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When Juan Adams shows up to face Greg Hardy on the main card of tomorrow’s UFC San Antonio, he will be absent one thing Hardy’s other opponents possessed: fear. When you look at Greg Hardy’s four professional victories, there are a couple of thin…
When Juan Adams shows up to face Greg Hardy on the main card of tomorrow’s UFC San Antonio, he will be absent one thing Hardy’s other opponents possessed: fear. When you look at Greg Hardy’s four professional victories, there are a couple of things that come to mind when compared to upcoming opponent Juan Adams. […]
The post Juan Adams to Greg Hardy: They Feared You, I Don’t appeared first on MMA News.
Dig into the meat of the main card of UFC San Antonio, featuring expert choke artist Aleksei Oleinik looking to turn away athletic heavy hitter Walt Harris. When you take a look at the co-main event of UFC San Antonio and the next contest u…
Dig into the meat of the main card of UFC San Antonio, featuring expert choke artist Aleksei Oleinik looking to turn away athletic heavy hitter Walt Harris.
When you take a look at the co-main event of UFC San Antonio and the next contest underneath it, you can’t help but feel the UFC botched the booking of this card. Not only does Aleksei Oleinik and Walt Harris not belong in the co-main event, but is the UFC really going to keep pushing Greg Hardy like this? I get he has name recognition – mostly for all the wrong reasons — and is physically talented, but the initial interest seems to have waned. I guess I could call it progress seeing as how he isn’t in the co-main event…
However, not to completely trash what the UFC did with UFC San Antonio, there are a couple of main card fights that make up for some of the lackluster match placement. It’s rare the UFC has a lightweight contest on the main card that leaves fans wanting and this is no exception. Francisco Trinaldo and Alexander Hernandez is awesome enough as it is, but the UFC ups the ante even more with James Vick and Daniel Hooker doing the damn thing. Aside from the main event, those two fights alone should make the main card worth watching.
The main card begins on ESPN at 9:00 PM ET/6:00 PM PT on Saturday.
Even though it feels like we’ve hit a ceiling with Oleinik given his loss to Alistair Overeem, it doesn’t mean Oleinik is finished, despite his 42 years of age. Even with the loss to Overeem, Oleinik gave the Dutch kickboxer a run for his money, demonstrating powerful punches in the close quarters, even if he’s defensively deficient. What I’m getting at is the Russian still seems to find ways to improve despite his limited mobility and athleticism. Part of that can be attributed to opponents not wanting to have anything to do with his ground game as there may not be a more effective choke artist in the sport, much less the UFC. There are two recorded Ezekiel chokes in UFC history. Want to take a guess as to owns both of them? Yep, Oleinik.
Given Oleinik’s accolades on the ground, it makes me wonder why the UFC has been so anxious to book Harris against him. Sure, Oleinik isn’t a great wrestler in the traditional sense and Harris is one of the most athletic heavyweights on the roster. But did y’all see Harris against Fabricio Werdum? It was like Werdum was grappling with a life-size dummy. He did whatever the hell he wanted. I’ll grant Harris fanboys that contest was two years ago and Harris has been able to avoid going to the ground since that time. Plus, Harris continues to grow increasingly dangerous on the feet. Oleinik is durable, but he isn’t indestructible. Harris certainly has a chance. He just needs to force Oleinik to fight Harris’ fight.
While Werdum is possibly the best heavyweight BJJ practitioner in the history of MMA, Oleinik may be even more difficult to prepare for given his unorthodoxy. Harris will do everything in his power to keep the fight standing, but Oleinik has a way of getting the fight to the ground, even if it means clinching up and pulling guard. Harris has yet to show me the savvy to avoid Oleinik’s ground game. Oleinik via submission of RD1
Adams has been calling for a fight with Hardy since he got into the UFC. The brass obliged and now it could be said we’ve got a grudge match.
For all the hate towards Hardy, there is no denying his physical gifts. He scored several impressive KO’s prior to joining the UFC roster – including a couple on the Contender Series – violently putting away his opposition in a manner that screams potential contender. However, he has also been training for less than three years. Physical gifts can take a fighter far in this sport, but it will only take one so far without learning how to properly use them. Hardy still needs to develop discipline as his UFC debut against Allen Crowder proved. Hardy tried to put him away as fast as possible, gassed hard when he couldn’t, and panicked as he had never been in that position before. There is no proof he has addressed that problem as Dmitrii Smolyakov – his most recent opponent since the loss to Crowder – left open questions that he was brought back to throw the fight. I’m not saying Smolyakov did throw it. I’m saying it’s plausible he threw it. Smolyakov’s performance was that bad and we learned nothing new about Hardy as a result.
Adams hasn’t been training for much longer than Hardy, though he appears to have a better frame of mind for fighting. Adams has fought into the third round in each of his UFC appearances and though he has gotten tired in both contests, he has also fought through his exhaustion, continuing to throw effective strikes. There is a legit concern that Adams’ lack of speed and defense could result in Hardy being able to blitz him meaning, Adams will have to rely on his chin. Fortunately for him, his chin has been ironclad thus far.
Some may point to Adams being significantly bigger than Hardy, but Hardy has faced opposition bigger than him before without issue. As much as many don’t want to hear this, Hardy has a legit chance to win this. The question will be whether he can put away Adams early as there is no reason to trust Hardy can be effective beyond the first round. Adams hasn’t proven to have a high fight IQ himself, but he has the right mentality. He drags Hardy beyond the first round and finishes him. Adams via TKO of RD2
Some believe Hooker’s last fight, a one-sided losing effort against Edson Barboza, was his most impressive performance to date. In that contest, Hooker endured a hellacious beating, but continued to battle despite the punishment being inflicted upon him. The amount of toughness and heart Hooker showed in that contest won him more fans than the four consecutive finishes he accumulated prior to that contest, coinciding with his move up to lightweight. Though Hooker isn’t an impressive athlete, his lack of speed wasn’t as apparent at 155 and his energy level increased as well, more than making up for whatever size advantage he lost. His durability has allowed him to pressure effectively, doing his best work in the clinch, though his outside striking shouldn’t be discounted either. Part of the problem against Barboza was Hooker didn’t properly pressure when he still had mobility. Everyone knows Barboza struggles under pressure. Will he make the same mistake with Vick?
I’d imagine Hooker won’t as Vick is amongst the tallest lightweights on the roster at 6’3”. Throughout his UFC tenure, Vick has improved his distance striking immensely, making the idea of Hooker staying on the outside a foolish notion, even if Hooker isn’t that much smaller. Vick does still tend to hold his head high – as most tall fighters do – and has paid the price for that against the likes of Justin Gaethje and Beneil Dariush. Nonetheless, his height and reach does make it difficult to land effective offense on his without eating something in return. Vick’s guillotine has regularly been recognized as one of his most effective weapons – particularly at stopping takedowns – but Hooker has not only been tough to submit, he doesn’t often look to take the fight to the ground, potentially negating the guillotine.
It’s very difficult to predict how this fight goes. Hooker has yet to win a fight by decision in the UFC, so I’m all the way in on Vick if the fight goes the distance. However, it has been proven Vick’s chin can be cracked, even if it isn’t thought to be brittle. Vick doesn’t hit as hard as Barboza, though it could also be argued that Hooker is unlikely to be able to endure punishment the way he used to after that contest with the Brazilian. After all, the human body can only sustain so much punishment. Regardless, I favor Hooker to weather a certain degree of damage from Vick before finding a brutal combination or knee to end the contest. Hooker via TKO of RD2
As impressive as Oleinik’s run into his 40’s has been, he fights in a division that is kinder to older fighters. Even though he turns 41 next month, Trinaldo just keeps on rolling despite being in a division far crueler to its senior citizens. A skilled counter puncher with size and length, Trinaldo’s career blossomed when he was able to begin training full-time. It’s just unfortunate that didn’t come until he was past his physical peak. Nonetheless, Trianldo’s athleticism has held up well and he’s become trickier to deal with the deeper he goes into his career. He can still be bullied on the ground against ground technicians, but more often than not, he’s held his own.
It’s hard to know if Hernandez fits the bill as someone who will give Trinaldo the type of problems that have traditionally plagued him. Hernandez’s base is his wrestling and has had some success with taking down the likes of Olivier Aubin-Mercier. However, his uber-aggressiveness in every aspect proved to be his undoing against Donald Cerrone. Regardless, Hernandez’s own athleticism rivals, if not surpasses, that of Trinaldo. With that in mind, Trinaldo likely won’t be able to use his physicality to overwhelm or escape from Hernandez’s grasp should the contest go to the mat.
Initially, I was going to pick Hernandez. He’s young, athletic, tough, and a solid wrestler. Plus, Trinaldo’s physical decline could begin at any moment. However, the more I watched Hernandez crash into counter after counter from Cerrone, the more I believed Trinaldo could best him up the same way Cowboy did. Throw in the fact that Trinaldo has never been finished by strikes — leaving the likelihood of Hernandez blitzing him the way he did Dariush to be slim – I feel like the Brazilian has at least one more good performance left in him. Trinaldo via decision
As for the rest….
The only other contest is heavyweight rematch between dinosaurs Andrei Arlovski and Ben Rothwell. Arlovski was victorious in their first contest, but that was eleven years ago. At this point, Arlovski has two wins in his last eleven contests and Rothwell hasn’t won a fight since January 2016. Arlovski still moves very well and may be the most technically sound he has ever been. Hell, his notoriously fragile chin has even been holding up too. What’s missing is confidence and aggression. Rothwell has been notoriously durable throughout his career and should be confident pushing forward on Arlovski. Rothwell has always been short on mobility, but never on power. He wins if he connects cleanly, but Arlovski will probably take it if it goes to decision. I’m expecting a crap show with Rothwell coming out on top. Rothwell via KO of RD1
Not many were pleased with Frankie Edgar getting the next title shot, but featherweight champion Max Holloway is having none of that. Holloway defends his 145-pound title against “The Answer” in the main event of UFC 240 on July 27 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. However, it was initially expected that he would face Alexander Volkanovski […]
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Not many were pleased with Frankie Edgar getting the next title shot, but featherweight champion Max Holloway is having none of that.
Holloway defends his 145-pound title against “The Answer” in the main event of UFC 240 on July 27 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. However, it was initially expected that he would face Alexander Volkanovski instead, who was fresh off a win over Jose Aldo in May.
In the end, it was Edgar who was given the crack at the title and not many were pleased with the UFC’s decision. However, it’s a fight that will always excite Holloway, especially because of Edgar’s legendary status:
“Frankie is Frankie, man,” Holloway said during a media lunch on Thursday. “If you don’t give this guy the respect that he deserves, he did something that was unthinkable in a division higher than us when he was a much smaller dude, and I can’t wait.
“These are the fights that excite me. The man’s a legend, the man’s a legend, and if he’s not a Hall of Famer, a future Hall of Famer, then he’s definitely a Hall of Famer in my eyes at least, and I’ve got nothing but respect for him.”
This will be the third time the UFC attempt to book a Holloway vs. Edgar fight after injuries derailed the previous two fights. But “Blessed” still remains motivated and even believes the New Jersey native could offer a different challenge than if they faced initially:
“It’s not hard to get motivated at all,” Holloway explained. “It’s weird, you know, because, like, I was supposed to fight him, and then it didn’t happen. Supposed to fight him again, and then it didn’t happen. So this is the first time in my career I ever had to do that with somebody, period. So, it’s not crazy hard, but he gets better, you know what I mean?”
“So the feeling that you want someone and this, that, and you game plan for that one other thing, he’s only had one fight in between the fights we (were scheduled for). And he saw my two fights, and he got to see the different films and strategize and whatever, but it’s just different.”
Who do you think takes this one?
The post UFC 240 Fight With ‘Legend’ Frankie Edgar Excites Max Holloway appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.
Jorge Masvidal and his team are trying to strike while the iron is hot. ‘Gamebred’ is going for the biggest fish in UFC waters with his recent callouts of Conor McGregor. Masvidal’s manager Abe Kawa recently insisted Masvidal will onl…
Jorge Masvidal and his team are trying to strike while the iron is hot. ‘Gamebred’ is going for the biggest fish in UFC waters with his recent callouts of Conor McGregor. Masvidal’s manager Abe Kawa recently insisted Masvidal will only take a fight against ‘The Notorious’ or welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. Yet it doesn’t seem […]
The post Manager: Jorge Masvidal Wouldn’t Even Train For ‘Easy Money’ Conor McGregor appeared first on MMA News.
Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images
Watch the weigh-ins for Manny Pacquiao vs. Keith Thurman, starting at 4 PM ET/1 PM PT on Friday, July 19th. It’s a big night for boxing on Saturday, July 20th, as Manny Pacquiao (61-7-2, 39 KOs) takes on W…
Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images
Watch the weigh-ins for Manny Pacquiao vs. Keith Thurman, starting at 4 PM ET/1 PM PT on Friday, July 19th.
It’s a big night for boxing on Saturday, July 20th, as Manny Pacquiao (61-7-2, 39 KOs) takes on WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman (29-0-1 NC, 22 KOs) in a major matchup for the 147 lbs division. Pacquiao is seeking a major world title yet again to add to his collection of belts, while Thurman is aiming for the highest-profile win of his career.
Before they meet in the ring, they first have to make weight. You can watch the Pacquiao vs. Thurman weigh-ins at the top of the page beginning at 4 PM ET/1 PM PT.
The full fight card is as follows:
PPV card (9 PM ET)
Keith Thurman (146.5) vs. Manny Pacquiao (146.5)
Yordenis Ugas (147) vs. Omar Figueroa (147)
Sergey Lipinets (147) vs. Jayar Inson (147)
Luis Nery (118.5) vs. Juan Carlos Payano (117.5)
FOX card (7 PM ET)
Caleb Plant (168) vs. Mike Lee (167)
Efe Ajagba (242) vs. Ali Eren Demirezen (247.5)
Manny Pacquiao vs. Keith Thurman airs live on FOX PPV on Saturday, July 20th from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The broadcast begins at 9 PM ET/6 PM PT. Bloody Elbow will have live round-by-round coverage of the main event.
A look at Thurman vs Pacquiao and other matchups featured on a surprisingly deep boxing card. Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Manny Pacquiao (61-7-2, 39 KOs) will face Keith Thurman (29-0, 22 KOs) for his WBA welterweight sup…
A look at Thurman vs Pacquiao and other matchups featured on a surprisingly deep boxing card.
Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Manny Pacquiao (61-7-2, 39 KOs) will face Keith Thurman (29-0, 22 KOs) for his WBA welterweight super title in what will be one of the last important fights in the Filipino’s legendary career.
Pacquiao shouldn’t need an introduction with combat sports fans at this point. He’s one of the modern greats, has won titles from flyweight to super-welterweight, had legendary rivalries with Erik Morales and Juan Manuel Marquez and you might remember a clash with Floyd Mayweather Jr. being a rather anticipated fight.
Although he’s been past his best for a good few years now, Pacquiao has remained a top welterweight despite his decline. Since getting robbed against Jeff Horn in Australia in 2017, he’s looked very good for his age in his last two but it should be noted that his opponents were, respectively, shot in the case of Lucas Matthysse, or a notorious headcase who didn’t seem that interested in trying to win the fight in the case of Adrien Broner.
In the ring, much of the mobility and ability to push an incredible pace that made Pacquiao such a special fighter in his prime is gone by now. But even at 40, he’s still very fast, still punches hard enough to keep anyone honest and if he can’t push a pace as hellish as he did a decade ago, he always shows up in excellent condition which allows him to still finish his fights very strong.
Thurman once had a claim as the top welterweight after unifying his WBA title with the WBC title held by Danny Garcia in 2017. However his inactivity and unwillingness to fight emerging top fighters like Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr. means he’s been passed over since in the eyes of most observers.
He is a good mi- range boxer, mostly looking to outbox his opponents and potentially catching them with a big counter. He packs a decent punch but has a bad tendency to just start swinging as hard as he can and to abandon the generally subtler work that brought to this point as soon as he hurts his man.
There’s always questions about what we will get with fighters Pacquiao’s age but barring a sudden fall of a cliff since January, I expect his style to mesh pretty well with Thurman’s. They should deliver a competitive and fun to watch fight on Saturday. Given that Thurman doesn’t push a particularly high pace, especially against southpaws, and the he tends to fight late in fights, I’m leaning towards Pacquiao adding another line to his great résumé and taking a close-ish but clear decision.
In addition to this clash of top-5 welterweights, the event features a surprisingly deep undercard, with another pair of good fights at welter, a bantamweight KO machine and a super-middleweight title fight headlining the prelims on FOX.
Luis Nery (29-0, 23 KOs) beat the then top bantamweight in the world, Shinsuke Yamanaka twice in 2017 and 2018 but the fights were marred by a positive test for the first one and Nery missing the weight for the second one. This prevented him from officially taking Yamanaka’s spot and he’s now on a second climb to the top. He’s scored 3 KOs against lesser competition since and is taking another step towards his goals with a fight against former WBA champion Juan Carlos Payano (21-2, 9 KOs). Payano will be mostly known as the victim of a vicious KO from the new king of the division, Naoya Inoue but he’s a solid veteran who will be a threat if Nery doesn’t show up at his best. But at 34 and not being much of a puncher, I expect Nery’s aggressive style and power to blow him away early.
At welterweight, we’ve got former WBC lightweight champion Omar Figueroa Jr. (28-0-1, 19 KOs) in a clash of styles with Cuban stylist Yordenis Ugas (23-4, 11 KOs). Figueroa’s forehead to forehead inside fighting style has remained very fun to watch at welterweight, but it’s not as effective as it was at lightweight and he had a tough time against John Molina Jr. in his last outing. The slick boxer Ugas is coming off of a very good performance in a split decision loss (which I think he should have won) for the WBC belt against Shawn Porter. He’s also a bit taller and has the skills to handle himself on the inside so I’m picking him to outbox Figueroa and win a relatively comfortable decision.
Still at 147, Sergey Lipinets (15-1, 11 KOs) who moved up after losing his super-lightweight title to Mikey Garcia and just retired former titlist Lamont Peterson. He’s a tough pressure fighter but I think he lacks a bit of size at 5’7” to be a factor at welterweight. He was initially scheduled to fight veteran John Molina Jr. (30-8, 24 KOs) who would have been a nice test but had to withdraw on fight week with a back injury. He has been replaced on very short notice by Filipino Jayar Inson (18-2, 12 KOs) who was scheduled to fight on the preliminary card.
And rounding out the undercard and headlining the Fox prelims is the first defense of IBF super-middleweight champion Caleb Plant (18-0, 10 KOs). He made his claim as a top fighter taking the belt against the tricky José Uzcategui with a very disciplined and complete performance. His first defense is unlikely to teach us much about where he stands exactly in the elite of the division as he’s facing a competent enough fighter that doesn’t really seem like anything special in Mike Lee (21-0, 11 KOs). That should be a nice appetizer for a promising card capped off by one of the last opportunities to see a legend in the twilight of his career.
Full card:
Main Card – PPV – 9:00pm ET / 6:00pm PT
Keith Thurman (29-0, 22 KOs) vs Manny Pacquiao (61-7-2, 39 KOs)
WBA welterweight “super” title, 12 rounds.
Yordenis Ugas (23-4, 11 KOs) vs Omar Figueroa Jr. (28-0-1, 19 KOs)
Welterweight, 12 rounds.
Luis Nery (29-0, 23 KOs) vs Juan Carlos Payano (21-2, 9 KOs)
WBC silver bantamweight title, 12 rounds.
Sergey Lipinets (15-1, 11 KOs) vs Jayar Inson (18-2, 12 KOs)
Welterweight, 10 Rounds.
Preliminary Card – FOX – 7:00pm ET / 4:00pm PT
Caleb Plant (18-0, 10 KOs) vs Mike Lee (21-0, 11 KOs)
IBF super-middleweight title, 12 rounds
Efe Ajagba (10-0, 9 KOs) vs Ali Eren Demirezen (11-0, 10 KOs)
Heavyweight, 10 rounds
Preliminary Card – Youtube/Facebook – 4:45pm ET / 1:45pm PT
Genisis Libranza (18-1, 10 KOs) vs Carlos Maldonado (11-3, 7 KOs)
Flyweight, 8 rounds
Abel Ramos (24-3-2, 18 KOs) vs Jimmy Williams (16-2-1, 5 KOs)
Welterweight, 8 rounds