Videodrome Thursday: Flograppling Presents Bernardo Faria Unstoppable

Most of the deep half-guard that I used to do, I got from Bernardo Faria footage. The guy's insistence on a single position (it's more complicated and developed than that, I know) and its nuances and development and entries always made sense to me coming from Judo where they have a name for it, "tokui waza" meaning pet technique, or the thing for which you are always looking to improve and build the core of your game around. At any rate, enjoy:

UFC 213: Inside the Octagon Breakdown Nunes vs Shevchenko & Romero vs Whitaker

AND

TuF 25 Finale Picks and Season Summary

This is the first Ultimate Fighter season of which I've watched more than a couple episodes since Dominic Cruz was a coach to give you any idea of my recent faith/investment in the show. Not sure why but I've had a resurgence in my time allotted to watching Bellator/UFC/WSOF as of late and this is part of it.

On to the season: either Cody Garbrandt is just coming across different than he tries to say he is (bringing out the guy with a disability to parade in the cage when he won his belt - talk about virtue signalling) or  Dillashaw is just amazing at seeming like a nice guy, but all the claims about TJ just fall on deaf ears when I'm watching the show.

I just don't get how it was ever supposed to work out? Faber was still fighting.....Garbrandt was coming up....Dillashaw was moving up....all in the same weight class. As with everything there's two sides to every story....but how was that ever going to end well? I see the same scenario is Manuwa and Gustaffson had a third LHW in their gym who was moving into title contention...anyway, if Dillashaw is the snake they say he is, he does a great job of sitting back and letting Bucholz and Garbrandt look terrible and douchey.

Before his upset of barao I thought Dillashaw was a poor man's Dominic Cruz and truthfully, I still largely stand by my review of him, but he's a solid addition to the weight class, he has truly become well rounded since his early TUF/UFC days and the narrative of beef between him in the 3 ring circus of Dominic cruZ team alpha Faber/Garbrandt and Dillashaw gives the division some narrative instead of how bland it might be otherwise....think of how bland flyweight is or was until this rift between Mighty Mouse Demetrious Johnson and the UFC/Dana White?

That being said the season at this point wih its redemption narrative was mildly entertaining in a where are they now kinda way of seeing guys post-UFC run struggling with the cliched fighter pro narratives of baby momma drama, child custody, listlessness after getting their UFC pink slip, and uncertainty of place in the world etc. it's like seeing a guy who fizzles out of the NBA go play ball in Europe but he's got no insurance, the pay is poor and the brain damage is always accruing. At any rate, I'll prob watch about half the episodes of whatever next season they put together depending on the coaches and what the gimmick is because mid-week there's no UFC on and I don't really watch any other shows weekly. 

On To The Finale: 

Michael Johnson welcomes a very tough Justin Gaethje to the UFC who is no maiden with downcast eyes. The guy is tough and has heat in his strikes. Johnson to his credit has fought quite a few legit guys on his division. Gaethje's last WSOF bout was very telling in that I think Firminho is more on par with the level of opposition Gaethje can expect in the UFC if not considerably more and.......

Gathje I think got very lucky in his last WSOF bout with the Doctor stoppage win as I think Firminho was gonna pull out the W in a very close fight. Gaethje has never lost and is coming in with 4 stoppage wins on his last 5 wins, but as we saw with David Branch and Marlin Moraes as they debuted (well, Branch re-debuted) having a belt and stopping guys in the WSOF isn't the opposition.same as fighting in the UFC as evidenced by Moraes losing to Assuncao, and Branch winning a clinch-heavy closely contested split decision. 

Johnson's lost to Khabib by kimura (I mean, that's not a knock on Johnson), stopped Dustin Poirier in one round, lost a decision 2-1 rounds to Nate Diaz, and beat Edson Barbosa. He's also got wins over Danny Castillo, Gleason Tibau and Joe Lauzon. 

Johnson has stoppages on his resumes (the first guy to put away Gleison Tibau) and Poirier but also frustratingly has gassed mid fight in some of his losses that frankly to me looks more like overtraining or weight cut rather than he didn't do his best to prepare. Debuts are always tough to call

But I have to give the nod by split decision to Johnson based on the strength of his resume at the big show level. 

Diego Lima will be facing TBA, but hopefully no one from Garbrandt's team as they literally had no one advance in the shows fights/brackets. 

The explosive Diakese brings his British cliched striking heavy skillet to face Drakkar Klose who's got two Unan Dec. Wins on the UFC thus far - matchmaker's goal here is to put a stoppage win for the audience on the main card. Diakese should get a nice HL reel stoppage here by the 2nd round. 

Brad Tavares is still plugging away following his TUF stint and at times has shown real flashes of dominance in his fights. He's alternated wins and losses going back his previous 6 scraps. Elias Theodoru has been slightly more consistent but has a semi solid resume at  5-1 on his past 6 fights. He was most recently seen winning a decision over Cesar Mutante Ferreira and a Unan. decision over Sam Alvey prior to that. 

I'm gonna go with Theodoru in this one by decision as I don't see him getting finished but Theodoru seems fresher and has less mileage on him in UFC years in a good way.

Bosse is coming off an entertaining stand and bang fest with Sean O'Connell and a quick KO of James Te Huna. He's 2-1 in the UFC this far but at 35 has to make moves quickly before his ship sails. 

Cannonier is coming off a Unan. decision loss to perennial 2nd or third best LHW Glover Teixeira and 2 stoppage wins prior to that. One man is going to sleep in this bout based on their styles and their resumes.  I'm gonna say Bosse pulls off a KO here in a nicely entertaining scrap with minimal clinching. 

Buried on the prelims is the death rattle of Ed Herman also a TUF alumni vs CB Dolloway. Dolloway had himself a nice little streak at one point but primarily seems to win 1-2 fights then lose 2-3 in convicting stoppage fashion. This is probably a fighting for their UFC job style fight as despite that their names were Machida, Bisping, and Marquardt, Dolloway has lost 3 in a row, and Herman has only underwhelmed in his past 5 fights. Dolloway has shown submission holes previously but I just can't get on Herman any more. Dolloway by TKO in the 3rd round. 

Angela Hill returns to action after a tough loss to Andrade who simply pressed forward longer and harder than bill could dance and avoid and pick her off. She took a lot of punishment in that fight as it wore on and it will be interesting to see if it made her round the curve, or if it took some of the wind out of her sails long term. Angela Hill gets  Win here over unknown opposition. 

Believe it or not, Gray Maynard is still fighting. He's racked up 1-2 record since his 3 fight skid of stoppage losses to Ross Pearson Nate Diaz and TJ grant. He's also the alumni of two of the most frustrating fights in UFC history against Clay Guida and Ryan hall. Since 2013 heal only won a unanimous decision against Fernando Bruno and lost 5 fights. He's getting softball here in the form of Ishihara who has gone 2-2 in the UFC with wins over no one whose name you'd recognize. 

UFC 213 Nunes vs Schevchenko & Romero vs Whitaker - Picks & Predictions

So, the Countdown show mentions that this card follows UFC Fight Week and that previously it has been a slot for monumental cards. Then mentions Anthony Pettis, and tells us we're seeing a rematch as a fight for a belt and an Interim belt being handed out because Bisping was healthy enough to fight GSP but not anyone else. Curious.

At any rate, despite my Negative Nancy monologue going into this card, the UFC hype train almost has me interested in this card if nothing else in that by crowning an Interim champ Bisping will, possibly, have to fight Romero, a guy he has straight ducked for a minute now. I don't really care because Romero for all his God this and God that soft spoken talk somehow in the cage finds every opportunity to bend or break the rules with everything from feigning eye gouges or groin shots to fence grabbing to staying late on his stool between rounds. He also has curiously been injured for periods and his gas tank has noticeably decreased since USADA took effect. His last few fights have looked like a guy who knows he can only throw perhaps 5 punches and kicks for the first 2 rounds, and defend perhaps two takedowns, and save something for a 3rd round.

Well, despite my mountain of misgivings....here....we....are.

I think Nunes looks best if she can hurt and intimidate her opponent early. I think the 3rd round scare however and the southpaw stance and legitimate all around skills of Schevchenko have her on the backfoot psychologically in this bout. I think Schevchenko coming back from being convincingly down 2 rounds showed Nunes something about Schevchenko that a front runner like Nunes doesn't have. I think Schevchenko pulls out a Unan. Dec. over a closely contested 5 rounds but that Schevchenko's gas tank prevails.

I think Whitaker beats a Romero who is doing almost nothing by rounds 4 and 5. The fight between Blaydes and Omielanczuk I can't pick b/c I honestly don't recall any previous bouts on these guys and nor do they ring a bell. Overeem vs Werdum.....man. I also don't like a long-time cheater like Overeem, but he is crafty.....hmmm. I'm gonna go with Werdum for this one.
Miller was stopped by Chiesa in a strange fight but was basically picked apart and eventually battered by the much longer, rangier Chiesa. That is not Pettis's skillset as he likes to fight off the backfoot and fend off takedowns. I have to think that Pettis turns the corner here and gets a win over the even more mileage packing Miller.
Travis Browne is and should be fighting for his UFC job at this point. Especially after losing a fight he was winning against Derrick Browne. I think Browne pulls it off against third tier and mid level guys unless he's just completely lost his edge.

The rest of the card....as I mentioned is the leftover pieces of other PPV's or Fight Night event prelims....and I can't pretend I'll be going out anywhere to watch these fights. I wouldn't even order this on PPV with a bunch of guys I train with to watch this card. This is a straight up lay in your bed, eat ice cream, relax in comfort and watch it PPV because I don't watch other professional sports. So this is my Saturday NFL or Nascar or NBA regular season game day that I watch because I'm simply a fan of mixed martial arts. That being said, I don't know if it's programming saturation/audience fatigue, or simply the plain hard cold fact that a lot of events are simply mediocre to mid-level at best. I dunno, I just have a hard time telling myself a lot of emphasis went into this card.

Also, waiting til midnight to see these co-main events.....I can't make any promises. By the time the prelims pass, and the undercard goes through, being awake at midnight to see 2 potentially 5 round fights? Yeesh. 

So I watched the PFL ( Professional Fight League) Daytona Event: (WSOF)

1) the broadcast ran early for some reason so I tuned in to have missed 3 of the 4 fights, saw what was essentially the last fight (Zeferino's fight), then they broadcast the event from the beginning

2) NBCSN puts it on at 1030pm normally, a sure sign that not only is it not a priority in programming they just bury it with a brutally awkward time slot

3) Bas Rutten in your ear distracting one of your coaches for a MID-FIGHT INTERVIEW in a fight that will be decided by the 3rd round is a terrible idea

4) awkward commentary trio of randy couture, Kayla Harrison and some guy saying things like "the Daytona Plunge!" when one fighter jumps up to try and land a punch on a downed opponent

5) humidity and rain made the mat incredibly slippery in the fights which was obviously giving the fighters problems other than just fighting another professional in a cage

6) Kayla Harrison giving technical insight on the striking portion of the fights felt forced at best. Randy Couture does an effective job exchanging grappling to a audience/fanbase which may have little or no grappling experience

7) One of the judges scored the Zeferino fight 30-27 against Zeferino which made NO sense whatsoever.

8) the event with only 4 fights delivered several competitive/close fights, several of which were decided by the 3rd round, with grappling and striking in most of the bouts which was a welcome change from some of the kickboxing-centric affairs I've seen as of late on UFC and Bellator cards

9) Jon Fitch got a win by finish. Go figure.

VERDICT: I'll be tuning again when it's not stacked up against a Bellator or UFC card, but the organization will have to do something to be worth tuning into without the spate of post-UFC resumes or freakshow fights that Bellator will throw out there or the legends retirement tour they've offered up intermittently over the past year or so. The problem is, as I see it, that as Bellator found out the tournament format has some issues as guys get injured in fights, and the general public if asked will tell you a tournament format makes sense, but my suspicion is that fading UFC names and freakshow fights did more for Bellator's visibility than their tournament format, as evidenced by the fact that they abandoned it. I liked WSOF, I liked a number of guys on its roster, and as a guy who has fought before, I'm always pro-fighter in the sense that the more organizations are out there, the better it is for fighters in terms of options and life as opposed to the UFC monopoly. That being said, I just don't see what PFL now offers as a I don't want to say gimmick or novelty, but simply something that will be unique to its product. I'm all for having another avenue to watch professional MMA on non-PPV, but their guys simply lack the visibility to compete with Bellator and the UFC as distinct brands within a sport that some people still call "UFC" as opposed to knowing mixed martial arts is the actual title of the sport itself.

Travis Stevens - Taping Fingers/Hands/et cetera

Create Your Own Jon Fitch Meme

Ouch. What a caption.