The MMA Thread

Given it's all just a Trump ego boost, I really wouldn't be shocked to see dropouts happening too.

I am still scratching my head trying to figure out who to bet for, Gane or Alex... One thing is for sure though : if I was to bet for Pereira, it would of been better to do it Sunday, when peeps did not bet on him and move his line to -120 now... If I lean Gane, I will wait a more favourable (moving) line

I think it will be a tough matchup. Gane is huge and as athletic as anyone in the HW division.

I love Alex and he can definitely knock out Gane, but I think Gane will mix it up enough to neutralize Alex and win by decision.

Pereira's not allowed to wear swimming googles.

If you can't call it, skip betting on it?

Fair point and I might just charge the easier fights to call (Topuria, OMalley), but the line might move significantly in Pereira's favor in order to bet Gane... And besides, it is the most interesting fight, imho.

Has Gane ever looked bad on his feet in UFC?

His losses were when he got dumped on his back by Ngannou and Jones subbed him. Volkov fight I thought he lost as well for the same reasons.

But just striking, he's always looked good. Pereira is getting older too.

I love Izzy a lot and I am worried about Pyfer's power.

I am hoping for a spectacular KO. There are also some other decent fighters on the card as well.

Any card with Terrence McKinney has a chance to be great. -1400 to finish ITD.

Threw a couple bucks on the main event

Izzy by 2nd KO
Pyfer by 1st KO
Pyfer by 1st Sub

That Maycee Barber KO was scary. The doctor looked clueless tapping her on the shoulder and probably panicking.

It's really amazing how Adesanya has not evolved as a fighter. He's got zero ground game and always looked clueless throughout his career once he's dumped on his back. You'd think maybe he would work on it.

I suspect Pereira is quite possibly the same. He's managed to avoid it and has Glover in the coaching team so perhaps they at least practise it.

prime Izzy had great TDD but probably did help him that MW didn't have many great grapplers/wrestlers at the time

think he just got old, happens....dude was a workhorse during covid, champs now barely fight compared to him just a few years back

I've seen it cited before in the past that he has good TDD. When I look at his fight record, it seems that he's been taken down in most fights where the other person wanted to get him on the ground.

A lot of people in his career decided to play the striking game with him and didn't work out.

Personally, I think he's too structurally small for Middleweight. Not sure how easily he makes weight and what he weighs on fight night. Dropping down to Welterweight could be interesting but he will still get ragdolled.

Romero, Whittaker 2x, Vettori 2x, Brunson

he's fought plenty of solid/good grapplers/wrestlers and stayed on his feet or if he got taken down was able to just get back up pretty quickly during his prime. A lot of times when inferior strikers "decide" to play the striking game rather than grapple it is by necessity, not choice. They just aren't getting the takedowns they want and it is expending useless energy to do so.

He probably wants to keep fighting to fulfill his UFC deal because he is the type of name/striker that could probably make decent money on the Jake Paul celeb/novelty boxing circuit

Romero - from memory that was an odd fight and Romero did nothing much and seemed really off.

Whittaker - 0 TD in first fight, 4 TD in second fight.

Vettori - 2 TD in first fight, 4 TD in second fight.

Brunson - 0 - not sure whether he attempted.

So his opponents have definitely had success getting him down.

I remember Blachowicz was the first fighter to really take Israel down and just dominate him. Granted, that was a light heavyweight fight and Israel was really out of his depth.

Izzy is old it happens

yeah but he just got back up easy each time in those fights, didn't have a mark on him

until blachowicz who was like 30 pounds bigger than him, izzy was actually like -250 for that fight too

I guess when I said "prime Izzy had great TDD", I just meant defensive grappling in general since he would get taken down but just get back up.

I know, I bet on Jan for that fight. Easy money.

Jan was probably the first one to take him down and dominate him on the ground. The skills and size obviously helped.

I've always felt that Israel looks pretty skinny for the weight class. Maybe his height makes it challenging with weight. The other guys always look so much bigger.

Dude is a legend and I wish he'd retire, lmao.

Ulberg Jiri next weekend should be awesome. Weird stylistic matchup. I love Jiri but also really enjoy watching Carlos fight. He likes to keep his distance and Jiri is Jiri.

I think Ulberg KOs him with a hook as Jiri recklessly enters the pocket.

That Jiri card is absolutely stacked too .

Leaning Ulberg tonight.

Tough call, but I liked Jiri by KO @ +175 for a bet. Also took over 1.5 rounds.

Terrible.

Meanwhile, this Hokit vs Blaydes fight...