ESPN 2 Gaethje vs Barboza: Picks & Predictions

Gaethje to weather the storm and get the TKO win in the 4th round. That being said, the advent of leg kicks + knees based on the Alvarez stoppage of Gaethje are concerning (Alvarez used a frequent body punch attack that slowed Gaethje down and then the knee later for the finish). Gaethje has hesitated exactly zero percent since his UFC signing in fighting the other action/dangerous fighters on the roster. In fact, I think few guys in recent memory have taken anywhere near the UFC import road that he has other than perhaps David Branch.
Anyway, I wouldn't bet my own  money on this fight as the leg kicks plus knees are exactly what I would want in my arsenal other than a sustained body punching attack to put the kabosh on a guy like Gaethje. That being said, Gaethje I feel slightly more confident making it to the 4th round of a war than Barboza. Though, Barboza survived three rounds with Khabib which is saying more than most guys can say.
The not confident pick is Gaethje by 4th round stoppage

MacDonald vs Emmett
MacDonald has fought a ton of the best at both 145 and 155. His hand speed here I think will put him ahead of Emmett for much of the fight and if MacDonald fires that 1-2 then moves the way he can, this will be a 1 or 2 round fight.
MacDonald by 1st round stoppage as Emmett takes the wrong fight from which to come back from a year long layoff.

Branch vs Hermannson
Branch by TKO after clipping Hermannson in the 2nd round.

Kowalkiewicz vs Waterson
Waterson via more diverse set of skills in a 3rd round stoppage by submission.

Paul Craig vs some guy
Paul Craig by submission because I've seen him fight more times than the other guy.

Pearson vs Green
Pearson by split decisions after which he retires after a longer UFC career than anyone would've predicted.

Holland vs Meerschaert
Meerschaert via submission in the 2nd round after an entertaining scrap.

Borg vs Kenney
Cursed Borg wins by submission in the 2nd round.

This Weekend's Softball Bellator Card & Thompson vs Pettis UFC - The ESPN+ Era?

Bellator:
I'm usually a big fan of Bellator and it's linear approach to belts with the grand prix/tournament bracketing, but this card feels like total fluff with only the headliner of Kharkanyan remotely being worht tunning in. Gerald Harris also fights on the card and that's basically all I can say. We're all just basically waiting for the next welterweight bracket fight to take place.

UFC Thompson vs Pettis:
I'm concerned for Pettis because he's been starched by guys at 155, and I suspect Thompson will look a solid 2 weight classes bigger than Pettis. If this isn't the guy for Thompson to do less hopping and fencing and circling away from then there will never be another chance. Thompson has said much of finally learning that he can't fight on the backfoot and win close fights (you're telling me there's a chance Dumb & Dumber reference) but the likelihood of him abandoning something as ingrained as that I find...well, I've got a bridge in Brooklyn or a tower in Paris to sell you.
Pettis must really just have resigned himself to not fighting for the belt again if this is the fight he's taking at 170 rather than someone in one of the other weight classes suited to his frame. I've wondered if it is his refusal to leave Roufus Sport to blame, or did becoming the champ lead to him spending time distracted, or the opening of a gym with his brother, or simply does he not have the style in the current ether or talent to win the belt again? It's hard to say for a guy with the level of striking and JiuJitsu that he possesses. Is it just the accumulation of training camp and fights? I don't know and I can't really lean toward any one puzzle piece. Thompson had become one of the guys I absolutely loathe to see in a 5 round fight. I know I'm going to get 4 rounds of hopping time and about 1 round of fighting time, if that. Call it many things: tactical, strategic, sport, karate, point fighting, cerebral....whatever. It's maddening to see the volume output that low in the fighting sport with the lease restriction on legal attacks.

I honestly hope Pettis outworks Thompson en route to a decision because I simply can't stand seeing Thompson fight anymore.

Blaydes will attempt to rebound from his title shot trajectory after a stoppage loss in the first round to always dangerous Ngannou. I expect Blaydes to get the win over Willis via decision via repeated takedowns.

Violent Bob Ross looks to rebound from a loss last November with his return fight. I expect him to win another decision and get back on track. His opponent is 1-1 in the UFC and I think is a gifted rebound fight for Pena who made the most of this time on his TUF season and has likable persona for casual fans and hardcore fans alike.

Frankie Saenz vs Marlon Vera in what will be a back and forth high energy fight. Marlon Vera will gut this one out in a close decision.

Overall the card is pretty underwhelming but we've had a slew of solid events since the ESPN arrival and we're all actually just killing time with events until the March 30th card with Barboza vs Gaethje in a definite CTE/brain damage scrap at the end of the month.
Elsewhere on that main card with get David Branch vs Hermansson in a fight I expect he'll win as he's beaten a bevy of tough guys already and fought former title holders & contenders in competitive fights.
We also get Josh Emmett vs Michael Johnson as Emmett looks to pick up some of the steam he lost by losing to Jeremy Stephens after beating Ricardo Lamas.
The rest of that card is pretty underwhelming as well as the UFC/ESPN flagship fights have been mostly made to get us into the ESPN fold/app world and a shortage of meaningful fights until we hit some PPV's in April.

April 13th we get Holloway vs Poirier for an Interim belt & Gastelum vs Adesanya for an Interim belt on a card that should be fireworks. After and between all that is pretty much few and far between PPV cards which is a bummer, because somehow, it feels like the cards are accordingly midling level events. But, we are into a new era so we'll see how this all unfolds.

Anthony Johnson Misses Weight (Volume 14) - Titan Fighting 22

Man. I don't even feel like making a joke.
From over at MMAMania, we find that our good friend Mr. Rumble-Twinkie-Never-Makes-Weight Johnson failed to make weight for Titan Fighting 22 this weekend.

This is so far beyond beating a dead horse that it just...well, it is what it is.
Why anyone signs to fight a guy with this many failed weigh-ins just blows my mind.
Hell, I did a meme about him HERE when he missed weight for Vitor, the biggest fight of his career and then got finished inside of one round.


In other news, I'm back to training twice a day, 4 days a week.
It has been brutal, especially by Wednesday. My body's not used to recovering for the mid-day roll sessions just yet.
After next week (week 2), I should start hitting my stride.

Happy Trainingz!