The highlight of that had to be Lawler not even bothering to take any of his clothes off at the official weigh in and making weight easily. Just this look of "really nigga".
He really looked bad against both Santos and Reyes, amazingly so. I think it's just him fighting using that Jackson-Wink style that appears to be outdated. A lot of his early career was him fighting laughably small light-heavyweights, guys who today would be not even big middleweights. Machida, Rashad, Belfort, Chael or later guys who, because they are light heavyweights, just aren't that good. OSP, Anthony Smith, even guys like Santos or Reyes aren't that fantastic skills wise. Reyes can't seem to defend past that first layer against any combination punchers for example.
Holy shit I hadn't seen that, but it just makes everything worse. Honestly hope Lawler smashes Diaz even more now.
I think Moraes is underrated in this fight. Back to back TKOs don't look good but I think the fact they were by Font and Sandhagen mitigate them a bit. Merab has impressive cardio and takedowns, so I wouldn't be shocked to see get a decision win, but I think Moraes is enough of a step up in competition that he will get the win over Merab.
I think you're spot on about Volk. He definitely has the striking advantage to win, it's just a case of whether or not he can avoid getting himself in a dumb position.
I'm shocked, shocked I tells ya. I'd be a little surprised if they didn't do an interim fight because they like having titles for the marquee shows like Dubai. It'll be interesting to see what happens to Sterling when he comes back. I'm guessing he'll bitch and moan if he doesn't get an immediate title shot (which he in no way deserves). Honestly Sterling's actions since getting the belt might have him down as the worst champ of all time, which is an accomplishment given Nicco Montano and GDR's shitshow title reigns.
I'm not sure. When he got hit by both Sandhagen and Font he had this look of "oh fuck", just very Renan Barao esq. With him being mainly being a kicker against Merab, I think this is a setup bit of matchmaking to push Merab. If he can hurt and spark him early I think he will be ok, but once it gets mean/dirty I think he's going to go wide eyed again.
Thing is, DC and anyone who knew about neck surgeries predicted this exactly. That shit doesn't heal quickly, even bloody Yan said earlier this month that Aljo would pull out. I don't understand how he is getting so much leeway. The only thing I can think of is that he is Matt Serra's guy, which saves him from being stripped. This bantamweight belt is cursed. Can no one get a run out of it without some form of controversy? Apparently they are talking to Sandhagen to make an interim belt.
I don't think Marlon resilient enought to come back cardio wise and mentaly if he gets taken down.
This more than anything imo. That Cejudo fight seemed to do something to him imo. He was fighting the perfect fight for one round, and then Cejudo decided to just screw the nice clean exchanges and just get really mean, bite down, clinch and punch him, and he seemed to just crack both cardio wise and mentally, and we see that in his next few fights as well. He just seems to go wide eyed when he can't get the perfect exchange in his favour.
I unironically think it's been because the UFC doesn't really give a shit about bantamweight. Like the Ngannou thing was because the UFC sees HW as a marquee division and they wanted Lewis headlining for the title in his hometown. Meanwhile the BW title is usually second string to something they care more about so they've not really felt the need to push Aljo up until now.
Given how that belt has been handled since TJ popped, this wouldn't be surprising. They had something in Cejudo, then he retired to try and power move and get a better deal, didn't work, so now this belt has been bumped around left and right. Ridiculous.
It's a real shame. He really reminds me of Renan Barao now. After a massive beating from Cejudo he just goes wide eyed when he faces any form of serious resilience. I keep saying he wants to have that perfect exchange because that's pretty much how his run up to the title fight with Cejudo happened. After a few split decisions when coming in, he then has perfect exchanges early that gives him highlight reel finishes, be it the Aljo knee KO, the Riveira headkick, or the sub against Assuncao. Now he can't seem to get them and mentally breaks when he can't.
