UFC 235 - Jones vs Smith, Woodley vs Usman - Sat March 2nd

Outlaw Pete

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 3am)

Champ Jon Jones vs. Anthony Smith (Light Heavyweight title)
Champ Tyron Woodley vs. Kamaru Usman (Welterweight title)
Ben Askren vs. Robbie Lawler
Tecia Torres vs. Weili Zhang
Cody Garbrandt vs. Pedro Munhoz

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN, 1am)

Zabit Magomedsharipov vs. Jeremy Stephens
Misha Cirkunov vs. Johnny Walker
Alejandro Perez vs. Cody Stamann
Mickey Gall vs. Diego Sanchez

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 11:15pm)

Charles Byrd vs. Edmen Shahbazyan
Macy Chiasson vs. Gina Mazany
Frankie Saenz vs. Marlon Vera
Hannah Cifers vs. Polyana Viana

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amT9lzCOdjg

Episode II

dulux99

My body is ready. What a fookin card. Yikes.

martyos121

Work is going to be slow this week waiting for this to roll around, pray to the MMA gods the card stays intact. In the three big fights, I’d go for Askren, Usman and Jones, all on points. I feel that Lionheart will surprise a few and be competitive for a couple of rounds and have the durability to go the distance, but won’t have the class to beat one of the best ever.

ricero

The pre-lims are quality

LessOutragePlz

I'd like to see John Jones get beaten but I know that realistically it isn't going to happen the bookies have Smith to win @ 7/1 so like everyone else they're giving him no chance.

tommyboy26

martyos121 wrote: »

Work is going to be slow this week waiting for this to roll around, pray to the MMA gods the card stays intact. In the three big fights, I’d go for Askren, Usman and Jones, all on points. I feel that Lionheart will surprise a few and be competitive for a couple of rounds and have the durability to go the distance, but won’t have the class to beat one of the best ever.

really you think usman beats woodley? can i ask why you think that? im not trying to be smart or condescending. i am genuinely interested

martyos121

tommyboy26 wrote: »

really you think usman beats woodley? can i ask why you think that? im not trying to be smart or condescending. i am genuinely interested

I’m not saying he definitely beats him or anything remotely similar, it’s really close for me so a prediction of any sort is a tenuous one, but I’m giving him the slight edge for a few reasons (some of them conditional). He appears to have the cardio to match Woodley and seems to grow into fights rather than tire which is a useful ability against someone as well-conditioned as Woodley, and he has a decent bit of 5 round experience at this stage so the championship rounds shouldn’t be the undoing of this particular challenger. Also, his striking has come on a long way over the past year and a half, still not elite of course but he shouldn’t feel too uncomfortable standing up with Woodley, even though that right overhand can put him down at any point. I think the standup battle is fairly even, and will be cautious early on.

I’m not entirely sure what sort of fight we’ll see, but I can imagine Usman trying to hold Woodley up against the cage for a good portion of the early rounds and draining the power out of his arms for the rest of the fight and possibly taking away any fear of the big right hand. If he can dominate the clinch early on, I’d give him a great chance of winning tbh, but Woodley is also one of the best in that area so it’s tough to call. The first grappling exchange will tell a lot, it’s hard to say who the stronger of the two is until we see them engage even though most will just assume Woodley is before the bell even rings. I feel he might finally be meeting someone who can compete with his wrestling, he hasn’t had that since he fought Rory who showed that he can be taken down and controlled on the ground when he got on top of him in the last round of that fight. Still, Woodley has improved a lot since that fight so again, we’ll see on the night to what degree.

It’s the most interesting fight on the card for me even though there’ll be little excitement, and as intelligent and supremely athletic as Woodley is, it’s a much tougher fight for him than many seem to realise. Even though I’d pick Usman to win by grinding out a tight decision victory (and as I said before, it’s a tenuous prediction made originally for the sake of choosing winners in the three big fights), I wouldn’t be putting money on it either. Just looking forward to seeing how it pans out, certainly not writing Tyron off as he’s quite clearly one of the best welterweights in the history of the UFC.

Mr. Manager

Would have thought the game plan you spelled out for Usman is exactly what Woodley will do. Just my two cents though

Personally can only see a decision from Woodley although I'd absolutely love to see him dethroned

Subcomandante Marcos

Woodley will just let him comforward, like he always does, and then poleaxe him with the pull back right, like he always does.

There's nothing Usman can do that woodley can't do better.

tommyboy26

martyos121 wrote: »

I’m not saying he definitely beats him or anything remotely similar, it’s really close for me so a prediction of any sort is a tenuous one, but I’m giving him the slight edge for a few reasons (some of them conditional). He appears to have the cardio to match Woodley and seems to grow into fights rather than tire which is a useful ability against someone as well-conditioned as Woodley, and he has a decent bit of 5 round experience at this stage so the championship rounds shouldn’t be the undoing of this particular challenger. Also, his striking has come on a long way over the past year and a half, still not elite of course but he shouldn’t feel too uncomfortable standing up with Woodley, even though that right overhand can put him down at any point. I think the standup battle is fairly even, and will be cautious early on.

I’m not entirely sure what sort of fight we’ll see, but I can imagine Usman trying to hold Woodley up against the cage for a good portion of the early rounds and draining the power out of his arms for the rest of the fight and possibly taking away any fear of the big right hand. If he can dominate the clinch early on, I’d give him a great chance of winning tbh, but Woodley is also one of the best in that area so it’s tough to call. The first grappling exchange will tell a lot, it’s hard to say who the stronger of the two is until we see them engage even though most will just assume Woodley is before the bell even rings. I feel he might finally be meeting someone who can compete with his wrestling, he hasn’t had that since he fought Rory who showed that he can be taken down and controlled on the ground when he got on top of him in the last round of that fight. Still, Woodley has improved a lot since that fight so again, we’ll see on the night to what degree.

It’s the most interesting fight on the card for me even though there’ll be little excitement, and as intelligent and supremely athletic as Woodley is, it’s a much tougher fight for him than many seem to realise. Even though I’d pick Usman to win by grinding out a tight decision victory (and as I said before, it’s a tenuous prediction made originally for the sake of choosing winners in the three big fights), I wouldn’t be putting money on it either. Just looking forward to seeing how it pans out, certainly not writing Tyron off as he’s quite clearly one of the best welterweights in the history of the UFC.

i agree with the majority of what your saying. it is the fight i am most looking forward to. i think woodley edges the victory for the following reasons. he has a black belt in jiu jitsu which gives him the edge on the ground which i think makes a massive difference given that they're wrestling is fairly matched. usman has not really been tested the way woodley has that plus the amount of experience woodley has over usman.

woodley has that killer right hand that he can unload at any time which is a fight stopper. all that been said its a fight and when the cage door closes who knows what can happen:D

pastorbarrett

Have never been quite sure why so many are eager to see Woodley fall; for me, he's easily the most impressive champ in the past few years. His record speaks for itself and here's hoping time will look more kindly on his considerable achievements.

MrStuffins

It's his attitude. He's a bit corny and he's very quick to pull the race card at every opportunity. Not to mention plugging his rap songs i his post-fight interviews.

Ush1

MrStuffins wrote: »

It's his attitude. He's a bit corny and he's very quick to pull the race card at every opportunity. Not to mention plugging his rap songs i his post-fight interviews.

Agree, find his personality very boring.

In fairness, I find a lot of Americans lack a real sense of humour and it's like they've had a lobotomy.

Gamb!t

Looking forward to this,Some great fights on next weekend.

theteal

As I tend to avoid anything Jones related I was completely oblivious to this card. Dang, some proper stackage there.

Interested to see how Stephens goes at Zabit - will we see another one of those sidestep sweeps???


Ha ha, still no Askren image on the card on UFC.com

mailburner

I've long thought Usman was the man in that div that has the
best chance against woodley and think he might just win it on pts by doing
that little bit more over five.


All I'm seeing is five rounds of both standing and think usman may do enough
to get a points win, whether he can take that right hand I don't know though but I think he can go harder for five than woodley.

I can't see it being entertaining but if it's even going into the fifth that won't be so bad.
That first round will be 5 mins of caution imo

callaway92

Love the card.

Not sure I can see any scenario where Usman beats Woodley.

For Smith to beat Jones he'd need to blitz him within the first 30 seconds or he can forget about it.

JJayoo

Is Stephens a scientologist now? Was talking some mad sh1t to Ariel.

The Floyd p

JJayoo wrote: »

Is Stephens a scientologist now? Was talking some mad sh1t to Ariel.

Talking about feeling suicidal and his childhood issues. Was interesting tbh, there must be some amount of pressure associated with being a top level fighter.

Outlaw Pete

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_fzzYSXxkA

xckjoo

Best card in a while. Looking forward to all the main fights.

Predicting Jones, Woodley and Askren in the big ones. Can't see Usman beating Woodley. I think he's one of the best fighters out there at the moment. Tactical, fast and skilled. He's the blueprint for the modern pro MMA fighter. Don't care about him outside the ring. Let him rap all he wants. I won't be buying it unless it's good :pac:

The Askren pick is heart more than true belief. He might be a bit one dimensional as a fighter but he's so deep into that dimension it's hard to beat him. Can't wait to see what he brings to UFC and the WW division. Unless he gets picked apart on his feet every time he enters the ring, he should force the grappling level to evolve.

Jones is Jones. He'll probably win.



Does anyone know how long it'll take for this to appear on Fight Pass? I'm away the night it's on

Autecher

The Vera v Saenz fight has been removed from the card as Vera has an illness.

Subcomandante Marcos

Autecher wrote: »

The Vera v Saenz fight has been removed from the card as Vera has an illness.

Please MMA gods accept this sacrifice in honour of this card and allow the other fights to make weight healthy and ready to fight on Saturday.

Autecher

Subcomandante Marcos wrote: »

Please MMA gods accept this sacrifice in honour of this card and allow the other fights to make weight healthy and ready to fight on Saturday.

I'm sure this won't be a popular opinion at all but they could lose the 2 title fights and I wouldn't care at all. I have zero interest in either of them.

Outlaw Pete

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBDIOz4mepg

xckjoo

Outlaw Pete wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBDIOz4mepg

Some height difference between Jones and Woodley. I clearly lose a sense of scale just seeing them fight similarly sized people in the ring.

akelly02

lads what is aksren like??

ive never seen him

Subcomandante Marcos

akelly02 wrote: »

lads what is aksren like??

ive never seen him

The most dominant grappler in MMA.

akelly02

Subcomandante Marcos wrote: »

The most dominant grappler in MMA.

sweet

Whelo79

I see they are going to have microchip sensors in the gloves this weekend. It will be interesting to see the results of velocity and force (providing they released them).

xckjoo

Whelo79 wrote: »

I see they are going to have microchip sensors in the gloves this weekend. It will be interesting to see the results of velocity and force (providing they released them).

Had to laugh when Askren said they'd think his is broken because the readings would be so low.

The Nal

Great card really looking forward to this one. Quality all over the card.

Any rumours of Askren vs Khabib?

ASOT

Jon Jones and his picos.

https://twitter.com/MMAjunkieJohn/status/1101198573864050688?s=19

2 x Adverse
3 x Clean

Southdubin6

Cannot wait to Zabit. The guy is an animal. Love his ninja ****

Southdubin6

The Nal wrote: »

Great card really looking forward to this one. Quality all over the card.

Any rumours of Askren vs Khabib?

Funky would maul Khabib

Paully D

https://twitter.com/arielhelwani/status/1101222760691322880?s=21

Yawn.

Alf Veedersane

Woodley has had his beard designed by an architect.

Says he wants to beat Colby after Usman and then go take the MW belt.

Heard Colby interviewed the other day. I hope they give him a fight where he get a his face smashed in soon. He's not cut out for the trash talk...he's terrible at it.

Zabit did not look impressed that Stephens walked off without shaking hands at meeja day staredowns.

Cody had turned a set of 1970s massage parlour curtains into a shirt. Credit to him for recycling

Outlaw Pete

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbIsnugaxOQ

ASOT

Colby just crashed Usmans open workout with megaphone & his belt. :pac:

https://twitter.com/arielhelwani/status/1101245218924388353?s=19

mailburner

ASOT wrote: »

Colby just crashed Usmans open workout with megaphone & his belt. :pac:

https://twitter.com/arielhelwani/status/1101245218924388353?s=19

pure cringe
Then again gastelum took cringe to a new level a few weeks back

ricero

The goat Colby Covington Is the king troll of mma !

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

Askren is a master troll. Also think he helps 'show' that Woodley is a funny guy with a decent personality. As long as he doesn't bring any race issues into it, he's just a regular dude trying to make as much money as he can for his family.
Like someone else said, he fights the perfect way for longevity. Maybe the same as Askren but haven't seen any of his full fights yet? Nobody should be expected to stand and bang for 3/5 rounds every fight, when a career can so short.

This has the potential of being card of the year going by all the name recognition and match ups. Am really excited for it. I just always want the fights to be on a Friday night/Saturday morning for convenience sake, and start 4 hours earlier.

Paully D

https://twitter.com/mrmwellsart/status/1101390312520458241?s=21

Colby is a pain the hole but this was funny, Dana wasn’t happy at all :pac:

mailburner

from twitter


On this episode of how to get released from the UFC... :pac:

ASOT

**** sake lads Colby is growing on me :pac:

xckjoo

ASOT wrote: »

**** sake lads Colby is growing on me :pac:

I think he's a great fighter and most of the other stuff is an act to self-promote. I don't think he's a natural at playing the heel, but it seems to be working for him and the man has to make a living. As long as he keeps backing it up inside the cage then so be it

Whelo79

ASOT wrote: »

**** sake lads Colby is growing on me :pac:

Growing on you? The idea was good but as soon as he was told to turn the camera off he gave in immediately like a well behaved child.

At least have some balls, follow it through and get thrown out by security or something.

It reminds me of him running to the police when Werdum hit him with the boomerang. Pussy.

JitzNdHitz

ASOT wrote: »

**** sake lads Colby is growing on me :pac:

I dislike his constant attitude, even outside of selling fights he's a plonker. Talented guy just hope he gets beaten 100% of the time.

dave1982

Should have done a tito and crashed presser

ASOT

Ah I just enjoy the wrestling style promos the odd time that's why he's growing on me, but God help us if he somehow won the actual belt.

tommyboy26

Whelo79 wrote: »

Growing on you? The idea was good but as soon as he was told to turn the camera off he gave in immediately like a well behaved child.

At least have some balls, follow it through and get thrown out by security or something.

It reminds me of him running to the police when Werdum hit him with the boomerang. Pussy.

JitzNdHitz wrote: »

I dislike his constant attitude, even outside of selling fights he's a plonker. Talented guy just hope he gets beaten 100% of the time.

this plus a million. the guy is a pure gob sh1te can not stand him at all. he cant turn a fight down and then b1tch about not getting to fight for the belt.