The UFC Discussion and Prediction Topic

[electronicash]

~
I have to say, I did not expect Merab to be this dominating, I honestly thought Sean was the favourite, but he just didn't deliver with his striking.
See the stats in the fight card, O/Malley only landed 49 strikes, while Merab 214, that's over 4 times more. I expected to see the opposite.

I guess we can assume that Sean's team had the wrong game plan. I think they were expecting Merab to go for take downs immediately as the fight started and prepared to counter. That didn't happen and that might have threw Sean of his game. If he had been the aggressor from the early rounds, the result would have been different.

It's a smart fight by Merab. I thought he was going to win by submission but he did enough to frustrate Sean early and win by points. I read some comments/reactions bashing the judges who scored it 48-47 but I think that score is also fair. Sean adjusted from the middle to the last round but it was a bit late.

round after round Sean's feet always ends up off the ground. they are right about Merab going for takedowns and Sean is defenseless to that.

Merab was just playing Sean, there was a time I think in the 2nd round where Merab make fun and provoking that Sean in his dismay swings a left even after the bell rang.  it doesn't look good on him and i guess Sean's champ days is over. Umar may now be interested in fighting Merab since Merab been calling out Umar some time ago.

[pawel7777]

I guess we can assume that Sean's team had the wrong game plan. I think they were expecting Merab to go for take downs immediately as the fight started and prepared to counter. That didn't happen and that might have threw Sean of his game. If he had been the aggressor from the early rounds, the result would have been different.

I don't know. To me it looked like Sean wasn't quite himself.
That could be due to him just failing to prepare at 100% or to Merab being successful in neutralising Sean's strengths.
I don't think Dvalishvili surprised anyone with his tactic, he fought the way he always does.

[electronicash]

I guess we can assume that Sean's team had the wrong game plan. I think they were expecting Merab to go for take downs immediately as the fight started and prepared to counter. That didn't happen and that might have threw Sean of his game. If he had been the aggressor from the early rounds, the result would have been different.

I don't know. To me it looked like Sean wasn't quite himself.
That could be due to him just failing to prepare at 100% or to Merab being successful in neutralising Sean's strengths.
I don't think Dvalishvili surprised anyone with his tactic, he fought the way he always does.

i'm sure Sean was surprised that Merab keeping the distance but at the same time get closer to take him down. if Merab can do this to Suga and dominates the fight, he can do this to all strikers he could fight and will still have the same success.

Merab however seem like ducking Umar according to some articles in my feed. funny how these guys change almost instantly right when they become a champ. Merab suddenly was uninterested in fighting Umar. too bad to see himself couldn't defend a title at least once.

[pawel7777]

(...)
Merab however seem like ducking Umar according to some articles in my feed. funny how these guys change almost instantly right when they become a champ. Merab suddenly was uninterested in fighting Umar. too bad to see himself couldn't defend a title at least once.

Is he really ducking Umar? I thought he acknowledged in one of the post-fight interviews that Umar could be next. I might be wrong on this one though.

There are some news about Sean O'Malley. Apparently he'll be taking a bit of a break, even up to a year, due to his hip surgery scheduled for October.
He does not use the bad hip as an excuse for a loss though.

[pawel7777]

Still over a week to go, but what are your picks for the next UFC Gight Night main event, Moicano Vs Saint Denis?
They're ranked 11th and 12th respectively, Saint Denis is coming off a loss to Poirier, while Moicano is on a 3-win streak. But it's Saint Denis who's a big favourite here, with odds of x1.36.
French man's record looks pretty impressive with 1 loss and 13 wins (9 by submission and 4 by KO) but he doesn't have any big names in his portfolio. The only one, Dustin, knocked him out cold.

Do you guys think Renato has what it takes to defeat the French boogeyman?

[electronicash]

Still over a week to go, but what are your picks for the next UFC Gight Night main event, Moicano Vs Saint Denis?
They're ranked 11th and 12th respectively, Saint Denis is coming off a loss to Poirier, while Moicano is on a 3-win streak. But it's Saint Denis who's a big favourite here, with odds of x1.36.
French man's record looks pretty impressive with 1 loss and 13 wins (9 by submission and 4 by KO) but he doesn't have any big names in his portfolio. The only one, Dustin, knocked him out cold.

Do you guys think Renato has what it takes to defeat the French boogeyman?

not a fan of both but maybe this is a very fair fight since Saint Denis gassed out too quickly in his fight against Dustin. and Saint Denis fighting an old grappler would be fair fight as this grappling fight usually drains their tank and whoever has the better attrition that night wins it all.

as date is approaching more youtubers are going to try capping this match. i would probably rely on the bet pickers and see who they bet on and compare their reasons before betting on the day of  face off.

[Zed0X]

I guess we can assume that Sean's team had the wrong game plan. I think they were expecting Merab to go for take downs immediately as the fight started and prepared to counter. That didn't happen and that might have threw Sean of his game. If he had been the aggressor from the early rounds, the result would have been different.

I don't know. To me it looked like Sean wasn't quite himself.
That could be due to him just failing to prepare at 100% or to Merab being successful in neutralising Sean's strengths.
I don't think Dvalishvili surprised anyone with his tactic, he fought the way he always does.

i'm sure Sean was surprised that Merab keeping the distance but at the same time get closer to take him down. if Merab can do this to Suga and dominates the fight, he can do this to all strikers he could fight and will still have the same success.

Yeah, it was probably Merab's pacing that made the big difference in the early rounds. Sean couldn't figure him out or what he's gonna do until the later rounds.

Merab however seem like ducking Umar according to some articles in my feed. funny how these guys change almost instantly right when they become a champ. Merab suddenly was uninterested in fighting Umar. too bad to see himself couldn't defend a title at least once.

This is not just the fight game anymore. Everybody wants to leverage their belt to gain more favor/advantage and, more importantly, money. They want to reap the benefits because they also understand that they wouldn't stay as champion for long.

[pawel7777]

This is not just the fight game anymore. Everybody wants to leverage their belt to gain more favor/advantage and, more importantly, money. They want to reap the benefits because they also understand that they wouldn't stay as champion for long.

Can't really blame them, there are thousands of aspiring MMA fighters but only a handful makes it to the top. So those who do want to make the best out of it and make sure to earn enough to live comfortably in the future.

In other news, Sean O'Malley re-watched the fight and declared himself a winner, saying he had won rounds 1, 3 and 5.

[electronicash]

This is not just the fight game anymore. Everybody wants to leverage their belt to gain more favor/advantage and, more importantly, money. They want to reap the benefits because they also understand that they wouldn't stay as champion for long.

Can't really blame them, there are thousands of aspiring MMA fighters but only a handful makes it to the top. So those who do want to make the best out of it and make sure to earn enough to live comfortably in the future.

In other news, Sean O'Malley re-watched the fight and declared himself a winner, saying he had won rounds 1, 3 and 5.

people will understand it if he got injured in the cage like his fight with Vera but with Merab where he just receive knees and does nothing but sit and wait for the bell to ring.




Lightweight   Renato Moicano   vs.   Benoît Saint Denis            
Middleweight   Nassourdine Imavov   vs.   Brendan Allen            
Featherweight   William Gomis   vs.   Joanderson Brito            
Welterweight   Kevin Jousset   vs.   Bryan Battle            
Featherweight   Morgan Charrière   vs.   Gabriel Miranda            
Lightweight   Farès Ziam   vs.   Matt Frevola            
Preliminary card (ESPN+)
Light Heavyweight   Ion Cuțelaba   vs.   Ivan Erslan            
Light Heavyweight   Oumar Sy   vs.   Jung Da-woon            
Lightweight   Ľudovít Klein   vs.   Roosevelt Roberts            
Bantamweight   Taylor Lapilus   vs.   Vince Morales            
Women's Bantamweight   Daria Zheleznyakova   vs.   Ailín Pérez            
Flyweight   Daniel Barez   vs.   Victor Altamirano            
Women's Bantamweight   Nora Cornolle   vs.   Jacqueline Cavalcanti            
Lightweight   Bolaji Oki   vs.   Chris Duncan   

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC_Fight_Night:_Moicano_vs._Saint_Denis

lots of good fights to analyze in this cards but the main event and and co are the only match that i may just be betting on. can't be making a parlay but these two will be make the saturday meaningful

 Benoît Saint Denis            
 Nassourdine Imavov   

[pawel7777]

Somehow I missed the UFC 309 announcement.
Everything has been said about Jones Vs Stipe, so nothing to add here, bur Oliveira Vs Chandler looks like a decent match-up and has a lot of entertainment potential.
Odds: Oliveira: x1.38, Chandler: x3.05, pretty much what I would expect. I don't give Chandler much chance, even in his prime he wouldn't be on Chales' level, but he's 38 now and last fought two years ago. He should still be able to put up a good show.

Bo Nickal got paired up with Paul Craig. It doesn't look like a massive challenge for Bo, Paul has lost 4 out of his last 5 fights, but at least he knows his ground game, 76% of his wins were by submission (he's 17-8). Bookies don't have much faith in Paul though. He's x6.75 and Bo is x1.11.

[electronicash]

Somehow I missed the UFC 309 announcement.
Everything has been said about Jones Vs Stipe, so nothing to add here, bur Oliveira Vs Chandler looks like a decent match-up and has a lot of entertainment potential.
Odds: Oliveira: x1.38, Chandler: x3.05, pretty much what I would expect. I don't give Chandler much chance, even in his prime he wouldn't be on Chales' level, but he's 38 now and last fought two years ago. He should still be able to put up a good show.

Bo Nickal got paired up with Paul Craig. It doesn't look like a massive challenge for Bo, Paul has lost 4 out of his last 5 fights, but at least he knows his ground game, 76% of his wins were by submission (he's 17-8). Bookies don't have much faith in Paul though. He's x6.75 and Bo is x1.11.

would Jones fight Tom if in the last minute Stipe is not available to fight? the question came up during the interview with Smith by Bisping. Smith said no. 

Oliveira vs Chandler is gonna be a good fight. they did it once and Chandler lost the fight in a terrible way that made Oliveira the champ. i think that was a several defense fight of Chandler. if Chandler performs the same way in the first encounter, Chandler might win this time. idk why Chandler got this fight still but don't deserve this fight.

[pawel7777]

Full set of results of last night's Fight Night in Paris:


Fantastic performance by Moicano - despite being a big underdog, he beat up Saint Denis (in front of French audience) in the first 2 rounds so badly that the doctor had to stop it. Then he lectured everyone about why Macron and French government sucks and why democracy is flawed to top it up by calling out "easy money fights" with Paddy Pimblett and Dan Hooker. This is a textbook example of how to hype yourself up properly—well done to him.

would Jones fight Tom if in the last minute Stipe is not available to fight? the question came up during the interview with Smith by Bisping. Smith said no. 

That's a good question. Jones sure as hell doesn't want to fight Tom, and he mentioned that he needs a lot of time to prepare for each opponent, but what would he do in such scenario? Fake an injury? Straight up refuse to fight? I'm sure the back-up fight with Tom is included in the contract.

[electronicash]

Full set of results of last night's Fight Night in Paris:


Fantastic performance by Moicano - despite being a big underdog, he beat up Saint Denis (in front of French audience) in the first 2 rounds so badly that the doctor had to stop it. Then he lectured everyone about why Macron and French government sucks and why democracy is flawed to top it up by calling out "easy money fights" with Paddy Pimblett and Dan Hooker. This is a textbook example of how to hype yourself up properly—well done to him.

would Jones fight Tom if in the last minute Stipe is not available to fight? the question came up during the interview with Smith by Bisping. Smith said no. 

That's a good question. Jones sure as hell doesn't want to fight Tom, and he mentioned that he needs a lot of time to prepare for each opponent, but what would he do in such scenario? Fake an injury? Straight up refuse to fight? I'm sure the back-up fight with Tom is included in the contract.

the heck with Moicano saying that to Macron in his country? lol hope he got out alive and not detained again for their pee. but yeep he definitely destroyed the face of BSD. i thought Benoit would  actually pressure Moicano since he seem to be the more aggressive between the two.

Jones vs Stipe can be a set up for Jones if Tom is the back up fighter in case Stipe won't show up. i think this is the only way for Jones to simply stand up to defend his belt against the interim champ.

[pawel7777]

So Moicanno called out Paddy Pimblett, who publicly agreed to fight him:
https://x.com/PaddyTheBaddy/status/1788929833877057968

That, of course, doesn't mean much, as matchmaking will be done by the UFC, but that's a fight I wouldn't mind watching and I think it makes sense. Both of them have a lot of other options right now though.

[electronicash]

So Moicanno called out Paddy Pimblett, who publicly agreed to fight him:
https://x.com/PaddyTheBaddy/status/1788929833877057968

That, of course, doesn't mean much, as matchmaking will be done by the UFC, but that's a fight I wouldn't mind watching and I think it makes sense. Both of them have a lot of other options right now though.

Moicano was the one complaining UFC been suppressing his rank down despite him winning lots of fights before Saint Denise. where does it put him if he loses against Paddy who is in the 15th position in the rank while Moicano is in the 11th?

if he wants to rank high, he should be aiming to fight Gamrot or Fiziev, their rank is questionable which i think the UFC match maker can agree. and I think Dana will also not allow Paddy to fight someone who could potentially kill his career. Paddy sells more in UFC London, this kid is Dana's pet.