🥊 The UFC Info and Prediction Thread

[tokeweed]

I am only interested in watching Jailton Almeida vs. Rizvan Kuniev in next event. Because this fight is like wtf for me. Almeida had a split loss to Volkov (who might next to have a title fight, which might mean that Almeida was somewhere near a title fight also), he is #6 and accepted Kuniev on 2.5 week notice. Top vs kinda a noname for UFC. Kuniev lost his debut, came from Dana Contenders series and is facing #6 among heavyweights. Wtf? Easy money for Almeida? But what if he loses due to a random punch ? Kuniev in general is a WTF guy First fight against Blaydes who is #4 now, second fight against #6. How is he getting those top guys?

It's just one of those things when the original opponent withdraws due to an injury or some other reason.  Kuniev was supposed to fight Ryan Spann but then Spann withdrew.  So the UFC had to scramble and find somebody who would agree to fight on short notice.  And looks like Almeida agreed and saw it as an opportunity to get easy win.  The line on Almeida is decent too at 1.65.

I'll put in a bet for Almeida via SUB at 3.05.    Thanks for getting this fight in my attention.

[Pumared]

Dude, it makes absolutely no sense that they have to translate the fighters' names. They're proper names, and it's precisely because of situations like this that you shouldn't do it. Now the guy will be forever known for this unintentional meme.

Another thing, I didn't see any promo for FN this week. But I did see promo for the Oliveira vs. Holloway fight; I thought it was this week.

Someone either translated it via automatic translation (lots of companies and employees use translates because they are too lazy. Lots of people use AI for copywriting instead of thinking about the content themselves too) or the company did it intentionally to cause some fun and increase brand awareness. Now you saw this, I saw this, someone saw this and it's the effective marketing.

I think the marketing makes sense, but it will only be remembered once in a while when he's mentioned. If he were a big, famous fighter with tons of fans, I'd agree. But in two weeks we won't remember this. In my view, it's more of a mistake than marketing.

[TopTort777]

I am only interested in watching Jailton Almeida vs. Rizvan Kuniev in next event. Because this fight is like wtf for me. Almeida had a split loss to Volkov (who might next to have a title fight, which might mean that Almeida was somewhere near a title fight also), he is #6 and accepted Kuniev on 2.5 week notice. Top vs kinda a noname for UFC. Kuniev lost his debut, came from Dana Contenders series and is facing #6 among heavyweights. Wtf? Easy money for Almeida? But what if he loses due to a random punch ? Kuniev in general is a WTF guy First fight against Blaydes who is #4 now, second fight against #6. How is he getting those top guys?

It's just one of those things when the original opponent withdraws due to an injury or some other reason.  Kuniev was supposed to fight Ryan Spann but then Spann withdrew.  So the UFC had to scramble and find somebody who would agree to fight on short notice.  And looks like Almeida agreed and saw it as an opportunity to get easy win.  The line on Almeida is decent too at 1.65.

I'll put in a bet for Almeida via SUB at 3.05.    Thanks for getting this fight in my attention.

I have checked Kuniev wiki page: 3 times his fight against Blaydes has been cancelled. Later he has lost a very close fight; some media and experts say he has won that fight. I dont know, but there sure must be a reason why he is getting top guys from very start. All the time his opponents got sick or withdrew, but UFC keep on giving him top opponents instead of giving just somebody. Maybe there is something tricky with Kuniev Think twice before placing a bet. Maybe he is a "dark horse". Better check vids of his fights to be sure in Almeida bet

[pawel7777]

I've been hearing rumours all day, and more media start reporting on it - Ilia Topuria is most likely to fight Justin Gaethje in the White House event (July?).
Apparently, Topuria and his soon-to-be ex-wife came to an agreement and their case is set to be settled soon, meaning Ilia will be free to resume training and jump back into action.
This is not yet officially confirmed, but I can't think of a better main event, unless they want to do Topuria Vs Islam.

Some links:
https://www.mmafighting.com/ufc/470372/i-think-well-be-the-main-event-justin-gaethje-confident-ilia-topuria-fight-is-next-for-him-at-ufc-white-house
https://verdictmma.com/news/ilia-topuria-vs-justin-gaethje-ufc-white-house-event/1576

[TopTort777]

I also saw some news that Topuria and his wife (or ex-wife already) came to an agreement and I hope they have settled it well. If I remember it clearly, issue was in kids. Who will take kids, have time to visit them and all other bs. That is so low to manipulate with kids when partners have issues. If two idiots decided to split, they should do everything to make kids dont feel disadvantages of divorce. When he or she use "I will take kids" or "you will never see kids" as arguments, I would allow partner to punch other in face on law level.

But I still dont understand why Topuria stopped training if he has troubles in family. Troubles does not mean he had to be 24/7 in court or with lawyers, or in endless discussion with partner. Readjust timetable and continue training.

[tokeweed]

I am only interested in watching Jailton Almeida vs. Rizvan Kuniev in next event. Because this fight is like wtf for me. Almeida had a split loss to Volkov (who might next to have a title fight, which might mean that Almeida was somewhere near a title fight also), he is #6 and accepted Kuniev on 2.5 week notice. Top vs kinda a noname for UFC. Kuniev lost his debut, came from Dana Contenders series and is facing #6 among heavyweights. Wtf? Easy money for Almeida? But what if he loses due to a random punch ? Kuniev in general is a WTF guy First fight against Blaydes who is #4 now, second fight against #6. How is he getting those top guys?

It's just one of those things when the original opponent withdraws due to an injury or some other reason.  Kuniev was supposed to fight Ryan Spann but then Spann withdrew.  So the UFC had to scramble and find somebody who would agree to fight on short notice.  And looks like Almeida agreed and saw it as an opportunity to get easy win.  The line on Almeida is decent too at 1.65.

I'll put in a bet for Almeida via SUB at 3.05.    Thanks for getting this fight in my attention.

I have checked Kuniev wiki page: 3 times his fight against Blaydes has been cancelled. Later he has lost a very close fight; some media and experts say he has won that fight. I dont know, but there sure must be a reason why he is getting top guys from very start. All the time his opponents got sick or withdrew, but UFC keep on giving him top opponents instead of giving just somebody. Maybe there is something tricky with Kuniev Think twice before placing a bet. Maybe he is a "dark horse". Better check vids of his fights to be sure in Almeida bet

Yeah maybe the UFC knows he's actually good, who knows...  I'll just stick to what I've seen with Almeida and the experience he had in the UFC.  He was on a run for the title until his loss against Volkov.   I think everybody may have forgotten that.  This is Almeida's chance to get that W and get back on track.

Anyway, here's a replay of Vinicius Oliveira to watch...  From the other fights I'm seeing, I kinda think he could get lucky. 

Vinicius Oliveira vs Said Nurmagomedov
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0R7OHv_UvY

[Synchronice]

I also saw some news that Topuria and his wife (or ex-wife already) came to an agreement and I hope they have settled it well. If I remember it clearly, issue was in kids. Who will take kids, have time to visit them and all other bs. That is so low to manipulate with kids when partners have issues. If two idiots decided to split, they should do everything to make kids dont feel disadvantages of divorce. When he or she use "I will take kids" or "you will never see kids" as arguments, I would allow partner to punch other in face on law level.

But I still dont understand why Topuria stopped training if he has troubles in family. Troubles does not mean he had to be 24/7 in court or with lawyers, or in endless discussion with partner. Readjust timetable and continue training.

Topuria didn't stop training. His was posting videos of his training. He paused fighting in UFC until he would settle this issue and I agree with him in this case because when you have such a trouble in your mind, it's hard to focus on the fight and weight cut (weight cut is too depressing).
As I said in the past, I still believe that Topuria was right in this case and that's why her wife withdrew the lawsuit or otherwise, I'm sure that she would fight. It's very common these days from women to claim false lawsuits and law is so terribly enforced that no one cares whether the man is innocent or not, they ruin the future of the man forever in 99% cases, even if there aren't facts that prove that man is guilty. Too many women abuse this and it has to be stopped!

[Pumared]

I've been hearing rumours all day, and more media start reporting on it - Ilia Topuria is most likely to fight Justin Gaethje in the White House event (July?).
Apparently, Topuria and his soon-to-be ex-wife came to an agreement and their case is set to be settled soon, meaning Ilia will be free to resume training and jump back into action.
This is not yet officially confirmed, but I can't think of a better main event, unless they want to do Topuria Vs Islam.

Some links:
https://www.mmafighting.com/ufc/470372/i-think-well-be-the-main-event-justin-gaethje-confident-ilia-topuria-fight-is-next-for-him-at-ufc-white-house
https://verdictmma.com/news/ilia-topuria-vs-justin-gaethje-ufc-white-house-event/1576

That's quite interesting; Topuria will have a great fighter to unleash all the anger she's been carrying on until now. I feel sorry for what might happen to Gaethje. Furthermore, the whole context of both fighters becomes something interesting for selling the fight at the White House. That's very good to hear.

[trendcoin]

...
But :D I still dont understand why Topuria stopped training if he has troubles in family. Troubles does not mean he had to be 24/7 in court or with lawyers, or in endless discussion with partner. Readjust timetable and continue training.

So, I also think it is a meaningless excuse. What will the next excuse be? If his cat runs away from home, will we experience similar things? A woman and a cat will determine the fate of the belt in this system. However, I still don't blame them. I think they do this because they don't want to defend the belt more than twice a year. Some of them say I'm injured, some say it's Ramadan, some use their cat's psychological problems as an excuse, but in the end, they are all making careful calculations for their legacy, and I don't think that is very strange...

[pawel7777]

(...)
But I still dont understand why Topuria stopped training if he has troubles in family. Troubles does not mean he had to be 24/7 in court or with lawyers, or in endless discussion with partner. Readjust timetable and continue training.

I hope you'll never understand and won't have to go through it. It might sound like not that big of a deal from the outside, but it's one of the worst life experiences. Your whole life is turned upside down, you don't know how it will end, especially when your spouse accuses you of abuse and is working towards taking the children and moving abroad (which I believe what Mrs Topuria tried to do initially).

But yeah, good to hear they are about to settle it.

As for this weekend's Las Vegas event, the main event: Bautista Vs Oliveira could be interesting. Bautista is the favourite, but Oliveira is on 6 wins streak, is more experienced (7 more fights than Bautista, despite being 2 years younger) and has 70% finish ratio - he could be a good pick.

I wonder if Wiklacz Vs Gafurov will happen. Gafurov missed the weight by 5 pounds, which is a huge miss in the bantamweight.

[tokeweed]

^  Yup, Vinicius Oliveira could win this one early but then again Bautista could be durable enough to take everything from Oliveira and take the fight to deep waters.  Prolly a good live bet spot for Bautista.

Anyway, here are the weigh ins folks...  4 fighters missed weight and one of the match ups had two fighters miss weight.  Lolol.

UFC Vegas 113:  Weigh Ins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyyPrWGd58U

UFC Vegas 113:  Fighter Face Offs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9afHmP8b58

Mario Bautista (135.5) vs. Vinicius Oliveira (136)
Amir Albazi (125.5) vs. Kyoji Horiguchi (126)
Jailton Almeida (241) vs. Rizvan Kuniev (264)
Marc-Andre Barriault (184.5) vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk (186)
Farid Basharat (136) vs. Jean Matsumoto (135.5)
Dustin Jacoby (204.5) vs. Julius Walker (206)
Daniil Donchenko (170.5) vs. Alex Morono (170.5)
Niko Price (171) vs. Nikolay Veretennikov (170.5)
Bruna Brasil (116) vs. Ketlen Souza (115.5)
Javid Basharat (135.5) vs. Gianni Vazquez (141)*
Wang Cong (127.5)* vs. Eduarda Moura (127)*
Muin Gafurov (141)* vs. Jakub Wiklacz (135.5)
Priscila Cachoeira (135.5) vs. Klaudia Sygula (135.5)

*Missed weight

Post fight press conference after the event.

UFC Vegas 113:  Post Fight Press Conference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZA0ZEMKXTk

[TopTort777]

I'll put in a bet for Almeida via SUB at 3.05.    Thanks for getting this fight in my attention.

Maybe there is something tricky with Kuniev

Yeah maybe the UFC knows he's actually good, who knows...  I'll just stick to what I've seen with Almeida and the experience he had in the UFC. 

I felt like there is something with Kuniev. Sorry for your lost bet. His win was completely unexpected. Almeida was a favorite for this fight, however  Kuniev has pulled an upset... Kuniev from bottom becomes #6.

I dont know if this is Paramount+ new feature, but as a bonus for fight of the night and performance of the night, fighters got 100k, but the rest fighters additional 25k bonus. Is this because it is first Fight Night on Paramoun+? Or UFC became more generous and reward regular guys with bonuses?

[tokeweed]

^  It's ok.  Lol.  Can't win all the time.    He was my pick before the event and it was just a combo bet to win at a line of 3.05.  It was worth a shot imho.

Anyway, here are the results.  Looks like Bautista showed the prospect what's up.  I think Bautista deserves a shot vs a top 5 fighter after that performance.  He's asking for a rematch against Sandhagen. 

Mario Bautista def. Vinicius Oliveira via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:46
Kyoji Horiguchi def. Amir Albazi via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Rizvan Kuniev def. Jailton Almeida via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Michal Oleksiejczuk def. Marc-Andre Barriault via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Farid Basharat def. Jean Matsumoto via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Dustin Jacoby def. Julius Walker via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 1:42
Daniil Donchenko def. Alex Morono via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
Nikolay Veretennikov def. Niko Price via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:42
Ketlen Souza def. Bruna Brasil via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Javid Basharat def. Gianni Vazquez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Wang Cong def. Eduarda Moura via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Jakub Wiklacz def. Muin Gafurov via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 3, 4:59
Klaudia Sygula def. Priscila Cachoeira via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

[Synchronice]

...
I really wonder, can someone, an adult over the age of 25, who has been training his whole body for years, to succeed in MMA? I think that in combat sport, if you are talented, you are talented and that's it, you'll become an amazing fighter within a couple of years but if you are not, then it will probably take more than 5 years.

I don't think there would be an extreme difference in strength between two people who do sports naturally. We know that people who have used steroids in the past have more satellite cells even when they are not using steroids, but even so, there wouldn't be an extreme difference in strength between two natural athletes. So, I would like to add to what you wrote that attention, awareness, reflexes, neuromuscular control, perceptual-cognitive processes, and decision-making mechanisms may be more decisive factors. Indeed, when I watch Islam, I see that he is extremely focused on his opponent in every fight. It's as if he never blinks. He's locked onto his opponent like an autistic person. My attention threshold would probably be insufficient against someone like that. Or against someone like Ilia Topuria, who can predict his opponents' movements in advance and react to them more quickly, I would have no chance. However, we also know that to be a good MMA fighter, we need to learn certain disciplines like wrestling and BJJ from a very young age, and that it's not easy to reach an elite level in these disciplines after a certain age. These are movements that require automatic motor patterns like balance and lifting. I claim that Alex is an amazing champion with a legendary career, but he has zero chance against an MMA fighter who knows wrestling at an elite level...

It depends on what sports they do and what kind of training they go through. I completely agree with you about the past steroid usage, that's a scientific fact. Just doing a steroid cycle for once permanently enhances you. Muscle memory is also an amazing thing. Do you know Kevin Levrone? The guy was massive in his Prime but with just one cycle, he managed to gain almost 80% of his Prime gains in just a few months in his 50s. There are steroids that increase muscle-mind connection, which is one of the biggest benefit to my mind.

[tokeweed]

The next event isn't gonna be on until the next couple of weeks but I'll go on ahead and get the roster up for those interested, which is mostly just me.  Lolol.    

Anyway the co main event for this one...  Banger.  Am gonna go ahead and say that my bet for this one is Ige even though I like Costa.

Date:  Saturday, Feb 21
Main Card:  8:00pm EST
Preliminary Card:  5:00pm EST
Venue:  Toyota Center, Houston, Texas



Main Card
Middleweight:  Sean Strickland vs. Anthony Hernandez            
Featherweight:  Dan Ige vs. Melquizael Costa            
Heavyweight:  Serghei Spivacnvs. Ante Delija            
Welterweight:  Jacobe Smith vs. Ko Seok-hyeon            
Middleweight:  Zachary Reese vs. Michel Pereira   

Preliminary Card
Welterweight:  Chidi Njokuani vs. Carlos Leal Miranda            
Flyweight:  Ode' Osbourne vs. Alibi Idiris            
Flyweight:  Alden Coria vs. Luis Gurule            
Women's Bantamweight:  Nora Cornolle vs. Joselyne Edwards            
Featherweight:  Jordan Leavitt vs. Yadier del Valle            
Women's Flyweight:  Juliana Miller vs. Carli Judice

Sean Strickland vs Anthony Hernandez Full Fight Marathon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipECQfPY4X4

[Pumared]

I'll put in a bet for Almeida via SUB at 3.05.    Thanks for getting this fight in my attention.

Maybe there is something tricky with Kuniev

Yeah maybe the UFC knows he's actually good, who knows...  I'll just stick to what I've seen with Almeida and the experience he had in the UFC. 

I felt like there is something with Kuniev. Sorry for your lost bet. His win was completely unexpected. Almeida was a favorite for this fight, however  Kuniev has pulled an upset... Kuniev from bottom becomes #6.

I dont know if this is Paramount+ new feature, but as a bonus for fight of the night and performance of the night, fighters got 100k, but the rest fighters additional 25k bonus. Is this because it is first Fight Night on Paramoun+? Or UFC became more generous and reward regular guys with bonuses?

Almeida was a huge disappointment for me too. I honestly didn't expect him to lose; he was the favorite and had been showing that he was managing to control the heavyweight division. Will he be able to get a title shot like this? I think it's unlikely; he'll need to win many more fights to be considered again.

[pawel7777]

Bautista looked really well. I expected a more even fight between him and Oliveira, but Bautista clearly dominated and finished with a submission.
I'm not sure if that win will move him up the ranking, as Oliveira was ranked two places below him, but hopefully they will give him someone from the top 5 of the bantamweight next.

Big win for Wiklacz, who was an underdog in his fight. He made Gafurov tap out in the last second of the fight, which was pretty crazy. The referee had to watch the replay to confirm. Some say if Gafurov held for a split second longer, he would've won, but all judges' scorecards point to Wiklacz as the 29-28 winner.
Wiklacz hit the jackpot that night. On top of his normal payout, he get 25% of Gafurov's purse since he missed weight + they rewarded him the performance of the night bonus of $100k.

[rdbase]

I'll put in a bet for Almeida via SUB at 3.05.    Thanks for getting this fight in my attention.

Maybe there is something tricky with Kuniev

Yeah maybe the UFC knows he's actually good, who knows...  I'll just stick to what I've seen with Almeida and the experience he had in the UFC. 

I felt like there is something with Kuniev. Sorry for your lost bet. His win was completely unexpected. Almeida was a favorite for this fight, however  Kuniev has pulled an upset... Kuniev from bottom becomes #6.

I dont know if this is Paramount+ new feature, but as a bonus for fight of the night and performance of the night, fighters got 100k, but the rest fighters additional 25k bonus. Is this because it is first Fight Night on Paramoun+? Or UFC became more generous and reward regular guys with bonuses?

That what made my betslip for this UFC event go bad.
Had all the other 7 fights correct except for this one. That was a nice betslip reaching over 9x and could of won an easy $600 on it if Almeida actually did something during this fight.
He just stood there and as soon he got hit went into defense mode and didn't throw anything.

For this next event I like Fluffy Hernandez against Strickland. Everytime I have watched his bouts he has improved his fight IQ after each one.

[bbc.reporter]

@rdbase. Similar to the underestimated Justin Gaethje, Sean Strickland is also a former champion who might also be underestimated for this fight. I will certainly not bet against Sean who is the UFC's king of strikes defense that he has learned from dodging all of the punches from his father when he was a young boy. This is a skill that he has learned under very traumatic occurrences and he has become the best MMA expert in defense because of this. My prediction will be Sean Strickland will have the victory through a decision.

[bittraffic]

@rdbase. Similar to the underestimated Justin Gaethje, Sean Strickland is also a former champion who might also be underestimated for this fight. I will certainly not bet against Sean who is the UFC's king of strikes defense that he has learned from dodging all of the punches from his father when he was a young boy. This is a skill that he has learned under very traumatic occurrences and he has become the best MMA expert in defense because of this. My prediction will be Sean Strickland will have the victory through a decision.

Can't say this is a joke but I'd laugh anyway. He is now a dodge expert  thanks to his father who traumatized him. Way to go Sean.  Sure I agree Sean has the chance in this fight. Its hard to see him becoming a champ again, that was just one time.