UFC 297: Strickland vs. du Plessis 01/20

[jipped genes]

Middleweight	Sean Strickland (c)	vs.	Dricus du Plessis
Women's Bantamweight	Raquel Pennington	vs.	Mayra Bueno Silva
Welterweight	Neil Magny	vs.	Mike Malott
Middleweight	Chris Curtis	vs.	Marc-André Barriault
Featherweight	Arnold Allen	vs.	Movsar Evloev

This was gonna be an incredible card but Jan Błachowicz vs Aleksandar Rakić got scrapped after Jan hurt his shoulder also Dominick Reyes and Carlos Ulberg was cut and re-scheduled for about 2 months after Ulberg got hurt. Still a good card but not as badass as it could have been.

Strickland vs DDP, this is a dream match. Sean is such a technician with endless cardio. DDP is a fast twitch guy with unbelievable power but fades. If he can touch Strickland early it may be his night, but if it goes deep, Sean will pick DDP apart late and get the stoppage. This is a very good matchup.

Pennington vs MBS is a great girl fight. Rocky is a volume striker. MBS is a grappler with great top pressure and sub skills. It will be a long night for Rocky if she gets taken down early.

Magny vs Malot: Magny is 2-3 in his last 5. Has he become a gatekeeper? Looks that way as Malot has not fought any top tier guys and looks to use Magny as a springboard. Malot has 1 loss by KO and has a never won by decision. He also has a good mix of KO/TKO and Sub but I think he favors grappling. He has not fought a vet as good as Magny. Just because top guys get the better of him does not mean a badass up and comer will steam roll him.

Curtis vs MAB This will be my pick for fight of the night. These guys are both in the same level and both guys need a win. Action man vs Power bar, yep their nick names. Both are well rounded, both have great cardio. I give the edge in power to Curtis. Both guys have similar loss records per # of fights. I am stoked for this one.

Allen vs Evleov should be a good one. Allen is well rounded and can wrestle but prefers to stand. He got humbled by Max Holloway in his last outing but Evleov is a Greco Roman wrestler first and striker 2nd. I like this fight too.

 

[MR. BMJ]

I totally forgot about the Jan/Rakic fight. Damn, it was on this card. I was wondering why the card seemed a little thin, although still decent. Some of these upcoming UFC events this year are effin' stacked!!! I can not wait for them

Yea, Strickland/DDP is an interesting fight for all the reasons you stated. I believe some of the issues DDP had, up until his last fight or two, was that he had severe nose breathing restrictions from it being broken in the past. He had surgery for that just this last year and I think it helped quite a bit. I have to imagine he probably sleeps better as well, if that was the case. I would have given the for sure nod to Strickland up until DDP convincingly beat Robert Whitaker in his last fight, but he looked really good in that and I feel the fight can go either way, especially if he has the cardio to hang with Strickland for all 5 rounds...and he has power. That said, Strickland has the ability to make everybody look bad with his fighting style, and he has a really good ground game that he hardly utilizes! It will be super fun to see where this fight goes and who imposes their gameplan best. I'm pretty sure we will see the usual Strickland. They've done a pretty good job going back and forth selling this fight, haha:lol:

I think I may give the nod to Bueno, then we will have to hear another dramatized emotional post-fight interview from her lol. She got busted for Ritalin in her win over Holm. She was pretty dominate over Holm, but who knows how much the Ritalin had her amp'd up, lol. This run for Pennington is probably her last shot to go for the belt now that Nunes has retired. This is kind of like back when Dorian Yates retired from bodybuilding and the next year everybody was amp'd up at finally having a chance to win the Olympia, haha. If Pennington can't beat Bueno, her future is dim....and that's if she even can win.

I think they are laying the ground for hyping up Malott. At least that is what it seemed when he fought Fugitt earlier this past year. He has a lot of skill and potential, but yea, exactly what Jipped stated..,..he's going a few steps up with Magny. I'm really interested in seeing how he does in this fight. If he does not dominate Magny, then I don't see him moving up much more. Magny got extremely dominated in his last few fights.

Same for me on the Curtis/MAB fight

I really like the Allen/Evloev fight!!! I think this fight could be higher on the card, personally. This is the fight Evloev needs to move up, while Allen is staring down another chance to fight at the top after getting his ass kicked by Holloway. I can't pick a winner on this one.

 

[jipped genes]

Did not know this about DDP and his beak. I have had mine fixed several times. No more until I quit boxing. I use afrin every night before bed. It definitely helps me sleep being able to breathe and sleeping with my head elevate4d as well. I think DDP, even with all the nose stuff will still gas before Sean. He is a power guy. Using that power requires a lot of O2 and fuel. By the third if it lasts that long DDP will have slowed a lot.

BMJ, I think Rocky will still be a top 5 gal even with a loss. Her prob is she is not a finisher like Nunes. NBS has 10 wins and only 2 by decision. Rocky is a good grappler, MBS is a monster, Rocky like to get the TD and GnP. This will not work well with MBS

I am loving the Allen vs Evloev fight. Allen has really good TD defense. Greco is more of a stand up grapple. This is a chess match.

I truly enjoy reading your posts on fights. Most of the time we are on the same page but sometimes you put out an idea that I did not think of as I am dain bramaged and not very smart.

 

[schultz1]

Pulling for Strickland. Duplesis is a hammer and could make it a tough night for Sean.

 

[MR. BMJ]

MAIN CARD STARTING RIGHT NOW.....ALLEN/EVLOEV

 

[MR. BMJ]

Pretty damn good fight on the ground and stand-up and the transitions. Evloev is the real deal. He stole the 1st round with takedowns at the end of the round, won the 2nd round, but 'may' have lost the 3rd, but it was a weird round. Guy has great cardio, both do.

 

[MR. BMJ]

Frankie Edgar just got inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame! Damn cool

 

[MR. BMJ]

Next up:

Curtis vs Barriault!

 

[MR. BMJ]

Curtis by decision. Not a bad fight, but kind of meh. The fans booed the fight in some of the rounds. Kind of a knock-en-sock-em fight, but no real damage by either fighter. I think I gave the edge to Curtis, but it was close and probably a hard fight to score. I feel the Allen/Evloev fight was better so far.

UP NEXT:

MAGNY VS MALLOT

 

[MR. BMJ]

Fukking Mallott was winning the fight all the way up until like the last minute or two of the 3rd round and then he got taken down and gassed-out and lost....WTF!? LOL. Magny won by stoppage....freakin' Mallot just had to survive and would have won the fight. He was so tired that he was just sitting there all the way until the they called the win for Magny, and was still there afterward. Kind of a pussy way to go out, but he has some good skills. He will not get much respect after this fight. Anyway...trying to hurry and type this so I can go get me a big bowl of ice cream

UP NEXT:

PENNINGTON VS BUENO SILVA.

I hope Pennington KO's this loud mouth dramatic *^(%(T$!

lol

 

[MR. BMJ]

Woohoo!!! Pennington won by 5 round decision Humbled Bueno-Silva, lol.

Silva won the 1st round, and maybe the 2nd, but it was close. Rounds 3-5 were all Pennington on the feet and ground, lol.

Not a huge action-packed fight, but it is what it is with the women fights, lol.

Rocky finally won the belt after so many years, pretty cool for her. Silva just gassed and got tired the last 3'ish rounds and faded big time from that.

******************************************


STRICKLAND vs Du_PLessis up next!!!~

 

[jipped genes]

Middleweight	Dricus du Plessis	def.	Sean Strickland (c)	Decision (split) (47–48, 48–47, 48–47)	5	5:00
Women's Bantamweight	Raquel Pennington	def.	Mayra Bueno Silva	Decision (unanimous) (49–46, 49–46, 49–45)	5	5:00
Welterweight	Neil Magny	def.	Mike Malott	TKO (punches)	3	4:45
Middleweight	Chris Curtis	def.	Marc-André Barriault	Decision (split) (30–27, 28–29, 30–27)	3	5:00
Featherweight	Movsar Evloev	def.	Arnold Allen	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00

DDP vs Strickland. Honestly it was not a robbery but I saw it for Sean. Sean may be a crazy MF'r but they dude is classy in a loss. No whining, no "i was inured" just congrats to the new champ. Same with DDP, class.
Rocky pulled it off. She tried not to win with all the clench when her corner said "DO NOT CLENCH UP! STRIKE!" but she made it. It is a weak women's division. MBS is 50% in her last 8 granted with NC and draw.
Nagny vs Mallot Mallott is a monster...until he gassed out. He beat Magny everywhere but Magny got heart! came back in the last part of the last round when Mallott was tired and got the TKO.
Curtis vs MAB started SLOW. first two rounds were pretty uneventful. They saves it up for that last round and boy did they scrap! Last few seconds was a phone booth brawl. Razor thin decision but OK.
Mavsar vs Allen, What a fight. Allen is really god and his stock did not fall far. Movsar will struggle with Volk who will pick him apart on the feet and Volk is an anti wrestler.