Pre-fight Discussion UFC 298: Volkanovski vs. Topuria, Sat. Feb. 17, Prelims 6:30pm ET Espn+, Main ppv 10pm ET

[H41ph_84k3d]

UFC for the next few weeks?

 

[Jackonfire]

UFC 298 pre-fight press conference Thursday, February 15 at 8pm ET/5pm PT

 

[Sasha]

What's you all's thoughts on the co-main? I'm rooting for Whittaker, I always do. Costa is a wild card to me - never quite know what you're gonna get.

I'm a bit torn because, as I said a few times lately, I still kinda hope that Costa finally lives up to the expectations people once had about his potential. I think a lot of fans gave up, which is 100% understandable, but despite the fiasco against Marvin and... amongst other things, his bizarre propensity to elicit arousal while fighting (the butt rape was kinda unusual, but Rockhold totally losing his mind, frantically exchanging bodily fluids with an ecstatic Costa, was one of the weirdest shit I had to witness in the octagon), I still hope he can redeem himself.

Also, he clearly isn't the most subtle guy out there, but he makes some people laugh nevertheless, which I find cool in those times where opportunities to laugh are becoming rare and precious (well except if your thing is absurd humor, then the world is a playground).

But then, do I really want to see Rob get beaten by him ? To be fair, I kinda fear for the career of the guy who will lose this. What I'd like is a good old war, where both fighters look good, no matter who wins, but it will be hard to really root for someone. Whereas picking a guy to root for in the main event is definitely a no-brainer to me.

 

[TempleoftheDog]

As we recover from the weekend let's pause and say heck yes! to the stacked card this Saturday February 17. UFC 298: Volkanovski vs. Topuria live from Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Will self-proclaimed Alexander the Great defeat the confident Ilia Topuria (who has won six in a row - four by finish)? Will Robert Whittaker or Paulo Costa revive their career? Someone's gotta do it. Ian Garry hasn't made many friends with his trash talk. Wearing a t-shirt with the mug shot of Geoff Neal is low even for trash standards. Of Garry, Neal simply says "I want to kill him." Who shall prevail? We know Henry Cejudo can prevent takedowns. Will Triple C show ring rust after being out for so long? Or will the relentless Dvalishvili show him who is now boss? At women's strawweight will grappler Mackenzie Dern get back to winning ways or will striker Amanda Lemos ascend?

What are your takes on these and other questions for this card? Let's enjoy this week's pre-fight discussion. Throughout the week we'll have more content like previews and articles. All we ask is that you keep the conversation civil.

*** Trivia question. Who has starred in the most Super Bowl commercials? The answer is at the end of this post. ***

Main Card ppv​

Featherweight - Main Event - Title Fight Alexander Volkanovski 26-3 vs. Ilia Topuria 14-0-0​

Co-Main: Robert Whittaker 25-7-0 Paulo Costa 14-2-0
Geoff Neal 14-5-0 vs. Ian Garry 13-0-0
Merab Dvalishvili 16-4-0 vs. Henry Cejudo 16-3-0
Anthony Hernandez 11-2-0 vs. Roman Kopylov 12-2-0
Prelims ESPN, ESPN+
Amanda Lemos 13-3-1 vs/ Mackenzie Dern 13-4-0
Marcos Rogerio de Lima 21-10-1 vs. Justin Tafa 7-3-0
Rinya Nakamura 8-0-0 vs. Carlos Vera 11-3-0
Zhang Mingyang 16-6-0 vs. Brendson Ribeiro 15-5-0
Early Prelims ESPN+
Josh Quinlan 6-1-0 vs. Danny Barlow 7-0-0
Oban Elliott 9-2-0 vs. Val Woodburn 7-1-0
Andrea Lee 13-8-0 vs. Miranda Maverick 14-5-0

Saturday 02.17.2024 at 06:30 PM ET
U.S. Broadcast: Pay Per View | Prelims: ESPN
Promotion: Ultimate Fighting Championship
Ownership: Endeavor
Venue: Honda Center
Location: Anaheim, California, United States
Enclosure: Octagon
MMA Bouts: 12

Here's the best in the biz imo, Shillan & Duffy with their preview of 298.



Shillan and Duffy: UFC 298 Preview
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BEN DUFFY KEITH SHILLAN FEB 12, 2024 COMMENTS
Keith and Ben preview UFC 298, with background, analysis, detailed predictions and picks for all 12 fights. Off-topic conversations include...well, there are a lot of them because Ben didn't cut out as much as he usually does. Mark Coleman getting a face full of wrestling shoe at UFC 17, Michaelangelo's painting of the Sistine Chapel, MMA fans' inability to understand the word "consensus," the Philadelphia Zoo, and of course Bo Nickal, all get a mention.

Intro: Keith forgets a wrestler?
10:56 Andrea Lee (13-8) vs. Miranda Maverick (12-5)
21:42 Oban Elliott (9-2) vs. Valentine Woodburn (7-1)
35:46 Josh Quinlan (6-1, 1 NC) vs. Danny Barlow (7-0)
41:53 Minyang Zhang (16-6) vs. Brendson Ribeiro (15-5, 1 NC)
52:44 Rinya Nakamura (8-0) vs. Carlos Vera (11-3)
1:04:05 Marcos Rogerio de Lima (21-9-1) vs. Justin Tafa (7-3, 1 NC)
1:12:25 Amanda Lemos (13-3-1) vs. Mackenzie Dern (13-4)
1:21:48 Anthony Hernandez (11-2) vs. Roman Kopylov (12-2)
1:30:03 Merab Dvalishvili (16-4) vs. Henry Cejudo (16-3)
1:42:48 Geoff Neal (15-5) vs. Ian Garry (13-0)
2:00:26 Robert Whittaker (24-7) vs. Paulo Costa (14-2)
2:17:22 Alexander Volkanovski (26-3) vs. Ilia Topuria (14-0)
2:40:11 A quick rundown of all the picks

* Answer to trivia question. The Clydesdale horses.

I came close on the trivia question. My guess was Spuds Mackenzie. I correctly guessed it would be related to Budweiser. So, I went with Spuds.



Thanks for the thread @PurpleStorm

I’ll be back with a proper pre-fight post.

Edit.

If you aren’t familiar with Spuds.. Now you know.

 

[TempleoftheDog]

Last week's poster they used crayons. This week's looks like someone wrote a cry for help in lipstick on a bathroom mirror.

And it’s fucking YELLOW lipstick..

 

[PurpleStorm]

I came close on the trivia question. My guess was Spuds Mackenzie. I correctly guessed it would be related to Budweiser. So, I went with Spuds.

View attachment 1029430

Thanks for the thread @PurpleStorm

I’ll be back with a proper pre-fight post.

Edit.

If you aren’t familiar with Spuds.. Now you know.

Good guess. I love Neil Young's response to Spuds Mackenzie.

 

[TempleoftheDog]

Good guess. I love Neil Young's response to Spuds Mackenzie.

Yeah, I love that song. Good Canadian lad Neil Young. Finally saw him in 2016 at Desert Trip in California.

When Lynyrd Skynyrd took exception to Southern Man. And responded with Sweet Home Alabama. Rock and Roll got TWO great songs out of it.

Edit.

My fav Neil Young song is Rockin in the Free World. And he has Hey Hey, My My.. and Heart of Gold.

All three are in my top 100 Rock and Roll songs of All-Time (But I have about 1000 songs in my top 100). I just mean it’s a really good song that I like a lot.

 

[Siver!]

Picks made early!

Won't be swayed off Costa, either!

 

[Kowboy On Sherdog]

Video: UFC 298 ‘Embedded’ Episode 3

On Episode 3 of UFC 298 “Embedded,” Alexander Volkanovski and Ilia Topuria arrive in the City of Angels.

www.sherdog.com

 

[Yorick]

Dern needs a bounce back win here.

 

[Kryptt]

 

[Kryptt]

 

[Neck&Neck]

Should be alright card
thinking a few upsets
im not going to jinx it
just glad it’s not at the Apex !

#LFG #AllOfIt #PBPcrew

 

[PurpleStorm]

Should be alright card
thinking a few upsets
im not going to jinx it
just glad it’s not at the Apex !

#LFG #AllOfIt #PBPcrew

Yeah, glad it will be in front of a live crowd in Anaheim.

 

[Kowboy On Sherdog]

Every fighter in the torment of an existential dilemma navigates the need to either evolve with the sport or become extinct. The answer can vary: strike a better deal, skyrocket to fame, or seek better competition.


For Paulo Costa, it was a matter of asserting his value and battling for fair compensation. The Brazilian did a complete about-face, putting skin in the social media game with jest-driven content. He opts to pick on topics that can be conversational fodder and detonates ridicule-laden themes that act as dynamite and trigger a response. In doing so, he has become a popular figure and a source of entertainment for fans on X (formerly known as Twitter).

Besides that, the former Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight title contender returned to winning ways in his last fight against Luke Rockhold at UFC 278. Last year, Costa was scheduled to face Robert Whittaker, Ikram Aliskerov and Khamzat Chimaev on separate occasions. However, none of the bouts materialized and the Brazilian’s 2023 mixed martial arts record remained a blank canvas.


“Borrachinha” will finally make his much-anticipated Octagon return against former middleweight kingpin Robert Whittaker on Feb. 17, 2024, at UFC 298. Ahead of the fight, let’s take a look at five things you might not know about Costa.

He Followed His Brother’s Path to the Cage​

Paulo Costa was born in 1991 to Carlos Roberto and Maria Augusta. He was drawn into the martial arts fold by the influence of his older brother, Carlos Costa, who as luck would have it, was a former mixed martial artist himself. Martial arts helped Costa keep a wide berth from street fights and get into a disciplined mindset. He later delved into muay thai at the tender age of nine.

Tragedy Struck Him at a Young Age​

Costa was caught in the grip of misfortune when his father passed away from throat cancer when he was 17. This led him to abandon jiu-jitsu for a period. “Borrachinha” returned to the sport after a few years, under the guidance of his brother. He started training in jiu-jitsu once again and put his training to the test under the guidance of his brother.

Breaking Ground​

Costa wasn’t born in the lap of luxury. The Brazilian had to endure financial struggles growing up. He shouldered the responsibility of covering household expenses to help his mother. He worked in real estate and also took up a role as an IT teacher, teaching Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. His mother revealed to ESPN, “When he got older, he had an internship as a computer assistant and also worked in a telemarketing company. He would come home late, like midnight. Then he started working as a realtor. He was making good money, but he had no time to practice.”

A Mother’s Faith​

Costa kicked off his professional mixed martial arts journey in Brazil, making his debut in Feb. 2012. His brother, Carlos realized that finding an equilibrium between work, training, and competing was a tall order. Carlos, persuaded their mother to financially back Costa for a year, enabling him to fully dedicate himself to his martial arts career. Over the next five years, the Brazilian demonstrated his skills in the cage, compiling an impressive record of 8–0, featuring seven knockouts and one submission victory.

His brother told his mother, "‘Mom, Paulo doesn't have time. He has a future in fighting. We need to support him.’ But he likes the best clothes and the best sneakers -- I said I would support him but under my conditions. I worked, and everything I did was for them. He quit his job to focus on sports.”

A quirk of fate intervened when UFC 147 was forced to relocate from Rio de Janeiro to Belo Horizonte, Brazil, due to a United Nations conference occupying hotel rooms. The event, which was scheduled for June. 23, 2012, landed just 12 miles east of Costa’s hometown. Eager to witness the spectacle firsthand, Costa and his older brother, Carlos, pleaded with their mother for permission to attend. But they lacked the means to even purchase tickets on their own. Costa revealed the episode in a candid interview ahead of the fight with Israel Adesanya.

The Belo Horizonte Gamble​

Costa was longing for a career-defining moment and he recognized competing on “The Ultimate Fighter” would propel him to new heights. But Costa faced an obstacle. In order to compete in the promotion's hit show, he needed to have three fights under his belt but only had two. Costa and his brother were determined to pull out all the stops to get one more fight. They noticed that there was an event in Belo Horizonte and pulled an attempt to anchor Costa to the card. However, the promoter revealed that the stipulated capacity of the card was tapped out with 13-14 confirmed fights. They stood their ground and requested an opportunity, offering to fight for free if necessary. Recognizing Costa’s determination, the promoter agreed. He scored a first-round TKO victory over Fabio Moreira, successfully fulfilling the requirement to earn a coveted spot on “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil.”

5 Things You Might Not Know About Paulo Costa

“Borrachinha” will return to the cage for the first time in over a year when he faces former middleweight champ Robert Whittaker on the main card of UFC 298 on Saturday in Anaheim, Calif.

www.sherdog.com

 

[PurpleStorm]

Preview: UFC 298 Prelims​

Lemos vs. Dern​

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TOM FEELY FEB 14, 2024 COMMENTS

The UFC 298 prelims are a solid enough appetizer to a strong main card, even if some late scratches hurt the available depth. The featured prelim is the most interesting fight of the bunch, as it features the return of Mackenzie Dern, who had both her career-best and career-worst performances in the last year; depending on her form, her bout against former strawweight title challenger Amanda Lemos could go any number of ways. Heavyweight Justin Tafa looks for a statement win against veteran Marcos Rogerio de Lima; past that, the main points of intrigue are the latest outing for top Japanese prospect Rinya Nakamura and an important flyweight fight for both Andrea Lee and Miranda Maverick.

Women's Strawweights
Amanda Lemos (13-3-1) vs. Mackenzie Dern (13-4)
Odds: Lemos (-130), Dern (+110)

What to make of Dern? Dern came to the UFC in 2018 as a particularly hyped prospect, and rightfully so; essentially trained to grapple since birth, Dern had a decorated resume in that realm before transitioning to mixed martial arts and twisting her opponents into knots. Her first few years on the UFC roster were an exercise in frustration, though. Dern showed a baseline toughness and horsepower that only added to her potential as a prospect, but her spotty wrestling and willingness to meander through fights led to her underachieving in most of her fights. Still, Dern was talented enough that an opportunity for a submission victory would usually present itself at some point during her fights, at least until she started regularly getting main events and fights against the top ten; at that point, Dern would show flashes against the likes of Marina Rodriguez and Xiaonan Yan, but mostly show a lack of urgency while coasting to a disheartening decision loss. That made her dominant victory over Angela Hill in May such an unexpected potential breakthrough; there was even more worry about Dern's mindset than usual thanks to some personal strife, but those issues seemed to motivate her into the most focused and aggressive form of her career, resulting in a five-round beating that suggested Dern might finally be realizing her potential as a contender. But her next fight, a November loss to Jessica Andrade, was on the shortlist of most deflating performances in recent memory; Dern apparently completely changed her camp leading into the fight into Andrade, which in turn apparently undid all of her newfound gains, leaving her to lose a slugfest with Andrade that only raised more questions about her career going forward. Seemingly all of Dern's fights nowadays feel like where the rubber needs to hit the road, and this is another one, since this next fight against Amanda Lemos is both dangerous and winnable.

Lemos is coming off her own deflating performance, as she got little done in a title fight against Weili Zhang last August, but it's an impressive achievement that "Amandinha" got to that point given where her UFC career started. Lemos was a career bantamweight that got signed as a late replacement back in 2017, showing little in a loss to Leslie Smith before failing a drug test and vanishing for the next two and a half years. Lemos's eventual return fight didn't garner much notice heading in, but then she ran through Miranda Granger while looking like a completely different fighter; Lemos was suddenly an absolute powerhouse in her new weight class, overwhelming Granger in close quarters and choking her unconscious. Lemos continued to prove herself as an impressive physical force in her next few fights, including scoring some particularly brutal knockouts for a strawweight, though her approach does seem contingent on big individual moments; her 2022 win over Rodriguez, which clinched her title shot, is a particularly instructive example, as Lemos got little done in a slow-paced kickboxing match until she landed the right shot and blew the fight wide open for a third-round finish. But against Zhang, who quickly got to business with her wrestling game and rarely gave Lemos room to breathe, those opportunities simply didn't come. Given Dern's most recent performance, Lemos should be able to get the fight that she wants, though the shame of it is that a win is right there on the table for Dern; even if she can't fully get a wrestling game going, Dern could fill a lot of space and win rounds just by staying aggressive and throwing out volume, particularly since she has both the strength and durability to make that effective. Given how inconsistent Dern's career has been, there's a decent chance that she simply snaps back into her best form and gets everyone's hopes up once again; but given how hard she is to trust, the pick is Lemos via decision.

Jump To »
Lemos vs. Dern
De Lima vs. Tafa
Nakamura vs. Vera
Zhang vs. Ribeiro
Quinlan vs. Barlow
Elliott vs. Woodburn
Lee vs. Maverick

 

[PurpleStorm]

 

[Kryptt]

 

[Jackonfire]

Yeah, I love that song. Good Canadian lad Neil Young. Finally saw him in 2016 at Desert Trip in California.

When Lynyrd Skynyrd took exception to Southern Man. And responded with Sweet Home Alabama. Rock and Roll got TWO great songs out of it.

Edit.

My fav Neil Young song is Rockin in the Free World. And he has Hey Hey, My My.. and Heart of Gold.

All three are in my top 100 Rock and Roll songs of All-Time (But I have about 1000 songs in my top 100). I just mean it’s a really good song that I like a lot.

Neil Young is one of my favorites. I got to see him way back in '91 with Sonic Youth and Social Distortion on the "Smell the Horse" tour. One of the louder shows I've been to but I think part of that was the venue. It was at a college basketball arena and the acoustics weren't great, especially for bands that play as loud as they did. I was glad they played Powderfinger which is definitely in my top 10 favorite Neil songs.

 

[Rationality]

When Merab and Triple C aren't even a main event you know it's a good card!