GDT: UFC 288: Sterling vs. Cejudo/ONE Fight Night 10: Johnson vs. Moraes 3

[m9]

Seeing Kron fall flat like that was hilarious. He isn't good at MMA and should not have been on a UFC main card.

Also, Lopes performance really reminded me of what Lando Vannata did v Tony back in the day. Both have a wild enough style that he almost pulled off the upset on short notice but over 15 minutes it's pretty obvious who the better fighter is.

 

[CDJ]

Seeing Kron fall flat like that was hilarious. He isn't good at MMA and should not have been on a UFC main card.

Also, Lopes performance really reminded me of what Lando Vannata did v Tony back in the day. Both have a wild enough style that he almost pulled off the upset on short notice but over 15 minutes it's pretty obvious who the better fighter is.

Flatter than what he thinks the earth looks like

 

[CDJ]

Imo it was a pretty clear win for Aljo but it’s crazy Cleary gave Aljo the 5th and that was the difference between an Aljo win and an Aljo loss

 

[16Skippy]

Pretty mid main card considering it was a champ vs former champ. Someone on the MK reaction asked if Cringe sat out for most of his prime and that might be true.

Belal vs Burns was kinda boring, but just give the man a title shot next. At least he has developed power lately.

Yan vs Andre cost me two separate bets so thanks Yan lol. Her vs Weili would be sick though. Definitely do not reward Rose with an immediate title shot after that last performance.

Lopes was the coolest part of the night for me too, hope to see some crazy ass subs when he has a full camp and fights someone at his level. I think the commentators mentioned he's Grasso's grappling coach?

And lol at Kron. Shelling and V-guarding while moving forward to get a clinch or takedown is a good strategy if you can't strike, but dude has been in the UFC for years now. Should have spent more time with Diazs and their striking coaches instead if peacing out to Montana.

 

[m9]

Some final thoughts on this card..

It seems like the general thoughts from media is that this was a "good" main event. I was thinking about it a bit, and I actually don't think it was a good or entertaining fight. Was it somewhat compelling between two high-level guys? Sure. I just can't say fights that have basically no damage are good - it's the main judging criteria for a reason - and this fight basically had none. The compelling part about fights shouldn't be "I don't know how the judges are going to score it", it should be stuff that happened in the cage.

I had two things I felt really good about coming into this card that hit:

First, Kron Gracie sucks. He's actually pretty tough/durable for a guy so bad on the feet but this isn't a UFC level fighter. Jourdain is a pretty solid test but for Gracie to look that bad? Time for the UFC to move on.

Second, Ikram Aliskerov is elite. Said it coming in but this guy's only loss is to Chimaev. He is going to be ranked and is going to be a problem for a ton of guys at middleweight. I think the UFC will fast-track this guy and get him a Muniz/Tavares level guy sooner than later.

Couple things I was wrong about:

Said it during the card but I thought Evloev would run over Lopes and I think eventually it happened but man was does Lopes present some problems on the ground. I think he finishes most of the division who aren't as strong as Evloev. We'll say where Lopes goes from here but really fun first fight for him.

The other thing I was wrong about was something that I don't even think I really posted - I've really not thought anything abotu Yan Xiaonan. She's had a really forgettable UFC run and I've kind of lumped her in with a dozen other nameless WMMA fighters who put on boring. I think Andrade gave her the same respect I did. This was a seriously impressive showing by Yan and it seems like she's really improved.