Fight Previews and Posts

  UFC 286 Preview: Edwards vs. Usman 3 By Michael Jones - @keepingitrealmma                                                                                                     &  Dave Manley - @mmabobblehead For perspective and for fun, here's my August 23rd recap of Edwards' KO win:  "It's interesting to note that in between rounds, you could hear Usman's coach, Trevor Wittman, yelling '"No Mistakes"'. It's like he anticipated this fight going off the rails if Usman got too comfortable... or God forbid, took a shot to the groin. Usman started the round bullying Edwards up against the cage, showing off his superior gas tank, and tucking us in to witness his impending record-tying win. Referee Herb Dean was going to have no...

UFC Fight Night:  Thompson vs. Holland   By Michael Jones - @keepingitrealmma &      Dave Manley - @mmabobblehead Coming off America's 401st Thanksgiving,  we find  ourselves  lethargically slipping right back  into the shuffle .  Headlining is a main course only made  curious  by the fact  one man  is coming off the sport's  shortest  retirement. S andwiched in  between  is  an accidentally very  important  middleweight bout. Finally,   hiding  deep  in  the  prelims, we had  a  necessary flyweight appetizer ,  but now there is   no hint  of a remarkable finish.         1.  Stephen Thompson (16-6-1) vs. Kevin Holland (23-8-1NC)          "Had a good run, 30 in a little over a month, got paid, I'm out". You might be asking yourself what does that even m...

 UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs Spivac  By Michael Jones - @keepingitrealmma &       Dave Manley - @mmabobblehead What a show ladies and gentleman, w e owe the  UFC 281 competitors  our lunch money and then some.  From Pereira's  last  round glory to Poirier's blood bath. This is the comedown.  From ecstasy to equilibrium.  While we  feverishly  await the next  blockbuster  card, in this interim we pray for war,  war between the heavyweights.  * Main event canceled due to Derrick Lewis getting hospitalized *           1. Derrick Lewis (26-10-1NC) vs. Sergey Spivak (15-3)               On one side, we have one of the funniest and unassuming ' daddest men' on the planet. On the other side, we have a Moldovan polar bear who helped rid us of American football's hardiest scumbag. Both men have given us much to be gr...

UFC 281: Adesanya vs Pereira  A Trilogy In Combat, But A First in MMA By Michael Jones - @keepingitrealmma & Dave Manley - @mmabobblehead                     1.  Israel Adesanya (23-1) vs. Alex Pereira (6-1)                Yes these gentleman have fought twice before, both times in kickboxing. The first was in 2016 and by all measurements it was extremely close. They rematched in 2017 and it appeared as though we were getting a clone of the first match, then in the 3rd round it ended with a vicious left hand KO of Israel. Alex may have literally knocked him out of the sport, as Israel left kickboxing after that loss. Now Alex is deep in the MMA game, hunting Israel down. That was then and this is now. The rules are different, the gloves are different and the stage is different. Israel can't back up over the top rope of a ring, if he runs out of room while he backs ...

UFC 281: Adesanya vs. Pereira  A Trilogy In Combat, But A First in MMA By Michael Jones - @keepingitrealmma & Dave Manley - @mmabobblehead                     1. Israel Adesanya (23-1) vs. Alex Pereira (6-1)               Yes these gentleman have fought twice before, both times in kickboxing. The first was in 2016 and by all measurements it was extremely close. They rematched in 2017 and it appeared as though we were getting a clone of the first match, then in the 3rd round it ended with a vicious left hand KO of Israel. Alex may have literally knocked him out of the sport, as Israel left kickboxing after that loss. Now Alex is deep in the MMA game, hunting Israel down. That was then and this is now. The rules are different, the gloves are different and the stage is different. Israel can't back up over the top rope of a ring, if he runs out of room while he backs up into the...

  UFC Fight Night: Mitchell vs. Evloev   UFC Just For Fun: Rodriguez vs. Lemos  (it's not their fault, the fighters did nothing wrong) By Michael Jones - @keepingitrealmma &  Dave Manley - @mmabobblehead                               1. Marina Rodriguez (16-1-2) vs. Amanda Lemos (12-2-1)                 Coming off a split decision win over Xiaonan Yan where she was an almost 3-1 favorite, Marina extended her win streak to 4 in a row. Her  striking has been very sharp, which she demonstrated with her 2nd round tko of Amanda Ribas. As for her defensive game, she managed to avoid drowning against the submission hype machine that is Mackenzie Dern, which is relatively impressive. Marina has satisfied the minimum requisite to earn a top 3 opponent, she will look to make that concrete when she faces...