Topic: The UFC Info and Prediction Thread - page 65. (Read 96930 times)

Thanks! I was shocked that Alexander Volkanovski lost to Ilia Topuria but that was one great fight Alexander did great in the 1st rounds while in the 2nd round, Topuria was taking the right timing and in the 2nd round he was more consistent and he also knew the reach of Topuria for him to see an opening to Volkanovski's striking that pocket boxing really help him against Volk, I was wrong with the Main Event but any fighter can win, Volkanovski can also win that fight with those high kicks as Topuria was nearly knockout in the past.

now Robert Whittaker and Merab Dvalishvili did a great job of making great performances in the Octagon and I really like what they have done with their opponents Costa was like a different person, and I can say he also has improved but Robert Whittaker has just way ahead of him, while Merab Dvalishvili is certainly amazing Merab is like a mini Khabib with his performance against Henry Cejudo.


Not interested aswell, but if it was a Main-Event card maybe an Alexa Grasso VS Valentina Shevchenko or Erin Blanchfield maybe I will watch that fight, but the other kitten fight many of you keep talking about here I am not really watching or just skipping the fight, BMF title is just the worst addition and I think the UFC should not create it in the 1st place, Title belt is just good enough but for the sake of entertainment they have already made something like this and it is on Jorge Masvidal's level of liking.

Guys, I watched Dvalishvili's recent fights again today and I'm dead serious, this guy is not natural, he either has a lung anomaly or takes enormous amount of EPO. Guy doesn't tire, he can fight round after round without losing stamina, he fights like he is a robot. I know that's why they call him The Machine but I still don't know what to say, I am under huge impression.
Just watch this video from reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/ufc/comments/11p403p/its_no_joke_when_they_said_merab_has_infinite/
This guy is unreal!

^  Lol...  Not sure about that.  I think Hill could beat Prochazka and be a tad more dominant doing it.  The thing with Hill is he's fundamentally sound...  No bs kind of fighting, he just keeps it simple.  But his time away from fighting could be a factor tho.  That's I'm leaning Pereira.


Yup same here...  But it is what it is.  I just like to see these guys throw leather and make small bets for fun.  But besides the main event the rest of the roster is awesome tho.  Better than most of what we had at 2023.

If the UFC had pulled off Jones vs Aspinall as the main event, I'd say it's close to perfect.

Anyway, here are some replays of some of the fighters at this weekend's event.  Enjoy...

UFC Free Fight:  Moreno vs Royval
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLp0BUUNP7M

UFC Free Fight:  Rodriguez vs Ortega
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nop6J8uY6Ls

Hill wasnt cherry picked, but he is most suitable and easy (imo) opponent for Pereira in current top3 of light heavyweight division. The fight with Prochazka was close. If it wasnt return after pause/injury, and if Jiri would had a fight (like a warm up) before, I think their fight with Pereira would be different. At least it wasnt that obvious that Pereira looked better every second in octagon. Ankalaev - toughest match for Pereira. Why UFC did not give him Ankalaev? I think UFC dont like him That fight against Blachowicz was a robbery for Maga.

Good for you. I think Merab Dvalishvili will have a big chance of grabbing the bantamweight belt as well if given a chance. He's currently a number one contender so very likely will get the next title shot against the winner of O'Malley Vs Vera.

Just curious, do you guys perceive Topuria as your own? He's presented in the media more as a Spaniard and likes to talk about bringing the UFC to Spain etc. Does he even have any strong ties to Georgia, speak the language etc?

Congratulations! You got yourself a UFC champion, especially for a country with only over 3 million population. Those were amazing victories. I also won my bet on Ilia so I had my little celebration that day. Maybe it is time for you to follow combat sports.

I just think Ilia came in at the right time. There's no way Volk was back in himself after suffering that head kick a few months ago. Although Volk can only blame himself for accepting the huge Middle East offer, which was a 10-day notice and it was not even enough to properly cut down in weight. Volk will never be mentally the same.

Merab Dvalishvili deserved a title shot but the UFC is a profit first oriented company. He was beating former world champions and even if Cejudo was not injured he would still dominate that fight. I wonder when he gets a title shot, Pink Poodle seems to be popular and can generate big money for the UFC for as long as he holds a belt.

Haha, I had identical thoughts, granted I was following UFC much less back then than I am today.


In this particular case, Hill was an undisputed champ and vacated the title due to injury, so the UFC kind of owes him a title fight, so he's definitely not been cherry-picked.
And to be fair to Pereira, he faced some opponents who knew a thing or two about the ground game, e.g. Strickland, who has a solid wrestling background but chose to fight in stand-up and got KOed, or Blachowicz, who has a black belt in BJJ but was not very successful in takedown attempts.
And he's not the only champ who managed to get to the top only with striking (O'Malley, Adesanya etc).

I don't watch UFC and this is the first time I posted in this thread but what happened on February 17, 2024, was phenomenal. Merab Dvalishvili and Ilia Topuria, both of them Georgians, from my country, won the fight. Topuria became the first Georgian to become the champion of UFC and I believe that Merab Dvalishvili will become the second Georgian who will also become the UFC Champion.
This is simply amazing, both fighters made Georgians very proud. Not only did they win the fight and make the country more popular but many people made a bet on them and got good money in return.

I just saw the Pereira vs Hill fight. But seriously, is that a UFC 300 match? Is this the main event? Does Dana want to ruin UFC Fight week? I mean, everyone sees UFC 300 as a milestone or opening gate to the UFC's 300th series. This is like UFC at the end of the year which should present very exciting fights. I'm not disparaging either fighter but we all know there are other fights that are more worthy of being fought at UFC 300, right? Unless Dana just makes UFC 300 like UFC fight week in general.

With all that noise UFC created they finally revealed main event for UFC 300 and I am not that excited to watch Alex Pereira vs Jamahal Hill.
In my book Pereira is absolute favorite in this fight, but let's see how they both handle five round championship fight.
I am not going to make anything final an set, as we know that things can change quickly, and there is plenty of time until April.
Prochazka vs Rakic is one I am expecting to be the best fight in this event

Well. Since I am not interested in kitten fighting, BMF title isnt really worth much. There is only one huge fight (title fight), while others are simply great fight. Because we are spoiled by huge fight lately, UFC is just a bit better than a grear event. But for me it is far away from one of the greatest events among 201-299 previous. That is why I did not want to speculate on main even. Because I knew I would get disappointed. I also would expect something like Jones fighting, or JSP return, or someone esle makes a farewell fight, or a huge celebrity would take a fight, or Jake Paul debut

Yup same...  I really thought the UFC was gonna get a bunch of money and deploy Jon Jones to fight Tom Aspinall.  That would've been a sweet champ vs interim champ match up for sure.  Buf can't really complain since the PPV card is stacked.  We got Weili vs Xiaonan, Gaethje vs Holloway for the BMF, Charles Oliveira vs Tsarukyan, Prochazka vs Rakic a match that should've happened a long time ago and Kattar vs Sterling??  Can't complain...  This is a great card.  And even the prelim is like a main card with awesome match ups.

On to the next event...  Decent card imho.

Date:  Saturday, Feb 24
Main Card (ESPN/ESPN+):  9:00pm EST
Preliminary Card (ESPN/ESPN+):  7:00pm EST
Venue:  Arena CDMX, Mexico City
Live Streams:  



Main Card (ESPN/ESPN+)
Brandon Moreno vs Brandon Royval            
Yair Rodríguez vs Brian Ortega            
Daniel Zellhuber vs Francisco Prado            
Raul Rosas Jr. vs Ricky Turcios            
Yazmin Jauregui vs Sam Hughes            
Manuel Torres vs Chris Duncan

Preliminary Card (ESPN/ESPN+)
Cristian Quiñonez vs Raoni Barcelos            
Jesus Santos Aguilar vs Mateus Mendonça            
Edgar Chairez vs Daniel Lacerda            
Claudio Puelles vs Fares Ziam            
Luis Rodriguez vs Denys Bondar            
Victor Altamirano vs Felipe dos Santos            
Erik Silva vs Muhammad Naimov   

Loss against Makhachev and loss against Topuria in a row was a huge disaster for him, especially since he played old retired grandpa's role. His career probably ends here, if he continues fighting, I'm afraid he will follow the path of Tony Ferguson.

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I couldn't post yesterday because I actually flew to the USA with my friends to see this fight. It was amazing, a phenomenal fight. Main event was Volkanovski vs Topuria but oh my god, Dvalishvili was such a beast, I got super impressed with what he did. He was playing with Henry Cejudo like cat plays with the mouse. I just don't believe to my eyes.
Both, Topuria and Dvalishvili are Georgians, this was amazing performance from Georgians. Dagestan has already conquered the UFC, I think the next country that will conquer it will be Georgia (a friend of mine told me that Topuria is from Georgia but I am still confused ).

To be honest, it makes me kinda curious how people from these small and poor countries dominate this sport.

You hit it perfectly when you have said that Jamahal Hill isnt super popular. Before he became a champ, I wasnt even following him much. I think I have watched only 1 fight before he had that fight for a belt. When he became a champ, I was like who this guy is? Why is he even fighting for a belt? Why is he a champ? When his fight against Pereira was announced, I was disappointed, because marvellous striker Pereira got a striker opponent. For me, it looks like another present for Pereira. His whole career in UFC looks like another kickboxing fight with additional rules. 

Finally! That was a long wait.
The main event might not be as exciting as some were expecting, as Jamahal Hill was not super popular even when he became a champ, and was a bit forgotten during his absence, but it's still a good fight, plus, there are other fights on the main card that are even more interesting, i.e. Gaethje Vs Holloway or Oliveirs Vs Tsarukyan.
I'd say that's good enough and think we could say that the UFC delivered on their promise.

The odds for Pereira Vs Hill are not in yet, but I expect Pereira to be the favourite (maybe not a massive one, but still).

However, the UFC's partner is Vechain. The Chinese blockchain that partnered with McDonalds hehehee. Does everyone remember this joke on 2017? It was only fud, however, everyone believed this when it was shared in social media by an influencer. The price dumped very quickly and this fell more than -20% and this was immediately pumped back heheeh.

The UFC 300 fight card is out and what a card it is! Stacked and it's gonna be Mayham. There are 3 5-round bouts in there for the title/championship and the other 3 rounders are electric as well. Some people wanted Khabib and McGregor fights as main events but that was unrealistic to think about.

Thanks! It was a nice run and all of my picks won, nothing I could ask for more, It was really a great event and there is a lot happened we have a new Featherweight champion, and just like I have said this is going to be crucial for Volk as he got knockout on the Islam Makhachev fight that is why he needs a long time rest indeed but it doesn't mean that Volk lost because of that Alexander Volkanovski is doing great in the 1st rounds and doing a high kick because Ilia Topuria was almost gets knockout by Jai Herbert with such moves but for sure Topuria has improved now and have solidified his defense that surely has a great deal in this fight, while the next 3 cards was also a great winning for me well, all of my bet for sure.

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Now the results of the UFC 298 bets it was an epic event that got me all pick wins so congrats to the winners and the new Featherweight Champion.

Alexander Volkanovski VS Ilia Topuria - WIN

It was an epic knockout from Ilia Topuria that surely needs Volk to rest for a year just because his previous fight was also a knockout from Islam Makhachev, he must be suspended and needs to rest for almost a year, while Volkanovski has shown great boxing and kicks in the 1st rounds Topuria showed great defense and he really got this because when the 2nd round starts Ilia Topuria's pocket boxing has shown effectiveness against Volkanovski, and when he got a chance in cornering Volk in the fence that was the time he has Clobber Volkanovski with a combination of blitz but the accuracy was polished and Topuria has shown that he also knows the distance he needs to get into Volk because he knows when to enter that range and that is how he got into Volk and take that win.

Robert Whittaker VS Paulo Costa - WIN

Even though Paulo Costa is doing great on this card it was not enough because Robert Whittaker is on another level now, his technical striking was really something against Paulo Costa, although Costa seems to have a technical striking in this fight and is doing so well it was not enough for him to get into Robert Whittaker, it was just Whittaker is mental in this fight he got so much striking in this one and for sure what is next for him will surely get him further enough to that belt.

Geoff Neal VS Ian Machado Garry - WIN

It was a close fight and Geoff Neal couldn't do much but he was Constantly running around with Ian Garry inside the Octagon it was not a great fight and Ian Machado Garry was running inside the ring the fight was not entertaining and we can not say that Garry has fought explosively or intelligently inside the Octagon he has to fight safely inside, that is why it looks boring.

Merab Dvalishvili VS Henry Cejudo - WIN

Now this fight was an interesting one Merab Dvalishvili has shown power over Cejudo and for sure Henry Cejudo should stay retired he looks really slow inside the ring Merab Dvalishvili was looking great in the stand-up and the ground he was looking great in any possible way, and he even carries Cejudo across the Octagon getting him in front of Mark Zuckerberg maybe showing him that this is how to do it, it was a fun watch from start to finish Merab even said that he wants a 10 round fight.

Well… I missed both legs of my parlay last night which is a bit impressive in its own way. I think everyone who saw the Mackenzie Dern fight were the real winners last night though.

All the trash talk aside, they both show mutual respect after the fight. Alex might not be in his prime age anymore, but I'm not a fan of writing fighters off after a loss. He had only lost to great fighters: Islam and Ilia, both are better than anyone he had fought before, so it's not necessarily a sign of any serious decline.
Volk is asking for a rematch and is happy to fight in Spain, Dana is happy with Spain as well so I think it has a big chance of happening. Some could say Alex doesn't deserve a rematch, but given his achievements and the fact there aren't that many big names in the featherweight, I think it's the fight that makes sense.