Topic: The UFC Info and Prediction Thread - page 175. (Read 97129 times)

Burns will still be delighted to give it a shot even if there will be just a few weeks of preparation. The fighter is very successful in most of his fights and he only loses high-caliber opponents to which Bellal is definitely not at his level of skills. It will just be a bonus win for Burns.

Burns almost did it against Khamzat, I can only credit that fight to Burns he can sure fight someone that is heavily trained in Khabib's camp.

It is risky. Dont forget, that Belal trains with Khabib and Co. Which gonna help him to counter Gilberts take down attempts imho. Not going to say that Gilber is on a higher level, or Belal is to weak for him. But I see that Belal 16 out of 22 victories were by UD. Some say that a win is a win, but that guy has some problems with finishing his opponents. That is not a good sign. Even though victories were UD, everything could have changed 180 degrees in his fights just after 1 punch.

Yet again, fight again in 1 month, or in just two weeks (as their fight was announced today), that means Belals potential opponent screwed something and Burns was to save that fight. There is definitely something behind that. Gonna search for answers.

Well! This is the UFC and there is no point to wait when they can actually fight with full 100% condition. It might seem impossible for them to quickly recover in our eyes but believe me, these are mixed martial artists and they want to fight their opponent quickly as possible in order to relax their minds. I think what I want to see is Charles Oliveira getting on his feet again to get to fight again this year and it would be best for him to fight Dariush though his record is not that amusing, he is a good match-up for Charles and he needs to train well for this one because the guy is hungry for a win.

^  A little bit risky but Masvidal didn't really give him such a hard time that maybe he things signing up for the match is fine.  And I'm thinking he wouldn't get another opportunity like this as winning the match would mean getting first crack at the title at 170 against Edwards.

The good thing for Burns here is he is already fit and ready...  I wonder how the books will price these two.  Been fading Muhammad twice in his last two and lost twice.  Lol.

I am surprised too when I read your posts. I just remembered betting for Burns like 2 weeks ago and now he is fighting again. The battle against Masvidal is still fresh and there's not enough room for healing and training. But, if the camp of Burns did agree with it then maybe the issue about him avoiding Belal Muhammad at UFC 283 got to his nerve. 

So this is how the card will look now.

Aljamain Sterling versus Henry Cejudo
Belal Muhammad versus Gilbert Burns
Jessica Andrade versus Yan Xiaonan

I do like to see Gilbert Burns fight again but ain't this too risky? And if he loses in this match there will be tons of reasons why. If I were his opponent I won't like it either. Winning against an opponent who should be resting and didn't have enough preparation time.

I am excited about future fights Dana White recently announced. Bellal Muhammad vs Gilbert Burns on UFC 288 on May 8 and Charles Oliveira vs Beneil Dariush on UFC 289. A bit shocking to see Burns in co main event, as he fought just few weeks ago. And finally we gonna see Dariush in action. Strange to see Dariush so high on top, when he did not fight any ranked opponent since 2020. 

It was also a very much similar occurrence in Sergei Pavlovich vs. everyone's favorite fighter, the Black Beast hehehe. Also, Curtis Blaydes has a glass jaw, everyone should watch how Derrick Lewis knocked out Blaydes with 1 punch. Pavlovich will certainly be a good underdog bet. Another good underdog bet might be Bruno Silva. I speculate that he is presently being underestimated because of his loss during his last fight.

I would not say Holloway would win this fight so easily, but he would be slight favorite.
Both of them lost from Volkanovski last year and Korean Zombie has nice few inch reach advantage, he only lost three times since 2018 from top fighters.
I was not impressed by Holloway win against Arnold Allen and I think he is to much damaged from his previous fights, but maybe he is mentally better now.
I would give this fight 55% for Holloway win and 45% chance for Korean Zombie.

It will be very important for Curtis Blaydes to be able to pull down and make takedowns. I remember what happened in the Pavlovich vs Tai Tuivasa match, and within minutes Pavlovich started attacking and destroyed Tai Tuivasa. I know it's her general style and it has real finishing power. In the first moments, I think he will defend himself much better than Curtis Blaydes Tai Tuivasa. Curtis Blaydes will be more advantageous if he can play later. Maybe even with a counterattack on the defensive, Pavlovich can finish him off. I don't know, even if I feel closer to Curtis Blaydes, I'd say it's too risky.

Henry Cejudo is a coach and training fighters and he has a sharp mind picking out the weakness of the opponent and find a way to win the fight and he is a genius in breaking down the tendencies of the fighters. The way in which he was able to defeat Demetrious Johnson who everyone considers to be a GOAT in the second outing was incredible and they train together whenever Demetrious Johnson is having a fight camp.

Even Jon Jones had a camp with Henry Cejudo when he returned, so his skill level even though he is not active gives him the advantage as he is a Olympic winner and any opponent who faces him will fear the takedowns including Aljamain Sterling.  

Ah...  Didn't expect that the UFC to offer Emmet another tough opponent just a little over a month after his loss to Yair Rodriguez.  And I wonder why Emmet signed up for the fight.  It's prolly his age.  He' like almost 40 amd he needs to a couple of good wins to get a crack at the title again.  Don't think he'll win tho.  Topuria is good at wrestling, grappling and his hands have powerrr.

Anyway, who you guys got in the main event this weekend?  I'm going back and forth but I think Blaydes has the slight edge with the wrestling and it's 5 rounds.  He needs to get past the first couple of rounds vs Pavlovich tho.

Sergey recently posted in his media accounts, that he has had a camp in Dagestan. Imho, having a camp and being training wrestling for years are two different things. I think Pavlovich gonna push full throttle and try to finish Blaydes in first round. His stats shows that he mostly finish opponents in first rounds. Blaydes has a good experience against heavy strikers. Volkov, Rozenstruik, Overeem. He is ready to survive, and long fight is a bad sign for one-dimensional Pavlovich.

I agree Sergei Pavlovich is one-dimensional he will surely keep on brawling until the other fighter is down, for me that is not entertaining anymore but if for some this is entertaining for me it is different, if Sergei Pavlovich has a ground game that is but if all he knows is like Derrick Lewis then he can not certainly win against Curtis Blaydes,


Paddy the Baddy is now Tabby the Bubbly for Ilia Topuria for sure Pimblet is not ready for the big game in the UFC and it is likely seen in his previous game so for me the hype train was really derailed in that one fight against Jared Gordon, and that should be a win for Jared Gordon it was a close match but a win for Jared Gordon for sure,

Now back to Ilia Topuria, against Max Holloway, I really want to see that fight but 1st Ilia Topuria will face Josh Emmett for UFC Fight Night 226, on June 17, 2023, let's see how well can he really do, a great match because Emmett is on top 5, so this will approach Topuria likely facing Holloway,

Pavlovich also does not have a good defense to take down in my opinion. If he is on the ground and his opponent is on him, he is probably not going to do it for much. So the best bet for him is going to be a stand-up fight and find his range from a distance. So that he does not even give his opponent the chance to take him down.

But we all know that those people who are pro wrestlers will actually find a way to get close and take you down. After that, it is just ground and pound. And I am going, to be honest, whenever I see someone who is very vulnerable against takedowns, and his opponent is a guy who is someone that attempts takedowns, I don’t personally think that the boxing style is going to win in that fight.

Oof Topuria, yes please.  That guy is a beast.  And to think Paddy Pimblet was trying to pick a fight vs the guy.  After Topuria's solid win again Bryce Mitchell who is a good prospect himself, I don't think Topuria's name will be coming out of Pimblet's mouth again.  Lol.

...  I just checked the rankings at 145...  With all the fighters above Topuria having an L at their latest bouts, would the UFC really match Topuria with Holloway?  That's a huge jump from 9 to 2.

What I dont like about Pavlovich, that he is a predictable fighter so far. Maybe his opponents does not allow us to look on him from different angle, but we all know that he will go to close distance and try to knockout with punches. He is like a Ngannou with a bit different skin and stats. It even look like he would better fit in like a boxer or bare knuckle fighter. With all that weight, if Curtis drags him down, Pavlovich would drawn in ground game imho.

I like to include Curtis Blaydes's shin leg and tight were made of metal that when Tom Aspinall kicked on it causes him to be injured, just joking, but I could see Curtis Blaydes being more durable than Sergei Pavlovich but I could see some strength on Pavlovich so he surely got some fight for Curtis Blaydes, for sure, I will look ahead on Curtis Blaydes on this he surely got some technique in the ground game, for me Heavyweight is evolving now because of what Jon Jones have did to Cyril Gane, and because of Cyril Gane the heavyweight have become more technical right now, not just plain I can knock you out in one punch,


So that means that Song Yadong VS Ricky Simon will be the main event for the UFC Fight Night 223, after the UFC Fight Night Pavlovich VS Blaydes, yeah that will be just anime filler that you skip for the main story of the anime, but for me, there is one worthwhile the fight to watch and that is the fighting kitten Polyana Viana fight against Emily Ducote, look at her only fans, just joking but for sure I know some will likely want to watch a hot fighter inside the ring because I do,


For me, the top 8 in that Division doesn't really stand a chance against Max Holloway if the fighter is not much technical as Volkanovski then he doesn't stand a chance against Holloway's boxing, I just thought that Allen could be faster and aggressive enough to beat Holloway, but because Arnold Allen Idolized Max Holloway so much there is not a chance for him winning, for me if Ilia Topuria can make it on the top 5 he could surely make a chance against Max Holloway for sure,

This is just gonna be a mysterious box-like event and they will gonna fix this one no matter what because they are already spent some huge cash just for this fight and to cancel the main event just like that is such a waste. It's really not that good event but if they can find someone who is fit and available to fight Arman, they will gonna get back some of their expenses on this fight and it might gonna turn out well. But if they just totally cancel the main event, then this is not worth watching for the same price anymore.

Yeah Holloway's camp prolly thinks that a spectacular win against TKZ, somebody he can finish, would give him another shot at the title.  And it's good from the fans' perspective...  Two vets of the game fighting each other.  But really it doesn't make sense as TKZ is ranked lower than the top 5.  Yair Rodriguez is the interim champ at 145 but Holloway already beat him a tad over a year ago and it would be unfair for Rodriguez if he wasn't given the title shot next.

So yeah it's either that or Holloway just wants to fight somebody he hasn't fought before.  He already fought the top guys at 145 and lost only vs Volk.

Here's a replay of Pavlovich...  Enjoy.

UFC Free Fight:  Pavlovich vs Tuivasa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LVxKEjebaw

I am gonna jump a bit further, over Pavlovich vs Blaydes event, and say that the event that goes after starts to look boring (you can plan free-from-ufc holidays right now ) as its main event Arman Tsarukyan vs Renaito Moicano is cancelled due to Moicano injury. Without that main fight, whole event look like a huge anime filler I really doubt that UFC gonna fight someone good on two week notice to fight Arman.