Topic: The UFC Info and Prediction Thread - page 88. (Read 100875 times)

I agree that giving Izzy a title shot would be giving him a little short-cut route. But then, we cannot really expect DDP, after coming all that hard road to the title, to be happy to fight e.g. Brendan Allen, who might be good, but hardly anyone has heard about him. He, and the UFC, want the same thing - big money fights, that's where the real reward for being the champion is.
We shouldn't be dismissing Izzy either. He had a poor fight, but he's still number 2 in the rank, and was a dominant champion for a long time, so he's pretty deserving to get that fight.


Strickland posted a video of it. It was completely accidental and not intentional. Unfortunate but not controversial.
https://twitter.com/SStricklandMMA/status/1749527821314306062

At some point does Adesanya want to return now that Strickland is not the champion, or is he now ready to fight again, but he is not deserving anymore, I really think Adesanya is Ranked 2nd in the middleweight division for sure the perfect opponent for Du Plessis would be Sean Strickland, or Khamzat Chimaev just wishful thinking but as you have said Khamzat Chimaev is recovering from his injuries and recently got some surgery,


I think I have posted it on the other thread, or maybe in here but yeah Khamzat Chimaev had a recent surgery but right now he is OK and recovering I really wish he could recover in time so he can get back into action again,


I also thought giving an opportunity to some fighters rather than giving another fight  to the former champ, as yeah that fight over Strickland was a straight dominant win for Sean Strickland and maybe we could really see a rematch than with the other fight because Strickland said he was headbutted by Strickland or their head clash, actually, I did see the Head Clash but it also looks clean and not a headbutt so it is up to officials if what are their thoughts on this matter, anyway the UFC will straight up give this rematch to Strickland that is for sure,

It's going to be hard to pick an opponent for DDP if Adesanya is not interested in making a comeback anytime soon. Cannonier probably did well enough to deserve another title shot, but I don't think UFC would like that idea. Jared is a down-to-earth, modest guy who is not very hyped and his recent fights were not super exciting, so he won't be selling a lot of tickets. Jared is a better candidate for Strickland, especially knowing their last fight was a split decision.


From what I know Jones became very picky in choosing his opponents. From the UFC's perspective, it could look like they either let Jones fight whoever he chooses, or he won't be fighting at all. I think he's the one calling the shots.
I kind of understand the decision to just postpone the fight, since Jones and Miocic only want to fight each other and no one else, but in such case they shouldn't be introducing the interim belt at all. This just doesn't look serious.

Kayla Harrison just signed for UFC and she is fighting against Holly Holm in UFC 300 event!
Dana White must have promised her big money to sign from PFL  after losing only one time there from Larissa Pacheco in 2022.
This is big addition for UFC female division and I think she is going to be in Bantamweight category.
UFC 300 in April is going to be epic!

But isn't the release of the belt only limited to when he is injured and when he recovers and can fight again then the championship belt is still his and of course this is Dana way of maintaining the popularity of each fighter.
If only the belt release is permanent to give other fighters chance then That is not fair.
Moreover, in title fight, if the main holder is injured then what will be fought over is the interim title and something similar has happened several times, Dana will not take decisions that could be detrimental to him because if the release is really done then Dana could get bad sentiment from UFC fans.
Moreover, it is not easy for every fighter to get title, they fight for the title with other champions when they become challengers.

You are right, but in sports, UFC and MMA always have interesting fight schedules from each location, we can watch everything in as little time as possible with break.

Izzy lost against Strickland very convincingly. It wasn't even close as Sean absolutely shut Izzy down, all 5 rounds. Its just that Sean doesn't finish his fights as much as some of the more popular fighters that it didn't look as dominant. I don't think Izzy should get another title shot straight up. Sean deserves it a bit more than Izzy since at least DDP v Sean was close. That being said, its UFC! They will just do what gives them the most PPVs and hype. I'd happily watch either of those fights but yea. Will be interesting what they decide on. Izzy and Sean should fight someone else or maybe Izzy v Sean 2 so that the winner becomes a contender again.

It would be really unfair if they would instantly give Sean Strickland a rematch against Du Plessis for sure he needs to work to get it back that is the right thing to do I don't really like Strickland, but this is the right thing to do the UFC should give the opportunity to the other fighters, maybe another shot for Israel Adesanya this is for the canceled fight this two have, maybe Jared Cannonier as I have said giving some chance for the other fighters, and Jared Cannonier needs to fight for sure, and one thing is certain that Dricus Du Plessis can also choose who he liked to fight.


Sean Strickland had some complaints that Du Plessis got him with a head butt, I haven't seen it yet but maybe I will review the fight later, as I was very busy right now, I just saw it on the news but maybe it was real, but I don't know if a head but can do that much as the punch output the headbutt is not included so maybe the UFC will give Sean Strickland that rematch he wanted, but for sure It has happened in the 4th round when Du Plessis was getting the takedown and when he rises his head that head hit Sean Strickland eye, and in that time Strickland did squinting his eyes maybe that was the headbutt but I will review that later.


Yup! Takedowns are not included in the scoring count what I mean is that Takedown was a part of Strickland disrupting Strickland's momentum and movement for sure instead of Strickland Focusing on Du Plessis punches and kicks he also needs to take care of the takedowns so for sure because of that Du Plessis can get his faints and take the shot, or even a combination of takedowns and strikes.


That is what is crazy about this the UFC is really expecting Jon Jones to win if they still arrange a fight like Jones VS Stipe, this is why Aspinall is frustrated he won the Interim Heavy Belt and for sure he got a chance in getting Jon Jones next but the UFC is still pushing the Jones VS Miocic which this should not care anymore but the fighter with the Interim Belt.

Few more lines about Adesanya. He was a champ, lost his title, regained it back and lost again. This does not look like he really deserve another chance. For instance there is Brendan Allen, who will fight Vettori in April. If he wins, he will be in a 7 win streak, he will move to 5th place in top. Perfect candidate for a title fight. Above him is Whittaker with zebra record, Cannonier with a bit better record. With be reasonable to make DDP vs Allen.


I think it wasnt posted here, but he recently had a surgery. He was fixing hand injury that he has got in a fight against Usman. It is gonna take some time to record.

Oof Chimaev against anybody of those guys in the top 5.  I think we'll see him lose at his next fight if he does fight one of the guys you mentioned.  I didn't like how he looked vs better competition in Usman at short notice and he's fights at a weight class lower.  And Burns who's a lot smaller than Chim...  He used to fight at 155.  Lol.

I even think Chim will have a hard time winning vs Brendan Allen, Costa and Roman Dolidze.  I wanna see Brendan Allen next for Chim.  Pretty sure the line will be skewe towards Chin and make Allen a nice bet.

^ I also do not think that Israel Adesanya truly deserves a title shot at this moment.

Yes, he is popular and he might bring in a lot of pay-per-view but he is not a suitable candidate. There are other fighters who actually deserve this more than him. So I think the UFC should make the right decision. Du Plessis is probably going to knock out Israel and will be able to win or even if it is a decision, I absolutely agree with you that it is going to go to Du Plessis.

Agree that Izzy does not deserve a title shot yet. What is his record in last few years? 3-2 ? I would put DDP against someone else, then to make someone else defend or make title fight, to totally mix current middleweight ranking, make it chaotic. Lets look at Izzy on the paper. KOed Pereira - OK. KOed Costa (who turns to be drinking wine night before ) - not OK. Before that, he had only KOed Whittaker, when he became a champ, and that was long time ago. Lots of fights that ended with decision. Conclusion - by knowing that DDP has chin out of stone, Izzy wont KO him and lose by decision.

Yeah, that's a no-brainer. It's the fight everyone wants. Maybe everyone except for Izzy. No one knows what's in his head, but if he's serious about getting the belt back, he cannot afford to have an extensive break, he'll be 35 in July. I think his confidence got seriously damaged after that loss to Pereira. He took his revenge but was not looking good in that fight and then Strickland came along and manhandled him for 4 out of 5 rounds.
Izzy doesn't really deserve the title shot, as he lost to Strickland, who got defeated by Dricus, so he should be having at least one more fight, but there are no better options right now, so things are stacking in his favour.

I don't think we'll see two of them as the main event of UFC 300, that's probably too soon for Dricus, but then again, it could be the biggest payday in his lifetime, so he could go for it.

Next for him is long medical break and recovery, but after that there are fighters waiting in line to fight him.
I just checked UFC middleweight ranking changes and he is still ranked above Adesanya, Whittaker, Cannonier and Vettori.
So it must be one of this guys to challenge him or maybe Khamzat Chimaev, but Dana doesnt like him.
My bet is on Adesanya vs Dricus next, Dana wants his golden goose Izzy back on top.

From what I know, takedowns shouldn't be counted for round scoring unless there's some follow, such as ground and pound or submission attempt. But it's clear that judges are considering them as well.
Some say that the fact that DDP took Strickland down so many times, but couldn't keep him on the ground for longer than 2 minutes combined and couldn't do any damage, should actually be counted against DDP.


Because UFC puts the money first and the sport element second. What they did makes no sense, if they decided to introduce an interim heavyweight belt, than Jon Jones should be fighting Aspinall after the recovery. If they still want Jones to fight Stipe, then what's the point of the interim belt then. And what happens if Stipe wins? Will he become the undisputed champion?

Yup. That's pretty much when I first got familiar with who he was.


Most likely it'll be one of those 2. Alternatively he could be fighting the winner of Whittaker Vs Costa.

Hanadawa said it perfectly, few people knew who Strickland is before he entered top10. For me he was also just an average guy, who sometimes get microphone during conferences and say weird stuff. I think he has started gaining attention, when he made fun of Adesanya on UFC 276 and got KOed by Pereira. But he might get that UFC curse, when you star lights bright, and then dimes quickly. Not like people will get amnesia, but they will turn their focus on other guys that are about to have a title fight. There are a lot of guys who were champs, but not look like a card fillers.


My magic crystal ball show me Strickland fighting Vettori or Cannonier

^  I think DDP won as he got the TD's when it mattered but I was kinda drunk.  Lol.  So I need to watch it again.  But yeah because the fight was so close, I think they should go at it again.  The UFC doesn't seem interested tho...  And DDP said he wants Adesanya next.

I wonder what's next for Strickland.  I feel like he's back to just being a gate keeper at top 5.  :/

As for the guys saying it's a robbery...  The thing with saying that when two fighters had fought a really close match is wrong.  A robbery is when the match was clearly won by one guy but then the decision was given to the other guy.  That's a robbery.  

It was a very close fight, could've gone eitherway. When its very inconclusive, they generally favor the champ to defend the belt, not in this case though. I gave it to Sean 3-2 but I knew it would've been very very close and hard to understand what judges think. As soon as I saw DDP being declared a winner, I thought there should be a rematch soon but there are a lot of contenders and since Sean hasn't defended his belt even once, should he get a title shot again? without another fight in between? I think he should fight either Whittaker, Cannonier or Izzy round 2 but then again, DDP didn't win it convincingly, should he get to hold the title for a long time? tough call.

He could be and should be as the fight progresses going into the 1st round Sean Strickland just wants a paced start and his defense is giving him the opportunity to do so but because of the takedowns of Dricus Du Plessis he can not focus his defense in its full 100% this has given Du Plessis to get that edge that he needs to get those 6 successful takedowns while he has thrown almost 11 takedowns on that fight If Israel Adesanya has resulted with takedowns maybe he could also have a chance in defending his belt but he didn't and still goes into full standing against Strickland which is not effective.


Those takedowns might be the key for Strickland to change his pace, and because of that he was looking tired at some point, it was getting into him and he should be more active if he can not finish Du Plessis with a knockout or submission then he must be more active than Du Plessis, maybe in the start of the 2nd round the 1st round would be a chance to get both fighters opening and their range but because of Dricus Du Plessis 11 takedowns he has more output than Strickland, for sure both fighters is taking the safe route in winning this, but it is clear who is more hardworking when it comes to his strikes.


Jamahal Hill vacated the belt when he was injured while Jiri Prochazka Vacted the belt as well, so why didn't Jon Jones do that, well anyway, if Jamahal Hill would take a longer period to recover I think he needs to let other ranking fighters have a chance in taking a shot on the belt, but that is if the UFC will allowed it, to happen,

Anyway here we go again, this week will be a hiatus for us, I was really excited for the upcoming fight but maybe it is also a good opportunity to watch other MMA fights.

I wouldn't say so. Even though I wanted Sean to win, my impression was that Dricus did a bit better in that fight and deserved to have his hand raised.
But as always, whenever there's a split decision and the belt is on the line, there will be talks about the "robbery".

Of course, Sean disagrees:
https://twitter.com/SStricklandMMA/status/1749527821314306062
I didn't equate those two (I think Strickland > Nate). Just pointed out that having the belt or even winning fights is not necessary to keep the hype up.

I used to know Strickland only as a top 10 Middleweight fighter. I honestly think there is nothing special about this guy. He didn't have anything that would make him a star. He doesn't have a good match report and has lost to several unknown fighters. That's all I used to know about Strickland. But after his fight with Adesanya people already know Strickland and like you said, we can't turn that off. If Strickland can play his role well and have some controversy I think he will still be known and will be his selling point as a UFC fighter.

But I don't think we can equate Strickland with Nate Diaz. Even though Nate has a bad report card and as you said he hasn't won anything, Nate's persona as a Gangster is something special that only the Diaz brothers have. Nate is the image of an old fighter with a fighting style like street fighting. He went just to fight. And that's what makes it interesting to watch. Moreover, he is the younger brother of Nick Diaz, one of the most famous UFC fighters in history.