Predictions: 10 of 14 Winners, 7 Perfect, 730 Points
|
Tied for 777th
What a robbery guys
Media is 50/50, fans has the contested 2nd round 55/45 for Vera. Incredible, never seen a worse decision. Clearly a robbery. /s
"She’ll go there and smash her. She’ll get a title shot, become a UFC champion. We have a Ronda Rousey on steroids. This is what we have.” - Ali Abdelaziz on Kayla Harrison
Predictions: 5 of 14 Winners, 3 Perfect, 365 Points
|
Tied for 6539th
Holland vs. Page Kevin Holland, SUB, R2 something something Come and take it.
"Winter is coming."
GreenTeaEnthusiast
03.04.2024 | 3:58 AM ET
Prediction Comments
Predictions: 12 of 14 Winners, 5 Perfect, 780 Points
|
Tied for 326th
O'Malley vs. Vera II Sean O'Malley, TKO, R3 The golden goose. This fight has serious implications if O'Malley wins, because it could be setting the table for a champ vs. champ showdown versus Topuria in Europe - a monstrous way to kick open the doors to MMA viewership in Spain. On to the prediction. I'm riding with O'Malley here, which is 180 from me riding with Vera in the first fight (though I wasn't on Tap back then). Vera is much like Petr Yan in the sense that he bides his time to read his opponents and select his shots. We saw this in action against Munhoz when he discovered the jab and stepping left hook to be money-making tools, and he spammed them tactically en route to an eyebrow-raising decision. Problem is, not only will the early rounds be hell against O'Malley, but much like The Sandman, he's very much a puzzle of a striker to peruse, poised with different angles, seamless stance switches, and about the prettiest counter game in the UFC. Fighting O'Malley is akin to walking on eggshells. If you're not careful enough, you're bound to slip and pay a CTE price for it. While I do see Chito being able to amass some success with conventional stance boxing and the occassional low-kick — which he'll heavily employ but to varying degrees of effectiveness — I simply can't visualize him standing and trading with O'Malley, and coming away from it successfully. He's not skilled enough a grappler to put on a show with genius setups, so that's virtually ruled out. At the end of the day, O'Malley takes this comfortably. I even have a sneaking suspicion that some special iron is in the fire. Watch out for O'Malley's planting, back-stepping right hand. I'll go out on a limb and say it sweeps Vera out of consciousness.
Poirier vs. Saint-Denis Dustin Poirier, TKO, R4 I forgot just how ******* stacked this card is. It's amongst the best on paper in all my seven years of watching this sport. BSD is surfing all the momentum right now, and Poirier is in the ever-difficult veteran spot of bouncing back from a cold KO. Recovery ability is a major point of interest after being "sent to the stratosphere" this late in his career. I also find it interesting to hear Poirier talk about how this "might be it" for him, though I won't put too much stock into it because historically, Poirier has always been a down to Earth man, and as such, I don't see that hindering him mentally. While momentum is absolutely a crucial determinant in a fight's outcome, I can't help but feel that this is too much, too soon for BSD. I'm fully on the train and agree that there will come a day where he challenges for a title, but it's just not that time yet. BSD's best bet here is to make this a dirty, dirty scrap, but I can't even back him in that. He has, admittedly, evolved a ton from the ZDS beatdown, but for what it's worth, I see the same stylistic openings in his last few fights that make him a prime spot for a DP showcase. For one, he fights a lot in boxing range, and he tends to be a little bit passive in controlling fights against more active strikers; the issue with that is DP can get ahead of him early in the fight, and when that happens, it's pretty much a wrap. It would be nice to see BSD produce a spectacle after calling his shots like Ilia did, but this will wind up being another case of the seasoned veteran cleaning up the apprentice. It's just too much at the moment.
Holland vs. Page Michael Page, DEC I hesitate to pick a winner here. Holland is one unpredictable ************, and he fights to entertain. That tends to resist his success in the Octagon a lot. Where Holland's scrappy unorthodox spider style falls off for me is that, when faced with other unpredictable or technical strikers, he freezes up. Page is not only the far more technical of the pair, but he's also got real stunning power. I firmly believe he could one-shot Holland, and once he feels that power, this will become another weird Holland fight where MVP coasts to a 29-28.
Burns vs. Maddalena Jack Della Maddalena, TKO, R3 In no world do I understand JDM's fight against Holland being a split. As far as I remember, that was a 30-27 in his favor. While his lack of visual appeal in point fights may cost him later on in a truly close fight, I don't think it will here. Maddalena is everything that causes Burns to burn up. Long, sniperlike straight punches with a sound defensive foundation. Although, yes, Burns can get in close and work JDM to the ground, it just doesn't feel practical that that would happen. Again, momentum is huge, and it is all the way on JDM's side here. Burns just does not do well in fights against technical boxers who can stay calm amidst his blitzes. Jack will punish him with that jab and put him away late in the first.
Yan vs. Song Petr Yan, DEC Do or die moment for Yan. What a fall from grace it'd be if he loses this one. Fortunately though, MMA works in patterns, and this fight takes the form of the veteran, who appears to be out of the shark tank, coming back and proving his worth. Rob Font-esque. Yan is a remarkable striker, and Song shares many technical similarities with him. For one, they're both strictly fundamental boxers, mixing and matching different elements of the sweet science for highly creative and effective output. They're also both extremely cerebral individuals in the cage - both masters at adjusting on-the-fly so long as they get the breathing room to do so. The way you beat Yan is similar to the way you beat Song: start fast, get ahead, and stifle late efforts. My picking Petr Yan just comes down to the fact that he's done this at a higher level for quite a bit longer, and that veteran mentality is absolutely colossal here. If Song was a little bit more seasoned at this level, he'd be quicker at reading into Yan's boxing, and he'd honestly produce a highlight out of him. Still, Yan is the better functional striker as it stands, and he should put on a show here. Amazing fight.
Predictions: 9 of 14 Winners, 6 Perfect, 655 Points
|
Tied for 2023rd
Blaydes vs. Almeida Curtis Blaydes, TKO, R2 This one is tough to call. Both of these guys have some of the best wrestling/grappling in the division. I'm pretty much taking Curtis here because of the size difference. I know Almeida has taken down and dominated big guys in the past, but none of them had the wrestling chops that Blaydes does. Taking Curtis by ground and pound finish, but I'm not confident in that pick. We're going to learn a lot about Almeida in this fight.
Cerminara vs. Barber Maycee Barber, DEC Barber looks like she took that leap in her last fight. I think she's starting to hit her stride and is ready to make a run towards a title shot. Katlyn is a tough vet, but I think Barber guts it out here and keeps the momentum going.
Gamrot vs. dos Anjos Mateusz Gamrot, DEC Pretty easy fight to pick here. We've seen a prime RDA struggle with pressure wrestlers in the past. Here we have a 39 year old RDA going against one of the best wrestlers in the division. Gamrot dominates in this one
Munhoz vs. Phillips Kyler Phillips, DEC Both of those guys use a lot of movement in the cage and are tough to hit. Munhoz is a tough vet, but at 37 he's not getting any younger. Phillips is a legit prospect who has loads of potential and is just now hitting his prime. Give me the younger guy in a close technical battle.
Pereira vs. Oleksiejczuk Michel Pereira, DEC This should be a fun one. Oleksiejczuk loves to march forward and throw everything at you. Pereira's style is tailor made for that and he should be able to use his freak athleticism to skate around the outside and point his way to a victory. I think Pereira gets it done here and continues his climb at 185.
Predictions: 8 of 14 Winners, 5 Perfect, 565 Points
|
Tied for 4018th
Phillips vs. Munhoz is going to be really interesting. Whoever get's their kicking game going first is taking that one. If Munhoz is able to land some good kicks early, he could be live here. Kyler's style relies on so much dynamic movement and his kicks are a big part of his offense as well. Kyler will have a nice reach advantage (he almost always does; arms are crazy long) and he can always go to the wrestling to mix it up if need be. One thing I will say about Phillips though is that while he shoots really good takedowns, he's not the best at holding guys down.
As I'm looking into Munhoz, I'm realizing he absorbed an unusually high number of strikes from Vera for a 3 round fight. As a matter a fact, it was far and away the most significant strikes Vera landed in 15 minutes in his entire UFC career. He nearly landed the same amount of strikes on Munhoz (141) as he did on Font (159), with the latter being a 5 round fight. I highlight this because Chito is obviously now a title challenger, deserved or not, and despite two judges saying Vera won every round, a majority of the media scored the fight for Munhoz.
Phillips without question skilled enough to win here but something about Munhoz being a bigger dog (+205) than he was against Vera (+155) just isn't sitting right with me.
Predictions: 8 of 14 Winners, 7 Perfect, 600 Points
|
Tied for 3327th
Can anyone explain to me the Robelis Despaigne hype ? Cuz I just don't get it. The dude is 35 years old and has four Pro fights against bad competition and no amateur career.
I understand that he has a lot of power (only round 1 KOs so far) and he will most likely kill Josh Parisian but does he have a future in the heavyweight division? My guess would be he doesn't.
The division is very shallow tho, so if the UFC likes him and give good match-ups he could be ranked I guess.
"This is a rat race...but I’m not a rat. I’m a f*ckin’ turtle, ninja turtle. So which one is your favorite? I like Michelangelo....next question - Tony Ferguson"
Predictions: 8 of 14 Winners, 5 Perfect, 565 Points
|
Tied for 4018th
I think when you word it that way and say "he's only got 4 pro fights and no amateur career" you're kind of under-selling the fact that he's a lifelong martial artist who's won Olympic medals. He's been seriously grappling for close to 5 years now. Parisian actually is a very logical first test because one of then only things this guy needs to figure out is how to clinch fight and not get held against the cage. As long as he can figure out how to consistently keep space between him and his opponents, he's going to rack up wins easily. This guy touches people and they just crumble.
He's going to coast into the rankings at heavyweight on athleticism alone. His age is kind of irrelevant. He clearly does not have the genes of a normal 35 year old athlete.
Predictions: 9 of 14 Winners, 5 Perfect, 630 Points
|
Tied for 2539th
@vckstrk he’s built like an nba player, moves like a flyweight, hits like a Mack truck. Hes also a Cuban Olympian which means he’s built differently from your normal human
@foppa not a grappler, his background is taekwando
* Edited at 03.04.2024, 10:50 AM ET *
"“Unfortunately you can’t talk like that on FOX” - Joe Rogan"
