UFC 298: Volkanovski vs. Topuria 02/17

[jipped genes]

Featherweight	Alexander Volkanovski (c)	vs.	Ilia Topuria
Middleweight	Robert Whittaker	vs.	Paulo Costa
Welterweight	Geoff Neal	vs.	Ian Machado Garry
Bantamweight	Merab Dvalishvili	vs.	Henry Cejudo
Middleweight	Anthony Hernandez	vs.	Roman Kopylov

Fattest card of the year so far.

Volk vs Ilia is a great one. I think Volk will win. Ilia has not fought Josh Emmett and Ryan Hall who are two great fighters but Volk is different level. He has showed that vs guys like Brian Ortega, Max Holloway, Yair Rodriguez. Made them look like lower level guys. Ilia got a LOT of subs early on but had had 4 KOs in his last 7 fights with 1 sub. Volk has incredible TD defense and great striking D. He also is a genius at the art of striking. Ilia needs a hail mary to win this one but he has heart and will never give up.

Bobby knuckles vs Costa is a great fight. Costa is a tank and Whitt is a technical guy. Should be a banger. Let's see if Whitt's chin holds up. You know Costa's will. Costa will fade in the 2nd so...

Neal vs IMG Neal is a gatekeeper. He is 2-3 in his last 5. IMG is a cuck that has really good striking. like REALLY good. he has faced a couple gatekeeper guys and is undefeated. He has a SNEAKY high kick that is a very good weapon and moves his hips like he will punch and then POP, you get smacked with a shin. (Cuck: he took the name of his wife who is WAY older than he. Also her ex husband lives with them! She authored a book called "how to be a WAG" yeah, cuck)

Merab vs Cejudo, Merab is a dominant wrestler that is a decision machine, 9 win streak with 1 stoppage. Cejudo has power in his hands, he has gotten 4 TKOs out of 7 wins before he faced Sterling on his comeback. He did not look sharp. Hopefully he is tuned up and ready to grapple.

Fluffy Hernandez is a fan friendly fighter, probably one of the most active UFC fighters on the ground. Tough as nails and a sub machine from top or bottom. Also has no fear of letting taken down so lets his fists fly. Roman is a very technical striker with good power. Zero subs and only 1 decision in 14 fights. He does fade in the later minutes of the fight and has lost due to being tired. This is my fight of the night pick.

 

[MR. BMJ]

This card is effin' STACKED!!! I can't wait for this

I can't wait for every fight. Ilia is a really good striker. He's dominated everybody iup to this point, like made everybody just look stupid bad....BUT, like you stated, Volk is another level. He also did not fight Max, Ortega, or Yair for us to see how he does against the best of the division, and Volk has dominated them. It's hard to say what happens as a result of the above, but i'll not ever go against Volk until it's apparent he is on the downhill slide past his time.

I'm just shocked that Costa is even fighting at this point, lol. He is notorious for pulling out of fights. Lets hope he makes weight!!! Should be a great fight.

Freakin' Neal frustrates me. When he is in shape, he can beat almost anybody, but he seems to either come in subpar shape or something happens to him and he either fades or has to be careful to not fade and thus can't go at it. I like the standup war between these two. If neal comes in shape, it could be a war.

Merab/Cejudo i'm really interested in seeing! It should be super technical with tons of fast paced action of wrestling and scrambles. Merab will bring it every time, hopefully Cejudo comes in shape, which he usually does. Merab could be the future of this weight division if he can beat Cejudo.

 

[jipped genes]

Agree bro. People think Volk is washed up after fighting a guy WY bigger than him. It is a good fight.

 

[jipped genes]

Fluffy! He'll yeah!

 

[jipped genes]

Damn good fights. Wanted Volk to win but the right was on the button.

 

[MR. BMJ]

Damn good fights. Wanted Volk to win but the right was on the button.

Volk was doing really well up until he got caught and KO'd, lol. Many had him winning the first round, and he was getting good jabs in for the 2nd round. Good for Topuria though, he never lost composure and continued to stalk Volk the whole time. He received some damage this fight too, which he hadn't gotten from all his prior fights that I know of. I have a feeling the UFC will put all their marbles behind Topuria so they can grow and branch out into Spain.

I would not 100% count out Volk at this point, as many are trying to sadly push. He was winning this fight until that KO and looked pretty sharp. I do think he needs some time off though, and not sure about an immediate rematch. It's a topic for good discussion though.

My only concern with Volk is not his physical ability to continue, but his chin now....or taking blows to the head and more easily going down. Granted, Ilia hit him with a huge flush shot that would have probably put anybody down, and the headkick from Islam wasn't on the chin....but not sure how many more he can take before it messes with his head mentally, and out of his control from just a simple tap <----similar to Frankie Edgar, Liddell, et al

The post show guys were recommending he go up to 155#, but I don't think that is a smart move....they are bigger and hit harder, and there are some monsters in that division. If he would have won tonight, then i'd have maybe been for it, but not now. Unless somebody can give good reasons why he should??? <----remember, i'm just an armchair fan, lol

 

[MR. BMJ]

But yea, Fluffy looked phenomenal! I was super impressed with his performance. Same with Merab, he just dominated Cejudo in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. He is on another level...hell, he nis in a didn't universe with his cardio. He is strong everywhere!

Garry did what he had to do, even though it was probably the least enjoyable fight. It was just on a stacked card too.

Whittaker/Costa fight was super fun to watch.

I thought the Lemos/Dern fight was a badass fight for a women's fight. I lose a lot watching Dern fight because i stare at her jiggly ass the whole damn time.

 

[jipped genes]

Featherweight	Ilia Topuria	def.	Alexander Volkanovski (c)	KO (punch)	2	3:32
Middleweight	Robert Whittaker	def.	Paulo Costa	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 30–27)	3	5:00
Welterweight	Ian Machado Garry	def.	Geoff Neal	Decision (split) (30–27, 28–29, 30–27)	3	5:00
Bantamweight	Merab Dvalishvili	def.	Henry Cejudo	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00
Middleweight	Anthony Hernandez	def.	Roman Kopylov	Submission (rear-naked choke)	2	3:23

I enjoyed the fights.

Fluffy did what he does and beat a really talented striker in Kopylov.
Merab is a force boys. Cejudo won round one and if he could have kept that up he would have won but Merab is built different.
IMG vs Neal was boring. Neither man made a statement. If that is all IMG has he ani't gonna go much farther.
Bobby Knuckles was in true form last night. Took some big shots and gave some too. Costa looked better in the fact he did not slow like he normally does. Less sticking out your tongue and more pressure. I like Whitt, hope he is able to make another run.

Ilia is a monster, Volk is a true legend and badass but like you said, I wonder how much that Islam KO loss took out of him, did he come back too soon? Getting rocked badly or KO/TKO'd leaves a person less than what they were. I want to see Ilia fight the top guys. Let Volk fight a couple fellas and then go for the title again. Volks gameplan was good but that punch was absolutely perfect, Landed with the big knucks, all the hip behind it. He could have KO'd a moose with that shot.

Dern's ass is the best in the UFC. Holy smoke.

• Fight of the Night: Amanda Lemos vs. Mackenzie Dern
• Performance of the Night: Ilia Topuria, Anthony Hernandez, and Zhang Mingyang