Fight Previews and Posts

UFC Fight Night:  Holloway vs. Allen  By Michael Jones - @keepingitrealmma &  Dave Manley - @mmabobblehead A love letter to [exponential] chaos...          1. Max Holloway (23-7) vs. Arnold Allen (19-1)               In a tremendous clash of styles, the Ironman is set to face the chess master, but who is who? There are at least 3 major factors to consider in this matchup: volume, damage, and grappling. First, we will look at volume. Max Holloway's victims have come to expect an avalanche of strikes anywhere between 212-746. The former was his interim-title-winning TKO of Anthony Pettis, the latter being his criminal beatdown of Calvin Kattar. To be fair, those are strikes thrown, not landed. Still, that is staggering to deal with, when you can barely mount your offense because you're so busy defending. Then there is the damage. Max's strategy has limits, he takes a ton of punishment in order to deliver i...

UFC 287 Preview: Pereira vs. Adesanya 2  By Michael Jones - @keepingitrealmma &  Dave Manley - @mmabobblehead          1. Alex Pereira (7-1) vs. Israel Adesanya (23-2)                Here we go again... again, again. It feels like this fight went down yesterday. In fact, it was November, which is a very quick turnaround for a guy who was TKO'd. Has he had enough time to make adjustments and build back his confidence? Can anyone right the ship in just 4 months, when you have to get over the hump of losing to one guy 3 damn times in martial arts competition? One way to look at that question is to consider the number of UFC champions who lost their belt and won it back in immediate rematches. As of January 2022, Deiveson Figueiredo was the first guy in over 17 years to do it. Since then, 2 fighters have attempted it and only 1 was successful, Amanda Nunes. All told that's only 3 successful redemptions in 12 trie...

  UFC Fight Night:  Yan vs. Dvalishvili  By Michael Jones - @keepingitrealmma &  Dave Manley - @mmabobblehead          1.  Petr Yan (16-4) vs. Merab Dvalishvili (15-4)             On paper, this might seem like a derivative of Jose Aldo vs. Merab Dvalishvili, where Merab used suffocating forward pressure and great distance management to slow his opponent down. However, Petr is much younger than Aldo so this should look more like Merab vs. Jose Aldo in his prime. That Aldo wouldn't give up the cage and let you walk him down, but where Aldo relied on lightning-fast strikes to catch people, Petr is a bit more measured. He has the speed but doesn't bank on it, instead using excellent timing and bludgeoning power to slow his opponent down. I think that will be the difference. Not to solely rely on good footwork married with superior boxing, but to incorporate more kicks which could throw off Merab's timing. M...

UFC 285 Preview: Jones vs. Gane By Michael Jones - @keepingitrealmma                                                                                                     &  Dave Manley - @mmabobblehead               And with the changing of the tide, Francis committed to his uncertain future. Now out of sight, only to leave a hole in our hearts. You may be in line with his reasoning or you may be on the company sauce, regardless, you're very curious to see if Jon Jones can take his place. With a win over Gane, we may forget all about the departed champion of the world. With a loss, we may be left to pick up the pieces.         1.  Jon Jones (26-1-1NC) vs. Ciry...

  UFC 284 Preview:  Volkanovski vs. Makhachev By Michael Jones - @keepingitrealmma                                                                                                     &  Dave Manley - @mmabobblehead Very rare are those  who bare the capacity to venture onward,  climb the mountain and gaze upon the horizon. Of those brave enough ,  only a few will wonder what lies beyond, craving the endless journey, a glory out of reach. Of those few, only two will scoff at legacy, motivated not by accolades, but by  reaching a plane where their accomplishment surpasses any previously established understanding of what's possible.  - - - Those two men are about to collide. Not for our ...

UFC 283 Preview:                                    Teixeira vs. Hill By Michael Jones - @keepingitrealmma & Dave Manley - @mmabobblehead           After all the  personal chaos at home (in-laws) or  last-second holiday shopping in  frenzied  department stores ,  (yeah right, I bought all my gifts on Amazon, no sweat),  Don't get too cocky bud, you're still part of the problem. After all that and the traumatic surge of domestic violence  raging on between UFC affiliates,  if after all of this, you've still managed to rationalize sticking around,  while we geek out on some good ol' fashioned combat sports... Welp, congrats on being just as disassociated and clinically insane as we are.  Happy New Year  Ladies and Gents. Let's Get It On!               1....

UFC Fight Night:  Cannonier vs. Strickland   By Michael Jones - @keepingitrealmma &      Dave Manley - @mmabobblehead "Night after night, going 'round and 'round my brain, his dream is driving me insane" - Roger Waters  In an even more  bizarre  world where  Roger Waters is an MMA fan,  I would imagine this to be his reaction to UFC 282  and the plight now haunting Dana White going  forward.             1. Jared Cannonier (15-6) vs. Sean Strickland (25-4)                                W e must dig ourselves out of the strange dream that was UFC 282, we must venture forward and b ack to reality. This middleweight clash is the way, the truth. We can take solace in knowing that Jared and Sean will do absolutely everything in their power to  keep  this fight out of the  judges' ...