#but they seem like a golden retriever boy and a funky little dude to me

[lauraisakilljoy]

this is your sign to vote for slovenia and finland so the boyfriends can be in the top 5 together

[pondslime]

Jack and David for the Headcanons PLEASSEEEE

oh u have UNLOCKED the evil demented pandora's box of my brain. I'm about to be FULLY annoying. TYSM

below are 3 pros and cons of dating my Favorite Boys Ever™

sidenote: if we're talking canon CANON, the fact that both of them are VERY dead is the MAIN and only VALID con. IMO. but I digress!!! for the sake of this list, they are very alive and very smoochable

(under the cut bc DAMN can a bitch talk. and I do not want u all to have to scroll thru a WALL of text of me bein humina humina awooooooga abt my current hyperfixation 💀 ur welcome)

anyways!! this was incredibly fun and I have tmrrw off!! so feel free to send me a character of ur choice for headcanons and I'll give u 3 pros and 3 cons of dating them. if ur so inclined!!!!

jack

3 PROS

man is goofy. GOOFY. he is so intensely unserious. the banter (both flirty or otherise) will be IMMACULATE.

SOLID movie buddy energy. since he's the first one to bring up lon chaney jr./the pentangle on the wall, I like to think he's a hammer horror movie enthusiast. and since we know that the two of them have been friends at least since the 8th grade, I find the idea of these two little dorks staying up late and catching reruns of the movies...........SO cute. so v v cute. jack's little 12-year-old ass insisting that they CAN'T MISS frankenstein meets the wolfman. no, david!! u can't go tf to sleep!! we need the LORE!!!! so anyway. he'd show u a bunch of old horror movies and point out all the weird lil details to u. get ready 2 be mst3k-ing every film. man has cable tv and chill written ALL over him.

knows his way around nyc and WILL take u to a funky lil hole-in-the-wall restaurant that serves the best sandwich u have ever had. he might forget his wallet @ his apartment and end up paying for it w/loose change he has stuffed in his jacket pockets, but goddamn was that hot pastrami incredible.

3 CONS

he's 5'7'' (this is also a pro)

a little bit of a whiny bitch. will make a mountain out of a molehill. thrives on melodrama and hyperbole. but he's right 90% of the time, so as annoying as it might be. u can't fault him too much for that

used to being the comic relief friend. chronically friendzoned. probably going 2 be a bit annoying about that. it's kinda difficult to get him to snap out of sarcastic showboat-mode. sometimes that can make him seem a bit ingenuine and detached. mild to severe performance anxiety vibes. once u crest over that. he'll trade any nervousness for comical overconfidence and it'll be off to the races. but in the interim................................lmao

david

3 PROS

SWEET himbo boy. v affectionate and complimentary dude. clear w/his intentions and fairly emotionally open. v much so gives the vibes of a guy who claims to want to have 74873848 flings before settling down........but will immediately fall head-over-heels and want to introduce u to his family. golden retriever boy

canonically!! gives good head. need I say more

has a sense of adventure. likes challenging himself and breaking up the routine. outdoorsy. he probably likes hiking. did track or soccer or smthn in high school. his sheer enthusiasm for GOING OUTSIDE will force u to get ur ass off the damn couch. u love to see it.

3 CONS

v much BIG "first person to die in a traditional horror movie"-vibes. not the best at reading situations. will bamboozle himself into a bad scenario purely bc his street-smarts are sometimes lacking. kinda clueless. it's v hot but also v dumb of him. u would think that growing up in nyc would've tempered some of that. occasionally it does. occasionally. not enough tho.

possible mama's boy/golden child. even if this is NOT true, he still lives at home. which means there WILL be tomfoolery afoot if u stay over @ that house. and VERY little privacy!! get ready for his younger siblings to find the most inconvenient ways to interrupt ur time together. ur patience and mental fortitude will be tested. u will be living in a crash course parent trap/home alone-simulator. have fun!!

u know when u were a kid and ur mom would see someone she knew @ the grocery store and talk w/them for an eternity. and u would just be standing there and waiting for her to END her conversation so that u could LEAVE. yeah. david gives me big "endless conversations in grocery store"-energy. u run into a bodega @ 9 PM to grab some chips and soda w/him. but this is his stomping ground and he somehow manages to run into 3797432989 different ppl who know AND adore him. and they've all got to ask him about how school is going. what's he majoring in again? how's the family? do u still know blah blah blah from blah blah blah? and ur just standin there sipping ur coke. which is rapidly becoming more and more room temperature w/every sip. when will it end. he's been talking about his sixth grade biology class for the last ten minutes

BONUS AND MOST OBVIOUS PROS FOR BOTH OF 'EM:

fluffy hair (x2)

there's two of them. u can and SHOULD date both of them simultaneously. IDEAL throuple situation.

[xluxsolarisx]

Genshin person, hi! I joined for a friend originally without interest but they left and I kept playing. Now I actually enjoy it! I started in May 2022 so I missed out on a lot, which is only sad when I think about Albedo as I dont have his weapon nor his painting he gifts you for the teapot.

I don't really technically main anyone as my goal is to level everyone's talents to 6 and to get them to level 80 at least. I still use them during and after to max their friendship and then move to the next. I'll make sure to file through them with domains so they don't get lonely!

I've been using Kazuha, Razor, Yanfei, Albedo, and Barbara for a while now, mixing between them. I'd switch them out but I've been in a lull state of just doing the necessary for BP. I'm starting to get more motivation though! I too want Eula though, I wish you luck once the day finally comes and the heavens open up.

Do you have any deep thoughts about the characters or lore? Anything that stayed with you? Favorite region? Personally I favor Mondstadt because it's the closest to a welcoming home we have.

hi again!! ough, i feel you with the missed content. i wanted to see the unreconciled stars event so fucking bad, but alas, i was too late. i actually started playing later than you, early august 2022! diluc was my first five star (not counting the traveler ig), and i've just been hitting since B). i have insane luck in the gacha for some reason so i've been able to get every five star banner i've been there for except for shenhe and xiao, which kinda sucks because i like them a lot, but c'est la vie :/. also oh man you have kazuha?? i missed his banner :( you're so lucky, he seems like such a funky dude.

and as for thoughts on the lore...oh boy do i!! i am Interested in learning about khaenri'ah and the abyss, as well as the tsaritsa and her motives. i personally have a theory that her and the abyss sibling were allied at some point (and maybe still are...) but i digress. my favorite region is sumeru!! it just reminds me of home, sort of. and also the aranara are so cute and if i could i'd just spend the entire game playing with them. answers? siblings? the fate of the world? no sir we're just playing hide and seek with little plant babies here.

favorite characters...my all time favorite is childe, though i cannot deny it is a very close race between thoma and kaeya as well. it's like; i like pretty boys with a horribly traumatic backstory and golden retriever energy and childe fits all three, while thoma and kaeya fit two out of three. i made a venn diagram about it here in case i'm not explaining it well hehe

and good luck to you too!! when the sky rains blood and the angel of death blows the trumpet i hope to get her to at least c4 before i'm dragged down to hell :)

[gar-trek]

fuck it, 

Rating hugs from the TOS crew and what I think it would be like 

Kirk: 5/10 

toooooo haaarrdddd. He’s always grabbing people arms and shoving them into his chest like he doesn’t know his own strength. He hugs the way I imagine an overgrown golden retriever puppy would if they were able. I bruise so easily i just know he would press his fingers into my arms and it would leave a mark. I really appreciate his enthusiasm but its just too much for me

Spock: :(/10 

it’ll never happen. Unrealistic. I would not want to make Spock uncomfortable with the suggestion of physical contact, and even if we did somehow end up hugging i’d be super self conscious that he could read my thoughts the whole time. The only physical contact I would receive is if I was on the bridge and the ship lurched and I fell over those knee hight rails into the main area and cracked my skull against the con. Then Spock might tenderly touch my shoulder and support my head as McCoy injected me with whatever before I ultimately end up dying. Might be worth tho. 

McCoy: 7/10 

Uncle energy but not in a creepy way. Like I really cool uncle you are genuinely excited to see and a family reunion. I feel like McCoy isn’t a natural hugger, but if you do need one he’d be there for you. I do image there would be some awkward back patting tho 

Uhura: 100/10 

this is gonna be the best hug of your god damn pathetic life. Do i really need to explain? like we all know its true. I feel like Uhura is a naturally a hugger but she’ll never overdo it. Also she probably wears really nice perfume so its like, a warm hug and flower scent :) she might even kiss your cheek if your lucky 

Chekov: 2/10 

No. the kind of hug that makes you really self conscious about if your boobs are pressing up against the person. Awkward younger boy energy. you probably go in for the side hug, he goes in for the full frontal, now you guys are stuck at this weird angle. You try to pat his back to relive the tension but make a miscalculation and touch his ass. its just bad. Also no offense at all to chekov but i know he smells just a little bit funky. and not like B.O, but like he’s trying to grow mushrooms in the closet where he keeps his uniforms. Unidentifiable musty smell energy. also, he would be on of those “wheres my hug :)” guys, but not in a creepy way. just kinda in the way where he thinks hes trying to be nice and doesn’t realize you do not want a hug at all  

Sulu: 9/10 

I think this would be a very solid hug. good friend energy. Sulu seems like the type of dude whos friends with everyone and always in a good mood, so hes probably giving out hugs a lot. There would be back pats but not in an awkward way. I also think he would be the type of dude to casually throw his arm around your shoulder. very good energy 

[onceler-landfill]

Rating Concept Art Once-lers

Turns out there’s a few different iterations of concept art Once-lers. I have decided to rate them. Under the readmore because it’ll probably get long.

- Mod Meownce-ler

What? WHAT? What were they thinking?! All respect to the artist, of course, but this does not look like a possible Once-ler! This is a green gremlin! Something about his design just REALLY, REALLY bothers me. I look at this and feel my brain immediately begin to turn itself inside out as it tries to comprehend what it’s looking at.

Interestingly, stripes seemed to be in the character design as early as this.

1/10 ONLY because the Lorax and the Thneed are there.

He is some sort of uhhhhhh... hairy creature thing? The face really bugs me and I can’t put my finger on why. Why does he appear to be wearing clothes when those clothes are basically just a part of his body? I feel like he would kill me and have no regrets. No, he wouldn’t enjoy it, but he certainly wouldn’t regret it.

2/10 because he would look like an effective villian at least.

He now has a checkered pattern, a smaller hat, and a different face. This man seems menacing, but also vaguely familiar. I feel like I’ve seen something similar to this in a Doctor Seuss book. The clothes still appear to be his actual body and not actual articles of clothing. His face still retains that “I will kill you and not regret it” vibe I got from the last one.

2.5/10 because he’s just slightly better than the last design.

Oh! The blue gray color actually differentiates his body from his clothing! It’s also a pretty blue. I like that pink frilly thing on his coat and the checker pattern adds something interesting to look at to the clothing. His face seems somewhat less scary than the Once-lers that have come before him. He is still hindered by his similarity to the other previous Once-lers though. His head also looks like it’s been crammed into his hat.

5/10, definitely an improvement but still a good ways to go.

We have ourselves a color inversion here it seems. His coat has become a blue while his fur has become a green. The famous gloves make their appearance. I feel like this man would be a kind fellow because of his gentle face. He doesn’t have a very threatening vibe.

7/10 because he seems friendly.

Dude I’m fucking scared right now. This is a scary guy. This is true villain material, ok? I feel like I’m looking at Ms. Tweedy from Chicken Run. This guy would kill me, and not only not regret it, but would also enjoy it. He’s got that fluffy trench coat thingy, he’s got that hair coming out of his hat, he’s tangled in the cut down, harvested guts of a truffula tree, he’s a menace to society. Is that coat made of the fur of a dead animal? Only he knows!

9/10, would be a terrifying villain.

Yeah, that’s a Once-ler. You can tell cuz it says so on his coat. He’s got a long body with super short, stumpy little legs. He is also labelled as if he forgets his name sometimes. I could actually kinda see the 1972 Once-ler looking like this. I also like the simple design. Seems pretty reminiscent of Doctor Seuss. I also like his frilly pink collar.

Solid 7/10.

Woah! This is a pretty big change to the other Once-lers we’ve seen. He resembles a golden retriever if you ask me. I may not like dogs, but not even I can resist the inherent charm that all golden retrievers contain. I like his floppy ears and his shirt. Look at his cute little hat! He’s so happy to show us his design for a Thneed!

10/10, absolutely adorable. Top tier.

Ok ok ok, so hear me out. First, you look at this fellow, and think “that’s a very short Once-ler! That’s a little strange!” But then, if you look at him for a little while longer, you realize that he’s very adorable! He looks very much like a country boy heading out to realize his dream, only to kill the entire environment, which then leads him to ruin his own life by living in isolation for decades. I love the little patch he has on his pants. He looks like a cheerful, optimistic country boy and I love it. The hat is a little strange though.

10/10. I don’t take constructive criticism.

Thus, we have come to the end of our ratings post. Here he is! That’s our boy! He’s got a funky guitar/banjo thing, he’s got the striped pants and that shirt and vest, he’s also got that questionable fedora. What else is there to say? That’s him!

10/10, because of course!

And that’s a wrap folks!

[thesportssoundoff]

“I ain’t sayin’ it’s Gaethje and friends but....” The UFC in Lincoln, Nebraska preview

Joey

August 19th

Enjoy your UFC break? Hope you went out, saw the world, watched some MMA I hope, maybe dabbled in some boxing perhaps? Plenty of football and Big 3 basketball to take in too. Don't forget yourself some EPL action as well!  Whatever you did and whatever you found pleasure in; the UFC is back with a card from Lincoln, Nebraska of all places that's....weird. Ya know how the UFC has those events with damn good undercards and then no main event that'll draw viewers? This is a big like the opposite really. Justin Gaethje vs James Vick is a tremendous lightweight fight; a test to see how far Gaethje has fallen after two concussive damaging losses to Dustin Poirier and Eddie Alvarez while testing if James Vick is finally ready to sit at the big boys table of 155 lbs. The problem is once you skip through that; you have a collection of average to good fights without one true defining co-main event. For the BRIEFEST period of time, we were told that Deiveson Figuerido vs John Moraga would be our co-main event. That changed in late July seemingly as the co-main event was THEN going to be Alexa Grasso vs Angela Hill. THAT then changed to what we have now as it'll be Andre Fili vs Michael Johnson in our co-main event of the evening.  The rest of the card isn't BAD but teeters on four tiers; good but kinda pointless, an prelim level action fight, poor matchmaking/spotlight matchmaking and lastly  and perhaps more interestingly "Who would ever care about this on any level?"  There's some good here but nothing is really going to stand out or be remembered 24 hours from now. NOW that's not to say you can't enjoy it! This is just sort of like a popcorn MMA event; it's a JCVD movie at 5 PM on a Sunday. You're going to watch it----but you're not going to remember it tomorrow. Chances are you might not even remember it six hours from the end of the main event so indulge in it while you can. Think of it as a chance to watch some MMA on a Saturday night after three weekends of nothing.

Fights: 13

Debuts:

Fight Changes/Injury Cancellations: 3 (Al Iaquinta OUT, James Vick IN vs Justin Gaethje/Alexa Grasso OUT, Courtney Casey IN vs Angela Hill/Antonio Braga Neto OUT, Markus Perez IN vs Andrew Sanchez)

Headliners (fighters who have either main evented or co-main evented shows in the UFC): 8 (Justin Gaethje, Courtney Casey, John Moraga, Eryk Anders, Michael Johnson, Jake Ellenberger, Mickey Gall, Joanne Calderwood)

Fighters On Losing Streaks in the UFC: 8 (Justin Gaethje, Michael Johnson, Jake Ellenberger, Courtney Casey, Bryan Barberena, Andrew Sanchez, George Sullivan, Kalindra Faria)

Fighters On Winning Streaks in the UFC: 5 (Andre Fili, James Vick, Warlley Alves, Drew Dober, Rani Yahya)

Main Card Record Since Jan 1st 2016 (in the UFC): 28- 22 (Folks better thank James Vick for Anthony Smith-ing this card out of the doldroms. Remove his 5-1 and this show is a 23-21 which is scaaaaaary close to unacceptable)

Justin Gaethje- 1-2 James Vick- 5-1 Michael Johnson- 1-3 Andre Fili- 3-2 Angela Hill- 3-2 Courtney Casey- 3-3 Jake Ellenberger- 1-4 Bryan Barberena- 3-2 Deiveson Figuerido- 3-0 John Moraga- 3-2 Eryk Anders- 2-1 Tim Williams- 0-1

Divisional Breakdown:

Welterweight- 3 Middleweight- 2 Bantamweight-2 Lightweight- 2 Flyweight-1 Women's Flyweight- 1 Women's Strawweight- 1

Too High Up- Jake Ellenberger vs Bryan Barberena

I hate to do this to Jake Ellenberger in his hometown. The fact of the matter is I think Ellenberger has only been prelim bait like once in his UFC career since about 2014 or so and that was for a Fox card. He's clearly a valued name by the UFC (and probably by more fans than we'd like to admit). That said he's 1-4 in his last five fights and there's really no point in doing this to the guy on the main card. Barberena is a good style for him (Ellenberger's TDD still seems pretty solid) and I don't think this is the WORST fight for him ever but let's be fair; this is not main card worthy. It's here because Jake's a hometown dude and because the only other alternatives are "the little guys". Could also call out Angela Hill/Courtney Casey or Tim Williams/Eryk Anders but it'd be unfair to move Angela Hill from co-main to prelims due to an opponent change and Eryk Anders is getting a showcase matchup to rebound him from that Machida loss.

Too Low- Iuri Alcantara vs Cory Sandhagen

THIS fight has serious good fight potential in it. You know how we talk about 135 lbs developing into one of MMA's best divisions? Well this is one of those fights that helps build you some depth and test you some prospects. Sandhagen was a short notice signing who beat the shit out of Dana White's Tuesday Night Contenders Series signee (sorta) Austin Arnett who IMO is one of those AAAA fighters who is too good for the regionals but noway near good enough for the UFC. This is a much tougher test for Sandhagen whose losses prior to the UFC was to professional prospect killer Jamall Emmers. Now he faces Iuri Alcantara who is probably not good enough to be anything more than a tremendous prospect tester and veteran smashing machine. If Sandhagen's "got it" then chances are this fight will be a lot of fun because his style meshes up well with the style that brings the best out of Alcantara. We're talking forward pressure, funky movement and some offensive versatility for Alcantara's power counters early.

Stat Monitor for 2018: Debuting Fighters (Current number: 20-26):  

Short Notice Fighters (Current number: 21-11): Courtney Casey, Andrew Sanchez and James Vick

Second Fight (Current number: 31-24): Cory Sandhagen and Tim Williams

Cage Corrosion (Current number: 15-26):  Joanna Calderwood and Jon Tuck

Undefeated Fighters (Current number: 22-19):  Deiveson Figuerido

Keeping An Eye On But Not Really:

The UFC Win Check Test The records of fighters who have 4 or more UFC fights (or three full calendar years in the organization) but 0 wins against people still in the UFC:  Luke Sanders, Jon Tuck, Joanne Calderwood

Twelve Precarious Ponderings

1- Gonna get this out of the way first; Jake Ellenberger is on the show because he's from the area and is a big draw there. Ticket sales were poor out the gate so Ellenberger wound up popping on. That's it and that's all there is to it, okay?

2- Who has more to gain here in the main event? I think it's easy as to "Who has more to lose?" because a James Vick win means that Justin Gaethje PROBABLY got flattened in his third straight fight which, in turn, means that we're looking at an obvious tragic combustion of one of the greatest action fighters of all time. Now having said that, what does Gaethje really gain from a win? He beats a top 10 guy (Vick should be ranked in the top 10 by now and if not, I'm gonna be floored) but not one of the elite names. He gets a win but it's not the kind of win that will carry any sort of casual clout because casuals don't even know who James Vick is really. At this point, it's JUST a win on a show. It's a filler W. On the other hand, James Vick beating Justin Gathje will be big in theory but I wonder how many "Alvarez/Poirier did it first!" type comments will accompany it. I wonder if people will take a loss for Gaethje as more about what Justin has lost than what James Vick has gained.

3- People like to act as though Tony Ferguson had a unique road to the top of the 155 lb scene. James Vick had to beat Nick Hein, Polo Reyes, Joe Duffy, FRANCISCO TRINALDO and Jake Matthews-----and then had to wait for an injury to get his first UFC main event. It's a very loaded division that pities nobody.

4- Did Demetrious Johnson losing cement Deiveson Figuerido vs John Moraga getting knocked down a peg to the middle of the main card?

5- Does Lyoto Machida get a big snazzy Bellator contract if Eryk Anders snoozes through the fifth round of a close fight in enemy territory?

6- Speaking of Anders, he and Markus Perez on the same card reminds me of the vibe I had recently; Perez vs Anders is going to be one of those fights five years from now that we'll all agree happened too soon. Both guys were a bit too raw and Anders was just too damn strong for Perez. Expect both guys to show out in Nebraska and expect them to be familiar faces at 185 lbs. The UFC pushed Anders away from a fight with Paulo Costa for a reason.

7- Maybe I'm an idiot (yeah, I know) but I'm not off the Courtney Casey bandwagon just yet. She still shows so many brief tactical snafus that I'm just hoping experience will breed a better more polished version of a fighter who has tremendous offensive potential at range and in the clinch. I'm HOPING for the best while acknowledging the worst. Angela Hill is going to be a fine test for her.

8- Mickey Gall is officially in the "Okay now what?" stage of his UFC run which is kind of a problem. He's in the embryonic stage of developing his skills but he's at the point where "rush him!" will collide with "He's not ready!" repeatedly. I bet his trainers don't even have a real solid grasp of what he is and what he'll do on a fight to fight basis. To this point Mickey Gall is 3-1 in the organization but his wins are over 1) a  photographer, 2) a pro wrestler and 3) MMA's favorite golden retriever in Sage Northcutt. The last is a credible win but Sage is one of those guys who is also sort of still in a developmental embryonic stage. Against Randy Brown in November, Mickey was pretty much outclassed minus a tremendous sweep in the second round. Brown is a competent average-ish WW who will give most people some trouble so it's not a big surprise. It still showed how far Gall has to go but also how hard it is for a 170 lb prospect to really get major work in. Put it this way, there's basically three levels at 170 lbs:

A: The Top Of The Division- Mostly wrestlers/grapplers backed with power in their hands with big time experience who aren't the most exciting guys but know how to push a pace, know how to pace themselves and despite the increasing age, they're on a different level compared to their contemporaries. Guys like Woodley, Usman, RDA, Covington, Till, Maia, Lawler, Leon Edwards, Wonderboy, DHK and the like.

B: The Action Fighter Center- Everybody here has flaws but they all hit really hard or have tremendous cardio. They're too flawed to take the next step in their respective careers but you can count on them to throw down and will probably beat each other/most prospects up en route to ascending up the rankings. Think of it as a nesting doll situation with spinning kicks. Guys like Alan Jouban, Mike Perry, Donald Cerrone, Ponz, Gunnar Nelson, Ben Saunders, Zaleski, Lyman Good, Frank Camacho, Matt Brown, Cowboy Oliveira and Niko Price. Basically this is where the spirit of 170 lbs lives on.

C: A mess. It's either an aging dumpster fire where you gain nothing if you win and look bad if you lose or some dude nobody has ever heard of who is 2-2 in the UFC living on the prelims. Mostly guys who have had long careers up until this point and are just trying to hold onto something for one last final run. Most of the dudes in this area are journeymen types who have so much experience that they can absolutely upset a dude based just on having seen it all and done it all.

There are no prospects at 170 outside of Gall and Northcutt so Mickey's forced to try and live dangerously in Group C knowing full well he's not ready for Group B. George Sullivan is your Group C guy; he's almost 40, he's had six UFC fights since 2014, he hits really hard and his experience level/vet savvy alone should make him a heavy favorite. It's a risky fight for Gall but this is basically what happens when you're a "prospect" at 170 lbs. No free rides.

9- James Krause vs Warlley Alves is a really interesting fight to me as Alves continues to try and chase himself back into "Hey this guy is really good" category. He blasted out Sultan Aliev in May and Krause is a similar dude to Aliev in that he's another Group C welterweight where the risk kind of outweighs the reward. Alves really needs to find himself a spot somewhere because "Colby Covington will make him a draw out of spite."

10- Drew Dober is fighting at 155 lbs again after California told him not to. They apparently cleared him to try it but....man I wish we could just get out of the "bigger at a lower weight class" issue. It's not conducive to healthy long term MMA.

11- Has any fighter had a more precipitous decline in terms of relevance than Joanne Calderwood?

12- If we're in the ESPN era, this is on ESPN+ right? How many Nebraska type cards a month would you need for it to be worth your $4.99?

Three Under Pressure

1- Justin Gaethje

The weird thing about Justin Gaethje is that his losses are basically just his wins stylistically except he doesn't land the flurry to end it all. He stalks, takes damage, kills your lead leg, eventually finds home for sharp combinations, wears you down and then eventually finishes you when you're hurt, tired and broken. He couldn't break Alvarez (although Eddie was honest that his leg was done) and he couldn't break Dustin Poirier either in time before Poirier shut him off with a fantastic combination. Gaethje hasn't been figured out because the book's been the same the whole time. The difference is instead of wailing away with Luis Palomino or someone of that ilk, he fought two of the top 5 LWs in the universe. The question becomes whether Vick is in that class or whether Gaethje is truly finally broken. A lot will be revealed win or lose here.

2- Deiveson Figuerido

Demetrious Johnson will eventually get a title rematch but until that happens, Figuerido and the rest of the "little guys" at 125 lbs have to view every opportunity on TV to try and make good on what should be a truly legitimate chance to stand out. Moraga is a former title contender with some clout on the best run of his career (since the MM fight) and now Figuerido, arguably Brazil's best young chance for a title contender below 145 lbs, has to try and get the name win on his record. I'm still not sure how good Deiveson is or where his upside truly rests but this fight will tell us everything.

3- Eryk Anders

Anders tried to do JUST enough to beat a dude in his hometown in a main event where he didn't do much to begin with and paid the price. The only way to right that is to come out hot and get a quick W over a dude who is there to get stomped on in theory.

Five Can't Miss Fights

1- James Vick vs Justin Gaethje

2- Michael Johnson vs Andre Fili

3- Iuri Alcantara vs Cory Sandhagen

4- John Moraga vs Deiveson Figuerido

5- Courtney Casey vs Angela Hill