UFC 218 HOLLOWAY V. ALDO 2

[Nash Diesel]

https://www.313presents.com/assets/img/038276_218_LittleCaesars_660x360-216b3d4a49.jpg

Saturday December 2nd, 2017
Detroit, MI @ the Little Caesars Arena

MAIN CARD
MAIN EVENT
UFC FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Max Holloway (c) v. Jose Aldo

Alistair Overeem v. Francis Ngannou (HW)
Henry Cejudo v. Sergio Pettis (FLW)
Eddie Alvarez v. Justin Gaethje (LW)
Tecia Torres v. Michelle Waterson (Women's SW)




I think this is going to be a great fight card. The main card is solid, the undercard is good minus a few fights. I dig the rematch for the belt, not a lot of options for Max. Supposedly ticket sales popped when Aldo replaced Edgar. Great women's fight on the main card. I think FOTN is going to be Alvarez v. Gaethje.

Picks:
Holloway
Cejudo
Gaethje
Waterson







Full fight card can be found at the link below
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC_218

[Fanny Batter]

Main card is legit. I would say Torres will get a title shot with a win considering it's a trilogy fight. Winner of Ngannou/Reem undoubtedly gets the next shot at Stipe. I imagine the Pettis/Cejedo winner will too if they can't make the Dillashaw/Demetrious fight. Then there's Gaethje vs. Alvarez which should be bananas and put the winner in a great position. You'd think winner fights Poirier then possibly a title shot from there. All that with what may end up being either Jose Aldo's retirement fight or his greatest moment. It's a great card.

Holloway vs. Aldo 2 should be a great fight. Aldo's been written off too heavily. He's an all time great who was having success early against Max before kind of taking the foot off the pedal, allowing Max to become the violent pressure fighter that he's evolved into. The kicks are a big thing for Aldo here - if he can limit Holloway's movement he can avoid that pressure, stay on the front foot and land those combos. If he negates that again, Max's cardio and chin will carry him into deep waters where he'll be too much for Jose again. I have to lean Max again in the third or fourth, but rooting for Aldo to turn back the clock.

Overeem vs. Ngannou is a coin flip for me. Big hype on Francis but he shouldn't be a 2 to 1 favourite over a talent like The Reem. Yes, we know he's chinny and can have brainfarts, but those are intangibles that Francis himself may have, they just haven't been tested yet. Ngannou blowing through Arlovski was impressive but Brett Rogers has done that too. So he's too unknown for me to pick against a more savvy, tactical Overeem. If Ngannou connects of course it's lights out, but JDS, Hunt and Nelson are heavy punchers and Reem beat all 3 and went a good half hour combined avoiding a KO. Reem catches an impatient Francis then finishes it with a guillotine.

Pettis vs. Cejedo should be a showcase I think for Cejedo. I don't really rate the younger Pettis, and Henry's improved boxing should give him fits. Pettis is obviously young so the learning curve is big and he may have improved exponentially, but I doubt it's enough. Cejedo hurts him early but settles to wrestle down the stretch for a comfortable 30-26.

Alvarez vs. Gaethje. I just prey the Alvarez that fought older Pettis stays at home. If this remains a striking battle it'll be special for as long as it lasts. Both men just fight with reckless abandon, blood and guts. Gaethje is just a violent man who hurts you all over. Alvarez is more of a head hunter with a probable power advantage in his hands. If he stays heavy in the pocket I think Justin butchers his leg then goes up to for a headkick knockout. Alvarez can win, both are somewhat chinny, but Gaethje's leg kicks are the difference for me.

Torres vs. Waterson is Tecia's to lose - better stand up, good takedown defence. Avoid a wicked scramble and she wins all day. I see Waterson getting the back at some point but Torres surviving and winning a clear points verdict with her workrate.

Some solid fights on the undercard too. Paul Felder is a favourite of mine so hoping he beats Charles Olivera. Tough fight because Charles is long and has an amazing submission game, but Felder should be able to make him quit. Klose/Teymur is a battle of guys who upset top prospects last time out. Klose was a bit of a nob if I recall so hope Teymur wins. Brazilian Cowboy vs. Medeiros is legit too.

[Tainted Eclipse]

https://streamable.com/ubahr

[Tainted Eclipse]

talk about shitty reffing from herb dean tonight

[Mik]

Good night of fights that.

Unfortunately the karate hottie is being sized out of that division. Tecia Torres isn’t exactly the biggest strawweight but she had a distinct size as muscle advantage over Waterson, who is always game and tough as old boots.

Justin Gaethje needs to learn to head kick. Great fight and great toughness by Eddie, but Gaethje was lighting him up with those leg kicks, Eddie was anticipating them all the time, visibly. If Justin could switch kick of fake even just a couple of times he would’ve caught him clean almost certainly.

The Pettis vs Cejudo fight pretty much guaranteed us a Mighty Mouse vs T.J. title fight next.

Overeem got caught cold. Francis is a terrifying heavyweight, like when Reem was on the juice. I don’t think Reem did anything tactically stupid other than getting caught. He was smart to try and use his perceived grappling advantage, until he fought out very quickly that he didn’t have a grappling advantage and that moving Ngannou was like trying to move a tree. The heavyweight division will be a scary place providing Ngannou doesn’t pop.

Also looked good, but Holloway looked great. Another example of one of the biggest longest guys in the division beating a talented smaller guy. Holloway walked through everything Aldo had and walked him down through pressure and accuracy. It’s an odd sport for Aldo because if Edgar takes Holloway (which is possible, we still don’t know Holloway’s wrestling level), then Aldo takes Edgar and gets his title back, but he will lose it to Holloway 9 times out of 10. Some people just have your number and he has Aldo’s.

Now someone please teach the fucker how to dress.

[OD50]

After Pettis/Poirier and Alvarez/Gaethje they really need to do Alvarez/Poirier 2 next. In a perfect UFC LW world we'd get McGregor/Ferguson, Barboza/Nurmagomedov and Alvarez/Poirier 2 to sort out the top of the division. Maybe something like Kevin Lee/Anthony Pettis could be fun as well, both coming off losses.

I had this eerie feeling pre fight that Reem would go to sleep violently if Ngannou even graced his chin..

[Fanny Batter]

I like the sound of Pettis vs. Aldo at 155. Both got pretty badly beaten in their last fights so won't be until Summer, but it has more allure than any other fight for the pair of them. Alvarez vs. Poirier 2 is the fight too, you'd favour Dustin too but Alvarez did look crisp in this one. If you want another action fight out of Gaethje - Cerrone back at 155?

Ngannou vs. Miocic - shame there's no more contenders to let it marinate a bit cos I think it would be a gigantic fight with another win apiece. It'll do though won't it. Unreal power.

Holloway is so very good. I feel the Edgar fight has come a year too late for Frankie, Max's skills and confidence have developed so much.

[Nash Diesel]

Ngannou's uppercut from hell, wow, some Mortal Kombat shit. I agree FB, it's too bad that there aren't more contender's. If Frank could destroy say Werdum and Stipe beat Cain V, that would be a pretty big fight. I'm not sure where Frank sits with the masses, Stipe's not really on anyone's radar unfortunately even though he's had some really big fuckin wins. Just doesn't seem like people care one bit about Stipe.

[Mark Hammer]

Ngannou is unquestionably deserving of next in line. Do the Werdum/Cain rematch in the meantime and see how the division looks after Stipe/Ngannou (which should be doable soon as Francis took zero damage vs Overeem).

[Percussion]

Like the idea of Kevin Lee and Gaethje matching up next.

Miocic vs Ngannou should have every dollar the company can spare promotionally behind it. They should stop at nothing to put eyes on these two swinging flesh and bone sledge hammers at one another for the baddest man on the planet title.

[Nash Diesel]

Enough of this talk of talent, let's talk about Angela Mangina's nip slip. How fitting. The broke Paris Hilton of MMA has a wonderful resume of shit we'll remember about her. And she's STILL signed.....and then she's doing what her gf Bec did, the whole "Sexism is why the fight was stopped!" because she was just laying there getting the fuck beat out of her. Bec said the same thing after the PVZ jump kick loss, that because she wasn't deceased the ref should have let it go.

[Mark Hammer]

That ass tho:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CEhSVJLUkAAs681.jpg

[Mark Hammer]

Alright, I've procrastinated long enough.

Holloway vs Aldo 2
Max Holloway is a bad dude. I wasn't sure if he could pull it off more than once but he stopped Aldo again, this time more easily than the last. Totally walked through everything Jose had to give him; didn't phase him one bit. There are rumblings that Aldo's past his prime but I say bollocks to that. The man's still only 31 and still walks through most of the division. Max is just that good. And only 25 meaning his best years are to come. Exciting thought. Like others have said his wrestling is still untested meaning a fight vs Frankie Edgar isn't a giveaway for him. But I hope he passes that test because Aldo still beats Frankie and after two consecutive losses to Max I don't believe it would be "fair" for him to be champ. Also worth noting that in his last loss he went toe-to-toe with Conor McGregor which is a testament to those two and how the new blood has taken over the sport.

Overeem vs Ngannou
Francis Ngannou is a nightmarish HW. Totally sold me on a title fight vs Stipe next and soon. Scary, scary man.

Cejudo vs Pettis
Well overall it was a great night of fights so I can't complain that there was only one boring fight on the card. My God what a snoozer and a predictable one. Cejudo is clearly in the top bracket of the division and he might even be able to give DJ trouble next time but he has an extremely boring however efficient style. Anyone without top notch wrestling is going to lay underneath him for 3 rounds. After already losing to the champ quickly and decisively it's going to take many boring wins like that to get another shot. He's the flyweight Jon Fitch. I'm praying DJ will accept the TJ fight because that's the only one of his I would be remotely interested in. Maybe Cejudo can rematch Benavidez next. I don't care to see him smother anyone else granted I really don't care for that division at all.

Alvarez vs Gaetje
Was the fight everyone expected. Bananas; both of these guys are tough as nails bastards who lose one way: on their shield. I was pulling for Justin as I think there would have been more upside to him winning (imagine him undefeated vs Khabib, Ferguson, or Conor) but Eddie earned the win by being a hard bastard and landing a great shot at the end. Much respect to both guys.

Torres vs Waterson
Poor Karate Hottie. She is legit as they come but isn't really a strawweight. I wouldn't mind a women's 105 to be honest but it should have been formed a long time ago now that 125 and 145 are both in dire need of attention. Torres has a good shout for the rubber match vs Rose or Joanna's comeback fight and I don't think she deserves any less.

The prelims were phenomenal as well. Meideros vs Oliveira and Felder vs Oliveira were two of the best fights of the year and Herrig put on one hell of a show vs Courtney Casey. That's two great UFC pay-per-views in a row, here's hoping they can keep up this trend.

[Nash Diesel]

Torres v. Joanna or next in line to get a title shot would be fine by me. I also agree about Karate Hottie. She's like GSP at Middleweight. She can beat some of the girls, but some of the ones who are ranked higher, well there's a reason they're ranked higher. Beating the piss out of PVZ isn't the same as Tecia Torres.