UFC 211: Miočić vs. Dos Santos II (5/13/2017) - Dallas, TX (American Airlines Center)

[Hail Sabin]

Whenever it happens Miocic vs. Ngannou is going to be FUCKING INSANE!

[Elsalvajeloco]

Just now, Hail Sabin said:

Whenever it happens Miocic vs. Ngannou is going to be FUCKING INSANE!

It looks like Ngannou might be fighting at 214 but I would like see him get at least 2 fights before challenging for the belt. 214 is very good exposure for him especially if he can get a win.  I'm guessing Stipe fights the winner of Overeem/Werdum III if they look impressive or Cain if he can recover by fall. So the UFC can access if Ngannou is worthy of a title shot by then.  Personally, if he wins at 214 then he probably should fight the Hunt/Lewis winner.  The winner of that little mini tournament would definitely deserve a title shot.

[Hail Sabin]

Yeah DC and Rogan were pushing hard for Cain to be the next fight. 

[Kuetsar]

Didn't it seem like Herb waited an awfully long time to stop the main event? At one point Stipe looks to him like WTF are you waiting for?

[Elsalvajeloco]

I think the co-main and main event showed how you can be two completely different fighters w/ different mindsets and habits at the same gym. You had two ATT fighters in Joanna and JDS and both  had two different natures when it came to using the cage in defensive manner. Granted JDS has always had this habit, it became clear early on against Stipe any improvements you've made to fix that can be undone instantly if someone forces that issue off the bat. At no point besides when Andrade would clinch against the cage did Joanna stop trying to cut angles and step away from Andrade. Her feet were constantly moving. JDS's feet were moving, but the clear difference is he was out of position to punch basically all of that time. Joanna's movement allowed her to kick, punch, knee, and spin whenever she wanted to. If you are simply jogging against the cage with your shoulders turned, only a couple things can happen: 1. your opponent gets frustrated trying to chase you down or 2. you eventually get trapped when your opponent finally boxes you in.  The octagon over ring advantage only works when someone can't cut off the cage. If you get trapped against someone who knows what he or she is doing, they can basically turn the cage into a ring because you're now stuck essentially into a makeshift ring corner. If you stand straight up like JDS did once trapped, you are toast in every way possible. Miocic didn't go wild or fall into desperation clinch. He just lined up a punch and threw it. Night over. Simple yet still crafty.

Joanna in the co-main never gave Andrade that opportunity and never allowed herself to be reeled in by that left hook. She got caught in round 1 (which caused the hematoma) and a few times on the nose, but that is about it. That left hook got wider and wider from Andrade because she was never in the area Andrade wanted her in. It's like a three point shooter who has a sweet place on the court and all they need is the ball. Joanna through 25 minutes rarely let her get into that place. She basically did the MMA equivalent of turning someone into a jump shooter except Andrade wouldn't stop throwing left hooks. It also helped Joanna utilized those low kicks and push kicks to keep Andrade from coming straight down the center and charging straight on. Her jab is always on so that was the icing on the cake.

To me, it's very intriguing that two people at the same gym are just complete polar opposites when it comes to one big aspect of fighting. Moreover, the one aspect can change or affect the entire flow of a fight for however long it lasts.

[Elsalvajeloco]

6 minutes ago, Kuetsar said:

Didn't it seem like Herb waited an awfully long time to stop the main event? At one point Stipe looks to him like WTF are you waiting for?

I thought that was the appropriate time to stop. There have been prelim fights where guys get about the same amount of time to recover. This is a world championship fight so you probably deserve about 5-10 seconds than an average fight unless you are out, you've been dropped multiple times in a fight, or something in that vain.

[TheVileOne]

Watching Joanna Champion fight is a gift.  If Ronda Rousey was once in a lifetime, then Joanna is once in the universe.

[Elsalvajeloco]

Man, that would be quite a loss for ATT. Based on Joanna's reaction, it seems like they were very close.

[J.T.]

Props to Stipe's training camp on watching plenty of fight footage on JDS and drilling Stipe on how to best take advantage of Junior's sloppy evasion skills. 

You could tell by some of the exchanges that Stipe was getting Junior's timing down so that he could drop that bomb as JDS circled away from the cage.

[TheVileOne]

Junior said he didn't make any mistakes.  Well, he made quite a few.  For starters, his back was constantly to the cage, and his head was wide open for Stipe to bounce it off the cage like a basketball.

[twiztor]

this was a fantastic event.

avoided spoilers until Sunday night and i regret not being able to watch it live. joanna showing why shes champion and stipe avenging a prior loss without question.

and those prelims. hot damn!

[Elsalvajeloco]

3 hours ago, TheVileOne said:

Junior said he didn't make any mistakes.  Well, he made quite a few.  For starters, his back was constantly to the cage, and his head was wide open for Stipe to bounce it off the cage like a basketball.

Well, if his strategy was to kick and keep Stipe off balance...then it worked somewhat. He managed to hobble Stipe with the low kicks to the shin. The inherent problem with that strategy is that generally only works with lighter weight fighters. Both of these dudes are pushing 240+ and over 6 feet tall. You don't have to move much to cover that much space at that size. What Junior should have did is meet Stipe in the middle, head on because it was going happen sooner rather later. I think Junior's team likely thought he got hit too much in the first fight and wanted him stay away for the most part. However, when you know being against the cage is a weakness, you know your opponent is going to press you on that. It's exactly what I said in my post some replies back. They went against what was their best chance of winning really. Your guy can punch (and kick), and you're taking him out of position to throw potent strikes. That's always going to put you at a disadvantage.

[J.T.]

Stipe kept pressing because his trainers studied up on Junior and saw that JDS has a nasty habit of dropping his hands and keeping his chin up when he circles to evade and they probably had Stipe train up on utilizing a short hook with his cut-off footwork in training camp.

There are a couple of exchanges during the fight where JDS circles out to his left and Stipe loads up and throws a right that was off by a margin because he didn't quite have JDS's timing down. 

Once he did, boom, lights out.