UFC 284: Makhachev vs. Volkanovski

The official Tapology discussion thread for the event!

70% picking Tafa 💀

Thank u Sir 😎 

* Edited at 12.14.2022, 3:59 PM ET *

No real card predictions..

Yeah cuz i made them in the cannonier Strickland thread not here 

Parker usually beats the **** of heavyweight tho like Sherman, Bardot and Parishian , Daukaus and Jaiton don’t count as Jaiton really good, and Daukaus isn’t ****, 

Im not picking the guy who the 1 in Vanderaa 1-5 UFC record 

* Edited at 12.14.2022, 6:23 PM ET *

I know how much Tafa sucks, but I just can’t bring myself to pick Parker Porter. Maybe I will but at this point I’ll just keep Tafa for the fluky KO

I need a JDM announcement asap. 

he said he got an opponent a few days ago so we should get one soon

6  of  8 is not bad, thanks for research.
we can compare two fights : Alvarez vs Moises, Alvarez vs Tsarukyan.
Tsarukyan is on another level, we can't compare him to Zuba. 
Moises is not bad at Thai box, but he was destroyed. so will be Zuba if he keeps a standing fight.

the only hope is take Alvarez down and lay on him for three rounds. Is Zuba capable to do it for 15 minutes?
he will gas out. so I think and hope Alvarez KO him in later rounds

@vandal yeah probably what happens. My issue tho is that zuba lands one takedown and Joel lays on his back for the rest of the round playing bjj

Is Dan hooker gonna be on this card or is his knee ****** up? Also anyone know about Carlos ulberg 

Makhachev vs. Volkanovski
Islam Makhachev, SUB
In last 5 fights Volk fought and beat Max 3 times who is very comfortable for Volk stylistically. Stopped washed up Korean Zombie, and barely survived Ortega's submissions who has no offensive wrestling. Makhachev went through tough Dober, great strikers Hooker and Green, subbed easly bjj master Charles. Now imagine how this fight can play out. I see Makhachev taking down Volk and subbing him easily. Cmon guys he's huge compared to Volk.

Rodriguez vs. Emmett
Yair Rodriguez, DEC
Emmet wins here if he can mix it up with good takedowns. But Yair's striking game is superior.

Whittaker vs. Costa
Robert Whittaker, DEC
It's gonna be fun fight. Just rooting for Whittaker.

I think Volkanovski will surprise people with how well he can keep his feet in this fight and the volume of his striking will keep Islam at bay long enough to secure rounds. I have Alex walking out victor via decision 

Nas the rat scurried away from the Mullarkey fight. They are looking for a replacement 

Bro wanted another 35+ year old to fight 

Costa pulled out as expected. Wants more money. Hopefully Whittaker stays on the card and fights Driscus Du Plessis 

 Even withWhittaker v Costa being off, i still think this card will be one of the best in the whole year. But anyways, that was a very easy win for Robert Whittaker, i wasn't too interested in that masacre and a cruising victory for Rob. For instance, Joel Alvarez v Zubaira is a way better matchup: i'm very interested to know if Zuba will decide to take the fight to the ground at some point, against a dangerous submission artist off the back like Joel, who btw just moved to the US and will train in an elite gym for this bout.

Alex v Islam:
I don't know who can argue against the premise of these 2 being the goats of their respective divisions, considering their amazing resume, specially since they've fought the toughest matchups from the beginning: wellrounded and durable fighters with very elite grappling skills... Alex fought all these rough matchups and dominated: Ortega, Mendes, Elkins, Kennedy, and more. Islam fought these elite wrestlers/grapplers and dominated: Wade, Olivier, Ramos, Charles, Arman, and more tough matchups.

What's crazy also about Islam, is that he's so good, that he's never even been taken to the limit, and he's never even showed all his skills. He hasn't needed them. Cuz no one can stop any of his positions on the clinch, his takedowns, and his other-worldly transitions on the ground. Not only that, no one has been able to even figure out the distance with him, not at least since Adriano Martins countered him with that perfectly-placed and unorthodoxly thrown check hook

Islam is a true lightweight, that will be the difference here. They're both really technical, they control their distance like masters, absurdly wellrounded, and they both match up well with each other. Islam has that Dagestani chain-wrestling, and Alex has that amazing fight iq on the feet and his defensive grappling is freaking great.

Yair v Emmett:
The best striker in the mma, and the most vicious knockout artist in the whole sport, enough said. Now, to back this up, because it's an unpopular opinion for some reason, I'mma tell you this:

Yair turns everyone into panic wrestlers, it doesn't matter if you're an all-time great in your prime and you're a pure striker, like Max Holloway, who shot for more takedowns in that fight against Rodriguez, that he's ever shot in his whole career combined. Yair's only close striking fight, was against a beast like KZ, in a 5-round fight at high altitude that he took on 9 days notice, having a fightweek where he was tremendously sick (stomach infection), and many more major adversities that shouldn't be used as an excuse.... and he gave one of the best fights in featherweight history and he got the win with the knockout of the century. Also, Yair is super wellrounded and is dangerous at all times, from all angles, on the ground, and everywhere, with a tornado of unorthodox techniques coming with tremendous ferocity and awkward timing

And Emmett, not only is an astronomically wellrounded and solid, the guy can put anyone to sleep with both his hands. If you think Francis N'Gannou is a better knockout artist, you can't tell me why Francis doesn't have clean KO's with both his hands in the ufc (only ko's with his left hand), even though he fights stationary heavyweight targets... or you can say Derrick Lewis is a more devastating knockout artist, but you can't tell me, why does Derrick have only 1 clean KO with 1 single shot, in his whole career, while Emmett has many 1-punch ko's, and also with both hands, and fighting more technical and mobile opponents.

Josh is also a guy that is unfaced by adversity, like Yair: How the hell, did Josh come back from that head injury that made him suffer from concussion-like symptoms for month after month? How did Josh managed to win a fight against Burgos, when he had a torn knee? Unexplainable, other than considering the fact that Emmett is a monster of a human.

So if Josh fights smart, he will be able to survive till the championship rounds. That will mean time a takedown catching a kick, that will mean clinch to stall and gain time, and that will also mean use his kicks of his own. If Emmett fights like he did against Calvin Kattar, he's getting knocked out in the 1st round or early 2nd, so i expect him to fight intelligently. For Yair, if he fights like he did when he fought Alex Caceres or BJ Penn, he will get hurt in this fight, badly, even if he survives cuz he's a tough and durable guy. But if Yair fights like he did when he fought Max and Brian, with very high fight iq on the feet, he will dominate and probably get a finish, cuz his fight iq in his last 2 fights was off the charts

Ross v Rodrigues will be the best fight of the night:
I will only post about this fight on the undercard, cuz i think it'll be an amazing scrap, with both guys having solid grappling (offensive and defensive), Kleydson having a big edge in jiu jitsu, footwork, and range. Shannon having a better head movement, better boxing, and having an advantage with his his greedy style.

Official pick for this banger is Kleydson by decision, cuz Shannon being one of those fighters that has a job on the side instead of training full time, and he's not 100% focused on his mma career, which is what i think costed him a very devastating loss and getting finished, in his last fight in contender series against Vinicius Salvador. For some reason the picks image shows Ross as the winner, but it's a weird tapology bug that happened when i changed the prediction after having already pasted the wrong pick on the web browser, but since this fight can go either way considering the possibility of Shannon finally quitting his job and focusing in this fight (i don't know if he did) and maybe squeezing out a decision

* Edited at 12.19.2022, 5:25 PM ET *