Sunday 12 November 2017

UFC 217 Review




DISCLAIMER: This article is reviewing one fight from the Fox Sports 1 prelims and all the main card fights ONLY.

UFC 217 is in the books and even a week later, it's still being discussed and reviewed to how the results of it have influenced the MMA world.

With three new champions, and one of them being a returning legend, UFC 217 may well have a case for being the greatest MMA event ever.











Randy Brown defeats Mickey Gall via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28 and 29-27)

Randy Brown (now 10-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) won the Dana White Lookin' For a Fight title (not actually a title, Mickey Gall (now 4-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) joked about it before his fight against Sage Northcutt)  by defeating Mickey Gall via unanimous decision in Gall's worst performance in the Octagon.
Paulo Costa defeats Johny Hendricks via second-round knockout (1:23)

Paulo Costa (now 11-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) defeated former Welterweight championship challenger Johny Hendricks (now 18-8 MMA, 13-8 UFC) in convincing fashion.

Going into the fight, Hendricks thought he'd missed weight, but did make it, and although this shouldn't be an excuse for Hendricks, who was dominated by his Brazilian opponent, it's quite clear that he's not where he was back in 2013 when he came close to winning the Welterweight title.




Stephen Thompson defeats Jorge Masvidal via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27 and 30-27)

Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson (now 14-2-1 MMA, 9-2-1 UFC) defeated Jorge Masvidal (now 32-13 MMA, 9-6 UFC) in a good striking fight that saw Thompson regain his momentum after his majority draw and loss fights to Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley. 

Whether he'll get another title shot is up in the air, although there is a young up-and-comer called Darren Till who would love to get into the Octagon with 'Wonderboy'.





Rose Namajunas defeats Joanna Jedrzejczyk via first-round knockout (3:03) to become the new Women's Strawweight Champion
Rose Namajunas (now 14-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) shocked the world by dethroning Joanna Jedrzejczyk (now 7-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) for the Women's Strawweight Championship in just over three minutes.

In the build-up to the fight, Joanna showed her brilliant mental warfare by getting into Rose's face and whispering insults, some of them quite crude, in Polish.

However, Rose stayed calm and collected and went into the fight with a clear plan to shock the world.

A potential rematch could happen but whether Joanna needs to bounce back with a win before getting her rematch.















T.J. Dillashaw defeats Cody Garbrandt via second-round knockout (2:41) to become the new Bantamweight Champion

In a blockbuster co-main event, former team-mates T.J Dillashaw (now 15-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC) and Cody Garbrandt (now 11-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) went to war over Garbrandt's Bantamweight Championship.

 Many thought Garbrandt would pick up the win, and maybe put the rivalry to bed, but T.J rocked Cody with a left hook and continued to punch him before he was crowned champion.

In his post-fight interview, T.J called out UFC Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson for a super-fight at 125 pounds. If that comes off or not, it looks as if Cody might not be next in line for a title shot.












Georges Saint-Pierre defeats Michael Bisping via third-round rear-naked choke (4:23) to become the new Middleweight Champion

After nearly four years, Georges Saint-Pierre (now 26-2 MMA, 20-2 UFC) returned to the Octagon to beat Michael Bisping (now 30-8 MMA, 20-8 UFC) for the UFC Middleweight Championship and put himself as the greatest martial of all-time, in my opinion at least.

To step away for four years and not only step up a weight class, but to beat the champion in a very good performance is remarkable and could've only been done by a small number of fighters (Anderson Silva, Demetrious Johnson are some names I think could do it).

It also came out after the fight that 'Rush' had an injured neck during his scrap with Bisping, saying on a Thursday media conference call:  'During the fight, I got a very bad inflammation in my neck and I couldn't really move my head much, especially at the end when I cooled down after the fight.

It was terrible. I couldn't even tie up my shoes. It was very bad.'

For Bisping, he's right back into the Octagon against Kelvin Gastelum at UFC Fight Night Shanghai on 25th November.

For Saint-Pierre, it's in his contract that he'll defend the title against interim UFC Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker, although GSP didn't confirm on the MMAHour that he would in fact face the Australian.

Whoever he faces next, it'll no doubt be the biggest fight possible, with McGregor not around.








 



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Saturday 4 November 2017

UFC 217 Preview



DISCLAIMER: This article is previewing one fight from the Fox Sports 1 Prelims and all the main card fights ONLY.

(C) indicates current champion.

Almost exactly a year since the UFC held it's first-event in New York, UFC 205, Dana White and co return to Madison Square Garden with another outstanding card.

With three title fights, one featuring the return of former UFC Welterweight champion Georges Saint-Pierre, and brilliant match ups from top to bottom, let's preview the UFC's biggest PPV event of 2017.



Randy Brown vs Mickey Gall (Welterweight Bout)

Randy Brown (9-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) will take on Mickey Gall (4-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) on the Fox Sports 1 prelims.

Gall is back 11 months after his last fight, second-round submission victory over Sage Northcutt at UFC ON Fox 22, and has already said he has a name prepared for when he defeats Brown.

Brown will be looking to avoid his second loss in a row but is no doubt aware of Gall's impressive submission skills.


PREDICTION: Gall wins via first-round submission.









Johny Hendricks vs Paulo Borrachinha (Welterweight Bout)
Johny Hendricks ( MMA, UFC) either didn't care or was just horrible at making the 170 pounds mark for Welterweight.

He missed weight for his welterweight fights against Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 200, Neil Magny at UFC 207, both of which he lost.

Hendricks then moved up to Middleweight to face Tim Boetsch at UFC Fight Night 112... but he AGAIN missed weight.

He now faces Paulo Borrachinha (10-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) and will be looking to getting his career back on track.


 PREDICTION: Borrachinha via unanimous decision.








Stephenson Thompson vs Jorge Masvidal (Welterweight Bout)

This fight promises to be a striking slug-fest, with Stephen Thompson (13-2-1 MMA, 8-2-1 UFC) looking to bounce back from his majority decision loss to UFC Welterweight champion Tyron Woodley at UFC 209.

His opponent, Jorge Masvidal (32-12 MMA, 9-5 UFC), is also looking to bounce back from his split decision loss to Demain Maia at UFC 211 and will be out in dispatch Thompson via a stunning knockout or submission.

However, 'Wonderboy' has shown that he's extremely tough to put away, adding to this blockbuster welterweight encounter.


PREDICTION: Thompson wins via third-round knockout.



Joanna Jedrzejczyk (C) vs Rose Namajunas (For the Women's Strawweight Championship)

Joanna Jedrzejcyk (14-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) is looking to make history and tie former UFC's Bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey's title defences (6) when she faces Rose Namajunas (6-3 MMA, 4-2 UFC) in the first of the three title fights on the main card.

The build-up to this fight has seen Joanna impose her mental warfare on Rose, whilst the latter has just soaked it up and let the champion try to get into her head.

The odds aren't in Rose's favour, as Joanna has ran through all her opponents with ease, but there's something about Rose's cold persona that many think that a huge upset is on the cards if Rose is at the top of her game.


PREDICTION: Joanna wins via fourth-round knockout.


Cody Garbrandt (C) vs T.J Dillashaw (For the Bantamweight Championship)

As UFC Light Heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier said in his preview for Fox Sports, this is a true grudge match.

Former UFC Bantamweight champion T.J Dillashaw (14-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC) left UFC Hall of Famer Urjah Faber's Team Alpha Male to, in his view, advance his skills as an MMA fighter.

Former team-mate and current UFC Bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt (11-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) still has issue with T.J over his exit from Alpha Male and how he always lies.
This boiled over on this year's Ultimate Fighter.




Garbrandt then added to the already boiling bad blood when he released an Instagram video on Wednesday of him knocking T.J out in training.



It promises to be a hell of a fight with both very much looking forward to knocking seven bells out of each other.
PREDICTION: Garbrandt via unanimous decision.


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Michael Bisping (C) vs Georges Saint-Pierre (For the Middleweight Championship)

After nearly four years since he stepped away from the octagon and vacated his Welterweight Championship, which he had defended nine times, Georges Saint-Pierre (25-2 MMA, 19-2 UFC) will face Michael Bisping (30-7 MMA, 20-7 UFC) for the Middleweight Championship.




GSP has the opportunity to become only the fourth man in UFC history to win titles in two different weight divisions (after BJ Penn, Randy Courte and UFC Lightweight Champion Conor McGregor) but will face a tough fight in not only stepping up a weight class, but facing Michael Bisping, who himself is out to solidify himself as one of the greatest MMA fighters ever.

All eyes will no doubt be on GSP after four years, to see how he copes with being back in the octagon and wheter he can keep with the sport he left at his peak.

For Bisping, this is the chance to silence all critics by adding to his list of defeating legends such as Luke Rockhold, Anderson Silva and Dan Henderson.

Whatever happens, it'll no doubt be a fight that will go down in UFC history for many reasons.


PREDICTION: Bisping wins via third-round knockout.






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