Predictions: 8 of 13 Winners, 3 Perfect, 475 Points
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Tied for 597th
Brown vs. Salikhov Randy Brown, DEC I like Randy a lot in this fight. He's younger, taller, huge reach advantage. Salikhov is primarily a striker. I think Randy can keep this at range and use front kicks and knees to good effect. Randy is also hard to takedown with that long frame of his. Even if Muslim panic shoots like he did against Dalby, it’s gonna be very difficult to finish the takedown for him. Pushing 40yo doesn’t help either. I think Randy is just gonna be a bit too much for Salikhov here. Think a decision win for Rudeboy it is.
"Kindness is a universal language regardless of age, nationality or religion” — Sir Alex Ferguson"
Predictions: 8 of 13 Winners, 3 Perfect, 475 Points
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Tied for 597th
Johnson vs. Maksum Charles Johnson, DEC Maksim is a mid level regional fighter. His decisions are against can crushers. Johnson isn't getting subbed but at the point he knows he needs the win. Just when you think you are out they pull you back in. Im the guy who picked Jessica Andrade to Knock out Mckenzie Dern.
* Edited at 01.21.2024, 10:45 AM ET *
"It's like predicting the future..., except it isn't."
Predictions: 8 of 13 Winners, 3 Perfect, 475 Points
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Tied for 597th
Gorimbo vs. Rodriguez Themba Gorimbo, SUB, R2 Weird run for Pete in the UFC. Fought the best fighter in the UFC in his debut followed by the worst fighter in the UFC. Themba should be able to get his back and control for a round and a half. Drain the power and sink in the choke.
"It's like predicting the future..., except it isn't."
Predictions: 7 of 13 Winners, 1 Perfect, 390 Points
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Tied for 2024th
Dolidze vs. Imavov Nassourdine Imavov, TKO, R3 Hot take it seems but I don’t think this is close at all. Dolidze put up a good fight against Vettori but watchi in that back I noticed two things: 1. Not a robbery at all, doldize landed power shots but he had no idea what a leg kick was and that’s why he lost. 2. The reason he had so much success in that fight was because Vettori stood in front of him & brawled it out. Watching any of his other fights on this winstreak, doldize is often losing the stand up before his opponents Stupdily grappled him, thus losing the fight. Hermansson was styling on him by not engaging & dancing around him with his jab and kicks. Imavov has very good footwork and a super creative striking game, he is not going to stand right in front of doldize & play into his game. He’s a much better striker who’s faster & has better tools. Imavov has underrated grappling but I don’t even think he will shoot here. I don’t trust doldixe’s cardio either, especially since he’s going to be missing on those huge overhands a lot. I honestly think imavov puts an ass whooping on him
Moicano vs. Dober Renato Moicano, SUB, R1 Coinflip to me but I really think moicano has the tools to get this done. I love dober but he is very flawed; he gets away with it by having insane pressure, power, and a god tier chin. Dover’s chin is declining a little bit and he just tanks damage on his chin. Moicano has really underrated hands. He has very good Muay Thai; he throws a ton of leg kicks, has a super crisp 1-2, and underrated power. Often times he drops/clips his opponents on the feet then takes their back. At first I thought this was his only path to victory but his takedowns are much better than I remembered. Moicanos back takes are also elite, I think he has one of the best back takes in mma. If he can get it to the ground, thid fight is over. Wont be surprised if dober backs him to the cage and violently kos him, but I think the allure of dober is starting to wear off. He’s a great fighter but he is human at the end of the day, he’s had a long career & taken a ton of damage
Araujo vs. Silva Natália Silva, DEC Good matchmaking. Silva is one hell of a prospect, I really haven’t seen someone with her striking prowess in a long time. She has a good dancing partner here because araujo is going to throw down with her. Araujo is very physical and hits hard but she is aging badly. She’s looked a lot slower recently and her cardio is sus; I think the big weight cut is starting to get to her. Araujo is a very good grappler but I think Silva’s footwork is gonna make her hard to track + she’s shown us very good tdd so far. I could see a late ko for Silva but this likely goes to decision
Khizriev vs. Muradov Aliaskhab Khizriev, SUB, R1 Shocked this fight is still going, figured someone would’ve pulled out by now. I’m pretty torn on this one, khizriev looks the part but he’s super inactive and wildly untested. His striking reminds me a lot of murzakanovs, he’s got the light movmement on the feet & really fast hands. I really don’t like his striking defense tho, he is pretty stiff. His wrestling is super clean and he is nasty on top. Throws vicious gnp and if he gets your back he has a deadly rnc. Muradov is a very good kickboxer with crisp combos and insane power. Hai defense isn’t as good as I rememeber tho & he finds himself on the back foot a lot more than I’d like. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he ko’s khizriev standing. The reason I’m on khizriev is the grappling. Muradov has pretty decent wrestling but poor bjj. I think khizriev is gonna shoot and take the back early. If this leaves round 1 I think it’s all muradov. Might switch to him depending on weigh ins
Urbina vs. Radtke Gilbert Urbina, TKO, R2 Why is this fight so high up. Both are bad but there’s levels to this. Radtke was brought in to lose to BD & looked very bad in the process. He has solid boxing technique and really good power, but he’s super limited. He only head hunts, doesn’t throw anything but punches, and has really sus defense. He’s gotten chinned by some really bad fighters on the regional scene & we saw against BD he had no answer for the kicks. His grappling is **** too. Urbina isn’t ufc level but I don’t think he’s a bad fighter; when I watch him his skills are actually not bad at all. He’s huge for the weight class and has skills every where. He throws heat on the feet & uses all of his limbs. Throws good combos and has really good power. Urbina is also a pretty solid grappler; nothing special but he knows the basics and I do really like his gnp. My problems with Urbina is striking defense and cardio. He kinda just plods forward and doesn’t move his head, so he’s giving Radtke a stationary target. However, Radtke is just as hittable and Urbina has a big size advantage. His cardio isn’t bad but he slows down in every round 3. I think he gets Radtke out of there though; wouldn’t be shocked if Radtke clips Urbina early tho
Brown vs. Salikhov Randy Brown, SUB, R2 Salikhov is a much better striker than him but he is aging bad. Hes got very good kicks & is a powerful counter striker but he’s lost a lot of his athleticism, his chin isn’t the same, and the biggest thing is he has bad cardio. He can bank probably half the fight but gets really tired late. Brown has a lot of holes in his striking; he still doesn’t know how to check leg kicks and he is chinny. However, he hits pretty hard and has a massive frame for the division. He is also dynamic at times, throwing really unorthodox strikes. I think he would be smart to grapple here since he has a big advantage there. However, brown is an idiot so I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he gets his legs destroyed & stands at range for the whole fight. If he fights to the level I hold him to, then I think he can put salikhov away
Petersen vs. Pogues Thomas Petersen, DEC Was looking to fade Petersen but I don’t think this is the spot. Pogues has no finishing ability & does **** all in the cage. Idk what his motivation even is, he legit does nothing but spar in the cage. Petersen is sloppy but he has more power & actually puts things out there, so he should win the striking. Pogues has a very clean jab but once he finds his range he simply stops throwing it out there (god knows why). I think Petersen is a better wrestler but he may struggle here against the fat, and very wide pogues. I was worried about cardio, but pogues cardio is just as **** & again, he has no finishing ability. This is probably gonna get very ugly but I gotta take the guy who actually wants to be there
Stoliarenko vs. Carolina Julija Stoliarenko, SUB, R1 Not a believer that Stoliarenko is magically some new fighter. She has a huge size advantage here but as far as I’m concerned she is still the same fighter. That being said, Carolina is dog****; her last fight she only won because her opponent couldn’t grapple at all. If she survives round 1 she will win but I think we see a Stoliarenko meme sub again
Bilder vs. Lee Jeong Yeong Lee, TKO, R2 Lee seems pretty fraudulent to me but he’s getting a pretty easy fight. Grappling is suspect but bolder doesn’t have good wrestling to get it there. Bilder has more volume and better defense but Lee has insane power. Bilder just kinda throws stuff out there to see what sticks & is really chinny. I think he has to fight a perfect 15 where Lee just needs one shot to win a round. Gotta go with Lee in that case
Mederos vs. Quiñones Landon Quiñones, TKO, R3 My pick for FOTN. These boys are gonna throw down. I don’t like mederoes nearly as much as I did on dwcs. He’s a great striker but has all the flaws you’d expect from a factorux guy; poor boxing, poor fight iq, and bad wrestling. Mederos also has horrible striking defense. I think Landon is actually quite good. He knows how to leg kick so that will take away one of mederos’s weapons & he’s a much better boxer. He can also mix in wrestling if he wants. I think they are gonna slug it out early and mederos gets finished late
McCann vs. Belbiţă Molly McCann, SUB, R2 Pointless rematch. Sub seems insane here but hear me out; belbita has worse grappling than McCann, McCann already dominated her in grappling the last time they fought (30-25, also belbita hasn’t improved), and as **** as it is, McCann has been working on her grappling. Rematches never go the same way & with how much grappling success she had the first time, I think she will find something & get belbits out of there
Johnson vs. Maksum Azat Maksum, DEC InnerG is my boy but this matchup is so bad for him. Azat should have a much easier time with takedowns here & InnerG isn’t nearly as much of a ko threat as nam. I wouldn’t be shocked with a finish here; Azat hits very hard or maybe he finds a sub. Probably a dominant 30-27 tho
Gorimbo vs. Rodriguez Themba Gorimbo, SUB, R2 Could see a Pete ko here. I tend to lean Themba since he can get the fight down to the ground but his standup is horrible. He is much longer but very stiff on the feet. If he survives round 1 he should take over and sub a gassed Pete
"“Unfortunately you can’t talk like that on FOX” - Joe Rogan"
Predictions: 7 of 13 Winners, 3 Perfect, 425 Points
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Tied for 1247th
Mederos vs. Quiñones Landon Quiñones, TKO, R3 I know he lost the last fight but he looked so good in there. A complete war for 15 minutes versus a dangerous opponent with experience for your debut. I'm leaning towards Quinones.
* Edited at 01.21.2024, 3:34 PM ET *
"Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night" - Nick Diaz
Predictions: 7 of 13 Winners, 3 Perfect, 425 Points
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Tied for 1247th
Brown vs. Salikhov Randy Brown, DEC I feel like this fight has been booked for three years.
Petersen vs. Pogues Thomas Petersen, SUB, R2 Thomas Petersen has a very impressive resume including his amateur career. I like Jamal Pogues but I think he has looked far too reserved and he needs to make a game plan change if he's going to win this fight.
Predictions: 8 of 13 Winners, 3 Perfect, 475 Points
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Tied for 597th
Araujo vs. Silva Natália Silva, TKO, R3 Viviane is coming off her best win in the promotion against Maia. Interesting that she won the fight by out grappling the grappler. Maia didn't have a good performance early. Took the 3rd round though. Thats a bit of a theme with Viviane. She tends to fade as the fight goes on. Predominantly a puncher, Viviane uses cage pressure to get her takedowns. Success there is not great however. Natalia has the TDD to be able to keep this one standing. If it does go to the ground, Natalia is good there too. No panic in difficult positions. On the feet, Natalia can absolutely control this fight. She has very fast, diverse striking. Viviane has been dropped against both Andrea Lee and Amanda Ribas. I think theres a good chance Silva catches her and gets the finish on the feet, when Viviane inevitably fades later in the fight. You dont see many 37 year olds in this division. Viviane is surely approaching some form of decline. Natalia has been on a tear since making her debut. I can only see one winner here.
"Kindness is a universal language regardless of age, nationality or religion” — Sir Alex Ferguson"
Predictions: 7 of 13 Winners, 3 Perfect, 425 Points
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Tied for 1247th
Johnson vs. Maksum Charles Johnson, DEC I'm riding with Johnson's UFC experience (like I always do lmao). He's never been finished and he's been very active recently.
@AyyLmaonnaiseThanks for the breakdowns. I really like the Pogues vs Petersen analysis, I couldn't put it into words but totally agree. I'm hesitant about an inexperienced wrestler who beat Chandler on the contender series, but something about Pogues... he just doesn't do anything. His best win that I know of is Josh Parisian, who also doesn't do much. Petersen can definitely wrestle at least, and good point about the motivation.
Predictions: 7 of 13 Winners, 1 Perfect, 390 Points
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Tied for 2024th
@mav that Parisian fight was so bad to watch. He clearly won the first two by being faster & having better wrestling but he got soooo tired in round 3 & was looking like he might get ko’ed if it was anyone but josh Parisian. But that was when he was skinnier. I thought he was trying to be a collier/williams where he was trying to not cut weight and use speed to his advantage, but then he bulked up 25 pounds for no explainable reason against Parkin & looked the worst he ever has. Saw some recent videos of him and he looks at least 285 so I don’t think he’s gonna have that speed anymore
"“Unfortunately you can’t talk like that on FOX” - Joe Rogan"
Predictions: 8 of 13 Winners, 2 Perfect, 465 Points
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Tied for 793rd
Nicholas Dalby racked up like 7 mins of control time, damn near every second up against the cage.
Randy has a lot of consistent output with quickness, that Salikov at his old age will have to weather and return for 15 mins, also he's very tall and strong against the cage which seems to be the weakest part of Salikhov's game.
Predictions: 8 of 13 Winners, 3 Perfect, 475 Points
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Tied for 597th
Petersen vs. Pogues Jamal Pogues, DEC Pogues can get the win here. Think the odds should be flipped really. Not convinced by Petersen at all. Pogues trains at a better gym, has a good jab and sufficient wrestling to keep it standing. My concern is that he seems to always fight walking backwards. Peterson does not like to strike on the feet, nor is he good at it really. He's looking for takedowns from the off, but has good ground n pound when on top. Pogues will have to keep Petersen at the end of his jab. Im interested to see what weight Pogues comes in at. Hes been getting heavier with every fight. Weight could be a big factor in the wrestling. That said, his cardio is still above average for heavyweight. Petersen has only seen round 3 once in his pro career and got knocked out. Im interested to see what he looks like when going the distance, especially with debut jitters. Will also be interesting to see what Petersen does if hes put on his back. Pogues is definitely capable of that.
"Kindness is a universal language regardless of age, nationality or religion” — Sir Alex Ferguson"
Predictions: 7 of 13 Winners, 3 Perfect, 440 Points
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Tied for 1120th
in a heavyweight fight i believe Thomas Petersons explosiveness and want for the finish will be the difference here Pogues will drop after a big shot
Mederos vs Landon could be close but knowing that Landons been finished twice one time extremely fast makes me have to fade him i really hate picking DWCS debutants tho
Julija the weight bully if she can actually make the weight this fight will be very fast judo takedown from the clinch and armbar luana got ******* kneebarred by Lipski please dont forget that
I like Bilder here honestly the kid hes fighting is young and not super experienced himself i can see him being sloppy in the grappling exchanges and that will give bilder a chance to get the back and find the rear choke
Gorimbo is a funny case the rock somehow found him on instagram or some **** and made him his next charity project that doesnt make me believe Gorimbo is hungry on top of the fact that he doesnt have much skill in the octagon regardless of it all Pete hits like a truck and has one loss to JDM ill take the dog all day here
idk why theres no real proof to back this pick but Azat runs in there and subs charles Johnson in the first and he gets cut i just feel like ufc wants to promote Kazakhstan and also drop charles in the process considering they almost never give him winnable fights
molly vs diana 2 same fighters as before but we see a molly finish this time
