Topic: The UFC Info and Prediction Thread - page 205. (Read 97140 times)

Alexander Volkanovski and Islam Makhachev fought the best champ champ fight in my view in MMA history, majority of the champ champ fights we saw ended up in a decisive win by either opponent and Alexander Volkanovski gave Islam a lot of trouble than the rest of the fighters he faced and definitely we will be seeing them fight again.

Khabib predicted the situation when Volkanovski was the back up fighter during Olivera camp and claimed that Alexander Volkanovski would be the toughest opponent for Islam and that was literally what we witnessed and a contender for the best fight of the year.

I'm hoping Volk gets another chance, I mean who else is going to push Makhachev into deep water like that? There was a few times that Islam got caught, and genuinely looked like Volk could've finished it a few times. Islam's striking definitely surprised me, and probably a lot of others too. Whatever lies in the future for both fighters, Volk made me a fan last night. I liked him anyway, but he really showed some heart, and despite the disadvantages, and the fact that the media, and pretty much everyone was expecting him to lose, he sure did put up a fight.

Oliveria, and Volk would be interesting just to see how they fare now that they've both faced Oliveria, and quite clearly Volk performed better despite not being known for his grappling.

I'm afraid that this fight will put Volk and Islam on another lvl for rest of their divisions. They will both learn from this and be even more dominant in next couple of fights.

True. Volk can be an escape artist, Islam already had him on his back but Volk is brilliant with his escape. Everyone cheers for him.
If there is another round in thier match, Islam would possibly be KOed, he nearly fell in the 5th round. Congrats to the winners who didn't choose by submission. And just like Islam, Yair Rodriguez is already the expected winner.

Makhachev's next fight is said to be Poirier or a rematch with Oliveira.

In my opinion, he can not do that in all the rounds pretty much in round 5 and Islam Makhachev also admits that Volkanovski really dominates the 5th round and for me, Islam Makhachev looks exhausted during the 5th round, that is why Volkanovski thinks he can do the same thing in all of the beginning rounds, both fighters really did their best and Alexander Volkanovski got the hearts of all that is watching the fight because pretty much all know the Caliber of Islam Makhachev on the ground and Volkanovski has proven everyone wrong, all the bettors and the doubters that Makhachev will submit him easily, that is why he is a true champion for sure well both of them are, and that is why you can not give all the credit to Volkanovski alone, even though the spectators on the fight like and chanting the name of Volkanovski because they all know of what Islam Makhachev can do and they are enjoying the fight thanks to Alexander Volkanovski that fight toe to tow with Islam Makhachev,

to be honest I'm in for a lot of surprises, Islam Makhachev won but it wasn't easy for him this fight so it's a surprise for me, the bookmakers put an odd that if my memory serves me correctly they gave a clear advantage to Islam Makhachev , but on the ground things were completely different, Jack Della Maddalena won as I expected, but honestly I didn't imagine that the guy would win after 2 minutes of the first round, and if I was already surprised with the result so quickly Jack Della Maddalena, I was even more surprised with the result of Justin Tafa's fight that won in the first round at 1 minute

It's strange that a fighter loses in less than 2 minutes, I know there are many cases of fights that end in 2 minutes, but I still think it's very strange, it looks like the guy who loses in less than 2 minutes has never fought in his life, Kleydson Rodrigues and another guy who lost in less than 1 minute in round 1. I wonder how those guys who lose in round 1 in less than 1 minute feel

True, Volkanovski did a great job on those submission defense, he even train hard every day for those positions because he know it was going to happen. But, I don't feel like Volkanovski gives his best, he could KO Makhachev if he fight all the rounds just like he did in the last 2 minutes of the last round, in that moment he proves how he can dominate over Makhachev but was too late, and we can see the face of Makhachev desperate just waiting for the time to end before he gets knocked out.

Surely there is no denying that Alex Volkanovski has contested Islam Makhachev's wrestling and he defended all of Makhachev's Submission attempts actually Islam Makhachev was really surprised about how Alexander Volkanovski knows what he is doing and he surely said that this is a good experience for him, but we can't deny aswell that Islam Makhachev have surprise Alex Volkanovski with his striking and standing performance, I guess both of them was truly surprised by each other's technique because they didn't know that each fighter would be dominating their own technique,

Surely this is worth the rematch and for me now both fighters have respect for one another for Volkanovski on Makhachev's standing-up, and for Makhachev on Volkanovski's wrestling defense and takedown defense,


This has truly exposed Islam Makhachev's wrestling technique, and surely Charles Oliveira is also watching this pretty much Volkanovski has truly shown what he is capable of and that he has knowledge about wrestling, but sure enough, Islam Makhachev has dominated the stand-up aswell so I think Alexander Volkanovski would need to take that to consideration aswell, not just his wrestling because he surely trained a lot with the wrestling department but have lacked in the stand-up department for this fight,

Take a bow Volk. Islamd might have won on the score cards, but Volk won in every fans heart. What a performance from him, and could've easily taken it if he just did more output. You can see that the threat of a takedown was constantly on his mind, despite being able to get up, and the way he finished that fight, was brilliant. A real statement for a rematch. Islam probably finds most of the division easy to beat, Oliveria is a good fighter, but leaves himself too open, and I think he'll always struggle against Islam for that. However, Volk is sound defensively, and shouldn't be as shy in the punches he throws next time. Since, Volk was also trying to take Islam down at points.

Crazy fight, and a decent night of fights. My betting slip we aren't going to talk about though, as predicted by tokeweed I lost in the first fight .

Makhachev vs Volkanovski was the fight of the ages as 2 of the worlds best pound for pound fighters. Respect for Volkanovski for the cardio and the attempts at the end to skew the points in his favor but it just wasnt enough. Was a clinical fight from Makhachev and he had more critical strikes landed as well. Really good striking and good grappling just didn't give many opportunities for Volkanovski to get going. It was the biggest test for Makhachev as of yet and it did make him look human for once. Would be interesting to see who he gets to fight next.

Here is the results, not many surprises


Source: Wiki


Alex Volkanovski has the bigger reach advantage than Islam but you need to watch the fight again to understand who really won the fight. In the fourth round Islam controlled Volk in the ground. Final round Volk was on top in the end but he was not able to do much damage either. Either way it was a great fight and Volk showcased his skills and proved his legacy.

But still, he won and Volk has nothing to say but to congratulate him on the result earlier. That was really a clear war right there, when you put two real champions inside the cage, you will always have that kind of close match up and that was really close and it was really hard to be a judge of that fight and I'm sure his next potential opponents will gonna review this fight and they will gonna learn a lot about Makachev's weaknesses that they will need to in order to have a high chance to beat him.

Now that the UFC 284 was finished it was a great fight that he has witnessed I don't really want to say that Volkanovski lost in that fight and I don't want to also say that he also lost,

Islam Makhachev (-400)
Alexander Volkanovski (+310) - LOST

It was really a close match for these two I really thought as well that both of them respected each other now, and if a rematch would continue on the horizon I think each fighter will be different in their strategy and approach, I really think that there is a way in giving Makhachev a hard time and this is it, Alexander Volkanovski could also in 1 point walk out as a winner in her as well, Alexander Volkanovski might have lost this fight but I think he can carry on with a great experience from this,

Yair Rodriguez (-190) - WIN
Josh Emmett (+160)

Yair Rodriguez has a taller guy than Josh Emmett, so there is no doubt when they face each other Rodriguez will never going to have a hard time getting the opening that he needed, and when Josh Emmett was not down with that punches, he has proven he can go into submission and with those huge wingspans he has to pull a triangle Choke on Josh Emmett,

Islams Makhachev face shows who is the real winner in their fight. Why we havent seen famous Dagestani wrestling and full dominance in this fight? I striker from different weight class gave a champion a nice beating and could have won this fight in fifth round. Some might say that Alex Volkanovski survived all ground games by luck, but why Islam Makhachev did not finish him, but instead did more striking? Maybe coz wrestling did not work against Alex and Islam had to switch to striking (and get his face beaten).

A little guy (Islam had more reach advantage) move to other territory, switched off other guys best weapon (wrestling), smashed his face and lost. How can UFC judges be objective after that?

Here is the Result for my pick on the UFC 284

Islam Makhachev VS Alexander Volkanovski ROUND 5 DECISION - WIN

It was a close 1 and Alexander Volkanovski hung on for dear life, as I thought that the punch from Makhachev have rack Volkanovski but he recovered from it, and also rack Makhachev with his own punch and on the takedown attempt Volkanovski is really doing a great job in hanging on or even exposing Makhachev's takedown, but the strength of Islam Makhachev has proven him wrong, but Alex Volkanovski is a safe fighter you can see how he calculate his movements into fighting Makhachev, you can see that Islam Makhachev has got the respect of Volkanovski in the stand-up for sure, and also Makhachev now has respect for Volkanovski aswell in getting out from his submission attempts and Islam Makhachev have said it aswell Alexander Volkanovski is a good experience for him for sure in the next fight he will know what he will do, and I think Khabib Nurmagomenodov will now be on Islam Makhachev's corner next time,

Yair Rodriguez VS Josh Emmett ROUND 2 SUBMISSION - WIN

Yair Rodriguez looks more massive than Josh Emmet it was a wild fight actually and you can see how good Rodriguez is and his timing was superb indeed, and even though Josh Emmett landed some strikes it was not enough Yair Rodriguez had the reach advantage that is why he have easily seen his opening to Emmett and surely landed that Submission to him, it was excellent,

Randy Brown VS Jack Della Maddalena ROUND 1 SUBMISSION - WIN

Jack Dela Maddalena was the real deal not only good at boxing but surely now has a submission as well Randy Brown was always running while Della Maddalena is high on guard, like a boxer that 1 punch in the 1st round have stumbled Brown down, and when it is not over Jack Della Maddalena have gone to submission to finish the fight like I have predicted it could be a knockout but interestingly he submitted Randy Brown,

Makhachev vs Volkanovski - what a fight. Great 25 minutes of action. Havent seen such intense in a fight for a long time. I would say, that people tagged Makhachev as "greatest", "best fighter", "best p4p" to early. This fight showed that there are fighters who can beat him. I would say that they need a rematch. The victory wasnt obvious or dominant. Could agree on a draw today. And I would like to end with "it is better to lose like Volkanovski, then to win like Makhachev" in this fight.

As usually, I've checked Instagram for some of backstage videos - came across Makhachev to Khabib video call. Islam told that if Khabib was in his corner, it would be more easy win. Added that previous opponent was easy, but this was one was tough. Khabib congratulated him and told that it does not matter how the fight went, a win is always a win.

Alexander Volkanovski proved his toughness and both had crazy cardio and only during the final minutes of the 5th round did Volkanovski had an upper hand on Islam Makhachev, the rest of the fight Islam Makhachev was controlling the fight, his striking was on point and he made some slick take downs and his ability to hold the opponent down is incredible but Alexander Volkanovski was the toughest in his career and hopefully we will see them meet again in the future.

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Yair Rodríguez surprised me with his ground game, he improved a lot on his submission and did not expect him to win the fight with a submission and that too in a title fight.

Goodness! 5th round just made it. Volk loses but he is just another level. Definitely deserves another fight for this two.
Got to give Islam, all credit. 5 rounds and he barely stands. And a lot of thought a submission is almost 100%. Crazy fight.

I don't think Islam had proven himself against the no 1 P4P. He didn't dominate this fight.

Honestly, I always find these the most frustrating. Since, you make a bet, maybe all you can afford to bet for the weekend, and then all that buzz, and excitement that comes with betting dies in the first fight. I hate it, and it's usually what happens to me. He's on my actual betting slip by the way, so I'd advise you change it .

I've actually put Makhachev on my betting slip, just because it was a little extra value; not much though obviously. Anyway, the reason being; I like Volk, and I'm actually rooting for him, but the disadvantages this guy has in physical size, and wrestling alone makes me nervous for him. However, the actual reason is because win or lose, I get something (unless the others on my betting slip mess up obviously). Either Volk wins, and I'm happy because that's who I'm supporting or Mak takes it, and makes me some money. Win, win right? I can almost guarantee you it won't get to that, as tokeweed said the very first fight will probably mess it up.

Here are the ceremonial weigh ins and the face off for those of you guys who still hasn't made their bets, parlays, lottery ticket or whatever.  A couple of guys missed weight and one of them is at the top of my lottery ticket.  Mother fking Tukhugov decided that he doesn't like to make weight today.  Lolol.  I should've known...  The weight cut has always been a problem for the guy.

He could be the pie shitter.  But at least it's the first match of the event.  It's gonna be easy to set up another lottery ticket.

UFC 284:  Ceremonial Weigh Ins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF_WZxQPqwk

Champ Islam Makhachev (155) vs Alexander Volkanovski (154.5)
Yair Rodriguez (145) vs Josh Emmett (145)
Randy Brown (171) vs Jack Della Maddalena (171)
Parker Porter (264) vs Justin Tafa (266)
Jimmy Crute (204.5) vs Alonzo Menifield (206)
Modestas Bukauskas (206) vs Tyson Pedro (206)
Melsik Baghdasaryan (146) vs Josh Culibao (146)
Kleydson Rodrigues (127)* vs Shannon Ross (125.5)
Jamie Mullarkey (155) vs Francisco Prado (154.5)
Jack Jenkins (145.5) vs Don Shainis (146)
Loma Lookboonmee (115.5) vs Elise Reed (115.5)
Blake Bilder (146) vs Shane Young (145.5)
Elves Brenner (155.5) vs Zubaira Tukhugov (157.5)*

*Missed weight