Fight Previews and Posts

UFC Paris: Gane vs Tuivasa 3 Must Watch Fights - Odds and Ends               1. Top 10 welterweight Nassourdine Imavov takes on  Joaquin  'please let me hurt you' Buckley. Holy hell, what a dynamic matchup. This is your old school ground and pounder vs. violent striker contest. Buckley showed resilient takedown defense in his last fight where he dominated heavy grappler Albert Duraev. There was a ton of crap talked by Duraev, how he was going to control his former sparring partner. He couldn't have been farther from the truth. He whiffed on 7 of 9 takedowns and Buckley landed paralyzing head shots in return. He brutally closed the eye of Duraev, forcing a doctor stoppage in between rounds. That type of showing bodes well for a fight against another heavy grappler. On the other hand, Imavov ground and pounded the hell out of his last two opponents, hype boys  Ian Heinisch and Edmen Shahbazyan (Ronda Rousey's training partner). So we know these guys can bang bro.         

 Mighty Mouse: Then & Now - part 1 - Let's take a closer look into the rise of  Demetrious 'Mighty Mouse' Johnson By Michael Jones - @keepingitrealmma &  Dave Manley - @mmabobblehead               In his prime we knew him as the gentleman, video gamer, and athletic ninja. He was t he first guy to finish perennial contendor Joseph Benavidez. He was the undisputed flyweight champion of the UFC and no one could touch him. Alas, that's not the same guy we know today, he's evolved in the pursuit of different challenges on different landscapes. To understand who Demetrious Johnson is now, we must first look back at where he came from.                He was born in the bourbon capital of the U.S. and raised in the Parkland suburbs outside Tacoma, WA. He was scouted for combat sports from a very young age, 13, when his future high school wrestling coach persuaded him to try out. He made huge strides having had no prior experience, placing 3rd at state championships

UFC 278: Usman vs Edwards 2 A Romantic Retelling of the                              Main & Co-main event               1. This epic title fight could be summarized in 3 rounds. In the first round Leon Edwards surprised us all with a clean body lock and trip takedown. From there he landed in mount and worked his way to Kamaru Usman's back, lacing up a text book body triangle. Both fighters were still dry and there was a minute left in the round, the tension in the arena was  overwhelming. Usman is a true champion though, he wasn't about to go out that easily. He fought the choke and we transitioned to the second round, collectively wondering where this momentum might take Edwards. Usman did better to pressure Edwards in this second round, but it was a fairly even sparring match and nothing spectacular happened. I couldn't care less who you gave this round to, but I think most people scored it for the champ. The next 2 rounds were vintage Usman, controlling him with take

UFC 278: Usman vs Edwards 2 Main-Card Preview - 5 Talking Points                 1.  Kamaru Usman has fought Leon Edwards before, but that was 7 damn years ago, so let’s throw that out. Edwards hasn’t lost since that fight and before that, lost once by split decision. His other loss I hesitate to mention, was an illegal knee, so he beat himself there. The way I see it, his record is 19 - Usman. This fight is all about the long hard journey Edwards has suffered to get here. Can he channel all the good chi to defeat his old rival?                 My guess is there might not be enough good chi in the universe to make that happen. Usman is on a world beating win streak and hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. His striking looks better than ever and his fight I.Q. elevates every time he steps into the octagon. As a pure striking match, I might give the nod to Edwards. As an mma fight, the gap starts to widen in favor of the champion. Usman has a huge grappling advantage and mixes it well

                  Let’s Make the Prelims Great Again. Shall We?                  Let’s keep it real. Yes, this card has Kamaru Usman at the top. Yes a reject from ‘The Bachelorette’ is fighting the Brazilian voted most likely to ‘drink way too much red wine before a fight’. That’s the only reason he lost, how dare you question his integrity. Oh and yes, the guy Conor Mac knocked out in 13 seconds, he’s fighting as well. But that’s not why we’re here. Dive into these prelim fights and let’s see if we can’t make the prelims great again.                 1. Starting with the first “regular prelim” fight, aka not an ‘early prelim’ fight. We have Miranda Maverick set to take on Shanna Young. Maverick is interesting because she doesn’t really need to fight, at least not for much longer. She’s working on obtaining her PhD in Industrial Psychology and that sounds like a lot more income with a lot less physical pain. What makes this fight compelling though, is her recent call out of the British

 5 takeaways from UFC San Diego: Vera vs Cruz 1. Let’s keep on keeping it real. ‘Chito’ Vera will lose every round, but he’ll send you to the hospital. In this particular fight Chito arguably lost the first 3 rounds, if not 2 of 3, but none of that mattered. He met opportunity with violent intent, putting Cruz down with a left kick to the face.     If we start with round 1, Chito was definitely out struck, but landed a solid left hand knocking Cruz to the canvas. Round 2 starts off with a sneaky front kick from Chito, but once again he is out-landed. Round 3 was the closest round with Cruz starting strong, but Chito shined with mid fight adjustments. He shifted his head off the center line as Cruz backed him up and met Cruz with counter shots of his own. Ultimately his ability to make Cruz miss is what may have won him this round.     After stinging Cruz from the left side in round 1, then from the right side in rounds 2 & 3, he came back to the left side in round 4. This head kick

       5 points to consider going into UFC San Diego Vera vs Cruz   1. To keep it real, Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera dodged a blood thirsty silver bullet. He told Ariel Helwani he was offered Petr Yan and Yan turned it down. Regardless of Yan’s intentions, God had other plans.      We’re 2 days out from Chito taking on SD native and former champion Dominick Cruz. Yes, Cruz is a more decorated former champion, but this fight will be infinitely more approachable than a drag out war with the younger, much more violent Petr Yan.  2. The craziest fact going into this matchup? Dominick Cruz has never lost a non-title fight. He’s coming off back to back wins, but this Ecuadorian bull might be his toughest fight of that stretch.      We’re still not sure if Chito has the skill and dedication to become a champion, but this will be a damn good test of that. Chito has won 9 of his last 11 fights and in his last bout absolutely punished perennial contender Rob Font. In 5 rounds, Chito has plenty of time to

    5 takeaways from UFC on ESPN Santos vs Hill 1. The main event could be broken up into 3 parts:  a) Jamal Hill can be outwrestled! Anyone in the Light Heavyweight division with a solid gas tank who can chain wrestle can beat this guy. Didn’t the former GOAT of this division do that fairly well? Not to mention the most recent former champion in Glover Teixeira.  b) Jamal Hill has decent reach and is frighteningly accurate with his punches. If you can’t take him down and keep him there then you’re in for a very long night at the office, or a very short night depending on your chin.  c) Thiago Santos had a very smart game plan… for a young fighter with an extraordinary gas tank. That he is not, so where did that leave him? One definitive round under his belt, with the first two up for debate and no gas left to get through the last two. Ouch. Double Ouch.  2. Geoff Neal is for real! He just took out the #6 welterweight coasting in 2nd gear. He was very accommodating with Vincente Luque’