thrill wrote:
I don't know why I'm taking Stipe other than a feeling.
Deep inside the darkest parts of your soul, you're a Jones fanboy.
That's why.
Yeah and I've always liked Stipe.
Another reason I don't want DC to win is that if he does, there's no way he fights Ngannou. He'll retire or try to get another fight with Bones, which will take forever to come together. I want Ngannou in another title fight.
Michael wrote:Great card this weekend. Unfortunately I'll be out of town so I'll miss it. Picks that will most certainly be wrong:
Cormier
Pettis
Romero
They are the betting favorites, so I'm not exactly going out on a limb here. That said, I think Diaz and Costa winning would be make some future match-ups more interesting. Particularly Costa so I'll be rooting for him. Although I'm not a sports gambler, I think Cormier's -145 betting line actually underrates his chances.
I'm super interested in the upcoming Whittaker v Adesanya fight. I'm rooting for Adesanya, but I have to favor Whittaker. This is a bit reductive, but I think Whittaker is basically a better/busier version of Gastelum. I think over a 5 round fight his pressure and work rate is going to give Adesanya a lot of problems. It also doesn't help that I really like Adesanya and I'm basically the black widow of MMA. Whittaker is a great guy too so seeing him win wouldn't be tragedy.
These are two of my favorite fighters in the world and I'm excited but bummed that one of them has to lose.
I really don't know how to scout it. They both can eat serious shots. They're both elusive and master distance very well. We really have no idea how Adesanya is on the ground other than the brief scrambles he had with Gastelum in the 4th round where he almost got the triangle. Whittaker is an elite defensive grappler but I doubt either one of them are going to take it to the ground. If it's a stand up fight, it's hard to pick against Adesanya no matter who his opponent is.
I have no idea how to pick it. I want Adesanya to win because Whittaker's injury record and inactivity has held up the division pretty significantly over the last couple of years.
The UFC is lucky that headliner is so incredible because that card sucks. I like Iaquinta-Hooker as a PPV opener, but as the co-main? Pretty weak.
Great point about Whittaker holding up the division.
A point in Adesanya's favor is he gets better in every fight we see him in. I'm sure he's making adjustments after the Gastelum fight. On the other hand, it's possible Whittaker will have some ring rust. Particularly against a super creative fighter who can make awesome in-ring adjustments.