UFC 254

[Arerequired]

(Order may be incorrect)
Main Card:

Lightweight: Khabib Nurmagomedov Vs. Justin Gaethje

Middleweight: Robert Whittaker Vs. Jared Cannonier

Heavyweight: Alexander Volkov Vs. Walt Harris

Middleweight: Phil Hawes Vs. Jacob Malkoun

Flyweight: Lauren Murphy Vs. Liliya Shakirova

Light Heavyweight: Magomed Ankalaev Vs. Ion Cutelaba

Prelims:

Heavyweight: Stefan Struve Vs. Tai Tuivasa

Catchweight 140lbs: Casey Kenney Vs. Nathaniel Wood

Welterweight: Alex Oliveira Vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov

Light Heavyweight: Da Un Jung Vs. Sam Alvey

Flyweight: Liana Jojua Vs. Miranda Maverick

Lightweight: Joel Alvarez Vs. A. Yakovlev

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Posting this early because UFC 254 takes place in Abu Dhabi thus starting earlier for the Americas.

 

[Bucky]

Good card! Here's to Gaethje for doing what he does best; causing damage.

 

[sprintstar]

Flyweight: Lauren Murphy Vs. Liliya Shakirova: I know alot of people here don't like female fighters but I do, my question is how does an unranked fighter get her first fight in the UFC vs the #5 ranked fighter? Seems to me she should have to fight an unranked fighter first to prove herself.

Lightweight: Khabib Nurmagomedov Vs. Justin Gaethje: unless Gaethje KO's Khabib I think he will get submitted by Khabib.

Heavyweight: Alexander Volkov Vs. Walt Harris: I think Volkov needs to tag Harris quickly to establish his power then if no KO early then take Harris into the 2nd and 3rd rounds as Harris has a very small gas tank and a suspect chin.

 

[Arerequired]

Good win for Volkov, stopped Harris.

 

[Arerequired]

That was a glorious combo by Whittaker in the 3rd round but he got hurt near the very end but still won the decision, looked tired though. Better performance than the Izzy fight, Whittaker is a preferable champ to cringe-inducing Izzy and looks improved. This makes Darren Till look good when he could have arguably won the close decision against Whittaker.

 

[Arerequired]

Khabib's striking is so raw but the pace and aggressiveness is a problem for Gaethje even if he is getting in good counters, is he trying to be Anderson Silva with those knees ?

 

[Arerequired]

Khabib subs Gaethje in the second round, Gaethje hurt and stumbled Khabib in the beginning of the round on the feet but it went to the ground and no one can really compete with Khabib on the ground, and Gaethje's best chance of winning was early an KO, it ended sooner than the Conor or Poirier fights, I can't imagine Tony giving Khabib much of a challenge in that vaunted matchup considering what Gaethje did to him.

On the bright side, although our enemies probably favor the muslim Khabib, Gaethje himself has a (relatively fair skinned) Mexican mother and seems to identify with that side so I was not really biased either way coming into this matchup, maybe slightly towards Gaethje. This would also knock Jones off of the #1 P4P spot.

EDIT: Says he's retired on his mother's wishes, not sure if its a McGregor style retirement or for real but we probably won't get a GSP-Khabib fight then, maybe a GSP-McGregor, GSP-Gaethje or GSP-Dustin fight?

 

[white is right]

Khabib's wrestling and sub skills are a full level better than any other MMA fighter in his weight range I can't see him losing until he gets old or a bomb from left field hits him square on the temple and knocks him cold. It's almost like watching the early UFC's and seeing Gracie versus the unskilled bar fighter types. But Khabib is beating well versed guys like that.

He has been talking about retiring at 30 and 0, I tend to believe him as Dagestan is very cheap to live by Western standards and unless he is living like god on a compound somewhere is need for money is far less than a Western fighter. I recall Sultan Igbragimov disappearing like Keser Sose after losing to Wlad and he never launched a futile comeback for money probably because of this.

 

[limitless]

I knew Khabib was great, but was still surprised at how superior his grappling was to Justin's. Justin smashed Tony's face in, yet Khabib still stopped Justin in a little over a round. Khabib is on another level. He has shown honor and courage. I am happy to see him retire undefeated with shitbags like Conor and Tony having no bragging rights over him.

 

[Liverlips]

The winner of Connor v. Poirier will likely be new champ at 155. Assuming that, whites now have the belts at heavyweight, 205, 155, 145 and 135.

Am hoping Colby gets another shot at 170 and the winner of Till-Hermansson in December gets a shot at the 185 strap in 2021.

 

[sprintstar]

you forgot Shevchenko womens flyweight 135lbs Champ.