for the fight?  I'm def taking Joe Pyfer if he's the underdog.  But I think the bookies will make this close and might even make Pyfer the slight favorite.

Lol. I havent checked Pyfer background. Thought Izzy was given punching bag to recover reputation and end lose streak. Turns out Izzy is an underdog in this fight. Now I have doubts that Izzy would win. If he loses, if he wasnt a former champ and had big fan group, he would be kicked out immediately. Dont know if UFC will keep him as a trampoline for others, and doubt if Izzy would wish to continue after 4 losses.

^  I don't see any lines at Stake.  Where did you get it from and what are the exact odds for Pyfer and Adesanya?

Anyway if Adesanya still wants to continue to fight then he will even if he isn't the UFC's top guy at 180 anymore.  Pretty sure the UFC will like to keep him around as long as he's still is able physically and mentally.

But yeah..  Wouldn't be surprised if really Adesanya is the slight underdog.  I'm not touching either lines if it is really that.

Another vid to watch.

Amanda Nunes vs Ronda Rousey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d13sG6uH3fo&pp

[TopTort777]

https://fightodds.io/fights/israel-adesanya-vs-joseph-pyfer-73034/odds
https://www.bestfightodds.com/fighters/Joe-Pyfer-8530

I have found only those. More to come, but I dont think odds would change with time. Especially when Izzy told that he isnt interested in getting belt back, but instead wants to have "interesting" fights. Pyfer does not look as "interesting" imho, but I dont who else Izzy should fight, because other "interesting" opponents seems to be in title race now

[Welsh]

I think the Pyfer fight is interesting. Izzy gets to style on him, because Pyfer is a bit slow and has a plodding type of fight style. However, Pyfer hits like a truck. The perfect fight for the neutral would be Izzy styling on him for 2 rounds, and then getting caught by Pyfer.

Obviously, I don't want to see that. I'll be routing for Izzy, but it does feel like his chin has gone recently.

[Hanadawa]

^  Joe Pyfer is decent actually...  And on the other hand, Adesanya is on the decline.  I think the UFC chose a hard fight for Adesanaya to get back on the saddle.  Lol. 
What are the lines for the fight?  I'm def taking Joe Pyfer if he's the underdog.  But I think the bookies will make this close and might even make Pyfer the slight favorite.

Lol. I havent checked Pyfer background. Thought Izzy was given punching bag to recover reputation and end lose streak. Turns out Izzy is an underdog in this fight. Now I have doubts that Izzy would win. If he loses, if he wasnt a former champ and had big fan group, he would be kicked out immediately. Dont know if UFC will keep him as a trampoline for others, and doubt if Izzy would wish to continue after 4 losses.

With all the prestigious records he has ever had, I think Izzy should have chosen to retire and build another business. I don't think Izzy is a leader who can build a gym to train young talents. But Izzy has talent in the entertainment world and I think he also has a large fan base because he knows about video games and anime. And about this fight, I also checked Joe Pyfer's data and I agree with you that Pyfer is a fighter who has the potential to break into the top 5 UFC middleweight ranks.

Of his last 7 wins, Pyfer only has 1 win via decision and the rest are KO/TKO and submission wins. This shows that Pyfer is a complete fighter who has equally good abilities in striking and ground. And this is dangerous for Izzy because even though Izzy is also great at striking, he has very difficult fighting on the ground. I think that is also the reason why Izzy is placed as an underdog in this fight.

[Pumared]

https://fightodds.io/fights/israel-adesanya-vs-joseph-pyfer-73034/odds
https://www.bestfightodds.com/fighters/Joe-Pyfer-8530

I have found only those. More to come, but I dont think odds would change with time. Especially when Izzy told that he isnt interested in getting belt back, but instead wants to have "interesting" fights. Pyfer does not look as "interesting" imho, but I dont who else Izzy should fight, because other "interesting" opponents seems to be in title race now

With that statement of his, to me, it implies that he's going to be some kind of gatekeeper for the belt, maybe? I'd say he'd be the gatekeeper for the top 10, but remember, in the rankings, he's higher than top 10. So, he probably only uses the UFC to make his anime references and enjoy life since he doesn't care about the belt.

[OgNasty]

Dana said on a podcast with Bradley Martin that he is not considering letting Conor McGregor fight Michael Chandler at the White House event.  He said that was a couple years ago and has appeared to have moved on now.

So we aren't going to see a McGregor White House fight.  Obviously this would have been a gimmick, but I still wanted to see it.  Hopefully they get some sort of a headliner together for this event.  I'm not feeling excited about any fighters at the moment.

[TopTort777]

There is another strange fight I have found. UFC 327 on April 11, Paulo Costa vs Murzakanov. What makes is strange is that Costa is a middleweight and Murzakanov is a LH. Only once Costa fought as a LH, when he wasnt able to make weight (at first fight was in catchweight (drank to much wine lol), but then turned to LH). Murzakanov, with 12 KO in 16 fights vs a guy who is lighter; I think even with a jab Murzakanov can KO Costa. But I am feeling that Costa will jump off from fight as usually.

[trendcoin]

There is such a theory why Arman is not getting title shot.

In Russian MMA community, it is greatly discussed that Dagestani fighters or fighters from mountain region fight only opponents who they are sure to beat. They so dont like losing their 0 in record or losing, that they better not fight. There is a joke that Nurmagomedov clan only fight in UAE, because Sheiks help them to hide medicine boosts before the fight. Islam or Khabib love to say that nobody wants to fight them, but it might be that they always choose guys much weaker, and wait for a better opponent to be given by UFC. Islams last two opponents were not very top. Khabib when took belt fought nearly once a year only.

The next is Chimaev. Rarely fights. Took the belt. Is injured now. Is off till Ramadan (that is March 2026) as minimum.

The idea is once they took the belt, they fight once or twice (with a huge pause between) per year only. The idea is that if Arman takes the belt, he will fight one or times per year. Lightweight division has lost its popularity partly, and if the belt takes the guy who will start pausing things, it won be good for business.

Unpopular theory - nobody wants to see another low level trashtalk-blanket in the octagon (sorry, I meant control 5min*5rounds :D).

I don't know if you wrote this with genuine belief or if you just wanted to copy and paste something you saw on the internet. Even if it's just a claim, discussing it is a bit ridiculous because even the flat Earth theory is more consistent than this... :)

Islam defeated the welterweight champion after completely clearing the lightweight division. So, despite this record, it's quite interesting to say he fought weak opponents. Was there a mechanical robot with artificial intelligence in the lightweight division that he didn't fight?

Islam vs. JDM took place in New York; this fight didn't happen in the UAE, but I want to say this: even if this match had taken place in another corner of the universe, or even in a parallel universe where we had eight arms, Islam would still have beaten JDM.

The UFC isn't a circus, the fighters aren't monkeys, the fighters are professionals. The casual crowd wants to watch bar fights, but the realities of life are wrestling, BJJ, and judo. When they bump shoulders with someone on the street, they'll get a chance to see the realities of life.

Defending the belt twice a year is already ideal. Merab lost his belt because he did his fourth title defense, and so did Alex. They clearly made a mistake. Why would they lose their belts to earn a few hundred dollars more? Do you think that makes sense? Do you think it's worth it for a few hundred dollars? Instead of doing their third title defenses, wouldn't they earn more if they joined a signature campaign like yours and talked about certain things online? Don't you think that would be more sensible?

[Synchronice]

Dana said on a podcast with Bradley Martin that he is not considering letting Conor McGregor fight Michael Chandler at the White House event.  He said that was a couple years ago and has appeared to have moved on now.

So we aren't going to see a McGregor White House fight.  Obviously this would have been a gimmick, but I still wanted to see it.  Hopefully they get some sort of a headliner together for this event.  I'm not feeling excited about any fighters at the moment.

At this point, mentioning Conor McGregor in UFC makes me very angry to be honest because this man doesn't fight and hyping up your audience for years while not delivering the fight is extremely annoying. Just don't talk about him and move on or make the fight happen.

Guys, do you remember that Khamzat Chimaev was fighting in Welterweight? Islam, one of the best wrestler in UFC is in Welterweight. Khamzat is also one of the best wrestler in UFC but fights in Middleweight. If Khamzat goes down to Welterweight, don't you think that Islam VS Khamzat will be a super fight? By the way, which will win from these two? I think that Khamzat will beat Islam in Welterweight.