UFC 251: Usman vs. Masvidal

[The Oracle]

Usman vs Masvidal.........Usman won't stand with him but will play the percentages and take him down and grind him out. Usman is a hard guy to try and take on short notice

Alexander Volkanovski vs Max Holloway......Supposedly Holloway only trained by himself via Zoom for this one. Can't see how this goes any different than the first fight but cheering big time for Holloway just the same.

Petr Yan vs Jose Aldo.........................Aldo isn't Aldo anymore and Yan is just the younger faster fighter. Don't think this one is going to be pretty for Aldo.

Jessica Andrade vs Rose Namajunas . Colour me a huge Rose fan so am biased. Think she just picks her apart a range and cruises in this one with better movement and technical striking. She's got to stay off the fence though. Let's see.

Amanda Ribas vs Page VanZant.......Page said this week that she made more money on Dancing With The Stars than all of her UFC bouts combined. This is her last fight on her contract and she will be defeated convincingly.

 

[The Oracle]

Looking forward to this card too.
Both the main event and co-main should be a real treat.

The Rose/Jessica fight was the best fight on the card and took FOTN honours. Good because both women deserved the bonus. I have to admit I really surprised by the adjustments Andrade made. The head movement proved to just the right ticket to frustrating Rose. Not enough in the end but if that fight is a 5 rounder I think we would have had a different outcome.

Usman is just ahead of the rest of the division presently. A supremely skilled guy with a high fight IQ and after listening to him in the post fight presser, he's a high intelligence human being. Very likeable as well . Jorge needs a full training camp to come up and implement a proper strategy for this opponent. There's nobody in the division who could take Usman out on 6 days notice.

Holloway made changes and was cruising after the first 2 rounds but then Alexander found his rhythm and stepped on the gas. Dana thinks Max should have won but it came down to the 3rd and having re watched it. Volkanovski edges him out and narrowly took the bout. Holloway came a lot closer than the first fight though. And that was through a training camp with no training partners because of The restrictions in Hawaii.

 

[swFiend]

Well said on all fights.

Usman is fun to watch, and he reminds me of GSP in many ways. I'm unsure why people think of him as a boring fight.
Demian Maia sure, he is known for his ground game, and will play into that strength. Daniel Cormier does much of the same.

But Usman stands and goes to the ground. I liked the fight, but felt Masvidal just didn't have enough in the tank to make it a real challenge.
A full training camp was absolutely needed, and it showed.

Great night of fights though.

The Rose/Jessica fight was the best fight on the card and took FOTN honours. Good because both women deserved the bonus. I have to admit I really surprised by the adjustments Andrade made. The head movement proved to just the right ticket to frustrating Rose. Not enough in the end but if that fight is a 5 rounder I think we would have had a different outcome.

Usman is just ahead of the rest of the division presently. A supremely skilled guy with a high fight IQ and after listening to him in the post fight presser, he's a high intelligence human being. Very likeable as well . Jorge needs a full training camp to come up and implement a proper strategy for this opponent. There's nobody in the division who could take Usman out on 6 days notice.

Holloway made changes and was cruising after the first 2 rounds but then Alexander found his rhythm and stepped on the gas. Dana thinks Max should have won but it came down to the 3rd and having re watched it. Volkanovski edges him out and narrowly took the bout. Holloway came a lot closer than the first fight though. And that was through a training camp with no training partners because of The restrictions in Hawaii.

Looks like the numbers were great!

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1282752688875171840

I usually go out to watch the fights, but this time bought the ppv with friends. Glad it goes to fighters like Masvidal, Holloway, Aldo.
1.3 is up there, I think in the top 5. Right up there with UFC 100 and 196 (Mcgregor vs Diaz).

I think the fights were good, but did not live up to the hype on paper. The first fight was on prelims was good, grant vs day, a good finish.
With Usman, I agree he's a good fighter fundamentally, he just isn't as flashy as other champs I think that is why people were disappointed. They wanted another Cody like finish by either fighter.
This fight just showed me Masvidal has what it takes to beat Usman, I thought he would get dominated going in. But great takedown defense and no hesitation with his combinations.
I want to see them run it back again with a full camp from Masvidal. The only other fight that would make sense is if Masvidal and Conor decided to do a super fight and break ufc records!

Aldo and Yan was as predicted by Oracle. Aldo did look a lot better but just not enough in the tank anymore like he used to in his prime.
Rose looked great too. Super biased as well, my fav female fighter. I want to see her have another good show before taking on Weili.
I have to rewatch Holloway fight, I really thought he edged it. Then again, to beat the champ you should be more dominant.
The PVZ fight was as predicted, I think Dana and the UFC gave her a tough fight on purpose because of her last fight on the contract. Apparently she makes more from her instagram account with the amount of engagement and sponsors.

Overall it was good. Fight island is a great solution to throwing events, but I wonder if it impacts players ability to perform? I mean they got there days before the event, definitely has an impact on normal training camp. On top of that the main event started at 6am Abu Dhabi time to line up with the PPV viewing audience in north america.

 

[The Oracle]

I have to rewatch Holloway fight, I really thought he edged it. Then again, to beat the champ you should be more dominant.
The PVZ fight was as predicted, I think Dana and the UFC gave her a tough fight on purpose because of her last fight on the contract. Apparently she makes more from her instagram account with the amount of engagement and sponsors.

If you have 5 minutes. Here's a great break down of the fight

In wrestling terms the UFC used PVZ to get Ribas over...Shrewd just very shrew.





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[swFiend]

If you have 5 minutes. Here's a great break down of the fight

In wrestling terms the UFC used PVZ to get Ribas over...Shrewd just very shrew.

Nice I just saw it, I can see how the fight went to him based on scoring. When I first saw it I just looked at who controlled the pace more. Max just completely dominate to take the win. But I think this definitely deserves a 3rd go, it leaves even more doubt than before about who should be the champ between these two. And I generally don't like trilogies.
It was a controversial decision according to fanduel, i think part of this is also because holloway has tons of fans:

 

[The Oracle]

Nice I just saw it, I can see how the fight went to him based on scoring. When I first saw it I just looked at who controlled the pace more. Max just completely dominate to take the win. But I think this definitely deserves a 3rd go, it leaves even more doubt than before about who should be the champ between these two. And I generally don't like trilogies.
It was a controversial decision according to fanduel, i think part of this is also because holloway has tons of fans:

View attachment 11222

Holloway is just all class in defeat. You gotta love this guy

Max Holloway on media threats about his UFC 251 fight: ‘This is not ok’

On Saturday night, Max Holloway went the distance with Alex Volkanovski in a very close fight that a lot of people thought he won. Unfortunately for him, the

www.bloodyelbow.com

 

[The Oracle]

Gotta love that response from Holloway. Been a huge fan since I saw him live in Toronto vs Pettis.

Also with PVZ - I think most of UFCs business comes from strategic match making, unfortunately that does not for the most part favor the fighter. They are incentivized for fighters to lose or win depending on their situation. Sometimes to the determent of the fighter - Rousey is the best example. IMO Dana milked her for another huge PPV event with her return vs Nunes, knowing full well he was throwing her in against a straight up killer and Ronda was on her way out. Either Ronda flukes a victory and they can keep milking, or you have two new stars in Holly Holm and Nunes. I think this is why Dana hates GSP, he just comes in, gets his W and leaves at will lol

If you go through the entire main card I think it played out how they wanted for the most part:
- PVZ loses to Ribas. Dana said in the press conference she should test the waters of free agency after that loss. Exactly as intended.
- Rose avenges her loss to Andrade. Maybe I am biased here too, but I think she has a core base of fans and huge star potential if she can take out the champ.
- Yan beats Aldo. Aldo brought in some PPV views from his OG fans, and Yan beats him as one of the up and coming next star in that division.
- Holloway vs Volk was controversial to Dana especially because he wanted Holloway to get that W and come back as the star he once was. Brings in more numbers
- Masvidal vs Usman is a controversial one as well. I thought going in Dana wanted Masvidal to lose because of the contract negotiations prior to 251, but I'm sure looking at the numbers masvidal did, he may think otherwise now. Usman is a great fighter, but he doesn't the start power GSP had. If Masvidal won that it would have been like Conor beating Aldo - that is when he went from being a star to mega star. Good thing he didn't lose convincingly, he was right in there with short notice. Either way, Masvidal is not going anywhere. He's a top 3 certified cash cow for UFC now, up there with Conor and Khabib, and who knows when those two are fighting next.

I originally thought the Andrade was unmarketable with her hardcore lesbian look but after seeing her on the countdown have changed my mind somewhat. She's very likeable. But you have to think that the UFC is looking for more of a genuine babyface to promote. And Rose buzz cut and all fills that bill. Her sordid back story of abuse and rise above it doesn't hurt either. She's my favourite fighter on the roster right now. Has been since GSP left.

Masvidal was in a no lose situation going into that fight. Unless he got ko'ed in the first round his star power was not going to take a hit. Him going the distance even increased it. When all else fails with him they can always run back the Diaz fight for the BMF title or throw someone else in there. He resonates with the hardcore fans. Interesting how he is avoiding Covington though. Me thinks he knows that's just more of the same as Usman and he doesn't want to take two losses in a row.

If Holloway would have won that would have set up the trilogy. Which both fighters would have been down for. Volkanovski win is good for the UFC as well because it's great for the market down under. Which is a major cash draw for them right now. Another win/win for Dana and company.

You are right about GSP. Dana can't manipulate him so easily so although he says good things about him publicly behind the scenes he's not so cordial. It's really a shame that we never got to see Georges vs Khabib. They both wanted it too. But although it would have been great for the fans if GSP wins that would ruin their long term plans for Khabib. As it is with Khabib's fathers death maybe he just packs it anyways. I could definitely see that happening. He's talked a few times already about retirement.

 

[richaceg]

The Usman fight is what I expected to happen. In fact I expect this even if it wasn't a short notice fight for Jorge. Usman has a very high fight IQ. He doesn't brawl, he breaks people apart with his superb wrestling. He might not have the superior striking of GSP but he is as dominant on his own. I feel like the person who will probably beat him is the opposite of what he does. Like a good striker that can avoid his take downs. One more win for him and I think he can easily challenge Israel for a superfight.

I was frustrated with Max. I feel like he coasted after 2 rounds. You can't do that vs. a champ that's still pretty much in the game.

Aldo is on his way out long before this fight.