#manuwa

[thesportssoundoff]

“All the light heavyweights. All of ‘em” UFC Fight Night In Sweden Preview

Joey

May 27th, 2019

Did you enjoy yourself a little break from the MMA death march? Well fuckers we're BACK on at it! The UFC returns to ESPN+ with a little early afternoon action from Sweden on Saturday and it's a pretty interesting card! If you're the kind of guy who likes European lightweights and fights at LHW then this card is your deal. If you're looking for some serious big time relevancy outside of 205 lbs then there may not be much for ya. There's some eh fights on here, some meaningless fights and a few WMMA fights but all in all this card has some dumb fun vibes. Let's not wait too long and let's get right on into it.

Fights: 13

Debuts: Bea Malecki, Eduarda Santana, Sung Bing Jo, Danilo Belluardo,Rostem Akman, Sergey Khandozhko

Fight Changes/Injury Cancellations: 2 (Luigi Vendramini OUT, Frank Camacho IN vs Nick Hein/Bartosz Fabinski OUT, Rostem Akman IN vs Sergey Khandozhko)

Headliners (fighters who have either main evented or co-main evented shows in the UFC): 8 (Anthony Smith, Alexander Gustafsson, Jimi Manuwa, Ilir Latifi, Volkan Oezdemir, Lina Lansberg, Stevie Ray)

Fighters On Losing Streaks in the UFC: 5 ( Tanya Evinger, Daniel Teymur, Jimi Manuwa, Nick Hein, Frank Camacho)

Fighters On Winning Streaks in the UFC: 3 (Aleksandar Rakic, Damir Hadzovic, Leonardo Santos)

Main Card Record Since Jan 1st 2017 (in the UFC): 23-15

Alexander Gustafsson- 1-1 Anthony Smith- 5-2 Volkan Oezdemir-3-3 Ilir Latifi- 2-1 Jimi Manuwa- 1-3 Aleksandar Rakic- 3-0 Makwan Amirkhani- 1-1 Chris Fishgold- 1-1 Damir Hadzovic- 3-1 Christos Giagos- 1-1 Sung Bin Jo- 0-0 Daniel Teymur- 0-3

Fights By Weight Class (yearly number here):

Light Heavyweight- 4 (22) Lightweight-  4 (37) Featherweight-  2 (25) Women’s Bantamweight- 1 (7) Women’s Featherweight- 1 (2)

Welterweight- 1 (33)

Middleweight- (17)

Women’s Strawweight- (12) Women’s Flyweight-  (14) Bantamweight-  (24) Heavyweight- (15) Flyweight- (7)

Debuting Fighters (15-34)- Bea Malecki, Eduarda Santana, Sung Bing Jo, Danilo Belluardo,Rostem Akman, Sergey Khandozhko

Short Notice Fighters (14-18)- Rostem Akman, Frank Camacho

Second Fight (35-7)- Darko Stosic, Joel Alvarez

Cage Corrosion (Fighters who have not fought within a year of the date of the fight) (10-22)- LEonardo Santos, Makwan Amirkhani

Undefeated Fighters (19-24)- Bea Malecki, Rostem Akman

Fighters with at least four fights in the UFC with 0 wins over competition still in the organization (7-7): Frank Camacho, Stevie Ray

Weight Class Jumpers (Fighters competing outside of the weight class of their last fight even if they’re returning BACK to their “normal weight class”) (14-13)- Frank Camacho

Twelve Precarious Ponderings

1- Is Jon Jones "back" yet? By that I mean are we comfortable enough that he's going to be here on a yearly basis that a fight like Gus vs Smith is completely irrelevant? In years prior, you could argue that both Gustafsson and Anthony Smith would be one fight away from getting back into the mix. If Smith beats Gustafsson then he could realistically argue it's he vs Glover Tex for a potential #1 fight while Jones/Santos face Dominick Reyes. Gustafsson may be a little further out due to being 0-3 vs Jones AND Cormier but even he has a fanbase that would allow him in theory to be in the mix with one more win. Now though with Jones back, I can't imagine we're going to see many rematches if any. So is Gus vs Smith just a really fun action fight with no meaning?

2- So why did Anthony Smith accept this fight?  He wanted to take a long break after fighting in June, August, October and then March but alas! Dude's back and took this fight in Sweden vs Gus. Either he just can't say no or he's realizing that Gustafsson might be broken and is trying to steal a quickie return fight.

3- One of the lost-ish factors going into Gus vs Jones 2 was that Alexander Gustafsson isn't quite the same guy who gave Jones all that trouble in the first fight. Gustafsson's had some well known issues with his back and he doesn't look like the same guy he was outside of brief glimpses vs Glover Teixeira. Against Cormier he looked like a somewhat toned down version of the guy who fought Jones, he was blown out vs Rumble so you can't take much from that but vs Jones and Jan Blachowicz, he looked like a stiff rigid somewhat pudgy version of the dude who blasted through most of the 205 lb division in that 2011 to 2014 range. Anthony Smith is an interesting test for a few reasons, primarily because Gus is a slow starter normally and Smith is early offense (on most occasions). This could be Gustafsson's last chance at 205 lbs.

4- Two hard luck 205ers are on the top of this card who could use a big win. Volkan Oezdemir has fought Daniel Cormier followed by Anthony Smith followed by Dominick Reyes and comes into this fight with Ilir Latifi sporting a three fight losing streak. Oezdemir talent wise has found himself out of his element although his performance vs Dominick Reyes was impressive before repetitive body shots broke him down. Oezdemir has about 8-10 good minutes in him before he tires out but he's a tough out for most guys. He's facing the complete opposite of what he's good at with Ilir Latifi who hits hard, wrestles well and has JUST enough cardio to win those slopfests when they're in tight. Jimi Manuwa comes into this fight having lost three in a row as well against Jan Blachowicz, Volkan Oezedemir and current #1 contender Thiago Santos. He's going to be tasked with welcoming in Aleksandar Rakic into the potential top 10 ranks.

5- So how do you feel about these almost "themed" cards? We cool with the amount of light heavyweight fights on this deal as a theme of sorts?

6- When do you think will be the next time we get back to back cards with women's featherweight fights on them?

7- Nick Hein might be next on the Elias Theodorou Midnight Train Goin' Anywhere if he doesn't emerge with a win.

8- In 2015, the UFC thought they had something with "Mr. Finland" Makwan Amirkhani. He started out 2-0 and had all sorts of savvy and social media presence going for him. A guy who looked like he had a world of promise has seen the last three fights of fighting just really suck the life out of him. A win over Mike Wilkinson was followed up by a year off, a loss to Arnold Allen in a very blegh split decision, followed up by a year off and then a split decision win over bare knuckle fighting savant Jason Knight. Amirkhani is not progressing much in his career and he looks like a dude who has stagnated. He's also bounced between a ton of name gyms and at this point I think the hype has officially fizzled out on him as a potential name of note in Europe. The Chris Fishgold fight should be a good barometer for what remains of Amirkhani as he's officially on the wrong side of 30 now.

9- Why is Daniel Teymur on the main card?

10- Leonardo Santos is back! Let's see how many fights it takes before people are tired of him.

11- Aleksandar Rakic provides a fresh face at 205 lbs and if there's one main card guy to get excited about, it's him. Rakic has been given some tough outs in the UFC; his debut was vs notorious slogger Francimar Barroso and his follow up was undefeated HW Justin Ledet dropping down to 205 lbs. His last fight he battled through some big time early offense from Devin Clark before rallying to score a big finish. Manuwa does nothing but hit hard so this could be scary early on.

12- How many HWs could Ilir Latifi beat?

[thesportssoundoff]

THIAGO SANTOS 2ND ROUND FINISH OVER JIMI MANUWA!

Thiago Santos should just be given an extra 50K before each event. Dude’s not fair to the rest of the roster. 

Santos hits Manua with EVERYTHING he’s got early on and Manuwa was able to clinch long enough to survive and then stun Santos toward the end of the round with a wild exchange. Rather than clinch or tie up, Santos decides to just start throwing caipoera kicks to try and find some kind of hail mary KO vs Manuwa. Jimi can’t stop him toward the end of round one and so in round two, Santos just comes out like nothing happened, marches Manuwa down, hits him with EVERYTHING again and then eventually Manuwa just folds. 

Thiago Santos has wins over two top 10 205ers if you think about it and if you remove the loss to Davis Branch, he’s 4-0 on on the year. That’s a mad man. 

[thesportssoundoff]

“A great HW fight, a few great prospects, Jimi Manuwa and .500″ The UFC returns to the UK Preview

Joey

March 11th, 2018

Fights: 12 (11?)

Debuts: 5 (John Phillips, Charles Byrd, Magomed Ankalaev, Hakeem Dawodu, Dimitry Sosnovski)

Fight Changes/Injury Cancellations: 4 (Rustam Khabilov OUT, Stevie Ray IN vs Kajan Johnson/Dmitry Prohebetz OUT, Dmitry Sosnovskiy IN vs Mark Godbeer/Alex Reyes OUT, TBD IN vs Nasrat Haqparast/Elizeu Zaleski OUT, Brad Scott IN vs Jack Marshmann)

Headliners (fighters who have either main evented or co-main evented shows in the UFC): 5 (Fabricio Werdum, Alexander Volkov, Jimi Manuwa, Jan Blachowicz, Stevie Ray)

Fighters On Losing Streaks in the UFC:  2 (Terrion Ware, Paul Craig)

Fighters On Winning Streaks in the UFC:  7 (Fabricio Werdum, Alexander Volkov, Jan Blachowicz, Leon Edwards, Peter Sobotta, Mark Godbeer, Kajan Johnson)

Main Card Record Since Jan 1st 2016 (in the UFC): 18-8

Alexander Volkov- 3-0 Fabricio Werdum- 3-2 Jan Blachowicz- 3-2 Jimi Manuwa- 2-1 Tom Duquesnoy- 1-1 Terrion Ware- 0-2 Leon Edwards- 4-0 Peter Sobotta- 2-0

Too High Up- Terrion Ware vs Tom Duquesnoy

Terrion Ware is the sort of fighter every MMA organization loves to have. He's a guy who can test your prospects, give them a few unique looks and test what guys can and can't do. Thus far, Ware has given some dicey moments to Cody Stamman and Sean O'Malley so you know he can be your prospect tester dijour. The problem is Ware is fighting third up on the card vs Tom Duquesnoy in a fight entirely designed to get Duquesnoy back on the right track. I'm not opposed to young fighters getting opportunities to rebuild their stock because it's just smart business but Duquesnoy-Ware should not be third fight on the card. Thus far Ware's agent has got him on International Fight Week, the co-main event of an FS1 card and now this premier slot on Fight Pass. Dude's out here putting in work.

Too Low- Danny Henry vs Hakeem Dawodu

In his UFC debut, Canada's top prospect gets what is the usual "hyped guy debut" fight---a really fucking tough matchup where nobody respects his opponent. Henry is a former AFC champ who debuted vs Daniel Teymur and had a hellacious war with him in a FOTN bonus earning win. Henry looked huge for 155 lbs so lord knows what he'll look like at 145. Henry is a flawed fighter who Dawodu should be able to style on BUT there are no guarantees under 155 lbs and Henry has a lot of tools (power, size and cardio) which should give Hakeem some issues. This fight should be on the main card.

Stat Monitor for 2018: Debuting Fighters (Current number: 6-9):  John Phillips, Charles Byrd, Magomed Ankalaev, Hakeem Dawodu, Dimitry Sosnovski

Short Notice Fighters (Current number: 6-2): Stevie Ray, Dmitry Sosnovski, Brad Scott

Second Fight (Current number: 8-9): Oliver Enkamp, Danny Henry, Nasrat Haqparast

Cage Corrosion (Current number: 5-9):  

Undefeated Fighters (Current number: 11-8): Hakeem Dawodu, Dmitry Sosnovski

Twelve Precarious Ponderings

1- I'd actually like to begin by doing a bit of an exercise if you'll so indulge me. There are 17 European fighters on this card from top to bottom if you remove the in limbo fight for one Nasrat Haqparast. Removing the debuting fighters, that number drops to 15. Of those fifteen fighters, how many of them are some combination resulting in 2-2 in their last 4 fights?

Jimi Manuwa Jan Blachowicz Danny Roberts Jack Marshmann Brad Scott Paul Craig Stevie Ray

So of the fifteen fighters on this card from Europe who have set foot in the UFC octagon, seven of them are 2-2 in their last 4 fights. That fifteen also includes guys like Tom Duquesnoy, Alexander Volkov and others who don't even have a four fight minimum in the org.

The point was to illustrate the challenges of the European fight scene. MOST of these guys fight in Europe and the UFC goes to Europe, what, six times a year? That leaves these guys taking fights outside of Europe but never in America; like Mexico, Canada or Brazil primarily. That creates a pretty weird dynamic where most of these fights are outside of their comfort zones and on the road in enemy territory where they're really just there to be "an opponent." All of this leads to an erosion of fan support as more and more European fighters get smelted out of their home markets, creating the illusion that they're just not good enough. It all leads to a challenge of balancing the desire to showcase international fighters in front of their fans with the fact that there are X amount of cards to fill up with guys who have to fight X amount of times across X amount of dates. When SO many local fighters are in a state of "win one, lose one, win one, lose one" there's no semblance of momentum.

2- What fighter in Fabricio Werdum's past does Alexander Volkov best represent? I can't think of somebody who he's faced who provides the combination of workrate, size and striking depth that Volkov has. That's not to say Werdum can't win (or won't win) but I'm at a loss for a real good comp for Volkov.

3- It's amazing the level of durability Fabricio Werdum has displayed throughout his career. Not even looking at the level of growth he's displayed as a fighter, we're talking about a guy who has fought at a high level since at least 2007 when I first got reintroduced to MMA. He's fought everybody under the sun and only two guys have managed to put him down and out; Stipe Miocic and JDS. That includes fights with Overeem (three times), Cain Velasquez, Mark Hunt, Fedor, Big Foot, Andrei Arlovski, Big Nog (twice), Travis Browne (twice) and Gabriel Gonzaga. All of that is to lead into the obvious; at SOME point this dude is going to crack. He's over 40, fought three times last year and might fight three more times this year given how often the UFC calls upon him. It's just the nature of the human body to EVENTUALLY erode from prolonged damage. Volkov isn't blessed with the one hitter quitter that can put a dude out on impact but he is very active and aggressive. It probably wouldn't happen early but if this fight drags, accumulation of damage could be a serious problem.

4- So this main card is actually not bad considering it's a European Fight Pass card. Werdum/Volkov is a really good HW fight (and the winner probably is facing the winner of Lewis/Ngannou for a #1 contender spot), Blachowicz/Manuwa I was an awful fight but this is a relevant fight between big dudes at 205 lbs including one dude who will always be a "maybe sorta" #1 contender type because he creates highlight reels. Peter Sobotta vs Leon Edwards isn't the world's sexiest fight on paper but Sobotta has really turned his career around since coming back to the UFC and he seems really confident in his hands right now. On the other hand, Leon Edwards has lost his fight finishing spark but still has fights which suggest he's growing somewhat as a fighter. Even Duquesnoy/Ware should be tons of fun. The prelim slate is just so "UFC Fight Pass in Europe" level that it really dampens the excitement. Brett Johns getting on this card wouldve been huge for him.

5- Jan Blachowicz has sort of had a chance to mentally reset his stock on the lower half of the 205 lb division and gets rocketed RIGHT back up the top of the division. Blachowicz has really struggled around this level with losses to Pat Cummins (in a fight he could've won), Jimi Manuwa (fight he should've won), Alexander Gustafsson (in a fight he probably shouldn't of taken) and Corey Anderson. The level of competition there is pretty intense and it's not like Jan has been completely outstyled in those fights. He's just NOT on that level (or wasn't enough to win those fights). He gets a second crack at Manuwa now.

6- I'm really beginning to lose faith in Danny Roberts as a prospect. On the regional circuit, he always seemed to put himself in various states of peril but it seemed to be more out of inexperience. In the UFC, he's continued to put himself in bad spots defensively and his chin has been cracked on a number of opportunities. Dominique Steele had him hurting in a bad way, Mike Perry finished him in a fight where Roberts just couldn't get out of the way for a fifteen minute period, Bobby Nash had Roberts all sorts of thrown off before Danny Roberts finished him off and Nordine Taleb finished Roberts in violent fashion in December. Roberts draws Swedish karate ace Oliver Enkamp in a pivotal fight for both guys.

7- Can Leon Edwards somehow finish Peter Sobotta and keep pace with the other 170 lbers who seem to all be getting their careers on the right track?

8- If Leon Edwards wins, do they try to put him vs Ponz in Chile? I really like Edwards but since nearly finishing Claudio Silva and smelting Seth Baczynski, he's had 6 fights and gone to a decision in all but one of them. There's really no reason somebody with his tools should be so....not fun. His fights are heading in the opposite direction at a time where Kamaru Usman, Darren Till, Ponz, Max Griffin, Elizeu Zaleski, Jake Matthews, Mike Perry and others in that  "fun new WW to care about" are all having damn fun fights.

9- All Magomed Ankalaev has to do is finish his fight and be the savior of 205 lbs. It's not asking too much.

10- Alright Mark Godbeer, what stupid shit you gonna get yourself into this time?

11- So about the Godbeer fight, maybe this exposes my lack of knowledge but I could not tell you the differences between Dmitry Sosnovskiy and Dmitry Poberezhets, the guy who was originally scheduled to fight Godbeer. The UFC seems to have like a bevy of heavyweights who they signed but can't seem to actually get to get into the cage, it's almost infuriating if you're one of those OCD guys who wants to keep up with everything going on.

12- Stevie Ray getting a new contract to try and smelt Kajan Johnson is very UFC of the UFC. It's almost like a Batman TAS plot from the Joker.

Must Wins

1- Fabricio Werdum

I feel like all of Werdum fights are must win given how much trouble he seems to bring with him. The last time we saw Werdum, he was throwing boomerangs at folks and shouting out Chechen warlords while also decisioning a very good HW in Marcin Tybura. The time before that he took a fight on thirty minutes notice vs Walt Harris and was caught on camera using the unacceptable f word in Spanish like six times. Werdum vs Volkov is a great HW fight that pits the old dog in the race vs the seasoned in his prime pro who is peaking. Good fight but a must win for the always controversial Werdum.

2-  Tom Duquesnoy

This entire thing is tailor made for Duquesnoy. He's getting a guy coming off two losses who is a glorified opponent. He's in Europe, he's on the main card and this entire showcase is built to make him look good and like the star. He truly cannot fuck this up.

3- Magomed Ankalaev

Mr. Ankalaev, I do not know you. I do not necessarily believe I have to know you at this point. All I know is you're a new light heavyweight. God speed, my dude.

Five Can't Miss Fights

1- Alexander Volkov vs Fabricio Werdum

2- Tom Duquesnoy vs Terrion Ware

3- Hakeem Dawodu vs Danny Henry

4- Jack Marshmann vs Brad Scott

5- John Phillips vs Charles Byrd

[thesportssoundoff]

Manuwa’s get up is always so impressive

Primarily because it’s rarely technical, it’s Derrick Lewis-esque “I’m just gonna stand now”

[thesportssoundoff]

A Mighty Good Time In London: A Preview For The UFC’s return to London

If you're willing to take a break from March Madness, theres quite a bit of MMA and boxing to enjoy this weekend! GGG vs Danny Jacobs is the big prize this week BUT If you want to do more, how about some MMA early on? The UFC is heading to London for an early (Eastern time which is truly the only time of note) afternoon slate. THIS card has taken some hits from people who are either a) unaware of what a Fight Pass card is, b) never satisfied or c) Just dying to be #MadOnline. It's a really really solid slate of European MMA with some great matchmaking and a not as bad main event. As much as people want to be mad about Manuwa vs Anderson main eventing, I would just say that you should be mad at Gus for ducking Cirkunov because he wasn't a big enough name. Besides let's be honest, Corey Anderson vs Jimi Manuwa is a fine main event for a Fight Pass card. You could do far far worse. Beyond that though you've got a great Alan Jouban vs Gunnar Nelson fight, Brad Pickett's retirement, TWO really great prospect vs prospect fights, Vicente Luque vs Leon Edwards in a fucking war and a half, Joe Duffy's potential UFC departure fight as well as a host of mid-tier action fighters at 185 and 205 trying to find some success. Let's dig in!

Fights: 13

Debuts: 1 (Lucie Pudilova)

Fight Changes/Injury Cancellations: 2 (Veronica Macedo out, Lucie Pudilova in/Henry Briones out, Chito Vera in)

Headliners (fighters who have either main evented or co-main evented shows in the UFC): 4 (Reza Madadi, Jimi Manuwa, Gunnar Nelson and Brad Pickett)

Fighters On Losing Streaks in the UFC: 1 (Brad Pickett) *This sort of exemplifies what makes this card deceptively good. There's a lot of fighters coming off a loss but not a lot of fighters who are on losing streaks. A lot of dudes treading water for sure but that's not a deathknel for a show*

Fighters On Winning Streaks in the UFC: 6 (Mark Diakiase, Vicente Luque, Leon Edwards, Makwan Amirkhani, Arnold Allen, Alan Jouban)

Stat Monitor for 2017:

Debuting Fighters (Current number: 8-7)- Lucie Pudilova

Short Notice Fighters (Current number: 5-9)- Lucie Pudilova, Marlon "Chito" Vera

Second Fight (Current number: 5-9)- Linsa Lansberg, Brett Johns, Darren Stewart

Twelve Precarious Ponderings

1- I think the reason people dislike this main event in so many words is that there's a lack of relevancy to it. Jimi Manuwa is a very fun kill or be killed type of LHW who is either brutally finished or finishes brutally while Corey Anderson with the right opponent (namely somebody who can give him something to worry about on the feet while flirting with takedown defense) is a guy who can have fun exciting fights. So it has to be relevancy given how neither fighter is, in all likelihood, going to challenge for the title. I would disagree with that assessment. Corey Anderson's had some clunkers in the UFC but he's very young in a division by which youth is its own skillset and as far as actual skills go, he's not a bad fighter. He has power, inconsistently of course, but power in his hands, he's developed a decent kicking game and his wrestling is not great but good enough to take down bigger clunkier guys who can't move their feet well. Anderson could get a title shot simply by virtue of the potted plant theory; stick around long enough and eventually you become a centerpiece. As for Jimi Manuwa, it's not a question of talent as much as it's a question of time. Manuwa has taken LONG lapses throughout his career of doing absolutely nothing and I believe his legal history has prevented him from fighting abroad more. He's sort of become a UK novelty attraction which is sad because I think he can do more. The argument could (and should) be made that Manuwa's lack of TDD and his so-so chin will always prevent him from ascending the rankings. I would conversely argue that there's two guys at 205 who can take big punches and everybody else's chin is essentially on the same plane of existence. The takedown defense IS a problem but TDD didn't prevent OSP from getting a title shot, ya know what I mean? I think this is a fine fight for 205 AND an important one. Maybe one day we'll look back on this like how we look back on Struve vs Miocic as being a super important fight in the annals of HW history. Who knows.

2- NOW having said all of that, I must also admit the reality of the situation. There's a fine chance that Anderson takes down Manuwa for five rounds and we all spend the main event being bored out of our minds. Honesty is the best policy. STILL even so, I feel the need to point out that all of the UFC main events outside of the PPVs have been finishes and relatively early.

3- Alan Jouban and Gunnar Nelson have been forgotten in the mix at 170 lbs but why arent these guys recognized more as contenders? In the case of Jouban, his only losses are a bad split decision to Warrley Alves and a nasty TKO to Albert Tumenov. Outside of that Jouban has beaten some pretty darned good fighters like Belal Muhammad, Mike Perry (I'M HOLDING ON TO THIS ONE, MAN) and Seth Baczynski. For Gunnar Nelson, the super hyped prospect got his credentials checked by Rick Story and Demian Maia but he's young, he trains in a gym that fits and suits him PLUS Nelson is likely only going to get better with time.

4- Is Arnold Allen, in pure talent alone, the most talented European prospect since McGregor back in his heyday? Arnold Allen is just 23 years old and he seems to improve with each performance. He's fighting guys way way above his experience level though and the same happens with Makwan Amirkhani.

5- Let's talk about Mr. Finland! It seems like just yesterday he was this promising prospect who internet MMA fans were scoffing at. He was just a gimmick; a good looking grappler with not much else to his name and one of the many European prospects outside of England who were expected to flop. To our surprise, or at least my surprise, Mr. Finland has been far better than advertised. While I wish he'd fight MORE, his grappling chops and his ability to make himself a spectacle have been a tremendous addition to the UFC. He's gotten a slow ladder up to the top and draws Arnold Allen, arguably England's best featherweight prospect (he'd beat Paddy IMO). Should be a great fight but Amirkhani has the edge on the ground so I'm betting that's where this winds up.

6- THE MAD DOG IS BACK!

7- Tom Breese is a really good prospect with a really good gym who seemed to be stuck in neutral due to bad weight cuts and some rough stylstic matchups. Oluwale Bamgbose is a freakishly athletic raw middeweight who seems to have bitten off more than he chew with his current UFC run. This fight could be very dicey for Breese early but if he survives the first, I think he's going to have a relatively easy time with Oluwale.

8- I'm admittedly pretty conflicted on this Pickett/Marlon Vera fight. Chito is a fun dude to watch fight and he's young, super athletic and developing pretty quickly. I'd be really happy if he won----but man doesn't Brad Pickett deserve a chance to retire on a good note? It's a tough ask.

9- Leon Edwards vs Vicente Luque is a really interesting fight because while Luque could be a challenger at 170 lbs before the end of 2017, Edwards an absolutely challenge for a top spot in time as well. Edwards has had an interesting progression even if it's been a somewhat bumpy road. His two losses boiled down to simply not having the wrestling chops to stop takedowns/stalls in his offensive game. To his credit, Edwards has improved each time out as a wrestler annd that combined with snappy striking makes him a credible name. Vicente Luque has gone from struggling (by his own admission) to deal with Alvaro Herrera  to blasting out reputable dudes in under a round. This is a different challenge though as Edwards is well rounded, can match Luque athletically and his weaknesses are going to be a lot tougher for Luque to exploit. I'm pretty excited to see how this thing plays out.

10- So we've been discussing the so-so 205 lb division but Darren Stewart is a pretty darned good LHW prospect. He's all action and all violence, coming off a no contest after a headbutt led to a finish vs Francimar Barroso. Francimar is JAG so here's hoping Stewart can impress.

11- On one hand, Teemu Packalen is a respectable raw fighter with skills and enough in his game to not be a total waste of time for Marc Diakiase. On the other hand? Do we really NEED another tune up fight for Diakiase? I think we can all agree that he's maybe ready for a bigger name now.

12- Brett Johns had a Henry Cejudo-esque debut in the UFC after a Henry Cejudo esque regional MMA career. Johns was nixed from Cage Warriors after becoming their champion, got signed by Titan FC, missed weight and lost thee chance to be their champion. Originally just a great grab and grinder type, Johns showcased all kinds of striking improvement in his fight vs Kwan Ho Kwak. Ian Entwistle is a one trick pony for the most part but his trick (leglocks) is pretty damn good. A respectable Cage Warriors-y main event on the prelims of this card.

Must Wins:

Jimi Manuwa

Jimi's 37 years young which is not a deathknel for a guy at light heavyweight. At the same time, the time to go is now for the powerful Brit. Manuwa can answer a ton of questions about whether he can creep his way into a title shot or at the very least, set himself up for a really appealing fight with Shogun Rua. Can he handle Corey Anderson's five rounds of pressure? Can he stuff the takedowns? If takendown can he get back up or will he be stuck there? How can his chin hold up if Anderson cracks him? If Manuwa wins then you can start whispering about a #1 contender fight....but he's gotta win.

Makwan Amirkhani

I have no idea why Amirkhani was gone for this long. Whatever the reasoning, it was far too long for my liking. Arnold Allen is a very good young fighter but Mr. Finland's more physical, he's fought better competition and his grappling is worlds above Arnold Allen. It's a winnable fight for Amirkhani and at this point, he's gotta take the jump from fun gimmick fighter to genuine challenger at featherweight.

Marc Diakiase

Diakiase has the ability in time to be a genuine star in Europe if the UFC promotes him right. He's 2-0 in the UFC and he's getting a lay up opponent in Teemu Packalen. It's almost not about winning this fight but doing so in an impressive fashion.

Five Underlying Themes

1- European events always have a special energy to them regardless of the card. With Bellator running more and more shows in Europe, will the UFC still garner that special attraction vibe?

2- Whether they try to sell the main event as a title contender fight.

3- The Hardy/Gooden combo is normally pretty solid but with a long layoff between fight cards, will they be rusty?

4- Brad Pickett's retirement.

5- If they dance around the Joseph Duffy contract situation. OR IF HE EATS IT VS THE MAD DOG.

Predicting (Bonus) Winners!

Current Record: 23-23

Corey Anderson Gunnar Nelson Marlon Vera Makwan Amirkhani Joseph Duffy Darren Stewart Daniel Omielanczuk Marc Diakiase Tom Breese Vicente Luque Brett Johns Scott Askham Lina Lansberg

[trustednewssites]

Jimi Manuwa Out Of This Weekend’s UFC Sao Paulo Main Event

Jimi Manuwa Out Of This Weekend’s UFC Sao Paulo Main Event

Trustednewssites.com – #mma Jimi Manuwa Out Of This Weekend’s UFC Sao Paulo Main Event

The injury curse has struck the UFC again.

This tend of late injuries affecting headline fights in MMA continues apace. The most recent one saw women’s flyweight champion Nicco Montano fail to weigh-in for her scheduled bout against Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 228 earlier this month.

Now, during fight week…

View On WordPress

[thesportssoundoff]

Blachowicz is JUST getting out of the way of Manuwa’s serious shit

And he looks tired. Christ. 

[thesportssoundoff]

Jan Blachwicz trash talking!

Who is this mad man?!?