GDT: UFC on ESPN: Reyes vs. Weidman

[Avs_19]

Date: October 18, 2019
Venue: TD Garden
City: Boston, Massachusetts
Time: 9pm ET/6pm PT
Viewing: ESPN 2, TSN 5

MAIN CARD (ESPN 2, TSN 5)

Light Heavyweight bout: Dominick Reyes vs. Chris Weidman
Featherweight bout: Yair Rodríguez vs. Jeremy Stephens
Heavyweight bout: Greg Hardy vs. Ben Sosoli
Lightweight bout: Joe Lauzon vs. Jonathan Pearce
Women's Flyweight bout: Maycee Barber vs. Gillian Robertson
Middleweight bout: Deron Winn vs. Darren Stewart

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN 2, TSN 5)

Featherweight bout: Charles Rosa vs. Manny Bermudez
Women's Flyweight bout: Molly McCann vs. Diana Belbiţă
Featherweight bout: Kyle Bochniak vs. Sean Woodson
Bantamweight bout: Randy Costa vs. Boston Salmon
Welterweight bout: Court McGee vs. Sean Brady
Middleweight bout: Brendan Allen vs. Kevin Holland
Heavyweight bout: Daniel Spitz vs. Tanner Boser​

Click to read more...

 

[m9]

Not much on the undercard, but pretty solid main card. Barber & Winn are both high-end prospects, plus whatever you consider Greg Hardy to be. Obviously the top two fights should be good.

 

[BGDDYKWL]

I just caught a clip of Weidman/Silva I yesterday, Weidman was so much more muscular. I'm not making any accusations, but there is a very noticeable difference between then and now (really even going back a few years). That's a big reason IMO why he seemed to go from physically dominating guys to struggle with not only Rockhold but even Mousasi. Be interesting to see if he has that quality size back now that he's heavier.

Odds are pretty close on this one, and despite several losses recently I do believe a win here could potentially line him up for a title shot. He's the biggest name in the division, and outside of an injured Santos there wouldn't be anyone ahead of him should he win, particularly convincingly.

These experiments typically don't go well so unfortunately my guess is he gets knocked out. What's really a shame is I actually think he could give Adesanya some big problems at 185, might have been better for him to have just stayed.

 

[LSCII]

Not much on the undercard, but pretty solid main card. Barber & Winn are both high-end prospects, plus whatever you consider Greg Hardy to be. Obviously the top two fights should be good.

Rosa coming home to where he grew up is at least fun for the locals, and I think that Bermudez and he will provide an entertaining tilt since both guys aren't exactly the type to play it safe. But yeah, the rest of the matches are relatively boring. Main card was kind of suspect for a while too. Obviously got solidified as it got closer, and once they added Yair vs Lil Heathen.

 

[pistolpete11]

Top 2 fights are awesome, especially now with the back story of Stephens-Yair. It was a good fight before, but now with the animosity, I'm really looking forward to it. I will have a rooting interest now, too. I didn't really care before, but now I'm firmly with Team Stephens as I imagine most people are.

It's tough to get a read on Wideman. He's 35, 1-4 in his last 5, and hasn't fought for almost a year, but he was winning a couple of those before getting KO'ed and the layoff might be good for him after getting KO'ed. Still, got to wonder how his chin is going to hold up being 35, getting KOed 4 times in his last 5 fights, and moving up a weight class. My money is on Reyes getting it done.

I've spent enough time talking about Hardy, so I'll just say FINALLY. We get to see him against a guy that's never competed in the UFC

Lauzon seems like it's going to be sad. He carved out a nice career in the UFC, but I think he was done a few years ago. Now they are feeding him to a young, hungry kid and he's talking about this could be his last fight. That usually means he's half checked out.

Barber-Robertson could be a good one. They've got 7 fights in the UFC between them. Win or lose (only 1 loss, actually), they all ended in finishes.

 

[m9]

Lauzon is from the area, so I assume the plan is for him to retire in the cage after the fight.

 

[LSCII]

Top 2 fights are awesome, especially now with the back story of Stephens-Yair. It was a good fight before, but now with the animosity, I'm really looking forward to it. I will have a rooting interest now, too. I didn't really care before, but now I'm firmly with Team Stephens as I imagine most people are.

It's tough to get a read on Wideman. He's 35, 1-4 in his last 5, and hasn't fought for almost a year, but he was winning a couple of those before getting KO'ed and the layoff might be good for him after getting KO'ed. Still, got to wonder how his chin is going to hold up being 35, getting KOed 4 times in his last 5 fights, and moving up a weight class. My money is on Reyes getting it done.

I've spent enough time talking about Hardy, so I'll just say FINALLY. We get to see him against a guy that's never competed in the UFC

Lauzon seems like it's going to be sad. He carved out a nice career in the UFC, but I think he was done a few years ago. Now they are feeding him to a young, hungry kid and he's talking about this could be his last fight. That usually means he's half checked out.

Barber-Robertson could be a good one. They've got 7 fights in the UFC between them. Win or lose (only 1 loss, actually), they all ended in finishes.

Yeah. Hard to say how Weidman will do given the time off, the jump up in weight, and the glass jaw he seems to have developed. Not good factors going in, but he's always surprised me when I've counted him out.

Really looking forward to seeing Lil Heathen get some physical revenge against Yair. Such and unlikable dude and overly cocky. Really hope Stephens puts a beating on him to remember.

 

[LSCII]

Lauzon is from the area, so I assume the plan is for him to retire in the cage after the fight.

I hope so. You always want guys to finish with a fight or two left in the tank rather than a fight or two too late, but Lauzon definitely has hung on a little too long now. Great to see a local guy make good though, so win or lose, if he retires, it will be in front of his hometown, which is fitting.

 

[Avs_19]

Good card because of the top two fights. One fight at the top changes so much for these fight night cards because it wouldn't be nearly as interesting if Yair/Stephens wasn't added after Zabit dropped out. There are a couple of good prospects as well like @m9 said.

As others have already alluded to, this is such a massive fight for Weidman because of what a win or loss will do for his career. If he wins then it wouldn't be all that surprising if he gets the next shot at Jones. There's no clear cut contender right now and Jones wants a bigger name, which Weidman is. If he loses then I don't think it's a stretch or exaggeration to say he's done. He may not retire but he's 35 and that would be losses in 5 of his last 6 fights and there's no other division he can jump to. Big fight for Reyes too because he'll be in the title mix with a win but I don't think a loss would hurt him as much as it would Weidman.

It wouldn't shock me if Weidman was able to use his wrestling and win this fight but if I had to make a prediction I'd go with Reyes via finish. Reyes' last fight vs. Volkan was really close and he arguably lost that one so while he's good and still undefeated, it's not like he's just running through top competition.

 

[MD thaivuN]

I predict Weidman uses his wrestling and simply gasses. Grappling bigger guys is simply going to exhaust him.

 

[dss97]

Hoping Stephens gets the finish.

Can’t stand Yair, guy is a douche.

 

[dss97]

Also don’t see any scenario in which Weidman beats Reyes, just hasn’t been the same since his brutal beating from Rockhold.

 

[Deen]

Pretty dang good card. Dana always makes sure the Bawston' cards are bangers.

 

[Deen]

Also don’t see any scenario in which Weidman beats Reyes, just hasn’t been the same since his brutal beating from Rockhold.

USADA claimed Weidman. Pre-Usada Weidman was a maniac.

 

[BGDDYKWL]

Rockhold looked better physically at 205 than Weidman. Not that Weidman looked bad, but he didn't have any additional muscle and also didn't look like he cut any weight. Unless he has cardio for days now I don't see this fight going well for him.

USADA claimed Weidman. Pre-Usada Weidman was a maniac.

I hate to say it but this is undeniable. He was so much more muscular in the first Anderson fight. Seemed to really affect his wrestling and specifically his ability to control his opponents on the ground.

 

[pistolpete11]

Didn't realize until like 10min ago the card was tonight, not Saturday.

Rockhold looked better physically at 205 than Weidman. Not that Weidman looked bad, but he didn't have any additional muscle and also didn't look like he cut any weight. Unless he has cardio for days now I don't see this fight going well for him.

Is that a bad thing, though? Maybe draining your body the day before you're in a fist fight isn't a good thing for you.

There's also the speed/cardio vs. power debate, although, with a wrestler like Weidman, maybe the power is more important than most other guys. However, I don't think Reyes is so big for a LHW, so if I was Weidman, I'd come in leaner, too. Doesn't mean I think it will work out for Weidman, but...

 

[dss97]

USADA claimed Weidman. Pre-Usada Weidman was a maniac.

Could be a combination of both.

That was a career altering ass whooping.

 

[Deen]

Didn't realize until like 10min ago the card was tonight, not Saturday.


Is that a bad thing, though? Maybe draining your body the day before you're in a fist fight isn't a good thing for you.

There's also the speed/cardio vs. power debate, although, with a wrestler like Weidman, maybe the power is more important than most other guys. However, I don't think Reyes is so big for a LHW, so if I was Weidman, I'd come in leaner, too. Doesn't mean I think it will work out for Weidman, but...

He's like 6"4 though. that's pretty tall and skinny. I bet he has a hard time making the weight in general. Chris just ran out of options at MW. He basically had to move up or retire.

 

[pistolpete11]

He's like 6"4 though. that's pretty tall and skinny. I bet he has a hard time making the weight in general. Chris just ran out of options at MW. He basically had to move up or retire.

Reyes came in at 203 for this one.

 

[Deen]

Reyes came in at 203 for this one.

Oh ok. I didn't think he was that slender. I mean im 6 foot 180 and I'm not the biggest cat.

 

[member 51464]

Could be a combination of both.

That was a career altering ass whooping.

Just another in a long line of Herb Dean sucking. There was no reason for that fight to make it to the end of the 3rd round.

 

[LSCII]

Very happy for Rosa! Great win in front of his hometown!!!

 

[Deen]

29/28 Winn. Takedowns should have merit.

 

[Avs_19]

That was impressive by Barber. I'm not sure how some of those wild swings would turn out against better competition but that was a near perfect performance by her.

 

[pistolpete11]

I haven't seen that many women that can throw as much volume with as much power as Barber. She's a little wild to the point someone like Valentina would be able to find some openings, but she's a force in the division, especially at only 21.