Fight Previews and Posts

  UFC Fight Night: Dern vs. Xiaonan Another Card Plagued by Cancellations.  3 Fights that Survived the Transformation.  By Michael Jones - @keepingitrealmma &  Dave Manley - @mmabobblehead              1. Mackenzie Dern (12-2) vs. Yan Xiaonan (15-3-0, 1NC)                                         This bout against favored prospect Mackenzie Dern might be seen as win or go home. It could also be seen exactly how it is, a tough ass fighter on a very tough stretch of opponents.Yan was on an impressive 6 fight win streak over very respectable names. Then she suffered back to back losses, but to who? She lost her last fight by split decision to Marina Rodriguez, absolutely no shame there, Marina (16-1) has been killing it with back to back wins over Yan and Dern. The fight before that she got pretty beat up by current strawweight champ Carla Esparza. That was not a good look as it highlighted a glaring weakness in her ground game. Dern herself, is coming off a rough loss to Marina and mo

  UFC 279: Diaz vs Ferguson 3 fights no one saw coming By Michael Jones - @keepingitrealmma &  Dave Manley - @mmabobblehead               There is a very curious underlying theme this weekend, that is the mess of fighters moving down or up in weight, for fights that may not make any sense. We will do our best to make light of the stakes, the odds and the ridiculousness. With that being said, I struggled to narrow it down to just 3 fights worth considering. There are at least 5 that fit the previously mentioned qualifications. To reign in the possibly endless banter, we will focus on the fights that provide us with the best balance of storyline and odds.                1.  Nate Diaz (21-13) vs. Tony Ferguson (26-7).                                       We can't possibly ignore the madness involved in what could be Diaz's last fight, especially now that he's fighting the guy fans always wanted to see him go out against.  Who better to headline this card then the most con

 UFC 279: Diaz vs Ferguson 3 fights no one saw coming By Michael Jones - @keepingitrealmma & Dave Manley - @mmabobblehead               There is a very curious underlying theme this weekend, that is the mess of fighters moving down or up in weight, for fights that may not make any sense. We will do our best to make light of the stakes, the odds and the ridiculousness. With that being said, I struggled to narrow it down to just 3 fights worth considering. There are at least 5 that fit the previously mentioned qualifications. To reign in the possibly endless banter, we will focus on the fights that provide us with the best balance of storyline and odds.                1. Nate Diaz (21-13) vs. Tony Ferguson (26-7).                                      We can't possibly ignore the madness involved in what could be Diaz's last fight, especially now that he's fighting the guy fans always wanted to see him go out against.  Who better to headline this card then the most controv

 UFC Paris Recap 3 Important Fights & What’s Next?              1. Ciryl Gane  (11-1) def. Tai Tuivasa (15-4) via 3rd round TKO .                                          I'll start off by formally apologizing to Gane and Bam Bam for capping their capability of entertaining violence at 2 rounds. This was a good little war, despite what Gane might have expected. Michael Bisping summed up his demeanor perfectly, "he's got a smile on his face like he's watching his son at a football game". Gane flashed that smug throughout the first round, landing heavy kicks to the leg and body, accented by lightning fast jabs. Tai started to find his own range though, coming within a few inches of Gane's chin as he would back up with his chin in the air. This would spell disaster with two minutes left in the 2nd round. Tai throws a straight right hand at his chest and as Gane resets with his right hand fulled extended to measure the distance, luring himself into a false sen

 UFC Paris: Gane vs Tuivasa 5 Fight Breakdown               1. Cyril Gane (10-1) Vs. Tai Tuivasa (15-3). Not the fight we want, but the fight we deserve. It's been a jolly good time watching 'Bam Bam' beat up top 20 heavyweights and chug grog from dirty shoes. Then he went and knocked out (kinda) Derrick Lewis. So here we are with Gane looming in the musty drizzle of Paris, France. The same striking technician whose only hiccup is a decision loss to Francis Ngannou. How the hell did we let this happen? Here's the uninspired quick take, Gane outpoints Tai for 25 grueling minutes and we the fans end up as sad as their filmed attempt at crossing arms to collaboratively chug grog from dirty shoes. Yeah, that happened, go watch the video.                     What if we don't get that outcome though? After all, Tai is only 29, practically prepubescent for the heavyweight division. He's only been knocked out twice in his career (1 of those was a kickboxing match, don&#