UFC 236: Holloway vs. Poirier 2

The official Tapology discussion thread for the event!

***? The matters was about who Tony will fight for the belt...
How can it end with that, big deception

@fish if thats true its because he already got ****** out of his interim belt so now he's gonna wait for the real belt.

I agree these don't realize they may never gdt a title shot again. Very dissapointed ferg turned it down but I understand his

seems to be a bad decision for Tony,

but the fact is Tony & Khabib are clearly recognise as the bests 155 right now. Giving a belt to Holloway or Poirier for beating the other won't make him a  champ for me and probably not for many hardcore fans.

Holloway vs. Poirier II
Max Holloway, DEC
is Max really better than Pea Tea?......

Gastelum vs. Adesanya
Israel Adesanya, DEC
nuts fight!!

Anders vs. Rountree
Khalil Rountree, TKO, R2
cant pick an Alpha Male who loses to Elias by split :/....

Salmon vs. Taha
Boston Salmon, DEC
best name ever?....

Krylov vs. St. Preux
Nikita Krylov, TKO, R3
i remember St. Preux from Strikeforce hes still around

@wasteland remember the other salmon who got his head kicked off by I think liddel or rashad evans.

Poliana botelho and polyana viana both suck. Easy win for lauren Mueller

 This this is the other salmon I was talking about and this is what he's most famous

Holloway vs. Poirier II
Max Holloway, TKO, R4
Great fookin fight! Could be close for a round or 2 then Max does what he does and turns up the volume, pace and pressure and overwhelms Dustin just like he did to Ortega and Aldo

Jouban vs. Grant
Dwight Grant, TKO, R1
Joubans a good technical Muay Thai striker on offense, defence not so much! Can get wild and dragged into wars too easily and with his chinny chin chin that's not good chief! I predict another highlight on Dwights resume

Jackson vs. Soukhamthath
Montel Jackson, SUB, R1
Soukhamthath SUCKS ASS! Easy win for the young prospect

Griffin vs. Imadaev
Max Griffin, DEC
Looks like folks are fooled by the old undefeated guy making his debut again!!!! I'll go with the vet who really would've beaten Thiago Alves last time out if that fight was anywhere but Brasil! He only losses are to top men (who do you say?........TOP MEN!) I'm not convinced the 60th best Russian is 1 of those top guys

Muhammad vs. Millender
Belal Muhammad, SUB, R2
I'm well and truly off the Millender hype train until the guy can defend a double leg and has better than whitche beltch defence!

Holloway vs. Poirier II
Max Holloway, TKO, R4
Both fighters have become unrecognizable since their first fight, but Holloway not cutting the extra 10 pounds is even scarier. Poirier will make it a war, but Max will eventually finish him.

Gastelum vs. Adesanya
Israel Adesanya, DEC
This is basically a toss up. I feel like they're both bad matchups for each other, but I think Adesanya keeps Gastelum at distance for the majority of the fight, locking up a unification date with Robert Whittaker in the late summer.

Anders vs. Rountree
Eryk Anders, TKO, R2
I was pretty impressed with Anders in his Light Heavyweight debut against the now #1 contender in Thiago Santos, and he was in it the whole way until his short notice stamina gave out. Rountree's always game, but he gets hit a lot, so I'll go with an Anders finish.

Jouban vs. Grant
Dwight Grant, TKO, R1
After Gastelum-Adesanya, this is the toughest main card fight to pick. I like Jouban, but I've really liked Grant (and I thought he won the Zak Ottow fight), so I'll go with him. I see a finish either way though.

Krylov vs. St. Preux
Ovince St. Preux, SUB, R3
This is a rematch from their 2014 fight, where OSP submitted Krylov. A lot of time has passed since, but I think OSP's experience against top competition will help him out tremendously. Another tough pick, but I see another submission for Ovince.

here are my predictions from main event to prelims for ufc 236:



- Max Holloway win via decision. I actually predict Max Holloway taking Dustin's back somewhere in between the fight and trying to submit him but runs out of time in the round. Max is probably going to try and get Dustin back for submitting him years ago. Max by decision by outpointing dustin. Between the two, Dustin is more likely to drop max with punches than the other way around. I don't see either guys dropping the other in this fight. Will go the full distance. Confidence: 50-60% Would be higher for max but I don't really see him being able to hurt Dustin in 5 rounds... I think he can outpoint him every round but nothing to the point where Dustin is really hurt or shows a lot of facial damage.


- Israel Adesanya win via tko in rd 3 or 4. Can see size and reach advantage overwhelming Kelvin. Kelvin is going to rely on his wrestling. Will fail in the wrestling. Adesanya traps Kelvin in the corner of the cage and tees off on him. Referee eventually will stop the flurry from Israel even if Kelvin protest against the stoppage. Kelvin will most likely still be standing on his feet conscious even though Israel gets the tko victory. Confidence: 75%


- Khalil Roundtree win via KO in rd 2 or 3. The more technical striker is Khalil. Endurance and chin goes to Eryk... although he's taken a lot of damage in his short ufc career already. Both guys will brawl with each other and during the brawl Eryk is most likely going to shoot in for a takedown or clinch. Eryk is not as confident in striking as Khalil. I definitely do see Eryk shooting for a takedown or going for a single leg while Khalil uses the fence to avoid the takedown. Can see Khalil bombarding eryk with travis browne elbows in the similar fashion Thiago Santos did against Eryk. Eryk loses by tko. Not confident in this fight.

- Dwight Grant win via KO in rd 1. Alan Jouban is near retirement and he's getting old but still looks young. Dwight Grant flash knockdown and from there the ref stops the fight. Jouban's chin is questionable. When he loses it's usually in rd 1 by KO. Dwight is explosive and will most likely drop him in rd 1 and finish him. If Alan were to win it would be by submission over 2.5 rounds. Don't see the fight going that long. Confidence: 50-60% More confident in this fight ending by stoppage... either dwight win by ko in rd 1 or alan win by submission in rd 2.

- OSP win via von flue choke in the end of rd 1 or rd 2. I think it will be in rd 2. Confidence: 90%

- Jalin Turner win via KO flying knee. Matt Frevola's tendency to duck and lean low makes him a perfect target for Jalin Turner who happens to attempt a flying knee in every fight. I can see Jalin landing a flying knee on Matt. Rd 1 KO. Confidence: 90%

- Alejandro Pantoja win via split decision. Can see Pantoja slightly outboxing Wilson. Wilson only does well against guys he can outwrestle and control on the ground. Pantoja has decent takedown defense and has a high rate of scrambling even if taken down. Really hard to hold Pantoja down. Going to require a high pace endurance from Wilson to get the fight on the ground. Wilson Reis is getting old. I'm going with the younger guy on this one. Confidence: 60-70% More confident this fight goes the full distance.

- Zelim Imadaev win via decision. Aka Zabit version 2.0.... not really though. Does not have the grappling/jiu-jitsu prowess as zabit. Zelim is more of a striker... specifically boxing. Zelim has fought nothing but cans in his short mma career thus far. He's still young but has a lot of holes. He will eventually lose within his next 3 ufc fights. Is max griffin the guy to do it? Probably not. Can see Zelim outbox Max. Endurance is questionable for Zelim since all his fights have ended in rd 1 by KO except for 1 fight he got a tko win in rd 3. Am I sold by Zelim that he is zabit 2.0? NO. Do I think he'll beat max griffin for his ufc debut? Yes. I can see him winning rd 1 and 2 but rd 3 max griffin's relentless pressure and affinity for going for takedowns when he's getting starched on the feet will most likely see him score a takedown in rd 2 or 3 as Zelim slows down. So yeah... rd 1 and 2 for Zelim. Rd 3 for Max. Zelim win by decision. I don't see Zelim being able to KO max griffin in rd 1 like the way he did to all his previous opponents outside the ufc. Confidence: less than 50%

- Khalid Taha win via decision or tko over 2.5 rounds. Both guys have about the same record. Had Boston Salmon fought Khalid's previous opponent, Nad Narimani, he'd probably lose as well and probably would lose by submission. Boston Salmon has the height and reach advantage. Not really sure on this one. From watching their fights, I'm more impressed by Khalid than Salmon. Not confident on this fight.

- Belal Muhammed win via decision. This is going to look like belal vs randy brown all over again. Randy Brown and Curtis Millender both have the same physique, strengths, and weakness. Weakness is wrestling, grappling, and to an extent endurance. Can see Belal outwrestling Curtis. Curtis is most likely going to put up a good fight in takedown defense in rd 1 but eventually Belal will get the takedowns in rd 2 and 3. I would be more confident on Belal if he was a better striker and have at least 3 or more submission wins since wrestling is his base and in a lot of his fights he has a lot of openings to submit his opponents. However, he has 0 submission wins. I do like that Belal has a good chin on him. Curtis needs to KO him in rd 1 with either a flying knee or travis browne elbows. I can see Belal taking the punishment in rd 1 just so he can secure a takedown. It only gets worst after rd 1 for Curtis if he is unable to KO Belal in rd 1. So yeah, it's either Curtis win by tko in rd 1 or Belal dominates in rd 2 and 3 with his wrestling and get a decision. I don't see Belal getting a submission win mainly because Curtis is going to do everything he can to stand back up and Belal wants to maintain top control and not attempt a submission which would give curtis an opening to scramble back up. 50-60% confident Belal wins... confidence will be even higher (75%) after the first takedown and once the fight goes past rd 1.

- Montel Jackson win via tko in rd 2 or 3. Andre Soukhamthath has a good chin and he's durable. However, he's been dropped plenty of times before. Andre isn't the most technical striker or grappler in mma. Andre is a better striker than grappling... based on what I've seen in his fights. In all his ufc fights he attempts to submit his opponents during the grappling exchanges but seems somewhat loss in what to do during the submission attempts and ends up abandoning the submission altogether and goes opt for ground & pound instead. Majority of the time when he attempts his submissions he will have 2nd thoughts and gives his opponents enough time to scramble back up or reverse positions on him. Happened a lot of times during his fight with Sean O' Malley and Jonathan Martinez. His fight iq is also questionable (his fight with Sean O' Malley was really stupid). I actually see Montel dropping Andre with punches and then landing ground & pound enough for the ref to stop the fight and so montel gets a tko win. 90% confident in Montel Jackson winning.

- Lauren Mueller win via decision. Can see Lauren pressure and boxing getting the slight edge over Poliana. Poliana is taller by like 2 or 3 inches. However, Poliana does not know how to maintain distance. Lauren will most likely close in on her and dirty box her. I don't see Poliana making any adjustments in the striking. Lauren wins imo all 3 rounds even if it's a close fight. 75% confident Lauren wins. More confident in this fight going the full distance.

- Brandon Davis win via stoppage over 2.5 rounds. Randy Costa fought cans outside the ufc. He only has 4 pro fights and 3 amateur fights. All wins by stoppage. His best opponent outside the ufc had a record of 5 wins 9 losses... that's not good. Only positives about Randy is that he's young (24), he wins in rd 1, and he trains under Joe Lauzon. Bad thing is I dont think he has the endurance to go 3 rounds and his inexperience will cost him the fight. Brandon's record isn't stellar but he's shown he's durable as hell, good chin, fought tougher opponents, and has beaten some ufc fighters. In terms of technique... striking neither guy has the advantage even though it would appear that randy costa should have the edge since he's KO'ing everybody outside the ufc. Technique wise not really. Grappling goes to Brandon Davis. Endurance also goes to Brandon Davis. Experience goes to brandon davis. Who has a better chin? both guys have a decent chin imo. I do see Brandon Davis winning by stoppage in rd 2 or 3 once Randy's gas tank starts to fade and his inexperience will be exploited. Randy's 0 will go. 50-60% confident Brandon Davis wins.

Holloway vs. Poirier II
Dustin Poirier, TKO, R1
I have picked the bigger guy every time a smaller champ goes up and one day I am actually gonna get it right

i think people are over looking dustin here big time. he has a 4" reach advantage and i think dustin ko's max in round 3 or 4. he has a lot more power than max and he can take a shot. and the line is way off too. dog or pass as far as a bet goes.

Holloway vs. Poirier II
Max Holloway, TKO, R4
I feel like this is gonna be max toughest fight but i think it ends by doctor stoppage

Khabib has said on social media his return will be against the winner of the interim belt!

khabib is the only one saying that. dustin said he was not promised a fight with khabib if he wins. imo i think conor will fight the winner. that way he gets to fight for a title and if he wins then he gets the rematch with khabib. i think conor and dana think this is the safest play for conor since he has already beaten both of them. but personally i dont think conor beats either one in the rematch. also, i dont see conor ever being ufc champion again.

I can't believe Israel is picked to win by 70% of the pickers here. Kelvin is stopping this hypetrain in 4,