GDT: UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Shahbazyan

[Live in the Now]

Honestly anytime you can get a bonafide top 10 guy at +300 or more you have to take it. Especially when that guys coming off two wins against good fighters since adding Henri Hooft to his team. To get that against a kid who has only been out of the first round once is something you won’t see a ton of.

The other thing that I'm sure everyone forgot when it came to those odds, is what Brunson has often done to guys who are on their way up the ranks. Brunson is like the ultimate gatekeeper. Yeah, he's not going to beat top five guys, but he's almost derailed two other hype trains. Against Romero, he was beating him clearly before he got finished. In the Whittaker fight, he got too crazy, but he was damaging Whittaker badly. The Adesanya fight is the only time that he got straight up embarrassed.

The value was too good for me to pass up even though it wouldn’t have shocked me if Shahbazyan had run through him. You can tell the kid has real firepower, he’s just so damn young.

He has firepower but his clinch game needs some work. That's really all this fight came down to, he had a lack of applicable knowledge of what to do. When Brunson tripped him from behind that wasn't a good sign.

 

[CDJ]

I kinda like the idea of Brunson vs Till


Brunson might sneakily be two wins away from the title. Let’s say he beats a guy like Till....he’s probably in a #1 contenders bout. The way he mixed in his wrestling tonight makes me think he could give Till some issues

 

[member 51464]

I kinda like the idea of Brunson vs Till


Brunson might sneakily be two wins away from the title. Let’s say he beats a guy like Till....he’s probably in a #1 contenders bout. The way he mixed in his wrestling tonight makes me think he could give Till some issues

Or just shows Till is kind of a bum since a loss to Brunson would make him, what, 1-4 in his last five.

I think another loss by till to just about anyone ends his days as a "name" so his camp needs to choose the next fight wisely.

 

[Taytro]

I agree that Shahbazyan was done, but we've seen refs let fights go longer under similar circumstances...

And I'm fine with the stoppage, I just think given what I've seen over the years, it was a tad premature

Tbh if it was anything it was a tad late. Very easily could have been called at the end of the 2nd.

I don't think its fair to compare to other refs because we've seen Mario Yamazaki wait until people are practically dead before calling it, and at other times he called it after a slip. Dean used his judgment here, phenomenal ref, great call, protected a young kid from further damage. If last week never happened he still calls the fight there.

 

[Avs_19]

Good for Brunson. He wasn't going to be easy to beat but everyone knew this was supposed to be a fight to push Shahbazyan to contender status. I thought Shahbazyan looked good in the 1st round while also leaving himself open to getting hit. At one point the broadcast mentioned how Shahbazyan's punches are landing different, which was probably true, but eventually Brunson's shots were going to add up. He also had a good game plan once he was actually able to execute it with some of the clinch work. Shahbazyan was done after the 2nd round so either Herb Dean or the doctor should've saved him from the unnecessary damage. Good job by Herb for quickly ending it in the 3rd though.

 

[1specter]

Brunson is a good example of a guy who has all the tools to be scary but just doesn't quite have the IQ to be elite. He could be a serious threat if he was just a smarter fighter.

 

[Taytro]

Brunson is a good example of a guy who has all the tools to be scary but just doesn't quite have the IQ to be elite. He could be a serious threat if he was just a smarter fighter.

They explained this in the broadcast saying he never worked with a real team, he worked with a bunch of friends who weren't full time professional fighters. But he's been at Hard Knocks (or whatever its called now) for 2 camps and is fighting way smarter and putting a game plan together. Really wish he made that switch sooner.

 

[CDJ]

Dana said it and I believe the broadcast made mention of it but Brunson is mixing in his wrestling again. He hadnt done that in awhile before he joined a real camp. It’s legit one of his best skills and when you combine it with his power he’s a legitimate problem for most of that division

Anytime somebody adds Henri Hooft I take note

 

[pistolpete11]

The problem for Brunson is he's closer to 37 than 36. He does have some of the tools and it's great that he's at a real camp now, but these other guys at the top of the division are younger and have been at real camps for years now. Does Brunson have enough time to close the gap? I'm not saying he can't, but it's tough enough to do against the best fighters in the world under any circumstance. Now he has very little room for error until Father Time catches up to him.

 

[Perennial]

Brunson vs Hermansson?

 

[m9]

Brunson vs Hermansson?

Would certainly make the most sense.

 

[CDJ]

I think Brunson f***s Hermansson up in a way very similar to what Cannonier did

 

[member 51464]

Obviously way too many steps ahead to even really think on, but Cannonier versus Costa seems like it'd be a real banger.