Topic: The UFC Info and Prediction Thread - page 357. (Read 100100 times)

These are all pretty good match ups with most of them close to 50/50 on paper and some of them could even see the dogs winning imho.  Match ups like Jack Shore vs Timur Valiev should be closer imho.  So is Krylov vs Paul Craig...  And I know the roster was made months prior to the date of the even but man it looks like there could be 5 matches either canceled or with those Russian fighters replaced on short notice.  Sucks if so because this is a banger of a card.  Fighter to watch is Topuria and of course Aspinall.  Aspinall could challenge for the HW title in a year or so.

Edit:  Another fighter to watch is Dan Hooker who moved down to 145 for this event.

I also think the same, Ben Askren is just weak than Masvidal, I really never expected much from Jorge Masvidal especially when he's doing crazy things in life, and expecting that he's going to win a fight without hard work is pretty much obvious he's not getting to his game anymore, and without dedication in what he does, and no progress at all, and pretty much Covington is very well rounded when it comes to striking, and wrestling, and from what I see on Masvidal performance and all those lost, I really think that he will lose against Covington,


I also think that Thiago Santos is not that too Excited about what and he surely needs a retirement but his good against Ankalaev but not that great a 38 years old against 29 years old is something that we need to see here, Santos will surely not do much against fighter much younger than him anymore but he surely withstand Ankalaev very much, with Thiago Santos performance from the past against Jon Jones, Glover Teixeira, Aleksandar Rakić, and this fight it is all not that much explosion for Santos, and with his win against Johnny Walker I really think Johnny Walker could win it if Walker decided to go his own path, but he listens to his coach that is how good of a listener Johnny Walker is, but for a Thiago Santos fight I think he would win it if he shows much explosion than Santos.

Dana White has not signed the rules banning Russian fighters so far, but sanctions on several countries have barred tourists from Russia. Dana white is looking for alternatives to get Volkov to the country sooner to avoid possible sanctions ahead of his fight on March 19 at the O2 Arena.

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https://www.sportbible.com/mma/dana-white-gives-update-on-status-of-russian-fighters-20220302

Eagle FC is an alternative choice for the popular stage if Russian fighters have been banned from the UFC, Eagle FC will be even more jarring when many former Russian fighters will grace the Eagle FC octagon facing off against the EFC champions fighters.

Agreed, I think UFC is the clever one amongst all other sports bodies. Because UFC knows if they Ban the Russian fighters they will lose a lot of their viewership as well as revenue. And honestly, everyone knows banning the Russian fighters is not going to do anything actually.

In my opinion, they are just trying to make the Ukrainian president look like a brave guy and make themselves look innocent.

Eagle FC will need more sponsors to pay for bigger fighters. The ones they can afford recently are the ones that are actaully out of the game. It is however acceptable for the Russian MMA fighters to fight under Eagle than having no fights at all if they are all banned because of the politics in sports today. FIFA and UEFA suspend Russian teams, it's not a pretty story but I wouldn't scratch out the possibility that it will also happen in any sports if this war prolongs.

That's exactly why Dana White is not banning Russian fighters. He knows very well that if he bans them and Eagle Fighting Championship will sign them, 

The Eagle FC is going to be really big because these Russian fighters make up a lot of the revenues that are generated in the UFC. And then Dana White is going to have a potential opponent to think about in my opinion. I am quite sure that Khabib Nurmagomedov has the ability to afford the fighters a lot of money.

I thought the event was brilliant, probably one of the best in recent memory. There was comebacks, domination, and tight fights. It basically had everything, except for a entertaining main event. I do find that though, the main event is typically very cagey, since usually there's more on the line. Just think how hard fighters find it to get headline a event, let alone keep on headlining.

I'm a fan of Thiago, but I do think its time he potentially hangs up the gloves. He's always dangerous because of his power, however the days of him being in entertaining fights is largely gone. Now we only see little bursts of excitement from him. Although, I must say I think he did well against an opponent who is held in high regard.

I think that Russian athletes in any sports, whether it's football or MMA or any other, should not suffer because the politicians of their country decided to invade Ukraine. We all talked a lot about sports being out of politics. But at the end of the day, all the sports are controlled by politicians. So, the effect on the players are quite inevitable.




Actually, it's true that the fighters or other sportsmen in any other sports don't agree with the war. So, I don't find any reasons to ban them. And I think that dumb people who are in authority should understand that banning the Russian sportsman is going to make the situation worse.




Masvidal vs Ben Askren is obviously a memorable knockout. But I think Masvidal was always some steps ahead of Ben Askren. Masvidal is a lot stronger and Ben Askren only had a little wrestling in him. I think the KO was really unexpected even for Masvidal. And Masvidal is not going to improve because a person who is not dedicated and goes to parties and clubs at 5:00 a.m. in the morning when he has a fight next week obviously is not going to improve as a fighter.

Not a very satisfying performance but he survived the 5 rounds though. It must be discouraging after not accomplishing to win the biggest fight of thier career that after losing Jones fight, they tend to struggle the next and eventually lose hope for another belt fight. I was hoping Santos would win since Magomed is not a knockout guy.

Enjoyed the whole event though. Fights that you won't expect to have a brutal end like the flying knees of Azamat. Watching a big guy doing that is spectacular.

If UFC fires Russian fighters, EFC league, that belongs to Khabib Nurmagomedov will sign them with open hands. I think Dana White understands that and dont want to lose that piece of his industry. I am pretty much sure that Khabib can offer them good salary, as I think he can get support from his UAE friends.

Yeah, I don't mind chess matches per say, but this was particularly uneventful, like I said I think that Thiago had the best moment of the fight with the knockdown, however this isn't a fight we'll be talking about next week, let alone further down the line.

Yeah, although I'm not usually skeptical like that. I think it's more likely to be down to aging, and the fact that he has had some pretty serious knee surgeries, and at his age his knees are going to be naturally hurting from the amount of punishment they've taken over the years, that will only be exaggerated by the surgeries. I don't think he's going to be in the UFC much longer.

They will not do so because as we can see the competition in this industry are tight and there are lots of MMA association who will willing to get those Russian fighters if ever they will boycott which might lead to UFC's demise when all the spectators will prepare to watch those Russian fighters in the other MMA association. They're using their heads here by not joining those so-called concerned citizens who in reality are just playing the game as well.

Now that the UFC Fight Night: Santos VS Ankalev has finally settled, I didn't make a bet or watch the event yet, because I was bored and busy, but another event has emerged and this is

UFC Fight Night Volkov vs. Aspinall

March 19, 2022, The O2 Arena in London, England.



Main Card

Heavyweight   Alexander Volkov   vs.   Tom Aspinall
Featherweight   Arnold Allen   vs.   Dan Hooker
Lightweight   Paddy Pimblett   vs.   Rodrigo Vargas
Heavyweight   Shamil Abdurakhimov   vs.   Sergei Pavlovich
Light Heavyweight   Nikita Krylov   vs.   Paul Craig
Welterweight   Gunnar Nelson   vs.   Takashi Sato

Preliminary Card

Lightweight   Jai Herbert   vs.   Ilia Topuria
Flyweight   Muhammad Mokaev   vs.   Cody Durden
Featherweight   Mike Grundy   vs.   Makwan Amirkhani   
Women's Flyweight   Molly McCann   vs.   Luana Carolina
Bantamweight   Jack Shore   vs.   Timur Valiev
Women's Strawweight   Cory McKenna   vs.   Elise Reed
Bantamweight   Nathaniel Wood   vs.   Vince Morales

All Information was from WIKI

Have you spot the recurring theme here, any fighter who put up a good fight with Jon Jones end up in a shitty phase after that fight, may be a burn out even after giving their best performance and still end up loosing, Alexander Gustafsson, Anthony Smith, Thiago Santos, Dominick Reyes and these fighters are struggling, once a title contender against Jon Jones and showcased heart and gave him a good fight but now these fighters are on a loosing streak and never peaked after the Jon Jones fight.

@Welsh. If we can be very honest, the fight was very boring for a light heavyweight fight between 2 fighters who are in the top 10. I am not certain what the other fighters are hyping in their posts in social media.

https://www.mmanews.com/2022/03/fighters-react-to-ankalaev-outlasting-santos-at-ufc-vegas-50/

I reckon if Ankalaev challenged Glover Teixeira tomorrow my bet would certainly be on Glover Teixeira. Ankalaev clearly did not show anything in this fight vs. Thiago Santos.

Thiago was close to finishing the fight, however he hasn't been the same fighter since those knee surgeries. Thought that both fighters were a little too gun shy today, obviously being cautious as they know the power of one, and another. I think the decision going against Thiago was probably justified, although I did think he had at least the best chance of ending the fight on the night.

Absolute banger of a card, glad I didn't put an accumulator on this weekend, too many fights swinging in momentum between rounds wouldn't have been good for the heart. On another note, looking forward to the next event, Jack Shore, and Mckenna fighting, which you can bet your buck, I'll be routing for them to win. Think Jack Shore at current odds is a very good bet.

That win of Jorge Masvidal to Ben Askren was just a fluke, Ben Askren was totally surprised, and out of nowhere that knee really connected but Jorge Masvidal's KO to Ben Askren will never likely happen again because some fighters are really expecting it now, and I really think that Ben Askren is really weaker than Masvidal no doubt about it, Ben Askren will never stand a chance in stand-up but when in the ground Ban Askren could surely put a fight so Masvidal score that fluke shot on Askren,

There is no point in banning Russian fighters, and what I think on the war over Russia and Ukraine was their problem alone and the UN is not really helping out and both of these countries they had their fault not only Russia,

Well, that fight will be epic, but unfortunately, Dana White happen and is likely What Dana wants Dana will surely get, and we fans was just on the corner and never really get what we want.

The UFC will not play politics and they never said they will be banning Russian fighters. There are many critics out there calling for the boycott of the UFC if they do not ban Russian fighters but i doubt Dana White will listen to those and if there is a visa issue with Russian fighters in the fighters they will move the card to UAE and all of the events in the UAE were a grand success.

I think I'm just going to put a small amount on Thiago Santos by TKO today. Them most probable outcome is a decision win going against him, however you can never count out his power, and with the odds definitely reflecting what most people are expecting, I couldn't pass it up.

All the other fights on this card I consider very hit, and miss. Could go either way, I've made predictions in another thread, but really that's just a shot in the dark. I'm not overly confident putting out predictions for users to follow here, so I'm just going to sit back, relax, and enjoy this one.

Magomed Ankalaev is a Russian but he is fighting. I guess ban lifted already?


The way Damon drags his feet to face Kirk, yes he seems yet not aware where he is. People with hypertension feel lightheaded when they sit for a very long time and suddenly get up. 
It's Pereira and Silva that I think is more exciting to watch. Will try to see if I can win but will just pick a few Thiago Santos, Yadong, and Pereira. It's their fights that I'm gonna expect knockouts.