Jakro's MMA Musings

Somehow, with some decent luck I keep my win streak alive. Main Card The Main Event went pretty much as expected, with Edgar struggling to get a takedown and then getting starched on the feet. KZ called out the champ, and you would not begrudge him for getting a title shot after the manner he has been dispatching guys away lately. Still he probably will have to wait until Max and Volkanovski rematch.  The Co-Main had a controversial decision, but it was a close fight. That being said, I did not feel confident going into the decision, there was inevitability that Rakic had the first two rounds, although the look on Rakic's face said it all at the end of 3rd - he was defeated man. As a fight, the vicious leg kicks and constant pressure brought Oezdemir the win, but again judging by round system it seemed like Rakic had done enough. I don't mind either way, it's a matter of perspective and luck here to get a pick right. I feel that Oezdemir was the better fighter i...

Real last minute previews, I thought I would have plenty of time to write these today, but blackout had other ideas. Main Event: Frankie Edgar vs. Chan Sung Jung Edgar is by no means shot or anything, just has seen his best days and is really up there in age. Korean Zombie hits hard, is more rangy and can grapple very well. This should look a lot like Frankie's match with Holloway, with him getting pieced up from the outside. That being said, Zombie has also been KOd a few times and he might be more willing to engage in some slugfest, which Edgar might very well win.  Still, at his age Edgar is no longer a fighter you can rely on these kind of top level matchups. Korean Zombie via UD. Co-Main Event: Volkan Oezdemir vs. Aleksandar Rakic This one is a tough one, cause I do see Rakic as one of the best prospects in LHW division right now, but they really are throwing him into the deep end with this match up. Oezdemir might have fallen little short of being a real title con...

I did not write anywhere, but I had an inkling that we would at least have one new champ this weekend although I picked the defending champ in all of the title fights. Very competitive fights through the main card, let's get straight into it. Main Card Colby and Marty had an absolute war. All in all, Usman was the better fighter in almost every regard, but not by a wide margin, which made for a captivating fight until the end. Usman was clearly winning the fight, but the scorecards were very even so the fight was up for grabs in the 5th. He did not leave it to the judges but eventually Colby's durability was the one that ran out. Man, Usman will be tough guy to beat cause he is absolute terminator as a wrestlefucker and can just eat shots all day long.  In the Co-Main we got a new champ. I am not surprised fuckers, although I did pick Holloway. Volkanovski had the kind of Poirier-esque combination of strength, speed and cardio to damage Holloway enough before his pace s...

Intro Main Event: Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington It is unlikely we will see a finish in this match between two durable guys with wrestling-heavy styles. Usman has 4 decisions in a row, Colby 5. Both are in their prime and will for sure come to the match in incredible shape.  Both guys have similar, hard to counter style and it is hard to find much differences between the two. Both have excellent cardio and top of the division wrestling. It seems unlikely that this will be a range kickboxing match, something that I would perhaps give Covington a slight advantage in. Nah, both guys like to pressure and gets close, so we will likely see lot of clinch exhanges.  It seems like Colby is the more technical striker of the two and Usman the more powerful guy. The fight is likely to come down to whoever has a wrestling advantage. It is hard to say, but I am inclined to think it is Usman who just has been more consistently good.  In the end it will be a close match...

Another great night of fights, and especially great night of bets. Thanks to couple of draw decisions, I only got one pick outright done tonight. I am either getting really good at this, or I just happen to be running at particularly good streak of luck. Let's get into breaking down the fights. The Main Card Overeem fought the perfect fight against Jairzinho, yet he got, as I expected, obliterated in the end. It took until the very last seconds for that to happen, with Jairzinho finally landing that clean, hard shot he had been looking for all evening. Overeem grappled and hung well with him on the feet, avoiding taking anything clean all match, and anything that sort of semi-landed, his chin actually took. Good on him. Didn't change the fact the KO in the end was absolutely vicious, but at least it was a good sign he did stay conscious despite the hellacious shot. He was done nonetheless. The co-main was extremely close as expected, with it leaning bit more on Calvillo ...

Alright there was a couple of week break without UFC events, which you would think of as a welcome change to replenish some energy after 11 weeks straight of writing previews, but all it really did was destroy my research habits so these are done last minute once again. Let's get straight into it. Main Event: Alistair Overeem vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik Wow got Jairzinho's name right with the first attempt. Anyway, Overeem should be the clearly better fighter, but his chin has already bee completely pulverized by a long career, and Jairzinho put Arlovski down with a jab. Overeem's path to victory is via grappling, Jairzinho definitely is crude in that department but I just can't trust Overeem to not get obliterated in the opening exchanges. Jairzinho via 1st round KO. Co-Main Event: Marina Rodriguez vs. Cynthia Calvillo It is good matchmaking... for a prelim fight. Weird that it gets the nod for Co-Main. That aside, the fighters are very evenly matched, with Marin...