- Erik Koch was expected to face Tony Martin at the event. However, Koch pulled out of the fight on December 12 citing injury and was replaced by Alex White.
- Damian Grabowski was expected to face Viktor Pesta at the event. However, Grabowski was removed from the bout on December 21 for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by Oleksiy Oliynyk.
- On December 29, two bouts suffered alterations: Jussier Formiga pulled out from his bout against Sergio Pettis and Jordan Rinaldi from his bout against Devin Powell. They were replaced by former UFC Flyweight Championship challenger John Moraga and promotional newcomer Drakkar Klose on 17 days short notice.
Rekrul is a newb
Last edit: 15/01/2017 23:32
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PuertoRican United States. Jan 04 2017 04:48. Posts 13044
First impression of the match-ups:
• Rodriguez > Penn
• Lauzon > Held
• McGee > Saunders
• Rivera > Caraway
• Moraga vs. Pettis (dunno... ...read below)
• Saenz > Mendes
• Oli > Pesta
• Martin > White
• Ansaroff > Lybarger
• Klose > Powell
• Harris vs. Sherman (dunno)
• Christensen vs. Mihajlovic (dunno)
• Smoliakov vs. Asker (dunno)
John Moraga is taking this fight on 17 days short notice. This fight is in his hometown of Phoenix, AZ. On January 3, 2017, Moraga told MMA Junkie Radio that he’s going all-in on this fight because his job and career depends on it; he said he will retire from MMA if he loses and gets cut because there are no other MMA organizations who will compensate him the way the UFC does. Also, he said the wars have taken a toll on his body, and he is only fighting to support his family, not fame.
From what I gather, he knows his career is at its end and he figured what better place to give it one more try than in his hometown of Phoenix. While fighting in his hometown, he'll have the crowd and possibly judges on his side. If there's a finish in this fight, I think Moraga will get a submission, otherwise it will go to a decision. Moraga has been tentative in his past couple fights, but I have to go back and start watching tape later this week to refresh my memory.
Prior to the interview, I picked Moraga to beat Sergio Pettis on short notice, especially since it’s in his hometown, but now I’m not so sure.
Rekrul is a newb
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PuertoRican United States. Jan 09 2017 01:51. Posts 13044
Bryan Caraway pulled out of his fight against Jimmie Rivera, so both guys are off the card.
Rekrul is a newb
Last edit: 09/01/2017 01:52
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soberstone United States. Jan 09 2017 13:57. Posts 2662
So lame about Caraway pulling out. Now I have a bunch of $ tied up on Rivera > Caraway at -235 in what I believe is a fight he wins an overwhelming amount of the time. Caraway is consistent and solid, always beats who he should but never beats the elites. There is plenty enough footage to say Rivera is better than Caraway at every aspect except finishing via submission, and I doubt Jimmie spends a second of the ground, let alone on his back.
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soberstone United States. Jan 09 2017 14:40. Posts 2662
As far as the matchups, after some refreshing,
Rodriguez > Penn - Penn really needs to stop coming back and fighting, especially killers (even though I was disappointed in Yair in his fight vs Cacares). Rodriguez via lopsided decision or someone throwing in the towel for BJ. Would be nuts if he somehow took Rodriguez's back though, he may be a slow old man now bur I bet the vicious, classic BJ RNC is still there.
Lauzon > Held - Should be fun, hoping for some good grappling exchanges, JL just needs to try and not play there too much or else he may lose a leg. Joe has become a decent boxer while Held has nothing on the feet, whereas Lauzon's weaknesses - cardio and striking defense are not things Held should be able to exploit. Lauzon via close 29-28 split type of decision.
McGee > Saunders - If someone gets a finish it's probably Saunders with a sub, but McGee has a big edge in the striking, pressure/pace, athleticism, intelligence, and cardio departments. McGee via late 2nd or 3rd rd stoppage.
Pettis > Moraga - Not sure what Moraga is better at than Pettis besides having a decent chin and he hits a little harder, but that's literally the only thing he's got going for him here. I'm betting Pettis strong at -135. I feel like people got way ro to low on Sergio after getting KTFO by Benoit in a fight he was utterly dominating Pettis via submission in a competitive but clear fight.
Saenz > Mendes - Not confident in this one - I should just say 'dunno' but on paper its a rough style matchup for Mendes. Neither can strike at distance well.but Saenz has excellent cardio and wrestling so he should be able to grind it out without getting swept or taken down. Saenz via decision.
How can Penn possibly win this? Roids?
These fighters will never retire until they reach Liddell-level, one-touch KO's every fight
GSP is the only dude I think who can pull off retiring the best way.
On January 10 2017 08:14 whamm! wrote:
How can Penn possibly win this? Roids?
These fighters will never retire until they reach Liddell-level, one-touch KO's every fight
GSP is the only dude I think who can pull off retiring the best way.
GSP is trying to come back too.
I suppose if its the thing you have done all your life, you love it and you get paid for it after a while you get an itch to fight, they might tarnish they legend status but who cares its their lives, as long as they arent doing the Nogeira thing of fighting till you get severe brain damage its ok.
Ex-PokerStars Team Pro Online
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PuertoRican United States. Jan 11 2017 04:30. Posts 13044
This is a small section from GSP's time on the Joe Rogan Experience. This took place in April 2013, which was a month after the Nick Diaz fight, and 6-7 months before his fight with Johny Hendricks in November 2013, which was his last MMA fight.
GSP talks about losing track of time throughout the day, even up to a few hours at a time. Many people thought that it could be due to brain trauma. In GSP's last few fights, he began to take a lot more hits, especially in his Hendricks fight, which I think was the most he ever got hit on his face/head. Not to mention that most of the head trauma a professional fighter absorbs is during gym sessions.
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Rekrul is a newb
Last edit: 11/01/2017 04:59
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ToT)MidiaN( United Kingdom. Jan 11 2017 12:34. Posts 5070
^ That still of Charles Rosa makes it look like he's pouting. What an awful picture
One day good. One day bad. And some days, even hope
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jvilla777 Australia. Jan 11 2017 19:16. Posts 1348
Aliens...
longple: ur missing the point! this is an attempt to get away from the bumhuntmentality!
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PuertoRican United States. Jan 11 2017 20:12. Posts 13044
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Ring rust
- B.J. Penn 924 days
- Augusto Mendes 329 days
- Tony Martin 351 days
- Alex White 344 days
- Nina Ansaroff 379 days
On January 13 2017 02:46 Minsk wrote:
I've never seen BJ Penns' condition, but I think Yair Rodriguez is really pretty bad. I don't know that hes drawing dead.
he is, yair likes em kicks and BJ will just keep eating it until it hits his dome. His last fights vs GSP and Nick Diaz were so bad too. his mma boxing is overrated and fought a lot of rasslers who knew shit about striking back then. his rubberguard is fine but in today's MMA unless you're maia or kebab, you ain't winning a fight with gnp and bjj against potential stars like Yair, you gotta clip em first or allow the set up to get anywhere.
these are fights where you make easy money. past superstars against hungry, potential stars.
Last edit: 14/01/2017 05:42
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Minsk United States. Jan 14 2017 06:41. Posts 1558
I guess its just what % "can he knock-out or hurt-into-win Yair Rodriguez, who seems young and sloppy, succeptible to such a thing, a mere 20% of the time? Perhaps....
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Minsk United States. Jan 14 2017 06:45. Posts 1558
Nevermind. He just looks awful. I just watched his fight against Machida. He just has awful hands. I have no idea how he was winning.
Last edit: 14/01/2017 06:49
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Minsk United States. Jan 14 2017 06:50. Posts 1558
I just notice these hall-of-famers "give up" during fights where expectations are not met, and it never is, ever. Maybe if BJ hung around like Bisping did, you need to be aware of where you are as a fighter and actually be active to what's being used by people. Lawler did not have the success BJ had in the UFC, which for me signifies he really didn't "make it" yet, the hunger was always there.
My prediction will be first round Penn gives up and gets TKO'ed in the second if he's not disposed of in the first. First thing that goes wrong the only thing in BJ's head was "this is a stupid idea, oh well i get paid". We've seen it time and time again. You're just really wishing for a gimme KO if you bet on Penn
I even dare say the same will happen to GSP if he fights the real top 3 which will always be the case if he comes back, but moreso for Penn
Last edit: 14/01/2017 06:55
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PuertoRican United States. Jan 14 2017 11:19. Posts 13044
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A well-written article about a former Ukrainian MMA organization that was run by gangsters and one of the fighters on this card.
PuertoRican United States. Jan 15 2017 01:01. Posts 13044
B.J. Penn (146) vs. Yair Rodriguez (145)
Marcin Held (156) vs. Joe Lauzon (155)
Court McGee (170) vs. Ben Saunders (170)
John Moraga (126) vs. Sergio Pettis (125)
Augusto Mendes (135) vs. Frankie Saenz (135)
Aleksei Oleinik (242) vs. Viktor Pesta (239)
Tony Martin (155) vs. Alex White (155)
Drakkar Klose (156) vs. Devin Powell (155)
Nina Ansaroff (116) vs. Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger (115)
Walt Harris (254) vs. Chase Sherman (246)
Joachim Christensen (205) vs. Bojan Mihajlovic (205)
Cyril Asker (248) vs. Dmitry Smolyakov (257)
PuertoRican United States. Jan 16 2017 05:14. Posts 13044
On January 16 2017 04:11 whamm! wrote:
sick cooler by saunders lol
unanimous decision?
Yeah, that was fucked up. Had a feeling that might happen, but I gave Court McGee the win.
Rekrul is a newb
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PuertoRican United States. Jan 16 2017 05:47. Posts 13044
wow. Joe Lauzon won the fight via split-decision and even said Held won the fight in his post-fight interview!
Nobody has ever done that before.
Rekrul is a newb
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traxamillion United States. Jan 16 2017 05:50. Posts 10468
Judges aren't rewarding the wrestlefuck like they used to. Joe took ZERO damage that fight. Held is a boring ass fighter and i wouldn't mind him getting cut. Glad they gave Joe the decision.
Judges seem to have different ideas of how to score fights after the changes this year....
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PuertoRican United States. Jan 16 2017 05:56. Posts 13044
On January 16 2017 04:50 traxamillion wrote:
Judges aren't rewarding the wrestlefuck like they used to. Joe took ZERO damage that fight. Held is a boring ass fighter and i wouldn't mind him getting cut. Glad they gave Joe the decision.
On January 16 2017 04:51 goswser wrote:
Judges seem to have different ideas of how to score fights after the changes this year....
New MMA rules took effect on January 1, 2017. They reward damage over controlling someone without doing any damage.
That being said, Lauzon won R1, but clearly lost R2 & R3 cuz he didn't do any damage and he wasn't the one controlling the rounds. I picked Lauzon to win, but I'm very surprised he got the nod.
Rekrul is a newb
Last edit: 16/01/2017 05:57
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PuertoRican United States. Jan 16 2017 06:02. Posts 13044
Oh probably why Lauzon won too, how about Mcgee, didn't he win according to damage as well or did Saunders do more damage too?
lost with mcgee, won with lauzon lol
go yair under 2.5 or penn winning this huehue
Last edit: 16/01/2017 06:03
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PuertoRican United States. Jan 16 2017 06:05. Posts 13044
On January 16 2017 05:02 whamm! wrote:
Oh probably why Lauzon won too, how about Mcgee, didn't he win according to damage as well or did Saunders do more damage too?
lost with mcgee, won with lauzon lol
go yair under 2.5 or penn winning this huehue
The judges robbed fighters in back-to-back fights. Court McGee should've won that fight, but I could see how Ben Saunders won it. However, it was a unanimous decision, which was fucked up.
Marcin Held just got robbed plain and simple.
Rekrul is a newb
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traxamillion United States. Jan 16 2017 06:10. Posts 10468
how did penn fight GSP but is now fighting featherweight? quite the weight range
On January 16 2017 05:14 traxamillion wrote:
why did BJ want this fight? he go busto or something?
most probably yes.
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PuertoRican United States. Jan 16 2017 19:42. Posts 13044
On January 16 2017 05:14 traxamillion wrote:
why did BJ want this fight? he go busto or something?
He loves to fight.
He comes from a rich family and he owns a UFC gym in Hawaii, so he didn't do it for money.
Rekrul is a newb
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jvilla777 Australia. Jan 16 2017 23:27. Posts 1348
I don't know what it is but I really want to see Yair vs Choi, even tho Choi lost his last fight... MMA math doesn't always makes sense but I think this would be a sick as fight.
longple: ur missing the point! this is an attempt to get away from the bumhuntmentality!
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PuertoRican United States. Jan 16 2017 23:52. Posts 13044
On January 16 2017 22:27 jvilla777 wrote:
I don't know what it is but I really want to see Yair vs Choi, even tho Choi lost his last fight... MMA math doesn't always makes sense but I think this would be a sick as fight.
People were asking for Yair vs. Cub Swanson on social media.
Yair speed and kicks are amazing but his hands are terrible, he throws mostly a sloppy and wild 1-4 with full strenght and when he gets clinched also a full force upercut, he is going to get raped by a good wrestler or a cage cutter that doesnt give him space like RDA/Alvarez did to Pettis time ago
United Kingdom. Jan 11 2017 12:34. Posts 5070
