It’s a beautifully sunny Monday morning here in London.  The kind of morning that makes you want to jump out of bed and do stuff.  Sadly, the stuff I’m due to be doing at work today isn’t quite the kind of thing you’d want to be doing on a beautiful, sunny morning…I’m sure you know the feeling.  Anyway, I’m in the office early, there’s no-one about, so I thought I’d jot down a few thoughts about UFC 225.

If someone told me every fight on a main card went to a decision, I’d probably respond with “Fuck, sounds like a boring night”.  In the case of UFC 225, my assumption would be wrong.  I thoroughly enjoyed the event from top to bottom.

In my opinion, the standout performance came from Curtis Blaydes.  If you read my pre UFC225 blog, you’ll know I completely underestimated young ‘Razor’ Blaydes.  I felt Blaydes’ stand-up skillset was way behind Overeem’s.  Because of this, I thought Blaydes would struggle to get in close and secure takedowns.  I assumed Blaydes’ only route to victory would be to get Overeem on his back and work off top position.  Boy was I wrong.  Blaydes won most of the stand-up exchanges.  He was quick and tenacious whilst displaying smooth boxing skills with seamless transitions into grappling positions.  Blaydes was able to take Overeem down at will and eventually secure a finish with some vicious elbows from the top.

After the fight, Blaydes took the opportunity to “shoot his shot” as he demanded a crack at the title.  It’s hard to argue against him.  Looking at the rankings there isn’t really anyone in pole position for a title fight.  I personally think Blaydes needs one more fight.  Provided both Junior Dos Santos and Francis Ngannou win their scheduled fights in the coming weeks, I believe either of them will be great options for Blaydes.  JDS is a former champion and a big name.  Apart from also being a big name, a fight with Ngannou comes with the added incentive of avenging a 2016 defeat.  A win in the main event slot on a Fox card against either of them will raise Blaydes profile exponentially.

The other big heavyweight fight between Arlovski and Tuivasa went as expected.  It was a fun fight with Tuivasa getting his hand raised.  Speaking of fun, how fun is Bam Bam Tuivasa?  He’s a real character outside the Octagon.  The number of people I saw celebrating his victory by partaking in ‘shoeeys’ (I’m not even sure if I’ve spelt that right) on Instagram was crazy.  Bam Bam is unapologetically himself and I really think UFC know they have something special here.

I don’t want to see Bam Bam pushed into a fight with a top-five contender just yet.  There is nothing wrong with a slow build and I’d be all for giving Tuivasa an opponent ranked outside the top 15.  If, however, this isn’t a viable option, Marcin Tybura and Stefan Struve are scheduled to fight in July.  The winner of this fight would be a good test for Tuivasa.

One thing I was right about in my pre-fight blog was Colby fucking Covington.  Probably the only internet troll on the face of the planet who can actually fight, he really took it to RDA.  Going into the fight, I felt whoever got the better of the grappling exchanges would have the advantage, which tuned out to be the case.  What surprised me a little was the pressure Covington put on RDA.  Covington was able to back RDA up with a mixture of strikes and takedown attempts.  He’s a well-rounded fighter who will give Tyrone Woodley something to think about when they eventually get it on.

RDA seemed to struggle with Covington’s presence – his size and ability to apply pressure at close range.  It’s a style of fighting I noted RDA hadn’t faced since moving up to 170lbs and unfortunately for him, he came up short on this occasion.

This loss by no means ends RDA’s title ambitions.  The welterweight division has a host of names in the top 10 that make sense for RDA next and I fully expect him to return in a meaningful fight against one of them.

The main event, Robert Whittaker Vs Yoel Romero was a cracker.  As I surmised during fight week, the weight cut was indeed an issue for Romero.  He managed to get down to 185.2lbs before being told he was not allowed to continue his weight cut by the commission.  The noise coming from his camp suggests he was fine and able to continue, the commission just stuck their nose in where it didn’t belong, not the first time that’s happened.  I do feel for Romero.  To miss weight by 0.2lbs and lose the opportunity to fight for the tile seems harsh, but them be the rules.

Come fight night, both these guys put on a show.  What a display of heart, grit and determination.  These two are by far the best middleweights in the division and they deserve all the plaudits they received after the fight.  Not only was this the fight of the night but they also delivered a candidate for the round of the year.  I was a fan of the first fight between them and I think this one was better.

Both Whittaker and Romero sustained a load of injuries.  Whittaker broke a hand and Romero was bruised and bloodied.  I think they will both be out for a while which is fine as I can’t really see a legit challenger for the middleweight title right now.

Right, that’s your lot for now.  People have started to trickle into the office so it’s time for me to put my headphones in and stare intently at my screen in what will surely be a failed attempt at avoiding conversations with colleagues about their weekend.  Joy.

 

It’s Fight WEEK!!!!! And what a stacked card UFC 225 is.  Majority of the prelim fights are worthy of a PPV slot and likely would have been had they been booked on a show not called UFC 225.  Actually, add UFC 226 to the list too as it’s shaping up to be equally as good.  Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though, and let’s focus on this week’s event.

I literally don’t know where to start.  Usually, there are a handful of fights where I haven’t even heard of the combatants as they are young, up and coming prospects or the fighters are ranked outside the top 15 so the result is largely non-consequential for the division.  This is different.  I feel like this card has been booked really well.  All the fights matter and the result will have a big impact on what’s next for the winners and losers.

Unfortunately, as I have a day job, I don’t really have the time to research styles of fighters and how they match-up with one another enabling me to give you meaningful predictions.  So rather than breaking down the entire card, I thought I’d share my opinion on the fights that intrigue me the most.

The Old Guard

The veterans Arlovski and Overeem have been booked against younger opponents that are yet to hit their peak.  A loss will provide the biggest name on the résumés of Tuivasa and Blaydes.  It will also continue the trend started by Volkov’s victory over Werdum with new names and faces moving closer to the title picture pushing the older guys out.  Arlovski and Overeem will want to prove worthy of their current standings by winning.

I like the fight for both Arlovski and Tuivasa.  Both men prefer to strike so it’s the kind of fight where Arlovski can deploy his stand-up skills without having to worry too much about defending takedown attempts.  Arlovski also provides Tuivasa with exactly the kind of step-up he needs to see how far he’s come along in his short career.  Having finished all his previous opponents in the first round, I think Arlovski will test Bam Bam in ways he hasn’t been previously.  I’m interested to see if the hype is real.

Overeem Vs Blaydes is a fight that has more relevance to the heavyweight title.  I was a little surprised to see Blaydes is a heavy favourite with the bookies.  I haven’t seen a lot of him, but from what I have seen, I can’t see him outstriking Overeem.  Blaydes strength is his wrestling.  The question is, will he be able to successfully negotiate The Reem’s takedown defence?  I’m not so sure, which is why I’ve had a cheeky punt on Overeem winning.

One of my all-time favourites Rashad Evans is back at 205lbs.  he looked horrible during his 185lb experiment so I’m glad he has chosen to come back to the division where he made his name.  Let’s face it, Anthony Smith is a decent test but he’s someone that has never operated to the level we’ve seen Evans perform.  I really hope Evans wins and promptly calls it a day.

CM Punk

I was a fan of CM Punk in his WWE days.  I thought it was absurd when he randomly popped up in a really nice suit during a UFC event to announce he had signed to the organisation.  I was disappointed with his debut fight and surprised when he was given a second chance.  I suppose his fight with Mike Jackson interests me because we got to see so little of what Punk can do during his fight will Gall.  I know nothing about Jackson apart from the fact he has some kickboxing and boxing experience.  Conventional logic suggests Jackson should win, but I’m curious to see what (if any) improvements Punk has made.

The Title Fights   

I really enjoyed the first fight between Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero and I think this will be more of the same.  Whittaker displayed amazing takedown defence in the first fight so I think Romero will have made adjustments to the game plan he tried to implement.  A couple of things to take into account – Whittaker fought the majority of the first fight with a knee injury so you’d have to say if he’s fully fit, he should perform at a higher level than previously.  Also, Romero is a big guy who cuts a lot of weight to make the 185lbs limit.  He failed to make weight in his previous fight which suggests it’s not something he is able to do easily.  As Romero gets older, the cutting process may be taking more out of him which may then have an impact on his cardio and strength on fight night.

The fight I’m looking forward to the most is the Welterweight Interim Title bout between Rafael dos Anjos and Colby Covington.  Let’s ignore the fact it makes zero sense they are fighting for an interim title.  I look at this as a fight between two legitimate fighters for the number one contender spot.

Covington has been talking a load of shit over the last year or so and to be fair to him, it’s worked.  Although he had a decent record, his name was nowhere near title challenger conversations before he revealed this new persona of his.  I wasn’t ever too impressed with him but that changed when I saw the way he performed against Demian Maia.  Like it or lump it, Covington is a legit contender.

RDA, on the other hand, has beaten some big names since his move up in weight.  What’s impressed me is he’s been able to carry his strength into the heavier division whilst maintaining his speed.  Having said this, I do feel the opponents he’s had at 170lbs so far suit his style well.  None of them are the strongest of grapplers, something RDA relies heavily on.

I’m really interested to see if RDA can deliver a dominant performance against Covington.  I see this as a genuine 50/50 fight so I’m surprised to see so many people picking RDA for the win.  I feel like both men have similar styles so whoever is able to impose their will during grappling exchanges will make it a very long night for his opponent.

It should be a really exciting night of fights and I cannot wait!!