Topic: The UFC Info and Prediction Thread - page 6. (Read 96724 times)

İbo Aslan's UFC adventure is going very well. I hope he goes to the top ranks, he has potential.
He had Gökhan Saki in his corner, İbo Aslan said he felt much better with Gökhan Saki in his corner.
I believe we will see him in the top 10, I hope so, his rise in the UFC will have a big impact on the spread of mma in Türkiye.

Forget Topuria, he wasn't a billinoner, If he was that rich, I don't think he would do mma. Fighters usually decide to become fighters because they live in bad conditions, the best example is the Bronxs.

DDP vs Chim will be a badass, because we will see first time when DDP special ability to eat damage without taking any damage wont work I close my eyes and already see how Chimaev starts the fight with a double leg takedown, takes DDP to the fence and searches for position to choke DDP. A good chance to avenge Tills, Chimaevs friend, loss Funny how nobody gives a damn about Strickland, who is #1 and lost to champ only by split decision, and havent fought for 5 months.

Got some bad news:

Dana White in Trouble as Belal Muhammad Out of UFC 310 Fight Against Shavkat Rakhmonov

Their fight supposed to be last big fight and numeral event in 2024.

That's possible...  No need to talk trash to get attention as he prolly has some verbal agreement set in place with the UFC that he's getting the next title shot.  And it makes sense from a business perspective as DPP vs Chim would be much more of a draw than a rematch vs Strickland.  And with Strickland being a company man, he'll give way and give the opportunity to Chimaev.

DDP vs Chim at South Africa...  Chim at enemy territory.  That would be badass!

UFC Free Fight:  Namajunas vs Cortez
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0IshCjFov4

UFC Free Fight:  Blanchfield vs Andrade
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGkVLmpSL0E

My two cents.

This wasnt prime Usman. In fact Usman fought on a short notice. If they would have meet in 2019-2020, the result might be different. How do you imagine fight against Pereira would go? Chimaev makes a take down, then submits Pereira? It will be really hard to do, as Pereira has advantage in every stat Reach, weight, height, striking power. Just imagine if Chimaev jumps for one or two legs takedown, and Pereira welcomes that with a knee. If Pereira now feels himself comfortable in LH, then Chimaev will lose lot of speed. In addition to his regular health problems, imho Chimaev will lose all his advantages. He looked huge for welterweight, above average in middleweight, and he would be small against Pereira.

Is this really true though?
There aren't that many billionaires (with a "b") in the world so it would be quite a news. Unless we're talking in terms of some obscure, super-cheap currency.
Quick google search tells me his net worth in few million dollars, so pretty much in line with what you'd expect from a newly made UFC champion. I couldn't find any information about his parents being filthy rich. His wiki page only says they were refugees from Georgia.
Chat GPT also disagrees:

MAybe you confused him with someone else, or maybe he was trolling.

I didn't see any surprise results at UFC 308... I especially followed Ibo Aslan. He had a very fast finish. He trained with former kickboxer Gökhan Saki. If he gets better rankings, the popularity of this organization in Turkiye will increase. Dana White said that if more fighters from Turkiye get to this level, one day we can have this event in Turkiye. That's why I care about Ibo Aslan. His knockout in less than 15 seconds was great. He is an important fighter for us...


Apart from that, I think Khamzat can dominate all 3 weight classes respectively... He fought Burns on the feet. He took down Kamaru Usman. He has no limits... Robert Whittaker's weakness was his chin. Khamzat went for Whittaker knowing that, but even without Whittaker's weakness, Khamzat would have still won. He is a very good fighter on the feet and on the ground. I know he will beat DDP, Izzy and Sean, I imagine him against Potan...

I noticed that Chiamev has calmed down mentally. From what I heard, he had a medical process and his child had a medical process at the same time.
I know that they went to Sweden for treatment at that time. I hope the child's health has improved.
I believe that his calming down will improve his fight, he can stay calmer and make better decisions in fights.
People can change in an instant in situations such as illness and loss, and we have seen its manifestation as normal.

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.