The MMA Thread

Looks like the musical chair game that is UFC 303 is now at LHW Anthony Smith vs. MW Roman Dolidze in the fight that was supposed to be the co-main event of Jamahal Hill vs. Khalil Rountree..

In other news, Kelvin Gastelum successfully made 185 today for tomorrows fight against D-rod. Two days ago that fight was supposed to be at 170 but Gastelum said he couldn't even make a 180 catch weight. 3rd time he couldn't make weight for someone who is 2-6 in his last 8 fights. Granted against mostly good to very good opposition.

Sucks for D-Rod he actually was cutting to 170

That Gordon and Haqparast fight was something special until the judges ruined it.

Gordon is used to it, this one was less egregious than the Pimblett decision.

No idea what's wrong with Jason Herzog, maybe the early stoppage last week is still messing with him. Hard to blame Oezdemir if the ref doesn't step in.

No idea when Gastelum usually starts his weight cut but the way he looked today there was no chance for him to make 170 since at least early in the week.

whittaker title shot incoming? maybe if DPP wins, probably izzy/strickland if izzy wins

Crazy (maybe great?) idea: The Main Event in every major card should be a fight to the finish.

Unlimited rounds. You can only win by KO/TKO, Submission, or the other fighting not being able to continue due to fatigue.

So back to original ufc ? Lol

I assume he's going to be official back-up fighter for DDP/Izzy after not taking any damage today and that card being in Australia. Everything else mostly depends on timing/location but Izzy winning opens up more possibilities because he can headline a card anywhere. They can make Izzy vs. whoever in the US but DDP vs. Whittaker would probably be a co-main event on a big US card or headline an international card.

Have you ever watched Royce Garcie vs. Ken Shamrock at UFC 5?

A little sad to see Pavlovich exposed like that today. I thought he had a background in sambo? Now it looks like he might just be a white Derrick Lewis.

In a surprising twist, this wasn't even the most interesting UFC idea of the day:

And then there's the whole PvZ power slapping thing where I'm still not sure if that's supposed to be a joke?

Derrick Lewis tries to ko . Pavlovich just looked awful. Maybe it’s cause they used to train together .

Maybe my memory is bad but I thought Lewis in his fight with Volkov looked pretty much the same as Pavlovich tonight? Difference was that Volkov made sure he wouldn't get KO'd with 10 seconds left in this one.

powerslap: citizens vs migrants would definitely get some traction

You are prolly right . I don’t remember though but pavlovich was too passive tonight .

Just looked up stats. Derrick Lewis vs. Volkov 39 of 70 overall (55%), 79% to the head. Pavlovich vs. Volkov 46 of 134 overall (34%), 82% to the head.

So Pavlovich was actually significantly more active than Lewis, especially considering that almost half of Lewis successful offensive output came from that one sequence where Volkov took him down, Lewis reversed and hammered away.

I thought if Pavlovich had trouble on the feet, he would try to take him down. Volkov has zero TD defense, Blaydes scored 14 against him and after that the UFC didn't match him up with anyone who has ground game except for Aspinall. The latter fight had the expected outcome, too. Turns out I was just clueless and the UFC again matched Volkov with a one dimensional striker.

If Aspinall wins, could see Volkov getting title shot next, who else is there even? (assuming obviously Jones is never fighting anyone but Stipe)

maybe Gane can get back in the picture but they might wanna give Aspinall a few wins and try to build him up

Gane was offered the title fight in Manchester but is busy shooting a Netflix movie. They haven't announced a a main event for Paris on 09/28 but if Gane is available that would be the obvious choice, against whoever.

Unless he loses that one he should still be the #1 option even if he doesn't fight until his title shot. Volkov already lost to Aspinall and I have a hard time seeing how that next fight might look different. The second Aspinall feels like Volkov could be a danger on the feet he's just going to take him down.

Why would Payton Talbott be -2000 this Saturday?

Have you ever heard the name of his opponent? I had to google him. He's 0-1 in the UFC and ranked at #131 (in a different weight class) by Tapology. I've never heard a single name on his record.

Talbott was supposed to get a step up in competition, rumors had guys like Pedro Munhoz or Cody Staman. Instead he's getting another Bo Nickal fight.

Well I had never heard of Talbott before either.

Shara Magomedov was only -550 on Saturday against Antonio Trocoli who was fighting on short notice and making his UFC debut.

Beat Tracy Cortez brother on the Contenders series last year. Might be the biggest hype train at 135 right now.

There's obviously a huge risk with him that other fighters don't have to worry about.

Tsarukyan suspension seems like it could help justify Islam/Edwards if edwards beats belal

I've read the "Islam at an unannounced UFC 307 in late September or early October" rumors but have no idea how that makes any sense unless they want to have Khamzat headline Abu Dhabi in late October or Pareira vs. Ankalaev even though that one could easily headline a US card (or co-headline NYC if Jones - Stipe happens there)?

I guess if they really feel like they need another card in between Sphere in mid September and Abu Dhabi on 10/28 but other than that the logical thing to do is Islam vs. whoever in Abu Dhabi.

Tsarukyan suspension ends in mid October if he watches an anti bullying video or whatever it is but if they fight in Abu Dhabi that doesn't matter anyway.

Also hard to see how Leon fights Islam two months after Belal? FWIW, he's the longest tenured champion right now.

Abu Dhabi wouldn't respect NSAC decision? Also seems like Tsarukyan would probably not want to piss them off by circumventing their ruling

Why would Abu Dhabi care about the Nevada Athletic Commission?

The UFC once moved an event from Vegas to LA on a weeks notice after Jon Jones peed hot and wasn't cleared to fight in Nevada. Just last weekend Dana White said they're probably going to keep Shara Magomedov "out here" (meaning the middle East) because he probably wouldn't be licensed to fight in Nevada. That's not even a MMA thing. Mike Tyson vs. Lennox Lewis was originally scheduled for Vegas and moved to Memphis because Nevada and multiple other states denied him a license. I also highly doubt Nevada would sanction the Tyson - Paul fight.

But again, if UFC 307 really is happening in Salt Lake City, it has to be October 5th. People claim it might be September 28th but they have a card in Paris on that date. If he fulfills the requirements, the suspension is over on 10/13. I highly doubt they wouldn't be willing to shave another week off if that needs to happen.