We breakdown and give our picks for the card top to bottom for #UFC254.
The full fight card is below:
- Early Prelims:
- Women’s Flyweight – Liana Jojua vs Miranda Maverick\
- Lightweight – Joel Alvarez vs Alexander Yakovlev
- Prelims:
- Light Heavyweight – Da Un Jung vs Sam Alvey
- Welterweight – Alex Oliveira vs Shavkat Rakhmonov
- Bantamweight – Nathaniel Wood vs Casey Kenney
- Heavyweight – Stefan Struve vs Tai Tuivasa
- Main Card:
- Light Heavyweight – Magomed Ankalaev vs Ion Cutelaba
- Women’s Flyweight – Lauren Murphy vs Liliya Shakirova
- Middleweight – Phil Hawes vs Jacob Malkoun
- Heavyweight – Alexander Volkov vs Walt Harris
- Middleweight – Robert Whittaker vs Jared Cannonier
- Lightweight – (c) Khabib Nurmagomedov vs (ic) Justin Gaethje
Transcript
Joseph Shaw: Boom, all right, we are back with another uh picks video this time for ufc 254.. I am joined once again, uh by joseph shaw, if you haven’t checked out uh his videos since the last time we did. One of these videos he’s kind of taken off he’s, had a few interviews of his own he’s interviewed guys like mason jones and a few others so uh be sure to check out his stuff as well um and with that being said, man. Thank you for uh. Thank you for taking the time to come on. I know it’s late over there. No, it’s fine! It’S where this kind of all started for me like this is what got me into youtube, like, obviously, i came in for the master dial versus usman card. That’S like my youtube. Video like i’ve, never talked with anyone or just solely so this is the way back where i all started yeah. I know i’m like as soon as i saw your your videos coming on. After that i was super happy. I was like i’m glad that, even though it’s a small platform, i’m glad that uh, you ended up doing something with it and uh. You know uh, taking off a little bit, i mean you’ve had you’ve had a few fighters on now too. So it’s good to see yeah and i never, i wasn’t kind of sure. I was because you’ve helped me a lot a lot with it. Like tell me here, your interview and people who get reply from and i found out also like try getting them either when they got a fight announced or when they’ve just come off a win. That’S kind of like the best week, where you’re going to get an interview because obviously they’re relevant at the time like if you asked him like two weeks in the training company thinking. Well, it’s a bit pointless because i’ve trained in you don’t really have that. They might not have time to talk, so i think that’s the best time to um use but they’ve been good, they’ve all and been very nice to me. Obviously, i think i also thought i’m quite young, they kind of know i’m kind of accurate, so they can like help me out a lot. Mason jones, probably, is my favorite one, because he’s just a very nice guy and he’s got in and you send into the ufc now so that kind of makes me happy thinking guy who haven’t interviewed from cage while he’s now is going. It just gives you kind of makes you happy so very proud of him yeah. It definitely is rewarding when you interview someone and then they end up making it to the usc mason jones yeah. I interviewed him the day that he got the uh the call he didn’t even tell me. He was just he waited until afterwards and i was like man you could have. You could have announced it live, but he did um, but man yeah. It is nice when they uh when they end up making it to the ufc. It’S really nice. When that happens, that being said, we’re gon na start off um. For those of you don’t know, joseph shaw has a uh i’d like to say an expertise when it comes to european mma. I see you always posting stuff. So with that being said, we’ve got um my boy uh, joel alvarez, spaniard, one of three spanish people in the ufc two and a half, but i i call uh ilya to puri. I call him spanish anyway, even though he’s georgian um because he fights out of spain, so i i i call him spanish, but uh ul alvarez. What do you have for him? Uh he’s fighting uh alexander yakovlev uh: do you think he gets it done? Um yeah? I know so george um, i heart george just won’t be very happy. I thought you classified a spanish fighter. Yeah, i think alvarez is really good. I think he’s shown against joe duffy how good his wrestling is because joe duffy’s got good wrestling. He submitted out back in cage while he is um granted. That was one of the first fights, but alvarez is very young. He’S only 26 years old he’s only got a couple losses to his record um. If we might only have one, i think that’s true, dummy is magulov, which, which is a very good loss, bye, guys yep, incredible striking his fear. Now in the ufc um he’s finding the guy who’s. I don’t want to say he’s not very good, but he’s not on the same level as alvarez. Um yakulev is obviously coming off. Um losses to um roosevelt roberts who’s not had the best of times recently um. I think he lost in russia in november on the sabbath versus carving guitar card he’s not had a good time recently, and i feel others will submit him in the second round. Yeah i’m in the same boat, i mean obviously having that spanish thing. There is a little bit of a bias as well, but that being said, i mean ignoring that uh i mean alvarez has seven is 17-2 15 of those wins come by way of submission, which is remarkable to think about um, it’s incredible what he’s done and what He did um against joe duffy, like you said, was very, very impressive, ultimately causing joe duffy to retire um yakovlev at one point fought at heavyweight, which i think is going to be very interesting uh. I know all right. The guy’s uh the guy’s a lightweight, but he fought at heavyweight at one point and he spot guys like damien maya and he took damian maya to decision, which is very impressive. Which is why i’m wondering whether or not alvarez could submit him. Because if a guy like damien maya, couldn’t do it um will you alvarez be able to uh? That being said, i mean, when you’ve got 15 of 17 wins by way of submission, it’s kind of hard to uh to look at it the other way – and i don’t know i i don’t know if he gets it done – i don’t know if he finishes him, But i do think joel alvarez has what it takes to win. I think he’s got more tools and uh with that being said, i think i’m just going to say alvarez decision just because of that maya fight. You know uh if you can take maya to uh to decision and not get submitted, you’re you’re, you know you’re, probably gon na hang in there with joel alvarez, then we’ve got miranda maverick finally making her debut. It was supposed to happen a while ago. I’M not really sure i don’t remember it wasn’t an injury. I don’t remember what happened with her, but she was pulled out of it um and now she’s gon na fight, uh jojo. So your thoughts on that fight um, i kind of got this thing, but i don’t want to go against any georgian fighters at the moment, they’re so good. At the moment, um obviously jojo lost her um debut in the ufc, but um. She built kind of a good record in france global. It was she trains in grazing russia, which um a lot of them fighters. Fight up maxine gushing fought their last with him who fought on the card last week. Trains over there, so she’s got she’s, got a lot of good uh, good guys and girls in that gym. Um she’s, coming off a win in a last fight against diana balbita is probably kind of around her level of at the moment. She’S. That she’s, like alva, is a very young fighter, she’s different she’s, going 25 and she’s very inexperienced. I don’t much, i think, she’s 7 1, or something like that. So i think she’ll win just because i’ve seen more of her than miranda maverick um, i’m not too familiar with miranda maverick, but um and she’s got more momentum. I think, but she’s bought recently as well and she’s fought in this environment before i’m not sure miranda maverick has so i think she will win and i might get a late submission round three yeah this one’s this one’s an interesting one too. I mean lyanna. Jojo looked very, very good last time out outside of physically because she is very pretty as well, but she did look very good in uh in her last fight miranda maverick, although she’s taking some time off, she looked very good in invicta she won the invicta tournament. Uh she won three fights in in one night and ended that on a by submitting deanna bennett, which is very, very impressive um, but that layoff is gon na be uh is my biggest question there. When you take a long layoff like that, what’s in the ufc jitters, you know and the time difference, there’s a lot there’s a lot going on there um. That being said, it looked like she got there a little while ago and it looked like she’s acclimated to it um, and i just i just think she has too many tools. I think she’s fought the higher level opposition experienced fighters um, but this one’s, i think, a toss-up. I think this is this one in the next fight, for me, are the ones where you can flip a coin um, but i’m gon na i’m gon na lean miranda maverick for that one and then, but the georgian point is actually a very, very valid point. Georgian fighters have not lost in 2020, so you know, that’s uh, that’s another valid point and then we’ve got uh nathaniel wood and casey kenny uh, which i think this was. This fight was made like three weeks ago. It was made, and then wood said he didn’t really know much about it, and then they officially made it. So i think i might be like later so who do you have uh winning that fight um? I think i’m going to be kind of like you. The obverse thing can be a bit biased, yeah, because people seem to talk about that john dobson. Well, he wasn’t even he’s probably winning that fight until that last couple, a couple of rounds in the round three it was he was doing well in that fight. I felt he’s a very top talent. We’Ve seen it in cage warriors we’ve seen how easily he can turn fight around. Like he’s been he’s he’s faced a lot of adversity already in his career in his short career um at 26 years old um he’s always in fire fights he’s up. He can also fight very, very smart. Looked people saying make me look like god in his last fight. I thought he looked really good, considering he was coming off his first slots for a while or maybe his first loss of his career. I can’t remember which i think he was his first of his career. I think, and so he showed a lot of maturity and i think and john castaneda had a good record. He was 17 and five at the time he’s not lucky for a bottom feeder who’s. Getting a bit more inexperienced and he fought a guy with a lot of experience and he got the job the job done, um. They both fought recently, obviously casey kenny. He got a lot of um respect for beating harry alton who’s. Very, i thought he’s a good fighter himself, but there’s not much difference between him and john castaneda in my opinion, and i think people giving can even more respect. I don’t know whether that’s because nothing woods is a uk fighters and some people don’t like him because of that, i’m not too sure but um in the final we’ll win. I think he’s for the better opposition in his career, not just in ufc um and i’m just going to leave him. I think he’s going to win by position. I think both of their guessing was too strong for them to kind of test them out. I think it’ll be a lot like the other tony casey. Can you fight where it’ll be majority of it striking and i think off nathaniel would will have the advantage on the feet number and by different kenny was very good um in his striking as well. But i just think would win by decision yeah. I agree with all all those points i do think uh nathaniel wood didn’t look amazing against just john castaneda, but i mean it was a short notice fight as well. I mean not necessarily for him, but he did. You know as a completely new opponent um, and i think people need to take that into consideration to rebound after his first loss and uh, just winning by decisions impressive in itself. Um – and i agree with you – i thought he was beating john dodson um and if john dodson catches, anybody in that division he’s putting them to sleep so um. You know i’m trying to ignore that 10 seconds of that fight and i think nathaniel woods got the more tools to win this fight. That being said, casey kennedy’s looked great too. I mean his only loss in the ufc is to rob falej um. Who right now is on a tear so, and he took him to decision, which is very, very uh impressive? Not many people can uh can weather that storm um. So that being said, i do think a lot of uh people uh had a lot of high praise for casey kenny from his debut win over ray borg, and in retrospect it’s not as impressive as it once was uh without disrespecting ray borg. I do think he’s kind of fallen off the map a little bit and that win isn’t as impressive as it did as it seemed at the time. So i think nathaniel woods uh got more tools to win it and i think he’s gon na win by decision. I don’t think either. One of them can get finished in this fight so but this is a good one to bet on the underdog, because i do think casey kenney does have the tools to win as well. If nathaniel wood doesn’t show up, but i think on a good night, i think nathaniel wood wins this fight and also, let’s not forget that um after that loss to john dobson he’s met, he’s you signed up to fight against another killer in him on a mega Medal, so you can’t say, like this: guy doesn’t want to fight good guys, see this guy’s top guys first career and the fact that he wants to go in against umandu mega medov. It’S just incredible to me. I feel like he could have took an easy fight. Well, unfortunately, never happened, but it just shows where he thinks he is, and i think he, if a win here can get him back. Those ranking guys uh, maybe that, like alan or someone like oh sung, i think, would be a good fight if he was to win yeah. I agree 100, i mean that’s the thing about uh about nathaniel. Wood, too, is he’s not picking and choosing his fights, and i i think it showed he was in the rankings right before that loss to john dodson, and i think he’s one of the correct me. If i’m wrong here, i don’t know uh, but one of the british fighters with the most hype right now him and arnold allen. I think, are really on that trajectory towards super stardom. There uh for the uk, molly mccann obviously had that loss, but i thought she was right there as well. I also bet jones, obviously, unfortunately, he’s not in the ufc anymore he’s gone to bellator, but he’s another guy who will fight anybody. I mean look at you. He’S fought pedro, munoz, um alderman sterling, and i think he was meant to fight for selloffs um. In his recent he said he signed a fight against a 15 on one bantamweight, but he wasn’t after the contract and the only guy i can think of who’s 15. On one is barcelos and nobody wants to fight him and he wants to fight him, so i think they’re looking for a gigantic fight with james gallagher and brett jones, i think that’s going to be a massive fight for bellator and probably one of the biggest events They’Ve done in the uk anyway, yeah 100. I thought that move was great for him um. I know it got a lot of criticism at first, but realistically i don’t see him being a champion in the ufc uh. That division is just so stacked, but i think he’s got a chance to do it for bellator. Oh, you go ahead. You go ahead. I was gon na move on, so you go ahead. I also, i would have seen him kind of be like a top 10 guy in the ufc. I’M not sure you’d have been a champion like you said, but i feel like there’s been a lot of very fun fights there for him, but he had to do what he suited him and there might be for him. He’S got guys like sergio pettis patchy. Apache mix, like i think the banter division, just in general in any organization, is just fantastic he’s going to be in big fights, no matter what yeah i agree, i mean for so long. It was just lightweight and welterweight, and now you’re really starting to see it. I think bantamweight, maybe along with a welterweight right now, is probably the most stacked. I mean there’s so many fighters there i mean you could put a guy, that’s ranked 25th and match them up with a guy in the top 15 top 10 and they they could win um. There’S uh. I don’t know it’s ridiculous right now how stacked these divisions are, and it’s really exciting, especially i find welterweight down. I think they need to do some more beefing there from middleweight up, but i think welterweight down is so stacked um. So it’s really exciting. It really is – and i think this is a huge fight for the bantamweight division in general yeah and it’s going to be five tonight. I think yeah could could easily be uh. I think oliveira rachmonov could be as well and uh we’ll get to that one shortly, but man that fight’s going to be bananas as well, and then we got down and sam alvey, who is on a four fight, losing streak. I believe. Arguably he won his last fight. I thought he won it against ryan, spann um and i love sam alvey, so um so does uh. So does my buddy john rialgo, he likes sam albee as well. I thought i’d throw that in there um sam alvey and don jung, so who do you uh? Who do you have for that? One um, i think, don john wins, i think, he’s a fantastic prospect coming out of korea and he just might rodriguez is the guy who i did my first ever interview with really nice, guy, um and he’d be kind of um. This is something i don’t really understand in ufc like i know i’ll, be someone that’s kind of remarkable he’s like always happy and a very nice guy, but he’s on a full fight and yeah they’re letting people grow. You are coming off, wins still and it just kind of annoys me a bit. I’M like you’re, not like doing your things right, you’re, not getting rid of the guy, i’m not seeing how he needs to get rid of him, but there’s some fighters uh, eva gamer, for example. Like he’s, he goes three fight losing streaks and then he gets fed to a guy. He should be and he’s not in it, but there’s so many talented fighters we’re just letting slip or not signing up but um. That’S my van over um. I think that uh darwin junk will win. I think dan jones is a fantastic fighter um. I think he trained with um john young park, because we’ve recently been on a lot the same cards, but it was meant to be on the same card august uh, like unfortunately, never happened. But if you look at their prior, two fights they’ve been on the exact same card, so i’m assuming they’ve ever got the same like manager or they’re part of the same team um, and i just like watching korean fighters. I think they’re very crazy. I think they’re just magic when they have the best nicknames as well so uh. I think he went by first round. I know it’s very hard to get rid of something like sam alvey, but i just feel like. I think he might be in a rush, because i’m not sure if he’s got he’s done his um military service yet might be a man in a hurry. So i think he will win this fight um first one and try getting into his rankings as quick as you can yeah. I agree. 100. I mean i like sam alvey. I think he’s uh he’s done a lot he’s looked very, very good early on in his career and the past, four fights haven’t really gone his way, i mean he’s bounced up and down between weight classes and just hasn’t looked amazing, and i think this could be The fight where it’s all or nothing for him, he either wins it and stays in the ufc. I think if he loses it, he gets cut. That being said, like you said, man down jones looked unbelievable. He finished mike rodriguez, which is very very hard to do, and he also beat a guy early on his career named hulk, which i thought was kind of awesome. No last name just hulk and i think if you can beat the hulk, you can beat sam albee. So i went with donja and then uh alex and cowboy oliveira. What was that um? Also? I didn’t really think that um, i thought, beat some alvey. I thought he did. I thought spang just kind of just pumped against the cage i mean it was a. It was a terrible fight. Didn’T get me wrong, i don’t think it was very good, but i just haven’t seen much uh bomb somehow really recently um, but you might a lot of these guys who are fighting for their job. They come up and produce like the goods, so i for him. I hope he wins, but i just don’t think he will think donald trump is just too good yeah. I i i mean it was a close fight and it was boring. So no one won that fight. I think, like the span fight was was awful um, but i mean he took everything span had to offer, so it just shows you how tough uh sam albee is um, so i think it’s gon na be very hard to put him away um. That being said, mike rodriguez is very hard to put away, and don john was capable of doing it, so i think he i think he manages to finish sam albee. I don’t know when, but i think he can finish him. I think he’s got the power to do it. Then we got um. This has to be one of the hardest debuts. You know they throw you in there with alex cowboy oliveira. You know you’re in for a war um, but is anybody more ready for that than uh rachmonov? I mean the guy’s finished every one of his fights, which is insane um. Who do you have for this one um? Well, my love came from and one day so they fought some really good. Um opposition um he’s obviously 13-0 um. I don’t really like probably aloe vera, to be honest, like if the things i do or what he’s done, i’m not a fan of him. I i don’t really want to see him fight, because i just don’t really like him, but i hope we get to see from newport um coming through um in mcmahon um. He was meant to make his debut a couple of times and all gon na get really tough. Competition like this is what we do with guys like. You saw gamma and um kurta, let’s say last week like if you, if you, if you’re a very established guy from europe or whatever promotion it may be you’re, going to get very tough guys to uh make your day off like it’s been proven um. I can’t remember the other two guys that my mouth has been booked against, but i’m pretty sure that killers themselves and he’s fighting against a very good veteran in cowboy alvarez, coming off and good wins over peter button and max griffin. I think it was um in his last two fights um, i’m going back. Another thing he’s younger he’s, undefeated um and these m1 guys are just very good they’re used to fighting great opposition, and i think you can be fantastic in addition to that. Well: weight: division: yeah i mean the the fighters that he was matched up with before ending up fighting alex oliveira were bartosz, fabinsky, ramazana, meve and zaleski dos santos, so very very tough fights um. They aren’t feeding him anybody easy. That being said, man um – i don’t know on this – one rachmonov is looked very, very good. He’S undefeated, like you said, he’s fought high level opposition, but i mean you look at alex oliveira’s last fights peter sabota, max griffin, nicholas dalby, mike perry, gunner nelson he’s fought some some tough guys too, and he’s beaten guys like carlos um, carlos condit. Tim means, ryan flair, he’s beaten, very, very high level opposition. So it’s hard it’s a close one and i think we’ve seen him fight m1 level opposition. But when you get to the ufc it’s next level, you can either make it or break it. Uh you’re either ready or you’re, not, and i think alex i think if he beats cowboy oliveira, it’s going to show how good he truly is, but i just think it might be too much too soon for him um. So i’m gon na go with cowboy, but i wouldn’t be surprised if rachmonov got it done. I think it’s gon na be about whether or not he can weather the early storm, because if cowboy can weather that early storm, i think going into the third round. I think he might be able to turn it around and win be a decision. I think it’s going to come down to whether rachmonov can put him out put him out early and it’s very hard to put out alex oliveira all right, perfect and then we’ll just fight with um. What was that it like cut off um? Do you remember this fight against uh yancy medeiros? I think that was one of the most greatest comeback. Well, such a good um back and forth fight, and i think majes was able to stop him in that fight. Um he’s just um, i think, he’s taking a bit of damage as well, and i just in my opinion i don’t really want him to win because, like i said, i don’t really like the guys. So i’m i’m that coming off his european as well. So i’m going to go with a european fight as well, so hopefully he can win in um. You know yeah it’s it’s hard because yeah that he did lose to yancey in that second round, but he also went the distance with mike perry. So it’s it’s hard because you can show that you can take the damage you can take it um and i don’t know what sort of pressure rakmonov will apply coming into this fight, there’s also the ufc jitters and all that stuff. You have to take into account. So i don’t know, i don’t know it’s. It’S such a there’s. So many question marks surrounding rock monav um. You know when you don’t come in you, don’t fight a ufc fighter. Yeah m1’s got some great fighters, but the second you fight a ufc fighter. It’S a lot different, so i think we’ll really get an idea of how good he is and because i there’s so many questions, i’m gon na write, uh oliveira, but man it could go either way and then the next one we’ve got uh tai, twivasa and uh. Stefan struve, i thought they were both gon na be cut, and here they are uh hard fight for both guys, yeah and i’ve said in my previous podcast. I really wouldn’t care less of the way division. Wasn’T a division um. I i don’t really like the mission that much um but title with us. I think trains are um. American top team, now changed training camp so well. Obviously, he’s gon na be a different fighter. I feel like. Obviously he needs to improve on his wrestling. So much like this there’s a guy he’s so much if he can get a lot more wins on a lot more better performs the guy can be pushed to the moon really because he’s so marketable like he’s a likable guy as well so um. Hopefully he can start his career back on track, but he’s not really and he’s lost to guys like sergey speighberg he’s a good fighter, but he’s the top 25 guy not really ranked and not guys going to be in the rankings. I don’t feel um. I think he edged a fight against arlovsky. I think it was um, but he’s just someone that just needs to get better and i feel like him. Training to american top team is a very good move from him training out of his country and maybe got a comfort zone a bit, so i think he will win. I think steve’s. Obviously, a guy who’s well he’s called the skyscraper he’s, obviously a very tall guy. You should be someone who’s that tall. That ranges should be someone who’s in the top 10. In my opinion issue, i know i mean everything. Obviously you have to be have to be able to fight for um. I just feel like he’s, got he’s a guy who retired or quit put his gloves down goes down. I think after the um love well fight, it was when it was really strange. He was doing. He looked really good in that fight, but something strange really happened. Unfortunately, in that fight which changed my favor, so i knew some guy who kind of gave up so [ __ ] his heart’s, not really in the sport anymore. He’S a veteran he’s had loads of fights and bathroom tour vasa will win. I think he’s more motivated like him going to america top team. She chose his motivation. I think he went by position. I don’t think it’s gon na be a good fight, yeah! It’S it’s an interesting one, because we know the blueprint for to fight both guys right. Tai toivasa showed it in his last fight. Take him down he’s not going to be able to do anything right. Stefan struve has a questionable chin and uh. Tai pivasa has some power. He has quite a bit of it um. However, i don’t think he has mark hunt level power. I don’t think he’s going to be able to put stefan struve out um unless he catches him, and i just think that reach the experience the length that he has, i think struve takes it down and controls him up against the fence, takes him down and constant Pressure and i think struve’s got the ability to do it, whether or not he’ll do. It is a different question, but i think struve ifstroof fights smart. I think stroop wins this one easily um. I love tai twigasa. I love him and uh i’d like to see him win. I just uh it’s it’s hard, but i think i think stephen street’s got more tools to get this thing done all right and then we’ll jump into the main card. Um man, this fight’s actually happening. It’S like the tenth time this was booked. The first one ended in a lot of controversy uh, but it’s finally happening uh happening. What’S your thoughts, i’ve kind of people saying have strong thoughts in the first fight about um people, saying how about death for being? Wasn’T that fire like how people you know? How can i see like sleep was lowering him, but i’m sorry if you’re getting hit with a shot and then you’re acting rocks like that stronger music and control like what what on earth are you expecting so happy he’s? Not gon na be like all right, yeah you’re, fine, like he’s not like even the shots, weren’t, even catching. I think he was swinging wildly as well like. Even if i was part of the game plan and cliff would have probably got dr and then um caught him with a big shot uncle shots, weren’t big, like they weren’t, really like, i think, caught in the bottom and then the follow up ones didn’t look too Bad for him for could celebrate to be reacting like that. I just felt like it was a really stupid gameplay like what are you doing like, but um. I think i could ever win. I think he’s a guy who’s um, i think he’s another guy. That’S fought in grozny a lot in his career. He fought for a promotion. That’S no longer in russia. They’Ve been now with aca, so he joined that i think was wfca. He used to fight for um, which is now joined with aca, so he’s for a good opposition. I think he was a world champion over there in wfca in the united way division um lost to paul craig, but paul greg um has a habit of winning fights shouldn’t do so um there’s, no there’s. No shame in that. Matlock actually looks quite good now, to be honest with you, he’s got a draw with whoever um be antigov in his last fight, so that loss isn’t too bad. Um he’s obviously coming off a win over douche boom. So um, that’s a very good win for him. I think kutili was obviously crazy. Um i like to kind of like his personality uh as much as i don’t agree with what he is his fighting game plan in that fight. It just shows that he’s gon na be a lot smarter in this fight. Um, like he said it was the fact that should have happened on ten different occasions. It’S basically ferguson and could be about this point um a bit scared about talking about this fight even two days before the end yeah event. So but i was a really close fight, um unclear when by decision i don’t think he’ll stop him, because i want to believe kirstie was a lot tougher than that than him just like just being stupid. So i think i’m clever yeah this one’s a tough one. I’Ve been back and forth on this since the first fight um, but i i don’t necessarily say i agree with the stoppage, but i wasn’t fuming over it like i was like i mean you’re acting stupid you’re. Acting like you know, you act rock. You get hit a bunch of times. The ref is gon na act like you know what i mean, so i don’t necessarily disagree with it um. Obviously we i wanted that fight to continue so um, and now we have the chance to watch a few more rounds of it. Oh or a few seconds. Who knows how long this one’s gon na last um anyway um, neither one of them um like to submit so we know this one’s gon na stay on the feet, which is very, very exciting for us fans uh, i think, ion kuta lava has just fought higher Level opposition i mean his only losses are the guys like global shera, jerry canonier and mutual sir kunov, very, very, very talented, guys, um and i just think he’s bought because of the level of opposition, he’s fought um and how great he’s looked and like he said. He’S gon na come in with a smarter game plan. He’S not gon na act stupid. I think he gets it done. I don’t know how i don’t know if he’s gon na cruise to a decision or if he’s gon na finish him, but i think he’s he’s got more tools to do it. Um. That being said, i’m probably wrong, but uh, but i’m gon na go with kuta lava and then uh lilia shakirova, taking this on literally five minutes notice against one of the toughest girls at 125 and lauren murphy uh your thoughts on shakirova as an opponent and thoughts On lauren murphy, taking the fight and then your prediction for the fight um, i don’t know much about chicago yeah shakur over she’s um from uzbekistan, which is the same as new job and they’re very, very kind of tough fighters from that area. I think you kind of have to be in those kind of countries um, but um. She has a winner over beau, meng and she’s. The person the xangueli on her debut is the only girl to be um zangueli. So that’s a good win for her uh. I think she’s another girl, that’s four in five night global, i think she’s um she’s, eight and one um, like you, said a very tough um fighting lauren murphy who’s got wins over wraps on my ferry, probably very close to fighting for um a world title now And she was probably gon na be in a world title eliminator against um sylvia carrillo, but probably was going to be for the next title: maya versus um um, but i think they’re going to do in charge for association uncle next, assuming that shivshenko wins um but Which probably um but another problem with how it’s placed like if murphy and kovya was the fight. You know by all means put that on the main card, because that’s the title: eliminator fight, there’s two fights on this card – that i really don’t like being on the main card. I think the next bite which we’re going to talk about later i i’ve, got the event on that one but um. I think that kenny versus what should be on the main card, but um in terms of the fight, i think murphy will win. She’S more experienced she’s supposed to better position. She was very close to getting the title eliminated about against cindy carville, but the fact that he’s only shown notice, but this year’s been the year the underdogs i feel like like so many fighters are coming on short notice or even just like four weeks notice or Whatever it is, people are on them to win. I’Ve won the fights, but we’ve seen that a lot now they’ve come on and okay on the first round or whatever submission or whatever it is so she can definitely win it. Anybody can win a fight like there’s a reason why there’s no 100 a winner um, because we’ve got two girls, two guys fighting anything can happen. She can catch murphy or something because um, i think, shakira [ __ ] jackie over, is um the younger fighter so fashion fighter, but she shouldn’t obviously not fought recently as um. I think murphy’s fought moderate fairly in this environment where there’s no crowd. So i think i’m going with murphy yeah i’m in the same boat, i mean you, you nailed all the points. I mean, there’s not a whole lot out there on shakirova, so there’s not much to really go off of. However, what we do know is that the level of opposition is much much weaker than uh lauren murphy’s. That being said, i think, on a full camp with everything going right. I think lauren murphy wins this comfortably and uh. I think this makes it interesting it. I think shakirova might have a chance to win this based on the fact is short notice. She doesn’t have to travel as far uzbekistan is essentially next door. She can walk over essentially from the uh from her house, so i think all of these things are going to play a factor, but i mean i’m not writing her name down. I think lauren murphy wins this fight nine times out of ten um. However, i think, with the circumstances, uh shakirova has a better chance to win this than she would um in regular circumstances. But lauren murphy wins this for me: uh she’s man, she’s number, two or three in the division. Right now, she’s fought everybody from roxanne murphy to roxanne, mata fairy. Sorry uh she’s fought everybody um and her uh she’s fought forever. So she gets it done um, i’m pretty confident she gets it done. I would not be betting against laura murphy unless and then phil haase and jacob malcoon um thoughts on this one um. I don’t know too much about any of them to be honest, um, but dispatch should not be on the main card. That’S all like you’ve got you’ve two top find somewhere to a win. All the day gets them into the rankings. Yeah, who are like have 16 fights um each. So it’s around about 30 fights combined against a guy who’s before you know, who’s basically got no experience. Really – and he gets guys, seven and two again he’s not really got much. Experience like this is a contender series fight like i. I just don’t really understand why i got more exception with jake and jacob malcolm on the main card, because i just like they’ve got so many good fights you’re, taking that spot of the guy who’s very green up, still he’s not going to be the full package. Yet, like a phone, no, you can’t be unless you’re a prodigy kind of or just already there um it’s just. It’S not gon na sell paid right. If you see that on the pay-per-view car, are you gon na be thinking? Well, what why why am i buying? I probably shouldn’t even be on feeling cards. I don’t want to be too. I love watching prospects like that’s something i really enjoy. I love watching, possibly fight. I just don’t understand this decision, but um on the main desert on the main um verdict of the fight um. I think i’m going fors. She is just my experience, he’s seven and two um. I probably fought better opposition um, i’m just not too sure about these. Two i’ve not seen really anything, often a lot all i know, is kind of australian scene, it’s kind of a mixed bag. In terms of that competition. Like you look at the mukhitarian brothers and the australian top team, jim a lot of them, i thought bad opposition over there and i’m not too sure whether malcolm has fought the best opposition either he hasn’t done another um. I’Ve looked at his record, he’s not really for anybody all over how many fights horses have got like what guys think he will like have like three fights. Two fights like he’s, just not thought the opposition for him to want himself to be in the ufc. First of all, i’d just especially be on the pay-per-view card, i’m going for’s round 2k, i think yeah i mean i, it just shows the the uh, the lack of talent there at 185 and 205 and 265. I think i think right now, they’re in dire need of talent that they’ll sign anybody with a decent record um. That being said, i was i, i did a call yesterday with uh the bloody canvas guys and vince morales ufc bantamweight, and we were all like phil hoff’s philhard and he was like jacob malcoon uh. He just said he’s technically better, very good and he’s got it as if there’s something we don’t know, um about about him and i’ve been doing some digging and i’m still leaning, phil haas, just because i’ve seen more of him. He looked very good on the contender series. However, the interesting thing about phil haas is every one of his fights is finished in the first round, with the exception of one that he finished early in the second. So that makes me question whether or not he has cardio um and going to the other side of the world and all this other nonsense uh, i don’t know, what’s going to happen if malcoon can escape out of the first round. That being said, jacob malcoon’s main training partner happens to be robert whittaker, so when you’re training with a guy like him uh it’s day in day out, it’s very very hard to finish you, whether or not you’re, talented or not. That’S a different question. I mean you look at a guy like um artem, lobov yeah he’s not the greatest fighter, but he is hard to put away because he’s taking everything. Conor has to offer day in and day out. So i think very similarly, if he gets out of the first round with phil haas, i think he has a chance and i think he could win it. That being said, i don’t know much about him. I’M just going off of what vince morales told me and uh, but that being said just based on what i know and what i’ve seen on the contender series and uh, i think phil haas can get this done. Um. I don’t know if he’s gon na finish him, but i’m just gon na go phil haas, i’m just gon na say phil has don’t don’t have a verdict on how but phil has then we’re gon na jump into uh to heavyweight here. Uh alexander volkov, who i’d say the last three fights he hasn’t looked amazing. He hasn’t looked really amazing. Since the verdoom knockout, you could argue that he looked okay against greg hardy, but greg hardy also isn’t quite at the level of uh everybody else there. In the top 15 um and walters who a lot of people were, most of us wanted to win against overeem uh, just because of the the story and everything behind it. Obviously he lost that fight and now he’s got a chance to to uh to avenge that and uh against alexander volkov. Do you think it’s too much for him too soon or do you think he can get it done? Um? I don’t know like this. Is the guy who’s had loads of distractions in his career in his career, especially over the past year um? Unfortunately, everyone knows story, um he’s a very dangerous dude. In that first round we saw he was very close to beating us to ovary, like he’s very, very close winning that fight, so anything can happen. Obviously the heavyweight division he could get rid of volkov in the first round. Um. The thing is a vocals i thought were terrible against grey cardi, like maybe their card is a guy that fights good against better opposition, because we’ve seen him against jorgen de castro. We’Ve seen him against um ben sasoli not do well at all, but yeah. When you thought i was volkov, he looked very good, so it might be in russia, but in russia as well. Yes, so um, i think local did win the fight but um. If you’re struggling against someone who’s, probably not top 30ish. I don’t believe in the top 25 or in the um rankings, so like you’re gon na struggle against someone who’s very powerful, very explosive in that first round, the local’s best chance of winning this fight is obviously past that first round, obviously we know what house is Like, unfortunately, after those um first rounds, you can’t just help but root for what i was, though, like just what this guy’s been through. The fact that he’s gone back and forth is incredible. Like you could’ve gone, you know what i don’t want. I don’t want this anymore. I’Ve got it’s like. I’Ve got someone talking away from me, my heart’s, not in it, but he’s showing again. So very nice still wants to fight. He still wants to make a career out of himself. Um he’s not got a good record, but i think his record’s kind of deceiving, i feel like, because you should have a good gas tank, the um fighter. I’Ve always said that as a fighter. You should always be very good at that very good. I feel like there’s no excuse for it, but in those first rounds literally anybody he could have finished anybody in thems rounds, but they were guys especially over him. I think all you thought if he was able to put it on me on him, a tiny bit more. You could have finished that fight, so i feel like rockoff will win. I just um by decision. I don’t think i know. If i know actually, you know, i think he will get kodu, unfortunately, because he’s coming off of ko not too long ago on the scene, with joe marshall, unfortunately, who got killed by your highness and then before two months later and got killed by jimmy. So whether it’s too quick of a turnaround for him probably will be so i think i would like him to take a bit more of that. I know it’s longer than two months, but maybe he could have fought in december. Maybe i could find a guy like volkov is coming off the windows. They do um um, i think we’ll win yeah. I mean you nailed all the points i had. I had early paris late volkov. I think i think his best chance to finish. Volkov is early and it just show i mean he’s taken everything from volkov took everything curtis blades had to offer. He took everything except for one punch that derek lewis had to offer too. You know so he’s very hard to put away and um. I think he’s going to weather that early storm and he’s going to turn it on, and i think he finishes it late in round two um, if not round three. The good thing about this for walt harris is that it is only three rounds. So i think if he can win, he can win round one and two, and even if he starts to fade there in round three and hold on, i think he’s got a better chance than if this was a five-round fight. So um. That’S the only reason why i’m kind of considering harris um, but i just think volkov’s got the tools to do it and he’s got a lot more experience. The guys fought so many guys he’s fought guys like curtis curtis, blades and taking him to decisions very, very difficult, so i think volkov gets it done um. I think he finishes him late. Then we get into the fun fights here. We go robert whittaker and jared cannoneer, who looks like a god. The guy, the guy is chiseled uh. I don’t think i’ve ever seen. Anybody look like that. Uh, that’s scary, uh. That being said, robert whitaker is a beast. He is a freak um. So, if anyone’s going to get it done against a guy like jerry canner, it’s robert whittaker uh, who do you have for this one um? I think um people don’t give izzy enough credit for that win like i don’t understand why, like you, people aren’t going like while we beat, which i just feel like kind of under waiting that we could. We stole it against a bit done until that this fight is more, it’s still got so much more in him in he put quite decent performance, goes down to his close fight. Don’T get me wrong, but i feel like which could definitely fight um, and i know kenya has obviously fought for middleweight for a bit now. I’Ve seen some silver jack and johnson, but this is a guy’s for a heavyweight before this. The guy’s fought like heavyweight. Before he’s talking damage and knows what he in those fights he’s lost guys like dominic reyes, um, behold, she’s, obviously the light heavyweight champion now so jackie manson’s, obviously a very good room. We saw what he did to um kevin garcia in his last fight. So that was a very good queen um, but he’s 1304. So i think i feel, like people picture this guy as a monster, he is a very, very good fighter, but he’s got lots of he’s, got suspect losses and his wins, not suspect lost his be his suspect, wins his wins. On being too great, he’s look at his record of wins in the ufc they’re, not too great. So i don’t. I don’t feel like he’s fought anybody to calibrate yo romero. Um he’s fought the most weight before as well. He’S fought some good welsh weight, guys as well as where to curve, for he just fought better opposition and he’s got momentum on his side, obviously coming off a huge win in abu dhabi again and which he headline in july and the 25th. So i feel like he will win kenya’s, not fought since the copenhagen card in september. So i got rid of here and um you’ll probably get a title shot next, but it matches only if he beats. Kenya obviously um, but he might do i’m her manson versus izzy. If her manson was to get um a fresh match-ups, we’ve just seen izzy versus whitaker, but i think whiskers got enough tools to win and i think he’ll win by uh decision yeah. It’S an interesting one for sure i mean i think jerry candaneer shows what his skills are. His skill is his power. He’S got he’s got a lot of it. I mean he finished david branch, which at the time was very, very impressive, uh anderson silva and, like he said, um her manson looked very, very good. His last three fights. That being said, i mean robert whittaker’s fought guys with power. His entire career, i mean the only guy that he’s lost to was a guy who picked him apart at distance. I don’t see jerry kennedy are doing that. Um robert redeker’s fought yoel romero for 50 minutes. That is insane. That is ridiculous. No one! No one does that he also beat jacare before that and he finished jacare. So i think uh robert whitaker’s seen it before. I don’t think uh cannonier will be able to put him away and i think he codes to a comfortable decision. It’S also only three rounds, which i thought it was very interesting. I think this one would be fun if it was five rounds. I think this could be a huge uh this one could. This could be a massive card there for fight night, like if this was headlining. I think this has the ability to do it, so i think five rounds might actually favor um uh robbie a bit rob robert whitaker. I think a five-round fight would actually favor him. A little bit more so cannon here that might favor cannoneer and i think canonier may be able to to to win two of the three rounds, the first two but uh. I don’t know it’s a tall task for him. I think this is a big step up in competition um and i think robert whittaker’s got the tools to get it done so robert whittaker decision and now the uh, the fight that uh everybody’s been talking about for the past few months and it’s crazy. It’S actually happening. We are what 48 hours away, if that, not even that that’s crazy um, khabib nuragametov, fighting justin gaichi insane. This fight is going to be insane. Who do you have winning it uh habib? I think um there’s, obviously there’s a lot of factors that play that obviously, we’ve got is causing that unfortunately had to um pull out the card in new management off, and i think it’s quite a serious thing as well. That is in hospital, for i can’t remember what it was now, but i’m pretty sure it’s kind of like a serious thing. I think your staff infection and people worrying about um, maybe getting it as well and obviously, we’ve got obviously the things that happened to his father enough, and i don’t understand why people keep mentioning it like about it. Obviously, you could be heartbroken about it and i feel like bringing that up when he’s about to fight it’s kind of a bit bad. In my opinion, why you kind of like trying to get him to think about? He doesn’t want to think about losing his dog when he’s going to fight literally one of the biggest fights he’s fought against the guy who’s, one of the most dangerous, probably guys his fault in terms obviously juices of his wrestling. But he’s found a guy who said that he doesn’t want to use wrestling because he gets him tired. So i’m like well, that’s the only best chance to win the fight and if you don’t want to use it, you’re not going to win the fight, um and habib’s, obviously so, there’s a lot of things that might go against him might kind of fight emotionally. Obviously, that’s what’s happening the way that people keep on asking about connor as well, which i don’t understand why you do not literally find one of his toughest do the thing about his father and conor mcgregor, because it’s kind of a bit annoying for me um. I think he’ll be able to win. I think he win by third round. He doesn’t really try looking for submissions in the first two two um rounds, because i’m just more focusing about mauling them, keep him on the ground kind of seeing where he can get his um submission from and some from fee onward for mount v onwards. It’S more starts to threaten you, you might get in the fourth, but i don’t see him doing it in the first two rounds. I feel just him kind of kind of look where he can do the damage and then run through almost with him up the gears. Yeah this one’s i’ve been so back and forth. On this i love khabib, like i absolutely love khabib and i think if anybody can beat khabib, it’s just engaging. So it’s it’s such a hard one.
