#Rodriguez vs Ortega

[imadititom]

For the love of boxing, somebody help T-city.

Coz them hands can't do a Rodriguez vs Ortegua 2.

It's bad enough that his punches are "procrastinating".

Yair will not let him breathe.

Pummeling will be in order.

Unless Yair tries some really classic schmegular BJJ, I don't see Ortega winning.

Hell, Yair might just put that shoulder back in its socket so He can have a proper win.

He's that hungry, and will be in Mexico.

Abeg, one shoulder at a time.

[theanticool]

How are we feeling about UFC 306 in?

Fight picks. General vibes. Don’t think it’s a particularly exceptional card but can’t say there’s a fight I’m uninterested in among the bunch. Yazmin Jauregui-Ketlen Souza should be good stuff. Bahamondes-Torres screams 1 round action brawl. Looking forward to Van-Chairez and seeing what guys like Daniel Zellhuber and Lazy Boy Rodriguez can offer. Diego Lopes vs Brian Ortega really feels like a crossroads fight.

Have put like 0 thought into O’Malley-Dvalishvili because of vacation. Only thing I can really say about it is both guys have never fought anyone remotely similar to the other.

Merab has been fighting shorter fighters. Cejudo, Aldo, and Yan are guys who like to mix it up in the pocket and from mid-range. But he will get hit CLEAN in pursuit of setting his desired rhythm. Yan cracked him. Cejudo dropped him. Guys tend to get hurt trying to just recklessly close range against O’Malley like that.

O’Malley has never fought someone who is so adamant about maintaining pace, volume, and initiative like Merab. Most guys are completely intimidated by O’Malley’s size and power that they end up giving him the range he wants. And he punishes them when they do decide to be brave and just rush the pocket looking to shorten the range. His positional boxing looked transcendent is his fight with Chito, but Chito is basically the opposite of Merab.

If I had to guess which one wins out, I have to think the guy with the 4 inch reach/5 inch height advantage and the superior boxing fundamentals finds a way to punish Merab for his recklessness early. But if this fight leaves the first 6-7 minutes, do I trust O’Malley’s body to hold up against one of the most physically demanding fighters the sport has ever seen?

As for Grasso-Shevchenko 3, we’ve seen it twice and I have to think that there is something inherent about the way Alexa Grasso fights that just bothers Shevchenko. The speed and range she operates in seems to be a sweet spot that causes bad decision making on Shevchenko’s part because of the discomfort it brings. Add in Valentina is 36 and hasn’t won a convincing fight since like 2021, I have to think Grasso finds a way again to leave with the title.

[wimpydave]

Brian Ortega vs Yair Rodriguez 2 | FULL FIGHT | UFC 303

[cavenewstimes]

UFC Mexico City Results: Moreno vs. Royval 2

MMA Fighting has UFC Mexico City results for the Moreno vs. Royval 2 fight card, live blogs of the top two fights, and more from Mexico City Arena in Mexico City. In the main event, former UFC champion Brandon Moreno squares off against Brandon Royval in a rematch. Moreno knocked out Royval in the first round at UFC 255 on Nov. 21, 2020. Yair Rodriguez and Brian Ortega clash in a featherweight…

[twins2994]

Minnesota Twins-Detroit Tigers Series Preview

6.23.23-Kenta Maeda RHP (0-4) 9.00 ERA Vs. Joey Wentz LHP (1-7) 6.82 ERA

6.24.23-Pablo Lopez RHP (3-4) 4.40 ERA Vs. Reese Olson RHP (0-2) 5.59 ERA

6.25.23-Bailey Ober RHP (4-4) 2.83 ERA Vs. Michael Lorenzen RHP (2-5) 4.00 ERA

The Twins At A Glance- The Twins revived their season with a couple of nice wins this week. Kyle Farmer walked-off the Red Sox on Wednesday night and Joe Ryan threw a much-needed complete game shutout on Thursday. The Twins now head out on a long nine-game road trip. The first stop is in Detroit, where Kenta Maeda makes his return. Oliver Ortega was optioned to St. Paul to make room on the roster. Byron Buxton seems to have gotten his swing right with three homers and four RBI in his last three games. He had struggled since returning from bruised ribs and finally figured things out again. Carlos Correa has four homers and twelve RBI in June. The Twins made an interesting move when they signed Dallas Keuchel to a minor league deal. He will make a few starts for the Saints and we’ll see what happens. He did win the Cy Young in 2015. Cole Sands has begun to throw off a mound. Jorge Lopez didn’t want to go on the restricted list for mental health reasons, but the team and his teammates said it would be best. He has been with the team the last few days and appears to be in a better place. The Twins bullpen should be rested after a complete game shutout by Joe Ryan on Thursday afternoon. Brock Stewart has allowed just two earned runs over twenty-three innings of work. 

The Tigers At A Glance- The Tigers took two of three games from the Royals this week in Detroit. They had Thursday off before welcoming the Twins this weekend. The Tigers offense came alive with fifteen runs in the two wins over the Royals. Zack Short collected three hits and three RBI in the series finale on Wednesday. Kerry Carpenter has been a recent bright spot by hitting .372 with two homers and five RBI in June. Detroit is still hitting just .229 as a team. The Tigers are trying to get some guys back. Akil Baddoo went through a workout at Comerica Park on Tuesday. Riley Greene has done some light running recently. Tarik Skubal threw 2 2/3 innings in a rehab outing against the Saints on Wednesday. Casey Mize threw off a mound on Wednesday. Eduardo Rodriguez threw live batting practice and is returning from a finger injury. The Tigers bullpen owns a 3.81 ERA, which is twelfth-best in baseball. Will Vest, Jason Foley, and Jose Cisnero all have 2.00 ERA’s. 

What To Watch For- The Tigers shockingly took three of four games from the Twins last weekend. Detroit was (3-4) against Minnesota last year at Comerica Park. Kenta Maeda is (2-2) with a 3.69 ERA in eight starts against the Tigers. Joey Wentz has a 1.23 ERA in 14 2/3 career innings against the Twins. Bailey Ober is (1-1) with a 5.68 ERA in four starts versus the Tigers. Michael Lorenzen has a 1.50 ERA in six innings against the Twins. These two teams have seen a lot of each other with seven meetings over the past week. The Twins cannot take the Tigers loosely and saw what they are capable last weekend at Target Field. 

-Chris Kreibich-

[latinboxsports]

@allstarboxinginc Zapata vs “Arañita” Ortega set for April 14 in Panama City 🇵🇦🇵🇦 The evenings Co-Feature is a 10 round WBA FEDECENTRO welterweight fight between Derrieck Cuevas (24-1-1 16 KO’s) of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico against Damien Rodriguez(13-1 7 KO’s) a Cuban residing in Panama City. Cuevas, a former WBA Fedelatin champion makes a quick return to the ring since signing with Zabala's All Star Boxing, He defends the belt he won on December 2nd in Atlanta, Knocking out Esneiker Correa(15-3-1 13 KO’s) inside 2 rounds. Tickets for the event billed “Triple Crown” are on sale by calling +50765776383. 5 other bouts round off the show. The televised portion airs live starting at 9PM/EST and is bought to you by All Star Boxing, Inc in association Top Rank on ESPN+ & Master Promotions. Derrieck Anthony Damian Lo Mas Buscado Rodriguez https://www.instagram.com/p/CqUUSYwOXhj/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[lkinews]

'My arm just popped out': Brian Ortega injures shoulder, loses via TKO to Yair Rodriguez at UFC Long Island

‘My arm just popped out’: Brian Ortega injures shoulder, loses via TKO to Yair Rodriguez at UFC Long Island

Yair Rodriguez was landing hard, clean punches. He had just hit a front kick. Brian Ortega had just knocked Rodriguez to the ground, exactly where he wanted it to be. It looked like it was going to be the big fight everyone wanted to see. But then, it became a huge disappointment. Kerley wins the American men’s world 100m final Ortega’s shoulder was injured while he was trying to position…

[thesportssoundoff]

“Ending the year with a card that starts at 2 and features a makeshift main event”  UFC in South Korea preview

Joey

December 15th

Fights: 13

Debuts: Omar Morales

Fight Changes/Injury Cancellations: 3 (Brian Ortega OUT, Frankie Edgar IN vs Korean Zombie/Veronica Macedo OUT, Miranda Granger IN vs Amanda Lemos/Sabino Mazo vs Ji Yeon Kim CANCELLED)

Headliners (fighters who have either main evented or co-main evented shows in the UFC): 5 (Korean Zombie, Frankie Edgar, Volkan Oezdemir, Doo Ho Choi, Aleksandar Rakić)

Fighters On Losing Streaks in the UFC: Dong Hyun Ma, Seung Woo Choi,Marc-André Barriault, Doo Ho Choi

Fighters On Winning Streaks in the UFC: Aleksandar Rakic, Matt Schnell, Said Nurmagomedov, Raoni Barcelos, Kyung Ho Kang, Cyril Gane

Main Card Record Since Jan 1st 2017 (in the UFC): 18- 16

Korean Zombie- 2-1 Frankie Edgar- 2-2 Aleksandar Rakic- 4-0 Volkan Oezdemir- 4-3 Doo Ho Choi- 0-1 Charles Jourdain- 0-1 Mike Rodriguez- 1-2 Da Un Jung- 0-1 Marc Andre-Berriault- 0-2 Jun Yong Park- 0-1 Pingyuan Liu- 2-1 Kyung Ho Kang- 3-1

Fights By Weight Class (yearly number here):

Featherweight-  3 (64) Bantamweight-  3 (62) Light Heavyweight- 2 (46) Lightweight- 1 (76) Women’s Flyweight-  1 (35) Heavyweight-  1 (40) Middleweight-  1 (50) Flyweight-  1 (17)

Welterweight-  (76) Women’s Bantamweight-  (23) Women’s Strawweight- (30) Women’s Featherweight- (8)

2019 Number Tracker

Debuting Fighters (43-62-1)-

Short Notice Fighters (33-42-2)- Frankie Edgar, Miranda Granger

Second Fight (59-41)- Da Un Jung, Charles Jourdain, Jun Yong Park, Tanner Boser, Suman Mokhtarian, Amanda Lemos, Heili Alateng

Cage Corrosion (Fighters who have not fought within a year of the date of the fight) (24-41-1)- Amanda Lemos, Ryan Benoit, Doo Ho Choi, Suman Mokhtarian

Undefeated Fighters (46-41-3)- Ciryl Gane

Fighters with at least four fights in the UFC with 0 wins over competition still in the organization (13-11)-

Weight Class Jumpers (Fighters competing outside of the weight class of their last fight even if they’re returning BACK to their “normal weight class”) (33-27)- Ryan Benoit,  Amanda Lemos

Twelve Precarious Ponderings

1- Let's begin with the obvious and point out that the reason that the UFC keeps coming to places like Mexico, Korea and China is because that they feel like they're one move way from having a champion from that region. From the debut back in 2014 until now, the move to do consistent shows in China was to finally find a way to get what inevitably come out of with Weilli Zhang (and perhaps maybe even Yadong Song in time). They've been grinding away in Mexico to try and found a Mexican champion (Cain was already in the UFC) so far to no avail. You have to assume they figure their odds in Korea were pretty good going into their first foray there. Since that point though it's been pretty rocky with Doo Ho Choi hitting the skids and a group of the women they brought in from South Korea not really clicking either. At this point you have to wonder if the UFC's going to go as far as the Zombie and Choi are able to take them. This entire card feels lika  pseudo rebound attempt for the market as the UFC are pitting a bunch of talented Koreans coming off losses against opponents in worse shape than them outside of the very good main event. So how far off are we from a Korean challenger for a title?

2- Is there anything on this card you'd feel compelled to wake up at 3 am for?

3- Is Frankie Edgar the one guy who in theory is best suited for a short notice fight? His style is basically the same regardless of opposition with a base gameplan that exists regardless of who he's fighting. He may tweak it here or there (more wrestling vs smaller guys, more striking vs slower guys) but Edgar's going to do what he do. The UFC is almost certainly hoping for the Korean Zombie to get a big stylish finish for the home fans and I'm just left to wonder if it's setting itself up for some disappointment. Edgar could absolutely stall out the Korean Zombie enough to escape with ad ecision win.

4-  Worth remembering; the few times Holloway actually threw with conviction vs Edgar, he hurt Frankie pretty badly. We also saw Ortega finish Edgar and Frankie's trademark durability may be on the decline at a time where he's fighting one of the divisions best marksmen. This is not the sort of guy you want to test your chin strength against.

5- Anybody still on the Doo Ho Choi bandwagon or did back to back finishes and two fights in four years get you out of that phase?

6- Volkan Oezdemir vs Aleksandar Rakic is a GREAT fight at 205 lbs. Oezdemir has had a somewhat surprising 2019 after a really bad 2018. H gave Dom Reyes his toughest fight en route to a tough decision loss and then beat the hell out of Ilir Latifi badly. Oezdemir seems to be rediscovering his pop and his pressure game at a time where there's a lot of fluidity at the top of 205 lbs. Aleksandar Rakic came out of nowhere and has morphed from a really good wrestler and patient striker (vs Barroso and Justin Ledet) into a violent fight finisher with insane offensive versatility (vs Devin Clark and Jimi Manuwa). Great proven guy vs prospect fight.

7- If Rakic finishes Oezdemir, where does he go in this LHW clusterfuck?

8- Could anybody tell me who Da Un Jong and Jun Yong Park fought in their last fights? Yes, both dudes fought in the UFC.

9- The plans to run a show in France probably knocks Cyril Gane off of the expected progression path the UFC had for him but maybe that's a good thing since it'll buy him some more time to devleop. He gets reliable Canadian HW veteran Tanner Boser in his third fight in the organization.

10- Dong Hyun Ma vs Omar Morales has big insane fight potential if that sort of thing is your bag. Two wacky strikers who throw a lot of funky shit.

11- Alejandre Pantoja vs Matt Schnell is a great flyweight fight. Give it a good look as Schnell has gone from an 0-2 start in the UFC to winning his last four fights.

12- Suman Mokhtarian may be in the discussion of worst UFC fighters on the roster BUT naybe he's gotten better after being off for a year.

[tabloidtoc]

In Touch, April 8

Cover: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry will name their baby girl after Princess Diana 

Page 1: Contents 

Page 2: Who Wore It Better? Elsa Hosk vs. Danielle Campbell, Adriana Lima vs. Dree Hemingway, Morgan Stewart vs. Jasmine Tookes 

Page 4: Down-and-out Tori Spelling rents $13K-a-month house 

Page 5: Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio in movie poster for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood don’t look like themselves, Lucy Hale goes brunette, Ben Affleck admits the reaction to his back too hasn’t been positive, Chrissy Teigen tells an onliner that after kids you don’t want to see her in a bikini, there are 432 minutes left of Games of Thrones 

Page 6: Crib of the Week -- Bruce Willis’ Brentwood mansion, find love with Vinny Guadagnino and “Pauly D” DelVecchio, Jenny McCarthy slams Barbara Walters 

Page 8: Stars who give out spoilers -- Sylvester Stallone, Mark Ruffalo, Sophie Turner, Rachel McAdams, Will Smith, Tom Holland, Kate Middleton stealing Lisa Vanderpump’s style 

Page 9: Man Candy of the Week -- Anthony Joshua, Winner of the Week -- Call Me By Your Name fans will be getting a sequel written by Andre Aciman, Loser of the Week -- Ramona Singer forced to aologize after claiming Bethenny Frankel’s late boyfriend Dennis Shields was on drugs before he died 

Page 10: Oh Baby -- Kylie Jenner and daughter Stormi, Kourtney and Kim Kardashian with kids Reign and Saint and Chicago and Penelope and great-grandmother Mary Jo Campbell 

Page 11: Hilary Duff and daughter Banks, Jamie Lynn Spears and Jamie Watson’s daughter Ivey, Jessie James Decker and Eric Decker’s son Forrest turns 1, Katherine Heigl and Josh Kelley’s daughter Adalaide turns 7, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro and Jen Harley’s daughter Ariana turns 1, Paula Patton and Robin Thicke’s son Julian turns 9 

Page 12: Up Close -- Ben Affleck and kids Samuel and Seraphina 

Page 13: Jennifer Lopez, Prince Charles shirtless with wife Camilla, Amy Poehler 

Page 14: Hairy Situations -- Ellen DeGeneres and Olivia Wilde cut Jason Sudeikis’ hair, Channing Tatum goes blond, Nicole Richie, Gilles Marini gets a trim 

Page 16: Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers, Busy Philipps and Lisa Rinna, Queer Eye’s Tan France and Jonathan Van Ness and Antoni Porowski and Karamo Brown 

Page 18: Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez, Rami Malek filming Mr. Robot, Clueless reunion with Alicia Silverstone and Donald Faison and Breckin Meyer and Paul Rudd 

Page 20: Pregnant Amy Schumer on Seth Meyers, Heidi Pratt and Kristin Cavallari, Lupita Nyong’o 

Page 22: The Bachelorette alum Becca Kufrin and fiance Garrett Yrigoyen at Chippendales, Lucy Hale and Zane Holtz filming Katy Keene, Reese Witherspoon and son Tennessee 

Page 24: Willow Smith, Miley Cyrus, Donnie Wahlberg filming Blue Bloods 

Page 25: Ariana Grande 

Page 26: Colton Underwood and Cassie Randolph 

Page 28: Kids’ Choice Awards -- Will Smith gets slimed, Chris Pratt gets slimed, Adam Sandler gets slimed, DJ Khaled gets slimed, Frankie Grande 

Page 29: Candace Cameron Bure and Andrea Barber and Jodie Sweetin, David Dobrik and Josh Peck and Kiernan Shipka, Taylen Biggs, Jojo Siwa, Jennifer Hudson, Lana Condor and Noah Centineo 

Page 30: Cover Story -- Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s moving tribute to Princess Diana

Page 34: College Admissions Scandal -- Lori Loughlin’s daughter who lost sponsorships is blaming her parents and others of making her life hell and thinks everyone is just jealous 

Page 35: Felicity Huffman’s daughter Sophia is mortified by the scandal and loves school and feels she didn’t do anything wrong 

Page 36: Jessica Simpson’s baby joy over daughter Birdie Mae Johnson 

Page 38: Gwen Stefani tells Blake Shelton she can’t marry him until she gets her marriage to Gavin Rossdale annulled by the Catholic Church 

Page 40: Lady Gaga’s hot new romance with Jeremy Renner 

Page 41: The truth behind Wendy Williams’ relapse, Selena Gomez dating a mystery man, Star Sightings -- Annalynne McCord, Cuba Gooding Jr.,Agnez Mo, Katherine Schwarzenegger, Casey Madden and Theresa Travis, Blind Item 

Page 42: Jennifer Lopez wants a cheating clause in her prenup with Alex Rodriguez, Hailey Baldwin and Justin Bieber fighting because he won’t wear his wedding ring 

Page 46: Julianne Hough on her marriage and big career news 

Page 48: Their Best Summer Bodies -- Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Hurley, Julianne Hough, Halle Berry

Page 50: Fashion Radar -- Ashley Graham is a bold beauty 

Page 54: Beauty -- Add flair to hair -- Dakota Fanning, Lupita Nyong’o, Kendall Jenner 

Page 55: Jenna Ortega, Camila Mendes, Alexa Chung 

Page 56: Did I Really Do That? Eva Green, Drake Bell, Lauren Ash 

Page 58: Sneak Preview -- Keeping Up With the Kardashians 

Page 60: What Team Are You On? Chad Johnson 

Page 61: Blast from the Past -- The cast of 10 Things I Hate About You on its 20th anniversary -- Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Larisa Oleynik, Gabrielle Union, Andrew Keegan, David Krumholtz, Susan May Pratt 

Page 62: Animal Overload 

Page 63: My cat looks like Kirsten Dunst 

Page 64: My Night at Home -- Heather McDonald, Guess Whose Podcast -- Alec Baldwin, Anna Faris, Macaulay Culkin, Amy Schumer, Dax Shepard, Topher Grace 

Page 66: Double Take -- Dwayne Wade and Gabrielle Union 

Page 68: Horoscope -- Aries Sterling K. Brown 

Page 70: Top 10 Hottest Williams -- Billy Eichner, Will Yun Lee, Billy Campbell, Billy Magnussen, Bill Skarsgard, Prince William, Will Chalker, Will Smith, William Levy, Liam Hemsworth 

Page 72: Last Laughs

[theimpact99]

Strong Style 3.38 "Hello London" http://tobtr.com/12124796 Jeremy "The Impact" York returns for Season 3 of Strong Style where he continues to bring his unique takes about two of his favorite sports: MMA and Pro Wrestling! Join him each week as he breaks down all the big action, interviews, craziness and more from WWE, AEW, Impact Wrestling, NJPW, PFL, UFC, Bellator, Triller, and so much more!!! On the thirty-sixth episode of Season 3, tonight's topics include: -Review: UFC Fight Night (Ortega vs Rodriguez) -Preview: UFC Fight Night (Blades vs Aspinall), Bellator 283 (Lima vs Jackson), RoH: Death Before Dishonor -Latest from WWE, Impact Wrestling, All Elite Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling and more! -PLUS, betting lines for all the biggest fights! (Make sure to visit our friends at BetOnline.net) It's Strong Style, Impact Media's weekly venture into the world of Pro Wrestling and MMA! (at Impact Media Studio West) https://www.instagram.com/p/CgQ67ygOW10/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[theanticool]

Brian Ortega vs Yair Rodriguez 2 - UFC Fight Night: Moreno vs. Royval 2

Really feels like we are at the end with Brian Ortega (16-3). Had a very impressive win over Yair Rodriguez in his last fight out but for someone who relies to much on his durability the cracks are showing. He hurt himself literally warming up in the cage before the fight. He got badly hurt. He got ill the night of his last scheduled fight. And while he is "only" 33, he's been fighting pro for 14 years. That's the archetype for a fighter that is one solid KO away from the bottom falling out.

But he did beat Yair Rodriguez and he is set to face off with rising Brazilian featherweight Diego Lopes (25-6) at UFC 306 this Saturday (Sept. 14).

[wimpydave]

Yair Rodriguez vs Brian Ortega 1 | FULL FIGHT | UFC Mexico City

[latinboxsports]

@allstarboxinginc Zapata vs “Arañita” Ortega set for April 14 in Panama City Panama City, Panama; All Star Boxing, Inc has announced Tuesday Morning the launch of its 2023 season with a clash between world ranked contenders. WBO #13 Gerardo “Cascabel” Zapata (14-1 5 KO’s) of Nicaragua is set to face local fan favorite WBA #12 WBO #15 Carlos “Arañita” Ortega (15-6-3 6 KO’s) of La Chorrera, Panama. The 10-round main event from Coliseo de Combates Pandeportes will air live on ESPN+ (USA/Canada) & ESPN Knockout (Latam) “After more than 18 years we return to the bridge of the Americas, the always warm welcoming Panama City.” states Felix “Tuto” Zabala President of All Star Boxing, Inc. “On April 29th 2005 we hosted a historic world title bill featuring a thrilling 10th round stoppage of Robert “Arana” Vasquez over Beibis Mendoza for the vacant WBA Flyweight title.” Notes Zabala “It’s only right to celebrate the anniversary of the show with a high-stakes, Triple crown international card” closed Zabala. The evenings Co-Feature is a 10 round WBA FEDECENTRO welterweight fight between Derrieck Cuevas (24-1-1 16 KO’s) of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico against Damien Rodriguez(13-1 7 KO’s) a Cuban residing in Panama City. Cuevas, a former WBA Fedelatin champion makes a quick return to the ring since signing with Zabala's All Star Boxing, He defends the belt he won on December 2nd in Atlanta, Knocking out Esneiker Correa(15-3-1 13 KO’s) inside 2 rounds. https://www.instagram.com/p/CqEiMmiObWV/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[topnews]

UFC on ABC 3 ‘Ortega vs. Rodriguez’ Play-by-Play, Results & Round Scoring - Sherdog.com http://dlvr.it/SV0fdy

[thesportssoundoff]

“Look there’s Holloway vs Edgar and you’re watching this so don’t even give me any of your shit” UFC 240 Preview

Joey

July 22nd, 2019

Every once in a while, about once a year or so, the UFC has a PPV that's utterly pointless. It's just a show on the schedule designed to make up for a cancelled show or just a PPV "make some money" cash grab. This card is a little bit column A, little bit column B and so there's really not much to say in the lead in. The UFC lost a show in January when they had a bunch of main events fall through and they needed to move Cejudo and Dillashaw to ESPN+. In response to that happening, the UFC wound up needing to fill a schedule slot and SO we get two July PPVs (we were originally going to get two October ones but they reconfigured the sched). To further complicate matters, they loaded up July (two title fights plus a crazy undercard) and loaded up August (DC/Stipe, Romero/Costa, Nate/Pettis, Heinisch/Brunson plus all sorts of goodies) so this PPV sandwiched in the middle got a whole bunch of nada. This is basically a three fight card and if we're being honest, it just might be a one fight card if you consider Neal/Price and Cyborg/Spencer pointless.  The next three cards after this are all going to be pretty special in their own ways (DC/Stipe, Khabib/Dustin and Israel/Whittaker) so we're just here to kill some time at an unfair price point.  This card is a collection of spent shell casings on the Old West that is MMA. The summer is basically the UFC's seasonal fuck up session; more people are willing to spend money in the summer but fighters don't like fighting and the schedule is so packed that you run the risk of just burning all your bullets. Barring something unforseen, this will be the worst PPV of the year but ya got Holloway/Edgar so I'll be there. OH and it's a Canadian card! Cursed!

Fights: 12

Debuts: Giacomo Lemos, Tanner Boser, Yoshinori Horie

Fight Changes/Injury Cancellations: 1 (Lauren Murphy vs Mara Romero CANCELLED)

Headliners (fighters who have either main evented or co-main evented shows in the UFC): 4 (Frankie Edgar, Max Holloway, Cyborg, Alexis Davis)

Fighters On Losing Streaks in the UFC: 2 (Alexis Davis,Erik Koch)

Fighters On Winning Streaks in the UFC: 3 (Geoff Neal, Hakeem Dawodu, Alejandre Pantoja)

Main Card Record Since Jan 1st 2017 (in the UFC): 22-12

Frankie Edgar- 2-1 Max Holloway- 3-1 Cyborg- 3-1 Felicia Spencer- 1-0 Geoff Neal- 3-0 Niko Price- 4-2 Olivier Aubin-Mercier- 2-2 Arman Tsarukyan- 0-1 Marc Andre Berriault- 0-1 Kryztsof Jokto- 1-3

Fights By Weight Class (yearly number here):

Featherweight-  3 (37) Welterweight- 2 (41) Women’s Flyweight- 2 (21) Middleweight- 1 (24) Flyweight- 1 (9) Women’s Featherweight- 1 (7) Heavyweight- 1 (22) Lightweight- 1 (45)

Bantamweight- (39) Light Heavyweight-  (29) Women’s Bantamweight- (13) Women’s Strawweight- (19)

2019 Number Tracker

Debuting Fighters (20-43)- Tanner Bosse, Yoshinori Horie, Giacomo Lemos

Short Notice Fighters (20-27)-

Second Fight (40-16)- Kyle Stewart, Sarah Frota,  Sueng Woo Choi, Viviane Araújo,  Marc-André Barriault, Arman Tsaryukan

Cage Corrosion (Fighters who have not fought within a year of the date of the fight) (14-27)- Gavin Tucker, Frankie Edgar

Undefeated Fighters (25-29)- Giacomo Lemos

Fighters with at least four fights in the UFC with 0 wins over competition still in the organization (9-8)-

Weight Class Jumpers (Fighters competing outside of the weight class of their last fight even if they’re returning BACK to their “normal weight class”) (20-17)-  Erik Koch, Sarah Frota, Max Holloway

Twelve Precarious Ponderings

1-  In no small part, I think it's fair to acknowledge that moving PPVs to ESPN+ has, at least for me, dampened the enthusiasm fans have for PPV. Maybe that'll ultimately be a good thing but on principle alone, these cards seem a tick below the old school "gather round and party" UFC PPV events. Beyond that though, are we not giving Edgar vs Holloway its just due as a title fight? Max Holloway is still in my opinion the greatest featherweight of all time and this fight would be yet another step towards solidifying a potential hall of fame resume. It's not wrong to suggest that a stoppage over Edgar would be yet another step towards solidifying Holloway's spot among the GOAT. On the other hand, we just saw him get beaten up by Dustin Poirier up a weight class. Going up and taking a risk didn't impact BJ Penn and Conor McGregor but those two had a different sort of legacy and a more dedicated fanbase to make sure those things didn't matter. Frankie Edgar earned a title shot with wins over Jeremy Stephens and Yair Rodriguez before risking it all in the pursuit of being the ultimate company man. A short notice loss to Brian Ortega seemed to put him further to the back of the line but Edgar returned a little over a month later to decision Cub Swanson and has laid low since. In many ways, Edgar getting put back into the title picture is a rare example of the UFC doing something nice and fair. Edgar should've gone to the back of the line but instead the UFC rewarded him for doing them a favor in taking the Ortega fight.

2- Is the UFC being overly presumptious/optimistic in believing that the winner of this fight can make a quick enough turnaround to fight Volkanovski in early October? As champion, I think the quickest turnaround Frankie Edgar ever made was early October to late February but he was also 7 years younger then. For Holloway, December to March WAS supposed to be his quickest turnaround but he got hurt and the fight got scrapped.

3- Does Holloway have to finish Frankie Edgar to get his buzz back or would a win suffice for most fans?

4- Has any other fighter lost five straight title fights in the UFC? If Edgar loses to Holloway, I think he'll officially break his own record (that he holds with Urijah Faber who lost to Cruz and Barao twice).

5- I wonder IF the UFC could do it over, would they still go through with trying a female featherweight division. It got them a few Cyborg fights (which at the very least gave them a salvaged PPV or two) but overall, you have to wonder if this is what they expected when they (lazily) fell into the division. Although Felicia Spencer is probably a far more reputable opponent for Cyborg than when Cyborg was trying to get the UFC to sign Pam Sorenson.

6- The entire UFC/Cyborg situation could be done over the course of a few days but allow me the opportunity to try and paint the numbers here briefly:

Cyborg was signed because the UFC still had designs of Ronda (now vanquished by Holly Holm) making the comeback, rising up and facing Cyborg once before she'd go on to do other things. It didn't QUITE work out that way and so the UFC had a fighter they had no interest in taking up space on their cards. At this point Brazilian MMA was on a serious slump and Cyborg represented someone who could headline a card or two there, give the UFC some depth on PPVs. Then the UFC wound up deciding to go full bore with a 145 lb division----without Cyborg in the opening fight. It seemed like they were trying to set up Cyborg for the winner but GDR/Holm was a PPV bust and GDR didn't want the fight so they scrapped THAT and tried again with Cyborg as the lead dog. From there, Cyborg turned into a pretty decent PPV draw even though it always felt like this was an arraigned marriage more or less. Her two headliners did well enough (210K-ish vs Yanit, 375K-ish with Holly Holm) but the UFC never seemed to like her much and the feeling was mutual seemingly. Cyborg supported Leslie Smith's Project Spearhead on multiple occasions and would accuse the UFC of bias against her on a number of occasions. The UFC would in turn tell her to stop worrying about things that don't matter and for her to stop trying to act as her own matchmaker. There was a borderline embarrassing moment where Cyborg had a member of the media during a press conference ask Dana White to unblock her on Instagram. Both sides were in a convenient set up where they needed to at least tolerate one another and they could barely pull that off.

Things came to a head when the UFC finally sacked up (at the demands of Amanda Nunes seemingly) and gave us the champ vs champ fight. If Nina Ansaroff deserves a ton of credit for being a liason between the UFC and Amanda Nunes, Cyborg deserves an equal amount of credit for giving them a reason to get over Nunes wiping Meisha Tate and Ronda Rousey while also being a pest about doing media. Nunes wiped Cyborg out and the entire narrative on her changed in an instant. With the changing narrative though emerged the challenge; Nunes wanted a rematch, Cyborg wanted a rematch while the UFC had no interest in Cyborg vs Nunes II with one fight remaining on her deal. Cyborg flirted openly with leaving the UFC, said pretty much as such recently and just when the UFC felt like they were out of the Cyborg business, Amanda Nunes stirred it back up by wanting to REMATCH Cyborg still although I'd suppose the UFC doing a Cyborg fight by and large was bound to make it an issue regardless. Now the only buzz to the co-main is whether Cyborg can win to set up a potential rematch that 90% of the people watching probably have no belief in actually happening.

I think if everybody was on truth serum, you'd probably get a breakdown where everybody agrees that this has no chance of panning out in a positive sense. The UFC on a truth serum would probably be fine with Cyborg not fighting for them after this unless it was on some sort of team friendly deal so to speak (although all MMA contracts are team friendly given the nature of the biz). Cyborg would probably be just fine with fighting in Bellator and being some kind of a novelty act for her remaining fans unless the UFC paid her greatly and made some concessions on their protocol for fighter relations. Amanda Nunes is fine with whatever happens but she probably knows a Cyborg rematch as a co-main trumps trying to convince fans that a GDR rematch or a fight with Macy Chiasson or a fight with Yanit Kunitskaya is must see programming. Cyborg makes the most money in the UFC in theory, the UFC makes the most money with Nunes-Cyborg 2 and Nunes' career resume becomes GOAT regardless of gender if she finishes Cyborg again. It just requires too many ifs, buts or unless' to feel like it has any probability of happening.

7- Which does the UFC want more; a Cyborg win so they can quietly do away with 145 lbs or a Felicia Spencer win where they can stick to Cyborg one last time and maybe give Amanda Nunes something to do?

8- Even if it's probably an ESPN PPV prelim headliner on a more complete card, I'm really excited about Niko Price vs Geoff Neal. Of all the DWTCS guys signed, it could be argued that Geoff Neal is the best so far. He's an insanely good striker with stout takedown defense and some of the best in the pocket combinations you'll see at 170 lbs. He's developing more and more into someone who should be remembered as 170 lbs continues to amass depth in the middle rankings. I have some concerns about his ability to rally in a tough fight and I do think he'll struggle with the bigger welterweights but so far so good. Conversely Niko Price has gone from ultra exciting prospect to a solid proven action fighter who looks set to make the mantle of violent finisher at 170 lbs from the likes of Tim Means and Matt Brown. He'll be a great test for Neal and at the very least, this should be an exciting fight.

9- Is the bloom off of the Hakeem Dawodu rose or are we still holding on? He's 2-1 in the UFC but none of those performances were really of the standout variety. The fact that he's facing a debuting guy and not a proven 145 lber after beating Kyle Bochniak suggests the UFC is looking to slow it down, reassess and see if they can rebuild him again.

10- Can a fighter who is 16-5-1 be a prospect? I suppose that'll have to be the case with 27 year old HW Tanner Boser. Canada needs SOMEBODY to emerge from the mess and Boser, who has been fighting out in Russia, is probably one of their better chances unless you're sold on Gavin Tucker or Hakeem Dawodu. He kicks off the show vs Giacomo Lemos on ESPN+.

11- Erik Koch has fought in the UFC since 2011. He was one of MMA's weirdest resumes with elite names like Dustin Poirier, Rafael Asssuncao, Clay Guida, Ricardo Lamas and Bobby Green on it. He was a former title contender for Jose Aldo's featherweight title. He's got 21 pro fights, fought in three different UFC weight classes and is just NOW 30. You want to ask "Why are they bothering?" but clearly there's something they like there. Maybe Koch just finally needed to get healthy or maybe the UFC just feels some sort of compulsion towards having a guy who WAS going to be a #1 contender get on the right track. Just feels weird at this point. Koch faces Kyle Stewart who made a short notice debut in January as the first ever fight on the first ever ESPN card.

12- Three fighters on their second fights to keep an eye on; 1) Arman Tsarukyan on short-ish notice gave Islam Makhachev some serious problems as a quick scrambler who had some power in his hands. He was outwrestled but kept going at a pretty hot clip and made a good enough account of himself that he's on the MAIN CARD here against Olivier Aubin-Mercier. 2) Viviane Araujo looked fantastic against Talita Bernardo in a short notice fight up two weight classes. After beating Bernardo up for two rounds, she finished her with a flying knee in the third round to pick up the upset short notice win. She gets one of those "Let's see what they can't do!" step ups against the insanely slow but insanely strong veteran Alexis Davis. That one has potential to be messy. Lastly Sarah Frota looked pretty impressive in her UFC debut which was hampered by her completely blowing the 115 lb weight limit at 123 lbs. She's got some Thiago Silva-esque vibes in terms of being a powerful slow stalker who wings power shots at will and bets on her chin being better than yours when things get tough. She'll be facing Gillian Robertson who will offer nothing on the feet but is a tremendously adept grappler who can snag subs at will. Remember Livia Souza almost subbed Frota with an armbar.

[anthonybwilson]

Saturday News/Sports TV for 7/165/2022

Saturday News/Sports TV for 7/165/2022

- [ ] 4:00am: 2022 Open Championship (NBC) - [ ] 5:00am: Velshi (MSNBC) - [ ] 5:00am: ABC15 Mornings (KNXV) - [ ] 5:00am: 2022 Tour de France (USA) - [ ] 6:00am: Smerconish (CNN) - [ ] 6:00am: Good Morning Arizona (KTVK) - [ ] 7:00am: CNN Newsroom with Christi Paul and Boris Sanchez (CNN) - [ ] 7:00am: The Cross Connection with Tiffany Cross (MSNBC) - [ ] 8:00am: CNN Newsroom with Fredricka Whitfield (CNN) - [ ] 9:00am: Alex Witt Reports (MSNBC) - [ ] 11:00am: Yasmin Vossoughian Reports (MSNBC) - [ ] 11:00am: MLB Mix (MLBEXTRAINNINGS) *DTV720 - [ ] 11:00am: MLB: Reds at Cardinals (BSMW) - [ ] 11:00am: MLB: Mets at Cubs (SNY) - [ ] 11:00am: UFC: UFC Fight Night: Ortega vs Rodriguez (ABC) - [ ] 12:00pm: CNN Newsroom with Jim Acosta (CNN) - [ ] 12:00pm: MLB on FS1 Pregame (FS1) - [ ] 1:00pm: Symone (MSNBC) - [ ] 1:00pm: MLB: Tigers at Guardians (FS1) - [ ] 2:00pm: PoliticsNation (MSNBC) - [ ] 3:00pm: CNN Newsroom with Pamela Brown (CNN) - [ ] 3:00pm: American Voices with Alicia Menendez (MSNBC) - [ ] 4:00pm: MLB: Red Sox at Yankees (FOX) - [ ] 4:00pm: MLB: Brewers at Giants (FOX) - [ ] 5:00pm: Ayman (MSNBC) - [ ] 5:00pm: Good Evening Arizona at 5pm (KTVK) - [ ] 5:00pm: DBacks Live Pregame (BSAZ) - [ ] 5:30pm: MLB: DBacks at Padres (BSAZ) - [ ] 7:00pm: MLB: Dodgers at Angels (MLBN) - [ ] 9:00pm: Arizona’s Family News at 9pm (KTVK) - [ ] 11:00pm: CNN Newsroom Live (CNN)