UFC 290 bout order per ESPN

spcslacker · 2023-05-28T21:27:40+00:00

these barely competing hype trains getting automatic PPV main card slots

Bo Nickal main card makes sense, as in $ and cents.

He brings in viewers from America's very large collegiate/high school wrestling fanbase. That's a market not often tapped by UFC, and its also a market that will more likely buy PPV rather than get the fights for free.

spcslacker · 2023-05-28T21:24:27+00:00

but it's quite unfortunate to me.

Why is it unfortunate for you? You can watch the prelims easier than you can watch the main card, right?

spcslacker · 2023-05-28T21:11:25+00:00

I believe he's referring to Barbosa pureeing Dan Hookers internal organs in one of the most brutal body kicking exhibitions in history.

Dan was way too tough for his own good, and it drifted from an exciting fight into the beating of a helpless man almost unnoticed until DC woke everyone up to it.

spcslacker · 2023-05-28T21:03:22+00:00

I agree with everything but I wouldn't consider what Max did to Yair to be "wrestlefucking"…I remember a lot of clinch control against the cage. I'll have to rewatch that fight

Max did take him down, but I'm definitely using the term loosely to mean beat him with wrestling.

I have a poor memory and would need a rewatch myself, but the difference I believe is that Max was primarily getting control, whereas Volks has a history of good GnP against the cage.

spcslacker · 2023-05-28T20:54:04+00:00

His loss against Volks looks a lot less damning after Volks styled on Max almost as bad.

TKZ got stopped and Max didn't, but Max has the GOAT chin/recovery, so that doesn't tell you much.

spcslacker · 2023-05-28T20:51:46+00:00

I think TKZ has been talking about fighting Max for a long time, and he responded quickly when Max made his call out.

I'm not sure of TKZ's health, but after seeing Max dominated about as bad as he was, his loss to Volks no longer looks a confirmation of being washed.

I'm guessing TKZ would much rather fight Max than Cub: (a) if he wins, he is back in contention with a bang; (b) if he loses, he loses to an all-time great.

spcslacker · 2023-05-28T20:47:59+00:00

Yair gets it done.

I'm going to have to mash the X to doubt: Max wrestlefucked him, and Max does not have 1/10 Volks wrestling game.

Yair might get lucky on the feet, a kicker's chance if you will, but if Volks doesn't like the unorthodox striking, he'll ground him against the fence and light him up.

I know Yair slick with subs from bottom, but a post-Ortega, post-Islam, trained by Craig Jones Volks is going to like his chances there even if rocked.

spcslacker · 2023-05-28T20:42:28+00:00

Is dry humping a fighting technique where you come from?

Fighting before the ref calls it: OK
Humping an unconscious & unwilling man at any time: not OK.

Izzy fans go through incredible mental gymnastics to avoid acknowledging the blindingly obvious.

spcslacker · 2023-05-28T19:54:42+00:00

One is fighting until the ref calls the fight, as you are instructed to do at the beginning of each match, the other is molesting an unconscious man after the fight has been called, so there really is no comparison.

spcslacker · 2023-05-28T15:59:53+00:00

I had fight pass during the shutdown, and man I miss (b).

Whether its going back and seeing career arc of a favorite, or having a dude come to your attention 5 fights in and being able to go back and see how he got there, that was cool as hell.

spcslacker · 2023-05-28T15:51:27+00:00

none of these new guard LW's are good

Losing to Garth on the feet doesn't mean you aren't any good any more than losing to Khabib via wrestling means you suck at grappling.

This sub's crazy narrative that Justin and Dustin are low-skilled rank squatters is and has always been willfully delusionally wrong, but since they really are great fighters, getting narrowly beat by one doesn't mean you aren't a great fighter yourself.

spcslacker · 2023-05-28T15:44:14+00:00

decisionbot justin gaethje v rafael fiziev

spcslacker · 2023-05-28T15:41:05+00:00

decisionbot geathje v fiziev

spcslacker · 2023-05-28T15:39:03+00:00

Chandler is a company man and they're paying him to take a dive.

As Bisping would say: this is crazy-stupid, and I mean that with respect.

Chandler is a company man to advance his career. He did not come to the UFC to get beat for money, he came to win for money, and he tries to win as best he can under the handicaps of age, poor cardio management, and poor fight IQ.

The way the UFC tries to influence fight outcomes is mostly matchmaking, with maybe adding some pressure to fight too quickly like for Sterling.

This is how they guided the very marketable kickboxer, in newly legal France, Gane to an IC and title shot w/o ever facing anybody who could wrestle in MMA.

But actually paying someone to take a dive is illegal, and sends you to jail where you don't get to enjoy running a gigantic promotion, which is why its done by the mob, not the corporations.

Chandler is the most favorable matchup they could find for Conor who is both a big name and a legit contender. The UFC hopes Conor wins, but if he doesn't they'll just matchmake and sell a narrative from the result, the way they did when Francis unexpectedly outwrestled Gane on 1-leg.

spcslacker · 2023-05-28T04:08:11+00:00

u/HappyDude2137 using the philly shell to block u/Shwizzler's cross-guard explanation.

spcslacker · 2023-05-28T03:46:22+00:00

I'm not blaming Izzy lol. I'm just saying, neither the champion nor the #2 guy see him as a threat, so why should we? You know?

Rob says he is preparing for and expects a hard fight.

Nobody with the power and all-around skillset Dricus has is unthreatening, no matter who he is fighting, and no matter how janky his movement looks.

I think Rob is way too fast/slick for him, but any human can make a mistake, and its very dangerous to be home when Dricus knocks.

People act like Dricus is a joke, but no more so than the rest of the division beyond the top-2: I think he'd beat Jared on activity, and his power vs. Marvin's chin would be a thing to see.

spcslacker · 2023-05-28T03:41:31+00:00

But Izzy is just selling fights.

Dry humping an unconscious man you have already beat soundly and then KOed: how does that sell fights exactly?

spcslacker · 2023-05-28T03:39:56+00:00

GSP was a dull watch, but he won a lot.

Not like Izzy, not even close.

GSP unveiled the best jab I've ever seen in the UFC during the "boring" period.

Later GSP was boring compared to early GSP, but that still didn't make him a painful watch like Izzy in his leg-kicks-from-orbit mode.

One of the reasons I really wanted the Alex trilogy is that he's the only guy long enough to make Izzy fight in any other style.

spcslacker · 2023-05-28T03:29:21+00:00

You'd have to shrink his length since Max is the taller man.

They had a fair fight: Max used his physical advantages of insane chin, pace and god-tier recovery, and Dustin used his greater reach, power and boxing skill to win.

spcslacker · 2023-05-27T21:38:10+00:00

Poirier v. Hooker: what wife wouldn't love the end of that?

spcslacker · 2023-05-27T21:32:09+00:00

Chael was just scoping the toe that would later almost bring him victory.

spcslacker · 2023-05-27T21:20:36+00:00

outworked

Agree totally with 99% of your post, but no way Dustin outworked Max Halloway.

Max was on losing end of most exchanges, and it seemed to me he finally was forced to a strategy of just giving Dustin no rest. Max would get rocked, and motion Dustin in before clearing his head or straightening his knees.

In later rounds after several exhausting death flurries failed to get Max out of there, you see Dustin trying to hang back for some R&R after rocking Max, and Max just comes in with a barrage of punches the minute Dustin eases off at all.

At one point (maybe 4th round?) Dustin leans against fence with hands down and lets Max tee off on his face because he's that tired from continually hurting, but being unable to finish, Max.

I don't think Dustin makes it through the fight w/o some strategic wall & stall.

People talk about Max's chin, but it was his miraculous recovery that kept him in that fight. Once Max stopped throwing in favor of retreating and covering up, even Poirier couldn't damage him faster than Max could recover, even given multiple opportunities in pretty much every round.

TL;DR: I believe Max's performance in that fight was probably the most impressive sustained and continuous recovery I've ever seen.

spcslacker · 2023-05-27T19:25:39+00:00

Dustin has gotten even better at this since then as well.

One interesting thing to do is take some of his later fights (eg., Conor 2, Chandler) and freeze frame in mid exchange: Dustin's eyes almost always directly on opponent no matter what he's blocking or what he's throwing.

Its one of the reasons I don't think guys are able to work his body as well as you expect for this type of defense: Dustin will always be looking out from between elbows even if you go upstairs to bring the block up, and when you lean in for the body, he's going to get a shot at your head.

One of the things Charles did well against him was front kicking him to the body while out of range of Dustin's hands: given how much faster Charles can get that out from his stance than Dustin can throw a side/round-kick from his, that was money for Charles and horror for me as a Dustin fan.

Dustin's ability to mix offense and defense, instead of taking turns between the two, is a critical difference between 1st and 2nd Conor fight, and is what made Dustin truly elite IMO.

Its a big advantage he has still against Garth as far as I know: Justin still tends to cover up so he can't see well during a defensive stage, and then go on offense separately.

spcslacker · 2023-05-27T17:19:44+00:00

Cloning bills add up, what with pregnant ladies counting twice

spcslacker · 2023-05-27T17:18:26+00:00

I've heard its because if cage grabs are legal, the guy on top can lock you down by grabbing the cage, which makes get-ups essentially impossible.

i'd guess you would also wind up with a lot of gruesome finger injuries, since pounding a finger against the wire would be only way to get someone to relax their grip.

spcslacker

TROPHY CASE

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