🥊 The UFC Info and Prediction Thread

[eaLiTy]

Merab gassed out completely because he was trying hard to take Yan down, even shooting from outside. Yan was able to stuff every takedown and make him carry his weight, which drained him completely, and hence Yan was able to come back in the third round.

It was his only option. Yan is a better fighter than him (this fight convinced me of it). If Merab had stood up to him he will have suffered a lot more than he did and from the earlier rounds. Going for the takedown meant the distance was closed repeatedly not allowing Yan to build combinations. Merab and his corner were relying on his resilience.  I heard them telling him Yan was gassed after the first or second round but it happened to be the other way round.

I wonder where this loss puts him in the contenders list.

Merab has always relied on that insane gas tank to carry him through the later rounds, and we saw exactly how much it saved him when he rallied late against Umar Nurmagomedov. People point out that injuries might have kept him from performing at his absolute best in his recent fights, but the blueprint to beat him is out there now.

Merab used to be completely bulletproof with his wrestling, but Petr Yan absolutely dented that confidence in their trilogy fight. Yan proved he's clearly the sharper striker, and the way he completely shut down Merab's takedowns in the final three rounds is definitely going to be the game plan other fighters use against Merab moving forward.

[notblox1]

Volkanovski proved again that he is currently one of the best fighters in the world, and he did it perfectly!
Now his only weak spot remains Islam Makhachev, and I want to see him trying the third time to fight against him, maybe in different category.
For Evloev this was first defeat in his pro MMA carrier so I am sure he is going to ask to fight again against Volkanovski in future.

[pawel7777]

Volkanovski proved again that he is currently one of the best fighters in the world, and he did it perfectly!
Now his only weak spot remains Islam Makhachev, and I want to see him trying the third time to fight against him, maybe in different category.
For Evloev this was first defeat in his pro MMA carrier so I am sure he is going to ask to fight again against Volkanovski in future.

You forgot about Ilia Topuria, who most recently KO'd Alex. I don't think there's any chance Volk and Islam will run it for the 3rd time. Islam is currently 2 weight classes above and unlikely to come down as it gets harder to cut weight the older you get.
Volk Vs Topuria 2 is much more likely, but not in any near future. Topuria will almost definitely fight someone from the lightweight division next, probably some big name, perhaps Paddy or Charles.
It's hard to say what's next for Volk. Perhaps Jean Silva would be a good match. Silva lost to Lopes but redeemed himself with two wins after that. Lerone Murphy is ranked 3rd, but his last fight was a loss to Evloev, so there's no way he would get a title shot without first having a win.

[bbc.reporter]

Volkanovski proved again that he is currently one of the best fighters in the world, and he did it perfectly!
Now his only weak spot remains Islam Makhachev, and I want to see him trying the third time to fight against him, maybe in different category.
For Evloev this was first defeat in his pro MMA carrier so I am sure he is going to ask to fight again against Volkanovski in future.

Agreed. However, Islam is on welterweight already. This would be moving on a very heavy division for him. I reckon that if Volkanovski will want to challenge a fighter on a higher weight division, this should be a rematch against the big headed Topuria! Justin Gaethje showed everyone the tactic on how to get the victory against the big headed Topuria! We can be very positive on the speculation that Volkanovski will have a better chance on the rematch!

[TopTort777]

It was enough for Topuria to fail once and he has lost his crown I would watch Volk vs Gaethje than see Volk trying to avenge loss to Topuria. It would be too much credit for Topuria to fight Volk. If Topuria wants to get any near any fight for belt, he should build series of wins first. But Volk vs Gaethje, as champ vs champs looks really cool. Volk has beaten every thread in welterweight. He is not going to fight Lopez again, is he?

[trendcoin]

Volkanovski proved again that he is currently one of the best fighters in the world, and he did it perfectly!
Now his only weak spot remains Islam Makhachev, and I want to see him trying the third time to fight against him, maybe in different category.
For Evloev this was first defeat in his pro MMA carrier so I am sure he is going to ask to fight again against Volkanovski in future.

Agreed. However, Islam is on welterweight already. This would be moving on a very heavy division for him. I reckon that if Volkanovski will want to challenge a fighter on a higher weight division, this should be a rematch against the big headed Topuria! Justin Gaethje showed everyone the tactic on how to get the victory against the big headed Topuria! We can be very positive on the speculation that Volkanovski will have a better chance on the rematch!

At the same time, the possibility of Islam returning to the Lightweight division is also very low. Islam vs. Volkanovski 3 will have to wait until the afterlife now.

It was enough for Topuria to fail once and he has lost his crown :D I would watch Volk vs Gaethje than see Volk trying to avenge loss to Topuria. It would be too much credit for Topuria to fight Volk. If Topuria wants to get any near any fight for belt, he should build series of wins first. But Volk vs Gaethje, as champ vs champs looks really cool. Volk has beaten every thread in welterweight. He is not going to fight Lopez again, is he?

It’s already well known that Volkanovski wants to fight Gaetjhe, and he’s made many statements to that effect. Frankly, I think he prefers Gaetjhe because he sees him as an easier opponent than Ilia. Ilia is a dangerous opponent for him, one who has been tested before and could pose major problems again if faced once more.

https://x.com/KirmiziKoseMMA/status/2114779951454978236

Every fighter who entered the year with an undefeated record lost their perfect record. There are two fighters who haven’t lost their undefeated records (Shavkat and Morales), but that’s only because they haven’t fought. As long as we don’t fight, we can all keep our undefeated records at home. HODL.

[tokeweed]

From side next event looks like another boring filler for Paramount+ But lately I have noticed that those filler events, started to become more exciting to watch than numerical events, as number of finishes and performance are higher.

Btw third fight in main card looks funny Sisters fighting ? Despite main event, my eyes havent caught any surname to watch fight fully instead of watching review later... Despite main fight and chick fight, not a single fighter from top.

The Apex Fight Nights are mostly the bottom of the barrel match ups.  The bangers are those Fight Night events that go to different locations around the world.  But yeah...  We can't have banger after banger every week as the UFC has low tier fighters that need some cage time too.

Anyway, here are a couple of vid that could help the regs itt with their picks and knowing the fighters overall.

Stat Diggers:  UFC Vegas 123 Deep Dive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE2omRIxil0

UFC Vegas 123 Full Card Breakdown & Predictions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBbv8r3cpqQ

[TopTort777]

I think Merab is in a tricky situation right now. I will try to explain why. Who would want to fight him now? Now fights will be 3 rounds instead of 5 for him. Cardio maniac will be unstoppable with wrestling and takedowns in 15min fights If nothing shocking happens, then it will be wiping floor with an opponent aka an easy bet. It does not look like Merab is no longer in prime and his career is on a decline, it does not look there are many new blood in roster to challenge him. Next time he fights, it should be an autopick

[LogitechMouse]

I think Merab is in a tricky situation right now. I will try to explain why. Who would want to fight him now? Now fights will be 3 rounds instead of 5 for him. Cardio maniac will be unstoppable with wrestling and takedowns in 15min fights If nothing shocking happens, then it will be wiping floor with an opponent aka an easy bet. It does not look like Merab is no longer in prime and his career is on a decline, it does not look there are many new blood in roster to challenge him. Next time he fights, it should be an autopick

I also did a quick google search, and it seems like Merab also haven't fought in a different division as well aside from the Bantamweight. For me, he has 3 options.

1. Wait for Petr Yan to get defeated by whoever can be, then he could try his shot and get the title again.
2. Fight with other Bantamweight fighters in a non-title fight.
3. Go to other division like the Featherweight and have a shot at the title.

He's really in a tricky situation indeed, and we don't know what will be the next for him right now. I'm thinking that the first 2 has the highest chance of happening, and I don't see him fighting in other division, but it's still possible. The once called "best cardio" in the UFC might starts to decline on his career already.

[TopTort777]

What can make fighter go to other division? Try to scrap title from someone else waist. Problems with weight cutting. Cleared current division. After a loss no one would give Merab a title fight in other division. Did not hear from his complaining about weigh cutting. But seeking for new challenge might be a good reason to move on. Otherwise who should he fight? Trilogy with O'Malley? Beat Sandhagen again? Beat Umar again ? (lol, yeah, I would watch). Yadong? He might be second to challenge Yan for belt (I think Yan vs O'Malley could be next). Bautista? Bautista will lose to Merab or probably wont accept fight at all.

[Synchronice]

Yan proved once again that he’s one of the UFC’s best strikers. Especially his mid-kicks were amazing. Every time he hit Merab with a mid-kick, it caused pain on Merab’s face.

I agree with you on the fact that Petr Yan is one of the best striker in UFC but I don't agree with you when you say that he proved it once again. He proved nothing in this fight, it was a very boring fight where we didn't see good fighting skills.

By the way, you know what's interesting? Merab brutally beat Petr Yan in first fight and what happened to this guy in the last two fights? His cardio was non-existent and we have never seen that before. By the way, a good thing about this loss is that I think that now he will face Umar Nurmagomedov very soon (just my prediction since Umar lost recently too).
Petr Yan VS Sean O'Malley will be an amazing fight to watch, I'm sure about it. In this fight, we will really see striking skills. The first fight was so amazing and Yan was terribly robbed.

[pawel7777]

It was enough for Topuria to fail once and he has lost his crown I would watch Volk vs Gaethje than see Volk trying to avenge loss to Topuria. It would be too much credit for Topuria to fight Volk. If Topuria wants to get any near any fight for belt, he should build series of wins first. But Volk vs Gaethje, as champ vs champs looks really cool. Volk has beaten every thread in welterweight. He is not going to fight Lopez again, is he?

While Volk has run out of worthy opponents in featherweight, that's not the case for Gaethje. Justin can't complain about the lack of options. Potential fighters that are worthy of a title shot:
Arman, Charles (he beat Justin once), Topuria (a rematch is not fully deserved but still something fans would love to see), Max Holloway (he beat Justin in a spectacular fashion and "won" his last fight against Conor), Salkilld (undefeated in the UFC and ranked 6th, so high enough).

Volk moving up is an option, but I don't think he would get a title shot. More likely we would see something like him running it again with Ilia, but in the lightweight, as Ilia moving down to featherweight would be a sign of defeat and admitting failure.

[EugeniaX]

ufc prediction threads are always fun since everyone has their own picks. curious to see which fighters people are backing for the next card, and vega is worth checking for comparing odds too.

[bbc.reporter]

It was enough for Topuria to fail once and he has lost his crown I would watch Volk vs Gaethje than see Volk trying to avenge loss to Topuria. It would be too much credit for Topuria to fight Volk. If Topuria wants to get any near any fight for belt, he should build series of wins first. But Volk vs Gaethje, as champ vs champs looks really cool. Volk has beaten every thread in welterweight. He is not going to fight Lopez again, is he?

Correction, Volkanovski is on featherweight hehehee. Also, on Diego Lopes, he mentioned in an interview that he cannot defeat Volkanovski and he will only wait until he will retire. But I am not quite certain if this is only a joke or if he was telling the truth.

On the big headed Topuria, I am certain that everyone will be very much excited for him again after winning with 2 knockouts hehehhe. Who will be his next opponent?

[Noorooo]

Volkanovski proved again that he is currently one of the best fighters in the world, and he did it perfectly!
Now his only weak spot remains Islam Makhachev, and I want to see him trying the third time to fight against him, maybe in different category.
For Evloev this was first defeat in his pro MMA carrier so I am sure he is going to ask to fight again against Volkanovski in future.

Volkanovski is the best featherweight fighter in the world. No other fighter in that weight class has dominated like him. But to be honest, I don't think he is made for the lightweight division. It's such a tough division that I doubt he could even compete with the top five fighters there. I don't think a third fight with Islam would ever happen, but if it does, I think it will be even worse for him than last time.

[TopTort777]

It was enough for Topuria to fail once and he has lost his crown I would watch Volk vs Gaethje than see Volk trying to avenge loss to Topuria. It would be too much credit for Topuria to fight Volk. If Topuria wants to get any near any fight for belt, he should build series of wins first. But Volk vs Gaethje, as champ vs champs looks really cool. Volk has beaten every thread in welterweight. He is not going to fight Lopez again, is he?

Correction, Volkanovski is on featherweight hehehee. Also, on Diego Lopes, he mentioned in an interview that he cannot defeat Volkanovski and he will only wait until he will retire. But I am not quite certain if this is only a joke or if he was telling the truth.

On the big headed Topuria, I am certain that everyone will be very much excited for him again after winning with 2 knockouts hehehhe. Who will be his next opponent?

My bad, featherweight, correct But he would easily fight as welterweight, check out his pictures when he was into rugby If Lopes really has said that he will wait for Volk to retire, because he cant beat him and dont want to try, then this is not a spirit of a champion. He should better learn from Evloev, who had 20-0 record, but after a loss from Volk changed his bio in social media to 0-1 Evloev really worried about his loss, maybe broken mentally. But if he would be given a chance to fight again, he would give everything to fix that 1 in his loss record.

[tokeweed]

What can make fighter go to other division? Try to scrap title from someone else waist. Problems with weight cutting. Cleared current division. After a loss no one would give Merab a title fight in other division. Did not hear from his complaining about weigh cutting. But seeking for new challenge might be a good reason to move on. Otherwise who should he fight? Trilogy with O'Malley? Beat Sandhagen again? Beat Umar again ? (lol, yeah, I would watch). Yadong? He might be second to challenge Yan for belt (I think Yan vs O'Malley could be next). Bautista? Bautista will lose to Merab or probably wont accept fight at all.

Lol what's the problem here now?    Dvalishvilli lost and that's that.  Time for other contenders to take on the champ.  And right now there's Song Yadong who was called out, Sean O'Malley who has one win against Yan and I think Mario Bautista who won as the underdog against Corey Sandhagen.

Dvalishvilli is back on the drawing board and his next fight will prolly be against one of the guys ranked from 6 to 10. 

[TopTort777]

Problem is not with Merab but with his opponents If they had little chances to beat him within 25 minutes, then within 15 minutes they would have even less chances You know well what fighters are today. Instead of fighting who they are told, they are given several opponents and they choose the one who wont spoil their win streak or lose spot in a title race. Or who will bring them more money or media. Add that Dana dont like Merab. All the guy that you and me have mentioned, will fight between each other leaving Merab aside, but Merab will fight the guy who if left in roster and is crazy to challenge him That is my point. Why risk when you skip Merab with inconvenient fighting style?

Umar has a loss against Merab. Umar needs that fight. Merab needs to fight him to humiliate aura of undefeated Nurmagomedovs It will boost his media well

58 takedown attempts in last fight... If I would do 58 sit downs, I would get blackout

[eaLiTy]

~
Every fighter who entered the year with an undefeated record lost their perfect record. There are two fighters who haven’t lost their undefeated records (Shavkat and Morales), but that’s only because they haven’t fought. As long as we don’t fight, we can all keep our undefeated records at home. HODL.

It is highly unlikely we will see Shavkat Rakhmonov fighting this year. There is no fight scheduled for Michael Morales this year either; his next fight is fixed against Carlos Prates for the interim UFC Welterweight Championship.

~
Petr Yan VS Sean O'Malley will be an amazing fight to watch, I'm sure about it. In this fight, we will really see striking skills. The first fight was so amazing and Yan was terribly robbed.

This is the matchup to make right now. Even Sean O'Malley is calling for the title shot, and it is possible we will see this matchup next. The other opponent option is Song Yadong, after his upset win over Umar Nurmagomedov. With the way Petr Yan won against Merab, Yan will be the favorite going into the match.

~
58 takedown attempts in last fight... If I would do 58 sit downs, I would get blackout

It is actually true. 

[notblox1]

Upcoming UFC main event Moicano vs Nolan is not bad and I will check it out, but I wont be watching rest of the fights on this card.
I am giving advantage to Nolan because he is younger and in better form, but this wont be easy win for him.

From other UFC news, Israel Adesanya signed a new fight and rumors say he is fighting against Shara Magomedov.