UFC Fight Night: Kara-France vs. Albazi

The official Tapology discussion thread for the event!

The best version I've seen of Zaleski absolutely waxes Abubakar but I also haven't seen that version of him in 4-5 years.

I need a W/L stat on guys coming back from PED suspensions. I can't imagine it's very good. 

Your humour is on point today, that IKEA comment was gold ha

Smh. People thinking Castenada and Anheliger are the same skill level. What are we even doing here my man? Is it that difficult to assess how good a fighter is? Apparently so.

Everyone who does not realise how good Castenada is you are all in for a rude awakening. Please don't put down too much money on Gafarov. Homelessness is becoming a crisis.

Why does the best version of Zaleski absolutely wax Abubakar? 

* Edited at 06.01.2023, 9:20 AM ET *

Thank you brather, I appreciate it.

@foppa not really. Castaneda has a more diverse striking attack and much higher output. His grappling is also wayyyy better than gafurov’s. Muin’s control and defensive wrestling is very bad.

I don’t think I said anything on how they’re similar? They don’t fight even remotely the same

* Edited at 06.01.2023, 9:33 AM ET *

Yeah, i think Muin is going to have to get him out in the first couple of rounds.  The longer that fight goes the more it favors Sexi Mexi drastically.  Tough one to call for me.

* Edited at 06.01.2023, 10:38 AM ET *

@rah
I never said they were the "same skill level". I simply said there's very little separating those guys and then elaborated and added that what I specfically meant by that was their combined skill levels, experience and career highlights are all roughly the same. They are really talented BW's that are all outside the top 30 but have potential to get there. Castaneda is on the higher end of that spectrum as he's got a lot of experience. Him and Anheliger probably define the range of fighters I'm talking about and they're very different. Castaneda is a guy outside the top 30 who could potentially sniff the rankings where as if Anheliger ever cracks the top 30 he's going to be a decent gate keeper at best.

I only used those specific fighters because they've all fought or will fight one another. IMO, there's very little that separates BW's I'd rank from 30-55/60. It's such a diverse pool of talent.

I also said I'm picking Castaneda so I'm not sure anything I said was really that "bananas".

@ayy
I didn't say you said they were similar in how they fight. I was simply pointing out you started off saying Castaneda was "way better" and then proceeded to give a fairly even assessment of each guy in terms of what they're good at. 

I don't really disagree with anything you've said about this fight so far. Idk that Castaneda's grappling is "way better" but he throws more volume without question. I think Gafurov needs a finish to win this fight but could still make a good showing of himself. He's very good for being 27 and coming out of Tajikistan, which is still very much a developing area for MMA. I just think beating somebody like Castaneda on short notice is gonna be really, really tough. He does have a lot of high level experience though and if he pulls this off I wouldn't be shocked in the slightest. 

@foppa oh well yeah when I break things down I like to highlight what both sides are good at to paint a well rounded profile of both guys. I just think Castaneda is just more skilled in each area of the fight. I could see him losing moments but I don’t really see an area where gafaurov has a serious advantage over him

Maybe its because Canada doesn't really have that many good fighters but I don't think Anheliger is that bad. He's got an interesting style but he's a pretty cool story for a guy that was a 2-5 middleweight at one point. Didn't think throwing him in with a bunch of other un-ranked bantamweights would be so controversial.

But again, to clarify, my general overall point is that BW is absolutely stacked. You have to get like 3-4 really solid wins just to get a good opponent in the top 30. Moving through the tiers of that weight class are just extremely tough. It's not like it gets any easier once your really in the eyesight of the matchmakers. Getting ranked at BW almost requires some luck, because some of it comes down to timing/injuries/etc. It's almost like you have to build a wave of momentum strong enough to rebound from a loss or two, because your probably going to lose once or twice on the way there.

Whos the exception to this? Umar? O'Malley got really close but I'm pretty sure he wasn't ranked yet when he lost to Chito. 

* Edited at 06.01.2023, 11:00 AM ET *

Kai 4th RD KO

* Edited at 06.01.2023, 11:22 AM ET *

Mullarkey vs. Naimov
Muhammadjon Naimov, DEC
win

Castañeda vs. Gafurov
Muin Gafurov, DEC
win

when you dumb it down and simplify it to that degree then yeah you can put guys like Castaneda and Anheliger in the same bracket


the very veeeery obvious difference in them though is the difference in potential. do they both have the same potential to fight for a ranked spot in the future? obviously not. anheliger will be cut soon (honestly I thought he was cut already) while castaneda has a very very real shot at fighting for a ranked spot in the future

that huge difference in potential alone should be a deterrent from them ever being bunched up together

Ahhhh **** you. Why are you taking Gafurov? 

I've also been deeply reconsidering my pick of Albazi and of course you're taking KKF. Do you think he can really go 5 rounds with someone as talented as Albazi?

Santos, Mullarkey, Silva, Caceres +270

Jared Gordon is out. Not medically cleared (shocker). New opponent being announced soon

This card is in shambles lol still gonna be a decent one. C+ Card. 

Fr it started off really good but so many cancellations. I think this should still be a relatively good one tho

Thank god Gordon is out, purely on the basis of dude just got KO’d via headbutt less than a month ago. Thought he was the better fighter in the match up, but you shouldn’t get in the ring less then a month after head trauma like that.