UFC Fight Night: Blanchfield vs. Fiorot

The official Tapology discussion thread for the event!

There you go, thanks for the info Ayy.

I did not like much of what I've seen of him. That said I like Dumas even less. A nasty bit of goods

After having studied the tape on Rhys v Chidi I'm not willing to back the dog here. Yes Chidi is aging and it is very concerning that he's choosing to cut down to 170 for the first time in 8 years after having the 2 losses he's suffered by finish in the UFC be in large part to him gassing fighting at 185. I always thought he beat Duraev as an aside and rewatching it again today didn't change my opinion, so I would say the two stoppage losses are his two UFC losses.

But I just don't see enough evolution from Rhys fight to fight. He's a technical striker but his defense is very poor. He's also primarilly a boxer and he headhunts almost exclusively. He doesn't use his range but prefers to brawl. His propensity to hang out in the pocket as well as having no head movement makes him earn the nickname Bisping gave him (against Rhys will apparently) of the 'Irish Zombie' every fight.
He also has a terrible TDD which is also not improving fight to fight. I know Chidi doesn't wrestle but really he could shoot a double at any time if he wanted to and had the energy for it just to secure a round, Rhys will fall. I also think Rhys' iron chin has been a bit overstated as neither Moreno or Loosa are known for their power, especially not Moreno.

This might be one of those younger fighter wins based on Rhys surviving and Chidi just deathgassing after the 1st round but I lean towards Chidi putting Rhys away in rd1 and there's no guarantee Chidi wont have enough gas to take a 2nd if it comes to that.
Seeing how Chidi appears on the scale will obviously be important here.

That's a good breakdown bro 👌 

Petroski probably the best dog on the card right now. He's literally just a bigger version of Malkoun with better jiu jitsu. 

Blanchfield vs. Fiorot
Erin Blanchfield, SUB, R5
I know a lot of people didn’t like blanchfield last fight but I was very impressed with her. I think santos was her toughest matchup in the divison and Erin won by breaking her with pressure. She wasn’t a more technical striker and her wrestling wasn’t good enough to get it down, but she mixed pace with cage wrestling & pressure, and used that to break santos which was very impressive. I think she’s going to dk the same here. Manon is huge and very strong for the weight class. She is a better technical striker and athlete than Erin. I think at distance her teep kicks are going to do a lot of work, and she’s going to stay in her bike to avoid the pressure of Erin. I think rounds 1-2 Erin will struggle to land as much. Fiorot has very good footwork and her 1-2’s/jab are very crisp. However, Erin puts a page on everyone and it requires a lot of energy to stay on the back foot for 15 minutes. When Erin is able to close the distance, she’s going to do a lot of damage with her striking up close. Her boxing may not be the cleanest but she lets her hands fly in the pocket. I also maintain her defense is better than people say; she doesn’t move her head all that well but her footwork is very good, she’s always just out of range of being hit.im not sure Erin will have much grappling success here, at least early on. Manon has very good tdd and again, is very strong for the divison. I think we are going to see a lot of clinching and cage arestking from Erin again. She may not have success getting it down, but she is going to wear on manons cardio with this style. I think after round 3 we are really going to see a momentum shift, as Manon is going to tire from Erin’s insane pace. If Erin is able to get the fight down, I think she is really going to **** yup Manon. I think this will be a pretty close fight but I expect Erin to pull ahead late with pressure

Luque vs. Buckley
Joaquin Buckley, TKO, R2
I’m actually going to go with the dog here. Luque was able to get back in the win column but I was not super impressed. Yea, rda is better than I give him credit for but luque did not look great there. It was a relatively close fight & he looked really bad in the standup. He wasn’t letting his hands go as much and looked really stiff & flat footed out there. It was surprising to see him grapple so much, but I only think he had good success because rda was undersized, not some new wrinkle added to luques game. Going back and watching “prime” luque, I’m not as impressed with him as I used to be. His striking is nasty and he loves a good war, but he has had a lot of moments where he’s nearly lost to lesser people; luque is still very young but he’s been fighting for so long it’s possible this style has caught up to him. He was never known for his defense and his chin finally got cracked against Neal. I didn’t think Buckley was very good at 185 but he looks different at 170. Buckley has always been super explosive and dynamic but now he has translated that perfectly to 170 & maintains his cardio while now facing guys similar in size to him. Hes definitely not the most technical guy and I can definitely see luque outpointing him at range, but if he comes to brawl I think luque is really going to struggle with his speed and dynamic striking up close. Hes always been hittable so we will have to see how luque takes buckleys punches in there. Buckley been put out a few times himself but I wouldn’t say he’s chinny as all those losses came from big dudes at 185. This is a really close fight but I think Buckley has what it takes

Matthews vs Buzujka
Matthews DEC

This is a strange one to call, I really wanted to fade Matthews in his debut but I’m not totally sure if this is the spot. Watching back buzujka tape, he is really unimpressive. I used to just think he wasn’t ufc level but watching the rest of his fights makes me question how good he actually is. His striking is solid, he can crack and has solid kickboxing skills. But, he is very hittable and low volume at times. He won’t jump on people when he hurts them and often times just sits back and lets them back into the fight. He has some grappling but it’s not very good. He has basic fundamentals on the ground but won’t use his grappling that much, nor is he anything special on the mat. He can be taken down and controlled like anyone else. Matthews is weird to me because idk where to gauge him. Most of these MA guys are can crushers & Matthews got the **** beaten out of him on dwcs. However, he came back against a decent opponent and looked very improved. Therefore, I’m confused if he just happened to fight someone even worse, or if he has actually improved. In the striking I think I favor Matthews. Both are very hittable but I like Matthews boxing combos more and I like how he rips the body. He keeps good pressure and his hands are actually pretty sharp. Buzujka will be able to land on him but not sure he’s going to do enough to draw a big reaction. I don’t think Matthews is a great wrestler but I know his bjj is solid. It would be unlike buzujka to wrestle but he may find success if he does. Despite this, I think Matthews is good enough to stay safe and get back to his feet. One thing that worries me is cardio, I am not sure if Matthews cardio holds up when he is forced to be the nail, but we will see since buzukja doesn’t do anything to push the pace

Pacheco vs Loughran
Loughran KO RD 2

Layup for Caolan. This is weird because I could see him struggling in certain moments, but he should win regardless. Pacheco is really bad, like Shannon Ross level. He had a very fun dwcs fight but this dude is just bad all around. One positive thing I can say is his boxing looks clean when he’s throwing in the pocket, but that’s about it. All the work he does on the feet is erased by his terrible defense. Pachecho might be the most hittable person I’ve ever seen, every fight he gets badly dropped or hurt but somehow manages to recover. He has good recovery but man that chin is terrible; he will get violently dropped every fight. He’s pretty tough and well conditioned but being durable only gets you so far with limited skills. I really don’t like Caolans standup, he doesn’t move his head either and is very boxy & stiff in the feet. I could definitely see pachecho landing more volume on him. However, Caolan hits hard & all he needs is one combo to rock pachecho badly. Caolan can also mix in wrestling if he is feeling the striking pressure. The big red flag for me is pachecho to 135. This guy has fought all over, including as high as 155 and now after getting chinned every fight and having bad defense, he wants to cut 10 extra pounds? I think his chin will be glass at 135


Arce vs Burns
Arce KO RD 1

Definition of a layup. Both are washed but in two completely opposite career trajectories. Arce is just an old veteran who is aging, where burns hasn’t been a serious fighter in years. When he was active, burns is a sub or bust fighter. He has about 2-3 minutes of aggressive submission attempts, then he gives up. His takedowns aren’t very good so often times he results to pulling guard and spamming subs. It works against lower level people but bjj as an archetype is pretty much dead in mma. Sure, you can sub some people but most know how to defend and when that’s your only way of winning, you end up looking like an ass. Burns has nothing to offer once he can’t get the sub. Not only is arce known for his tdd, but he is sitting at 92% defense, so I think burns is going to have some trouble here. On tbe feet it’s not close either, burns has no volume and doesn’t like to get hit. Arce is a very good boxer & despite not being a finisher, he can crack hard. Maybe this gets extended but I think arce just steam rolls him

Aslan vs Turkalij
Turkalij SUB RD 2

Okay this is a weird one. I really wanted to pick Aslan here but after watching their first fight I just can’t. Now, there’s a good chance he finishes Anton here but neither guy has improved since their first fight so it’s really hard to gauge where they’re at. Anton won the first fight by homer simpsoning his way to victory. Aslan beat the **** out of him standing & outwrestled him round 1, but then gassed to the pace and gave up the second anton didn’t go away. Now, he could definitely just sleep Anton early or even outwrestle him, but after the 5 minute mark this becomes all Anton. Aslan has nasty standup early, but he only has like 3 minutes of power and he’s also pretty hittable. If he cracks Anton early and doesn’t finish him, this might get pretty ugly. Aslan showed solid grappling round 1 but then was a fish out of water once Anton actually got his back. Maybe he writes his wrong and sleeps Anton early, but i kind of think Anton just weathers the storm again and finishes him; despite the kos this aslan guy is a massive fraud

Gatto vs Dudakova
Dudakova DEC

This is such a strange fight. I really want to pick gatto but I have a feeling we might finally see a good performance from dudakova. She has a ton of talent but none of her ufc fights have been normal; injured in dwcs, fluke injury in debut, and then she was compromised against Frey last time it. I also don’t get the move to 125 either. Dudakova has really clean striking, she hits hard and has a clean 1-2. Gattos striking is bad but she is very lengthy and always makes fights close by throwing things out there. I think dudakova is more clean but gatto will keep it close by just putting things out there. The main reason I’m picking dudakova is grappling. Despite gatto being a really high level grappler, I think she is going to let dudakova get takedowns here. Gatto loves to play bjj off of her back and while she is very good, I could definitely see dudakova just taking her down and winning rounds while gatto fishes for something off of her back. It’s also weird because gatto has the ability to take dudakova down herself and force a scramble. I need to watch more tape but I will side with dudakova for now, not confident at all

Landwher vs Emmers
Emmers DEC

I don’t like trusting emmers at - money but I think this is a good matchup for him. Emmers biggest problem is his low iq but other than that I think he is better everywhere. Hes a much more technical striker and is just better in the striking. He hits harder and is very elusive. Emmers has solid wrestling that he will mix in as well. I am worried emmers will do something stupid like gas out or let landwher get on top of him but I think he can control the action for the most part. Landwher thrives when the fight gets ugly & he’s going to have to make this ugly for 15nminutes. I definitely can see him having his moments but I think it’s going to be hard to force emmers to get into a firefight the whole time. He is a decent sized favorite though so I’m waiting for him to pull a stunt mid fight

Weidman vs Silva 
Silva KO RD 1 

I could actually see weidman winning this but no chance I am picking the ghost of weidman. If there’s anyone he can beat, it’s Blindado. I have a sweet spot for Blindado because he doesn’t take easy fights but man, the dude is so bad. If he wasn’t crazy durable and had one punch ko power I don’t think he would have many wins at all. He is so reliant on his chin that he doesn’t really have defense, he plods forward throwing sloppy haymakers & knows that most of what you throw he can just eat. He doesn’t fight technical at all & just holes whatever he throws lands. His striking is slow and sloppy, but if he connects your lights are going out. Blindado has okay tdd but once you get him down he is clueless on the mat. I really wanted to find an edge for weidman but I just don’t see it. He is so fragile on the feet and lost pretty much all that’s left of his athleticism. Weidman can definitely land on silva but idk if he can take it back. He looked so fragile and slow against Tavares. I wanted to see if it was possible for weidman to get takedowns here but I don’t really think so. He had some good attempts on Tavares but he doesn’t have the athleticism to finish anymore. He can get like 80% of the way there before the attempt becomes too slow and he finishes early. Blindado is dumb enough to get taken down but I really think Chris is going to have a hard time getting it there. What likely happens is weidman comes plodding forward trying to prove a point and Blindado just nukes him

Njokuani vs Mckee 
Mckee KO RD 1

Really weird fight here. In paper Chidi should win but I hate that he’s dropping down to 170. Chidi fought most of his career there & while the size and power does translate well, it is a brutal weight cut for him. He had a few weight debacles outside the ufc and now he’s going to attempt to make the cut hot off of 3 losses and at the ripe age of 35. Even if he does make weight, it doesn’t change the fact that Chidi is a terrible nail; if you start pushing back at him or survive his round 1 onslaught, he completely falls apart and quits. It was bad at 185 and I can only imagine his cardio is even worse at 170. Luckily for him, he’s facing Rhys mckee, who hasn’t improved at all since his first ufc run and is a perfect style for Chidi. Despite this, I actually think he survives the onslaught. This is a very winnable fight for Chidi because mckee gets hurt every fight. He is a walking pinching bag and gets rocked nearly every fight. Definitely very worried he just gets turned into MAB again but if he doesn’t die in the first 3 minutes I think he will make this hell for Chidi. Rhys is no stranger to brawls and he has pretty solid boxing. It’s gonna be really scary early on since Chidi has such sharp Muay Thai & is scary accurate in round 1. As long as he doesn’t get merked I think he will survive the initial burst of energy, and then come back and break Chidi late. Neither are good grapplers so this should be a standup affair. I have to favor Chidi given the Muay Thai background and size advantage, but I really don’t want to pick a fighter that has a round to win. Can definitely see him killing Rhys in the first exchange but if he hurts him and can’t close early, it’s going to be a very very long rest of the fight for Chidi (and short for the fans). I also have a good feeling Chidi just doesn’t make it to the scales tmrw

Ruziboev vs Dumas
Ruziboev SUB RD 1

Not as high on ruziboev as most but he should get it done here. I still have no idea where to rate him because a lot of his fights are fixed & he clearly has a padded record. At the same time, he does have some real wins so I struggle to tell if he’s good or not. His striking seems awkward, much like dumas’s but ruziboev definitely has more power. I don’t like how stiff he is and I think he gets a little wild on th feet, but he has really good power and dumas isn’t much better so not a huge worry. Dumas is also big and powerful but he can’t strike at all, he is always off balance when he throws and he puts 100% of his power into each shot which makes him even more uncoordinated. The grappling is what’s weird of ruziboev. Disgredarding the fact most of his fights may be fixed, they usually go 1 or 2 ways. He either pulls a standing kimura for tdd and the opponent taps. Or he gets pulled right into full mount, magically hits a sweep, and then finishes the fight from there. Maybe I’m bugging and he’s just got this very weird style that works for him, but you just don’t see fights ending like that very often, especially multiple times; you’d think the opponents would see that on tape and not wrestle him. Despite this weird (and potentially fraudulent) style, I’m not too worried against dumas of all people. His grappling is trash and while he may be able to get takedowns, he is dumb enough to fall for ruzibievs kimura trap, or get reversed with his signature sweep. Ruziboev has been at renzo gracue Philly for a few years now, so maybe he has more than conceding mount but I am not that high n him. He should look good here because fumas is not a serious fighter and has nk grappling, but his future matchmaking will be interesting

Algeo vs Nelson 
Algeo KO RD 3

Nelson hasn’t improved at all imo, he’s just learned how to fight with the tools he’s been given. His overall mma skills are mediocre but he fights at a more measured pace and uses his experience to grind out decisions. I don’t think his hands have improved all that much, instead of going ape**** he fights much more composed and technical. He has still been able to crack some people but he just goes right back to point fighting after landing big shots. His boxing is pretty decent and he actually sees things well out there. His grappling is still pretty bad for the most part as well despite going the distance 3 times since coming back, I don’t think his cardio has improved either, he’s just been fighting guys who won’t push the pace. Nelson’s last fight was at a pretty high clip, but luckily for him Fernando wouldn’t give anything back & allowed Nelson to control the fight. Nelson was still breathing pretty heavily near the end. Algeo is far from perfect but he knows how to weaponize cardio. Bill will get taken down or get touched up a little, then he turns it up to 11 and just drowns you with his pace. I think Nelson will be able to crack him early, but we will see the old Nelson come out when the fight gets ugly. I think he will take round 1 pretty handedly, and then really start to slow down as the pace turns up. He may try to wrestle algeo but that will just gas him out as algeo has a very good get up game. He doesn’t hit hard in the feet but I think he’s just not going to go away and drown Nelson late with volume. I think this is going to look like a classic Nelson fight where he starts off good and then drowns to the pace later in the fight

Jandiroba vs Godinez 
GOdinez DEC 

I actually like jandiroba a lot but this is a bad matchup for her. Virna has improved her striking but there is still a general awkwardness to it & she is still somewhat uncomfortable on the feet. Loopy on the other hand, has improved her striking a lot & has looked really good since making the move to lobo gym. She still has moments where she is very unimpressive but I think her boxing has come a long way & she pairs it well with her strength and physicality. Virna is a very high level bjj practitioner but her wrestling is just okay. She’s done a much better job of improving her takedowns but still has work to do. Unless loopy does something stupid, I think she can easily avoid the td and keep the fight standing. Loopy has actually shied away from using her wrestling as of late, so I doubt she starts to use it here

Malkoun vs Petroksi 
Petroski KO RD 2


I really don’t get why petroski is a dog here. I don’t think he’s very good but cmon malkoun is terrible. I know everyone likes him because he’s pulled off a few upsets and is shockingly good at wrestling, but that’s literally all he has. His boxing technique is solid but all he wants to do is play defense and disengage. Malkoun also has no head movement so he can be clipped. I hate to say it, but I think petroski may have the striking advantage here. Now, petroski hasn’t improved his hands at all & still has that terrible habit of just winging overhand rights with now setup. I can definitely see malkoun just jabbing him to death but the problem is he gets not respect on the feet. Petroski may be behind on the volume but he just needs to land one overhand and the fight is going to change. Malkoun doesn’t have a good chin and again, he has 0 killer instinct so if petroski fights aggressive he can win. Malkoun is a very good wrestler, so I imagine he will be able to get petroski down. The difference between petroski and malkouns other opponents is the grappling background. Petroski wrestled in college and is a bjj black belt, something most of malkouns opponents are not. He may get taken down, but petroski knows how to wrestle and he also has a great scrambling ability which he can use here. Of course, since it’s 185 I’m sure Andre will forget how to wrestle and play bjj off of his back for 15 min. But if he fights smart I think he can find his way to his feet, or even catch malkoun in a sub. Either way, paying juice on malkoun is crazy to me since he only has one path to victory

There's a clear difference between a guy winning "fixed" fights and a guy who was just fighting anyone with a pulse. Amassing a 24-8-2 record in your first 4 years of MMA is wild no matter how you slice it if you ask me. Failing to win 8 of his first 34 MMA fights tells me Ruziboev wasn't just fighting cans. I'm also willing to bet some of these were just amateur fights that haven't been recorded properly. Definitely not making sense that he has pro fights from 2014 but one amateur fight listed from 2016.

When I think of fraud, I think of guys like Khusein Askhabov, who came in as an 8 year pro with a perfect 23-0 record and then gets embarrassed by a journeymen like Jamal Emmers. Anybody who watched that fight knew after the first 5 minutes that Askhabov was borderline UFC level and was nowhere near as good as advertised.

I realize I'm comparing two guys from different weight classes from two completely different parts of the world, but Ruziboev obviously looked as advertised in his debut. Is it the best example because he was hilariously bigger than his opponent? Probably not. However, Ruziboev is big enough to be a LHW so he's going to have size on lots of guys. The fact that he has 20 wins by submission but won his debut with an emphatic KO tells me he's anything but a fraud. He might not be ever be top 10 or even ranked for that matter, but this guy is definitely not a fraud.

I think him moving to Renzo in Philly shows he's not a fraud too. This guy is trying to learn and challenge himself against some of the best and he's definitely got plenty of good training partners in that gym. As much as I can't stand Dumas and think he's terrible, this is a solid test to see just how good Ruziboev is. He's definitely not going to have the size and reach advantage he had his debut. 

For anyone that's curious, ticket prices for this event have continued to plummet.

My best friend got free tickets to Cejudo/Sterling last year, so I wanted to pay him back and bought tickets to this event. He specifically told me he didn't think his job would be giving away tickets for this event because it was a Fight Night, but of course he got free tickets and rooms in AC for the night.

I was extremely lucky that I was able to resell my tickets for almost full value that I paid (only lost $8). Cheapest tickets just a week ago were $155, with lots of options in the $175-$200 range. There are now plenty of tickets listed at just $100.

Is anyone on Tap going to this event?

@foppa if you’ve seen his fights before his ufc debut, there is something off with the way he fights. Nobody just magically gets kimura’s off of their back against people consistently, at least not at the ufc level. It’s also not a viable strategy to get taken down and allow people to mount you. Sure, it works in russia/Central Asia whereever he may be fighting, but let’s see how it works at the ufc level. I’m sure dumas is low iq enough to get swept but once he faces someone with a competent ground game he is sscrewed. Just watch his loss against the 18-11 guy he fought. Ruziboev had success early then when he couldn’t hit the sweep he spent 10 minutes on his back getting beaten up 

@ayy I think what's off is it's just low level. He was a big fish (literally) in a little pond and seemed to be just dominating some competition off of his size and athleticism alone. My point is there's just a huge difference between him crushing cans and him beating guys who are just letting him win. It seems like more of the former. If he were still in Central Asia, I'd be very skeptical for sure. The fact that he's moved to a good gym and has gotten the upgrade in coaching and training partners has me intrigued. It's not like he's making this move at 35-36 years old either. He's only 30 and might just be hitting his true prime.

Is his record padded? For all intents and purposes, yes. But let's just arbitrarily take away his 12 wins and 1 draw against guys with .500 records or worse. That still puts him at 21-8-1 with 19 finishes, which is still pretty good. I guess it all depends on what someone means by fraud. Is he fraudulent from the perspective that his record makes him seem like a future contender? Maybe. Is his record so padded that he shouldn't actually be in the UFC at all? That would seem like a stretch at this point. He showed in his debut that he belongs. 

I think his fraudulent based on the hype he has. He may be able to get a few wins but I don’t think he’s so world beater submission god like his record would indicate. Training in Philly is definitely good and I’m sure he will look good here, but I want to see him get tested before calling him legit 

I like you, but did you just call Jamal Emmers a journeyman?

Low IQ yes, but skill wise the farthest thing from a journeyman.

Still yes, Ashkabob was funny. Surprised that JRey didn't vouch for him 

no need to argue semantics foppa, ruziboev IS a fraudulent UFC fighter because vast majority of his wins are either rigged or they are against guys who had no chance of winning

it just so happens that the division he is in is so bad that despite being fraudulent, you can still get UFC wins and beat a criminal and junkie like Dumas

* Edited at 03.24.2024, 12:41 PM ET *

The kazakh is a fraud, but that trash Dumas wouldn't even be in the ufc if he looked like, say, Sam Alvey - and at this point I'd pick smilin' Sam to beat that guy. 

I wouldn't bet him at -300 but you should be picking anybody over Dumas. He's not good technically, he has low IQ, he has no heart, and it's not like he's even particularly athletic. Bud should switch to women's divisions because those are the only people he can beat. 

I actually think dumas is one of the only people low level enough to fall for a ruziboev sweep. Anyone with any semblance of grappling should recognize that ruziboev has no idea what to do off of his back if he can’t hit a sweep

Odds for Malkoun are a little juiced but I'lll take them against a guy with one of the worst gas tanks in the division. Petroski seriously has terrible cardio. He might get by winging overhands in rd 1, but there will be plenty of scarmbles as Malkoun tries to force the grappling and I have no doubt that Petroski will begin to tire. Rds 2 and 3 Malkoun can just jab him to death and Petroski will have neither the cardio nor striking ability to muster a response.  I'm not too worried about Petroski's bjj either, since Malkoun was handling Allen on the ground just fine. Only advantage Petroski has is pure athleticism, and even then that will fade after 5-7 mins

* Edited at 03.24.2024, 1:24 PM ET *

Does anyone remember Blaydes after the Volkov fight? That's how Petroski always looks halfway into rd 2

I have no idea how Chidi is gonna make 170. He was already a big lean guy at 185

@AyyLmaonnaise 

 You're spot on on the hype aspect. This is god knows which time already when fans from places like Kazakhstan/Russia etc, hype fighters from those places with very "bizzare" fight records. Then they step into the UFC and look like one trick ponies and get outmatched, losing to competition that on paper looks like they would just run through them. You can sometimes see these "fans" in the comments @ufc via IG. They flood the whole comment section with flags of the fighter (what I've seen mostly Kazakhstan or Russia). And by spamming these comments they're begging UFC to sign them. Or 2nd option, they're boasting about some new foreign guy that he's the next big thing when he has a fight soon, after being signed. Only to lose in that same upcoming fight. Does someone pay them to do this? Or is this collective r3tardation? I definetly can't be the only one to notice that right?