GDT: UFC 282: Blachowicz vs. Ankalaev/Bellator 289: Stots vs. Sabatello

[m9]

If Volk won and stayed at 155 then maybe

But Topuria is pretty far back still, not sure he can get enough fights in 23 to get there

 

[N o o d l e s]

If Volk won and stayed at 155 then maybe

But Topuria is pretty far back still, not sure he can get enough fights in 23 to get there

Idk if the ufc realizes what they have in him because some of the matchups have been underwhelming. Granted he had the major fight with Evloev called off; that fight might have opened more eyes sooner.

It’s a loaded division but I could see him beating anyone in it and that includes Volk. I’m probably wrong but he’s a major problem skill wise with the mindset to do it and I think people are about to see that.

 

[pistolpete11]

Really? Weirdest fight. At least they didn't give it to Paddy.

Weren't a ton of great options and it was back and fourth. Probably would have given it to Billy Q-Hernandez myself, but I can understand it.

I think the UFC/Dana still really like Till for some reason, too.

 

[m9]

Idk if the ufc realizes what they have in him because some of the matchups have been underwhelming. Granted he had the major fight with Evloev called off; that fight might have opened more eyes sooner.

It’s a loaded division but I could see him beating anyone in it and that includes Volk. I’m probably wrong but he’s a major problem skill wise with the mindset to do it and I think people are about to see that.

Oh I agree he's great and has an awesome future, but he's still going to have to win some fights to get into the mix and I just think 2023 is going to be tough unless something weird happens

Sign me up for 24, though

Weren't a ton of great options and it was back and fourth. Probably would have given it to Billy Q-Hernandez myself, but I can understand it.

I think the UFC/Dana still really like Till for some reason, too.

I actually don't know why they even gave a FOTN considering all the finishing bonuses.

Dana is just a super generous guy when paying fighters, obviously

 

[ZDH]

At this point I'm leaning toward the UFC being rigged.

 

[I am not exposed]

At this point I'm leaning toward the UFC being rigged.

I've seen this being mentioned. Can you please explain why?

The main event ending in a draw is probably the worst thing that could have happened. So how exactly do you consider it rigged? What benefit of it ending in a draw is good for the UFC?

 

[m9]

Okay - so who do you match up with Paddy next?

I think the options are slow play vs another top 30 guy.. or you get him a ranked fight.

I think the slow play thing is kind of done because I'm not sure he's guaranteed to win all those fights. Most of the ranked guys beat him, so it's tough.

I land on now being the time for Paddy v Tony Ferguson. Why not?

At this point I'm leaning toward the UFC being rigged.

You had an awful scorecard in the Bellator main event Friday, questionable cards in a big boxing match last night, and questionable one here last night.

Takeaway is ufc is rigged? Nope. Massive judging issues and nobody motivated to fix them

 

[N o o d l e s]

Oh I agree he's great and has an awesome future, but he's still going to have to win some fights to get into the mix and I just think 2023 is going to be tough unless something weird happens

Sign me up for 24, though



I actually don't know why they even gave a FOTN considering all the finishing bonuses.

Dana is just a super generous guy when paying fighters, obviously

I think he should get a big one after this

 

[m9]

I think he should get a big one after this

Hope so. Lots of top guys waiting for fights at 145lbs. He should be the favorite over everyone other than Max, Volk and maybe Allen

 

[pistolpete11]

Idk if the ufc realizes what they have in him because some of the matchups have been underwhelming. Granted he had the major fight with Evloev called off; that fight might have opened more eyes sooner.

It’s a loaded division but I could see him beating anyone in it and that includes Volk. I’m probably wrong but he’s a major problem skill wise with the mindset to do it and I think people are about to see that.

He's a hammer, but it's easy to look like a hammer against guys that you easily overmatch in a certain aspect of the game. Don't get me wrong, he deserves all the credit in the world for dominating a formidable opponent in Mitchell, but it was a mismatch on the feet. Once he was able to mostly keep it there, it was only going to go one way.

I think he's overly aggressive on the feet and I think some of the better strikers in the division would be able to exploit that, especially Volk. Curious to see it, though, for sure.

And as @m9 said, even just getting into a title fight in the next 12 months would be pretty impressive given how stacked the division is.

 

[ZDH]

Okay - so who do you match up with Paddy next?

I think the options are slow play vs another top 30 guy.. or you get him a ranked fight.

I think the slow play thing is kind of done because I'm not sure he's guaranteed to win all those fights. Most of the ranked guys beat him, so it's tough.

I land on now being the time for Paddy v Tony Ferguson. Why not?



You had an awful scorecard in the Bellator main event Friday, questionable cards in a big boxing match last night, and questionable one here last night.

Takeaway is ufc is rigged? Nope. Massive judging issues and nobody motivated to fix them

It's beyond judging and human error at this point. It's not even a hot take tbh, considering I can't bet on it b/c my government is of the same opinion.

 

[m9]

It's beyond judging and human error at this point. It's not even a hot take tbh, considering I can't bet on it b/c my government is of the same opinion.

If anything these fights would be the least likely to be rigged, no? Too much heat right now. Yet the bad judging still happens. So now what?

 

[pistolpete11]

Okay - so who do you match up with Paddy next?

I think the options are slow play vs another top 30 guy.. or you get him a ranked fight.

I think the slow play thing is kind of done because I'm not sure he's guaranteed to win all those fights. Most of the ranked guys beat him, so it's tough.

I land on now being the time for Paddy v Tony Ferguson. Why not?

If they want to slow play it more, I'd say Guida would be a good option.

Tony would be about the only ranked guy I think he has a shot against.

 

[N o o d l e s]

He's a hammer, but it's easy to look like a hammer against guys that you easily overmatch in a certain aspect of the game. Don't get me wrong, he deserves all the credit in the world for dominating a formidable opponent in Mitchell, but it was a mismatch on the feet. Once he was able to mostly keep it there, it was only going to go one way.

I think he's overly aggressive on the feet and I think some of the better strikers in the division would be able to exploit that, especially Volk. Curious to see it, though, for sure.

And as @m9 said, even just getting into a title fight in the next 12 months would be pretty impressive given how stacked the division is.

I agree with you 100 percent. I just feel like it’s matchup based. He could do that against all the guys he was matched up with.

 

[ZDH]

If anything these fights would be the least likely to be rigged, no? Too much heat right now. Yet the bad judging still happens. So now what?

Just b/c there's heat wouldn't stop a money hungry judge from continuing to print money while he still can.

 

[m9]

If they want to slow play it more, I'd say Guida would be a good option.

Tony would be about the only ranked guy I think he has a shot against.

Guida is awful to watch, I think that's about the worst fight they could make for Paddy.

That fight last night was bad - you can't have another snoozer lined up. Have to make something that will be fun to watch.

 

[16Skippy]

If they want to slow play it more, I'd say Guida would be a good option.

Tony would be about the only ranked guy I think he has a shot against.

Has he lost any hype after that performance?

I'm sure someone has already done a mash up of his pre fight promo and the post fight interview. "I finsh fights and get the performance bonus" to "I took the 3rd round off"

 

[Chaels Arms]

I watched this with friends last night so catching up on everything now.

The big surprise to me after this was that Dana was so furious at Jan and Ankalaev. Ankalaev had his legs destroyed and pursued the only option he had to win which was to wrestle Jan to death. It's a title fight and with his legs messed up I don't blame him at all for doing what he did. It seems to me like Dana has been a bit spoiled recently with Holland and Chandler basically just having the "all fun, all the time" approach to MMA but that's not what someone in Ankalaev's position is going to do. Wasn't this fight basically Ngannou v. Gane except the leg injury happened in the cage? I don't remember Dana being mad about that fight.

I can more understand the frustration over Gordon with his approach in the third round. He was having success with his hands early on so pressing Paddy against the wall and trying to cruise to a decision win probably wasn't the best method.

Get ready for Ariel to push open scoring again hard on the MMA Hour tomorrow.

 

[m9]

I watched this with friends last night so catching up on everything now.

The big surprise to me after this was that Dana was so furious at Jan and Ankalaev. Ankalaev had his legs destroyed and pursued the only option he had to win which was to wrestle Jan to death. It's a title fight and with his legs messed up I don't blame him at all for doing what he did. It seems to me like Dana has been a bit spoiled recently with Holland and Chandler basically just having the "all fun, all the time" approach to MMA but that's not what someone in Ankalaev's position is going to do. Wasn't this fight basically Ngannou v. Gane except the leg injury happened in the cage? I don't remember Dana being mad about that fight.

I can more understand the frustration over Gordon with his approach in the third round. He was having success with his hands early on so pressing Paddy against the wall and trying to cruise to a decision win probably wasn't the best method.

Get ready for Ariel to push open scoring again hard on the MMA Hour tomorrow.

I can understand why Dana was frustrated. The last two fights were pretty boring and had very questionable judging. Obviously that's a very basic way of looking at it but the energy was kind of sapped out of the crowd/viewers. Plus you are trying to crown a new champ and it ends in a draw, which I'm sure was annoying.

 

[Chaels Arms]

I can understand why Dana was frustrated. The last two fights were pretty boring and had very questionable judging. Obviously that's a very basic way of looking at it but the energy was kind of sapped out of the crowd/viewers. Plus you are trying to crown a new champ and it ends in a draw, which I'm sure was annoying.

True but the way he announced Glover v. Hill at the presser seemed like a direct missile strike against Jan and Ankalaev specifically like Dana bullying two guys who don't have the biggest names or fanbases. I think other fighters who are tighter with Dana don't get spoken about like that if there's a similar fight or situation. Paddy sucked tonight too and yet it seemed like all Dana's ammo was saved for Jan, Ankalaev and Gordon. Paddy called for a bonus after basically not doing anything for 15 minutes lol.

 

[CDJ]

Paddy’s the biggest boot licker in the game, makes sense he’s protected from Dana’s ire despite being a clear and obvious bum. Not even gatekeeper material. Will end up accomplishing less than Till

 

[IPS]

How anyone feel bad for Ankalaev? Dude actively refuses to finish fights so it’s 100 percent on him for letting it go to the judges.

I love Hill but I think he’s going to get washed by Glover. Santos gave him a hell of a time in the ground. What do you think Glover will do to him?


The UFC will NEVER let that happen

I actually just finished rewatching that fight. I'm actually seeing not much wrong at all with giving Jan rounds 1-3. Round 1 is very close and could honestly go either way. Ankalaev's inactivity early in the fight hurt him. All he needed was one of those early rounds convincingly and the belt was all his.

I initially thought that it was an easy Ankalaev win but I'm starting to see that a draw maybe wasn't all that bad..

 

[CDJ]

Dana “I don’t make fights the night of the fights” White is such a dick

 

[I am not exposed]

Dana “I don’t make fights the night of the fights” White is such a dick

A blessing in disguise for Smith TBH.

 

[m9]

True but the way he announced Glover v. Hill at the presser seemed like a direct missile strike against Jan and Ankalaev specifically like Dana bullying two guys who don't have the biggest names or fanbases. I think other fighters who are tighter with Dana don't get spoken about like that if there's a similar fight or situation. Paddy sucked tonight too and yet it seemed like all Dana's ammo was saved for Jan, Ankalaev and Gordon. Paddy called for a bonus after basically not doing anything for 15 minutes lol.

I think what those three guys have in common is that they were all handed massive opportunities to advance their career and basically dropped the ball. That could very well be Jan's last title fight and was the biggest fight of Ankalaev/Gordon's career.

Announcing the title fight immediately was certainly weird. Makes me wonder if that fight had already been discussed prior to last night and with the draw they just made it a title fight.