GDT: UFC 257: Poirier vs. McGregor 2

[Avs_19]

Date: January 23, 2021
Venue: Etihad Arena
City: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Time: 10 pm ET/7 pm PT
Viewing: PPV

MAIN CARD (PPV)

Lightweight bout: Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor
Lightweight bout: Dan Hooker vs. Michael Chandler
Women's Flyweight bout: Jessica Eye vs. Joanne Calderwood
Middleweight bout: Andrew Sanchez vs. Makhmud Muradov
Women's Strawweight bout: Marina Rodriguez vs. Amanda Ribas

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN, TSN 5)

Lightweight bout: Matt Frevola vs. Arman Tsarukyan
Middleweight bout: Brad Tavares vs. Antônio Carlos Júnior
Women's Bantamweight bout: Julianna Peña vs. Sara McMann
Light Heavyweight bout: Khalil Rountree Jr. vs. Marcin Prachnio

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, UFC Fight Pass)

Catchweight (150 lb) bout: Movsar Evloev vs. Nik Lentz
Flyweight bout: Amir Albazi vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov​

Click to read more...

 

[I am not exposed]

Hope Poirier wins and avenges his earlier loss.

 

[pistolpete11]

I know it's kind of the conventional wisdom, but I completely agree that Conor-Poirier really comes down to the first 2 rounds. If Poirier can survive the first 2 rounds, I think his chances of winning are pretty good, maybe even by stoppage, but Conor is ready and dangerous from the word go. Poirier is a good boxer, but he is kind of like Max in the sense that he eats a lot of shots to land even more shots. It's not a good idea to eat Conor's shots, especially in the first 2 rounds. So if I was him, I'd be looking to shoot or clinch as much as possible. Just make Conor work until that one-punch KO power evaporates. I think Conor finds a way to land that KO shot, but I was reading an article about the crazy amount of money coming in on Conor. At some point, Poirier would be worth a bet.

I'm kind of torn on who I want to win. If it was just this fight, Poirier. Easy, without hesitation. But the potential fights available if Conor wins are exciting and if he loses, I don't know how much he's going to stick around. Love him or hate him, the UFC is more fun with him. If I knew Conor would keep fighting if he lost, I'd be more all in on Poirier.

I don't know enough about Chandler to make a prediction, but should be an action packed, FOTN type of fight. Either way, it adds a new challenger to the title picture.

The only other fight I'm really looking forward to is my homegirl Ribas, although there are some names throughout.

 

[m9]

I'm always cautious when we have two non-title WMMA fights on a main card, but overall this card shapes up alright. Really good stack of prelims. If you could replace one of those female fights with some top ten HW action I'd be all-in for this one.

 

[pistolpete11]

I'm always cautious when we have two non-title WMMA fights on a main card, but overall this card shapes up alright. Really good stack of prelims. If you could replace one of those female fights with some top ten HW action I'd be all-in for this one.

I like Ribas both as a character and as a potential future title challenger.

I have no interest in Eye-Calderwood fighting to get back in line for who gets fed to Valentina next.

 

[bov]

I can't escape the feeling that McGregor wins this in under a minute, perhaps something crazy like 15 seconds. I hope I am wrong but he appears to be in great form and the style matchup is horrible for Poirier. The only other hunch I have is that Conor will show something new if he can't put him away early. He alluded to wanting more time spent in the cage, and honestly it wouldn't shock me if he sends a message by letting this one go a bit. I'll even go with an outside chance at a submission win, or at the very least showing some grappling before getting a finish.

I couldn't be rooting for Poirier more, but I just don't see it. Very happy to eat crow on this one though.

As for the co-main, I'm hoping for Chandler to pull it off but it's a hell of a tough test. If he can utilize his wrestling and eventually find Hooker's chin that would be something, but this is a coin flip for me. If I have to pick, I'll go with Chandler via KO or a very close decision.

There are some really interesting fights scattered throughout but Tsarukyan/Haqparast is an absolutely sick matchup. The winner of that one will go on to great things, especially the former imo.

 

[Blitzkrug]

Is Dana/Pirates on the undercard?

 

[pistolpete11]

One thing they brought up on MK today was that strikes landed and strikes absorbed per minute between Conor and Poirier are almost identical. A lot of the talk has been made if Poirier will be able to take Conor's shots, for good reason, but can Conor take Poirier's shots? Haven't seen him against a guy with as heavy hands as 155lb Poirier. Maybe Mendes, I suppose.

 

[CDJ]

I like El Dirte +115

 

[YNWA14]

One thing they brought up on MK today was that strikes landed and strikes absorbed per minute between Conor and Poirier are almost identical. A lot of the talk has been made if Poirier will be able to take Conor's shots, for good reason, but can Conor take Poirier's shots? Haven't seen him against a guy with as heavy hands as 155lb Poirier. Maybe Mendes, I suppose.

I think it just comes down to who lands the heavy shot first (if it comes). Don't forget Conor was dropped by Khabib and he was hurt on the feet by Nate. I don't know if I'd go so far as to say his chin is suspect, but we don't really know how good it is outside of featherweight. Max who eats absolute bombs at featherweight like they're nothing got a rude awakening from Poirier's 155 power. I don't think Conor's chin is as good as Max's.

The Chandler fight is going to be damn exciting. He doesn't know how to have a boring fight (at least, if he can help it). I think Hooker might be too big for him stylistically, and Hooker is no joke, but we'll see. If I were putting money on the fight I'd bet Hooker, but Chandler is a beast and on his best day he could probably beat anyone in the division (he's just lacking a lot upstairs IMO).

 

[chicagoskycam]

I think it just comes down to who lands the heavy shot first (if it comes). Don't forget Conor was dropped by Khabib and he was hurt on the feet by Nate. I don't know if I'd go so far as to say his chin is suspect, but we don't really know how good it is outside of featherweight. Max who eats absolute bombs at featherweight like they're nothing got a rude awakening from Poirier's 155 power. I don't think Conor's chin is as good as Max's.

The Chandler fight is going to be damn exciting. He doesn't know how to have a boring fight (at least, if he can help it). I think Hooker might be too big for him stylistically, and Hooker is no joke, but we'll see. If I were putting money on the fight I'd bet Hooker, but Chandler is a beast and on his best day he could probably beat anyone in the division (he's just lacking a lot upstairs IMO).

With Khabib he was gassed from a couple of rounds of grappling and obviously focused on the takedown. Khabib perfected that fake of changing levels combined with with the overhand. Nate, also gassed as he agreed to take the fight 25 lbs over who he had been training for. He was hurt and tired but never knocked out so you can't say much about his chin. I doubt Dustin is landing a knockout unless it's some perfect head kick.

Conor on the other hand has that power. I'm in the camp if Conor loses we might not see him again. For that reason, I hope he wins.

 

[CDJ]

Haqparast never got to the scale. Tsarukyan missed. Azaitar is off the card. Frevola vs Tsarukyan has been booked

 

[YNWA14]

With Khabib he was gassed from a couple of rounds of grappling and obviously focused on the takedown. Khabib perfected that fake of changing levels combined with with the overhand. Nate, also gassed as he agreed to take the fight 25 lbs over who he had been training for. He was hurt and tired but never knocked out so you can't say much about his chin. I doubt Dustin is landing a knockout unless it's some perfect head kick.

You're underestimating Dustin's power tbh. He can put anyone away. There's no need to make excuses for the guy. Nobody said that he had a bad chin, like I said, we just don't know but we do know that he's been dropped by guys with less power and worse standup. Conor isn't unhittable.

Connor on the other hand has that power. I'm in the camp if Connor loses we might not see him again. For that reason, I hope he wins.

For the same reason I hope he loses. There's plenty of exciting fighters in the sport, and he's a trashbag.

 

[bov]

Outside of the main and co-main, this card lost its two most intriguing fights in Dawodu/Burgos and Haqparast/Tsarukyan. On top of that, Ottman Azaitar is out as well leaving Frevola to face Tsarukyan in a last minute switch(missed that it was already posted above). Multiple weight cut issues on this one, very unfortunate.

 

[I am not exposed]

Biggest star in the UFC, and there are people who still can't spell his name right. lol

It's Conor, not Connor.

 

[m9]

Sounds like Azaitar put himself in quite the dumb situation. We'll see what the full story was but the initial reports from Dana sound very strange. Too bad as he was a pretty exciting fighter and was looking forward to his fight.

 

[m9]

Biggest star in the UFC, and there are people who still can't spell his name right. lol

It's Conor, not Connor.

I usually let it go on here since we're on a hockey site and the biggest star in hockey has the same name with the other spelling. But yeah, still see it everywhere on social media.

 

[chicagoskycam]

Biggest star in the UFC, and there are people who still can't spell his name right. lol

It's Conor, not Connor.

My spelling will always default to my cousin's version of Connor, ehh and probably the fact he hasn't been relevant in a while. The biggest star in the UFC needs to fight more than once a year, then maybe he'll earn it.

 

[bov]

The Azaitar story is quite something, he has been cut from the UFC. Curious to hear about all the details once they come out.

 

[pistolpete11]

I think it just comes down to who lands the heavy shot first (if it comes). Don't forget Conor was dropped by Khabib and he was hurt on the feet by Nate. I don't know if I'd go so far as to say his chin is suspect, but we don't really know how good it is outside of featherweight. Max who eats absolute bombs at featherweight like they're nothing got a rude awakening from Poirier's 155 power. I don't think Conor's chin is as good as Max's.

The Chandler fight is going to be damn exciting. He doesn't know how to have a boring fight (at least, if he can help it). I think Hooker might be too big for him stylistically, and Hooker is no joke, but we'll see. If I were putting money on the fight I'd bet Hooker, but Chandler is a beast and on his best day he could probably beat anyone in the division (he's just lacking a lot upstairs IMO).

Yeah, I think it is just that we don't know. He hasn't had to eat many shots against guys that hit as hard as Poirier. Khabib dropped him, but that was a haymaker from hell and he still survived. So I agree saying his chin is suspect would be going too far. But Poirier is capable of hitting him that hard repeatedly and/or as part of combos. Nate stung him, but it was up a weight class and he did survive those. Saying he shot for a takedown because he was exhausted due to fighting at a higher weight class on short notice is an excuse, but it is a valid excuse.

And yes, I think it is safe to say Conor's chin is not Max's chin. Max's chin is an all time great.

 

[chicagoskycam]

You're underestimating Dustin's power tbh. He can put anyone away. There's no need to make excuses for the guy. Nobody said that he had a bad chin, like I said, we just don't know but we do know that he's been dropped by guys with less power and worse standup. Conor isn't unhittable.


For the same reason I hope he loses. There's plenty of exciting fighters in the sport, and he's a trashbag.

He's definitely hittable .... I mean his hands are typically down at his side, no guard. He's elusive though and guys seem to be afraid of what is coming back to really sit down on their punches.

Conor has been in the Octagon for less than 1 minute, going back to Oct 2018 vs. Khabib. It's really hard to say what we will get. Supposedly he's in great shape but what else are they going to say.

 

[Avs_19]

I also agree with the general consensus on the main event that @pistolpete11 posted above. Poirier needs to get through the first round or two and avoid the big power shots and if he does so then his chances should go up significantly. Poirier has been in multiple five round wars so we know he can hold up and go the distance. However, he has also been hurt and even dropped early in a couple of those but his opponents weren't able to finish. Unlike Hooker, Max, and Alvarez, I think Conor will finish him if he's able to hurt him. I actually hope we see the fight go longer because it'll make for a better fight and I want to see how Conor responds. Having said all of that, I'm picking Conor by TKO.

Is anyone else getting some Cerrone vibes? He was in a completely different point in his career and clearly on the decline where as Poirier is still elite but this whole friendly happy to be here thing with Conor is weird. Complimenting each other, talking about exchanging gifts, and hugging at the weigh ins. Maybe I'm just looking too much into it.

Hooker vs. Chandler should be a good one. I'm going to pick Hooker because I think Chandler might stand and trade with him. I think it'd be a lot smarter for Chandler to use his wrestling though.

There aren't any other big names on the card but quite a few watchable fights. Rodriguez vs. Ribas is probably the next best one for me outside of the top two. Strawweight is by far the best women's division and Ribas looks like she could be a potential contender.

It's too bad about Haqparast missing weight. He had so much promise at one point and he's still young so there's a lot of time but it hasn't been great lately.

The Azaitar story is wild....

 

[CDJ]

Azaitar big dumb


Now I need to know what was in the bag

 

[bov]

Sat there in his sunglasses at the presser acting like he owned the world, what a clown.

 

[pistolpete11]

Is anyone else getting some Cerrone vibes? He was in a completely different point in his career and clearly on the decline where as Poirier is still elite but this whole friendly happy to be here thing with Conor is weird. Complimenting each other, talking about exchanging gifts, and hugging at the weigh ins. Maybe I'm just looking too much into it.

I think Conor is just trying to rebuild his public image. A lot of people turned on him after all of the trouble he's been in and the lead up to Khabib. I also think he knows if he has any shot at a rematch with Khabib, he has to show him that it's not going to be like it was last time. He might not have a shot anyway, but he definitely can't be the brash asshole he used to be.

The Azaitar story is wild....

Holy shit. That's like a movie. It's gotta be clean urine or something in that bag. No way you go through that because you forgot your training equipment or something.

Also, this is one of those things where it is good that Dana is the way he is. The commissioners in the big 4 North American sports would have tried to sweep something like this under the rug and suspended him for some real generic reasons. Dana just puts him on blast.