Official Women's Division Discussion #27

Thursday December 10, 2020

[MMA] Bellator 254: Macfarlane vs. Velasquez Uncasvillem Connecticut, USA
Main Card – CBS Sports Network – 10:00pm ET / 7:00pm PT
Ilima-Lei Macfarlane vs. Juliana Velasquez
Preliminary Card – YouTube – 7:45pm ET / 4:45pm PT
Live Stream:


Friday December 11

[MUAY THAI/KICKBOXING] Eruption 19 Mansfield, Victoria, Australia
Main Card – iPPV – 4:00am ET / 1:00am PT
Brooke Cooper vs. Britney Dolheguy
Natalie Pavlides vs. Jenna Whiteman

[BARE KNUCKLE BOXING] BKFC 15: O’Bannon vs. Shewmaker
Biloxi, Mississippi, USA
Main Card – iPPV (Fite.tv) – 8:00pm ET/ 5:00pm PT
Jenny Clausius vs. Sheena Brandenburg

[MMA] iKON Fighting Federation 4 San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico
Main Card – UFC Fight Pass – 9:00pm ET / 6:00pm PT
Bella Mir vs. Amanda Quesia

[MMA] Saturday December 12 [MMA] UFC 256: Figueiredo vs. Moreno Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Main Card – PPV – 10:00pm ET / 7:00pm PT
Preliminary Card – ESPN2 / ESPN+ – 8:00pm ET / 5:00pm PT
Mackenzie Dern vs. Virna Jandiroba
Tecia Torres vs. Sam Hughes
Preliminary Card – ESPN+ – 7:00pm ET / 4:00pm PT

[KICKBOXING] K-1 WORLD GP 2020 JAPAN Sumida, Tokyo, Japan
Main Card – Abema TV – 1:00am / 10:00pm PT
Preliminary Card – Abema TV – 11:30pm ET / 9:30pm PT

https://grabakahitman.wordpress.com
 
Mmmmmmma1234 said:
This feels like they're giving up on Rodriguez as a contender and feeding her to Ribas.
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I'm inclined to agree, however, these tactics have backfired in the past. Modafferi vs Barber instantly comes to mind.

However, as long as Ribas fights smart (don't even try to stand with Rodriguez), she's got a good chance of getting the victory and further increase her profile. If for some reason Rodriguez is suddenly able to keep the fight standing, I could realistically see her beating Ribas.

Personally I think this is the fairer fight, and probably karma for trying to feed Carla to Amanda, to boost the latter's career. Carla should be fighting Zhang next, or at least getting a title eliminator rematch against Joanna or Rose, not taking on someone who last fought at Flyweight and has no wins over a top 10 strawweight. Heck, let Carla wrestlefuck Yan Xiaonan if you must give her one more fight.
 
I think it's more a case of Rodriguez being the most available top 10 fighter right now and they want to give Ribas a top 10 fighter so there ya go. I guess the only other upward-looking alternative would be give Ribas an immediate title fight which I'd support solely to trigger Leto ;).
Of course it's a good matchup for Ribas on paper too but that's kind of coincidental. At least Rodriguez is a bit vicious on the feet to possibly let us know how that 'KOd by Polyana Viana' chin is doing these days.

I also want to see Carla vs Yan (if they're not doing Carla vs Weili...), that seems like a good contender fight for both. I think they're waiting to make Weili/Rose and fast-tracked Yan up the rankings to make a China-China fight for a China card as a back-up option though, so neither seems likely right now. Carla/Gadelha II would be good instead, then. Yan vs Rodriguez, Rodriguez vs Hill are also exciting potential fights I'd like to see soon...
 
PurpleStorm said:
Thursday December 10, 2020

[MMA] Bellator 254: Macfarlane vs. Velasquez Uncasvillem Connecticut, USA
Main Card – CBS Sports Network – 10:00pm ET / 7:00pm PT
Ilima-Lei Macfarlane vs. Juliana Velasquez
Preliminary Card – YouTube – 7:45pm ET / 4:45pm PT
Live Stream:


Friday December 11

[MUAY THAI/KICKBOXING] Eruption 19 Mansfield, Victoria, Australia
Main Card – iPPV – 4:00am ET / 1:00am PT
Brooke Cooper vs. Britney Dolheguy
Natalie Pavlides vs. Jenna Whiteman

[BARE KNUCKLE BOXING] BKFC 15: O’Bannon vs. Shewmaker
Biloxi, Mississippi, USA
Main Card – iPPV (Fite.tv) – 8:00pm ET/ 5:00pm PT
Jenny Clausius vs. Sheena Brandenburg

[MMA] iKON Fighting Federation 4 San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico
Main Card – UFC Fight Pass – 9:00pm ET / 6:00pm PT
Bella Mir vs. Amanda Quesia

[MMA] Saturday December 12 [MMA] UFC 256: Figueiredo vs. Moreno Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Main Card – PPV – 10:00pm ET / 7:00pm PT
Preliminary Card – ESPN2 / ESPN+ – 8:00pm ET / 5:00pm PT
Mackenzie Dern vs. Virna Jandiroba
Tecia Torres vs. Sam Hughes
Preliminary Card – ESPN+ – 7:00pm ET / 4:00pm PT

[KICKBOXING] K-1 WORLD GP 2020 JAPAN Sumida, Tokyo, Japan
Main Card – Abema TV – 1:00am / 10:00pm PT
Preliminary Card – Abema TV – 11:30pm ET / 9:30pm PT

https://grabakahitman.wordpress.com
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Both the Thai Channel 8 cards this weekend are headlined by woman. Six lady fights between the two shows.

Muay Hardcore-
Sawsing vs Kc Carlos
Dangkongfah vs Souris Manfredi
Nongbiew vs Barbara Aguilar


Superchamp -
Chommanee vs Erin Kowal
Fahseethong vs Smilia Sundell
Nanghong vs Soeng Maeuy
 
Do we have any info on Waterson yet? Checked all her social medias and nothing, that combined with the complete silence on the reasons in the reports is very worrisome.
 
Also wondering about Waterson. Fan since watching the documentary on her. Possibilities:

Covid. One would think she'd have said something about it.

Pregnancy. Perhaps she & her husband want to keep things private for now.

Her jiu jitsu trainer was recently imprisoned on a sexual assault charge. The trainer's attorney spoke today, denying the charge.

She has a comparatively high salary with little chance of upward career trajectory. The ufc is laying off 60 fighters by year's end. Maybe in re-negotiations.

She'll speak publicly when she's ready. Wishing her well.
 
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From Bellator 254 media day. Macfarlane gets the contender we've wanted in Juliana Velasquez. Tomorrow night (thursday) on cbs sports live.

Timestamped at 33:26 when reporter makes Juliana laugh. She also says rankings are of no importance to her. Macfarlane starts at 2:33:58.

 
PurpleStorm said:
She'll speak publicly when she's ready. Wishing her well.
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I truly hope one of your guesses is right - pregnancy and wishing to announce it on a suitable time/a bit further down would of course be optimal one, as that's nothing to worry about.

I'm just completely paranoid about USADA caught-getting now that UFC sweeps the positives under the rug and we hear about positives way down the line. So in my books anyone inactive for no solid reason has been caught with them roids, until clarified to be something else :(
 
Mittens said:
I truly hope one of your guesses is right - pregnancy and wishing to announce it on a suitable time/a bit further down would of course be optimal one, as that's nothing to worry about.

I'm just completely paranoid about USADA caught-getting now that UFC sweeps the positives under the rug and we hear about positives way down the line. So in my books anyone inactive for no solid reason has been caught with them roids, until clarified to be something else :(
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I don't think you're being unreasonable to be concerned, it is JW after all. The policy of not naming culprits until the process is complete seems fair, but inevitably leads to speculation - unfounded or otherwise.

Btw did we all see the news stories about Stephanie Egger's picograms?

https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2020/12/ufc-stephanie-egger-licensed-to-fight-picogram-drug-test
 


It seems like people are starting to figure out how fake ONEs weight classes are. We knew this for years when looking at Angela Lee fight actual 105ers and noticing the big size difference. Remember she also let it slip that she would eventually move up because the weightcut was getting to be too much. That should not have been a problem because ONE said fighters were fighting at their natural weight class.
 
Rizz said:


It seems like people are starting to figure out how fake ONEs weight classes are. We knew this for years when looking at Angela Lee fight actual 105ers and noticing the big size difference. Remember she also let it slip that she would eventually move up because the weightcut was getting to be too much. That should not have been a problem because ONE said fighters were fighting at their natural weight class.
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They're sketchy as hell, with money laundering or without it, they're still sketchy.

I haven't seen Demetrius Johnson fight for them yet, but last thing I remember reading, is that his first opponent looked suspiciously bigger than him.
 
I am going to be honest. I knew Ilima was dominant due to low level of competition but she might be worse than I thought. When her opponent does not readily give up the take down her only two other options is the Pearl Gonzales push against the fence the whole round or bum rush and try to trip.
 
I thought Macfarlane was all class in defeat, and she never gave up. Velasquez shut her down, even when Ilima was on a dominant position, she couldn't hurt Velasquez (who seemed to prefer eating punches, rather than give her wrist for Ilima to control). I scored it 49-46 for Velasquez, I think she could've been more dominant but she played it smart, can't blame her for not wanting to risk getting taken down or submitted.

Pros to both women, I'm thinking they'll rematch down the line. Meanwhile Velasquez will pose a tough challenge for anyone in that division (My guess is they're giving a shot to Carmouche with another win, if they don't make a tournament first).
 
Rizz said:
I am going to be honest. I knew Ilima was dominant due to low level of competition but she might be worse than I thought. When her opponent does not readily give up the take down her only two other options is the Pearl Gonzales push against the fence the whole round or bum rush and try to trip.
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Yeah, I think she'd be ranked below 10 in proper division in ufc. How about Velasquez? Maybe top 10. Tough to say.
 
leto1776 said:


edit: thought I was posting a tweet about Davis vs Mazo. Plugged my own shit by accident :confused: Derp
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Gonna humble brag a bit here, because I feel I really dissected this one well. Forward momentum was key, and Macfarlane was lost when she couldn’t get Velasquez down.


Velasquez’s style isn’t for everyone, but there’s a lot to appreciate. Very accurate, hard punches, excellent timing on the counters. Moves forward, but makes her opponents attack first at the same time. A bit conservative, but makes every movement count.
 
Rizz said:
I am going to be honest. I knew Ilima was dominant due to low level of competition but she might be worse than I thought. When her opponent does not readily give up the take down her only two other options is the Pearl Gonzales push against the fence the whole round or bum rush and try to trip.
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Interesting I took away MacFarlane was better than I thought. Velasquez was a nightmare match between her judo and striking, this could have easily been a beatdown. Instead MacFarlane had some moments on the feet and was able to get dominant position for a good portion of the 4th and was tuff and taking risks until the end.

PurpleStorm said:
Yeah, I think she'd be ranked below 10 in proper division in ufc. How about Velasquez? Maybe top 10. Tough to say.
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Velasquez I think could be competitive with anyone in the top 5. I'd still say MacFarlane could squeeze into the bottom of the ufc 10 depending on who she's fighting her top game is good. We'll see how one of them looks against Carmouche soon I believe.
 
Mmmmmmma1234 said:
Interesting I took away MacFarlane was better than I thought. Velasquez was a nightmare match between her judo and striking, this could have easily been a beatdown. Instead MacFarlane had some moments on the feet and was able to get dominant position for a good portion of the 4th and was tuff and taking risks until the end.


Velasquez I think could be competitive with anyone in the top 5. I'd still say MacFarlane could squeeze into the bottom of the ufc 10 depending on who she's fighting her top game is good. We'll see how one of them looks against Carmouche soon I believe.
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I guess it all depends on how highly you thought of her pre this fight. I always thought she was near the top of 125 in terms of how good her grappling was. My question was always what would she do if someone took that away. It seems she is in a Dern space where she has really good grappling(Dern is a way better grappler) but when facing actual competition she lacks the reliable takedowns to make use of it. I think something that benefits her is that most female fighters favor grappling.

If we are being honest Velasquez was a nightmare matchup because she would be the 1st non can opponent Ilima faced. You give her credit for the risks she took but what was those risks? She bum rushed Velasquez with weak shallow strikes just to try and get a trip. That is old skool WMMA strats that won't work vs quality opponents today. Can you imagine her trying that crap vs Valentina? The fact that it worked vs Velasquez in the 4th and 5th round is one of the reasons I am not sold on her either. She was also too willing to be pushed against the cage for my liking.

The part about this not being a beat down was more on how passive Velasquez was. I will give her the benefit of the doubt and chalk that up to her trying to just get the win. I can't fault her for doing what she had too to get the title. I think Vanessa Porto gives Ilima a harder time than she had tonight. The thing with Porto is that we know she is very good but she is not always on point. If the on point Porto shows up the fight will look similar to what it does tonight without the passivity. It is a poor stylistic matchup for Ilima if her takedown or striking does not improve.
 
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