UFC Fight Night on ESPN 15: Whittaker vs. Till (7/25/2020) - Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UFC Fight Island)

[Elsalvajeloco]

Man, I thought we would never have another Brian Stann level color guy in the booth again (no shade to Hardy, DC, Bisping, and Dom though). However, we found one.

[Jiji]

Delayed thoughts. Sorry if I'm repeating shit, which I'm sure I will:

• Tanner Boser is part-time UFC heavyweight and part-time Edmonton Oilers checking line winger. That guy could be a legit star in Canada if he can put himself into contention. Would love to see him fight in front of an Albertan crowd. He's not a throwback pure brawling heavyweight either. Light on his feet, smart, good leg kicks, solid enough defence, AND the powerful haymakers with killer instinct.
• Grundy is a good British wrestler, though looked a flat-track bully, fading after Evloev survived that initial flurry in the first (that choke looked deep!), though he found something of a second wind in the third. However, Evloev's defensive grappling was so good and Grundy couldn't keep him down. Evloev is an awkward striker, not sitting on anything and changing to south paw inside after throwing the straight right. Clanked heads and some really weird inside exchanges but it worked for him. But his gastank, defensive grappling, and high output striking will be problematic for a lot of people.
• Lol, Aspinall looked like a star, not missing the lob thrown his way. Between Boser and Aspinall we've got some Commonwealth heavyweight prospects. 
• Dalby was a bright prospect years ago and looked good until getting caught by James Elsworth. Story of his career perhaps.
• Jai Herbert looked really promising. Fluid foot work and striking, good groundwork, excellent energy. Trinaldo caught his breath though and caught Herbert. Dude was out on his feet answering the phone, slowly falling back. Herb Dean has always been overrated but he got exposed tonight twice. I know refereeing is tough in any sport and people complain of early stoppages but man... Both Hardy and Felder gave him shit, rightfully so. Herbert though, huge potential. Trinaldo is like the ultimate gatekeeper/TV champion. Such a pro, so tough and a smart vet.
• Chimaev smash. Time to give him a real test. Two flawless victories. Like last time, the frequency, power and accuracy of his strikes from the top are incredibly high level along with his top control. Deadly combination.
• Paul Felder feeling himself on commentary. That's a great team though. Once Rogan retires, they'll have a great crew (though part of me will miss Rogan. Bisping will take the torch being the overreacting, shouty guy). Anik is solid, Gooden is very knowledgeable for a play-by-play guy, Felder is a natural at this, Hardy is great, Cruz is clever though awkward, DC is entertaining and insightful.
• Did that person not use an enswell on Esparza after round 1? That was a huge hematoma. Her bulldog routine is a lot of fun to watch. Damage > octagon control. 5" difference is massive when we're talking 5'1" v 5'6". Good on Esparza for trying to maintain the streak of leglocks but ouch. What the fuck is up with this referee? Esparza mule kicked Rodriguez in the face while she was down. Cool, PRIDE RULEZ! Really good fight and the kind that elevated both fighters. 
• Gustafsson forever the fleeing gazelle seemingly. 
• Rua/Li'l Nog, it feels like both of these guys are 55. Rogerio looks it too. I was really enjoying Hardy and the commentary team nerding out over PRIDE during this dogshit.
• Two karate stance fighters  in the main, kinda neat to see and with both guys jumping in for attack, that counter elbow that dropped Whittaker, shit like that is bound to happen. It's like waiting for the big explosion. Whittaker is the more well-rounded kickboxer, but Till's got more technical hands, whereas Whittaker is looping in a lot of his shots. Advantage straighter, quicker punches in round 1. Whittaker adapts and is sneaky aggro. God, this fight rules. Till fell into completely counterfighting until the 5th, maybe in part due to the injured leg. Little difficult to judge depending on how you scored the 4th (Whittaker outhit Till but Till landed the better shots, particularly that one loud counter). Till is lacking a bit of variety in his attack. He's not far away from being a real title contender if he can use some more than just countering and jumping in with the 1-2 down the middle. Whittaker hoping for a big Paulo Costa win.
• Card was fucking great as a whole with the co-main being the only thing to skip. 

[Elsalvajeloco]

1 hour ago, Jiji said:

Delayed thoughts. Sorry if I'm repeating shit, which I'm sure I will:

• Tanner Boser is part-time UFC heavyweight and part-time Edmonton Oilers checking line winger. That guy could be a legit star in Canada if he can put himself into contention. Would love to see him fight in front of an Albertan crowd. He's not a throwback pure brawling heavyweight either. Light on his feet, smart, good leg kicks, solid enough defence, AND the powerful haymakers with killer instinct.

I wonder how Boser deals with a guy who can offer resistance back. He's already 0-1 against capable high level fighters. I don't really hold the Gane loss against him since that's his first taste at that level, but I do question how his output will look against other talented prospects. Lins is a good, solid fighter...Pessoa not as much. Prior to the UFC, Pessoa only had faced two people with winning records: Wagner Pezinho a mid level Brazilian regional HW and Brian Heden a regional Midwest gatekeeper who has been fighting long enough to have fought in Minnesota MMA staples NFA & EFX, and the midwestern go-to, take on ALL comers (trained fighter or not) promotion Extreme Challenge. Not exactly a murderers' row. Can Boser do that against a Tom Aspinall for example, who looks like a hell of an athlete? Time will tell.

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• Lol, Aspinall looked like a star, not missing the lob thrown his way. Between Boser and Aspinall we've got some Commonwealth heavyweight prospects. 

We might need some regional Lonsdale and commonwealth type titles at this point because they're stocked with fighters from certain parts of the world. 

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• Dalby was a bright prospect years ago and looked good until getting caught by James Elsworth. Story of his career perhaps.

James Ellsworth? That's cruel, man. 

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• Jai Herbert looked really promising. Fluid foot work and striking, good groundwork, excellent energy. Trinaldo caught his breath though and caught Herbert. Dude was out on his feet answering the phone, slowly falling back. Herb Dean has always been overrated but he got exposed tonight twice. I know refereeing is tough in any sport and people complain of early stoppages but man... Both Hardy and Felder gave him shit, rightfully so. Herbert though, huge potential. Trinaldo is like the ultimate gatekeeper/TV champion. Such a pro, so tough and a smart vet.

If Lil Nog/Minotoro hadn't showed up looking like someone who survived the fallout from a nearby bomb blast as well as something off an evolutionary chart (he is in need of a hair replacement system, STAT), I would say Massaranduba was the oldest looking fighter on the card. With the help of a DeLorean, he might have traveled to the future to fight Saturday night after fighting Archie Moore in 1952.

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• Chimaev smash. Time to give him a real test. Two flawless victories. Like last time, the frequency, power and accuracy of his strikes from the top are incredibly high level along with his top control. Deadly combination.

What makes him scary is his pressure from the top is better than most fighter's pressure using their feet to move and easily travel around the cage. McKee had no place to go or roll to. Every (perceived) option he had was bad. I don't see too many people signing up to fight him on 8/15 unless they really need the money amid the pandemic.

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• Paul Felder feeling himself on commentary. That's a great team though. Once Rogan retires, they'll have a great crew (though part of me will miss Rogan. Bisping will take the torch being the overreacting, shouty guy). Anik is solid, Gooden is very knowledgeable for a play-by-play guy, Felder is a natural at this, Hardy is great, Cruz is clever though awkward, DC is entertaining and insightful.

Don't forget, Fitz. He is the most point A to B to C commentator you're gonna find in MMA, which is refreshing considering everyone has decided to go the Mike Goldberg route or the Schiavello route or even the Rogan color guy but for PBP route. He might not be thrilling to listen to, but if you watch the NFL or NBA or whatever, that's whose usually in the booth especially on your regional channels. 

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Did that person not use an enswell on Esparza after round 1? That was a huge hematoma. Her bulldog routine is a lot of fun to watch. Damage > octagon control. 5" difference is massive when we're talking 5'1" v 5'6". Good on Esparza for trying to maintain the streak of leglocks but ouch. What the fuck is up with this referee? Esparza mule kicked Rodriguez in the face while she was down. Cool, PRIDE RULEZ! Really good fight and the kind that elevated both fighters. 

Carla Esparza is the most mid 2000s MMA wrestler/top control fighter you're gonna find in this era of MMA, especially for female MMA. It makes sense cause she's a Colin Oyama product. Before the fight happened, I pictured a fight where Esparza spends a little bit too much time on the feet but has a respectable showing enough to lose a 29-28 3x decision. Turns out, she wanted a grappling match as soon as the horn sounded. @supremebve might have said it better, but I say it's tough to get a read on her fights because they always rely on the one variable of wrestling. If she successfully implements it, she can win easily. But then the question is can she fight effectively enough or do enough when she has top control? If she doesn't get takedowns, she's likely gonna lose. However, if you look at the fight with Claudinha or some of her other recent fights, she can make it rather unpleasant and overachieve with some of her striking ability. It could end up being a split decision with both her and her opponent getting 30-27 scores w/ a 30-27 deciding score/tiebreaker or a unanimous decision win/loss with 29-28 scores across the board with alternating rounds from the judges. You never know.

And oh, yeah, it was bad night for refereeing.

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• Gustafsson forever the fleeing gazelle seemingly

If a guy is "running away" from you, the only thing that matters is if you can punish him for it. If you can't stop him from doing it, it's your fault. 

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• Rua/Li'l Nog, it feels like both of these guys are 55. Rogerio looks it too. I was really enjoying Hardy and the commentary team nerding out over PRIDE during this dogshit.

55 is being unabashedly nice of you. I feel like 60+ is a nice starting point.

I didn't mind the fight that much, but it was all the evidence and proof in the world (in one side of your Venn diagram or any column you so choose) for not having a seniors division in MMA.

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• Two karate stance fighters  in the main, kinda neat to see and with both guys jumping in for attack, that counter elbow that dropped Whittaker, shit like that is bound to happen. It's like waiting for the big explosion. Whittaker is the more well-rounded kickboxer, but Till's got more technical hands, whereas Whittaker is looping in a lot of his shots. Advantage straighter, quicker punches in round 1. Whittaker adapts and is sneaky aggro. God, this fight rules. Till fell into completely counterfighting until the 5th, maybe in part due to the injured leg. Little difficult to judge depending on how you scored the 4th (Whittaker outhit Till but Till landed the better shots, particularly that one loud counter). Till is lacking a bit of variety in his attack. He's not far away from being a real title contender if he can use some more than just countering and jumping in with the 1-2 down the middle. Whittaker hoping for a big Paulo Costa win.

Adesanya is just a naturally bad matchup for Whittaker cause Israel is fast enough and deceptive enough to constantly exploit Whittaker's lack of defensive responsibility/dipping his head down and leaving it in a very vulnerable position. As you know, it's like what Jose Torres said in Unforgivable Blackness about the potential dangers of pulling back. Guys like Anderson Silva and Adesanya rely so much on their reflexes that the only way to get to them is to catch them pulling back since they believe innately they can get away with it. However, if you don't catch them (i.e. A. Silva vs. Forrest Griffin and other Anderson maulings and most recently Whittaker-Adesanya), they're going to have a field day feasting on your over aggression to stop their counters. That's going to be Whittaker's equivalent of a puncher's chance if it is indeed a rematch. Borrachinha would still be a super tough fight, but Whittaker like tonight and his previous encounters (namely against Yoel Romero) have shown he can survive and win a war of attrition.

[Jiji]

Yup, I'm still waiting for the day somebody clips Adesanya leaning back like he does. I thought Romero with his reach and ability to mask his bombs or time them right would eventually get him at least once. Apparently Israel was very worried about that too, rightfully so, so instead he didn't throw anything. Costa is a super athlete and charges forward to land with power. He will likely get eaten up really badly but all it takes is one power punch to a tilted back head and it's nighty night.

I'd be more confident about it if Costa attacked with angles but when I think of him I think of straight line rushes a couple of levels up from  what you see in low level MMA and some bad women's and heavyweight fights in the UFC. Just watched a sweet highlight video of his UFC fights (Linkin Park and everything} and it isn't that bad, however he usually backs up his opponents to the cage after landing a big body kick or powerful hooks on the inside. He showed a really good power jab against Hall and will need that more than ever against the champ because Adesanya doesn't back up in straight lines and will be smart enough not to get pushed up against the cage and get bullied. Unlike Romero though, Costa strings together 3-5 power shots in beautiful combinations and works the body and head. I am just not sure he'll be able to land those with Adesanya's defence and control of the gap. 

[OSJ]

I may be wrong, but I think Chimaev is something pretty special. He needs a real test, but I just don't know who that would be, the guy is just deadly.

[Jiji]

Belal Muhammad would be an interesting fight for Chimaev. Good luck convincing Muhammad or any of the fighters around the top 15 to take that fight though. If not him, what about Cowboy Oliveira at the next Abu Dhabi show, whenever that is (UFC 253 maybe)?