@Warmmedown
Holloway deciding to do a boxing wild swing exchange when he had the fight won by points was insane... And he knocking Gaethje out cold with 1 second left made that one of the more impressive performances and KOs in UFC. I was pretty thrilled when watching that sequence but then seeing Justin falling all limb was worrying. I was even thinking a little later, we get excited with fighters putting on a show by hurting the others badly with the crows applauding and going insane. A modern coliseum... It's exciting, that's the thrilling, but shows ppl are drawn in to that legal fight where there's blood being thrown all around and it being visceral. I find it bad in that way sometimes. I saw Izzy's reaction, he was rooting for Justin quite obviously and he was applauding their last full boxing throws attempt and was like "omg" when Justin got KO'd like that. Topuria couldn't disguise the shock either, he was obviously struck by that... I think he held it back once he saw the camera was filming him. It was nice that Aspinall looked at him at the end to see his reaction, like "heh, you're facing him next". That's the fight to make now to me, Holloway vs Topuria.
Yeah, the crowd booing the first china vs china UFC event showed them to be total jackasses... Like, get a damn clue, you idiots. Not only that, but the fight was really good. Those ppl are idiots. I wanna see Weili vs Tatiana Suarez now. It seems Tatiana is recovering really well already and almost ready. I think that's the fight to make and Tatiana's grappling is on another level, it's Khabib type of pressure. Tough to say, really, I think Tatiana still hasn't shown due to lack of opportunity, but I see her as a potential champion.
I'd say Tsarukyan looked more dominant in round 2. It sucks for Charles that he had a well developed triangle just before the 2nd round bell rung (or was it the first?)... But he had it. Much like he had one vs Islam Makhachev in the first round but the bell rung. Charles got unlucky with the timing in both fights, specially this one. And idk, I dunno if I'd give the 3rd one to Arman. He was on top most of the time but he didn't do much. He didn't do much damage, Charles controlled well and got a near finish. I almost got the impression Tsarukyan would tap but once he heard the 10 seconds, he toughened it up. His arms went limp for a while... Tsarukyan won, but I think Charles is the better fighter. Makhachev vs Porier is underwhelming tho... I think besides Charles and Arman there's no other exciting fight for Islam there in that division. They should make him go up. Though problem is he wants the title fight going up... Things don't work like that. He defended his belt few times to get a title shot. Rakhmonov should get the title shot way earlier than him for sure. Nowadays the fighters defend the belt few times and want already move up for a tittle shot... Come one, that's such BS. And Leon has been avoiding Rakhmonov as well, I feel. It's sad because he's always asking for fights, saying he's available, but he doesn't get that big fight he so well deserves. He's the future champion tho, I really believe that. He'd defeat Chimaev too if they fought when Chimaev was welterweight but that's a bit unsure to me yet. Chimaev slowed down a little, many speculate that bad covid made him less energized like he was earlier, and I'm sure the current war with Palestine's suffering is affecting him a lot.
Poatan once again showing he's in the path for a legend. He evolved in his wrestling, there's a video of him taking down DC. DC was fooling around, but it shows a great advancement for sure. He's been training this with Glover really hard and he's a very fast learner and very, very talented learner. He started kickboxing at 22 and in some years he was already a legend on Glory. He has a special talent for refining martial arts skills. It's possible he'll fight Jon Jones, but yeah, I'd rather see a Jones vs Aspinall after the Miocic fight and Alex Poatan vs Jiri Projaska 2.0 or Ankalaev. I really think they should do a Jiri vs Ankalaev, that would be a sick, huge, fight... And Poatan fighting the winner. And if Jones gets past Aspinall and he feels like it, a final Jones vs Poatan if Poatan gets past Ankalaev or Jiri. Ankalaev shouldn't really call the shots on the fight being on Abu Dhabi. Fuck that. Those guys think the fight with them should be all in Abu Dhabi. Poatan is a bigger name than Ankalaev... He should call the shots for where it's gonna be for sure. With Chimaev I understand since him not getting a visa to other countries due to him supporting Kadyrov makes it hard... And I think it's another reason for why he isn't fighting so often anymore, ppl are quick to judge him but he can fight mainly in Abu Dhabi cards. I'd really like if Poatan KO'd Ankalaev tho. Islam Makhachev, Kahbib... These guys annoy me always praising Russian fighters as if their wrestling background made them special lol. It doesn't. I remember Islam commented about Ankalaev being "the best of the division" right after Poatan having that huge fight vs Jiri... Totally dismissive. I used to like him way more, but nah, these Dagestan guys get way more credit in goat lists than they actually deserve to be really fair. I'd put Silva, DC, Stipe... All above Khabib for sure.
I like Tom Apsinall tho. I think one thing that makes Jones kinda unwilling to fight him is that Jones really likes to study his opponents, to watch their fights obsessively and preparing game plans. Most Aspinall fights ended up really quickly with him KO'ing. I feel he fears he has less material to analyse Tom than Poatan who has had longer fights. That's why I think it's easier, not necessarily because Tom is better than Poatan.
I saw Joe Rogan and DC kinda saying Poatan's KO on Hill had a point for Jamahall for that no stoppage when he was kicked in the groint but that's just excuses. He was kicked and gave one step forward at the same time Herb Deam said stop... He didn't listen the stop before moving a little forward, it was basically at the same time... He just pointed that out but didn't call for it to stop... And that was it, his position was already advantageous before the shot that actually hurt... Jamahall then touched gloves with him and Jamahall landed the right hand firstly but fell for Poatan's faint... He fainted a right, then stepped in Hill's foot, tho seemingly accidentally, pushed Hill's left hand forwards quickly and in a hook that was thrown in a so small distance with no momentum packed a KO power that's unbelievable on how he can generate so much power with an angle like that. Maybe the best striker ever and I think he has the craziest power ever from mma, more than Ngannou. Since his kicks are killers too, his striking is a level above everyone else, plus he's advancing quickly with wrestling and take down defense... He's one of the best currently. Ahead of Islam he should be in PFP imo. Or just way more hyped.
I wanna see Chimaev vs Whittaker and Izzy vs Du Plessis tho... I think Chimaev will get a real quick finish and Izzy vs Dricus was the fight I was already eager to see until Sean appeared once Dricus injured. But Sean made dominant vs Izzy and arguably won vs Dricus imo, or at least a draw imo. I think he deserved a rematch more than having Izzy fight already... But I think they're going for the story they both had before. Middleweight is currently the most impressive or entertaining one tbh... Chimaev, Izzy, Sean, Dricus... All very funny fights. Oh man, it'd be nice to see Chimaev vs Sean too. Two trash talks that get ppl hyped, tho Sean is an idiot. "Here's the thing you guys....".... Lol. He's such a misogynistic, homophobic and promotes hate speech constantly, but eh, I think the UFC sees that as a bonus. I'd root for Chimaev to shut him down in a possible future clash tho.
Yeah the Pantoja thing was very unfortunate... Ppl already were talking about the event being a down, and it lacked exciting fights except for the Pantoja one. Sad the card wasn't so promising as a whole. And it's also pretty sad seeing most leaving when Pantoja has a history of overcoming and wanted to talk and feel that energy from the fans after... Very heartbreaking.
Btw, about boxing, Inoue's fight today was insane too. Damn, that was tense... Hope Tyson KOs Jake, but I think that will be unlikely.
