United Fight League 2

The official Tapology discussion thread for the event!

Gaitor vs. Thompson Jr.
Marshall Thompson Jr. , TKO, R1
First fight in 10 years for Thompson

Manley vs. Alvarez
Angel Alvarez, TKO, R2
I like alvarez a lot. He reminds me of yoel (not just because he’s Cuban). Like yoel, alvarez has a high level grappling background (combat sambo surprisingly) and despite that, he’s a striker. He’s patient and takes his time, but he has a ton of power when he lands. I wish he would use his grappling more offensively, because his tdd has looked insanely good. Nobody seems to be able to get him down. He was winning his last fight before getting caught, but a loss to gonzalez isn’t bad at all. Since then, alvarez has moved to kill cliff & has been impving his game. Manley has never left the first and has no notable wins

Parrish vs. Cain
Troy Cain, TKO, R2
Parrish gets a lot of love for that all time upset in bellator, but don’t let that distract you from the fact he’s not a good fighter. I don’t think he trains full time + when he does train it’s not at an amazing gym. I have no idea who this other kid is but he had a decent ammy career & looks to be in better shape and also younger

Kawaihae vs. Caliocane
Canaan Kawaihae, DEC
I don’t rate kawaihae but he keeps proving me wrong

Wilson vs. Duraev
Dzhokhar Duraev, DEC
This is the fight I’m most interested in. So duraev is the younger brother of ufc fighter Albert duraev. Like his brother, he was once in ACA, took a lengthy break (probably to get out of aca contract & get an American visa), and now trains at XC. He was looking really solid when he was active (early 20s) so now at a better gym & closer to his prime I’m very interested to see how he looks; he could end up in ufc if he’s better than his brother

Jackson vs. Veretennikov
Nikolay Veretennikov, TKO, R2
This should be a pretty decent scrap. Jackson is such a weird guy. Sometimes he looks amazing & then the rest of the time looks like total ****. Bad decision making, nonexistent chin, not a lot of heart, and just iverall not a fantastic fighter. His recent winstreak was actually quite impressive, but then he got dogwalked by Gooden. Veretennikov on the other hand I actually like a lot. He is on the older side & drew the short straw for dwcs opponents, but he is really a solid guy. Well rounded skillset and some solid experience. Even his fight with morales was decently competitve. He should have jackson beat everywhere. I will say, when jackson shows up he’s actually not half bad, but I’ve seen enough of his worst performances that I can’t bring myself to pick him

Shahbazyan vs. Loder
Ryan Loder, TKO, R3
I’m not sure how good loser actually is, but he’s active and beating people with a pulse. Shahbazyan is just bad; he can crushed his way to dwcs, got there, & then got exposed as a can crushed by gassing out and getting finished. His performances since then haven’t changed my mind on him; gasses & gets ko’ed by a regional journeyman then gets a quick can crush in Gladiator challenge. Hard fade on leon

Muduev vs. Junior
Sitik Muduev, DEC
Muduev is just ok. Despite the name, he can’t wrestle well at all & also has a poor gas tank. But, what he does have is good training and decent experience. This other guy he’s fighting is just not good

O'Connor vs. Jones
Dan Jones, DEC
This one is really interesting. So it’s clear UFL wants to build up the welsh, but O’Connor seems to be getting a really tough fight. Now, he had a great ammy career & has looked good as a pro, but this is a huge step up for him. Now, Jones hasn’t fought in a while, but he took some time off & is now back in his prime. With more experience & time to improve, I think he could get the better of the green prospect. If O’Connor wins I wonder if we see him on dwcs

Sobnosky vs. Ray
Tyler Ray, DEC
This is a tough one. Shane has a lot of experience & a good wins streak, where ray is someone I rated highly and then shat the bed in his last fight. Now, the fight really shouldn’t have been stopped but he wasn’t looking too good beforehand. I’m picking him in the hopes he looks good here

Gladney vs. Harris
Ioan Harris, SUB, R1
Ioan Harris was a top ammy. Really excited to not only see him fighting pro, but to also see him stateside. Hopefully he ends up in a big org

Gaitor vs. Thompson Jr.
Brandon Gaitor, DEC
Both these guys are bad but I really don’t know if I can side with a guy who’s been on the sidelines for 11 years

Jackson vs. McMillan
Hastings McMillan, TKO, R1
Not sure jackson will turn out anything like his dad, but it’s cool to see him go down the same path. Would be cool if he ends up in the ufc one day

Welch vs. Sadeck
Sanon Sadeck, TKO, R1
I don’t rate sadek highly but this is a tune up

Boone vs. Mackenzie
Ieuan Mackenzie, SUB, R2
Ieuan had a good ammy career, hopefully he can replicate that success as a pro

Yontef vs. Smolkova
Veronika Smolkova, DEC
Smolkova had a pretty crazy fight her last time out. However, losing to turrey isn’t the best look in the world

Few missing from weigh ins didn’t see

O'Connor vs. Jones

Wilson vs. Duraev

Muduev vs. Junior