UFC 177: Dillashaw vs. Soto

[Guest John Hancock]

August 30th

Sleep Train Arena

Sacramento, California

 

T.J. Dillashaw © vs. Joe Soto

Tony Ferguson vs. Danny Castillo

Bethe Correia vs. Shanya Baszler

Ramsey Nijem vs. Carlos Ferreira

Yancy Medeiros vs. Damon Jackson

-

Lorenz Larkin vs. Derek Brunson

Ruan Potts vs. Anthony Hamilton

Chris Wade vs. Cain Carrizosa

Edited August 29, 2014 by John Hancock

[Guest John Hancock]

I haven't gone senile, there's no UFC 176, which is probably a good thing, because now this card gets two title fights and Shanya Baszler.

[Guest Magic]

Hopefully Dillashaw wasn't just a flash in the pan and can replicate his previous performance. It would suck pretty hard if Barao just came out and won comfortably.

[Guest John Hancock]

I think the big factor will be Duane Ludwig, who won't be Dillashaw's full-time coach for this one unless Dillshaw moves his camp to Colorado or Ludwig somehow manages to swallow all the shit Faber's been talking about him and goes back to Alpha-Male as a guest-coach.

 

I guess UFC are trying to a Chris Weidman thingy with Dillashaw, cashing in on the upset angle rather than moving him on to other guys. I really hope Dillshaw wins this and then moves on to fighting heel-Faber, which would be massive, at least to me.

[Guest John Hancock]

The Flyweight Title fight has been moved to UFC 178 because Jon Jones is a terrible human being.

[Guest John Hancock]

Barao is also out injured, and will replaced by Joe Soto on one day's notice. That's how it's done Jon.

 

It's Soto's first fight in the UFC. Barao had to pull out after he was hospitalised during a particularly stupid attempt to cut weight.

 

EDIT: A Joe Soto fact from Uncle Helwani. He was Jon Jones' college roommate.

Edited August 29, 2014 by John Hancock

[Guest The Beltster]

Tired of this shit. I think UFC need to start putting things in contracts that if you miss a fight due to stupid bollocks like this, you lose half your purse on your next fight or something. There is literally no punishment for pulling out of fights.

[Guest John Hancock]

I guess you could say it's a punishment that they paid for a training camp and won't get a pay cheque. It's like a £20,000 fine basically. Dana has seemed to snap a little on it though recently, he went to town on Gregg Jackson for injuring Jon Jones by making him spar with Alistair Overeem, and now he's said Barao has basically forfeited his title shot, and he won't get a rematch. He also said Barao should be a featherweight because he sucks at cutting weight, whilst Dillashaw said the opposite, saying Barao intentionally sabotaged his own weight cut to get out a fight his management had forced him into.

[Guest The Beltster]

Alot of the bigger name guys get their camps paid for by their sponsors, dunno about Renan. I have absolutely zero interest in this show tonight, I dont even think I'll bother watching it at all. 25,000 buys here we come.

[Guest John Hancock]

I'll probably watch, maybe, if I can be bothered, but, yeah, I'm not buzzing. This show's gone from two title fights, including a rematch for the upset of the year, to a card so compressed that it doesn't even have a pre-show, it's just eight fights long.

 

And you know why? Because of Jon f*cking Jones.

[Guest John Hancock]

Eh. I watched. It was fine. The UFC are trying to make it out like ya'll missed a treat. You didn't, it was a FOX show. The only really interesting thing that Bethe Correia's whole "Horsewoman Killer" gimmick, which is so, so awesome.

[Evil Gringo 279]

Loved Dana ranting at Meltzer on the prelims - telling him he was wrong about the gate and that it was an amazing card blah, blah.

 

The fact there was need for a walk up figure at all for the gate and it wasn't sold out should tell Dana all he needs to know about the state of his company and their ability to put on cards at the moment.

 

Still the main event was alright, Soto did well for his first fight in the UFC, on a days notice, to go toe to toe with a fully motivated and trained Dillashaw. I know Soto had a full training camp behind him but it was for three rounds and for a completely different opponent so it had to be tough but it was a decent fight and a good finish from TJ.

 

UFC, make it happen, line up Faber v TJ - get some more interest in your product!

[Guest John Hancock]

T.J. vs. Heel Faber HAS to happen. We all deserve it for putting up with these rubbish cards.

[Evil Gringo 279]

I'm just waiting for TJ to credit Ludwig one more time and Faber to snap, diss TJ for not giving him enough credit for his development (because Alpha Male is all about ME!) and tell him he could take that title off him in a heartbeat.

 

But really, with Barao not being allowed a title shot due to screwing up his weight cut and Cruz needing to prove himself again after such a long time away with knee issues, well who is there fit and ready to fight at 135lbs? Faber beats most of the top contenders on the way up, McDonald for instance he dealt with no issue, so really Faber is next in line.

[Guest John Hancock]

Oh God, I can just imagine Faber's in-ring, "I am Team Alpha Male" speech after he turns on T.J. during their post-PPV RAW title celebration party. Heel Faber with TAM as his goons, going after T.J. with Ludwig as his manager/Dad.

[Evil Gringo 279]

Faber wipes him out with the belt whilst TAM hold Ludwig back, screaming in his face before locking in the Guillotine Choke...

 

Then in the fight TJ reverses the Guillotine into an Head and Arm Triangle for the win before going on to do another thing Faber couldn't do... beat Dominic Cruz.

[Guest John Hancock]

Faber wipes him out with the belt whilst TAM hold Ludwig back, screaming in his face before locking in the Guillotine Choke...

 

Make it happen Dana!

[Guest The Beltster]

Faber isnt in position for a title shot, he'll either need to win at least one more fight or a suspicious injury will need to happen and he'll need to jump in, but then the build wont be long or decent.

[Evil Gringo 279]

Well he holds position over McDonald at 135lbs surely. Who would be next? The winner of Raphael Assunção v Bryan Caraway or Takeya Mizugaki.

[Guest The Beltster]

Assunção is surely next in line.