UFC Fight Night: Swanson vs. Stephens (June 28, 2014)

[THE_LOCKSMITH]

FOX Sports 1, 10 p.m. ET
Cub Swanson vs. Jeremy Stephens
Kelvin Gastelum vs. Nicholas Musoke
Andrew Craig vs. Cezar Ferreira
Hacran Dias vs. Ricardo Lamas
Clint Hester vs. Antonio Braga Neto
Bryan Barberena vs. Joe Ellenberger

FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET
Carlos Diego Ferreira vs. Colton Smith
Johnny Bedford vs. Cody Gibson
Andy Enz vs. Marcelo Guimaraes
Ryan Benoit vs. Ray Borg

UFC Fight Pass, 7:30 p.m. ET
Anthony Hamilton vs. Oleksiy Oliynyk

[GR33D]

i dont feel stephens is a worthy opponent for cub, cub is on fire lately and deserves a higher ranked opponent. kevin is a beast imo very underated fighter who will do well as he becomes more experienced. easy fights for both of them and the odds reflect that

[Vaughany]

Musoke is focussed and has trained hard tho

[bjpenn85]

Musoke is very good. Not an easy win.

[Wilbo86]

Yeah I see some marginal value on Musoke at that price, a knock down submission is conceivable, especially with his reach advantage. I do agree Gastelum has been looking very good though.

Also see value in cub and Ferreira, won't last long though.

[bjpenn85]

Cub is good, ferreira can easily lose to andrew craig, upsets like that happens every event. The worst part is his chin. Its very bad and the guy always gets rocked so thats a big red flag and not the way to go IMO.

[Lick496]

i dont feel stephens is a worthy opponent for cub, cub is on fire lately and deserves a higher ranked opponent. kevin is a beast imo very underated fighter who will do well as he becomes more experienced. easy fights for both of them and the odds reflect that

Stephens has also been on fire thooooo

[bjpenn85]

stephans is stephans. He KOed the glass chin of rony jason, and he outstruck elkins which he should, since elkins striking isnt great. On fire usually used when someone perform out of the ordinary or impressive, i cant see stephans have done that. He has performed as we expected. When he meets technical strikers, lets say Cerrone, he was completely nullified and embarresed. He is a one trick pony and i doubt that he suddenly is going to magically outstrike a guy like cub. He may KO cub, but up until that point, he is loosing in my book.

[Wilbo86]

Yeah he's a pretty predictable one dimensional striker. Cub on the other hand has become very technical with his hands, his footwork, speed, accuracy and combinations have all looked very impressive , I chalk it up to his training at indio boxing. Side note, not many Jackson fighters have good combination striking, a pretty big problem for them IMO. Cub is an exception. He's also got a big advantage on the ground.

I took cub at open and will probably take him ITD or maybe by just Sub depending on what the KO line looks like, assume it'll be low given recent history.

[MD]

Yeah he's a pretty predictable one dimensional striker. Cub on the other hand has become very technical with his hands, his footwork, speed, accuracy and combinations have all looked very impressive , I chalk it up to his training at indio boxing. Side note, not many Jackson fighters have good combination striking, a pretty big problem for them IMO. Cub is an exception. He's also got a big advantage on the ground.

I took cub at open and will probably take him ITD or maybe by just Sub depending on what the KO line looks like, assume it'll be low given recent history.

Are you being serious? Featherweight Jeremy Stephens looks nothing like lightweight Jeremy Stephens. He's far from what he was, should be obvious if you watch tape.

[Lick496]

Cub hasn't fought for a while too

[Wilbo86]

Are you being serious? Featherweight Jeremy Stephens looks nothing like lightweight Jeremy Stephens. He's far from what he was, should be obvious if you watch tape.

Sure he's looked good, but I think people are putting too much stock in that head kick. Don't get me wrong, it was a masterpiece but at the end of the day he did his job, identified a defect in technique and punished him for it. I don't see cub giving him many opportunities like that. He's struggled against high level strikers in the past, and I put Cub firmly in that category.

[Wilbo86]

Cub hasn't fought for a while too

Yeah the time off and injury is one of my biggest concerns.

[bjpenn85]

compared to cub. Its not like hes that much better at featherweight. ohhh he went for a takedown....wow, he can stuff some. Hes not cub, hes not diverse, and hes going to lose (like that son), no point being hyperbolical haha. Although i have to say i find your rhetoric amusing.

[bjpenn85]

Watched the elkins fight again, maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan o man stephans swings for the fences. I mean, the guy doesnt know what a jab is. Footwork, same thing. I do agree. a bit concerning is the ring rust of swanson. And if that hook connects, its good night arene/that was all she wrote etc...but dont front me with that stephans is technical and has stellar footwork at 45. Im not going to listen.

[MD]

Watched the elkins fight again, maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan o man stephans swings for the fences. I mean, the guy doesnt know what a jab is. Footwork, same thing. I do agree. a bit concerning is the ring rust of swanson. And if that hook connects, its good night arene/that was all she wrote etc...but dont front me with that stephans is technical and has stellar footwork at 45. Im not going to listen.

He looked really patient and opportunistic in that fight. I certainly wouldn't say he's "swinging for the fences". Think you've oversimplifying things here.

[Wilbo86]

He looked really patient and opportunistic in that fight. I certainly wouldn't say he's "swinging for the fences". Think you've oversimplifying things here.

I'm sort of inclined to agree with him, he definately threw himself off balance slinging leather a couple times. Nothing wrong with that against a guy like Elkins but could be trouble against someone who can evade and punish it.

I think Stephens chances lie in getting a KO on the first round or two, which is definately possible,but not likely.

[bjpenn85]

Stephans style is to swing for the fences, im starting to think you dont know who jeremy stephans is. Watch that 1.round with elkins and tell me that he doesnt swing like a crazy mf?

Ok, round 2 and round 3...a lot of the same, but he is more calm, picks hes shots, but suddenly, bam...bam bam bam. I mean, it works. But is it going to cut it against swanson. 0 footwork and throwing 100 % into every shot. Maybe, but i dont think its very likely that it works. I mean cerrone played with him, because of exactly that reason. 0 footwork and fighting like a gorilla.

[bjpenn85]

Cub swanson like to keep his hand low as well...very few fighters can do that, especially against stephans.

[Vaughany]

[Vaughany]

Cub swanson like to keep his hand low as well...very few fighters can do that, especially against stephans.

yeah he is asking to be dropped at times! not quite as bad as Wineland but still

[JIBBBY]

^^^Like what I've been seeing from him lately.. I don't see Stephens dropping him because he keeps his hands down.. -235 is alot to gamble though.. I was hoping for -135 maybe going into this one..

Cub also doesn't really want to fight Stephens, this makes me think twice about taking a play on Cub Swanson... http://mmajunkie.com/2014/06/ufc-fig...ce-of-opponent

Not sure about Kelvin Gas. now... At -350 I was thinking parlay play for a second....

[JIBBBY]

ferreira can easily lose to andrew craig. The worst part is his chin. Its very bad and the guy always gets rocked so thats a big red flag and not the way to go IMO.

Good point.. I'm gonna look more closely into this fight later on as a dog play for sure..

[MD]

yeah he is asking to be dropped at times! not quite as bad as Wineland but still

Dunno where this meme comes from. Keeping your hands down is fine if you're good enough at it, it's simply trading safety for opportunity. "Keep your hands by your chin" is fine if it's your first day in a boxing class, but when you're a professional fighter, there are very few "rules".

^^^Like what I've been seeing from him lately.. I don't see Stephans dropping him because he keeps his hands down.. -235 is alot to gamble though.. I was hoping for -135 maybe going into this one..

Cub also doesn't really want to fight Stephans, this makes me think twice about taking a play on Cub Swanson...http://mmajunkie.com/2014/06/ufc-fig...ce-of-opponent

Certainly like Kevin Gus.. At -350 or so it's a parlay play for sure..

"Jibbying: To act as, or like, a jibby."

[marzwoody]

Silly girls stephens is not on cubs level, theres no debate here :P

[JIBBBY]

"Jibbying: To act as, or like, a jibby."

• Typo's man... It's early morning here on the West Coast.. Sipping my cup of Joe and hit the wrong buttons.. LOL... Can always count on you to capitalize on my mistakes MD.. Kelvin Gas...

More on Cub Swanson - http://www.mmamania.com/2014/6/16/58...-so-moment-mma

[MD]

Typo's man... LOL.. It's early morning here on the West Coast.. Sipping my cup of Joe and hit the wrong button.. Can always count on you to capitalize on it MD.. ... Kelvin Gas...

Damn straight. If you join a community and you don't know how things are done, someone's got to show you the way, normally whoever is the biggest c-nt, hence why you're stuck with me.

[Wilbo86]

Dunno where this meme comes from. Keeping your hands down is fine if you're good enough at it, it's simply trading safety for opportunity. "Keep your hands by your chin" is fine if it's your first day in a boxing class, but when you're a professional fighter, there are very few "rules"

Yep, there's so much more to good defense than a high guard. Foot work, positioning and distance control are all far above a high guard and parrying punches in terms of importance IMO. It was so frustrating hearing Rogan scream about how Anderson got knocked out because his hands were down. Showed a complete lack of understanding of sticking defense. Sure, it might have made a difference but he got KOd because he was completely out of position, standing square and leaning back with no base to absorb even the slightest punch. Not to mentionthat he never has a high guard and equally touted him as the best snd most dangerous strikers in MMA, which is true. I like Rogan but this stuff come up so often and he's completely off base.

Rant complete

[Vaughany]

Yep, there's so much more to good defense than a high guard. Foot work, positioning and distance control are all far above a high guard and parrying punches in terms of importance IMO. It was so frustrating hearing Rogan scream about how Anderson got knocked out because his hands were down. Showed a complete lack of understanding of sticking defense. Sure, it might have made a difference but he got KOd because he was completely out of position, standing square and leaning back with no base to absorb even the slightest punch. Not to mentionthat he never has a high guard and equally touted him as the best snd most dangerous strikers in MMA, which is true. I like Rogan but this stuff come up so often and he's completely off base.

Rant complete

Well ye, its the same as anything, its great until it gets found out.

[Wilbo86]

Well ye, its the same as anything, its great until it gets found out.

What do you mean "found out?". As in fighters train to exploit?

[MD]

What do you mean "found out?". As in fighters train to exploit?

Someone tweeted Weidman and let him know that he could hit Anderson while Anderson has his hands down. Okami didn't get the memo apparently.

[Ron_Paul_2012]

Are you being serious? Featherweight Jeremy Stephens looks nothing like lightweight Jeremy Stephens. He's far from what he was, should be obvious if you watch tape.

Of course. However, what is obvious to you or I is opaque to someone like Wilbo86.

[Wilbo86]

Of course. However, what is obvious to you or I is opaque to someone like Wilbo86.

Dude I thought we had an unspoken agreement to be civil and avoid each other?

[Wilbo86]

Happy to have constructive discussions but won't be engaging in personal feuds any more.

If it matters, I'll go on the record and say I have decent sized plays on Swanson to Win and ITD. If you want to prove how much of a moron I am feel free to post you opinions and plays on the fight and your reasoning.

[Vaughany]

What do you mean "found out?". As in fighters train to exploit?

As in rogan creams over andersons style then when he is tooling dudes with his style, then when somebody finally connects and puts him out its suddenly because andersons style was asking for it.