GDT: UFC 234: Whittaker vs. Gastelum

[Avs_19]

Date: February 10, 2019
Venue: Rod Laver Arena
City: Melbourne, Australia
Time: 10pm ET/7pm PT
Viewing: PPV

MAIN CARD (PPV)

Middleweight Championship bout: Robert Whittaker (c) vs. Kelvin Gastelum
Middleweight bout: Israel Adesanya vs. Anderson Silva
Bantamweight bout: Rani Yahya vs. Ricky Simon
Womens Flyweight bout: Montana De La Rosa vs. Nadia Kassem
Light Heavyweight bout: Jim Crute vs. Sam Alvey

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN, TSN 5)

Lightweight bout: Devonte Smith vs. Dong Hyun Ma
Featherweight bout: Shane Young vs. Austin Arnett
Flyweight bout: Kai Kara-France vs. Raulian Paiva
Bantamweight bout: Teruto Ishihara vs. Kyung Ho Kang

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass)

Lightweight bout: Lando Vannata vs. Marcos Rosa
Lightweight bout: Callan Potter vs. Jalin Turner
Bantamweight bout: Wuliji Buren vs. Jonathan Martinez​

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[zombie kopitar]

Literally sacrificing the 'GOAT' lmao.
Adesanya going to retire Silva, it shouldn't even be allowed.

Leaning Whittaker but Gastelum is no walk in the park.
rest of the card is very meh for a PPV event.

 

[Avs_19]

I think Whittaker is just better and he should win but he also takes some shots so Gastelum could have his moments with his boxing. I'm going Whittaker by late finish or decision though.

Adesanya will likely run through Anderson. The only way I can really see him losing is if he plays games and gets caught.

The rest of the card isn't good.

 

[m9]

I think Whittaker is just better and he should win but he also takes some shots so Gastelum could have his moments with his boxing. I'm going Whittaker by late finish or decision though.

Adesanya will likely run through Anderson. The only way I can really see him losing is if he plays games and gets caught.

The rest of the card isn't good.

This pretty much sums it up.

 

[m9]

Great main event, co-main should be a passing of the torch.

The rest of the card is trash, but there some interesting prospects. Ricky Simon should be a future ranked guy at 135lbs. Nadia Kassem is a local girl who isn't bad to look at, so I'm sure they're hoping to push her. Pretty easy fight against De La Rosa who has a solid ground game but is terrible at everything else. Jim Crute is another decent prospect.

On the undercard, Devonte Smith is a vicious finisher at 155lbs. Lando Vannata is always fun to watch.

The card is at least two solid fights shorts of a real PPV. They've really mailed it in though it should be great for the local fans. I think we will see a ton of finishes Saturday night.

 

[pistolpete11]

Nothing to add really. Great main event. I think Whittaker takes it as well, but it's a great fight.

Stylebender vs. Anderson...when it was first announced, I was like "God no, why are they doing that to Anderson?" I still kind of have that, but the promos have totally worked on me. The one they showed during I think TJ-Cejudo where they were splicing together their faces and their highlights was awesome. I know neither want to say Stylebender is the next Anderson, but it's impossible to not make that comparison.

I think they will struggle with the PPVs, but Chael said the tickets sold out faster than the Rolling Stones did. Obviously it's because Whittaker, but damn.

 

[YNWA14]

It still annoys me how disrespectful some fighters are now just to try and big themselves up.

I've got Whittaker and Adesanya, but I'm hoping for a Silva win. One more time to turn back the clock and then hopefully retire.

 

[Sheppy]

Not sure this is PPV worthy, honestly.

 

[m9]

So are we 100% sure that Anderson Silva is going to lose this fight?

Adesanya has been great, but Tavares and Brunson as your two big wins don't guarantee anything.

Silva's losses have been to Weidman when he acted like an idiot, Weidman again when he broke his leg, Bisping, and Cormier. He almost beat Bisping and there's no shame in losing to Cormier. He beat Nick Diaz but it was overturned. I don't think he beat Brunson, but it was a close fight.

I can't pick against Adesanya here, but I do think it's an interesting matchup.

 

[I am not exposed]

Literally sacrificing the 'GOAT' lmao.
Adesanya going to retire Silva, it shouldn't even be allowed.

Leaning Whittaker but Gastelum is no walk in the park.
rest of the card is very meh for a PPV event.

This!

 

[pistolpete11]

Not sure this is PPV worthy, honestly.

The main and c0-main are perfectly fine for a PPV IMO. The rest of the card is Fight Night prelim worthy.

So are we 100% sure that Anderson Silva is going to lose this fight?

Adesanya has been great, but Tavares and Brunson as your two big wins don't guarantee anything.

Silva's losses have been to Weidman when he acted like an idiot, Weidman again when he broke his leg, Bisping, and Cormier. He almost beat Bisping and there's no shame in losing to Cormier. He beat Nick Diaz but it was overturned. I don't think he beat Brunson, but it was a close fight.

I can't pick against Adesanya here, but I do think it's an interesting matchup.

In my mind, Brunson got absolutely robbed against Anderson. I thought Anderson looked terrible in that fight and that was 2 years ago. On the other side, Stylebender not only KOed Brunson in the first round, but it went on long enough to show that it wasn't just a fluke. He out classed him and then finished him.

There's no shame in losing to Bisping or DC (especially on short notice up a weight class), but he still lost. He got caught doping vs. Diaz. He lost to Wideman twice. I know he was playing around too much in the first and then broke his leg in the second, but Wideman was arguably winning those fights before then anyway. That puts his last legit win (in my mind) against Bonnar 7 years ago.

I can never completely count out Anderson, but I would be very, very surprised for him to pull it off against Stylebender.

 

[dss97]

Wow, awful card outside the co-main/main.

Gastelum & Whittaker are two of the most exciting guys in the game right now though, should be a fun one.

 

[member 51464]

I don't care for Gastelum, which going by my recent preferences in big fights, likely means he knocks Whitaker out, lol.

 

[1specter]

While I think Adesanya is going to win decisively, Silva seems more driven than he has in years. He got really emotional at the presser and started crying... I think he knows this could be it, I expect him to leave it all out there tomorrow. Pretty excited

 

[tmurfin]

I’ve been chalking this main event up as a win for Bobby since it was announced. But for some reason, watching the weigh ins, I got hit with a feeling that Gastelum is going to shock the mma world. Whitaker takes shots, and Gastelum is a very sharp, accurate boxer. Bad combo for Bobby. I love both fighters so either way I’m happy, I just hope it’s a good fight.


I’d like to think Anderson puts up a fight, realistically I think he gets ko’d anticlimactically.

 

[BGDDYKWL]

Gastelum is pretty likable and Whittaker would be impossible to dislike, but I just don't feel like either is THAT good. Just not a compelling fight to me.

Am I crazy to think that if Anderson came in with a perfect gameplan he could win this? Close distance, put Adesanya against the fence, do a lot of clinch work, possibly a Thai clinch, just make it like a Couture fight. I think he could win those positions. I can't see him doing this, but I feel like that'd be his best approach.

 

[Peter Griffin]

Am I crazy to think that if Anderson came in with a perfect gameplan he could win this? Close distance, put Adesanya against the fence, do a lot of clinch work, possibly a Thai clinch, just make it like a Couture fight. I think he could win those positions. I can't see him doing this, but I feel like that'd be his best approach.

I put $20 on Anderson just for the helluva it.

 

[member 51464]

It is like all Whittaker has done in recent memory is have 25-minute wars with Yoel. It will be strange to see him fighting someone else.

 

[pistolpete11]

Gastelum is pretty likable and Whittaker would be impossible to dislike, but I just don't feel like either is THAT good. Just not a compelling fight to me.

Am I crazy to think that if Anderson came in with a perfect gameplan he could win this? Close distance, put Adesanya against the fence, do a lot of clinch work, possibly a Thai clinch, just make it like a Couture fight. I think he could win those positions. I can't see him doing this, but I feel like that'd be his best approach.

Really? I think it's a great fight. I could see the argument against Gastelum. He's only on a 2 fight win streak. One was against Bisping who had nearly been KOed by GSP a few weeks earlier and a split decision against Jacare. But Whittaker has won all 8 of his fights at MW including KOing Jacare and beating Yoel twice. In his 8 fights at MW, he's also gotten the Performance and/or Fight of the Night 6 times. He's a bad motherf***er.

 

[pistolpete11]

It is like all Whittaker has done in recent memory is have 25-minute wars with Yoel. It will be strange to see him fighting someone else.

Here's to hoping he can get through this one without breaking something from trying to punch and kick a tank. Gastelum is certainly more...cushioned than Yoel.

 

[m9]

It is like all Whittaker has done in recent memory is have 25-minute wars with Yoel. It will be strange to see him fighting someone else.

Totally agree. Exactly how I felt about Woodley after the two Thompson fights too.

 

[m9]

So Whittaker is out as of a few minutes ago with of all things.. a hernia.

Horrible for the card. A hernia also isn't something that you just wake up with, so this is extremely weird to say the least.

 

[m9]

Whittaker will be out awhile as well, which means an interim belt is on the way. I think you do Silva v Adesanya tonight for the interim belt with the winner getting Gastelum as soon as possible.

 

[Sheppy]

They need to make this a free card. They won’t, but they should.

 

[Avs_19]

So Whittaker is out as of a few minutes ago with of all things.. a hernia.

Horrible for the card. A hernia also isn't something that you just wake up with, so this is extremely weird to say the least.

Terrible for everyone involved. This sport is so crazy that we can't even relax after everything goes well with the weigh-ins.

One fight PPV now.