GDT: UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Aspinall/Bellator 283: Lima vs. Jackson

[MMC]

Date: July 23, 2022
Venue: The O2 Arena
City: London England
Time: 3 pm ET/12 pm PT
Viewing: ESPN+, TSN 5

MAIN CARD (ESPN+, TSN 5)

Heavyweight bout: Curtis Blaydes vs. Tom Aspinall
Middleweight bout: Jack Hermansson vs. Chris Curtis
Lightweight bout: Paddy Pimblett vs. Jordan Leavitt
Light Heavyweight bout: Nikita Krylov vs. Alexander Gustafsson
Women's Flyweight bout: Molly McCann vs. Hannah Goldy
Light Heavyweight bout: Paul Craig vs. Volkan Oezdemir

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, TSN 5)

Lightweight bout: Mason Jones vs. L'udovit Klein
Lightweight bout: Marc Diakiese vs. Damir Hadzovic
Featherweight bout: Nathaniel Wood vs. Charles Rosa
Featherweight bout: Makwan Amirkhani vs. Jonathan Pearce
Flyweight bout: Muhammad Mokaev vs. Charles Johnson
Lightweight bout: Jai Herbert vs. Kyle Nelson
Women's Flyweight bout: Victoria Leonardo vs. Mandy Bohm
Welterweight bout: Claudio Silva vs. Nicolas Dalby​

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[MMC]

Date: July 22, 2022
Venue: Emerald Queen Casino and Hotel
City: Tacoma, Washington
Time: 10 pm ET/7 pm PT
Viewing: Showtime, Bellator Youtube

MAIN CARD (Showtime)

Welterweight bout: Douglas Lima vs. Jason Jackson
Lightweight bout: Sidney Outlaw vs. Tofiq Musayev
Lightweight bout: Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Chris Gonzalez
Welterweight bout: Lorenz Larkin vs. Mukhamed Berkhamov
Heavyweight bout: Davion Franklin vs. Marcelo Golm

PRELIMINARY CARD (Bellator Youtube)

Middleweight bout: Romero Cotton vs. Dalton Rosta
Women's Flyweight bout: Veta Arteaga vs. Vanessa Porto
Featherweight bout: Kevin Boehm vs. Akhmed Magomedov
Lightweight bout: Gadzhi Rabadanov vs. Bobby King
Welterweight bout: Roman Faraldo vs. Luis Iniguez
Bantamweight bout: Jaylon Bates vs. Mark Coates
Catchweight (160 lb) bout: Archie Colgan vs. Bryan Nuro​

 

[Taytro]

As much as I love Paddy, Leavitt opening at +320 is great value. Theres a few betting underdogs that could win on this card.

 

[MMC]

How are you guys expecting Gus to look here?

 

[m9]

How are you guys expecting Gus to look here?

At first glance I was all-in on Krylov, but I do think it will be competitive. Krylov just seems a bit younger and quicker at this stage.

But that being said.. I can be a homer and talk myself into Gus. He hasn't won a fight in 5 years but no shame in losing to guys like Jon Jones/Anthony Smith. Not sure what to make of the HW loss to Werdum.

 

[m9]

Didn't realize how deep this UFC card is until I took a look yesterday.

It's always hard to get excited for a Blaydes fight, but it's a great test for Aspinall.

Paul Craig v Volkan Oezdemir is weird match-making to me with Craig being on a winning streak and Oezdemir going the other way. But, I always like seeing these two guys fight.

All of the rest of the main card is fun. Don't really care about McCann/Goldy but the crowd will be fired up.

Solid undercard too.

 

[pistolpete11]

UFC card is solid, but nothing I'm really looking forward to.

 

[I am not exposed]

Really rooting for Aspinall, but Blaydes is a tough fight. Hopefully Aspinall can smother the take down attempts.

Also hoping Pimblett gets knocked out!

 

[m9]

Wondering if we might get one of those cards that looks fun on paper but ends up being boring. Lots of strikers v wrestlers/grapplers here on the main card.

 

[Taytro]

How are you guys expecting Gus to look here?

He can't look much worse than he was at heavyweight. I think might give him a chance here, we can't forget how good he looked in his prime.

 

[bov]

Not a Jordan Leavitt kind of guy, I'll leave it at that. Yet I'm still hoping he beats Pimblett. Guy has some charisma but is such a clown.

Gustafsson gets a lot of respect because of the Jones fight but by and large, I've never been overly impressed. That's Krylov's fight to lose.

Aspinall actually looks like he has real upside, I think this fight will come down to how quickly Blaydes decides to implement a wrestling-heavy attack. If he waits around and plays games on the feet, I don't like his chances. If he gets straight to business then it's good for him. This one is a true 50/50 for me.

 

[Taytro]

Gustafsson gets a lot of respect because of the Jones fight but by and large, I've never been overly impressed. That's Krylov's fight to lose.

You've never been impressed by the guy who took Jones and Cormier to very close decisions and beat future champs Texiera and Blachowicz?

He hasn't been relevant for years but to say you've never been overly impressed when comparing him to Krylov (who won 2 fights in the last 4 years over Johnny Walker and OSP but lost to Texiera and Blachowicz) is kind of silly.

I think Krylov as the younger, more active fighter is the favourite but it's 50/50 in my mind. I still think Gus has more to give than we saw against Werdum.

 

[chicagoskycam]

As much as I love Paddy, Leavitt opening at +320 is great value. Theres a few betting underdogs that could win on this card.

I'll def make the bet it doesn't go the distance. Paddy loves to lead with his chin

 

[bov]

You've never been impressed by the guy who took Jones and Cormier to very close decisions and beat future champs Texiera and Blachowicz?

He hasn't been relevant for years but to say you've never been overly impressed when comparing him to Krylov (who won 2 fights in the last 4 years over Johnny Walker and OSP but lost to Texiera and Blachowicz) is kind of silly.

I think Krylov as the younger, more active fighter is the favourite but it's 50/50 in my mind. I still think Gus has more to give than we saw against Werdum.

I didn't compare him to Krylov at all. Just always felt Gustafsson was a bit overrated besides a few obvious bouts.

 

[pistolpete11]

Gus is clearly in the second tier of his generation with the likes of Rumble, Glover, Jan, etc. I'd probably put him towards the back of that pack. A big part of that is his inactivity, though. He's got some great wins and until recently, he really only lost to the elite with Jones 1 and DC obviously being extremely close. Prime Gus I think destroys Krylov.

I just question where he is mentally. Let's not forget, he retired only to come back a year later, didn't have to cut weight, and looked awful against Werdum. Why's he still fighting? You can't be one foot in, one foot out in the fight game. Is he looking to make another run with Jones and DC gone now? Does he just love fighting? Does he want to prove something to himself?....or is he looking to grab a few more checks while he still can?

 

[CDJ]

 

[Chaels Arms]

I want Jordan Leavitt to do well because everything about him is just so out of context in the MMA universe.

 

[CDJ]

I want Jordan Leavitt to do well because everything about him is just so out of context in the MMA universe.

i find him to be such a refreshing weirdo

 

[pistolpete11]

Luke Thomas was going over Aspinall's stats in his live chat. They are out of this world.

SLpM: 7.33 (insanely high)
Str. Acc: 65%
SApM: 2.65 (low, but insanely low given how much he lands)
Str. Def: 64%
TD Avg: 4.07
TD Acc: 100%
TD Def: 100%
Sub Average: 2.0

Some of that is quality of competition and some of it is how quickly his fights end (only seen R2 once in the UFC), but he's also just really f***ing good.

Blaydes is a tough test, though, man. I hope Apsinall wins. I don't dislike Blaydes as much as others seem to, but injecting another new face into the top of the division would be fun. If Stipe-Jones also gets made, this will be about as good HW has been since I've been watching UFC.




Also, for those who don't pay close attention like myself, this is indeed an early card. 3pm EST.

 

[CDJ]

I personally like Blaydes a lot. I think he’d f*** Gane up if they fought.

He genuinely seems like a really good dude. People get their panties in a bunch because he’s a dominant wrestler, to them I say you go wrestle 260 lbers and see how easy it is

 

[m9]

I like Blaydes but I kind of get the hate. Two ways for people to hate you are to have a couple of "boring" wrestling fights in big spots and to have really popular opponents. Blaydes has had the boring fights with Volkov/JR and has fought popular guys like Hunt/JDS/Lewis and now Aspinall in London.

 

[CDJ]

I like Blaydes but I kind of get the hate. Two ways for people to hate you are to have a couple of "boring" wrestling fights in big spots and to have really popular opponents. Blaydes has had the boring fights with Volkov/JR and has fought popular guys like Hunt/JDS/Lewis and not Aspinall in London.

Fair point in re: to the popularity of his opponents



This was nuts

 

[m9]

This was nuts

Awesome sub

 

[16Skippy]

Luke Thomas was going over Aspinall's stats in his live chat. They are out of this world.

SLpM: 7.33 (insanely high)
Str. Acc: 65%
SApM: 2.65 (low, but insanely low given how much he lands)
Str. Def: 64%
TD Avg: 4.07
TD Acc: 100%
TD Def: 100%
Sub Average: 2.0

Some of that is quality of competition and some of it is how quickly his fights end (only seen R2 once in the UFC), but he's also just really f***ing good.

Blaydes is a tough test, though, man. I hope Apsinall wins. I don't dislike Blaydes as much as others seem to, but injecting another new face into the top of the division would be fun. If Stipe-Jones also gets made, this will be about as good HW has been since I've been watching UFC.




Also, for those who don't pay close attention like myself, this is indeed an early card. 3pm EST.

Where do you rank Aspinall currently? From the sounds if it he wants to keep improving and doesn’t want to rush things but he might already be considered top 5.

 

[MMC]