Topic: The UFC Info and Prediction Thread - page 61. (Read 100953 times)

I believe he wants to continue with sporadic fights and not a fixed contract. He must have fought on this card more because of Brazil and the money that was offered, I think it is unlikely that he will perform as a ranked fighter again

Have they removed Jose Aldo from the UFC rankings after the last fight or was he not ranked before that fight?
If he's indeed in the contract renewal talks with the UFC, they should probably keep him ranked until he signs up with another organisation or if the new contract negotiations fall through.

I think the biggest loser of the UFC 301 was Vitor Petrino. Many are not familiar with the name, but he was on the verge of jumping into the ranking and being considered for fights with big names. He had a lot of hype potential with his 11-0 record and a high finish ratio, so they gave him Anthony Smith, who seemed to be on the decline, but Smith derailed his hype-train with a first-round guillotine choke.

^  It doesn't really look that good but there are potential bangers in there.  The bangers from both sides could be Buckley vs Ruziboev and Menifield vs Ulberg.  One sided bangers could be coming from Lewis, Rebecki and Borshchev...  :/  Add in McKinney vs Ribovics in there too. 

I think Menifield is live here.  Not sure why he's lined at 2.85 after seeing how he did vs Jacoby.  Should be a bit closer imho.

UFC Free Fight:  Buckley vs Luque
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ8cEe4hItM

UFC on ESPN: Lewis vs. Nascimento



Date: May 11, 2024
Preliminary Card : SAT, MAY 11 / 11:00 PM GMT+3
Main Card: SUN, MAY 12 / 2:00 AM GMT+3

Venue: Enterprise Center

Main card (ESPN)
Heavyweight: Derrick Lewis vs. Rodrigo Nascimento            
Welterweight: Joaquin Buckley vs. Nursulton Ruziboev            
Light Heavyweight: Alonzo Menifield vs. Carlos Ulberg            
Lightweight: Carlos Diego Ferreira vs. Mateusz Rębecki            
Featherweight: Alex Caceres vs. Sean Woodson            
Heavyweight: Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Robelis Despaigne   

Preliminary card (ESPN)
Lightweight: Chase Hooper vs. Viacheslav Borshchev            
Lightweight:Terrance McKinney vs. Esteban Ribovics            
Women's Strawweight: Tabatha Ricci vs. Tecia Pennington            
Welterweight: Billy Goff vs. Trey Waters            
Flyweight: Charles Johnson vs. Jake Hadley            
Welterweight: Jared Gooden vs. Kevin Jousset            
Women's Flyweight: JJ Aldrich vs. Veronica Hardy      

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC_on_ESPN:_Lewis_vs._Nascimento

They were really two very intense fights and I'm happy that Jose Aldo is back and showing that he came with everything he needs to win. And is it just me or does Pantoja always like long fights and lots of beatings?

Jose Aldo has prepared himself very well, this was the last match of his contract, he has rehabilitation himself very nice after the defeat against Merab Dvalishvili, I did not think he would be this fast and sharp. I think he will continue, his desire to continue is evident from his desire to fight. Alexandre Pantoja - Steve Erceg match was an intense 25-minute fight. Even though there were close rounds, Pantoja won at home in Brazil. There may have been a bias here. Steve Erceg has proven himself with his endurance and striking and will come again, at least for the belt.

I don’t know why but the UFC 301 did not feel like a great UFC event for me. I am someone who wants to see a second or third-round knockout. That was missing. But at the same time, I guess I cannot say that just because of that that UFC event was not good. I guess the fighters that I actually enjoy watching fighting were missing in this UFC event. Or maybe I guess the fighters that I enjoy watching, are actually not fighting or not that good anymore. Just like the great rapper Eminem said, ”And there’s a million of us just like me
Who cuss like me, who just don’t give a fuck like me
Who dress like me, walk, talk, and act like me
And just might be the next best thing but not quite me”.

Khabib retired, Connor is not in his prime anymore, Tony is not himself anymore. Yes, Jose Aldo did have a fight but he is already 37. Or maybe I’m just too old.

Yes, the new fighters might be great but they are not the ones we grew up watching.

Fun fact about Steve Erceg - he has started his career almost at the same time as Belal Muhammad. Erceg never said a word about title fight and got it. Belal talked a lot about it (even wore a tshirt with sign "I am next") and still is not even close to having a title fight lol I think I will stop making fun of Belal only if he wins belt and defends it.

It is a strange result of what happened with the fights it seems like there is a bias with the Main event but the Co-main event was won by Jose Aldo Smoothly

Alexandre Pantoja VS Steve Erceg

It seems that Steve Erceg is something Alexandre Pantoja's nightmare it was a close match but a very controversial match just because the champion was fighting on his home turf the judges will get the scoring incorrect that is right I have said that Alexander Pantoja could win this one but apparently I was wrong he surely wins but what I saw was a complete robbery as Pantoja does have a cut this means that Steve Erceg really is something not to take lightly and that he has an effective striking than Pantoja and not only that I saw some slick grappling from Alexandre Pantoja and even though Erceg does not win this fight for me he is great and in the future, he might get this belt next.

Jonathan Martinez VS José Aldo

That was still a master-class performance for Jose Aldo and I was really wrong about him Jonathan Martinez is still a Newbie and needs a real beating and I think it is a good thing that Aldo was the one he is fighting as fighting Jose Aldo can surely make him increase in experience with the striking as just like what happens with Marlon Vera for sure those accurate striking and accurate kicks were too nasty for Jonathan Martinez and I admit I was really wrong with this but Jose Aldo reaching the belt that is what I am doubting to happen.

^  Yeah he opted for the low risk route.  Aldo knew that if he took Martinez down he'll def get R3 and therefore win the match if it was 1 - 1 after R2.  Eazy peazy.

Here are the results.

Alexandre Pantoja def Steve Erceg  UD
Jose Aldo def Jonathan Martinez  UD
Anthony Smith def Vitor Petrino  SUB R1
Michel Pereira def Ihor Potieria  SUB R1
Caio Borralho def Paul Craig  KO R2
Joanderson Brito def Jack Shore  TKO R2
Iasmin Lucindo def Karolina Kowalkiewicz  UD
Myktybek Orolbai def Elves Brener  UD
Drakkar Klose def Joaquim Silva   Decision  UD
Maurício Ruffy def Jamie Mullarkey  TKO R1
Dione Barbosa def Ernesta Kareckaitė  UD
Ismael Bonfim def Vinc Pichel  UD
Alessandro Costa def Kevin Borjas  TKO R2

UFC 301:  Post Fight Press Conference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGN6xqHpV2A

Some things I learned from the event is Erceg is the real deal even though he lost.  He's pretty good and would likely bet on him in his next match ups.  

Aldo man...  He still has it.  Don't think he'll win vs the elite at 135 tho.

Petrino might either be a can or just needs more time.

Orolbai future title challenger?  Maybe in a couple of years?

Ruffy is pretty good.  Another prospect.  We'll see.

Aldo still this fast avoiding back fist? https://twitter.com/mmaSharke/status/1786968251538268298

he could have knocked the boy down like a log since his feet almost did the chicken dance but also took him down instead and allowed this boy to recover.

This shows how retarded his team is.
According to the video, his weight was 143 pounds. For a non-title bout, he's allowed to weigh +1 pound above the official limit, so 146.
So if his near-collapse was indeed due to cutting weight, they MASSIVELY overdid it.
We could speculate on whether they were using some uncalibrated scale, but he showed up with shorts and t-shirt (so extra weight), meaning they knew he was below the limit.


This statement confirms he's afraid to fight Tom, as he knows Tom is younger, more energetic and has skills that could be enough to defeat him. So now he's just trying to boost up his record with fights he knows he's going to win. Stipe is way past his prime and all he'd have to do against Pereira is to take him down like he did to Gane.

If he refuses to fight Tom after the Stipe fight (assuming he wins) he should either be retired or, at the very least, stripped of his title.

I didn't know that Jose Aldo was really active in some boxing matches and against Dvalishvili, but still, I am not changing my take that Jonathan Martinez can win this because for me it is still different to be active inside the octagon and with the sparring but I believe it that an older fighter really needs to unwind or rejuvenate themselves get the best possible version of themselves but for me, I still think it will depend but after seeing your take on this maybe there is a part of me that was leaning on Jose Aldo because for sure he is a better striker because of this boxing.

Now here are my thoughts on who's what I think will win and what may happen with the fight.

Alexandre Pantoja VS Steve Erceg

My thoughts on this fight I think that Steve Erceg never fought someone this good and that good is actually Pantoja for sure there is value in the odds that Alexander Pantoja has in this fight his grappling is really insane that messing Brandon Moreno and Brandon Royval with their strategy even though Steve Erceg had a good takedown defense but for me, it hasn't been tested yet and Alexander Pantoja is a great source to test his takedown defense for sure and I really think he never has faced a grappler like Pantoja so for me I Lean on Alexander Pantoja in this fight I really think he is a better grappler and striker than Steve Erceg.

Jonathan Martinez VS José Aldo

Is there a possibility that Jose Aldo would use enhanced drugs we can all agree that USADA is not around so there could be a possibility he could use that to his advantage but for sure Jonathan Martinez is younger than Aldo anything as he is still learning to fighter and he can surely improve in this fight as many have also improved while fighting Jose Aldo but for sure even though Jose Aldo has a better striking than Martinez I still think that Jonathan Martinez might still get this I really think he is faster than Aldo now.

William Gomis is out of UFC 301 after he almost collapsed on scale!
This shows again how crazy cutting weight in UFC is: https://youtu.be/tNcdrMIBzio

There is one interesting proposal from Jon Jones to fight against Alex Pereira, but fight would need to happen in heavyweight division.
I would like to see this two guys in octagon but I dont think Pereira is ready to fight big guns yet, not so long ago he was in middleweight category fighting with Adesanya last year.
Pereira won UFC titles in middleweight and light heavyweight, so it would be amazing if he could do it in heayvweight, but I think it is still early for him to make this switch.

Take a look at his Tapology page...  Aldo had three boxing matches in between his last UFC match vs Dvalishvili and this one vs Jonathan Martinez.  So he isn't totally inactive.  And the thing with older fighters is sometimes they need some extra time away to rejuvenate themselves.  But yeah, we'll see if time away from the UFC did him well.

https://www.tapology.com/fightcenter/fighters/jose-aldo-junior

Here are the weigh in vid and the results.  One fight was cancelled Silva vs Gomis due to a weight cut issue on Gomis' side.

UFC 301:  Ceremonial Weigh Ins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSQDK2zHDWI

Alexandre Pantoja (125) vs Steve Erceg (125)
Jose Aldo (136) vs Jonathan Martinez (136)
Vitor Petrino (206) vs Anthony Smith (205.5)
Michel Pereira (186) vs  Ihor Potieria (185)
Caio Borralho (186) vs Paul Craig (185)
Joanderson Brito (146) vs Jack Shore (145.5)
Karolina Kowalkiewicz (116) vs Iasmin Lucindo (116)
Elves Brener (156) vs Myktybek Orolbai (155.5)
William Gomis (143.5) vs Jean Silva (146)
Klose (156) vs Joaquim Silva (155.5)
Jamie Mullarkey (155) vs Mauricio Ruffy (156)
Dione Barbosa (126) vs Ernesta Kareckaite (125.5)
Ismael Bonfim (156) vs Vinc Pichel (156)
Kevin Borjas (125.5) vs Alessandro Costa (125)

And last call to jeremypwr's Multi Master.  Good luck guys.

UFC 301:  Multi Master Challenge
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/sportsbetio-ufc-301-multi-master-challenge-4-may-5494701

Edit:  As for bets if I get to load my account on time...  I'm broke, all my coins are locked farming airdrops.  Lmao.  I'd go for Brito at 1.60, Brenner at 3.15, Perreira and Pantoja parlay at 1.82, then Aldo at 2.21.  NFA.

For sure Diego Lopez got approval from Dana White so why is Dana White letting this happen, for sure Diego Lopez deserves better and not this kind of treatment there is no one that got hurt in the process while Arman Tsarukyan is the one that has hurt a fan for sure that fan will surely want something from their favorite fighter sometimes they get too excited that they doesn't know what have they done and a UFC fighters fist is pretty much lethal so they are not allowed to swing it around like that.


What I think about this, is despite MMA being their fashion or they really like MMA more than just boxing, there is also a technicality when it comes to MMA and boxing so money doesn't matter at all or MMA is what they really want and like Michael Bisping has said there is a huge chance to get a head concussion in Boxing than with the UFC as we got rules that prohibited from damaging the head that much, than with UFC that will immediately stop the fight when the referee could see that the other fighter will get annihilated by the other one.


I doubt Jose Aldo can win against Jonathan Martinez for me the younger fighter had a huge chance of winning this but for me, if Aldo can get a chance to win this then I think this is a good setup for him to retire with a great win but for me, I am really doubting Aldo to win this as I have bet for Jonathan Martinez for sure.

I think that the fight Michel Pereira VS Ihor Potieria and Caio Borralho VS Paul Craig will be a great fight for sure as for me Michel Pereira and Caio Borralho both have huge chance in winning their fight in my opinion.

I really believe in Jose Aldo, but all this time and this return to the Octagon without much ceremony makes me very apprehensive. I hope he comes back with everything and that he convinces in this fight. If he doesn't fight, everyone loses.

Has been a long time since the last fight from the last José Aldo's fight, we are talking about 2 years without a fight, is nice to see him back to action, he used to be a great fighter and for sure he will give us a nice show.

Another 2 great fights on this UFC 301 will be, the one from Michel Pereira and the one from Caio Borralho, both of them should be easy money. And for the main event I'm not sure what to expect, steve has a record of 12-1-0, so, anything could happen on that one.

Remember kids: Instagram is not reality Anyone can look splendorous in front of a borrowed car.

I'm not sure if he lives in Armenia or Russia, but 126k can get you much further there. But the sad part is, he'll probably have to pay close to 40% tax on it and pay off his team from whatever's left. And then there's that 28k penalty...

I really hope for him there's some other, additional pay he'll be getting, i.e. contingent on ticket/PPV sales etc.


That's true, at least to some degree. I believe some fighters that joined UFC from other organisations, like KSW, had to accepted worse pay than they were getting there, but did that for the sport/glory and maybe for a hope of really high earnings later on. When you establish yourself at the top, and have leverage to re-negotiate your contract etc, that's when the real money start flowing in. I guess young Arman is not there yet.

Here's the thing tho...  The guys who get into MMA and stay long in it to really make a living out of it have a different mindset than guys who fight in boxing.  They have some sort of mental illness as they're not totally there just for the money.  They're in it to fight and test their skills.  It's the guys who reach some level of success that become kinda whiney about money.  I mean how come these guys still fight at a high level like they do despite getting paid less money than boxing?  :/  

Anyway, live weigh ins is ongoing and ceremonial weigh ins a few hours later.  

UFC 301:  Live Weigh In
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKMpLP0QtyE

UFC 301:  Ceremonial Weigh In
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSQDK2zHDWI