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Event Preview – Fight Night Makhachev vs Green

February 24, 2022 — Leave a comment

I had a lot of fun researching this card. There are a lot of competitive matchups to like. And a bunch of really talented fighters.

This feels like a good time to remind you of a simple rule in MMA. Good fighters make for the best fights. Yes, sometimes wacky characters who “throw down” can be fun too. Its cage fighting, it’s all fun. But, the best fights usually involve the best in the world.

Whenever a card is stacked with talent that could potentially become the best in the world, it should be enough to get excited! And there are so many fighters on this card that look like they could be the real deal.

And how can you not love what Bobby Green is doing here. What a matchup up this is, kinda feels like Bobby is about to become the new Jorge Masvidal. Kudos to the UFC creative team. This is great stuff.

And what the heck is going on with the betting line!? Islam is a -1000 favourite in some places! I mean, I kinda get it. But idk. That alone kinda makes this fight interesting..

Looking forward to diving in!

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Fight Night – Walker vs Hill – Honourable Mentions

February 18, 2022 — Leave a comment

Mario Bautista vs Jay Perrin – 135 pounds – Bantamweight

One of the best fights on the card is the first fight of the night!

Mario Bautista is a really solid fighter in an insanely stacked division, and I think there is some potential there. His last fight was a flash KO loss to the really tough Trevin Jones. And his loss before that was to one of the best in the division, Cory Sandhagen! Mario has some really clean and powerful striking and has a well rounded game. I would not be surprised to see him pull a win streak together. I am looking forward to seeing him compete. He is good and exciting.

His opponent is making his UFC debut after making his rounds in some of the best pro MMA organizations in the world. He’s well rounded and will probably ok with keeping it on the feet – but his path to victory will most likely come from his grappling.

Jim Miller vs Nikolas Motta – 155 pounds – Lightweight

What a clash of styles and careers we have here.

First – this should be a pretty classic grappler vs striker matchup. Jim has 18 career submissions! Whereas Nikolas Motta has finished 8 of his 12 careers wins via TKO.

Jim is about to set a record for the most fights in UFC history with 39! And Motta will be making his UFC debut.

Should be fun, always a treat to watch Jim Miller. And the line here is super interesting..

Kyle Daukaus vs Jamie Pickett – 195 pounds – Catchweight

A bout between two underachievers who I don’t want to see lose!!

Both these guys are better than their records. And neither of these guys can afford to lose another fight.

Kyle Daukaus is most well known for his submission game, with 8 of his 10 wins coming via submission – but don’t sleep on his striking. He is long and can catch you with with his hands.

Jamie Pickett is coming off a unanimous decision win and now has won 2 straight in the UFC. And even after two straight wins, it just feels like there is more there to show with Jamie Pickett. And it was interesting, Jamie actually said the same after his most recent win.

Both these guys are good, I’m looking forward to seeing who can execute.

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Johnny Walker vs Jamahal Hill – Light Heavyweight – 205 pounds

February 18, 2022 — Leave a comment

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This was a fun and interesting main card fight that is now a somewhat weak main event. Neither of these guys have had the perfect start to their young UFC careers, but they are both still potential contenders in the UFC light heavyweight division.

And what makes this fight really interesting – is that this fight feels like a ‘one or the other’ kind of situation. Where one of these two could establish themselves as a future potential contender, but it is unlikely they both will be. And there is no better way to find out then lock them in the octagon!

Johnny Walker is interesting. He developed a reputation as a wild man with some highlight reel KOs, beginning his UFC career 3-0 with 3 1st round KO wins. But has since had trouble producing the same results after fighter the upper echelon of the 205 pound division. He is 1-3 in his last 4, and that one win came after being in the verge of deafeat to Ryan Spann. Walkers most recent fight was against of the divisions best, Thiago Santos. And he lost the fight via unanimous decision, but it was one of his more interesting performances. It was not the usual wild man approach, where his vulnerable chin would be tested hunting for the KO. He was much more patient and showed a better takedown defence. It is really difficult to assume a fighter is going to be able to get back to their winning ways after a losing streak, but Johnny Walker has showed signs of improvement. And he has many natural abilities and attributes working in his favour. The only thing that really matters is results, and he has not had positive results for some time. But I think we have reason to hold out hope that Johnny Walker can turn it around.

Jamahal Hill might be best known for that gruesome arm injury he suffered at UFC 263 to Paul Craig. But he has had a fairly successful start to his UFC career, finishing 3 of his 4 wins via KO. Hill has had only one contest against a truly established UFC fighter, and that was his loss to Paul Craig. If you’re going to be fighting the lower end of the UFCs 205 division, KOs are what you want to see. 

Both these guys are most likely going to want to keep it standing, but the first guy to to show a willingness to mix it up may have an advantage. The betting line is heavily in Jamahal Hills favour, but I believe the Walkers high level experience, and possibility for either of these guys to get clipped it being discounted too much.

We’ll learn a lot about both of these guys after this fight, important for both their careers.

Joaquin Buckley vs Abdul Razak Alhassan – Middleweight – 185 pounds

February 17, 2022 — Leave a comment

Now this is an all-violence matchup.

Joaquin Buckley is most well known for his all time highlight reel spinning kick KO. I’ve watched a lot of fights over the years, and that was one of the most memorable KOs I’ve witnessed. And Buckley is much more than just that one KO! He is a good fighter and has the potential to be a top 10 fighter at 185. He’s just had issues putting a string of wins together. He got clipped and KOd by Kevin Holland, who now fights at 170. And was also KOd in a fight where he was 3-1 favourite against Alessio Di Chirico. But I’m not ready to sleep on Joaquin Buckley as a top 10 fighter. He has a lot of skills and some fight changing power.

But if you are susceptible to getting caught and KOd, Abdul Razak Alhassan is a dangerous fight. All of his 11 professional wins have come via 1st round KO. All of them!! His path to victory is as clear as there is for any fighter in the UFC. He is looking to catch you in the first round. His 3 losses all came when his opponent found a way to extended the fight and Alhassan had troubles staying as dangerous after the 1st round.

Buckley may be happy to stand and trade, but that could be an unnecessary risk considering both their histories. This fight could be pure violence, but I am curious to see how Buckley approaches this fight.

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Gabriel Benítez vs David Onama – Featherweight – 145 pounds

February 17, 2022 — Leave a comment

This will be a fun one! And could potentially feature a future contender at 145 pounds.

Fans may remember David Onama from his gutsy late notice performance against blue chip prospect, Mason Jones. There were so many things working against Onama in that fight. He was literally on vacation having drinks when he got the call. Not an ideal way to start your UFC career. He was also tasked with a very difficult style matchup! Jones is one of the most interesting prospects in the sport, and has often utilized his grappling to win fights – and he was the Cage Warriors Welterweight champ!! David Onama is a more natural featherweight. And even taking a bad stylistic matchup against a physically much larger opponent on late notice – he still almost won!!

I can not wait to see what David Onama can do at 145 pounds. All of David Obama’s 8 pro wins have come via finish, and he also has a 10-0 amateur record. 145 is one of the deepest divisions in the sport, and getting to the top is difficult. But David Onama is a really fun new addition to the weight class.

Onama will have a good opportunity to display his skills and get a sense of where he belongs in the UFC with his fight against Gabriel Benitez. Benitez has been in the UFC since 2014 and has traded wins and losses throughout his UFC career. He’s had troubles when fighting the upper end of the UFC featherweight division, so if David Onama can put him away we’ll begin to get a good sense of what we have in him.

Should be a fun style matchup as well.

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Event Preview – Fight Night Walker vs Hill

February 17, 2022 — Leave a comment

Ok – I can’t lie to my dozens of readers. This card is thin. The card, on paper, looked kinda fun when we had RDA vs Fiziev in the main event. But now, there are almost zero high stakes contests on the card. There is not one fight that is featuring two top 10 fighters – in fact, outside the main event, we don’t even have fights featuring fighters in the top 15! Obviously – each contest has their own high stakes for each competitor. But it’s is very rare that a card does not feature at least one or two fights between ranked fighters.

But that does not mean there is nothing to look forward too. Or that the fights won’t be exciting! There are a bunch of names on this card that fans are interested in. And most of the interesting names and interesting because they are pretty violent.

Let’s find the good for UFC Vegas 48!!

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UFC 271 – Honourable Mentions

February 11, 2022 — Leave a comment

Jeremiah Wells vs Mike Mathetha – 170 pounds – Welterweight

Well, UFC 271 is choosing to begin with violence.

Mike “Blood Diamond” Mathetha has not only the new coolest UFC nickname, he also is going to have one of the most unique striking styles in the organization. The first of three City Kickboxing fighters to fight at 271, Blood Diamond has an extensive kickboxing background and will be hunting for the KO with his funky and flowing style.

His opponent – Jeremiah Wells, has some serious power. Like, that freaky death touch kind of power. I do think he will be more willing to mix it with takedowns up as well, which could give him an advantage.

But I am guessing we see violence

Jacob Malkoun vs AJ Dobson – 185 pounds – Middleweight

This is a fight where I have my eye specifically on one fighter. And that is AJ Dobson, the next potential world champion to come from Mark Colemans gym.

AJ fought like a madman on his DWCS series debut. But not in a bad way, he just was ultra aggressive chasing the finish. I have watched a lot of fights, and it was a very unique approach. I am really curious to see if he blitzes his opponent again!

But I am also really curious to see how good he actually is, because aside from his berserker fight style, he also looks to have some skills and physical attributes. I really hope he is good. Because if he is, we might have a new fan favourite on our hands, at least..

Carlos Ulberg vs Fabio Cherant – 205 pounds – Light Heavyweight

Carlos Ulberg is one of the guys on Izzy’s City Kickboxing team. So I am going to be curious to see how he does. He has a pretty solid kickboxing pedigree. And was in a wild fight with Kennedy Nzechukwu his last time out where it looked like he was moments from moving his record to 4-0.

Fabio Cherant is 0-2 in the UFC, losing both his fights in the 1st round. He has not yet proven himself to be UFC caliber, and will be a favourable stlye matchup for Carlos Ulberg..

Anthony Hernandez vs Renato Moicano – 155 pounds – Lightweight

Anthony Hernandez recently made headlines complaining about his placement on this card! Anthony claimed him and his opponent, Renato Moicano, are two of the most well known names on this card, and they should be further up the card!

And I don’t disagree – but, they have both traded wins and losses in their last 4. Losing to those supposed “main card” fighters. Both these guys need this win to get back to those higher profile matchups.

Derrick Lewis vs Tia Tuivasa – 265 pounds – Heavyweight

This big boys!

This fight features the hometown boy, Derrick Lewis returning home looking for redemption against the “shoey” specialist Tai Tuivasa. Yes, drinking beer from a shoe is Tai Tuivasa’s specialty as a UFC fighter. The UFC featured more beer drinking highlights than they did KO highlights! It is kind of ridiculous.

But aside from how these fighters choose to enjoy their beverages – they will both be looking for the KO.

The strategy in this fight will be pretty simple. Get the KO. That’s it.

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UFC Championship Fight – Israel Adesanya vs Robert Whittaker – 185 pounds – Middleweight

February 11, 2022 — Leave a comment

The “Undisputed King of the Middleweights” and bona fide superstar, Israel Adesanya returns to officially begin his second lap of the UFCs middleweight division.

We’ve gotten used to a lot of turnover in our UFC champions over the last few years – the top of these divisions are so hyper-competitive. We have forgot what its like to have challengers take a second crack at a long reigning champ – and what is at risk for the champ.

How could Izzy top his last performance against Whittaker!? And Whittaker now has an idea of what didn’t work and has had time to plan for what to do differently! He’s witnessed a game plan that worked to beat Izzy. And – Robert Whittaker can give himself a better chance by being in a better head space this time around. There are many reasons why fans are assuming this second fight between Izzy and Whittaker will look different.

Izzy is the “A side” here. He is the draw. Izzy is the one who has a throne to lose. There is so much on the line! And there are so many angles to look at these rematches from that favour the challenger.

Whoever it is that is able to execute on Saturday, will have undoubtedly proven a lot.

If Izzy can beat a new fresh version of Robert Whittaker, with a new game plan, and a new attitude. He will prove he is simply better than the consensus #2 Middleweight in the world.

If Robert can crack the Stylbender puzzle, that will be an amazing comeback story! And will set the scene for an absolutely massive trilogy.

I really do not know what to expect from this fight – which is lots of fun. And regardless of all the angles or whatever – they are two best guys in the world! Nothing better than that.

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Jared Cannonier vs Derek Brunson – Middleweight – 185 pounds

February 11, 2022 — Leave a comment

This is one of those make-or-break fights at the top of a division. A fight between two fighters who have spent their career as a “contender”, but never the “challenger”. And now is the time to win that big fight that gets you the title shot – or if you lose, accept that it is not going to happen.

MMA is a sport where you can never count someone out, but objectively, it is reasonable to claim that this is a make-or-break fight for Jared Cannonier and Derek Brunson. Brunson is outwardly talking about retirement. Saying he has two fights left. If he doesn’t win, he isn’t getting a title fight in his next fight.

Whereas Jared Cannonier does seem to have more long-term plans in the sport, he is 37 years old. He needs to beat Derek Brunson and prove himself to be a feasible fresh matchup for Izzy. If Jared wins this fight, his only loss at 185 will have been a 3 round decision loss to Whittaker. And it reasonable to claim he is a worthy new challenger for Izzy.

And Jared still looks great? I know I’m trying to sell this idea that this is make-or-break for Jared because he is 37 – but he still looks healthy and strong. He is talking about going to 170!?
Jared Cannonier is such an interesting character..

And this fight is interesting. Brunson will want to chain wrestle and get Jared down. He’ll faint and strike and shoot. Whereas Jared is going to try and control the distance and look to pick clean shots. He’ll be plenty patient – and he’ll want to always be prepared to stuff the shot from Brunson.

Jared Cannonier needed to use utilize a similar strategy in his last fight against Kelvin Gastelum, which he did beautifully. Jared displayed great fight IQ timing Gastelum’s shots – he was officially credited with a perfect 8 for 8 takedown defense in his 5 round fight against Kelvin. It was a beautiful performance, and even though he couldn’t finish Gastelum (which we know is not easy) he did hurt him a few times. And Jared Cannonier hits hard, which means trouble for Brunson (duh).

But that has always been Dereks problem! He is too easy to hit. He is on a win streak right now but go watch those fights – he gets hit in everyone. Right before Till tapped, he had Derek hurt!

I think this fight is being slept on from an action standpoint. It is very very unlikely that Derek Brunson can just lay on Jared Cannonier for 3 rounds. These two will be throwing.

And I also feel like I might be talking myself into a juicy bet here.. Let’s see.

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Alex Perez vs Matt Schnell – Flyweight – 125 pounds

February 10, 2022 — Leave a comment

This fight has been canceled! 😭

Flyweight might be the most overlooked division in the sport, and this matchup and it’s placement on the card might be the best evidence. This is one of only three fights on the whole card featuring fights between top 10 fighters!? Alex Perez’ last fight was for the title!! And this fight is stuck in the middle of the prelims – why!? I don’t get why the UFC does this. Feature these top 10 fighters on PPV.

Alex Perez lost to Deiveson via first round submission in his title shot in November of 2020 and has been battling injuries and rescheduling’s ever since. Perez is still one of the best in the world and absolutely could work his way back to the title. He is a solid striker but will want to take this fight to the ground.

Matt Schnell is a really fun and a really good fighter. He may not have the biggest name and has had issues with consistency in the UFC, but his ability is not being reflected in his record. His fight against Alexandre Pantoja, who is now ranked #3 in the division, was starting to go well for him! I thought he was starting to look like the better fighter. Then he got clipped with a big punch and went down. His last fight with Bontorin was close! Matt Schnell is being slept on in this fight and this division. I am not ready to sleep on him just yet.

Top 10 flyweight fights are almost always fun. And I expect this one to be no different.

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