Pre-fight discussion UFC on ESPN 54: Blanchfield vs. Fiorot Sat. March 30 Prelims 7pm ET ESPN+ Main 10pm ET ESPN, ESPN+

[Luthien]

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[TempleoftheDog]

 

[PurpleStorm]

The Rookies: UFC on ESPN 54​

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BRIAN KNAPP MAR 26, 2024 COMMENTS

Sherdog Illustration: Ben Duffy

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Ibo Aslan now gets his chance to put down some roots in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. “The Last Ottoman” will make his promotional debut opposite Anton Turkalj when their light heavyweight rematch buoys the UFC on ESPN 54 undercard this Saturday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Aslan enters the Octagon on the strength of four straight wins, all of them first-round finishes. However, he suffered his only career defeat to Turkalj in 2020, as he bowed to a rear-naked choke from the 6-foot-4 Swede in the second round of their encounter under the Brave Combat Federation banner.

Aslan booked his spot on the UFC roster on Aug. 15, when he wiped out onetime Inside Fighters League champion Paulo Renato Jr. with first-round punches on Week 2 of Dana White’s Contender Series. Renato Jr. checked out 2:22 into Round 1, suffering his first stoppage loss in 15 professional appearances. Neither man seemed willing to lead the dance initially, though that changed in a hurry. Aslan connected with a clubbing right hook at short range, backed the Brazilian toward the fence and flurried with punches. Renato Jr. collapsed under duress and offered no intelligent defense from a seated position at the base of the fence, leaving the referee no choice but to intervene on his behalf. “I am coming here to knock this guy out, and I do it in the first round,” Aslan said at the post-fight press conference. “For me, it doesn’t matter. I can fight all three rounds, but I want to finish the fight early. That was the plan, and I do it.” The 27-year-old Aslan operates out of Xtreme Couture, though he has spent time in the past honing his skills at Gym 23, the UFC Performance Institute and Tiger Muay Thai. All 12 of his of his professional victories have come by knockout or technical knockout. “This is just the beginning,” Aslan said. “The future is big.”

UFC on ESPN 54 features two other organizational rookies in featherweight Connor Matthews and bantamweight Angel Pacheco. Like Aslan, they were assigned to the prelims.

Matthews, 31, carries a 7-1 mark into his featherweight clash against Dennis Buzukja. The New England Cartel rep punched his ticket to the UFC in October, when he laid claim to a three-round unanimous decision over Jair Farias on Week 10 of DWCS. Matthews has four sub-minute finishes to his credit, though his strength of schedule—the seven men he has beaten sport a combined record of 39-148—leaves something to be desired.

Pacheco, meanwhile, faces former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder Caolan Loughran in his first Octagon assignment. The 32-year-old trains out of the Start Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy in St. Cloud, Minnesota, about an hour’s drive from the Twin Cities. Pacheco was awarded a UFC contract after he dropped a unanimous decision to Danny Silva in a memorable firefight on Week 8 of DWCS on Sept. 26, the setback snapping his three-fight winning streak. All seven of his victories have resulted in finishes, four of them inside one round.

The Rookies: UFC on ESPN 54

Turkish light heavyweight Ibo Aslan leads a wave of three promotional newcomers into the Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

www.sherdog.com

 

[PurpleStorm]

I didn't even realize, now I'm double excited!! Will have to make a new hype AV

Your current av, Igor the Monster Cat, is hilarious.

 

[Luthien]

Your current av, Igor the Monster Cat, is hilarious.

hehe thanks! Maybe I'll keep it

 

[Kryptt]

I want to say all of it but likely I will be "Running with the Devil" all weekend and end up watching as I can.

Enjoy!

 

[TempleoftheDog]

hehe thanks! Maybe I'll keep it

I says.. Pardon?

I seem to remember something about an “hype avi”.

It’s ok, though. Kind of?

 

[TempleoftheDog]

I'm definitely looking forward to the main event, more so than last weekend. And I agree, the winner should get the next title shot. I'll be rooting for Blanchfield. I like the way she fights.

And I always like watching Loopy fight. She has a nice little streak going right now but Jandiroba is a step up and will be a good test.

Dudakova vs. Gatto seem evenly matched.

Looks like its going to be Ladies Night in Atlantic City Saturday night. Thanks for the thread purp.


New Jersey band

Yo..

@Ares Black

@Jackonfire is playing your song..

 

[TITS]

I want to say all of it but likely I will be "Running with the Devil" all weekend and end up watching as I can.

Enjoy!

 

[KOPPE]

Dana White said Grasso vs. Shevchenko trilogy is next. What does that mean for the winner of this fight?
because If Val wins we're getting a quadrilogy, for sure.

 

[Danespina]

This week the UFC sets down in Atlantic City, NJ for what I think is a nice little FN card.

My friend and I went there in May, 2014 for the 50th Anniversary of The WHO. Joan Jett opened the show. It was in the same venue as this UFC card. We had a great time there.

There is some nice wmma on this card. And you know I have an affinity for the ladies. With that in mind.

Dudikova vs Gatto..

Dudikova is 8-0 with 1 DWCS win, and 2 UFC wins. Hopefully somebody gets this girl a Wiki page after this 3rd UFC fight.
Gatto is on a 2 fight skid. Losing to Cortez (UD) and Ariane (SD).

Dudikova has no great wins yet. And I’m not sure of her ceiling yet. But I figure she beats Gatto.

Dudikova by Decision.

Virna (5) vs Loopy (10).. Very excited for this one.

Virna is no joke. She’s riding a 2 fight win streak vs Angie (UD), and Marina (UD). She’s still solid, imo. But, she does turn 36 in May. She lost to Ribas (UD) before that Angie fight.

Loopy has built a solid fanbase in at least 3 countries. Mexico, where she was born. Canada, where she moved to at 13. And has a dual citizenship with Mexico. And the US where she fights the most. She’s just very fun, and respectful, imo. And it’s a pleasure to say I’m a fan of hers.

She holds/shares 2 badass UFC records. The quickest turnaround in between 2 UFC fights. She fought 2 Saturdays in a row (it’s been tied since). And she’s the only woman in the UFC to win 4 fights in one calendar year (it was actually 7 months).

So clearly this is a really big opportunity. She can jump into the top 5 with a win. That would be really cool, imo. And I’d be very pleased for her. She’s 6-1 in her last 7. With the loss being to Angie, 5 fights ago. And her wins aren’t over complete cans either. She has some very respectable wins on her resume. She’s much younger, and is really hungry. And seems to be improving incrementally as time moves on. She gets decisions. But they aren’t shitty fights, imo.

You know my prediction here. Loopy by Decision. I really hope she gets it done.

Canadian girls kick ass.

This Weidman vs Silva fight.. Fuck me sideways. I don’t even want to think about it. But there are real memories there. So..

Weidman turns 40 in June. Let us harken back to another time, and place.

He first really caught my eye in his 3rd UFC fight. He put Tom Lawlor to sleep with a D’arce in round 1. Then he beat Maia by UD.

We’re into 2012 at this point. I had a very attractive gf from the Philippines at the time. Munoz was Weidman’s next fight. Munoz was 12-2 going into that fight. My gf was so excited. She had gotten into the sport in the previous 2 years because of me. Weidman fucking battered, and bloodied Munoz, brutally. The JBG was represented well in the refs of the day. My gf was broken hearted.

Weidman’s next fight was Silva. It was a couple months before I moved to the US. So July, 2013. Long story short.. I met a dude at a peeler bar I was watching at. He was a big Silva fan. We bet $20 on the winner. That dude was almost as broken hearted as my ex-gf. lol. But he paid up, and even bought me a few beers, as well. A good dude.

I just had a feeling it was coming. The wrestling is what made the choice pretty clear to me. And we all know what happened. I’ve never been a fan, or a hater. So I’m neutral on the guy. But this needs to be his LAST full combat fight ever again. And Bruno is durable as fuck. He’s never been KO/TKO. And he’s only ranked mid-20s, or something world wide. I don’t see Weidman winning this fight. I just hope he at least goes the distance. Or gets a stoppage of his own.

I’m taking Silva.

The ME Of The EVENING..

This is as high level as it gets in this sport. Erin (2) vs Manon (3). Both with only one loss on their records early in their careers. 12-1 vs 11-1.

Where to start? There’s too much to mention. So I think I’ll skip the big breakdown for this one.

When you have a very good striker. Fighting a very good wrestler.. I take the wrestler 90% of the time. Erin is more rounded, and younger. And that girl is confident, and hungry. She has already beaten Andrade, and Taila. And many people believe Taila beat Shevchenko. You can’t just ignore that.

Manon has a few very good UFC wins. But except for Rose with an injury to her finger. There are no marquee performances, since her first 2 UFC fights, imo. She has great stand up. But her last 4 fights have all gone the distance. And we must remember. She got injured, and needed knee surgery as the number 1 contender. She was out 11 months. This is only her second fight since October, 2022.

But I’ve been calling Erin a future champion for a while now. So, it’s an easy pick. Even if the fight doesn’t go that way.

Erin by Decision.

In homage to both the ladies, and my memories of Atlantic City. I present to you. The walkout song of the woman that took wmma mainstream. Performed by a female that went into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame the very next year, in 2015.



Edit.
Thank you for the thread @PurpleStorm

Want you to know I printed this out and read it properly before bed lol.
I really enjoyed your style of breakdown. It helped put a lot of fights into a new perspective.
And I too am rooting for Loopy.

 

[Jackonfire]

My pleasure Jack. It's the least I can do to give back a bit, considering all the time you've spent creating and hosting the play by play threads along with weigh ins and post fight press conferences. Honestly I don't think I could do all that.

Yeah Loopy vs. Jandiroba is a good fight. I haven't reviewed anything yet but I'll probably pick Loopy.

How did the PbP discussions originate here? What were they like in the past? Did people argue more over their favorite fighters and whatnot? What's similar and what's different from before I joined? I'm still a relative newb considering the experience of many play by play posters. Who made these threads before you started doing them?

As always you picked up on the musical cues. Lots of great artists from New Jersey, including some doo wop bands whose names I can't recall and don't feel like looking up. The Chairman of the Board Frank Sinatra is from Hoboken New Jersey. I'm fairly sure Patti Smith is a Jersey girl.

Hey purp, I started making the pbp threads after @shonuf passed away. I had filled in a couple of times when he was too sick to make them so it just seemed natural to take over after he passed away. Way back then, we had a separate thread for each fight on the main card. As you can imagine, that was cumbersome and crowded at the top of the page. And we were constantly reminding posters to switch threads in between fights. I would go to the UFC website and screenshot each matchup then make a thread for each fight.

Spoiler

I think the idea behind individual threads had something to do with Google indexing. If someone were to search for a particular fight, the Sherdog thread would show up in the search options. I'm glad we decided to stop doing it that way, I think it was @Augustus Caesar who suggested we just do the 2 threads rather than individual threads for each fight. I still find myself reminding posters to switch threads when there's a ppv. Old habbit, lol.

As far as people arguing over favorite fighters? We used to settle those arguments like men. For pretty much every big fight/card, there would be a sig/av bet thread. The thread starter would generally keep track of the bets made in thread then tag the winners/losers after the event. I haven't seen one of those threads in a while.

There's definitely been some changes over the years, but the pbp threads have been consistent and are without a doubt the best place to be on a Saturday night if you are watching fights. I'm just glad they've let me do it all these years.

Spoiler

Another New Jersey band. Its like if the Velvet Underground never broke up.

 

[PurpleStorm]

Preview: UFC on ESPN 54 Prelims​

Emmers vs. Landwehr​

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TOM FEELY MAR 27, 2024 COMMENTS

A decent slate of prelims bolsters the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s return to Atlantic City on Saturday at Boardwalk Hall. The featured fight figures to have some guaranteed action: Nate Landwehr always brings the entertainment, and he draws underrated veteran Jamall Emmers as a dance partner at featherweight.

Right below them sits the most important bout on the UFC on ESPN 54 undercard, as Virna Jandiroba looks to defend her women’s strawweight ranking against Lupita Godinez, who seems to finally be piecing everything together. From there, we see the usual mix of Dana White Contender Series alumni and prospects in matches made for action, though a clash between Andre Petroski and Jacob Malkoun does stick out as a particularly intriguing battle between middleweights with similar styles.

Now to the preview for the UFC on ESPN 54 prelims:

Featherweights​

Jamall Emmers (20-7, 3-3 UFC) vs. Nate Landwehr (17-5, 4-3 UFC)

ODDS: Emmers (-218), Landwehr (+180)

Any Landwehr appearance means there is a high probability of some entertaining violence. The Tennessee native took the long road to fan favorite status, as “The Train” made most of his reputation on the Russian scene, winning a lot of fights where he would get outwrestled early and outlast his opponents for some late victories. That led to some anticipation ahead of his UFC debut, but his time with the promotion got off to a surprisingly rough start. Herbert Burns and Julian Erosaeach knocked him out within a round, and a decision victory over Darren Elkinscame in a particularly nip-tuck affair. However, Landwehr bounced back in effective fashion, making some minor improvements before having one of the best fights of 2022—a back-and-forth war with David Onama that seems to have made Landwehr a made man. After some late opponent changes wound up in his beating Austin Lingo, Landwehr got a big spot at UFC 289 against perennial ranked featherweight Dan Ige; and while Landwehr came up short, he hung tough in a fight that was once again one of the highlights of the card.

After nearly 10 months on the shelf, Landwehr finally makes his return against Emmers, who has quietly been one of the most underrated fighters on the roster since his debut in 2020. Emmers spent years as a top regional fighter on the verge of getting the UFC call, during which he developed a solid if unspectacular game. A former wrestler, “Pretty Boy” eventually learned to get comfortable as a counterstriker through sheer experience. That has made Emmers a perennial tough out, though unfortunately the judges have not typically rewarded Emmers’ patience and skill, as he has suffered controversial decision losses to Giga Chikadze and Jack Jenkins. On top of the bad luck on the scorecards, Emmers has suffered some long injury layoffs, resulting in his being an afterthought rather than a deservedly recognized fighter. A 49-second knockout of Dennis Buzukja in November does raise some hope that Emmers might have found some finishing ability that could make everything fully click, and that makes this a crucial spot against Landwehr—a much bigger name who is prone to getting sparked out of the gate.

With that said, the safer bet seems to be that Landwehr can survive early and turn this into the ugly war where he is at his most comfortable. Emmers might be the better skill-for-skill fighter, but he is not the one who wins rounds on the scorecards. The pick is Landwehr via decision.

Jump To »
Emmers vs. Landwehr
Godinez vs. Jandiroba
Arce vs. Burns
Buzukja vs. Matthews
Aslan vs. Turkalj
Gatto vs. Dudakova
Malkoun vs. Petroski
Loughran vs. Pacheco

Preview: UFC on ESPN 54 Prelims - Emmers vs. Landwehr

A decent undercard slate bolsters the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s return to Atlantic City on Saturday at Boardwalk Hall.

www.sherdog.com

 

[Yorick]

Will be going back and forth between this card and boxing on Amazon tbh.

 

[TempleoftheDog]

Hey purp, I started making the pbp threads after @shonuf passed away. I had filled in a couple of times when he was too sick to make them so it just seemed natural to take over after he passed away. Way back then, we had a separate thread for each fight on the main card. As you can imagine, that was cumbersome and crowded at the top of the page. And we were constantly reminding posters to switch threads in between fights. I would go to the UFC website and screenshot each matchup then make a thread for each fight.

Spoiler

I think the idea behind individual threads had something to do with Google indexing. If someone were to search for a particular fight, the Sherdog thread would show up in the search options. I'm glad we decided to stop doing it that way, I think it was @Augustus Caesar who suggested we just do the 2 threads rather than individual threads for each fight. I still find myself reminding posters to switch threads when there's a ppv. Old habbit, lol.

As far as people arguing over favorite fighters? We used to settle those arguments like men. For pretty much every big fight/card, there would be a sig/av bet thread. The thread starter would generally keep track of the bets made in thread then tag the winners/losers after the event. I haven't seen one of those threads in a while.

There's definitely been some changes over the years, but the pbp threads have been consistent and are without a doubt the best place to be on a Saturday night if you are watching fights. I'm just glad they've let me do it all these years.

Spoiler

Another New Jersey band. Its like if the Velvet Underground never broke up.

You’ve done an exemplary job..

I suspect that’s why you were voted as the 2023 Mod of the Year.

I was here, too. I saw you step up, when we lost @shonuf. Your efforts do not go unnoticed, my friend.



Edited to tag @Jackonfire

 

[Danespina]

Hey purp, I started making the pbp threads after @shonuf passed away. I had filled in a couple of times when he was too…

You’ve done a terrific job.

 

[Xuh]

Manon Manon

 

[TempleoftheDog]

Manon Manon

True story..

In the mid-latish 80s I did live sound for a Motley Crue tribute band. Their intro was..

Wait for it..



I grew up with the guitar player. So I could bust their balls. I laughed in their faces, when they told me that shit.

No problem guys.. Play the most fucked up intro ever..

But remember, I’m in front of you with my back to about 40% of the audience. You assholes have to deal with the shit storm I see coming. In case you didn’t notice.. this is a bar full of rednecks, and shit kickers. You guys are wearing nail polish, and spandex.

These people aren’t here for hard rock.. let alone. The Crue.

I only saw one ashtray as it flew by me on it’s way to the stage. LMAO..

I fucking told you..

I didn't even realize, now I'm double excited!! Will have to make a new hype AV

Nice avi..




Oops. Praise Jebus. I think the mic cut out for a second there. You guys didn’t hear that, right?

 

[TempleoftheDog]

Manon Manon

I was 4 yrs old when that came out. Used to love Sesame Street, and The Electric Company..

Show of hands. How many of you tabbed Morgan Freeman to win an Oscar as the best actor in a major Hollywood movie?

I sure as shit didn’t call that..



Edit.
But every movie he got was getting bigger, and bigger. But I’ll always remember Morgan first, from the Electric Company.

 

[Luthien]

Nice avi..

View attachment 1036721

@HI SCOTT NEWMAN junk food this weekend and I don't care!! '.-