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April 24th, 2017, 9:39 AM
#1
UFC 211: Miocic vs. Dos Santos II (May 13th 2017)
Main card:
UFC Heavyweight Title: Stipe Miocic (c) vs. Junior dos Santos
UFC Strawweight Title: Joanna Jedrzejczyk (c) vs. Jessica Andrade
Welterweight: Demian Maia vs. Jorge Masvidal
Featherweight: Frankie Edgar vs. Yair Rodriguez
Flyweight: Henry Cejedo vs. Sergio Pettis
Prelims on FX
Lightweight: Eddie Alvarez vs. Dustin Poirier
Featherweight: Chas Skelly vs. Jason Knight
Middleweight: Krzysztof Jotko vs. David Branch
Lightweight: Marco Polo Reyes vs. James Vick
Fight Pass Prelims
Strawweight: Jessica Aguilar vs. Courtney Casey
Featherweight: Gabriel Benítez vs. Enrique Barzola
Heavyweight: Chase Sherman vs. Dmitry Poberezhets
Featherweight: Jared Gordon vs. Michel Quinones
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April 24th, 2017, 10:20 AM
#2
Not a bad card then.
The first fight between Miocic and dos Santos was an absolute war. If Robbie Lawler didn't exist it may have been the best fight of 2014. Miocic boxed JDS up a bit early but dos Santos dug deep, found a big shot midway through then stayed on him down the stretch to take the super close decision. Since then, Miocic has knocked out 4 legends, 3 in the first round. Dos Santos has gone 1-1, largely inactive but showed signs of the old, quick JDS last time out. Generally it's not good to be out too long but maybe JDS needed to heal up after 3 wars in 2 years. Miocic will have an advantage in boxing this time I think but he doesn't have an outstanding chin. Plus, heavyweights. I'm leaning Miocic in 2 but would absolutely love Junior getting the belt back, been a fan since his debut.
Joanna Champion vs. Andrade is probably the biggest title fight in the division thus far based on Andrade's finishes in the weightclass. She looks lethal. And she comes to fight, like Wanderlei Silva with oestrogen. Always coming forward, good chin, well skilled. Joanna is so good though. Keeps an absurd pace, always landing little shots. Not a power puncher though and has been clipped before. Very interesting fight. I can see Andrade landing and getting her out of there, and certainly see her dominating through 10 minutes. After that? I think she fades and Double J takes over in trademark fashion and takes a 48-46 with a 10-8 in 4 or 5.
Maia vs. Masvidal is the top contenders fight at welterweight. Has to be. Maia is the rightful #1 contender but has taken this fight regardless. Masvidal knocked out Ellenberger and Cerrone inside a couple months so he's on great form. I like Maia here. Masvidal is a great fighter but I just can't look past how Maia just cut through Condit, Nelson, Brown and Magny. He has altered his game to complete relentlessness in getting it to the ground, and once it's there he's lethal. Masvidal for me doesn't have the grappling chaps to avoid it. Maia by late submission.
Edgar vs. Rodriguez is another massive fight. Edgar will probably earn another (presumably final) title shot if he wins and Holloway beats Aldo. Rodriguez should get one with a win too. Yair is creative and very quick, but his talent may have eclipsed his fundamentals and Edgar can exploit that. Frankie is just solid. Great boxing, great MMA wrestling and top game, and just an iron will. Is he past his prime though? Excellent crossroads fight. I favour Edgar. Yair is capable of winning but I'm not big on his hands, and surely Edgar can catch a kick or 2 and beat him up on the ground for a decision.
Cejedo vs. Pettis is another fight with immediate title implications. Pettis gets a shot at Mighty Mouse with the upset win most definitely. I don't rate him though. I see Cejedo dictacting where the fight goes and landing the heavier shots for a points win. If Pettis gets by Henry though it's a clear sign of improvement to world level.
Alvarez vs. Poirier is better than most main events so far this year. Looking forward to this one, two action fighters with power and vulnerability, but a lot of heart. Based on Peahead just scraping by Jim Miller though, I'm liking Alvarez to get it done inside the distance by knockout.
Skelly vs. Knight, 2 streaking young featherweight action fighters. Should be a wild one. Knight looks to have the better conditioning so I reckon him taking over late after a back and forth 2 rounds.
Jotko vs. Branch is for a place inside the top 10 for me. Jotko beat Thales Leites last time out. Branch was 2 weight WSOF champion on a long win streak. Should be an interesting fight. Leaning Branch based on his experience, he has grown in confidence and has won many big fights lately. Jotko is talented though, could go either way.
Polo Reyes is Yair-esque in his style. James Vick is long and throws a lot of strikes. Should be entertaining. Leaning Vick again on experience.
Aguilar was ranked top 3 before her UFC debut, and WSOF champion. Lost to Gadelha then disappeared. Courtney Casey is an active fighter, very aggressive. Leaning Casey, Aguilar's been fighting regularly against good opponents and holding her own.
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May 8th, 2017, 8:11 AM
#3
This is on Saturday then. Not catching a lot of hype considering the amount of good fights on it, and how deep it is (they've added another fight to round it to 14!). After rewatching JDS/Rothwell I'm a little more confident in his performance. Plus, unlike other fighters he has given himself the benefit of taking decent breaks after head trauma.
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May 8th, 2017, 10:28 AM
#4
Alvarez going from main event of UFC's first MSG card to the prelims...Still, it's the fight I think that will be FOTN. I'm pulling for JDS. He's been my favorite HW for a long, long time, would love to see the belt back around his waist. Too bad we've already seen him fight Cain 3 times, the 4th fight does nothing for me at the moment. Women's title fight should be pretty solid, standard JJ win where she maybe looks in trouble early but picks it up and wins the later rounds for a 49-48 UD. I hope Maia wins, dude has done a lot at WW. The rest of the card is very very good.
Last edited by Nash Diesel; May 8th, 2017 at 11:07 AM.
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May 8th, 2017, 11:19 AM
#5
Eddie Alvarez fight definitely has the potential to be a great fight.
I think the JDS/Stipe fight was amazing in the first encounter, and thus I do not think this fight will live up to the first fight. This fight will probably end really quick. I hope it is in Stipe's favor. I have met Stipe a couple times when I went to Vegas last year, and he is legitimately an AWESOME guy. Probably the coolest of all the fighters in the entire UFC. It has made me a gigantic fan of him and I am really pulling for him.
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May 8th, 2017, 11:57 AM
#6
Stipe is a champion for a reason. I would not be shocked if he was able to put away Dos Santos.
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May 8th, 2017, 1:12 PM
#7
Both seem like great men. JDS has been a long time favourite ever since the Werdum fight and his association with Big Nog so I'd love to see him pull it off, but if Stipe wins I'd love for him to beat the title defence record... before falling to the Black Beast.
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May 8th, 2017, 2:18 PM
#8
Yeah Black Beast v. Mark Hunt next month, should be real good. Curious to see who they put Francis Ngannou against next. Are they maybe waiting to see who comes out of Werdum/Overeem? Idk if I see him getting the loser of Stipe/JDS but I could definitely see him against the loser of Werdum/Overeem. The dude hasn't fought since January, the fight lasted like a minute, why isn't he booked for anything?
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May 9th, 2017, 6:07 AM
#9
He's moved to America so is probably spending a bit of time trying out gyms before settling on a place for a fight camp. He did 2 fights back to back in December/January so can afford to take a step back to hone the skills. I imagine he'll fight either Velasquez or a loser from the Miocic/JDS and Werdum/Reem fights next. If I were a betting man I would say the title picture would be:
JDS wins, fights the winner of Werdum/Reem, with 2 of Velasquez, Lewis (with a win over Hunt) and Ngannou being paired for a title shot, Stipe fights the other and the Reem/Werdum loser either retires or fights Browne (Reem) or Arlovski (Werdum) providing they're coming off wins in their individual step down fights.
Stipe I don't think rematches the Werdum/Overeem winner next if he retains. Both got demolished by him inside a round within the last year. Maybe at a push Werdum does since he's a former champion. Thus I can see Black Beast getting the next shot (if he beats Hunt), Velasquez fighting the Werdum/Reem winner for the next shot, and Ngannou fights JDS.
I do like the current heavyweight mix. Miocic, Lewis and Ngannou have breathed new life in the division.
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May 10th, 2017, 7:58 AM
#10
Was looking at the UFC title history - a former champion has never spent longer than 4 years between relinquishing the belt. Of the multiple time champions (GSP, Hughes, Penn, Couture, Sylvia, Velasquez, Aldo and Cruz; as well as Mir as an interim champion). BJ took the longest between reigns as he vacated the 170 title in May 04 and won the 155 title in January 2008. Of the other champions only Cruz took longer than 2 years to regain the full World title, and at just over at that (about 2 years 2 weeks). Fighters who have tried and failed to regain a title after 3 years - Vitor (x3), Edgar, Rampage, Machida, Mir (x2) and Rashad. So JDS winning would be MMA's Ali/Foreman or Foreman/Moorer up to this point.
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May 10th, 2017, 9:29 PM
#11
Cejudo vs. Lil' Pettis is off because Cejudo hurt his hand.
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May 11th, 2017, 3:16 AM
#12
The least appealing fight of the top 6. Looks like timing might be right for Benavidez to get his title shot then, Pettis and Borg are the only other guys on win streaks but lack marquee victories.
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May 13th, 2017, 9:53 PM
#13
too big to fail
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