UFC 270: N'Gannou vs. Gane

The official Tapology discussion thread for the event!

This without the crowd was like watching a murder, another slow mo. Love that punch he throws, just winging and made it look like NOBODY belonged in that Octagon with him, watch the last punch that hits (left hook to a dead Jairinzo that moves his whole body. No one can get away with that lack of technique and just kill a man.

* Edited at 11.24.2021, 5:58 PM ET *

N'Gannou vs. Gane
Ciryl Gane, DEC
Let's go Ciryl Gane

I hope Gane takes it 

Yeah closer this gets I feel the stress of being the champ and all the **** going on Fran will be off his game.
Cyril will be "with his camp" formulating a tactical and almost certainly defensive strategy. "French Accent"
Both guys are great hate to admit it but this is the dream match whether it's pissing on Stipe or not.
 

I am kind of absurdly confident that Topuria absolutely puts a clinic on Evloev. After seeing the Lentz fight, which is the only person with a respectable ground game in Evloevs resume, I just really wanna hammer the Ilia line...

I literally cannot understand why anyone hates Ngannou.

What exactly is it about him incenses people? He virtually never talks **** and has a KO rate of 75%.

my guess would be the shade towards Fernan Lopez or the comments about him having to take money out for a training camp; my guess for that is people are annoyed that he complains about not making enough yet hes constantly traveling around the world. not really sure what other reasons there are

Really liking Michael Morales in this spot. His got a great jab followed by some beautiful boxing combinations. He also have great calf kicks and outstanding wrestling. Trevin Giles will be at a reach disadvantages but this isn't something he hasn't seen before however with him moving down from MiddleW to WelterW this makes me love Morales even more. Michael Morales is one of many fighters under Brandon Moreno's wing at his gym Entram Jiu Jitsu MMA Tijuana. You watch Michael Morales on tape and you get that vibe that his been fightering for 10 years or some because his so composed also he gives off that he is going to be something special especially with him being 22 years young. 

Give me Morales (probably will be a pick em or +120 ish underdog)

* Edited at 12.07.2021, 6:44 PM ET *

I'm shocked Jasmine Jasudavisus is the tapology favourite of 53% pick, I'm thinking that people are record picking because Jasmine 6-1 and Kay is 7-4 , I'll be honest, I was shocked that Jasmine was signed from contender series, She didn't look great, while Hanson look good in the fights i seen of her, And is 22 with 14 month to improve, She going to get better as she does have lots to improve on

Women Flyweight might have the most young prospect in it, Surprisingly, I think Hanson is one of them , Jasmine seem more of a finish product at 32 year old, But It hard to tell, Because everyone have different primes

* Edited at 12.10.2021, 2:11 AM ET *

My only worry for Kay Hanson is that she's at a massive height and reach disadvantage. She's primarily a wrestler/grappler and that's one thing I have noticed that is a weakness for Jasmine but then again Kay does tend to slow down even gas out due to the high multitude of wrestling she imposes. I reckon Kay will get it done by close decision.

* Edited at 12.10.2021, 8:35 AM ET *

Jasmine made too many mistakes even though she won and it was clear she fought someone who wouldn’t be in the ufc. Hansen is a really good prospect and a very well rounded fighter 

I think it has already been more than evident how difficult it is for Deivison Figueiredo to make the 125-pound mark and how much this can affect his performance. Another important issue is that after the first two fights and how dominant Moreno was in the second I am sure that he will no longer have that respect for Figueiredo's aggression, I see the Mexican going out with his boxing to pressure Deivison from the beginning. 

Clearly Brandon must be careful with his defense (as Figuieredo has considerable KO power), but beyond some good punch in exchange I do not see Figueiredo representing a risk for the champion: despite this time training with Cejudo I do not think that Figueiredo greatly improves his Wrestling / TDD or improves his defensive BJJ or even presents something beyond his KO power that will at most remain intact during the first round or part of the second round. This time I think Moreno will be more dominant and that Moreno will even finish him (TKO or Submission) earlier in the fight.

I think that after the fight the most interesting thing for business will happen. Between Moreno and Cejudo there is a kind of rivalry: When Cejudo was going to debut in the UFC against Dustin Kimura he needed a BJJ partner to train, one of his coach recommended Brandon Moreno from that camp they trained several times together and this It allowed Brandon Moreno to establish himself in a Gym in Arizona (Moreno was a WFF champion in Arizona prior to camp for Cejudo's UFC Debut). Despite all this, Cejudo preferred Pantoja over Brandon Moreno in his TUF team. 

After the defeat in the TUF, Joseph Benavidez continued helping to train Brandon Moreno telling him that during the TUF injuries happened and that he could have a fight as a replacement, during this time Moreno had the opportunity to fight in Short Notice against Smolka and before Whatever the TUF Finale, Brandon was able to climb into the Top 10 with the victory over Smolka (before many of his fellow TUF teammates even made their UFC debut). 

Moreno was scheduled to fight Benoit on the same card that Cejudo was going to face Benavidez (TUF Finale), Moreno preferred to remain in a neutral position since despite considering Cejudo a friend, Benavidez had helped him a lot as a coach and accompany Cejudo at the end of his camp for him means betraying the trust that Benavidez gave him. This Cejudo did not take it for good and from there they always kept their distance, until now that Cejudo trained Figueriedo with the (in his own words) intention that Moreno lose his championship.

Cejudo is Mexican-American and Brandon Moreno has always been interested in defending his championship in Mexico. 

A PPV Main Event between Moreno-Cejudo has at first glance does not seem like the highest number of sales can bring. But doing the event in Mexico, on the date of May 7 (near the celebration of the Battle of Puebla), in the Arena Cuidad de Mexico (Capacity of 22,000) or even in Plaza de Toros CDMX (Capacity of 40,000) will be A success in MMA Gate, because the Mexicans did fill the stadium for UFC 180 and UFC 188, as well as for the Fight Nights in Mexico they will clearly fill the stadium to see the first Mexican-born UFC Champion defend for the first time in Mexico. 

If you have that event you add a Yair Rodriguez vs. Brian Ortega at 145 pounds as a co-main event, in addition to having the luxury of having fighters like Kelvin Gastelum, Alexa Grasso and Irene Aldana on the card to fight on the main card, added to the availability of placing Mexican fighters and Mexican American Fighters such as: Loopy Godinez, Montserrat Ruiz, John Castañeda, Kyler Phillips, Adrian Yanez, Moggly Benitez, Rafa Garcia in the Preliminaries, all this translates as making enough money at the box office and rating in Latin America.

The post was quite long, but this is a clear example that within this panorama the UFC could make a lot of money, even with the division that is considered less marketable

Cejudo to 125 seems very unlikely; I doubt he can or would be willing to make 125 ever again. If (or when, as it’s starting to look like) cejudo returns I think it will be BW or FW. He’s been talking about fighting Dom Cruz, Petr yan, volk; Moreno hasn’t even been mentioned. 

Would be a cool ass fight tho but unlikely it happens 

It's true, it's very difficult for Cejudo to mark 125 pounds again, since the last time he made this weight was in January 2019.

Cejudo is mainly interested in making a comeback seeking to be the first UFC champion in 3 categories by challenging Alexander Volkanovski or also looking for a fight of great importance in the bantamweight. But it is also true that the Cejudo-Moreno Beef is real! Although Cejudo initially congratulated Moreno when he won the championship, he later decided to help train Deivison in his trilogy fight against Moreno, in addition to a Podcast with The Schmo calling Moreno a traitor and also demerit him as a champion. Cejudo is probably on the corner of Figueiredo or in the crowd at UFC 270. And knowing the character of Cejudo, if Moreno manages to defend the championship, he may have a reaction that leads to the challenge (I believe that Cejudo would be able to jump to the octagon to challenge Moreno, creating a viral moment). 

And as a separate topic: UFC matchmakers should seriously consider scheduling a Brian Ortega vs. Yair Rodriguez fight, both are coming off losing but Ortega did it against Champion Volkanovski and Rodriguez against ranked # 1 Holloway. With the Volkanovski-Holloway 3 in works, this fight can open the door to a possible title shot for the winner in a division where all those ranked outside the top 5 have just fought or have a fight scheduled.

* Edited at 12.14.2021, 12:10 AM ET *

Alves vs. Maddalena
Jack Della Maddalena, TKO, R1
Fight not going the distance.

Ciryl Gane by decision, the guy moves like a gazelle at HW. Francis has extreme power, if he touches Gane it could be over. But Francis seriously improved against Stipe in their second fight, but I think Gane is smart enough to out point him. 

God damn it. Brunson vs cannonier moved to a later TBD date

I want Oleinik to win so bad

I think that is what will happen!

Hardy was already disqualified in his debut against Crowder, he already lost in a one-sided decision against Volkov, he was already finished with ground and pound by Tybura and in his last fight Tuivasa put him to sleep in the first round. He just needs to tap to lose in every possible way in the UFC and in his next fight it is against the most dangerous grappler in his division.

Oleinik may have against his cardio that has been affected by his age or the risk that Hardy might catch him with some power shot, but if the fight goes to the ground with at least a minute and a half remaining on the first round clock he will not there is doubt that Oleinik secured the choke.

* Edited at 12.15.2021, 2:42 AM ET *

N'Gannou vs. Gane
Francis N'Gannou, TKO, R1
As everybody knows, Ngannou 's power is terrifying, but if you watch OTHER fights than the blind Rozenstruik barbary, the sad Miocic implosion and the sweet friendly Lewis promenade, you can see that he can be a calculated and technical (yes, technical) fighter, with a precise jab (he closed Blaydes eye with it in their first fight), dangerous kicks -the Miocic rematch is a good exemple), decent cardio and energy management for at least 2 full rounds, and a fonctional ground game with submissions (the kimura he landed on Hamilton wasn't by pure luck). I think Gané's excellent footwork won't save him from Ngannou's explosiveness, and I don't think he's strong enough to take him to the ground early. So the question will be about his chin. If the chin holds for two rounds, he's basically saved.

Moreno vs. Figueiredo III
Brandon Moreno, DEC
I don't know if Moreno dominating the reamtch after a close, back and forth first fight was due to him having improved that much, or if it was Figueiredo having an off night... So I wouldn't count Figueiredo out this fight at all, but I'm still going with Moreno for a much closer fight than the rematch.

Hardy vs. Oleinik
Aleksei Oleinik, SUB, R1
Oleinik is getting so old, he would've been a safe pick a few years ago against someone like Hardy, but at 44 years old, with 76 fights (!!!) on his resume, on a 3 fights losing streak, who knows exactly if he can still take a hard punch ? He should still survive an early scare and submit his inexperiented foe, but it will be tense.

Alves vs. Maddalena
Jack Della Maddalena, TKO, R3
Maddalena was really impressive on his DWCS fight, but Warley is a level above those guys he was destroying before entering the UFC. It's a tough test for a UFC debut, I hope he delivers.