UFC 221: Rockhold vs. Romero (February 10, 2018)

[THE_LOCKSMITH]

Pay-per-view 10:00 pm ET
Luke Rockhold vs Yoel Romero (for interim middleweight title)
Curtis Blaydes vs Mark Hunt
Cyril asker vs Tai Tuivasa
Li Jingliang vs Jake Mattews
Tyson Pedro vs Saparbek Safarov

FS1, 8:00 pm ET
Damien Brown vs Dong Hyum Kim
Israel Adesanya vs Rob Wilkinson
Jeremy Kennedy vs Alex Volkanovski
Jussier Formiga vs Ben Nguyen

UFC Fight Pass 6:45 pm ET
Mizuto Hirota vs Ross Pearson
Teruto Ishihara vs Jose Quinonez
Daichi Abe vs Luke Jumeau

[THE_LOCKSMITH]

[firekillex]

Luke Rockhold ITD rd 4 finish
best 185er on the planet

[Demonata]

Luke Rockhold ITD rd 4 finish
best 185er on the planet

Man I'm loving curtis blades to beat mark hunt.

[firekillex]

Man I'm loving curtis blades to beat mark hunt.

Depends where the odds are at... Mark Hunt is a very tough guy to get down unless youre an elite grappler
but Mark Hunt mentally could be in a bad place, if Blaydes is +200 or something id take a shot


looking forward to seeing Tyson Pedro fight again as welll

darkhorse fight of the card is Formiga vs Nguyen

[Hugo de Naranja]

I'm excited to see Israel Adesanya make his UFC Debut.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRkVkWw6fo8&t=71s

[Demonata]

Depends where the odds are at... Mark Hunt is a very tough guy to get down unless youre an elite grappler
but Mark Hunt mentally could be in a bad place, if Blaydes is +200 or something id take a shot


looking forward to seeing Tyson Pedro fight again as welll

darkhorse fight of the card is Formiga vs Nguyen

I actually think blades should be the favorite. Looked tough in his fights and Mark hunt getting hold. If blades can handle ngannous punches and still stand then he can handle hunts punches.

[Hugo de Naranja]

I actually think blades should be the favorite. Looked tough in his fights and Mark hunt getting hold. If blades can handle ngannous punches and still stand then he can handle hunts punches.

I agree.

[firekillex]

name value and Hunt in Australia id be surprised to see Blaydes the FAV but well see soon
if youre gonna bet Blaydes id go by decision especially 3 rounds, highly doubt hell finish Hunt if he wins

[Sanity Check]

The 30-27 in the Justine Kish fight and the 30-27 in the Camacho fight.

Will there be a review?

[firekillex]

The 30-27 in the Justine Kish fight and the 30-27 in the Camacho fight.

Will there be a review?

judges dont get held accountable.. nothing will happen of this

[Hugo de Naranja]

name value and Hunt in Australia id be surprised to see Blaydes the FAV but well see soon
if youre gonna bet Blaydes id go by decision especially 3 rounds, highly doubt hell finish Hunt if he wins

Whys that? I think Hunt’s durability is highly overrated. Dude has been finished in all of his career losses (not counting the Lesnar fight which was overturned to a No Contest)

[TPowell]

Whys that? I think Hunt’s durability is highly overrated. Dude has been finished in all of his career losses (not counting the Lesnar fight which was overturned to a No Contest)

I agree and Blaydes most likely path to a finish is a ground TKO stoppage where Mark Hunt's toughness doesn't really come into play anyway

[firekillex]

looking at Hunts record hes only lost/been finished by top 5 HWs
Overeem, Stipe, JDS, Werdum.... His chin is definitely falling off a bit no doubt, but he is very savy and not getting hit flush unless its a faster/ very athletic HW... Maybe i gotta watch more Blaydes tape but i dont see him finishing Hunt in Australia
Hunt survived GNP against a beast in Brock Lesnar and was beat to a fckin pulp by Stipe for 5 rounds.. i think he can last 3 with Blaydes, but well see it is HW anybody can be finished any second and Blaydes only has 1 decision win

[Hugo de Naranja]

looking at Hunts record hes only lost/been finished by top 5 HWs
Overeem, Stipe, JDS, Werdum.... His chin is definitely falling off a bit no doubt, but he is very savy and not getting hit flush unless its a faster/ very athletic HW... Maybe i gotta watch more Blaydes tape but i dont see him finishing Hunt in Australia
Hunt survived GNP against a beast in Brock Lesnar and was beat to a fckin pulp by Stipe for 5 rounds.. i think he can last 3 with Blaydes, but well see it is HW anybody can be finished any second and Blaydes only has 1 decision win

Yeah I'm definitely looking forward to that one.

[TPowell]

Looking at the FN card. Did tape study on the chick opener with Joe Stevenson's wife. Tape on her was super hard to come by and I'm not done with her yet but wow. Amateur boxing background and then she stopped to be a wife/mom, came back in 2012 and went 1-4 as a pro in MMA. Won her next 5 bouts against girls with a combined ZERO wins in their careers before going to TUF and getting subbed by Eubanks. She definitely has the mom quit in her as she has been finished multiple times already. Polyana Viana is really exciting to watch. She wings punches from her hips and is vicious when she smells blood but she is very stiff and her punches are awful even though she does pack some power for 115 pounds. She constantly gets kicks caught and taken down BUT her ground game is really good. She attacks a ton from her back and has won 2-3 fights that way as a pro. She chains subs together well and isn't afraid to throw punches either which I love. Unfortunately there is NO WAY I can play the total on this fight with a girl as aggressive as Viana

[Hugo de Naranja]

Looking at the FN card. Did tape study on the chick opener with Joe Stevenson's wife. Tape on her was super hard to come by and I'm not done with her yet but wow. Amateur boxing background and then she stopped to be a wife/mom, came back in 2012 and went 1-4 as a pro in MMA. Won her next 5 bouts against girls with a combined ZERO wins in their careers before going to TUF and getting subbed by Eubanks. She definitely has the mom quit in her as she has been finished multiple times already. Polyana Viana is really exciting to watch. She wings punches from her hips and is vicious when she smells blood but she is very stiff and her punches are awful even though she does pack some power for 115 pounds. She constantly gets kicks caught and taken down BUT her ground game is really good. She attacks a ton from her back and has won 2-3 fights that way as a pro. She chains subs together well and isn't afraid to throw punches either which I love. Unfortunately there is NO WAY I can play the total on this fight with a girl as aggressive as Viana

What about Viana ITD?

[Demonata]

name value and Hunt in Australia id be surprised to see Blaydes the FAV but well see soon
if youre gonna bet Blaydes id go by decision especially 3 rounds, highly doubt hell finish Hunt if he wins

Mark hunt is 43 years old. Only 5 ft 10 with a 74 inch reach. Going against blades who's 6 ft 4 with an 82 inch reach. I don't think hunt is quick enough to swarm blades at all. Hunt won't be able to counter blades at all hunts only chance is if blades does something stupid. More athletic and has height and reach advantage. I think blades is a great up and comer with a lot of skill. Hunt beat lewis but Lewis just looked bad the whole fight and looked like he was worried about the honeymoon and marriage etc. He didn't fight well at all. Also hunt beating super old Frank Mir who I think should retire and is in bellator now. Also Bigfootwin didn't impress me. Just I'm not buying hunt at all. I think this fight is set up perfect for blades to win. Hunt should retire. I think blades will be too quick.

[firekillex]

no doubt Hunt isnt that great , but HW is the most shallow trash division in the UFC / MMA its very top heavy.... Hunt is actually a great gatekeeper if you think about it, he losses to any top 5 elite guy and beats everybody else... he just beat derrick lewis, wonder if Blaydes will show he deserves some love and get a top guy next?? Hunt is very small / stocky which actually helps him shed takedowns only thing because that dudes legs are like tree trunks... I think hell be very motivated in his homestate though
imo its either Hunt TKO or Blaydes decision for me... should be interesting though


not huge names on the card but some exciting fights...

[Demonata]

no doubt Hunt isnt that great , but HW is the most shallow trash division in the UFC / MMA its very top heavy.... Hunt is actually a great gatekeeper if you think about it, he losses to any top 5 elite guy and beats everybody else... he just beat derrick lewis, wonder if Blaydes will show he deserves some love and get a top guy next?? Hunt is very small / stocky which actually helps him shed takedowns only thing because that dudes legs are like tree trunks... I think hell be very motivated in his homestate though
imo its either Hunt TKO or Blaydes decision for me... should be interesting though


not huge names on the card but some exciting fights...

I think blades going to be -150 or even -200. I don't buy home crowds at all. Look.at what happened last night to Brunson. Or to Gustafson in Sweden against rumble. I think hunt needs a mistake as only chance. If blades uses his range and fights smart will win easy. Blades got beat to death by ngannou and still kept standing. I really want to see the line though.

[TPowell]

What about Viana ITD?

Certainly a possibility. I would love to see some Viana +400 ITD but not sure that will happen given her ability to finish. Hard for me to play much more than +300 on a 115 pound ITD

[Shagdogy]

Certainly a possibility. I would love to see some Viana +400 ITD but not sure that will happen given her ability to finish. Hard for me to play much more than +300 on a 115 pound ITD

The record of Stevenson is suuuuuper padded with cans, but she does have a boxing background and Viana might be the least technical striker I've seen tape of yet. She does pack a punch at least. This is not a quality fight. Not sure why these girls are in the UFC.

[Demonata]

Curtis blades -190! I love him to win! He has so many advantages. I predicted he would be -150 or -200 against mark hunt. I can't wait for this fight. Might bet huge on him

[Hugo de Naranja]

Curtis blades -190! I love him to win! He has so many advantages. I predicted he would be -150 or -200 against mark hunt. I can't wait for this fight. Might bet huge on him

Opened (-120)

[Demonata]

Opened (-120)

Damn.... I wish i would have jumped on it

[Hugo de Naranja]

Damn.... I wish i would have jumped on it

Same here. I ended up parlaying it at (-165) with Bektic -3.5 from last week. Bektic -3.5/Blaydes (+122) 2.5u. Let's get it!

[TPowell]

Down to -165. I'm not touching it unless it drops below -150 for sure though.

[rsynweap84]

Goin big on Tuivasa, Asker's a dead man!

[Thrilla]

MMA Pros pick Hunt vs Blaydes.

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[Thrilla]

I'm excited to see Israel Adesanya make his UFC Debut.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRkVkWw6fo8&t=71s

Unproven ground game. Striking looks like weaker version of Bonjasky/A.Silva and MVP. Beats nobodies in highlight video.

[Hugo de Naranja]

Unproven ground game. Striking looks like weaker version of Bonjasky/A.Silva and MVP. Beats nobodies in highlight video.

We'll see buddy.

[Shagdogy]

Unproven ground game. Striking looks like weaker version of Bonjasky/A.Silva and MVP. Beats nobodies in highlight video.

Calling his ground game unproven is fair, but in brief moments it seems obvious he's at least trained it. He has shown a nasty wizard and a good trip/toss, both making good use of his long limbs and leverage.

His striking though? Not sure what holes you are seeing. He switches stances seamlessly and throws every attack to every target from both stances. He's exceptionally long, and controls the distance very very well. He takes almost no clean strikes at all.

Also, have you seen Rob Wilkinsons's striking? His hands are low and slow by halfway in round 2 and they never have all that much speed to begin with. He will get absolutely picked apart if he can't land the TDs.

The only thing we really don't know that I would like to know is if Adesanya can stuff a double leg shot against the cage. He's very tall and I could see Wilkinson getting in on his hips and sucking the legs out. But maybe Adesanya can use his length and footwork to keep Wilkinson from even getting in deep.

I've got Adesanya favored significantly. If Wilkinson can't dominate on the mat in round 1 I think things turn real bad for him when he slows a little in the standup.

[MMANick]

Pedro/Tuivasa parlay = Winning?

[Shagdogy]

Pedro/Tuivasa parlay = Winning?

Hometown fighters have been on a strong run lately.

[turbozed]

Anybody see a path for victory for Matthews here? He has looked absolutely horrible in his last couple of fights. Had double hip surgery in late 2016 early 2017 and it looks like it's affected his athleticism a bit. Also looks hesitant to throw. I guess Matthews can try to grind Li out like he tried against Bojan in that first round. But Matthews gassed himself badly doing that, and Li seems bigger and stronger than Bojan. Li also used to be a pressure grinder as well and his counterwrestling seems improved since early days.

Was expecting Li to be too chalked to bet especially after an impressive 1st round performance against Ottow but he's hanging around at -195 still. Think he wins more than 66% of the time against Matthews.