MMA General Discussion and Fight Announcements 11

[pistolpete11]

Solid fight but I'm surprised that they went this direction with Gamrot. RDA is pretty far down the rankings and Gamrot is coming off two wins & was the backup fighter for Volk/Islam.

His record looks better than it is IMO. Fiziev was due to an unfortunate injury, Turner was a split decision, he lost to Dariush pretty cleanly, and then I think the majority of people thought he lost to Arman.

Plus he's not the most fan friendly fighter.

So I'm not surprised with the UFC's approach here. He's going to have to earn his opportunities the hard way.

 

[m9]

His record looks better than it is IMO. Fiziev was due to an unfortunate injury, Turner was a split decision, he lost to Dariush pretty cleanly, and then I think the majority of people thought he lost to Arman.

Plus he's not the most fan friendly fighter.

So I'm not surprised with the UFC's approach here. He's going to have to earn his opportunities the hard way.

Agreed with all that, but like I said he was just the backup for the last title fight so that usually means you are in a bit better position than having to fight this far down the rankings.

But yeah, the top of 155lbs is a bit clogged up right now so taking this fight at least keeps him active.

Also saw that Dariush is interested in fighting BSD next which I'm sure the UFC would love to setup.

 

[pistolpete11]

Agreed with all that, but like I said he was just the backup for the last title fight so that usually means you are in a bit better position than having to fight this far down the rankings.

But yeah, the top of 155lbs is a bit clogged up right now so taking this fight at least keeps him active.

Also saw that Dariush is interested in fighting BSD next which I'm sure the UFC would love to setup.

RDA is also still a decently big name still, 39 years old, and has struggled with wrestlers in the past. So...I don't want to say it should be an 'easy' win, but it's setting him up nicely IMO.

Dariush-BSD makes a lot of sense.

 

[Avs_19]

Every single one of those fights is legit. Already had O'Malley/Vera, Blaydes/Almeida, and Gamrot/RDA on there as well.

 

[m9]

So what big fights are potentially left for UFC 300 and for the Saudi fight night?

Weili/Yan
Pereira v ?
Conor v ?
Adesanya?
Edwards v Belal?
Grasso v Fiorot/Blanchfield?
Islam v Gaethje/Oliveira?
Aspinall v Gane?
Nate? Poirier?

I think they're going to put a big fight in Saudi even though it's not a ppv.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

So what big fights are potentially left for UFC 300 and for the Saudi fight night?

Weili/Yan
Pereira v ?
Conor v ?
Adesanya?
Edwards v Belal?
Grasso v Fiorot/Blanchfield?
Islam v Gaethje/Oliveira?
Aspinall v Gane?
Nate? Poirier?

I think they're going to put a big fight in Saudi even though it's not a ppv.

Dana basically said during the post fight press conferences that the Saudi card was going to be a super fight night.

 

[m9]

Dana basically said during the post fight press conferences that the Saudi card was going to be a super fight night.

I think an Islam defense there makes sense.

 

[Taytro]

I think an Islam defense there makes sense.

Can't imagine Islam fights on a non PPV card after being a PPV headliner for his last 3 fights and doing very well in that spot.

 

[m9]

Can't imagine Islam fights on a non PPV card after being a PPV headliner for his last 3 fights and doing very well in that spot.

Fair enough, you're probably right. But I do think they'll put a big fight there.

 

[pistolpete11]

Dana said it wasn't going to be a normal Fight Night, but stopped short of saying it would have a title fight.

Maybe Chimaev?

 

[m9]

Dana said it wasn't going to be a normal Fight Night, but stopped short of saying it would have a title fight.

Maybe Chimaev?

Yeah, that was the other guy I was thinking. I think Cannonier is the fight to make for Chimaev and I think he should be ready right around there.

 

[pistolpete11]

I didn't realize, but they said on MK that Shavkat is Muslim as well. They were also saying that he has some crazy amount of Instagram followers. So he might not be that big of a name in the US (yet), but maybe he has enough pull internationally that the Saudis would want him for the main event. The best match up would be Usman IMO, if Usman could be convinced to take it.

Leon-Belal in the UK
Shavkat-Usman in Saudi Arabia

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Pretty pathetic... is this to limit live events so they can jack the prices up for when they actually leave the apex? No pressure to actually put in a solid card every week?

 

[m9]

Pretty pathetic... is this to limit live events so they can jack the prices up for when they actually leave the apex? No pressure to actually put in a solid card every week?

Given how loaded 299 is and how loaded 300 will be this is absolutely no surprise. Plus it sounds like Mexico & Saudi will be big fight nights too. Haven't heard anything about Atlantic City but I'm sure it will be bigger as well. I'm kind of past it at this point - there's going to be 1 or 2 Apex cards every month to fill in the ESPN schedule and those cards aren't going to be great.

My real issue and admittedly it's a selfish one - why no Fight Night level cards in Vegas anymore? If I want to watch a UFC card in the first four months in Vegas it's either going to be UFC 300 which will be insanely priced OR pay $1000-$2000 to watch some shitty card at the Apex. There's a market for Fight Nights in Vegas like they did at the Virgin Hotel once a year and you can get a great atmosphere for fights. Like, 2/10 is at the Apex and that's the Saturday night before the Super Bowl in Vegas. Why can't you put on a real card somewhere that night. With even an ounce of planning you could have had a pretty big event on a huge weekend in Vegas for sports fans.

 

[MMC]

 

[Avs_19]

Dumb approach by Leon and his team in the aftermath unless they just don't care about public perception. It's the usual playbook that a lot of fighters use to try and discredit a future opponent, negotiate publicly, try to get a bigger fight, etc so I get that part but he's not exactly endearing himself to people. His coach coming out and saying he prefers Burns was ridiculous.

In the end, none of the talk really matters and they've even said Belal is likely next so they're just talking **** but it's just not a great look for a guy who a lot of people already aren't big fans of. That's coming from someone who does like Leon and has backed him for a while now. Belal and his supporters then claiming Leon is scared of the match up is equally, if not more, ridiculous.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Given how loaded 299 is and how loaded 300 will be this is absolutely no surprise. Plus it sounds like Mexico & Saudi will be big fight nights too. Haven't heard anything about Atlantic City but I'm sure it will be bigger as well. I'm kind of past it at this point - there's going to be 1 or 2 Apex cards every month to fill in the ESPN schedule and those cards aren't going to be great.

My real issue and admittedly it's a selfish one - why no Fight Night level cards in Vegas anymore? If I want to watch a UFC card in the first four months in Vegas it's either going to be UFC 300 which will be insanely priced OR pay $1000-$2000 to watch some shitty card at the Apex. There's a market for Fight Nights in Vegas like they did at the Virgin Hotel once a year and you can get a great atmosphere for fights. Like, 2/10 is at the Apex and that's the Saturday night before the Super Bowl in Vegas. Why can't you put on a real card somewhere that night. With even an ounce of planning you could have had a pretty big event on a huge weekend in Vegas for sports fans.

Yeah I didn't even think of 299/300 it does make sense.

That's the problem around here. We know we are gonna get MSG every year but the price just keeps going up. I gotta hope they keep hitting up other local venues like UBS and Newark so it's more in my price range. Right now Atlantic City is definitely on my radar being about 3 hours from me.

 

[CDJ]

Lmao

 

[Bunk Moreland]

I thought they said Moreno was the co main of Mexico City??

 

[m9]

I thought they said Moreno was the co main of Mexico City??

Moreno/Albazi main. Both 5 rounders though.

Blanchfield v Fiorot probably means Grasso/Shevchenko 3? Wonder if that will end up at 300.

 

[m9]

So how stacked do we figure 300 will be and where do those fights get slotted?

My guess:

Jiri/Rakic - main card opener
Aljo/Kattar - Prelim "co-main"
Nickel/Brundage - Early prelim

 

[Avs_19]

So how stacked do we figure 300 will be and where do those fights get slotted?

My guess:

Jiri/Rakic - main card opener
Aljo/Kattar - Prelim "co-main"
Nickel/Brundage - Early prelim

Nickel opening the event was a rumour the other day so that part fits.

Jiri/Rakic is interesting. I could see that as prelim main or main card opener.

I imagine there will be two title fights and then one big time non-title fight to really help sell the event more. Conor? Nate? Poirier?

 

[m9]

Nickel opening the event was a rumour the other day so that part fits.

Jiri/Rakic is interesting. I could see that as prelim main or main card opener.

I imagine there will be two title fights and then one big time non-title fight to really help sell the event more. Conor? Nate? Poirier?

So for the record I still think they should do Conor/Nate 3. But it's unlikely, so I'll guess -

Conor/Chandler
Pereira/Adesanya 3
Grasso/Shevchenko 3
Holloway v Emmett
Jiri v Rakic

Garbrandt v Figgy
Aljo v Kattar
Tate v Holm
Derrick Lewis v Rozenstruik

Nickel v Brundage
Jim Miller v someone

Alright that's enough random matchmaking for one night

 

[Bunk Moreland]

I'm really hoping Blanchfield/Fiorot is the co-main for AC. Dana didn't say it was the main event so I'm clinging to that hope. I know Blanchfield is a jersey girl so it makes sense to have her fight there and it actually is a pretty damn good WMMA fight but if that's the best they can do idk if I make the trip.

 

[m9]

I'm really hoping Blanchfield/Fiorot is the co-main for AC. Dana didn't say it was the main event so I'm clinging to that hope. I know Blanchfield is a jersey girl so it makes sense to have her fight there and it actually is a pretty damn good WMMA fight but if that's the best they can do idk if I make the trip.

I would be really surprised if it's the main event. Think they'll get an action fight in the main event.