UFC Fight Night: Ankalaev vs. Walker

The official Tapology discussion thread for the event!

Ankalaev vs. Walker II
Magomed Ankalaev, TKO, R3
I just don’t see Walker winning unless he just catches

Simón vs. Bautista
Ricky Simón, DEC
I’ve liked both of these guys for a long time

Nicolau vs. Kape II
Manel Kape, DEC
I think the UFC should do more rematches between ranked fighters after controversial decisions. The rematch should be good and I’m leaning Kape by decision

Vieira vs. Chiasson
Ketlen Vieira, DEC
I feel like I never pick Chiasson fights right. Viera by decision

Hawes vs. Ferreira
Brunno Ferreira, TKO, R1
Phil Hawes just can’t take a shot and Ferreira lands bombs. R1 TKO. Hawes can land a big one too though so R1 KO either way is likely

Miller vs. Benítez
Jim Miller, SUB, R1
Where has Benítez been?

Santos vs. Dumont
Norma Dumont, DEC
Dumont 29-28.

McGhee vs. Bolaños
Marcus McGhee, TKO, R1
McGhee has crazy potential. That MMA Lab crew are all great fighters

Parsons vs. Hafez
Bassil Hafez, DEC
Here’s Hafez’s chance to prove he belongs

Bunes vs. Bondar
Felipe Bunes, DEC
It’s crazy the UFC is giving 34 year old Flyweights contracts when there’s 100+ out there under the age of 30 that are just as deserving

Basharat vs. Lapilus
Farid Basharat, DEC
Man this fight should be on the main card. This is a crazy matchup. I honestly don’t know

Nolan vs. Motta
Tom Nolan, TKO, R1
Motta has had a rough run in the UFC. I believe Nolan gets it done early

Wilson vs. Silva
Jean Silva, TKO, R2
The Fighting Nerds are coming!! Silva had a war on DWCS and I expect him to win another one

This gotta be the most easy UFC card to pick winners in a while. The only dog I will be picking is Walker because I feel like he is gonna catch Ankalaev with something weird. 

Didn't know Bautista/Simon got booked, nice fight.

"...guess I'll have to hang out with friends and family....

@Mothswords 

gave me a good laugh, I feel this as well

This time please someone tell exactly Walker were he is

Going to be a long 4 weeks. Why didn't Jake paul or pfl take advantage of this time off. Smh

Ankalaev will be champ by the end of 2024!

Just something about Walker starting the year off makes 2024 feels goofy 

If Ankalaev starts the year off by going to a Draw or DQ then there is no excuse anymore. The dude is truly cursed.

Still having women's 145 fights? Why?

@FZappa20 

because UFC loves to put Norma's THICC ASS on national TV and she cant make 135

@VicStrk 

think the same, but I wil  not be surprised to see at least 5 underdogs coming out :)))

Hawes vs. Ferreira
Brunno Ferreira, TKO, R1
Brunno vs CLD

Arlovski vs. Cortes-Acosta
Waldo Cortes-Acosta, TKO, R1
Waldo vs Gaziev

Parsons vs. Hafez
Bassil Hafez, SUB, R1
Hafez vs Turman

McGhee vs. Bolaños
Marcus McGhee, SUB, R2
Mcghee vs Sung park

Santos vs. Dumont
Norma Dumont, DEC
Dumont vs Aldana

Basharat vs. Lapilus
Taylor Lapilus, DEC
Lapilus vs Castanada

Wilson vs. Silva
Jean Silva, TKO, R1
Jean Silva vs Andre Fili next

Bunes vs. Bondar
Felipe Bunes, DEC
Bunes vs Hernandez next

Nolan vs. Motta
Tom Nolan, TKO, R1
Nolan vs Ogden next

Ankalaev vs. Walker II
Magomed Ankalaev, TKO, R2
Magomed vs Alex

Nicolau vs. Kape II
Manel Kape, DEC
Kape vs Pantoja

Miller vs. Benítez
Jim Miller, SUB, R2
Miller vs Ferguson

Vieira vs. Chiasson
Macy Chiasson, DEC
Chiasson vs Tate

Simón vs. Bautista
Ricky Simón, DEC
simon vs Font

@Diddy514 

Magomed Ankalaev vs Johnny Walker
Magomed Ankalaev TKO R2

Matheus Nicolau vs Manel Kape II
Manel Kape KO R2

Jim Miller vs Gabriel Benitez
Jim Miller SUB R1

Ketlen Vieira vs Macy Chiasson
Ketlen Vieira DEC

Ricky Simon vs Mario Bautisto
Ricky Simon DEC

Phil Hawes vs Bruno Ferreira
Phil Hawes DEC
I'm picking the underdog

Andrei Arlovski vs Waldo Cortes-Acosta
Andrei Arlovski Split DEC
I'm picking the underdog

Preston Parsons vs Bassil Hafez
Bassil Hafez TKO R2

Yana Santos vs Norma Dumont
Norma Dumont Split DEC

Farid Basharat vs Taylor Lapilus
Farid Basharat DEC

Tom Nolan vs Nikolas Motta
Tom Nolan KO R2

* Edited at 12.19.2023, 10:52 PM ET *

Excited to see Nolan back after that DWCS performance, this guy is a must watch fighter, one of the most exciting strikers coming out of australia, I definitely see a first round knockout. Motta will have trouble with the height and range of Nolan, going to max bet Nolan by TKO

Nolan will drop Motta in the first round showing impressive striking

Bunes will clip Bondar fast with a high knee Bondar leaves his chin out and down then Bunes will find the RNC after taking the back

I dont like the wilson vs silva fight from a betting perspective Silva is technical and a strong striker but throws these dumbass shots at times that worry me more then likely silva will clip wilson with some hooks and finishing it with some good ground and pound 

Basharat will get the better of Lapilus by landing takedowns and having a good amount of control time i dont see him getting an finish but looking like the much more dominant of the two with lapilus having very little success from defending the takedowns 

Santos vs Dumont is a definite no bet for me i honestly think dumont is nothing special and a good way to derail this whole 145 pound division is by putting a hault to her win streak santos can deceently strike enough to keep up with dumont she did it with karol rosa she also has a decent clinch game which could see her hold some control time and get the better half of this decision either way a clear no bet here 

I actually think that in a striker vs striker match Bolanos beats mcghee mcghee is heavy on the lead leg and bolanos loves to throw calf kicks mcghee also is the sloppier striker of the two i see bolanos hitting clean jabs and crosses and by the third Bolanos will drop a gassed mcghee Bolanos biggest downfall is hes lost on the ground Mcghee has one sub and its from dropping his opponent with a hard shot and then jumping the back point being he doesnt successfully land takedown after takedown i think this is the parlay buster of the night 

Parsons vs Hafez here are the facts Parsons throws sloppy but strong shots has terrible takedown setups but a pretty good jiu jitsu game to add parsons gasses pretty bad on the other hand you have Hafez who is stronger and has better takedown setups i also think out of the two he is more likely to end up being the one in the top positions on the ground by using his strength hafez also likes to push a pace that i see breaking parsons and just allowing haffez to take him down even on the feet he doesnt have great striking but when haffez lands he lands hard id say hafez sub by arm triangle in round 2 

waldo kos arlovski out cold in one round i mean arlovski at this age is a literal punching bag and waldo isnt great at all but throws fast hard bombs that slow ass arlovski will not see coming and once again be put to sleep

yes Hawes is chinny but i think brunno is too robocop hit him with some shots that wobbled him and nursulton knocked him out with a very light jab in my opinion now also brunno has such sloppy striking phil hawes is at least very technically sound until he gets hit but thats the thing i dont think he will get hit on the chin clean here i think he can break brunno early enough to where his chin didnt get cracked after all hawes puts out a pretty high striking output 

That's a bummer, I was really looking forward to seeing Hafez back in the cage to evaluate how good of a win that was for JDM.