🥊 The UFC Info and Prediction Thread

[Upgrade00]

Could we say that Fiziev was an elite striker? He is 33. Seems that peak is gone. Against Topuria who is in prime, is looks like Fiziev will be KOed in first or second round. I dont want to go math, but by looking on Fiziev record, he is on a decline. Putting him against hungry for return and to prove he is best Topuria might end badly for Fiziev. Maybe Holloway could be a good test for Topuria? Holloway lost, but his striking imho is better than Fiziev, and he stood longer than others against Topuria Btw Tsarukyan vs Topuria I would watch. They have mutual hate

That may be the exact profile of a fight that Topuria needs to get his confidence back before getting back in the contenders running for the lightweight title. It will be a disaster if he gets rocked again and the pressure of that can weigh heavily on him if he is in a proper fight against someone with nothing to lose. A quick knockout like he is used to will do him a world of good.

I'm so excited for Pantoja's return. Will be a very tough match against Van who is a proper fighter that almost never stands off.
How much do you think the knowledge of the injury will affect how he fights? He particularly likes that roll away with 2 hands if his leg gets taken, will we see him do it fluidly as he is used to?

[pawel7777]

Could we say that Fiziev was an elite striker? He is 33. Seems that peak is gone. Against Topuria who is in prime, is looks like Fiziev will be KOed in first or second round. I dont want to go math, but by looking on Fiziev record, he is on a decline. Putting him against hungry for return and to prove he is best Topuria might end badly for Fiziev. Maybe Holloway could be a good test for Topuria? Holloway lost, but his striking imho is better than Fiziev, and he stood longer than others against Topuria Btw Tsarukyan vs Topuria I would watch. They have mutual hate

Despite the loss to Gaethje, Topuria is still one of the biggest names, and his return might actually get more views than if he were to win the fight against Gaethje. People are curious about how he will cope with the loss and whether he will keep the same approach as before or humble down.
I don't think the UFC would give such a big fight to Fiziev, who's not even in the top 10 at the moment. Tsarukyan option is more realistic, assuming Arman beats Ruffy. Then again, the UFC doesn't have much love for Arman, so unlikely would be gifting him such big-money fight.

For UFC 331 Dana has announced new bonus - Proper Chaos Bonus (50k bucks). New bonus is connected with start of new season MobLand on Paramount+, which is planned to be on same date UFC 331 happens

Are the criteria for the bonus to create as much chaos in the octagon as possible? I think Iwo Baraniewski Vs Alonso Menifield has the biggest potential to be the winner of this bonus.

[notblox1]

Despite the loss to Gaethje, Topuria is still one of the biggest names, and his return might actually get more views than if he were to win the fight against Gaethje.

I can agree with you on this.
Topuria is a great fight and this latest loss from Gaethje could be a good things for him, it could ground him more, and make him learn from his mistzake and recover his eye injury.
I would love to see rematch soon, but Gaethje is on a great run, winning three fights on a row, and he is not that young anymore.
Interesting times for UFC Lightweight division.

[OgNasty]

~
Personally, I just want McGregor to finish his last fight and walk away.

Personally, I don't want to see Conor McGregor return at all. He’s had way too many injuries. If he’s absolutely adamant about coming back, then the Nate Diaz trilogy is the only final fight that makes sense.

He will definitely come back.  He has a $30,000,000 payday waiting for him and as seen in the last fight, all he has to do is step in the ring to collect.  Even if he has to be wheeled in on a wheelchair, he'll have one last fight. 

I think we are all sick of the nonsense that his career has become, but we have to get through one more fight before he fades away into the sunset.  I guess the fear if you never want to see him fight again is that he actually wins his next fight and then decides to try and secure another fight deal.

[TopTort777]

~
I dont like what Nina Drama is doing in UFC. Even though her goal is to make UFC more popular and make it gain audience, her content is the same everywhere. Flirting with fighters, and her husband or boyfriend is filming all that.

Her boyfriend isn't even involved in her crew. She has a completely separate crew for her content, though sometimes her boyfriend does accompany her. She’s explicitly said this on her social media pages.

Are you sure? Because I have seen a lot of time mentioned that her boyfriend is the one who is behind the camera. Even in some shorts on YouTube Arman joked that she should send her boyfriend (and pointing to the camera) go have rest in Vegas, while they will have time with no camera. Maybe something has changed now.

Could we say that Fiziev was an elite striker? He is 33. Seems that peak is gone. Against Topuria who is in prime, is looks like Fiziev will be KOed in first or second round. I dont want to go math, but by looking on Fiziev record, he is on a decline. Putting him against hungry for return and to prove he is best Topuria might end badly for Fiziev. Maybe Holloway could be a good test for Topuria? Holloway lost, but his striking imho is better than Fiziev, and he stood longer than others against Topuria Btw Tsarukyan vs Topuria I would watch. They have mutual hate

Despite the loss to Gaethje, Topuria is still one of the biggest names, and his return might actually get more views than if he were to win the fight against Gaethje. People are curious about how he will cope with the loss and whether he will keep the same approach as before or humble down.
I don't think the UFC would give such a big fight to Fiziev, who's not even in the top 10 at the moment. Tsarukyan option is more realistic, assuming Arman beats Ruffy. Then again, the UFC doesn't have much love for Arman, so unlikely would be gifting him such big-money fight.

Imho, if UFC still see Topuria as their one of big start and money makers, then they should give him a fight he would most likely win to regain reputation and confidence. Maybe Fiziev really could be that person. But as you have said, he is low in top. Their fight might look like a filler for record and legacy. Topuria needs a real challenge, which he most likely must win Otherwise people wont believe in his return

For UFC 331 Dana has announced new bonus - Proper Chaos Bonus (50k bucks). New bonus is connected with start of new season MobLand on Paramount+, which is planned to be on same date UFC 331 happens

Are the criteria for the bonus to create as much chaos in the octagon as possible? I think Iwo Baraniewski Vs Alonso Menifield has the biggest potential to be the winner of this bonus.

Nope, White didn't reveal the exact criteria for the bonus or what exactly he'll be looking for, but he did name it the "proper chaos bonus" and said it'll be up to him to determine the winner. I guess that can be anyone who will impress him. Even one of the guys who will get fight of the night can be able to get that new bonus.

[Synchronice]

Nobody's interested to see Diaz fight again, nobody's interested in watching McGregor anymore especially with that disappointing match against Holloway. Overall, I don't see this as something that will benefit the UFC, but who knows. I might be wrong because there might still be solid Diaz and McGregor fans out there who wants to see their idol fight.

I'm sure that Diaz will beat McGregor if they were about to fight tomorrow. Both are retired and retarded.

He's still on a delusional state after getting his first loss against Gaethje that he's still thinking that there's something on his gloves. Now many are making fun of his statement after having those medical tests done. He's back YES but not as a fighter, but as a clown.

Correct me, but there have been his opponents in the past where they said that Gaethje really has heavy hands. I think Holloway, Oliveira and even Ferguson said that one, but correct me with those names. I'm pretty sure though that some fighters said that he has heavy hands, and we've seen it against Topuria. Now I feel bad for him because at one point, he's a pound-for-pound candidate, and now he's coming back saying that there's something weird in his opponents gloves? Yes there's weird in it, and that's RAW POWER.

Make that Topuria-Gaethje 2 happen as soon as possible already so that Topuria will wake up on his delusional state.

I don't think that he is on a delusional state after his first loss. I think he was like, that's enough, I'm not gonna become humble, I'm gonna return to my old mindset. And honestly, he lost that fight because of his own mistakes, he really had a chance in the second round and Sean O'Malley explained that very well. His couch also offered another good situation how fight should have gone. Anyways, it's pointless to talk about it (Sorry, I'm Topuria's fan). But it's really shame to say that Gaethje had something in his hands, it's such a low level from Topuria.
You are correct, everyone says that Gaethje hits like a truck.

By the way, I would happily see Gaethje VS Topuria but I don't think that Topuria deserves an immediate rematch. It's simply the fight that I want to see but it's not like he deserves a title fight right now.

[tokeweed]

As Ilia Topuria announced, he is BACK!

He is back with new hairstyle

^  Seeing how Topuria lost royally to Gaethje, I wanna see him fight with another elite striker in Fiziev.  I know Fiz is ranked low at 12 rn but he fought Gaethje twice and both went to a decision.  One fight he lost via majority decision.  I'm not playing MMA math or anything.  Just proving a point that Fiz is an elite striker who might make a good fight if matched against Topuria...

Could we say that Fiziev was an elite striker? He is 33. Seems that peak is gone. Against Topuria who is in prime, is looks like Fiziev will be KOed in first or second round. I dont want to go math, but by looking on Fiziev record, he is on a decline. Putting him against hungry for return and to prove he is best Topuria might end badly for Fiziev. Maybe Holloway could be a good test for Topuria? Holloway lost, but his striking imho is better than Fiziev, and he stood longer than others against Topuria Btw Tsarukyan vs Topuria I would watch. They have mutual hate

News.

For UFC 331 Dana has announced new bonus - Proper Chaos Bonus (50k bucks). New bonus is connected with start of new season MobLand on Paramount+, which is planned to be on same date UFC 331 happens

Nah...  Still is an elite striker and better than most in the UFC.  He's an instructor at the Tiger Muay Thai gym in Bangkok.  And at 33, he may be in the twilight of his peak as a fighter but he still has a couple if good fights in him.

And it could be a close fight against Topuria imho.
 
Anyway...  What happened to Joshua Van?  It's like he suddenly went into McGregor mode in the prefight press conference .    Anybody itt bet on him?

UFC 331:  Pre Fight Press Conference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK5LLmmtkB0

[LogitechMouse]

Could we say that Fiziev was an elite striker? He is 33. Seems that peak is gone. Against Topuria who is in prime, is looks like Fiziev will be KOed in first or second round. I dont want to go math, but by looking on Fiziev record, he is on a decline. Putting him against hungry for return and to prove he is best Topuria might end badly for Fiziev. Maybe Holloway could be a good test for Topuria? Holloway lost, but his striking imho is better than Fiziev, and he stood longer than others against Topuria Btw Tsarukyan vs Topuria I would watch. They have mutual hate

That may be the exact profile of a fight that Topuria needs to get his confidence back before getting back in the contenders running for the lightweight title. It will be a disaster if he gets rocked again and the pressure of that can weigh heavily on him if he is in a proper fight against someone with nothing to lose. A quick knockout like he is used to will do him a world of good.

I'm so excited for Pantoja's return. Will be a very tough match against Van who is a proper fighter that almost never stands off.
---

Well, he might be the perfect fighter that Topuria should fight, but the question now is, looking at their current ranks, will Topuria risk his #1 rank against a #12 ranked in Fiziev? I believe Topuria will just say to him, "Go fight higher ranked fighters first before fighting me." Fiziev is a striker, and his age is for me just in the prime phase of his career, but the rank is the one reason why I don't think that this will happen. Unless Fiziev ranks up, I don't see this happening. Holloway Vs. Topuria 2? That would be fun to watch, and I like this better than the Fiziev-Topuria. Striker vs. Striker.

Like you, I'm also excited to see him fight again after that disappointing injury that he got in their first match-up. This is the true test for both fighters.

---

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Anyways, it's pointless to talk about it (Sorry, I'm Topuria's fan). But it's really shame to say that Gaethje had something in his hands, it's such a low level from Topuria.
You are correct, everyone says that Gaethje hits like a truck.

By the way, I would happily see Gaethje VS Topuria but I don't think that Topuria deserves an immediate rematch. It's simply the fight that I want to see but it's not like he deserves a title fight right now.

So I guess I'm right when I said that Gaethje really his like a truck, and I do hope that Topuria will watch those interviews so that he will realize how strong of a puncher really his last opponent is.

Nothing wrong with being a fan of him anyway because even though he lost on that fight, we still can't forget how he annihilated Oliveira in their first fight, and how he defeated Holloway, and how he climbed up the ranks to get those belts. I'm a fan of him too anyway, but not as big as you I think. As for the rematch, as much as I want to say that Topuria doesn't deserve it IMMEDIATELY, it seems like it could happen in the first months of 2027. Topuria is clearing and pushing hard for a rematch while Gaethje also said that he's completely open to fight him again. Now it's up to Dana White now on what will happen in the future.

[TopTort777]

Anyway...  What happened to Joshua Van?  It's like he suddenly went into McGregor mode in the prefight press conference .    Anybody itt bet on him?

Tried to look cool and hyped to be remembered if Panjota beets him badly The more media you get during career, the more successful you might be after career. Even though I have picked Panjota, he is an underdog in this fight Btw if was noticeable and heard how huge Tsarukyan support is. Turns out that in LA there are more than 200k Armenians; they even have Little Armenia hood.

[eaLiTy]

~
Topuria is a great fight and this latest loss from Gaethje could be a good things for him, it could ground him more, and make him learn from his mistzake and recover his eye injury.
I would love to see rematch soon, but Gaethje is on a great run, winning three fights on a row, and he is not that young anymore.
Interesting times for UFC Lightweight division.

There were many great fighters in the past that were never the same after a loss. B.J. Penn, Chris Weidman, Renan Barão, Cody Garbrandt, Ronda Rousey and Tony Ferguson all were on an undefeated or big winning streak and after the loss were never the same. Topuria was confident enough to fight inside the pocket without any fear and if he could continue that even after a devastating loss then he will continue his reign.

~
I think we are all sick of the nonsense that his career has become, but we have to get through one more fight before he fades away into the sunset.  I guess the fear if you never want to see him fight again is that he actually wins his next fight and then decides to try and secure another fight deal.

The dopamine hit you get while preparing for and entering the cage is different from anything else, and Conor might be searching for that high rather than the money. His body is banged up, and it would surprise me if he could even make it through a three-round fight without getting injured at this age.  

~
I dont like what Nina Drama is doing in UFC. Even though her goal is to make UFC more popular and make it gain audience, her content is the same everywhere. Flirting with fighters, and her husband or boyfriend is filming all that.

Her boyfriend isn't even involved in her crew. She has a completely separate crew for her content, though sometimes her boyfriend does accompany her. She’s explicitly said this on her social media pages.

Are you sure? Because I have seen a lot of time mentioned that her boyfriend is the one who is behind the camera. Even in some shorts on YouTube Arman joked that she should send her boyfriend (and pointing to the camera) go have rest in Vegas, while they will have time with no camera. Maybe something has changed now.

I am pretty sure because I saw her say this during an award show and have seen clips of it. Her boyfriend is a creative director who works on major campaigns and her content; he has other business ventures, so, according to her, he doesn't always accompany her.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/THTBqn6oXIQ

[tokeweed]

Anyway...  What happened to Joshua Van?  It's like he suddenly went into McGregor mode in the prefight press conference .    Anybody itt bet on him?

Tried to look cool and hyped to be remembered if Panjota beets him badly The more media you get during career, the more successful you might be after career. Even though I have picked Panjota, he is an underdog in this fight Btw if was noticeable and heard how huge Tsarukyan support is. Turns out that in LA there are more than 200k Armenians; they even have Little Armenia hood.

Yeah, I got Pantoja too at 2.22.  For that line I think it's alright imho...

Anyway as I said, I'll also have some single bets for this event besides the degen parlay.  I got Vera at 2.87, Patricio Pitbull at 3.57 and Moicano at 1.72.   

Here are the weigh in results.  Pantoja looks pissed af.  Can't wait!!

Joshua Van (125) vs. Alexandre Pantoja (125) – for flyweight title
Arman Tsarukyan (156) vs. Mauricio Ruffy (155)
Patricio Freire (145.5) vs. Dooho Choi (146)
Alonzo Menifield (205.5) vs. Iwo Baraniewski (206)
Gable Steveson (240) vs. Sean Sharaf (241)
Marlon Vera (136) vs. Charles Jourdain (135)
Tai Tuivasa (264.5) vs. Robelis Despaigne (263)
Michael Aswell Jr. (146) vs. JooSang Yoo (145.5)
Ryan Gandra (186) vs. Ozzy Diaz (186)
 Shahbazyan (185) vs. Brunno Ferreira (184.5)
Casey O'Neill (125) vs. Eduarda Moura (125.5)
Giga Chikadze (146) vs. Joanderson Brito (145.5)

UFC 331:  Ceremonial Weigh In
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF3vj3ri0jw

[TopTort777]

How can you have Moicano if fight is postponed? Not only Ortega is injured, but Renato is going to fight other guy. I think Nolan was announced as opponent for end of October.

Does cancelled fight ruin your parlay? Total odds must be lower. Or bookie cancel whole parlay? I have zero experience in such situation.

[tokeweed]

How can you have Moicano if fight is postponed? Not only Ortega is injured, but Renato is going to fight other guy. I think Nolan was announced as opponent for end of October.

Does cancelled fight ruin your parlay? Total odds must be lower. Or bookie cancel whole parlay? I have zero experience in such situation.

I made the bet via Hyperliquid's outcome market.  The bet is still up and live rn.  I guess I have to wait for the event to be over to get my money back.  Lol.

As for the degen parlay, it's still on with lower odds.

[BluebloodCXVI]

The only issue with Pantoja is his age. He’s 36 now, and the big question is whether all those career injuries will finally catch up to him across five rounds.

I’m not gonna lie, i also have some concerns about Pantoja in this fight with Van considering the fact that their last fight ended with Pantoja dislocating his elbow; i’m afraid it might impact the outcome of the fight in a way.

His team already said he was all healed up, but we never can tell until we see him in action inside the octagon.

From past experience, i know that prior elbow dislocations tend to linger around in subtle ways even after there might have been a medical clearance and assurance of 100% fitness.
Let’s not even talk about the psychological effects too; Pantoja might subconsciously and involuntarily try to protect that arm and this could make him hesitant to do certain things that he’s supposed to do.

I hope i’m wrong though and that he is truly good to go but i wouldn’t put my all on him winning this fight with Van Joshua; doesn’t mean i won’t stake on him, i’m just gonna be expecting the worst so i don’t get myself worked up if he loses.

The interesting fight to watch is Mauricio Ruffy vs Arman Tsarukyan. The first round is going to be insanely high-paced. If Arman survives that early storm, he can win it. If not, it’ll be another TKO win for Ruffy.

Nah don’t do my boy like that lol

It’s not like he’s tryna go against the Incredible Hulk or something.
Ruffy is good no doubt, but it’s very obvious to me that Arman’s fighting style can compatibly handle that of Ruffy as long doesn’t make reckless mistakes in the early rounds just like you said.

I feel like Arman wrestling is gonna be a key factor to help him get this win.

Ruffy doesn’t seem to do well with fighters that can wrestle and grapple well; his fight with BSD was a clear case, his striking threat was neutralized immediately BSD stayed heavy, held his ground and turned it into a grappling match.

Arman IMO is a better grappler than BSD so I feel like the same blueprint is gonna play out in this upcoming fight: survive the early power, force the grappling exchanges, and make Ruffy carry the weight and work from the bottom, that’s how he gets the win.

[LogitechMouse]

I don't know if there are many who believes in this one, but we've known Drake for his curse when it comes to sports betting. Now I've seen a post from TNT Sports (Facebook page) showing that Drake already has put his bet on Joshua Van winning on the match against Pantoja. Here's the screenshot:

You can look at it online as well on their Facebook page. When I saw this, I immediately deposited buckos on my gambling account and will risk some of it for Pantoja to win. The curse still lives.  


Also, just to add to the UFC excitement, we are in for 2 good fights to end the year.
Kayla Harrison will fight Amanda Nunez for the title.
Ciryl Gane will defend his "title" against Josh Hokit.

This will all happen in UFC 334 on November the 14th. I'll wait for that Women's Bantamweight Championship. We will be seeing who's the "baddest" woman on the UFC.

[eaLiTy]

~
From past experience, i know that prior elbow dislocations tend to linger around in subtle ways even after there might have been a medical clearance and assurance of 100% fitness.
Let’s not even talk about the psychological effects too; Pantoja might subconsciously and involuntarily try to protect that arm and this could make him hesitant to do certain things that he’s supposed to do.

I hope i’m wrong though and that he is truly good to go but i wouldn’t put my all on him winning this fight with Van Joshua; doesn’t mean i won’t stake on him, i’m just gonna be expecting the worst so i don’t get myself worked up if he loses.

It was a great fight and both gave their all. The difference was the speed of Joshua Van who was able to defend majority of the takedown efforts of Alexandre Pantoja and his boxing was really crisp and he is just 24 years old and he will continue to improve. Looks like we have a champion for the long run in the division.

~
I feel like Arman wrestling is gonna be a key factor to help him get this win.

Ruffy doesn’t seem to do well with fighters that can wrestle and grapple well; his fight with BSD was a clear case, his striking threat was neutralized immediately BSD stayed heavy, held his ground and turned it into a grappling match.

It was a great fight and both gave their all. The difference was the speed of Joshua Van, who was able to defend the majority of Alexandre Pantoja's takedown efforts. His boxing was incredibly crisp, and at just 24 years old, he will continue to improve. Looks like we have a champion for the long run in the division. 

I don't know if there are many who believes in this one, but we've known Drake for his curse when it comes to sports betting. Now I've seen a post from TNT Sports (Facebook page) showing that Drake already has put his bet on Joshua Van winning on the match against Pantoja. Here's the screenshot:
 
You can look at it online as well on their Facebook page. When I saw this, I immediately deposited buckos on my gambling account and will risk some of it for Pantoja to win. The curse still lives.  

This is the first time I am witnessing the Drake curse fail. Joshua Van won the fight! Once I saw the knockout win from Patrício Pitbull, I just placed a parlay on Arman Tsarukyan and Joshua Van to try my luck, having lost earlier in the card because of upsets.
 

Also, just to add to the UFC excitement, we are in for 2 good fights to end the year.
Kayla Harrison will fight Amanda Nunez for the title.
Ciryl Gane will defend his "title" against Josh Hokit.

This will all happen in UFC 334 on November the 14th. I'll wait for that Women's Bantamweight Championship. We will be seeing who's the "baddest" woman on the UFC.

Hands down, Amanda Nunes is the greatest women's fighter we have ever seen. I still remember the way she defeated Cris Cyborg; I lost a few BTCitcoins that day by placing a parlay on Jon Jones and Cris Cyborg. 

Kayla Harrison has not faced good competition in her career. The only credible opponent she has had was Julianna Peña, and Holly Holm was well past her prime when they fought.

The fight that surprised me was Patrício Pitbull's, who still has it in him at 39 years old. It is incredible that he stopped Doo Ho Choi in the first round.

Another major upset was Gable Steveson getting slept in just 12 seconds by Sean Sharaf. With that, the hype train is completely derailed.

[TopTort777]

I have forgotten about one cool fight. Gable Stevenson vs Sean Sharaf. Stevenson has a lot of achievements in wrestling, trains under Bones mentorship. Suppose to be next big star of heavyweight division. And he loses in 12 second of first round to a guy from bottom of roster lol. Thanks God I did not pick him. Btw, lost all my bets

[Synchronice]

Nothing wrong with being a fan of him anyway because even though he lost on that fight, we still can't forget how he annihilated Oliveira in their first fight, and how he defeated Holloway, and how he climbed up the ranks to get those belts. I'm a fan of him too anyway, but not as big as you I think. As for the rematch, as much as I want to say that Topuria doesn't deserve it IMMEDIATELY, it seems like it could happen in the first months of 2027. Topuria is clearing and pushing hard for a rematch while Gaethje also said that he's completely open to fight him again. Now it's up to Dana White now on what will happen in the future.

He was the first one to knock Holloway out and I think that gave him a huge boost in confidence because he said and delivered and Oliveira's knockout made him even more confident. Overconfidence is not a very good thing, you have to come down to earth.
It's funny how Gaethje was against rematch but now he is open to immediate rematch. I also feel like the rematch will happen, I'm sure Dana White wants it. Topuria is the fighter he wants to market because win or lose, the fight is never boring. And he has a pretty good chin, the guy doesn't get knocked out, so no early stoppage of the match because of him, good for Dana White.

By the way, the second round of Topuria vs Gaethje is one of my favorite round. For me, that round was the class itself.

[BluebloodCXVI]

I fucking knew that my boy Arman would get the win, he put in too much work during training camp not to win it.
Six straight wins now, i think we have seen enough proof; ayy! Dana!! get my boy a title shot ASAP!!!

Gaethje better start cleaning his gloves and getting ready cos Batman is coming for that belt real soon 🦇💀

[TopTort777]

Arman looked scary during weigh-ins I dont know how much longer UFC will keep title fight away from him, but he should have it anytime soon.  I only think that UFC want to make Armans title fight as a big show, and because of that, they might make Gaethje vs Topuria first (even though Topuria wont deserve it), to make Topuria win it, and later to face Arman Arman vs Topuria looks more $$$ event than Arman vs Gaethje