🥊 The UFC Info and Prediction Thread

[bbc.reporter]

Uncle Dana was very much appearing similar to a 12 year old boy smiling when the Navy's Blue Angels and the Air Force's Thunderbirds flew over the Whitehouse!

I hope he doesn’t look happy about the innocent children they killed in Iraq and Vietnam. These weapons may not have beards, but their records aren’t all rosy either...

Hehehehe why would weapons have beards? However, you are correct. They should not be happy on the killing of the innocent children!

In any case, the left side of this is on 2024's freedom celebration where the American government encouraged men to become transformers heheheheh! The right side is this year's freedom celebration with the Donald and uncle Dana.

[HaXX0R1337]

Another new champion was declared with Justin Gaethje. This was a good fight and looked to be Ilia's fight from the first round.
That knee to his ribcage right before the end of the round had him not be able to sit on the stool without help from his corner which had the referee stop the fight even before the final round started.

Before the fight even started, it looked like an easy win for Ilia Topuria, however, once the first round started, Justin Gaethje was landing shots and it was a clear round for Justin Gaethje. Ilia Topuria won the second round, which was the only round he won in the entire fight.

For someone like Ilia Topuria who called out boxers like Ryan Garcia, Shakur Stevenson and Canelo Alvarez, quitting on his stool and having his corner stop the fight was embarrassing. All his smack talk and the win party he gave a day before the event, all made him look like a fool. 

Thought the doctor stopped the fight before the fourth round but Topuria convinced the referee he was alright and could see those hand movements just fine. Could of sworn I saw the doctor wave his hand in the air signaling he was calling the fight.

When the doctor asked Ilia Topuria if he could see, he explicitly said, he could not, and hence the doctor called off the fight but when the referee intervened and asked Topuria if he wanted to continue, he claimed he did.

My take is that, Ilia Topuria wanted to quit after the third round and blame the doctor, that is why he initial said he could not see and he got battered once again in the fourth round before quitting on the stool. 

[TopTort777]

Ilia Topuria's Instagram bio still shows 18-0.

He's removed the record from his IG profile.
Cut the guy a break; maybe he was in the hospital but he did eventually remove it.
I saw some clips online and it looked like a brutal fight.

I agree with this. Let's give the man ample time to recover because this lose hurts him physically and mentally as well because it's his first lose.

If anybody saw his face after the fight and during the time that they're going out of the Octagon, his face is just like Margarito's face when he fought Pacquiao. Both eyes are swelling, cuts everywhere, and you can't recognize his face anymore. I had an opportunity to watch the fight and his right eye has already swelled at the very first round, and the left eye in the second round. In that fight, we've seen why many lightweights are saying that Gaethje is the hardest puncher in that division that even Khabib also said it.

It's a brutal fight indeed, and Topuria in one post already congratulated him. Aside from that, he also said that he will be having a rematch with him, and for sure it will be given to him. I wonder though if Topuria will get the rematch immediately, or he will be fighting at least one fighter on the division before giving it to him.

I think Topuria will require a lot of time to recover, mostly due mental condition. I think he has got some narcissism. When you fly high, strongly believe that you are so special, but then someone lands you dont and show that you just like many others, it really hits your ego. It is always hard to recover after a first loss when you have been undefeated and easily beating opponents.

I am not sure if Topuria will get a rematch immediately. That was not even a close fight, it hasnt ended with draw or split win. Tsarukyan is always in the line to have a title fight. UFC have their star Paddy who also wants to get closer to a title fight again.

[eaLiTy]

~
Gane is one of the dirtiest champ ever in my opinion(probably even worse than Jon jones). He hit Alex at the back of the head too many times. Perhaps Herb dean was too blind to see those illegal shots. Congrats to Gane though. I guess him and Aspinall are gonna run it back again soon for unified belt. Would i be wrong if i said the heavyweight division is not for Pereira?. He crumbled so easily under the pressure of Gane. I wasn’t expecting him to get easily knocked out like that; I felt disappointed.

The social media is buzzing with this and there are video analyses which show that Ciryl Gane landed 11 illegal strikes on the back of the head. Tom Aspinall even called out the illegal strikes on his channel. If the public opinion continue to grow, UFC might run it back and schedule a rematch.

Herb Dean could have stopped the fight for illegal strikes but sometimes he occasionally makes these strange decisions. During the Khabib vs McGregor fight, he did not call the illegal strikes and cage grabbing by McGregor, and there have been a few other incidents throughout his career as well.

~
They had to protect their asset. He did well considering the damage he took and even won the 4th round to me but he was taking too much damage that would have made recovery longer.

Despite all the pre fight shenanigans by Topuria, quitting was the last thing he could have dreamed of. Topuria only won the second round, even on the judges scorecards.

~
I have renewed respect for Jon Jones. Ciryl Gane had no trouble against Poatan.

All the new fans have no idea about how Jon Jones dismantles every opponent. He is basically undefeated and could have beaten anyone put in front of him.

~
I wonder though if Topuria will get the rematch immediately, or he will be fighting at least one fighter on the division before giving it to him.

Why would a fighter who quit on the stool get an immediate rematch.   There is no way the UFC will put that match together anytime soon.

~
By the way, I still think that Topuria could win this fight if he wasn't really so cocky about finishing him in the first round. He basically stood in front of Gaethje and was allowing him to punch him in the face. If he wouldn't be so focused on win with fashion, then he would probably beat him but that's just my personal opinion.

There is nothing wrong with having this kind of confidence, he was literally undefeated and untested because he was overwhelming his opponents with his pace. Once Topuria felt the power of Gaethje in the third round, he understood that his chin could not hold up.

All the old clips are making the rounds. Here is a YouTube clip from the Joe Rogan podcast, where Topuria dismisses Justin Gaethje's ability and claims Paddy Pimblett will easily smoke Gaethje YouTube. The funny thing is the comments under this video.  

[tokeweed]

Here's the next event.  It's another one of those filler events but the main event is an important one as it will determine who fights for the 125 strap next.

The co main and the fight before that are decent imho.  The rest are meh...

Date:  Saturday, June 20
Main Card:  8:00pm EST
Preliminary Card:  5:00pm EST
Venue:  UFC Apex, Las Vegas



Main Card
Flyweight:  Manel Kape vs. Kyoji Horiguchi            
Light Heavyweight:  Ion Cuțelaba vs. Navajo Stirling            
Featherweight:  Andre Fili vs. Vinicius Oliveira            
Featherweight:  Hyder Amil vs. Christian Rodriguez            
Flyweight:  André Lima vs. Kevin Borjas            
Featherweight:  Melsik Baghdasaryan vs. Murtazali Magomedov

Preliminary Card
Women's Bantamweight:  Beatriz Mesquita vs. Melissa Mullins            
Flyweight:  Allan Nascimento vs. Mitch Raposo            
Featherweight:  Gastón Bolaños vs. Michael Aswell Jr.            
Women's Bantamweight:  Karol Rosa vs. Luana Santos            
Welterweight:  Leon Shahbazyan vs. Levan Chokheli            
Featherweight:  Shane Collins vs. Otari Tanzilovi

[7788bitcoin]

~
For someone like Ilia Topuria who called out boxers like Ryan Garcia, Shakur Stevenson and Canelo Alvarez, quitting on his stool and having his corner stop the fight was embarrassing. All his smack talk and the win party he gave a day before the event, all made him look like a fool. 

Ilia Topuria had a big mouth. He was targeting everyone and was talking mad shit about all the fighters. When you get humiliated and defeated like that, everyone is going to respond back.

Terence Crawford, Islam Makhachev, Arman Tsarukyan and Paddy Pimblett and everyone else who Topuria mocked earlier tweeted about his loss to mock him. This is exactly what happens when you run your mouth and mock everyone and when you quit, like the way he did.

There is nothing wrong with having this kind of confidence, he was literally undefeated and untested because he was overwhelming his opponents with his pace. Once Topuria felt the power of Gaethje in the third round, he understood that his chin could not hold up.

Everyone was hyping Topuria up and calling him the greatest fighter ever. It is not surprising that his confidence was over the moon.

He was calling out boxers and mocking Islam Makhachev, and claiming Islam moved up because he is afraid of him. Topuria even boasted that he would submit Islam using whatever submission Islam wanted.

[l99l]

~
For someone like Ilia Topuria who called out boxers like Ryan Garcia, Shakur Stevenson and Canelo Alvarez, quitting on his stool and having his corner stop the fight was embarrassing. All his smack talk and the win party he gave a day before the event, all made him look like a fool. 

Ilia Topuria had a big mouth. He was targeting everyone and was talking mad shit about all the fighters. When you get humiliated and defeated like that, everyone is going to respond back.

Terence Crawford, Islam Makhachev, Arman Tsarukyan and Paddy Pimblett and everyone else who Topuria mocked earlier tweeted about his loss to mock him. This is exactly what happens when you run your mouth and mock everyone and when you quit, like the way he did.

Many people are pleased with Ilia Topuria's excessive talking and arrogant behavior towards everyone.
Khamzat and a few others defended him, or rather, they said that those who rejoice in his defeat aren't true athletes. Ultimately, if you say whatever comes to your mind to your opponents, people will eventually talk back. If you dare to speak like that, you should know that one day you will fall and someone will hurt you, Ilia.

[Pumared]

Ilia Topuria's Instagram bio still shows 18-0.

He's removed the record from his IG profile.
Cut the guy a break; maybe he was in the hospital but he did eventually remove it.
I saw some clips online and it looked like a brutal fight.

I agree with this. Let's give the man ample time to recover because this lose hurts him physically and mentally as well because it's his first lose.

If anybody saw his face after the fight and during the time that they're going out of the Octagon, his face is just like Margarito's face when he fought Pacquiao. Both eyes are swelling, cuts everywhere, and you can't recognize his face anymore. I had an opportunity to watch the fight and his right eye has already swelled at the very first round, and the left eye in the second round. In that fight, we've seen why many lightweights are saying that Gaethje is the hardest puncher in that division that even Khabib also said it.

It's a brutal fight indeed, and Topuria in one post already congratulated him. Aside from that, he also said that he will be having a rematch with him, and for sure it will be given to him. I wonder though if Topuria will get the rematch immediately, or he will be fighting at least one fighter on the division before giving it to him.

I think Topuria will require a lot of time to recover, mostly due mental condition. I think he has got some narcissism. When you fly high, strongly believe that you are so special, but then someone lands you dont and show that you just like many others, it really hits your ego. It is always hard to recover after a first loss when you have been undefeated and easily beating opponents.

I am not sure if Topuria will get a rematch immediately. That was not even a close fight, it hasnt ended with draw or split win. Tsarukyan is always in the line to have a title fight. UFC have their star Paddy who also wants to get closer to a title fight again.

I think the same way, he's in a very bad mental state. Maybe the pressure of returning at a big event where everyone wanted him to win ended up making him even worse. But he's a great fighter, when everything is alright we'll have a very good rematch!

From his Instagram posts, I've seen that Oliveira is challenging Gaethje to unify the BMF belt with the Lightweight belt.

[chinhar]

~
For someone like Ilia Topuria who called out boxers like Ryan Garcia, Shakur Stevenson and Canelo Alvarez, quitting on his stool and having his corner stop the fight was embarrassing. All his smack talk and the win party he gave a day before the event, all made him look like a fool. 

Ilia Topuria had a big mouth. He was targeting everyone and was talking mad shit about all the fighters. When you get humiliated and defeated like that, everyone is going to respond back.

Terence Crawford, Islam Makhachev, Arman Tsarukyan and Paddy Pimblett and everyone else who Topuria mocked earlier tweeted about his loss to mock him. This is exactly what happens when you run your mouth and mock everyone and when you quit, like the way he did.

Many people are pleased with Ilia Topuria's excessive talking and arrogant behavior towards everyone.
Khamzat and a few others defended him, or rather, they said that those who rejoice in his defeat aren't true athletes. Ultimately, if you say whatever comes to your mind to your opponents, people will eventually talk back. If you dare to speak like that, you should know that one day you will fall and someone will hurt you, Ilia.

Ilia was completely destroyed in the fight. Now, saying he deserves the insults is wrong, but you can't pretend not to receive them, especially if you talk too much. That's why I can't stand trash talkers, because they talk too much and say they're only doing it to sell the fight, but in this case they're nothing but clowns. That's why I prefer fighters who show respect. Just look at Pacquiao, Bivol, Beterbiev, GGG. Even though I'm talking about boxing here, that's the kind of respect you should show not only for yourself but also for the sport.

[pawel7777]

(...)
Ilia was completely destroyed in the fight. Now, saying he deserves the insults is wrong, but you can't pretend not to receive them, especially if you talk too much. That's why I can't stand trash talkers, because they talk too much and say they're only doing it to sell the fight, but in this case they're nothing but clowns. That's why I prefer fighters who show respect. Just look at Pacquiao, Bivol, Beterbiev, GGG. Even though I'm talking about boxing here, that's the kind of respect you should show not only for yourself but also for the sport.

People are taking fighters too seriously. Ever since McGregor rose to fame and started earning money even more talented fighters could only dream of, fighters realised the hype is an important part of the show. So now we have a growing number of fighters trying to build their "persona" and be memorable. Ilia played the role of an arrogant, overconfident jerk who has little or no respect for his opponents. It worked for him quite well until it didn't. Still, financially and fame wise, he's still better off than being a quiet, humble and respectful guy. That simply doesn't sell too well to the mma fans. I guess sport itself is not quite enough.

I think he made a mistake of being too self-deprecating after the fight. He should've done what Conor said after his loss to Nate Diaz, he just shrugged it off, saying "I fought a bigger guy and lost" or something like that.

[TopTort777]

Is here anyone that wants to say anything about Pereira vs Gane fight? Pereira in his social media is starting a hype that he has lost due to multiple illegal punches and elbows to back of his head and neck. He is ok with jab he has missed, but when he dived for legs, Gane landed a lot of illegal strikes. Again dirty game by Gane. Pereira is asking to cancel Herb Dean from UFC.

[Synchronice]

(...)
I saw some clips online and it looked like a brutal fight.

It sure was. Topuria probably suffered more damage than in all his previous fights combined. Justin looked relatively unharmed in terms of visible damage, but he ate his portion of head punches and complained about suffering from body shots.
The fight was better than I expected it would be.

It was an amazing fight, especially the second round. Topuria really fights in fashion, the way he put Gaethje in the corner and started punching him, honestly, it was a masterpiece for me to watch, what a beautiful shots, what hand movements, it was amazing. In that moment, he kicked him in the liver so hard and Gaethje felt so bad that I really thought the guy couldn't continue fight but in the 3rd round, he was standing on his feet like nothing happened and he didn't get kicked in the liver. When Petr Yan kicked Dvalishvili in the liver, it affected him the entire fight.

Gaethje himself said that there was something wrong with his thick skin and his skin should be studied because he ate Topuria's strong shots like they were nothing. Honestly, I'm impressed that his face felt visibly so unaffected, especially when he got punches from Topuria.

[tokeweed]

Is here anyone that wants to say anything about Pereira vs Gane fight? Pereira in his social media is starting a hype that he has lost due to multiple illegal punches and elbows to back of his head and neck. He is ok with jab he has missed, but when he dived for legs, Gane landed a lot of illegal strikes. Again dirty game by Gane. Pereira is asking to cancel Herb Dean from UFC.

Well that's the game sometimes.  But I do agree that Herb Dean has some sht decision making done from time to time. 

If everybody starts blaming the UFC for this, do know that the referees aren't theirs.  They're assigned by Nevada's State Athletic Commission. 

Anyway here's a replay with Kape.  I think he's gonna be the next champ at 125.

Manel Kape vs Brandon Royval
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ATpcdFj0sg&pp

[trendcoin]

In any case, the left side of this is on 2024's freedom celebration where the American government encouraged men to become transformers heheheheh! The right side is this year's freedom celebration with the Donald and uncle Dana.

As far as I understand, you’re happy today. If you’re happy, that makes me happy too. But if tomorrow Kim Yong uses the money Lazarus earned from hacking and holds this event in the gardens of the sacred North Korean Dynasty, I’m sure we’ll both be unhappy that day...

A president, king, or dictator might go to the arena to watch an event, but if a president, king, or dictator moves that event to his own backyard to maximize his personal interests, it becomes a shady event... Similar things have only happened in history with medieval knights or in the gladiator games of ancient Rome...

Is here anyone that wants to say anything about Pereira vs Gane fight? Pereira in his social media is starting a hype that he has lost due to multiple illegal punches and elbows to back of his head and neck. He is ok with jab he has missed, but when he dived for legs, Gane landed a lot of illegal strikes. Again dirty game by Gane. Pereira is asking to cancel Herb Dean from UFC.

Alex usually cries when he doesn’t get to face Rountree. I hope Dana gives him Rountree in the next fight.

Herb Dean RESPONDS to Alex Pereira’s criticism about him and outlines what area of the head counts as “back of the head” in MMA

https://x.com/acdmma_/status/2067025947413340202


There was a time when people compared Khabib and Ilia at their prime. The fight itself put an end to many debates once and for all, but that position became legendary in explaining certain things...

Just how good was Khabib.

https://x.com/joeroganhq/status/2066699782660202633

[TopTort777]

Some of the punches were illegal, not all as Pereira is saying. What Pereira expected to be done that night? To stop the fight, let them standing again and continue? Pereira was already dazed enough to have bad continuation. In the internet fighters salaries appeared. It is said that Pereira took home 10 millions, when others took about 400k-2.5 millions. Took more than rest and still complaining

Is here anyone that wants to say anything about Pereira vs Gane fight? Pereira in his social media is starting a hype that he has lost due to multiple illegal punches and elbows to back of his head and neck. He is ok with jab he has missed, but when he dived for legs, Gane landed a lot of illegal strikes. Again dirty game by Gane. Pereira is asking to cancel Herb Dean from UFC.

Alex usually cries when he doesn’t get to face Rountree. I hope Dana gives him Rountree in the next fight.

Herb Dean RESPONDS to Alex Pereira’s criticism about him and outlines what area of the head counts as “back of the head” in MMA

https://x.com/acdmma_/status/2067025947413340202

What for he needs Rountree again? He has already dropped him 2 years ago and Pereira is now a heavyweight I suppose. Btw when he has gained weight, a lot of people started to make fun of his fat ass

[Pumared]

Some of the punches were illegal, not all as Pereira is saying. What Pereira expected to be done that night? To stop the fight, let them standing again and continue? Pereira was already dazed enough to have bad continuation. In the internet fighters salaries appeared. It is said that Pereira took home 10 millions, when others took about 400k-2.5 millions. Took more than rest and still complaining

Is here anyone that wants to say anything about Pereira vs Gane fight? Pereira in his social media is starting a hype that he has lost due to multiple illegal punches and elbows to back of his head and neck. He is ok with jab he has missed, but when he dived for legs, Gane landed a lot of illegal strikes. Again dirty game by Gane. Pereira is asking to cancel Herb Dean from UFC.

Alex usually cries when he doesn’t get to face Rountree. I hope Dana gives him Rountree in the next fight.

Herb Dean RESPONDS to Alex Pereira’s criticism about him and outlines what area of the head counts as “back of the head” in MMA

https://x.com/acdmma_/status/2067025947413340202

What for he needs Rountree again? He has already dropped him 2 years ago and Pereira is now a heavyweight I suppose. Btw when he has gained weight, a lot of people started to make fun of his fat ass

I think the issue isn't money, but rather the integrity of the fighters. Imagine if a blow like that landed squarely and that could end Pereira's career, while the referee didn't stop the fight at any point. He had reported it to the UFC, and they responded by asking for a few days to assess the situation.

[OgNasty]

Some of the punches were illegal, not all as Pereira is saying. What Pereira expected to be done that night? To stop the fight, let them standing again and continue? Pereira was already dazed enough to have bad continuation. In the internet fighters salaries appeared. It is said that Pereira took home 10 millions, when others took about 400k-2.5 millions. Took more than rest and still complaining

Is here anyone that wants to say anything about Pereira vs Gane fight? Pereira in his social media is starting a hype that he has lost due to multiple illegal punches and elbows to back of his head and neck. He is ok with jab he has missed, but when he dived for legs, Gane landed a lot of illegal strikes. Again dirty game by Gane. Pereira is asking to cancel Herb Dean from UFC.

Alex usually cries when he doesn’t get to face Rountree. I hope Dana gives him Rountree in the next fight.

Herb Dean RESPONDS to Alex Pereira’s criticism about him and outlines what area of the head counts as “back of the head” in MMA

https://x.com/acdmma_/status/2067025947413340202

What for he needs Rountree again? He has already dropped him 2 years ago and Pereira is now a heavyweight I suppose. Btw when he has gained weight, a lot of people started to make fun of his fat ass

I think the issue isn't money, but rather the integrity of the fighters. Imagine if a blow like that landed squarely and that could end Pereira's career, while the referee didn't stop the fight at any point. He had reported it to the UFC, and they responded by asking for a few days to assess the situation.

The discussion of fighter safety is an interesting one.  On one hand, they are in there trying to kill each other so what do you expect...  On the other hand, if this is to be a legitimate sport with superstars, they will need to be protected from career ending injuries.

I feel for Pereira as those strikes didn't look great.  It all happens so fast though, I wouldn't want to be a ref who is literally responsible for another man's life.  They will get criticized either way no matter what they decide.  Tough job.

[notblox1]

Is here anyone that wants to say anything about Pereira vs Gane fight? Pereira in his social media is starting a hype that he has lost due to multiple illegal punches and elbows to back of his head and neck. He is ok with jab he has missed, but when he dived for legs, Gane landed a lot of illegal strikes. Again dirty game by Gane. Pereira is asking to cancel Herb Dean from UFC.

I think Pereira was simply not ready for heavyweight fight yet.
He was great in light-heavyweight division but things are completely different on this level, with more weight and strength.
It is not going to help him now wining and complaining now about illegal punches from Gane.

[pawel7777]

I think Tom Aspinal was the first to raise the issue of Gane using illegal elbows on Pereira, and later Pereira also didn't hold back and blamed Herb Dean for not reacting when that happened.
Alex said the fight was going to the plan, the first round was meant to be a Feeling-out round and finding the rhythm, and that Gane simply got lucky with that jab that brought Alex down.
Whether that's true or not, it looks like Alex is setting the ground for a rematch, which I think is not the worst idea.

On the other hand, we have Tom Aspinal, who says he will be ready to fight Gane in Paris in September. If that's the case, he should get the priority before any potential Pereira Vs Gane rematch.

[trendcoin]

What for he needs Rountree again? He has already dropped him 2 years ago and Pereira is now a heavyweight I suppose. Btw when he has gained weight, a lot of people started to make fun of his fat ass :D

I'm sure he wanted Jiri.

By the way, a Twitter user shared this video: https://x.com/Hanska_94/status/2066975492356358460

I think the situation is very clear. Since Alex couldn’t stand up, he put his head out like a sacrificial lamb. At that moment, a few punches accidentally landed on the back of his head. I don't think Gane did this on purpose. Gane has a bad track record in these kinds of things, but I think it's wrong to assume he did it on purpose here...