MMA talk - PFL, Bellator, KSW, ONE...

[eaLiTy]

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I think is a big misjudgment of Jakes boxing skills. People think that he is newbie. But he has been in professional boxing for 6 years, had 14 pro fights. Even thought fights were controversial, he has gained experience. He trains regularly and can hire best coaches. He is no longer a boy for beating. Moreover, he is gaining with every fight when his opponents (old) are far from peak form.

There is no denying the fact that Jake Paul is a professional boxer. However, if you look at the fighters he has defeated, they were old, ex-UFC veterans like Ben Askren, Tyron Woodley, Anderson Silva, Nate Diaz, Mike Perry, and a 58-year-old Mike Tyson. Whenever he fought proper boxers who are not veterans, he actually lost—against Tommy Fury and Anthony Joshua. If you look at Sean Strickland, boxing and stamina are his forte in MMA. Hence, even though the bookies might put Strickland as an underdog, he actually has a chance to win against Jake.

[TopTort777]

Yeah, I know that he is fighting guys who are far from prime and peak form, but 1) should we really blame him for others accepting to fight him and only thinking about money 2) does a person really need a "teacher" his age to learn and gain experience? (I wish my math teacher was not old lady, but a hot chick from university instead ).

Anyway, my idea was that Jake is not standing at one place, he is training and improving all the time. His only problem is that he has started doing that late. Take a look on first Askren Woodley, Silva, Diaz and others opponents. They were amateur, newbies, same retired fighters. But not former top fighters, that Jake fought.

[eaLiTy]

Yeah, I know that he is fighting guys who are far from prime and peak form, but 1) should we really blame him for others accepting to fight him and only thinking about money 2) does a person really need a "teacher" his age to learn and gain experience? (I wish my math teacher was not old lady, but a hot chick from university instead ).

Jake Paul can fight anyone he wants and make money; what I am trying to say is that whenever he faced elite boxers, he lost to them. Teddy Atlas became a coach at a very young age and, if you look at old boxing videos, you would see him in the corner of some of the best, elite boxers during the 90s. Mike Tyson was trained and coached under Cus D'Amato along with Teddy Atlas, and Atlas was cornering him during his amateur career.

Anyway, my idea was that Jake is not standing at one place, he is training and improving all the time. His only problem is that he has started doing that late. Take a look on first Askren Woodley, Silva, Diaz and others opponents. They were amateur, newbies, same retired fighters. But not former top fighters, that Jake fought.

In that list, Nick and Nate Diaz usually trained with professional boxers during their prime. Even though they are elite BJJ practitioners, they took boxing seriously early in their careers.

Since Jake Paul started training late, you can see holes in his approach. He does have a heavy right hand and puts his whole body into his jabs. He has improved his movement, but if you watch closely, you will find him bouncing around with both his feet off the ground at once, which is definitely not the correct approach. Any elite boxer could identify that flaw, time his bounce, and flatline him completely.

[pawel7777]

Just posting the results of the KSW 122 event:



An impressive finish by Zając, but there are speculations about whether KSW will allow him to fight again. He missed weight by a lot and didn't show up to the official weigh-ins. Allegedly, there were some other issues as well. But I think all the controversies made him a bit more popular and more recognisable, plus, he has some talent, so I feel we will see more of him and KSW will not drop him.

In the main fight of the night, Yakymenko successfully defended his Bantamweight Championship title and finishedMorelli with a kneebar submission.

[pawel7777]

https://gulfnews.com/sport/raf-next-gen-set-to-make-abu-dhabi-debut-1.500711271

It seems like RAF are trying to bring wrestling mainstream. There's a big event scheduled for 14th November. They partnered up with the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi and the UAE Wrestling Federation and are bringing hundreds of young wrestlers to Abu Dhabi to compete in a tournament. The finalists will compete in the same event as the top stars.
The main fight of the event is a title fight between Colby Covington and Khamzat Chimaev.
Although Colby officially retired from MMA, he seems to be doing surprisingly well in wrestling (his base sport). He previously defeated Arman Tsarukyan back in July, so him fighting Khamzat now should be interesting.

[TopTort777]

This event is going to full of former and current UFC fighters And big names in general. Umar Nurmagomedov vs Urijah Faber, Chikadze vs Magomedsharipov, Tsarukyan vs Neiman Gracie, Covington vs Chimaev, Sadulaev, Snyder, Pena. These are big names for combat sport. By level of fighters, this event will be cooler than many numerical UFC events. And its funny that UFC guys are competing in +1 or +2 weight divisions than they have in UFC That is their true weight

[eaLiTy]

It seems like RAF are trying to bring wrestling mainstream. There's a big event scheduled for 14th November. They partnered up with the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi and the UAE Wrestling Federation and are bringing hundreds of young wrestlers to Abu Dhabi to compete in a tournament. The finalists will compete in the same event as the top stars.

It is great to see that RAF gave wrestlers an opportunity and a venue to make money. Usually, after a great amateur career, they will either migrate to MMA or pro wrestling to make money, and most of them end up in coaching roles.

The main fight of the event is a title fight between Colby Covington and Khamzat Chimaev.
Although Colby officially retired from MMA, he seems to be doing surprisingly well in wrestling (his base sport). He previously defeated Arman Tsarukyan back in July, so him fighting Khamzat now should be interesting.

Arman Tsarukyan and Colby Covington fight in different divisions in MMA but have almost the same walk-around weight, around 78 kg to 84 kg, while Khamzat Chimaev is walking around at 100 kg. It will be really interesting to see how it goes.

Colby Covington and Jon Jones were college roommates and have great wrestling backgrounds. Yet, Colby never tried to wrestle against Kamaru Usman during their feud in the UFC, which was disappointing. Colby Covington technically holds a more decorated wrestling background than Kamaru Usman.

[TopTort777]

What does Cruiserweight Crossover suppose to mean in RAF ? Take cruiserweight and allow anyone from division above and below to compete? I dont know what Covington is going to do if Khamzat used to spar against heavyweights and light heavyweights on usual basis. I speculate Colby wont have enough power to lift Khamzat for a throw I think both Colby and Khamzat already know result of this fight, to bad most of viewers dont and expect a miracle

[pawel7777]

This event is going to full of former and current UFC fighters And big names in general. Umar Nurmagomedov vs Urijah Faber, Chikadze vs Magomedsharipov, Tsarukyan vs Neiman Gracie, Covington vs Chimaev, Sadulaev, Snyder, Pena. These are big names for combat sport. By level of fighters, this event will be cooler than many numerical UFC events. And its funny that UFC guys are competing in +1 or +2 weight divisions than they have in UFC That is their true weight

Things are getting a bit bizarre. All the fights people wanted to see that didn't happen in the UFC could now happen in the RAF. That's unless the UFC pulls out the plug, as I understand fighters need the UFC's permission to compete in other martial arts sports (I could be wrong).
And I have to give the RAF credit. I wasn't interested in wrestling at all but they are starting to capture my attention.

I just realised Arman will feature in two events in a row: RAF 14, as the main event against Dillon Danis and RAF 15 against Neiman Gracie (Co-main event).

[TopTort777]

Arman has told that fighting in RAF are easy money for him. First of all they give him easy opponents (except one lol). Secondly he has told he earns 100-200k per fight there or a he say “he can buy new pair of watches after each fight”. As to him watches are great investment. I think Arman can even fight weekly in RAF easily.

Imho, if they by fighting there also somehow promote UFC (for example Arman compete in RAF and gain media, but people still know him more as UFC fighter; he is gaining recognition that works both for UFC and RAF), then if I was UFC I would also allow fighters participate there if they dont have a fight planned. They can get injured, but that would be their problem if they miss a more paid fight un UFC due that.

[eaLiTy]

What does Cruiserweight Crossover suppose to mean in RAF ? Take cruiserweight and allow anyone from division above and below to compete? I dont know what Covington is going to do if Khamzat used to spar against heavyweights and light heavyweights on usual basis. I speculate Colby wont have enough power to lift Khamzat for a throw I think both Colby and Khamzat already know result of this fight, to bad most of viewers dont and expect a miracle

If Colby Covington knew for a fact he was going to lose, he wouldn't have accepted the bout. Obviously, weight differences matter a lot in how you perform. But Colby doesn't need to lift or powerslam Khamzat. All he has to do is keep his distance. Khamzat goes incredibly hard early on and can tire himself out. Colby is famous for his massive gas tank—that's his ultimate advantage here, and honestly, it’s the only reason this matchup is so interesting.

[notblox1]

Things are getting a bit bizarre. All the fights people wanted to see that didn't happen in the UFC could now happen in the RAF. That's unless the UFC pulls out the plug, as I understand fighters need the UFC's permission to compete in other martial arts sports (I could be wrong).
And I have to give the RAF credit. I wasn't interested in wrestling at all but they are starting to capture my attention.

It is not really a MMA fight if they are only doing wrestling.
Risk of injuries is much smaller and I dont really enjoy watching most of wrestling fights.
I am ok with some wrestling in MMA or maybe for younger kids, but I would not stay up all night watching two guys wrestling on the mat.

[TopTort777]

What does Cruiserweight Crossover suppose to mean in RAF ? Take cruiserweight and allow anyone from division above and below to compete? I dont know what Covington is going to do if Khamzat used to spar against heavyweights and light heavyweights on usual basis. I speculate Colby wont have enough power to lift Khamzat for a throw I think both Colby and Khamzat already know result of this fight, to bad most of viewers dont and expect a miracle

If Colby Covington knew for a fact he was going to lose, he wouldn't have accepted the bout. Obviously, weight differences matter a lot in how you perform. But Colby doesn't need to lift or powerslam Khamzat. All he has to do is keep his distance. Khamzat goes incredibly hard early on and can tire himself out. Colby is famous for his massive gas tank—that's his ultimate advantage here, and honestly, it’s the only reason this matchup is so interesting.

Make Khamzat run out or stamina is actually a good idea. He is not good at late rounds. But that only could be because of weigh cuts. He has huge problems with immune system. He catches all the illnesses like sponge. That could be a possible reason for his gas tank to burn so quick. If he does not need to cut, maybe we could see different Khamzat. Maybe even slower and worse than in UFC due to thinking it is easy money, not preparing and so on. Or maybe Khamzat will get +8 (or 10 if they use greko-roman system) points from the star and win match early.

[eaLiTy]

What does Cruiserweight Crossover suppose to mean in RAF ? Take cruiserweight and allow anyone from division above and below to compete? I dont know what Covington is going to do if Khamzat used to spar against heavyweights and light heavyweights on usual basis. I speculate Colby wont have enough power to lift Khamzat for a throw I think both Colby and Khamzat already know result of this fight, to bad most of viewers dont and expect a miracle

If Colby Covington knew for a fact he was going to lose, he wouldn't have accepted the bout. Obviously, weight differences matter a lot in how you perform. But Colby doesn't need to lift or powerslam Khamzat. All he has to do is keep his distance. Khamzat goes incredibly hard early on and can tire himself out. Colby is famous for his massive gas tank—that's his ultimate advantage here, and honestly, it’s the only reason this matchup is so interesting.

Make Khamzat run out or stamina is actually a good idea. He is not good at late rounds. But that only could be because of weigh cuts. He has huge problems with immune system. He catches all the illnesses like sponge. That could be a possible reason for his gas tank to burn so quick. If he does not need to cut, maybe we could see different Khamzat. Maybe even slower and worse than in UFC due to thinking it is easy money, not preparing and so on. Or maybe Khamzat will get +8 (or 10 if they use greko-roman system) points from the star and win match early.

The health issues of Khamzat Chimaev started when he had severe COVID complications. After that, he had lingering pneumonia, acute lung damage, severe breathing difficulties, and half of his thyroid gland removed. Now his immune system shuts down, and hence he does not appear in public like he used to. He trains only after screening his training partners for diseases because his health would otherwise shut down. What I am trying to say is that weight cutting is not his core issue for gassing out.

The rounds are shorter for RAF and it is not exhausting like MMA, so lets see how the matchup goes.

[TopTort777]

The rounds are shorter for RAF and it is not exhausting like MMA, so lets see how the matchup goes.

Rounds are shorter, but pauses between rounds are shorter as well. Btw I dont agree that RAF is not exhausting as UFC. In UFC you can walk, run do striking and etc. In RAF it is non-stop close-up fighting for position. It is pushing, pulling. All your muscles are in action all the time. A very bad example but still, RAF wrestling is 2 min of weigh lifting with heavy weights, but UFC is combo of cardio, lifting and stretching with light weights   Wrestling is what consumes more strength of a fighter during fight.

[pawel7777]

Things are getting a bit bizarre. All the fights people wanted to see that didn't happen in the UFC could now happen in the RAF. That's unless the UFC pulls out the plug, as I understand fighters need the UFC's permission to compete in other martial arts sports (I could be wrong).
And I have to give the RAF credit. I wasn't interested in wrestling at all but they are starting to capture my attention.

It is not really a MMA fight if they are only doing wrestling.
Risk of injuries is much smaller and I dont really enjoy watching most of wrestling fights.
I am ok with some wrestling in MMA or maybe for younger kids, but I would not stay up all night watching two guys wrestling on the mat.

I too would not stay up all night for it, but I'd be more than happy to watch the replay the next day. Sure, wrestling is not quite the same as mma, and match ups only make sense if both fighters come from wrestling background, but it's better than nothing. And some martial arts connoisseurs would probably prefer to see fighters fighting in the discipline they are the strongest in, e.g. if we had two mma fighters that are exceedingly good in jiu-jitsu, I'd prefer to see them fighting in jiu-jitsu format rather than see them striking for 3 rounds in mma format. Same goes for wrestling.

Results of Oktagon 95 event:


In the main event, a former KSW champion, Tomasz Narkun, choked out Czech Daniel Skvor in the 1st round.

[TopTort777]

pawel7777, you have been following KSW tournaments regularly so a question has appeared in my head - are you from Poland? Nickname or name Pawel seems to be Polish variant of Pavel in Russian. I was wondering if you ever have attended KSW tournament? I am thinking about vising Poland once and attending an event Family will go to waterpark, but I will try getting a ticket to KSW event. Ticket prices does not look expensive. A little bit cheaper than at my place, and way cheaper than for any UFC event.

P.S. Could be a Czech name as well

[notblox1]

I too would not stay up all night for it, but I'd be more than happy to watch the replay the next day. Sure, wrestling is not quite the same as mma, and match ups only make sense if both fighters come from wrestling background, but it's better than nothing. And some martial arts connoisseurs would probably prefer to see fighters fighting in the discipline they are the strongest in, e.g. if we had two mma fighters that are exceedingly good in jiu-jitsu, I'd prefer to see them fighting in jiu-jitsu format rather than see them striking for 3 rounds in mma format. Same goes for wrestling.

If I had to choose between boxing and wrestling I would always watch boxing.
Than I like kickboxing and Muay Thai, but MMA is my favorite combat sport my far.
Even watching smaller MMA competitions outside of UFC can be more interesting than top wrestling events for me.

[pawel7777]

Here we go again.
A press conference for RAF 14 ended in a brawl between Arman Tsarukyan and Dillon Danis. Who would have guessed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cou_prMbI9Q
Both had a little back-and-forth on the microphone, but what started it was Danis presenting his T-shirt saying "Khamzat is my bitch" which Arman didn't like to much and kicked off.

Both will meet tonight for the Middleweight Crossover wrestling championship, but I think it's almost guaranteed that we're going to see much more than wrestling. Some punches will fly for sure.

[pawel7777]

(...) but I think it's almost guaranteed that we're going to see much more than wrestling. Some punches will fly for sure.

I guess I was wrong and underestimated Arman's self-restraint and sportsmanship. He didn't attempt to punch Danis and only limited himself to slapping him during the fight and stomping on him at the end.


It was a short fight. Arman clearly dominated and won by a technical fall.

Full results of the event:

Middleweight                  Arman Tsarukyan def. Dillon Danis - Technical Fall (10-0)
Catchweight                   Khamzat Chimaev def. Robbie Lawler - Technical fall (11-0)
Women's Strawweight     Ecuador Lucía Yépez (c) def. Sarah Hildebrandt - Points (8-7)
Featherweight                Sebastian Rivera def. Vito Arujau - Criteria (11-11)
Middleweight                  Michael Caliendo def. Jordan Burroughs -Points (7-5)      
Lightweight                    Ridge Lovett def. Jordan Oliver - Technical Fall (13-2)
Heavyweight                  Yonger Bastida def. Zachery Elam - Points (9-1)
Cruiserweight                 Akhmed Gadzhimagomedov def. Mekhi Lewis - Points (5-4)
Women's Middleweight    Bella Mir def. Hope Chase - Technical fall (10-0)
Catchweight                   Pat Downey def. Magomed Magomedkerimov - Pinfall
Catchweight                   Brendan Allen def. Alexander Shlemenko - Technical fall (10-0)
Featherweight                Dylan Ragusin def. Juan Archuleta - Technical fall (10-0)