PBP DWCS 2024 Week 9 PBP Discussion: Tue Oct. 8 at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT.

[Jackonfire]

Tuesday 10.08.2024 at 08:00 PM ET
U.S. Broadcast: ESPN+
Venue: UFC Apex
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
MMA Bouts: 5

DWCS Week 9
205:Artem Vakhitov (2-1) vs. Islem Masraf (3-0)
170:Kody Steele (6-0) Vs. Chasen Blair (6-2)
HW: Lucas Camacho (6-0) Vs Mario Pinto (8-0)
170: Islam Dulatov (10-1) Vs Vanilton Antunes (16-6)
125: Anthony Drilich (8-1) vs. Sean Gauci (9-1)

Contender Series Week 9 Weigh-in Results:​

IslemMasraf (204.5) vs. ArtemVakhitov (205.5)
KodySteele (156) vs. ChasenBlair (156)
LucasTriverio Camacho (240) vs. Mario Pinto(244)
VaniltonAntunes (171) vs. IslamDulatov (171)
SeanGauci (126) vs. AnthonyDrilich (126)



Betting Odds

Sportsbook Contender Series 2024: Week 9​

 

[Kowboy On Sherdog]

 

[Poirierfan]

 

[AmonTobin]

My casual ass is watching DWCS for the first time because of Vakhitov!

 

[BoxerMaurits]

My casual ass is watching DWCS for the first time because of Vakhitov!

Nice. I did a little write-up about Vakhitov’s fight with my combat sports IG-page, should give you some background information mate


ARTEM VAKHITOV FIGHTS FOR A UFC CONTRACT TONIGHT ON DWCS

Artem Vakhitov, former GLORY Kickboxing Light-Heavyweight champion and the last man to defeat Alex ‘Poatan’ Pereira in Kickboxing, will fight for a UFC contract tonight on Dana White’s Contender Series.
He is set to face undefeated former PFL fighter Islem Masraf from France.

The P4P great Kickboxer from Russia transitioned to MMA last year. However, his debut ended in an anticlimax when he sustained an elbow injury within the first minute of the fight.
Vakhitov has since bounced back, winning his next two bouts by first-round TKO.

Vakhitov made a name for himself in the kickboxing world with a successful amateur career, where he won three world championships and took gold at the 2013 World Combat Games.
In 2016, Artem won the GLORY Light-Heavyweight championship, which he successfully defended five times before losing it to Alex Pereira in 2021.
Later that year, Vakhitov reclaimed the belt in their rematch. Both fights against Poatan were incredibly close, with many fans believing the decisions could have gone either way.

Vakhitov currently trains in the U.S. at the renowned Kill Cliff FC, where he works alongside elite fighters such as former UFC Welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, veteran Gerald Meerschaert, and kickboxing legend Tyrone Spong, under the guidance of top Dutch coach Henri Hooft.
Additionally, he trains with former UFC double champ and Olympic wrestling gold medalist Henry Cejudo.

Alex Pereira vs. Artem Vakhitov trilogy incoming? And how would the former GLORY LHW champion fare in the UFC?

 

[BoxerMaurits]

Mario Pinto is also a name to look out for!
The 26-year-old Portuguese fighter is the Levels Fight League heavyweight champion. Standing at 6’5” with a perfect 8-0 record and 5 finishes.
@Hellowhosthat

 

[WoozyFailGuy]

 

[Buurtvader Ali]

 

[Buurtvader Ali]

Would be funny if Artem gets slept, but I think he'll win.

 

[Deleted member 585708]

Anyone who is thinking of investing a cent on the main event, particularly picking an upset, DON'T DO IT ON THE BASIS OF MASRAF'S TEN SECOND KO WIN IN PFL.

This is your only warning:



It was not a fight.

 

[Kowboy On Sherdog]

Anyone who is thinking of investing a cent on the main event, particularly picking an upset, DON'T DO IT ON THE BASIS OF MASRAF'S TEN SECOND KO WIN IN PFL.

This is your only warning:



It was not a fight.

Nice "I'm standing behind 30 people in the beer line" defense...

 

[Feniamin]

Seems like if Vakhitov got signed he will be first fighter with Bashkir roots in UFC (his paternal grandfather is Bashkir).

 

[Paynebringer]

 

[Deleted member 585708]

Artem Vakhitov vs Islem Masraf

Spoiler

First of all, laugh and point at anyone who thinks the 10 second KO of Mickael Groguhe matters. The fight wasn’t even a fight, Mickael just walked towards Islem very slowly with his hands down and refused to defend a head kick. No, I don’t know why, and I can’t explain it, but it certainly wasn’t a ‘fight’.

Against Mathieu Grondin, Islem actually showed he can fight off the back foot a little bit, as Mathieu was extremely aggressive, overthrowing punches designed to decapitate. Islem did show some heavy leg kicks and finished nicely, but he’s here to be fed to Artem Vakhitov.

Vakhitov is an elite striker, it’s odd that he’s fighting at heavyweight because he isn’t very big, but honestly, Masraf isn’t exactly a giant either. I’m feeling blasé here. Masraf is well-rounded enough to pose threats if Artem gets caught on the fence OR on the ground, but I liked Artem’s takedown defence in recent fights enough to think he wins comfortably here. If Masraf does win, it will be a choke submission, I’m pretty confident in that, but not enough to override the striking discrepancy.

Result: Artem Vakhitov by R1TKO

Kody Steele vs Chasen Blair

Spoiler

Bizarrely I remember watching Chasen Blair losing to Jeffrey Craig in Cage Warriors. He’s been part of the Cage Warriors USA set up, but also fought in England. His record in USA is 3-2, his record in England is 3-0 – just found that a bizarre stat, frankly, since he’s listed as American. His finish rate, more than his mediocre 6-2 record, is probably why he’s getting the nod here – and maybe also as a favour to Cage Warriors for investing in American talent, even though it hasn’t worked out very well.

Blair isn’t great. He also lost to Hassanzada who we just saw on DWCS, and Hassanzada looked pretty bad at this level. The temptation for me is to dismissive of Blair since I’m already knowledgably unimpressed by him, but I’ll try to be fair. I liked his performance against Romanian Pirtea, he looked very calm, very composed, and made sure he dominated the level changes – which he should with a wrestling background. Pirtea looked totally lost on the ground though, and it felt like another bit of negative matchmaking.

Kody Steele I have also seen recently when he beat Alejandro Martinez in Fury FC, and the Mexican veteran was overmatched by a much more athletic guy in Steele. The story of Steele is he’s a grappler who has supposedly ‘fallen in love’ with striking. Yeah, yeah, I know, except he kinda does fight like that and he looks reasonable on the feet – but this guy is a storied grappler and that’s what he remains in my eyes. Like I say, he’s athletic and has decent cardio, he’s gone the distance several times, and has been rattling off R3TKO’s. He shoots to grapple rather than outright takedowns from what I’ve seen, which makes him a problem for some – but maybe not Chasen Blair, actually, who is a wrestler more than a grappler.

I actually think both these prospects are just a little undercooked, but I’m going to take seriously the fact that both have been hand-fed opponents and only one of them has come through unscathed. While anything could happen on the feet, as neither is particularly great, I think Steele looks to have the higher ceiling. He’s a better grappler by some way, and I think his record going the distance also bodes well. I like him to continue his R3TKO streak unless he can find a sub a bit earlier – which is possible, but Blair should be avoiding the ground game IMO and should have the TDD to manage that.

Result: Kody Steele by R3TKO

Mario Pinto vs Lucas Camacho

Spoiler

Okay, so, Mario Pinto endured some early danger in a recent fight against Benjamin Sehic, getting taken down and cracked a few times on the feet. That’s good though, that’s the kind of test drive these prospects need, so full credit to LFL for that. Way better than Bellator/Cage Warriors-style booking IMO. So yes, Pinto can fight through adversity, stay calm and still deliver a beating. He has cardio, too, helped probably by the fact he isn’t a massive heavyweight.

I do think Pinto is going to be a tough guy to beat, but there seems to be an ongoing theme that he’s a bit… lazy? Blasé? Complacent? That lack of aggression won’t do him any favours in DWCS, though, even if I do kinda admire his overall game.

Lucas Camacho has also gone through the fire. His fight against Guilherme Uriel saw him getting a bit of a beating but he weathered the storm and took over when the other shorter, fatter guy seemed to gas a bit. Fun fight, and this one could be too. If Pinto is complacent, expect Camacho to march forward and try to box him up, he is a bit of a pressure fighter, sorta reminds me of Fabio Maldonado a bit, and also has good cardio (like Pinto).

I dunno, this seems like it could go either way, the question is does the slightly complacent Mario Pinto cope with a pressure fighter looking to box him up? I’m assuming Pinto starts looking for takedowns at one point or another, but I’m not sure he’ll get a finish here. Give me Pinto in a decision that does little to impress Dana unless he shows up super motivated – which isn’t something I’ve seen from him, he seems to hold something back.

Result: Mario Pinto by DEC [No Contract]

Islam Dulatov vs Vanilto Antunes

Spoiler

Islam Dulatov is a looooong striker who at 6’5 uses his range and vicious knees really well. Vanilto is gonna look tiny in there at 5’11 lol, so that’s gonna be the first thing we’ll notice.

Dulatov has been a bit of a can crusher and can get a bit wild and can be cracked – but he’s still a really difficult dude to prepare for with that insane size, reach and length. Antunes is a veteran with plenty of defeats on his record, and when he loses, he gets finished. I think Antunes has developed his grappler-killer skills a lot in recent years, his TDD is really pretty good and his boxing is good too, which is a big improvement from fights like the one against Willker Lemos where he just got dominated on the ground the entire fight.

We don’t have to worry about that here, and that actually makes this fight much hard to pick. At 6’5, length, reach and whatever else is great and all, but when you get cracked by a good boxer, you’re in a lot of trouble. Expect teeps, knees, leg kicks, and ultimately Dulatov to trap Vanilto on the fence and just unload, I think he gets it done here, but watch out for Vanilto’s boxing if Dulatov gets a bit excited. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Vanilo dropped him. He’s not bad, but I have concerns about how often he gets finished when he’s losing fights.

Result: Islam Dulatov by R1TKO

Sean Gauci vs Anthony Drilich

Spoiler

Hex vs Eternal in an all-Aussie flyweight bout. I actually hate this matchmaking, just bring them both into the UFC ya dummies. It’s not like you’re inundated with flyweight prospects, and the fact they’re both Aussies really makes no difference, we don’t need to ration those from down under when Brazilians literally make up 25 % of the 125 lb roster…

Anyway. Sean Gauci holds a win over STEVE ERCEG motherflippers, so that’s going to be a lot of the story should he make it to the UFC, and almost certainly why he’s coming in as favourite here. He’s very well-rounded, fought a higher level of competition, has no issues going the distance, and looks really tough to beat. His only defeat was to a veteran who out-wrestled him, but he bounced back against an inexperienced Erceg. What I don’t like about Gauci is inactivity. 3 fights in 5 years? Not enough, Sean.

First thing’s first, Drilich can CRACK, but he struggles on the scorecards and doesn’t have the same stamina Gauci possesses. While I’ve also seen him wrestle, he isn’t amazing at it, and his only pro defeat started out a brawl before his opponent (Michael Mannu) decided ‘screw this’ and just wrestled his way to a win.

Both guys are small flyweights, and quick. The difference maker is Drilich’s power. Great boxing, shot selection, and some quality finishes on his record (all hands). I can totally see why Gauci is the favourite, he’s the better rounded fighter with the HUGE win on his resumé, but I’m picking Drilich. I think the nature of DWCS will see Gauci coming forward and wanting to make a statement, and that could be a mistake IMO. He’d be better off using his wrestling, all of his skills, but I think the pressure is on and Drilich has the perfect DWCS contract-winning style.

Result: Anthony Drilich by R1TKO – [TERRIBLE BOOKING, SIGN BOTH IMMEDIATELY]

 

[maximus__]

Anyone who is thinking of investing a cent on the main event, particularly picking an upset, DON'T DO IT ON THE BASIS OF MASRAF'S TEN SECOND KO WIN IN PFL.

This is your only warning:



It was not a fight.

That's the viral video of the dude just strolling around. The full video is hilarious.

 

[maximus__]

Artem Vakhitov vs Islem Masraf

Spoiler

First of all, laugh and point at anyone who thinks the 10 second KO of Mickael Groguhe matters. The fight wasn’t even a fight, Mickael just walked towards Islem very slowly with his hands down and refused to defend a head kick. No, I don’t know why, and I can’t explain it, but it certainly wasn’t a ‘fight’.

Against Mathieu Grondin, Islem actually showed he can fight off the back foot a little bit, as Mathieu was extremely aggressive, overthrowing punches designed to decapitate. Islem did show some heavy leg kicks and finished nicely, but he’s here to be fed to Artem Vakhitov.

Vakhitov is an elite striker, it’s odd that he’s fighting at heavyweight because he isn’t very big, but honestly, Masraf isn’t exactly a giant either. I’m feeling blasé here. Masraf is well-rounded enough to pose threats if Artem gets caught on the fence OR on the ground, but I liked Artem’s takedown defence in recent fights enough to think he wins comfortably here. If Masraf does win, it will be a choke submission, I’m pretty confident in that, but not enough to override the striking discrepancy.

Result: Artem Vakhitov by R1TKO

Kody Steele vs Chasen Blair

Spoiler

Bizarrely I remember watching Chasen Blair losing to Jeffrey Craig in Cage Warriors. He’s been part of the Cage Warriors USA set up, but also fought in England. His record in USA is 3-2, his record in England is 3-0 – just found that a bizarre stat, frankly, since he’s listed as American. His finish rate, more than his mediocre 6-2 record, is probably why he’s getting the nod here – and maybe also as a favour to Cage Warriors for investing in American talent, even though it hasn’t worked out very well.

Blair isn’t great. He also lost to Hassanzada who we just saw on DWCS, and Hassanzada looked pretty bad at this level. The temptation for me is to dismissive of Blair since I’m already knowledgably unimpressed by him, but I’ll try to be fair. I liked his performance against Romanian Pirtea, he looked very calm, very composed, and made sure he dominated the level changes – which he should with a wrestling background. Pirtea looked totally lost on the ground though, and it felt like another bit of negative matchmaking.

Kody Steele I have also seen recently when he beat Alejandro Martinez in Fury FC, and the Mexican veteran was overmatched by a much more athletic guy in Steele. The story of Steele is he’s a grappler who has supposedly ‘fallen in love’ with striking. Yeah, yeah, I know, except he kinda does fight like that and he looks reasonable on the feet – but this guy is a storied grappler and that’s what he remains in my eyes. Like I say, he’s athletic and has decent cardio, he’s gone the distance several times, and has been rattling off R3TKO’s. He shoots to grapple rather than outright takedowns from what I’ve seen, which makes him a problem for some – but maybe not Chasen Blair, actually, who is a wrestler more than a grappler.

I actually think both these prospects are just a little undercooked, but I’m going to take seriously the fact that both have been hand-fed opponents and only one of them has come through unscathed. While anything could happen on the feet, as neither is particularly great, I think Steele looks to have the higher ceiling. He’s a better grappler by some way, and I think his record going the distance also bodes well. I like him to continue his R3TKO streak unless he can find a sub a bit earlier – which is possible, but Blair should be avoiding the ground game IMO and should have the TDD to manage that.

Result: Kody Steele by R3TKO

Mario Pinto vs Lucas Camacho

Spoiler

Okay, so, Mario Pinto endured some early danger in a recent fight against Benjamin Sehic, getting taken down and cracked a few times on the feet. That’s good though, that’s the kind of test drive these prospects need, so full credit to LFL for that. Way better than Bellator/Cage Warriors-style booking IMO. So yes, Pinto can fight through adversity, stay calm and still deliver a beating. He has cardio, too, helped probably by the fact he isn’t a massive heavyweight.

I do think Pinto is going to be a tough guy to beat, but there seems to be an ongoing theme that he’s a bit… lazy? Blasé? Complacent? That lack of aggression won’t do him any favours in DWCS, though, even if I do kinda admire his overall game.

Lucas Camacho has also gone through the fire. His fight against Guilherme Uriel saw him getting a bit of a beating but he weathered the storm and took over when the other shorter, fatter guy seemed to gas a bit. Fun fight, and this one could be too. If Pinto is complacent, expect Camacho to march forward and try to box him up, he is a bit of a pressure fighter, sorta reminds me of Fabio Maldonado a bit, and also has good cardio (like Pinto).

I dunno, this seems like it could go either way, the question is does the slightly complacent Mario Pinto cope with a pressure fighter looking to box him up? I’m assuming Pinto starts looking for takedowns at one point or another, but I’m not sure he’ll get a finish here. Give me Pinto in a decision that does little to impress Dana unless he shows up super motivated – which isn’t something I’ve seen from him, he seems to hold something back.

Result: Mario Pinto by DEC [No Contract]

Islam Dulatov vs Vanilto Antunes

Spoiler

Islam Dulatov is a looooong striker who at 6’5 uses his range and vicious knees really well. Vanilto is gonna look tiny in there at 5’11 lol, so that’s gonna be the first thing we’ll notice.

Dulatov has been a bit of a can crusher and can get a bit wild and can be cracked – but he’s still a really difficult dude to prepare for with that insane size, reach and length. Antunes is a veteran with plenty of defeats on his record, and when he loses, he gets finished. I think Antunes has developed his grappler-killer skills a lot in recent years, his TDD is really pretty good and his boxing is good too, which is a big improvement from fights like the one against Willker Lemos where he just got dominated on the ground the entire fight.

We don’t have to worry about that here, and that actually makes this fight much hard to pick. At 6’5, length, reach and whatever else is great and all, but when you get cracked by a good boxer, you’re in a lot of trouble. Expect teeps, knees, leg kicks, and ultimately Dulatov to trap Vanilto on the fence and just unload, I think he gets it done here, but watch out for Vanilto’s boxing if Dulatov gets a bit excited. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Vanilo dropped him. He’s not bad, but I have concerns about how often he gets finished when he’s losing fights.

Result: Islam Dulatov by R1TKO

Sean Gauci vs Anthony Drilich

Spoiler

Hex vs Eternal in an all-Aussie flyweight bout. I actually hate this matchmaking, just bring them both into the UFC ya dummies. It’s not like you’re inundated with flyweight prospects, and the fact they’re both Aussies really makes no difference, we don’t need to ration those from down under when Brazilians literally make up 25 % of the 125 lb roster…

Anyway. Sean Gauci holds a win over STEVE ERCEG motherflippers, so that’s going to be a lot of the story should he make it to the UFC, and almost certainly why he’s coming in as favourite here. He’s very well-rounded, fought a higher level of competition, has no issues going the distance, and looks really tough to beat. His only defeat was to a veteran who out-wrestled him, but he bounced back against an inexperienced Erceg. What I don’t like about Gauci is inactivity. 3 fights in 5 years? Not enough, Sean.

First thing’s first, Drilich can CRACK, but he struggles on the scorecards and doesn’t have the same stamina Gauci possesses. While I’ve also seen him wrestle, he isn’t amazing at it, and his only pro defeat started out a brawl before his opponent (Michael Mannu) decided ‘screw this’ and just wrestled his way to a win.

Both guys are small flyweights, and quick. The difference maker is Drilich’s power. Great boxing, shot selection, and some quality finishes on his record (all hands). I can totally see why Gauci is the favourite, he’s the better rounded fighter with the HUGE win on his resumé, but I’m picking Drilich. I think the nature of DWCS will see Gauci coming forward and wanting to make a statement, and that could be a mistake IMO. He’d be better off using his wrestling, all of his skills, but I think the pressure is on and Drilich has the perfect DWCS contract-winning style.

Result: Anthony Drilich by R1TKO – [TERRIBLE BOOKING, SIGN BOTH IMMEDIATELY]

Throughout his career, Sean has faced challenges that most people would not have been able to overcome. In 2019, he was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and spent nearly two years in and out of the hospital. Despite these setbacks and COVID in between, he found a way to keep pushing and came back stronger and more focused than ever.

This is why Gauci has inactivity.

From memory it's his opponents pulling out as opposed to him. These two have been booked before and it fell through.

Definitely agree on just signing them though or atleast matching them up against someone else.

 

[BoxerMaurits]

Artem Vakhitov vs Islem Masraf

Spoiler

First of all, laugh and point at anyone who thinks the 10 second KO of Mickael Groguhe matters. The fight wasn’t even a fight, Mickael just walked towards Islem very slowly with his hands down and refused to defend a head kick. No, I don’t know why, and I can’t explain it, but it certainly wasn’t a ‘fight’.

Against Mathieu Grondin, Islem actually showed he can fight off the back foot a little bit, as Mathieu was extremely aggressive, overthrowing punches designed to decapitate. Islem did show some heavy leg kicks and finished nicely, but he’s here to be fed to Artem Vakhitov.

Vakhitov is an elite striker, it’s odd that he’s fighting at heavyweight because he isn’t very big, but honestly, Masraf isn’t exactly a giant either. I’m feeling blasé here. Masraf is well-rounded enough to pose threats if Artem gets caught on the fence OR on the ground, but I liked Artem’s takedown defence in recent fights enough to think he wins comfortably here. If Masraf does win, it will be a choke submission, I’m pretty confident in that, but not enough to override the striking discrepancy.

Result: Artem Vakhitov by R1TKO

Kody Steele vs Chasen Blair

Spoiler

Bizarrely I remember watching Chasen Blair losing to Jeffrey Craig in Cage Warriors. He’s been part of the Cage Warriors USA set up, but also fought in England. His record in USA is 3-2, his record in England is 3-0 – just found that a bizarre stat, frankly, since he’s listed as American. His finish rate, more than his mediocre 6-2 record, is probably why he’s getting the nod here – and maybe also as a favour to Cage Warriors for investing in American talent, even though it hasn’t worked out very well.

Blair isn’t great. He also lost to Hassanzada who we just saw on DWCS, and Hassanzada looked pretty bad at this level. The temptation for me is to dismissive of Blair since I’m already knowledgably unimpressed by him, but I’ll try to be fair. I liked his performance against Romanian Pirtea, he looked very calm, very composed, and made sure he dominated the level changes – which he should with a wrestling background. Pirtea looked totally lost on the ground though, and it felt like another bit of negative matchmaking.

Kody Steele I have also seen recently when he beat Alejandro Martinez in Fury FC, and the Mexican veteran was overmatched by a much more athletic guy in Steele. The story of Steele is he’s a grappler who has supposedly ‘fallen in love’ with striking. Yeah, yeah, I know, except he kinda does fight like that and he looks reasonable on the feet – but this guy is a storied grappler and that’s what he remains in my eyes. Like I say, he’s athletic and has decent cardio, he’s gone the distance several times, and has been rattling off R3TKO’s. He shoots to grapple rather than outright takedowns from what I’ve seen, which makes him a problem for some – but maybe not Chasen Blair, actually, who is a wrestler more than a grappler.

I actually think both these prospects are just a little undercooked, but I’m going to take seriously the fact that both have been hand-fed opponents and only one of them has come through unscathed. While anything could happen on the feet, as neither is particularly great, I think Steele looks to have the higher ceiling. He’s a better grappler by some way, and I think his record going the distance also bodes well. I like him to continue his R3TKO streak unless he can find a sub a bit earlier – which is possible, but Blair should be avoiding the ground game IMO and should have the TDD to manage that.

Result: Kody Steele by R3TKO

Mario Pinto vs Lucas Camacho

Spoiler

Okay, so, Mario Pinto endured some early danger in a recent fight against Benjamin Sehic, getting taken down and cracked a few times on the feet. That’s good though, that’s the kind of test drive these prospects need, so full credit to LFL for that. Way better than Bellator/Cage Warriors-style booking IMO. So yes, Pinto can fight through adversity, stay calm and still deliver a beating. He has cardio, too, helped probably by the fact he isn’t a massive heavyweight.

I do think Pinto is going to be a tough guy to beat, but there seems to be an ongoing theme that he’s a bit… lazy? Blasé? Complacent? That lack of aggression won’t do him any favours in DWCS, though, even if I do kinda admire his overall game.

Lucas Camacho has also gone through the fire. His fight against Guilherme Uriel saw him getting a bit of a beating but he weathered the storm and took over when the other shorter, fatter guy seemed to gas a bit. Fun fight, and this one could be too. If Pinto is complacent, expect Camacho to march forward and try to box him up, he is a bit of a pressure fighter, sorta reminds me of Fabio Maldonado a bit, and also has good cardio (like Pinto).

I dunno, this seems like it could go either way, the question is does the slightly complacent Mario Pinto cope with a pressure fighter looking to box him up? I’m assuming Pinto starts looking for takedowns at one point or another, but I’m not sure he’ll get a finish here. Give me Pinto in a decision that does little to impress Dana unless he shows up super motivated – which isn’t something I’ve seen from him, he seems to hold something back.

Result: Mario Pinto by DEC [No Contract]

Islam Dulatov vs Vanilto Antunes

Spoiler

Islam Dulatov is a looooong striker who at 6’5 uses his range and vicious knees really well. Vanilto is gonna look tiny in there at 5’11 lol, so that’s gonna be the first thing we’ll notice.

Dulatov has been a bit of a can crusher and can get a bit wild and can be cracked – but he’s still a really difficult dude to prepare for with that insane size, reach and length. Antunes is a veteran with plenty of defeats on his record, and when he loses, he gets finished. I think Antunes has developed his grappler-killer skills a lot in recent years, his TDD is really pretty good and his boxing is good too, which is a big improvement from fights like the one against Willker Lemos where he just got dominated on the ground the entire fight.

We don’t have to worry about that here, and that actually makes this fight much hard to pick. At 6’5, length, reach and whatever else is great and all, but when you get cracked by a good boxer, you’re in a lot of trouble. Expect teeps, knees, leg kicks, and ultimately Dulatov to trap Vanilto on the fence and just unload, I think he gets it done here, but watch out for Vanilto’s boxing if Dulatov gets a bit excited. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Vanilo dropped him. He’s not bad, but I have concerns about how often he gets finished when he’s losing fights.

Result: Islam Dulatov by R1TKO

Sean Gauci vs Anthony Drilich

Spoiler

Hex vs Eternal in an all-Aussie flyweight bout. I actually hate this matchmaking, just bring them both into the UFC ya dummies. It’s not like you’re inundated with flyweight prospects, and the fact they’re both Aussies really makes no difference, we don’t need to ration those from down under when Brazilians literally make up 25 % of the 125 lb roster…

Anyway. Sean Gauci holds a win over STEVE ERCEG motherflippers, so that’s going to be a lot of the story should he make it to the UFC, and almost certainly why he’s coming in as favourite here. He’s very well-rounded, fought a higher level of competition, has no issues going the distance, and looks really tough to beat. His only defeat was to a veteran who out-wrestled him, but he bounced back against an inexperienced Erceg. What I don’t like about Gauci is inactivity. 3 fights in 5 years? Not enough, Sean.

First thing’s first, Drilich can CRACK, but he struggles on the scorecards and doesn’t have the same stamina Gauci possesses. While I’ve also seen him wrestle, he isn’t amazing at it, and his only pro defeat started out a brawl before his opponent (Michael Mannu) decided ‘screw this’ and just wrestled his way to a win.

Both guys are small flyweights, and quick. The difference maker is Drilich’s power. Great boxing, shot selection, and some quality finishes on his record (all hands). I can totally see why Gauci is the favourite, he’s the better rounded fighter with the HUGE win on his resumé, but I’m picking Drilich. I think the nature of DWCS will see Gauci coming forward and wanting to make a statement, and that could be a mistake IMO. He’d be better off using his wrestling, all of his skills, but I think the pressure is on and Drilich has the perfect DWCS contract-winning style.

Result: Anthony Drilich by R1TKO – [TERRIBLE BOOKING, SIGN BOTH IMMEDIATELY]

Awesome fight breakdowns like always mate

 

[Deleted member 585708]

Throughout his career, Sean has faced challenges that most people would not have been able to overcome. In 2019, he was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and spent nearly two years in and out of the hospital. Despite these setbacks and COVID in between, he found a way to keep pushing and came back stronger and more focused than ever.

This is why Gauci has inactivity.

From memory it's his opponents pulling out as opposed to him. These two have been booked before and it fell through.

Definitely agree on just signing them though or atleast matching them up against someone else.

Wow, didn't know about the ulcerative colitis - hope that's well behind him now (if only for now), dude is definitely talented. Cheers for the additional info dude!

 

[tritestill]

I'll miss some fights tonight, taking the babies to get shoes. Any good replay sites outside of ESPN+?

 

[Deleted member 585708]

Awesome fight breakdowns like always mate

Been doing "blind speed tape" breakdowns most weeks and I honestly think it has given a decent read on most fights - even some of those where I got the result wrong!

Fun to do, of course it ignores context and such and such, but meh. Only takes an hour, something like that, bit of fun