- Brut
- Aug 21, 2007
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Can't post for 24 days!
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Event goes live about 30 minutes after this post.
UFC 264: Breaking it down like an MMA fighter’s financial wellbeing
I absolutely listened to Jack Slack’s breakdown before I wrote this one, so I’m not going to be able to avoid having his analysis seep in. Listen to his podcast – it’s pretty good.
Main Card (PPV)
Lightweight Main Event Dustin Poirier vs Conor McGregor
Poirier is a pretty heavy favourite here among goons in this rubber match. Like 7 years ago, at featherweight, McGregor threw a hook around Poirier’s shell guard and got the KO en route to becoming Mystic Mac. A few months ago, Poirier chopped up McGregor’s leg and then countered his famous straight left with a right hook and put him right out. What will happen this time? Poirier is probably the more sophisticated striker now , and his growth since the first match is among the best in the sport, comparable only to current lightweight champ Charles Oliviera and middleweight top dog Robert Whittaker during that time.
I’m leaning toward Poirier too, but Slack observed that McGregor has an opportunity to exploit a hole in Poirier’s shoulder roll/shell defense if he starts working body kicks like he did earlier in this career. Either way, lots of money being made on this fight.
Welterweight Gilbert Burns vs Stephen Thompson
Burns is coming off of the wrong end of a nearly flawless performance in his title shot against Kamaru Usman. Meanwhile, Thompson is easily the best guy who hasn’t yet faced Usman, even though his extremely slow matches against Woodley mean that he has a longer road to the title than most.
I don’t like this match for Burns. He gets lots of credit for his highly improved striking, but he only outstruck Woodley and Maia, right? Woodley got outstruck by Colby loving Covington since then. And Thompson is absolutely the best striker in the division. Heck, he has a case for being the best striker in any division. Burns, however, still has his jiu jitsu, if he can get his takedowns going.
Heavyweight Tai Tuivasa vs Greg Hardy
Uhhh Greg Hardy failing upwards I guess? At least as far as his card billing goes? Hardy is a woman-beating ex NFLer who has more match-ending/ruining cheating than anyone I can think of in the entire history of the UFC. His last match had him gas out and lose by fat wrestling and ground and pound to Marcin Tybura. Tuivasa is a fat Aussie who drinks out of a shoe. He is mostly just a brawler. I think he’s coming off of a win? Idk his UFC record is around 0.500 with losses to people like Sergei Spivak. Not too much more to say here. Neither of these guys has any chance of ever winning a title.
Bantamweight Irene Aldana vs Yana Kunitskaya
This is probably closer to a title shot, sadly. Aldana is a decent Mexican boxer, with demonstrated KO power, but she got outworked by Holly Holm in a 5 round slog that cost me a prob bet on its entertainment value back in October. Kunitskaya has two consecutive wins against Ketelen Viera and Julija Stoliarenko. She’s supposedly a striker but she has shown a willingness to wall and stall her opponents. She’s also the highest ranked bantamweight who hasn’t fought Nunes.
Bantamweight Sean O’Malley vs Kris Moutinho
O’Malley is a smooth-striking skinny boy with glass bones. The UFC seems to think he’s the next big thing, but he needs to start winning fights instead of getting his rear end kicked and making his excuses. He was supposed to fight someone else but that guy got injured, so they brought in Moutinho – a guy making his UFC debut - as a last-minute replacement. I’m a fan of the tune-up fight, though, so it’s not all bad. This could very well produce a good highlight, or a memorable upset.
Prelims ESPN/ESPN+
Welterweight Carlos Condit vs Max Griffin
Condit is the former buzzsaw blood god WEC and Interim UFC champion. His fight with Robbie Lawler is one of the best in UFC history. He’s a high-activity kickboxer with a crazy guard… and no counter wrestling. But he has faded since his peak due to age and injury. Max Griffin is a mostly-forgettable journeyman who has been hovering around the bottom quartile of the division for ages. He has a punch, and he has a wrestle. He’s good enough to be a threat to Condit 2021, but I don’t think that he has anything for even a glimpse of the Condit of days past.
 Welterweight Niko Price vs Michel Pereira
Ahhh now here’s the kind of nonsense that we’re here for. Niko Price is known for goofy rear end KOs. His most recent fight was a point-deduction draw vs Cowboy. That’s bad? Well Pereira managed to lose (by DQ) to Diego Sanchez recently. His last fight though was a good decision win over Khaos Williams, and before that an impressive scramble-RNC win over Zelim Imadaev. Both of these guys are pure chaos and weird poo poo is almost bound to happen.
 Ryan Hall vs Ilia Topuria
Hall is an elite-elite grappler who nobody wants to fight, and when he rarely gets a fight booked someone gets injured. It’s a treat just to have him back in the cage. The pressure is on, and he has very little to gain with a lot to lose against the dangerous Topuria, who doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page to go with his two UFC wins over competent opposition. He’s a Spanish-Georigan grappler and he’s highly regarded if relatively unknown. Oh, and both of these guys are undefeated, so that’s fun.
Middleweight Driscus du Plessis vs Trevin Giles
Du Plessis is a South African who won his UFC debut by KOing Markus Perez (the joker makeup guy) in 1 round in October. Trevin Giles is a middling middleweight wrestleboxer whose best win is against James Krause on extremely short notice with Krause moving up a weight class. That’s a good fight! Anyway he’s on a 3-fight streak now, with Roman Dolidze being his most recent. Gonna be some punches flying in this fight, too.
Early Prelims ESPN+/Fight Pass
Flyweight Jennifer Maia vs Jessica Eye
Oh god why. The battle of women who lost to Valentina. Maia is a BJJ fighter with no striking to speak of, and who is renowned for missing weight, split decisions and never finishing anyone except Joanne Calderwood. Jessica Eye is best known for being like the only person who Valentina has ever KOed despite her reputation as a knockout artist. Eye has been in some fun fights, but only when she has a dance partner who pushes her, and that ain’t Maia.
I’ll try to remember to keep this feature going in my breakdowns: this is the fight to skip if you need to get melty cheese / weed / booze / porn. In fact, I’ll revive my prob bet from the Irene Aldana fight: If someone misses this fight because of this disclaimer and it ends up earning a performance bonus, I’ll eat a 24h prob with the worst thirst trap picture of Jessica Eye that anyone can find.
Middleweight Omari Akhmedov vs Brad Tavares
Akhmedov is one of those Dagestani dudes who looks like he’s a million years older than he actually is. He’s a wrestley Dagestani guy. He’s also like the only opponent who Chris Weidman has beaten in the last forever. His last time out he embarrassed Tom Breese. Brad Tavares is a very well rounded gatekeeper journeyman. This is a decent fight, though it’s more of a fight-night midcarder in my mind than it is a PPV undercard.
Flyweight Zhalgas Zhumagulov vs Jerome Rivera
Zhumagulov is a Kazakh Fight Nights global veteran with an 0-2 UFC record vs guys who I don’t know. Rivera is a 0-3 UFC contender series product who is probably getting paid in the UFC’s new cryptocurrency, though at least two of his losses are to Figgy Smaller and Tyson Nam.
Middleweight Alen Amedovski vs Yaozong Hu
Who? Yaozong is a Chinese fighter with a 3-2 record and a 0-2 UFC record since 2017 against frankly bad opposition. Amedovski is a (North) Macedonian fighter based in Italy with a 0-2 UFC record, including a 14 second KO loss to a brawler who got stomped by Khamzat and who has a 1-5 UFC record. Yeesh. This simply should not be on a UFC card.
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Jul 10, 2021 22:24
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May 15, 2024 06:14
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- Brut
- Aug 21, 2007
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Can't post for 24 days!
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Did a fight get pulled and I forgot? Why are they doing the starting 30 minutes before the actual fights thing.
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Jul 10, 2021 23:23
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- Brut
- Aug 21, 2007
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First fight on the card was pulled like 2 hours ago due to a COVID protocols issue.
Oh poo poo I completely missed that, thanks!
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Jul 10, 2021 23:37
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- Brut
- Aug 21, 2007
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Jul 10, 2021 23:45
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- Brut
- Aug 21, 2007
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Brad Tavares has some kind of Don't Fall Down superpowers matching Derrick Lewis Just Get Up
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Jul 11, 2021 00:24
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- Brut
- Aug 21, 2007
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That was hilarious
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Jul 11, 2021 01:48
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- Brut
- Aug 21, 2007
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Hey Rogan, you're having to say you're surprised herb did something despite being "the best in the business" every loving time you're on a broadcast, maybe it's time to change your dumb opinion of him, he sucks!
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Jul 11, 2021 03:41
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May 15, 2024 06:14
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- Brut
- Aug 21, 2007
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BAM BAM loving DID IT!
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Jul 11, 2021 04:19
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Jul 10, 2021 22:24
