Episode 668: UFC 321: It doesn’t get any more heavyweight than that!
How does Tom Aspinall still have an eyeball right now? Dude, Ciryl Gane went two-knuckles deep in Aspinall’s left eye (while pulling off the rare double-eye poke!) during their heavyweight championship fight at UFC 321 on Saturday. Gane might have Dundasso’d a little TOO hard, as his exploration of Aspinall’s cranium with his left index finger did get their bout declared a no contest, and yet, somehow, it still felt like Gane won the battle of public opinion.
The crowd booed Aspinall (naturally). A bunch of shitty MMA meme accounts made fun of him (naturally). Some former fighters came out and said THEY would’ve kept fighting (naturally). Dana White is talking about booking the immediate rematch (because of course). So, sorry, Tom, you got Three-Stooged and now a lot of idiots think you quit.
So, yeah, we thought the worst thing that could happen at UFC 321 was a Ciryl Gane victory, and then heavyweight basically laughed in our faces and said, “Hold my beer.” Plus, in the other two heavyweight fights, Jailton Almeida lost by forgetting to fight and Chris Barnett (literally) showed his ass.
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1:05:38
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Episode 667: UFC 321 is a must-win for Aspinall, the UFC & the world
Let’s be honest, if the current version of the UFC heavyweight title is going to maintain any shred of credibility, Tom Aspinall pretty much has to win this weekend at UFC 321. Even if that happens, we’ll still only really be ready to say that Gas Hands Tom is one of the three best heavyweights in the world — the UFC champion of active heavyweights currently on the roster, let’s say. But if Ciryl Gane wins? Forget about it. Gane’s already lost to both Jon Jones AND Francis Ngannou. There’s no way you’re making the case he’s the “undisputed” anything. So, let’s go, Tommy!
Plus, Mackenzie Dern will vie to win the vacant strawweight title against Virna Jandiroba, who she has already defeated and is currently the betting favorite to defeat again. Almost as though the UFC has a rooting interest in this shit.
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1:06:20
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Episode 666: Charles Oliveira is the new king of Rio!
Chucky Olives pretty much wore Mateusz Gamrot around like a button during their main event fight at last weekend’s UFC Fight Night in Rio de Janeiro. It didn’t feel like there was a single second where Gamrot was winning. He got tagged on the feet early in the first, shot for a takedown, and then got dominated on the ground until Oliveira put him out of his misery with a face crank (which, OK, maybe that was miserable) in the second round.
Then Oliveira jumped out of the cage and into the crowd on some Jose Aldo shit. Long live the new king of Rio! Man, the UFC security dudes must hate that. Also, Charles — next time, maybe more than just a pat on the shoulder for your wife and kid before you start partying it up with the boyz.
Now that that’s settled — Oliveira vs. Max Holloway? Give it to me. It’s mine!
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1:07:21
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1:07:21
Episode 665: Chama lives!
Well, that was just disrespectful. Alex Pereira went out there at UFC 320 on Saturday with absolutely no regard whatsoever for Magomed Ankalaev. Bullied him. Dropped him. Pounded him out. Then did the “look at you now” hand gesture that is rapidly becoming Pereira’s touchdown dance. He clowned Ankalaev from start to finish, is what he did. Clowned him.
So, now the Chama Era is back in the light heavyweight division, and the only remaining question is whether there’s anything meaningful left for Pereira to do there. Another fight with Jiri Prochazka (who also got a win at 320)? Carlos Ulberg (who got a win the weekend before)? Or does Pereira start looking up the ladder at heavyweight? Jones? Aspinall? Gane? Anything seems possible.
Plus, Cory Sandhagen was game as hell. He was well prepared. He was well coached. He just couldn’t stop Merab Dvalishvili.
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The PPV era is (maybe!) winding down, and on Saturday, we’ll all celebrate by (maybe!) shelling out our hard-earned dollars to watch UFC 320, where Magomed Ankalaev will defend his light heavyweight title in a rematch against Alex Pereira.
Doesn’t feel like there’s a ton of sizzle headed into that one, but hey, with Carlos Ulberg absolutely devastating “The Devastator” Dominick Reyes last weekend at UFC Fight Night in Perth, perhaps we’ve already got a halfway interesting challenger waiting for the winner?
Also, though … “Big Ank?” Nah. We’re not doing that. We’re not saying that, dude.
The co-main features Merab Dvalishvili putting his gold on the line against Cory Sandhagen in — let’s face it — a fight we all expect Merab to win.
In other news: holy fucking shit, did you see Wanderlei Silva get knocked out cold by a guy in a tuxedo in Brazil this weekend? It was bad, man. BAAAAAAAAD.
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An irreverent and unscripted look at the week's mixed martial arts news from longtime MMA journalists Ben Fowlkes and Chad Dundas. Topics include the latest happenings in the UFC, Bellator and other promotions.
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