Topic: The UFC Info and Prediction Thread - page 68. (Read 93665 times)

I don't know Saint Denis very well, but his nickname as the god of war really intrigued me. He is still 28 years old which of course is well into his prime as an MMA fighter. So it makes sense that the UFC favors him even though it is a bit excessive because his opponent is the #3 UFC lightweight and a fighter full of experience. What I know from several previous matches is that Denis has great Jiujitsu skills and extraordinary knockout power. This is proven by 2 wins via knockout and 1 win via submission in the last 3 matches.

I think that Denis will excel in Jiujitsu and knockout power but Porier will excel in experience and stamina. To be honest, I haven't seen a match where Denis played in the championship rounds and he finished his last few matches in rounds 1 and 2. I see this like Khamzat Chimaev where Khamzat has a little bad stamina because he looked tired in the third round during his fight with Burns and Usman .

For sure Volkanovski got a feeling that he could take on Islam Makhachev in this fight because he had the best out of him but it didn't go well in the 2nd fight because Alexander Volkanovski likely underestimated Makhachev thinking that even if he trained himself the fight result will still be the same for sure Alexander Volkonovski was wrong about what he thinks, as the fight end up miserable for him,


I really think that Ilia Topuria is a younger guy and still improving in his craft for what happened with the Makhachev fight Volkonovski was really exposed to that fight and I like Ilia Topuria to win to have a new champion, this is really a interesting fight and I really like what can surely happen with this fight we never know what could really happen if Topuria will remain undefeated or Volkanovski can give him his 1st defeat,


For sure UFC 300 will be exciting and right now I have seen exceptional fights that are going to be great to behold as the fight approaches The Main Event will be Leon Edwards VS Belal Muhammad which is a rematch because they already face each other inside the Octagon the fight just end up in a No Contest because of an eye poke of Edwards to Muhammad, Jiří Procházka is returning against Aleksandar Rakić which is I think Prochazka will need to climb up again to face the champion, Pereira, Charles Oliveira VS Arman Tsarukyan is a solid fight in my opinion and for sure Tsarukyan is a mini Topuria in some sort, Calvin Kattar VS Aljamain Sterling will be a fight that for sure this if just for me I am just OK with it happening, even the Bo Nickal VS Cody Brundage for me I am OK about it,

That would be a great pre-fight for Oliveira before going back to fight Islam for another chance and once they were back in the Octagon, it would be another close match for both because they already improved and prepared for their second fight. It would be hard to predict because Islam has already drastically raised his high level of skills and he proved that by easily beating Volks and Oliveira have high dedication to improve himself and get himself ready once they finally meet against each other inside the Octagon this year.

Is Saint Denis really that good to be a favourite in a fights against Poirier? Or current form of Poirier is that bad ? I am not much familiar with Saint Denis. He has some experience in UFC, but I cant tell that his opponent were tough to consider him as a favourite. Poirier is going to be his biggest challenge so far. His record shows that he isnt much of a striker, but all of his submissions were before UFC; cant evaluate his real skills based on that.

^  Nice!  That Poirier vs Saint Denis one is gonna be a banger as a 5 round co main event.  Hopefully Poirier brings it as Saint Denis is one tough mofo who is hungry in moving up the rankings and taking a shot the 155 title. As for Poirier, the McGregor money could could've made him lose his edge.  But we'll see, maybe he's back. 

And can't complain to see Oliveira vs Tsarukyan if Makhachev isn't available.

Early lines at Fight Odds have Saint Denis and Tsarukyan as slight favorites.  I kinda agree with the Saint Denis one.  Up in the air with the Tsarukyan one.

https://fightodds.io/

Some cool new fights were announced recently. Dustin Poirier vs Benoît Saint Denis on UFC 299. And Arman Tsarukyan vs Charles Oliveira on UFC 300. While first fight looks a bit unusual to see, top3 vs top12 (even though I love to see fresh blood in a fight among top of the top), Tsarukyan vs Oliveira looks very promising. Both are after beating Dariush. BJJ master Oliveiravs vs one of Makhachevs hardest opponents. Winner going to have a title fight after, 99,99% sure with that.

The way Alexander Volkanovski Approaches this fight surely it feels like he thought that he could do what he had done in their last fight but this time Islam Makhachev has improved a lot since then but Volkanovski didn't take into consideration the difference in their weight class that is why he lost again in the 2nd fight for sure Alexander Volkonovski have learned from his mistakes, and for sure if there is a chance Dana White will likely let Volkanovski take on Makhachev again maybe next time,


It could be and for sure Ilia Topuria is a researching guy and for sure his camp has device a plan to defeat Volkanovski, and Alexander Volkanovski also has a plan for Ilia Topuria that is for sure, for me I am really torn between Alexander Volkanovski can make it again and gain muscle as for sure Ilia Topuria will use raw strength with grappling and seeing as how Volkanovski has the advantage with takedown defense and the ground scramble I really think Ilia Topuria will like to consider the raw strength in this fight,

For sure that fight was a little bit fast to call it for Magomed Ankalaev as Johnny Walker does have the size and could also have a good takedown defense, and for sure they have prepared for the wrestling game of Ankalaev Johnny Walker camp is pretty much aware of that against Magomed Ankalaev, but the sure thing about this is they will then prepare for the some of that brief fight they have even with that small detail they can not give Ankalaev a chance


Sure it will surely challenge Andrei Arlovski if he's going to win against a nobody against "Sal Sa Boy" Waldo Cortes-Acosta who doesn't have a fine record yet, I really think this is to give back confidence for Andrei Arlovski, but I really doubt him because he is already 44 years old, and I don't know if he can carry on with this, while even though he doesn't have a good record Waldo Cortes-Acosta still has the strength and speed in this fight, and I am doubting his crystal chin would still work and not looking good at all,


Not giving effort in a fight that he lost surely Volkanovski regrets that, and thinking that he needed rest for the fight has cost him a lot, while Islam Makhachev is working his way in improving and on their last fight surely in Makhachev's mind he can do it because he has hard work and that hard work paid off, for sure Volkanovski has learned his lesson and Makhachev needs to teach him that, not because you're doing well, means you're stopping in progressing,

To be honest, I am on Volk's side but I think mental games will play a huge role in this fight. Volk brutally lost against Makhachev and I believe while it will motivate him to get in better shape, it will also increase the pressure on him to win the upcoming match but there you have Topuria on another side, that has clean winning record, is young, super motivated and probably his confidence is way higher than Volk's because he won his every fight and saw how weak Volk was in his last fight, this will give his confidence a huge boost. Also, he has nothing to lose, so, he is left without pressure and we all saw how pressure made Jose Aldo lose against McGregor.

In their first fight, Islam's cut didn't went well and Islam was left without energy while walk was in fantastic shape. In last match, Islam wasn't half dead, his cut went very well and despite the fact that Volk wasn't in good shape, I believe that in their last fight, Volk wouldn't be able to beat Islam even if he was in good shape. Volk has to put more on the table.

I see someone has edited his second post in this topic

Arlovski is going to lose to Waldo Cortes-Acosta. Even though this doesnt have a page on wiki (lol, that is a funny indicator to tell if a fighter is a nobody:D ), Arlovski is going to lose via KO. This Waldo is 10-1 (no all fights are in UFC), but in front of him is Arlovski with crystal chin. Arlovski is gonna turn 45 in less than a month. It is about time to retire.

In the first fight I saw Ankalaev was superior and was able to push Walker. But since the match was not resumed due to Walker's incident with the team doctor, I think the second fight will be a bit difficult for Ankalaev. This means that in the first fight, Ankalaev's strategy was able to push the walker to the edge of the cage. So in the second fight, Walker's team and coach will definitely apply a different strategy and they will be better prepared to fight Ankalaev because they have seen Ankalaev's style of play when he has to fight Walker.

For sure Alexander Volkanovski will be ready in this fight aswell but sure many are having doubts because of his last fight, but I really think that was because he doesn't have proper training going with the Islam Makhachev fight sure many have already seen that Islam Makhachev have already know and was shocked with Volkanovski's performance so for sure he will be 100% ready for their next fight and I was really correct with that, while in the following Ilia Topuria fight Volkanovski will be ready but he can not ignore Ilia Topuria this guy is a beast for sure he can not underestimated a guy like this,


USADA is not with UFC anymore effective January this year so for sure the UFC is the one testing the fighters for drug abuse we all know how the UFC loves Conor McGregor, so even if they caught them using Steroids they would just let him fight for sure but this is just dirty tactics from the UFC and how bias they are when it comes to Conor McGregor that is something profitable for the UFC because McGregor is the hype maker, for sure he is good at hyping a fight and as many is anticipating his return,


Actually, now that I think about it, Johnny Walker is someone who can not be underestimated while even if Ankalaev has decent wrestling Walker's takedown defense is something that Magomed Ankalaev needs to be prepared for if he can not get those takedowns on Johnny Walker I think he need to keep on doing those takedowns until one has prepared that for sure as Johnny Walker got the speed and athleticism, so he needs to prepare for this,

Looking at the first event of 2024's roster, it looks like we're gonna see some guys either retire or get their last fight in the UFC...  Benitez, Hawes and Arlovski might be on their way out.  Which means their opponents should win their matches.  

Tough match to call is Ricky Simon vs Mario Bautista.  My gut says it's a Bautista win, but dunno, Simon is pretty good himself.  Another tough one is Matheus Nicolau vs Manel Kape.  The line could be too wide for Kape.

Possible great match up in the prelims is Farid Basharat vs Taylor Lapilus.

In contrast to the Islam vs Volk I match, I think apart from being a higher class, Volk's defeat that night at UFC 294 also exposed Volk's weaknesses which could be exposed by other fighters, namely that with Volk's short body he would be easy to reach and hit with kicks, let alone Taller fighters can certainly perform dangerous head kicks. I think all the fighters on Featherwight for now will try to expose this one gap to defeat Volk. Because often when a fighter loses a fight, his other opponents will analyze the cause of the defeat to make a good strategy when they have to fight.

Volk was fighting a player who had a class one level above him. This means Volk will have to fight at his natural weight class at the moment. I mention this moment because we know Volk once weighed the same as a heavyweight fighter. So Volk fights at his natural weight and on the other hand Makhacev fights at the same weight as a welterweight or even middle weight fighter. We know that Islam is the same as Khabib in that they have a natural weight far above lightweight. So this will be different from the fight against Topuria later where they will fight in the same class.

Yup, that's the main thing. But even if Topuria makes a name for himself (he has the potential and it won't be hard if he dethrones Volk) he would simply be to hard of an opponent for McGregor to agree. And not to mention that cutting down to the featherweight limit is now way too much for Conor.


I think you might be a bit too harsh for Volk. Remember that he agreed to fight the best pound-for-pound fighter in a world, in a higher weight class and on a very short notice. And who knows how would he do if not for that head kick.
If I had to bet, I too would put my money on Topuria though, but because he's really good and super-determined and not because I think Volk will struggle to get in shape. Actually we might see the best version of Alex, as his motivation will be up after that loss.

All steroids are legal until you get caught Hope that Conor is so big due to steroids that he has used to heal his injury faster, than he is simply more fat and slow now. Hope he is not a well-fed cat, who eats tuna only instead of cat food Cant wait for UFC decision about USADA and testing. Without testing, it would be a freak show. We will get Overeems and guys like Belfort on roids back.


Caught myself think about Ankalaev vs Walker first fight, and I dont remember who was winning it. As I remember Ankalaev was more active. Interesting to see what both fighters gonna have next if they win. Will Ankalaev have a title fight ? (in the interview he once said that if he dont, he would quit UFC). Who will be Walkers next opponent. Doubt that Pereira.

I think that chances of that fight will be zero. If anyone is going to boost sales, it's only Conor in this case, not Topuria and why will Conor fight Topuria when fight with other opponents will generate better paycheck?

I was going to bet on Volkanovski but his performance in his last fight against Islam Makhachev was so poor that I don't have any hopes he will do any better against Topuria. I want also to say that while Volk struggles, Topuria does super well, hasn't had any decline in performance and is probably super confident about his upcoming fights, especially after seeing Volk's performance, he must be way more confident that he will beat him. I bet that Ilia will win this fight, this guy is amazing, he will definitely be the next superstar of UFC.

Well, he can use Steroids to cut weight, but the bulkier he is the more weight gain, I don't really know how that is going to work but there are legal steroids he can try but I think if it's against the UFC or not that is the question because the steroid is still steroid and cutting weight with it is for sure cheating and could be seen when he will have the USADA test but because there is no USADA maybe it could be seen with the latest UFC drug testing that they provided, if he wants to get back into lightweight or a smaller weight class,

But that picture is hilarious for sure those fat Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler are ready to fight each other even if it looks like they could burst when they punch each other, that is a good one,


Both fighters have their unique style for sure Magomed Ankalaev is very versatile with his ground game, however as I have seen Johnny Walker has improved much in his recent fights sure he now has great takedown defense aswell but because Magomed Ankalaev has the power advantage I think he can get the takedown eventually but Johnny Walker has the speed advantage that is for sure as this is an interesting fight, the fight between Power and Speed, who's going to win,

The general rule is, that the older you get the harder it is to cut weight. Also, lower weight classes are more dynamic, so require more speed and agility, whereas in higher classes you could get by with just technique and strength.
So, on second thought, going middle-weight and then just cherry-picking opponents from lower divisions and forcing them to bulk up is probably the best bet for Conor.


Except there's no one else in light heavyweight that Pereira could face next and he doesn't get any younger so won't be willing to wait until another worthy contender rise up. So if Ankalaev goes past Walker, he will almost definitely get a shot, unless Pereira goes back down to middleweight to face Strickland or Du Plessis (or McGregor  ).