Topic: The UFC Info and Prediction Thread - page 13. (Read 98679 times)

I have forgotten completely one thing - getting into the head. Perhaps, just perhaps, Chimaev was way to confident in his win. The fight that has lasted only 3 minutes against top #3 opponent is something. In addition, maybe Chimaev and Dana already had negotiations about his next fight. So he does not need to act wild to gain extra attention, as he is getting his title fight anyway.

Rankings have been updated. Chimaev gained +10 ranking places and now is #3. Only champ, Strickland (who he already beat in every training session, according to Sean and Chims interviews ), Izzy (who might be an easy pick for wrestler of such level as Chimaev). Also Shara Bullet is now in top Watch out middleweight division for red pirate

Uuh, nope...  Whittaker compared to how Usman and Li acts in front of the journos in press conferences and interviews, Whittaker is a really nice guy.  Usman is really annoying trying to be all badass and Li too.  Burns is just ok but sometimes says some stupid sh*t at times.  Whittaker is closer to Thompson's level of nice that it's hard to talk something bad against the guy.  I'm sure we'll see a lot of trash talk from Chim when he goes for the title vs DDP or even a match vs Strickland.  

Here's a couple of replays...

UFC Free Fight:  Moreno vs KKF
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9ZNRaj4-L4

UFC Free Fight:  Albazi vs Costa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tQKYJQ-MDA

He seems to be more religious. I don't know what he did after a long absence from the octagon but he seems calmer this time. Chimaev is still young so of course he has high adrenaline. What he did a while ago seemed to be part of his puberty. Now he seems to be a more mature fighter. Actually from the beginning Chimaev could not be a McGregor or Colby figure, if what he did was trying to imitate them. Chimaev is a fighter who is not wild. He respects his mother very much and he once said after a fight he would rather go home and eat his mother's cooking. It seems Chimaev has found his true self, I guess.

After the fight I found out that Topuria is a billionaire. For me it's like an anomaly. I mean some fighters are born from hard life so fighting becomes their passion. And most fighters who started from poor people and they fight to get money and improve their life. But Topuria is different. He is super rich since birth. And he loves to fight. And fortunately he can use the financial advantage to shape himself into a tough fighter. I can say Topuria is like a lab product because he has personal training and several personal assistants who monitor his physique, routine and nutrition. As a result he became a very complete fighter. One of the coolest sayings from Topuria is that he fights not for money, but for legacy. It looks like he will be one of the longest reigning champions in his division.

At first I also though that Chimaev grew-up But he is 30. Would be strange if that switch from pimply aggressive teenager to adult with calm temperament is at 29-30 age boarder In their culture, the more elder person becomes, the more younger people should pay him more respect. At first I though that he was the youngest or middle one in their family, but during that pause that we did not see him, became elder, or head of family. And such wild (previously) behaviour would be inacceptable now. Or I usually notice such character changes, when person becomes a parent. Does he have kids?


Even if they have a rematch, it will be less competitive as their first fight. Prime Topuria on hype vs Volk who does not seems to be in prime anymore, and who had knockouts in his last to fights. Often, a fighter that fights after a knockout isnt as good as he used to be.

No one would really expect Max's defeat by KO from Topuria because Max is way taller than Topuria and he has never been KOd in his entire career. He also isn't old, he is 32 and that's a very good age for a man as a fighter. I think that Topuria got into him mentally but it's still a shit talk from my side because Topuria's fighting was out of this world in that match. I was expecting cardio and strikes from Max but instead I got Topuria striking him back and forth, nonstop.
The one thing that I find funny is how quickly Topuria stands up once he beats his opponent

By the way, did people notice how Max congratulated Topuria's son a victory? He is really an amazing guy and thanks Max for this. I can't wait to see a rematch between Volkanovski and Topuria. If there will be a rematch between Topuria and Holloway, that will be amazing too.

I thought the same. I even said that Topuria would be stupid to engage in the striking match with Max, but he was confident of his skills and it paid off.
But seriously, who would have expected Max to lose by KO? It never happened to him before even when fighting guys from a higher weight class.


It's called growing up 
It used to happen during your teens, but now we're in the age of men-children and the process is delayed. For some, it never happens.

But seriously, I think he got humbled down by whatever illness he was going through. I don't think they made what it was public, but Dana said it was bad. Things like that can temper your ego and show how fragile we all really are.

Whittaker is good guy, but I dont remember Usman, Li Jingliang or Burn being assholes. They do say default stuff like "I am going KO my opponent" or "I am going to beat you like a child", but Chimaevs pre and post fight behaviour was different.

Yeap, Ankalaev should stop his behaviour. Have you heard, that he recently start to put forward conditions when he is ready to fight Pereira? He has told, that he wont be fighting Pereira during Ramadan. That is March-April 2025. He is about to get his biggest life chance, but he is acting like UFC and Pereira owe him something... Not surprised if Pereira wont wait for that bs, and will fight Krylov  or Oezdemir, and Ankalaev will get Jiri. Ankalaev instead of training mma, would better teach English and trashtalk skill. As UFC audience prefer trashtalk, drama and something dirty to undefeated record or win streak.


Looks more like a after depression period, or something with his head. As others talk crap more than him, yet still get US visa

Rumor was that he just got out of depression. He was just tamed this time, maybe he was advised not to shout killing everyone this time or he won't be fighting again on US soil. But his face looks so bright and happy as a kid.


Albazi should be fighting for a title shot. He even won against Kara but maybe they are giving Monero one last chance in this division despite his loss with Royval. He should be going up with Figue.

^  It depends on the opponent.  Whittaker is a good guy and one of the nicest guys in the UFC so he had no reason to act all savage and sh*t.


Mmm...  Yeah, dunno what that is.  Lol.  But I think it's less hassle, less travel time and less visa issues than traveling stateside.

But with Ankalaev's case if he really wants the title and the fight is in Brazil then he needs to quit being a p*ssy and man up to get it.  He's a fighter ffs.

Who has noticed that Chimaev has changed greatly? Not as a fighter, but as a person. Compared with his jungle behaviour, running to octagon, being loud on conference. With a humbler person with glasses, sitting calmly. Does anyone knows what happened to him or have any clue why a person could change so much ? He is like turned from aggressive teenager into 40 yo adult

Amir Albazi is the challenger. He was supposed to have a match with Brandon Monero a while ago, but it was canceled.
Brandon Monero also had a match with Brandon Royval, it was their second match. UFC Vegas 98 night.
They both fought great in that match. Amir Albazi's record is also pretty good, he only has one defeat, 17-1 is a good career to be a candidate for the belt.
I also recommend watch to the Brandon Moreno and Royval match, Monero was losing here, Royval was a match where he threw great shots.
Moreno fought well even though he lost, Moreno can be analyzed well from this match.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL33gm1_7KU

I said it’s not easy to beat Max because he’s fought a lot of high level fighters in the UFC. Of course the striker’s weakness is wrestling but so far Max has pretty good cardio and takedown defense. If Topuria wins it will have to be through wrestling because it’s very hard to win a fight on the judges’ scorecards because Max always has a lot of significant striking. That’s what I thought. What I didn’t realize is that Topuria has a lot of power in his weight class. It’s not easy to take Max down in his weight class so I was really surprised Max went to sleep. Topuria’s power level is completely different than any other fighter in the featherweight division. I think Topuria is going to be the new king of the division for a long time.

Am I the only one who has noticed, that top Dagestani fighters prefer, love to fight in UAE? Would be an awkward situation if Ankalaev refuses to fight Pereira in Brazil, but says that he wants a fight in UAE

On UFC 308 there was a fight with strange decision. Rinat Fakhretdinov vs Carlos Leal, first fight in prelims. I though that Leal won it. Leal defended all take down attempts, almost every punch he has landed, Rinat blocked with his face. Fight result: UD by Fakhretdinov.

Yup!  And to think that Holloway has one of the better cardios in the UFC.  It was Topuria's relentless pressure not giving Holloway any space.  But at his age in 145, it could also be the weight cut.  It could be draining him now.

As for Whittaker, they say that his teeth moved to different places...  Oof.

Here's the next event.  

Date:  Saturday, Nov 2
Main Card (ESPN/ESPN+):  8:00pm EST
Preliminary Card (ESPN/ESPN+):  5:00pm EST
Venue:  Rogers Place, Edmonton, Alberta



Main Card (PPV)
Brandon Moreno vs Amir Albazi            
Erin Blanchfield vs Rose Namajunas            
Derrick Lewis vs Jhonata Diniz            
Caio Machado vs Brendson Ribeiro            
Marc-Andre Barriault vs Dustin Stoltzfus            
Mike Malott vs Trevin Giles

Preliminary Card (ESPN/ESPN+)
Aiemann Zahabi vs Pedro Munhoz            
Ariane da Silva vs Jasmine Jasudavicius            
Charles Jourdain vs Victor Henry            
Jack Shore vs Youssef Zalal            
Alexander Romanov vs Rodrigo Nascimento            
Serhiy Sidey vs Garrett Armfield            
Chad Anheliger vs Cody Gibson            
Jamey-Lyn Horth vs Ivana Petrovic


I think Ankalaev is still gonna get it just because there's no one else.  And the main draw is Pereira which is an easy sell.  They could even do it in Brazil.

Edit:  Typos

We and Dagestanis are both Caucasians, centuries ago we were the same but many wars have happened during centuries that caused a separation. Our men are genetically strong and we also grow up in an environment where you have to be physically strong to not get bullied. People are getting more soft these days but when I was growing up, crime mentality and violence were more common.

Merab Dvalishvili made Sean O'Malley look normal and Ilia Topuria also made Max Holloway look normal. I don't watch UFC but from the reviews and videos that I saw of Max Holloway, I was expecting a good resistance from him but Topuria was dominating him. I can say the same about Sean. Both Sean and Max were frozen in front of these fighters.

I am really interested now about the future of Ankalaev. He was promised to have a title fight against Pereira if he shows a good performance against Rakic. With that, I think Dana expected a knockout or a submission. But we got UD. In fact, Rakic took the first round. I really wonder if such performance was enough for Ankalaev, or he would be tested against, with Prochazka for example. Btw, Jiri and Magomed are both on #1 place in LH. A bug or such situation is possible?

They say Whittaker's jaw was badly damaged. It doesn't look like he has a chance; if he stayed up, he would be ragdolled.
Topuria is real. He seems not sweating at all while Holloway is already running out of breath even in the 2nd round. He has to throw kicks and jabs otherwise Topuria could draw close to him which can easily swing. Yep he did what he promised to KO Holloway.

I wonder if those who added Holloway to their parlay cashed out when they saw Holloway struggle to fight. It was tempting, but holding on to it is indeed a bad decision.

It was a nice fun night, it was one of the cards I liked. Good matches were chosen, the only match I got bored of was the Magomed Ankalaev match, I doubt they will set him up for a belt match.
They can make me wait a bit. İbo Aslan was the opening match of the main card, we started the night well with a great knockout.
Then I saw a finish I hadn't seen before, an interesting finish from Sara with a double spinning backfist.
Whittaker and Max Holloway made me a little upset, but I knew it would happen. I took a little risk for Max Holloway, it wasn't that important, it was just a meal .
Khamzat is a real bear stranglehold, I'm sure he'll go much higher.

^  I expected to see something way better from Whittaker tbh, esp after how Chim has fought against those ones like Usman and Burns.  I mean I'm not saying Chim was surely gonna lose, it's just I didn't expect it to be so easy.  Lmao...

So with that, what's the UFC gonna do?  I think they should match up Chim with DDP for DDP's next title defense instead of the rematch vs Sean Strickland.

And yeah...  Topuria looked really good.

UFC 308:  Post Fight Press Conference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGleo7ExGOY

Nice event. Co-main event result was rather expected, take down and control from very start of the fight. I am not even sure that Whittaker managed to throw something. And his injury was really nasty. Cant even imagine if there is an easy approach to fix his jaw/teeth. He is out for a very long period, as one thing is wheb you are out but can do most of functions, the other is when it is hard to eat snd you have low energy all the time.