UFC Fight Night: Reyes vs. Procházka

Sam Hughes   vs.   Loma Lookboonmee 


When researching this fight on Youtube, a video recommended in the feed bore the title '"Loma Lookboonmee: From Rice fields to the UFC".


The editorial achieved its goal. I was both taken aback and intrigued. Not because this trajectory seemed improbable or remarkable to me, but rather because whoever titled the video as such assumed I would. The fact that Loma was plucked from a rice paddy and coerced into fighting is a fact no more interesting to me than that it requires water to boil an egg. I'd already supposed it to be the case automatically. 


A more interesting question is what her life prior to the paddy was like. Judging by her profile image, which caused me to knock over my coffee and undoubtedly ranks in the top 3 most unflattering of all time, that didn't happen willfully, mutually, or without the use of force. Probably she was not recruited, but rather captured via hempen net in a cave, the floor littered with fur and bones, by an angry torch-wielding mob of village farmers angered by successive raids by their quarry on their crops.


Not that Hughes is a dreamboat. I'm more inclined to believe that 'Sam' is shorthand for 'Samuel' as opposed to 'Samantha'. Looks how TJ Dillashaw would at roughly the 5 month mark into Estrogen therapy. Someone should probably call Proctor & Gamble and suggest they start printing her face on tide pods to deter children and imbeciles from eating them. And at least Loma can fight. I have no idea how Hughes has beaten anyone. She punches like a Phocomeliac swims the butterfly and is the MMA equivalent of a soiled garment guiltily deposited in a USAgain bin.


Lookboonmee, dec..Or TKO.

* Edited at 04.27.2021, 9:33 PM ET *

Dominick Reyes   vs.   Jiří Procházka  


I like Reyes. I really do. But this is a pretty horrendous booking for him and one that I personally believe is a bit sadistic on behalf of UFC since he's coming of a bad icing courtesy of Jan. That's because the more I think about this fight, the more I believe he's getting KO'ed within two rounds.


The thing about Reyes is that he's an incredibly readable fighter who is also pretty low-Fi. He doesn't have a huge arsenal of strikes, and the ones he does which are effective are the short uppercut/straight left. Pretty much everything he does is to set up either, and I have to believe Jiri will have very little trouble preempting them and will be able to break his guard and land something horrendous. I don't believe Dominick has a better chance of landing the kitchen sink on Jiri than Ooze, and in fact I'd rate Ooze's boxing defense slightly better.


It's pretty clear that UFC wants Jiri to win and are trying to set him up for a shot at the belt. I get it. He's very exciting and has big draw potential. I dunno. Gut and head says Jiri early. Definitely a value prop by KO/TKO as most carriers are selling this at +200 minimum.

* Edited at 04.28.2021, 3:52 AM ET *