UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs. Muhammad

The official Tapology discussion thread for the event!

One more day!

Edwards vs. Muhammad
Leon Edwards, DEC
Edwards is better than Muhammad but Edwards hasn’t fought in a while.

Cirkunov vs. Spann
Ryan Spann, TKO, R1
Cirukunov needs to get this to the ground early or it’s going to be a long night for him.

Ige vs. Tucker
Dan Ige, DEC
This is going to be an unbelievable fight. I got Ige taking this one.

Martinez vs. Grant
Jonathan Martinez, DEC
Grant has been inconsistent in the UFC while Martinez is on the rise. Martinez should be fighting someone better than Grant at this point.

Nicolau vs. Kape
Matheus Nicolau, DEC
Kape has knockout power but Nicolau is going to outwork him for 3 rounds and win a decision.

Anders vs. Stewart
Darren Stewart, DEC
Idk where to begin with Anders. He has fought guys that he should’ve beaten pretty easily and made it look close. Stewart will beat him up this whole fight.

Hill vs. Yoder II
Angela Hill, DEC
Hill is a huge favorite and rightfully so. I think she beats Yoder pretty easily every round.

Jourdain vs. Rojo
Charles Jourdain, TKO, R2
Jourdain is a beast but going to a draw with Josh Culibao isn’t a good look. A lot of people are sleeping on Rojo here and I think he’s a live dog.

Yahya vs. Rodriguez
Rani Yahya, SUB, R1
Yahya is so hittable. He needs to get this to the ground early and pull off a submission or he’s going to gas out going for takedowns. Rodriguez is another live dog.

Haqparast vs. García
Nasrat Haqparast, TKO, R2
Haqparast is a beast and will knock Garcia out.

Casey vs. Aldrich
Cortney Casey, DEC
This is a tough fight to call but I’m leaning Casey.

Yu Frey vs. de Paula
Gloria de Paula, DEC
It’s going to be a long night for Frey and I see her losing every round against De Paula.

Witt vs. Semelsberger
Matthew Semelsberger, TKO, R1
I was thinking about taking Witt due to his ability to takedown guys when needed and Semelsberger has terrible TDD but I think Witt is going to get clipped coming in for a TD because he has a glass chin.

@DamienHandel420 I don’t think it’s a stupid bet. Leon could very well finish Belal. This is not only because he needs to prove it to the UFC brass that he deserves that long awaited title shot but also because Belal’s gas tank in a 5 round fight is questionable especially with such a quick turnaround from his last fight. Plus all that preparation he has been putting in to originally fight Khamzat will play dividends in a big way. I’m putting in $50 on Leon to win inside the distance.

* Edited at 03.12.2021, 11:31 AM ET *

Haqparast vs. García
Rafa García, DEC
Rafa Garcia is an absolute savage, I see him dominating

    I LOVE watching this sport evolve, devolve, mutate, (click bait)
--Remember Mark Coleman wearing shoes and socks??--
Those calf kicks are nasty and ubiquitous, a must have tool for mma today.
So many great fighters that I hated to see getting cut, so many ****** fighters el Mayordomo allows to stay.
Drama, special treatment, contract demands are only distractions:  Who will be the UFC dark horse to grab the spotlight this year?  
Who are some local up and comers deserving of some shine?  @Mikey @Stephen Terry, boxers as well.

* Edited at 03.12.2021, 12:53 PM ET *

Yep. Remember on the playground when kicking someone in the leg was more a dirty kid trick than a fight tactic? Fast forward to adulthood (middle age in my case) and damn, it's a friggin key to victory for Jon Jones and Dustin Poirier. The Thai folks had it right all along.

the year of iron michael chandler

Leon Edwards wins this fight.
Who do you want to see next?
I wanted to see him fight Wonderboy tonight!
Edwards v. Thompson is the fight I want to see, but...
chances are it will be a UFC "debut" opponent that the boss wants promoted

Great analogy ha, yep it's' calf kicks and grinding

* Edited at 03.12.2021, 1:15 PM ET *

@Tosh

It depends what you mean by "local" (I'll interpret that as exciting fighters that should be looking to step up into the mainstream spotlight soon) but in terms of underrated boxing prospects my top 5 would be:

1) Jaron Ennis (26-0-0) (Welterweight) He still needs a few more tougher fights but has already knocked out Armando Alvarez (18-0-0 at the time), Bakhtiyar Eyubov (14-1-1 at the time) and Demian Daniel Fernandez (12-1-0 at the time).

2) Lawrence Okolie (15-0-0) (Cruiserweight) I might be hyping him up a bit because he's not only British but a Londoner as well but he's definitely one of Britain's most promising boxers with wins over fellow undefeated Brits (before they met him anyway) Luke Watkins (13-0-0 at the time) and Isaac Chamberlain (9-0-0 at the time). He also has a fight against Krzysztof Glowacki next Saturday as well so that's something to keep an eye on.

3) Ryota Murata (16-2-0) (Middleweight) He may have two losses to his name but boxing matchmaking in Japan is notoriously tough and they make a lot of very competitive matchups early on and they were against Rob Brant (23-1-0 at the time but then he avenged it by knocking him out in the 2nd round in a rematch) and Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam (35-2-0 at the time). 

4) Chris Colbert (15-0-0) (Super Featherweight) He has wins over Jaime Arboleda (16-1-0 at the time) and Jezzrel Corrales (23-3-0 at the time) but the thing that impresses me the most is that he's capable of dancing around and out-boxing his opponants as well as having the power to knock them out if they drop their guard for a second so he's more than a one trick pony!

5) Sergey Lipinets (16-1-1) (Welterweight) His only loss came against Mikey Garcia (37-0-0 at the time) who I would say is at the elite level of boxing and his draw was against Custio Clayton (18-0-0 at the time) which you could argue he won. His most impressive win so far is against Lamont Peterson (35-4-1 at the time). He also has a background in kickboxing as well which is always good experience. 

There are loads more great prospects out there but those 5 are the one's that I'm the most excited for and they should have have great futures ahead as long as they stay hungry and focused. I'd expect that @Mikey1903 will be able to list tons more especially from central Asia as he's always talking about the future World Champions that are coming out of that region.

* Edited at 03.12.2021, 1:58 PM ET *

I could not recognize a single name on that list. Then i realized it was boxing 😆

@Xconchris

Yeah, I've been a boxing fan for longer than I've been an MMA fan (been following boxing since I was a kid and MMA since I was about 14-15 (I'm 22 now)) so I know more about boxing than I do about MMA. 

Everyone made weight.
* Spann missed weight by 0.5 pounds on first attempted; made on second attempt

Edwards vs. Muhammad
Belal Muhammad, TKO, R3
After the Face Offs i stay on my choice!

Jourdain vs. Rojo
Marcelo Rojo, TKO, R1
I gotta see the win celebration from this guy again, let’s go el pittbull!

Jihn Yu looking JACKED. I fear my De Paula play might get out muscled.

* Edited at 03.12.2021, 3:15 PM ET *

Nicolau vs. Kape
Matheus Nicolau, TKO, R3
Against the current!

SunGazer, sometimes you gotta go for the glory. 

Granted, that tactic just punched me in gonads regarding the Nunes/Anderson fight, but you've gotta HAVE gonads to get punched in them.

* Edited at 03.12.2021, 3:43 PM ET *

Edwards vs. Muhammad
Leon Edwards, DEC
kinda expecting leon to wrestle a bit just to make a point. should be a good fight but i'm understandably gonna say leon wins most exchanges.

Cirkunov vs. Spann
Misha Cirkunov, SUB, R2
not sure spann is composed enough to finish misha, i think he'll hurt him but gas and end up getting dragged around.

Ige vs. Tucker
Gavin Tucker, DEC
i'm gonna take tucker and hope to be wrong, but if tucker moves forward with the same confidence as last time out it could be another step up after.

Martinez vs. Grant
Davey Grant, DEC
grant is limited for sure, but he's pretty relentless and it typically yields him some toptime. first round will be telling. martinez's early ufc ompetition was just so blatantly spotty that i'm still skeptical.

Nicolau vs. Kape
Manel Kape, TKO, R2
possible nicolau takes him down, but otherwise i expect him to be on the wrong end of the meaningful shots.

Anders vs. Stewart
Darren Stewart, DEC
anders figures to oblige stewart in the striking battle he desires and i don't think his technique/cardio stand up.

Hill vs. Yoder II
Angela Hill, DEC
yoder needs to force a ground battle because she's outgunned in the clinch, not sure she can.

Jourdain vs. Rojo
Charles Jourdain, SUB, R2
both finishers, so hopefully action packed. i'm going jourdain just because of familiarity bias, tags him and finishes via sub because most of rojo's losses are submissions.

Yahya vs. Rodriguez
Rani Yahya, SUB, R2
yahya's chin hasn't looked shot yet so we gotta think he's still capable of taking over the pacing and making it a ground fight.

Haqparast vs. García
Nasrat Haqparast, DEC
think this fight is more even than people expect, garcia has already been fighting ex-ufc talent. that said, it's still late notice and appears to be a size difference so i'll stick with nasrat, but won't be surprised if it goes otherwise.

Casey vs. Aldrich
JJ Aldrich, DEC
jj might have to walk through a couple shots to get inside, but i think casey will ultimately allow her to close the distance and grind.

Yu Frey vs. de Paula
Gloria de Paula, DEC
jinh just never does enough when she has her moments so i guess this relative unknown could take cards from her too.

Witt vs. Semelsberger
Jason Witt, SUB, R2
seems grappler vs striker, i'll take the more experienced guy here.

You are right! But on the antipode, it depends on the way you weigh things, sometimes the value is in the trip and not in the destination!
For me, i didn't like the 13 and i made it 14!