Topic: The UFC Info and Prediction Thread - page 259. (Read 100412 times)

My current bet agrees with Israel and Zhang weili coming out as winners, but disagrees with Dustin,
Anyways, i am waiting for more of your inputs on other fights as well..
And i am also waiting for more input from the general users in this thread, hopefully, maybe i will have to adjust some of my bets based on opinions here since am still very new to UFC fights and don't have concrete knowledge of some of the fighters yet.

I'll be putting my predictions up closer to the event, however here are my early leans:

Israel for the reasons discussed at length above. Zhang Weili will likely have the advantage, since Carla will look to wrestle, but I've said before that Zhang's grappling ability is underestimated, and she has a rather large frame for the division. I think Dustin wipes the floor with Chandler, I'm quite surprised that the odds are so close as they are. Chandler is good, and has constant pressure, but Poirier has been absolute brilliant for a number of years now, beating some of the biggest names in the game.

That does not look like a fight of the year to me. I think it is easy to predict a winner here - Poirier. Because Chandler is overrated. Chandler, a master of wrestling, wont use that advantage over a pure striker like Poirier, and will be knocked out. Chandler should have stayed in Bellator. He was a champ there, but now is 2-2 in UFC, lost to every good opponent. Who has he beaten? Old Ferguson? Hooker, who has lost 4 out of 5 last fights. And Poirier, who has only lost by subs to a submission master like Khabib and Oliveira (if we take last 5-8 years).

Izzy is boring, because he has switched to being a counter striker in his last fights. The last time he has risked a lot were his fights against Gastelum and first fight against Whittaker imho. Maybe in a fight against Costa a bit. Since then, he has understood that with reach advantage, it is better to catch his opponent with a counter, then push forward.

Just two cents about his past two fights against Pereira. I have re-watched their fights recently. First fight - I think Izzy was better, connected more, but judges gave victory to Pereira. I cant say that it was Pereiras obvious victory. Lets say the better result for this fight would be draw. Second fight - it was also a close fight. And Izzy was winning it. Big gloves saved Pereira multiple times. Israel's problem that he has switch to southpaw, and it was easier to Pereira to connect his super strike - left hook. Re-watch the fight and see how Izzy easily defend from that left hood just by keeping his right arm higher, while in right handed stance. One mistake (stance change) and he did not have time to defend with straight right hand from that hook. Boom and it is over.

Pereira has knocked down to many people with left hook. He has perfect timing for that, that is his ultimate weapon. And since we all know what he is best at, train defence from that and that is it.

Izzy is a different fighter now though. You only have to watch it back, and you'll see Izzy do things he basically never does any more in the UFC. Plus, he's much less open to get attacked. He's mastered the distance management. The only time I really saw him struggle in recent fights was when he moved up the division, and Jan beat him. Although, that's because of the threat of a takedown. Alex isn't going to have that, or at the very least we don't think that will be his approach. If Alex takes Izzy down, I'll be absolutely shocked. Since, Izzy has some of the best takedown defense in the division, obviously moving up that wasn't so obvious since he was outweighed by a significant amount, which ultimately meant he lost the fight.

Izzy was even losing the striking battle against Jan due to the threat of a takedown. He'll be much more comfortable against Alex than Jan. Plus, he's basically dominated Alex before getting knocked out, so it's not like he doesn't know he can beat him. Due to this, I honestly believe we'll see Izzy fight the safest he's ever fought. I don't think Alex is the type of fighter to put it all on the line either, and chase that confrontation.

It might be boring for us fans, but Izzy is going to do what he needs to do to secure that win, and it'll likely be point fighting. I'm somewhat confident of the decision win from Izzy. It's just the odds aren't all that enticing. If they were closer to 2.80 I'd probably go for it.

I think it is absolutely up to him if he wants to entertain the fans or not. But obviously, the first important thing is to concentrate on the fight. And I think he does that well. If he was someone only with gimmicks and not enough good performances, I would have said something bad about that. But he is obviously one of the best. Bringing in some type of gimmick, I don’t think there is anything wrong with that. But honestly, sometimes I feel cringe watching his entrance. The only reason I don’t watch WWE is the amount of cringe I feel watching it.

However, it’s not about what I personally think if people find him funny and to see some more gimmicks I don’t have any problems with that it does not badly affect his performance.

Maybe Adesanya is not in perfect mental condition before this fight, he is thinking of coming back to light heavyweight division, if he completes the job in middleweight again.
It was cool to see Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira facing off before real faceoff on the roof of the Empire State Building check this short video  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nL2qKFyzYY

Same here.
There was a lot of boring fights and events in last few weeks, and they are all forgotten quickly.
Both Adesanya and Pereira need to perform best ever for different reasons, but rest of the card is also great.
There is Dominick Reyes vs Ryan Spann in Prelims, so don't miss this one guys.

Have you guys already watched the pre fight press conference?  If not watch it here...

It's nice because it's probably going to be the first fight in a long time where I get those pre fight jitters. I'm excited for that.

Now, if he does not win after all this, it is going to be really embarrassing. It might even be a big black spot in his career as well. That is going to put some added pressure on him.

They are all opinion base so we're split on whoever might win but the odds speak for it.
Some say Pereira is confident and has power and striking accuracy also, the guy comes from a humble beginning and is very hungry for success and he wants Adensanya's success also.

Adensanya's advantage is the long experience and speed. He already said he may not give us showmanship but will stick to his game plan to win. Alex could become aggressive as he always does and Izzy might just wait for a mistake.

I will be going for my picks like Weili and Chandler also, I think the two will have success in thier match.

I kinda like how Adesanya handled himself for this press conference.  He was just being himself, without the cringe and without all the big talk.  He was just authentic and real overall.  I hope to see more of it.  The big talk is getting old.  I mean it was good when he was new to the UFC and rising through the ranks.  But now?  Nope.

I think it is absolutely up to him if he wants to entertain the fans or not. But obviously, the first important thing is to concentrate on the fight. And I think he does that well. If he was someone only with gimmicks and not enough good performances, I would have said something bad about that. But he is obviously one of the best.

For many that I have seen here in the Forum, they say that the entrance of Israel Adesanya is more entertaining than his fight, and is sure sarcastic because they really don't like his entrance at all, for me, he can surely do whatever he wants he could surely ride an elephant while going into the octagon anything but for me do it with your own style for me borrowing the deadman's gimmick is really OK but I really don't like he does something like this again, I would surely like it plain and simple,

The hard fact is that he already knows some of Israel Adesanya's style and moves, and he probably going to get Adesanya into position if he knows Izzy's trigger to move in the way he likes, and if Israel Adesanya would surely go to that trap, then Alex Pereira would be controlling this fight, both fighters are known for their technicality and fight IQ, so the one that will be caught up in the trap will be the loser that is why Alex Pereira is dangerous for having that kind of level of technicality we will likely to see a great real fight for Israel Adesanya, that could also expose his defensive side,

They are all opinion base so we're split on whoever might win but the odds speak for it.
Some say Pereira is confident and has power and striking accuracy also, the guy comes from a humble beginning and is very hungry for success and he wants Adensanya's success also.

Adensanya's advantage is the long experience and speed. He already said he may not give us showmanship but will stick to his game plan to win. Alex could become aggressive as he always does and Izzy might just wait for a mistake.

I will be going for my picks like Weili and Chandler also, I think the two will have success in thier match.

Yeah, Alex is a hard read. We haven't really seen him challenged, however that's partly because his opponents have sort of played into his game. Sean Strickland basically sat on the centre line, and wanted to knock him out. He wasn't even moving his head. I literally saw that knockout coming before it even did, and I think a lot of other people did too. It would just crazy to think he went into the fight like that.

Bruno Silva is the best fight to watch to get a feel of his skill. However, Izzy isn't going to fight like Silva. Izzy doesn't really fight like anyone else. He's got a style of his own, and he's incredibly lanky (for a lack of a better word) for the division, which means he can score points in relative safety. I don't think Alex is going to get close to him personally, Izzy will be using leg kicks to keep the distance, and will have an escape route whenever Alex gets too close.

It's up to Alex if he wants to get close, and I'm not even sure how he's going to do it with how long limbed Izzy is, and the fact that you'd assume Izzy is better versed in takedown defense, and takedowns themselves. So, when you look at their previous bouts, Izzy had the upper hand until he didn't. If you take a look at their UFC records, then Izzy probably has the upper hand, but with the added benefit of being able to change things up if he wants too. He probably doesn't, but at least he has that card to play if he does find himself in trouble.

Alex seems to have okay takedown defense when we've seen it. Not brilliant, but not bad for someone who's relatively new to the UFC.

Let's not get into the conversation of real fighting, offering less money to the fighters because it's easy to fool people and people also want to be fooled.

Anyway, I am not against some fancy entries but I am also not for it as well. A fighter can do anything he wants as long as he is in the right state of mind and as long as it helps him win. But obviously, it will be better If the fighters actually concentrate on improving and how to defeat their opponent instead of trying to think about new ways of entering into the octagon. Having a larger amount of fans on your side is not going to help you win the fight, as this is UFC, not WWE. Israel Adesanya has a good technique and I think he could defeat his opponent this time.

Yeah, Alex is a hard read. We haven't really seen him challenged, however that's partly because his opponents have sort of played into his game. Sean Strickland basically sat on the centre line, and wanted to knock him out. He wasn't even moving his head. I literally saw that knockout coming before it even did, and I think a lot of other people did too. It would just crazy to think he went into the fight like that.

Bruno Silva is the best fight to watch to get a feel of his skill. However, Izzy isn't going to fight like Silva. Izzy doesn't really fight like anyone else. He's got a style of his own, and he's incredibly lanky (for a lack of a better word) for the division, which means he can score points in relative safety. I don't think Alex is going to get close to him personally, Izzy will be using leg kicks to keep the distance, and will have an escape route whenever Alex gets too close.

It's up to Alex if he wants to get close, and I'm not even sure how he's going to do it with how long limbed Izzy is, and the fact that you'd assume Izzy is better versed in takedown defense, and takedowns themselves. So, when you look at their previous bouts, Izzy had the upper hand until he didn't. If you take a look at their UFC records, then Izzy probably has the upper hand, but with the added benefit of being able to change things up if he wants too. He probably doesn't, but at least he has that card to play if he does find himself in trouble.

Alex seems to have okay takedown defense when we've seen it. Not brilliant, but not bad for someone who's relatively new to the UFC.