🥊 UFC 304 + Umar vs Sandhagen

WOW… UFC 304 certainly delivered in the championship fights (and maybe didn’t even get sent to the mail with the prelims) but stand here today with a NEW UFC WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION… and you would do right to “Remember The Name” Belal Muhammad!

Watch our podcast episode breaking down the UFC 304 card…

And our latest podcast previewing this weekend’s fights that dropped today…

HEADLINES

🥊 Belal Muhammad claimed the 170lbs UFC title with a smothering win over former Champ Leon Edwards. Rumors for the next Welterweight title fight include our very own Kamaru Usman and the undefeated Shavkat Rakhmanov. (Huge credit to Belal’s head coach, former PFL Champ Louis Taylor who has been his main coach since high school where he was Belal’s varsity wrestling coach!)

🥊 The UFC Sphere card is official as the promotion revealed the full card ahead of the UFC 306 ticket sale open on Monday. You’ll have to drop around $4000 just to get in the building as it stands now but WOW, what a PPV with Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili on the top of the marquee.

🥊 In regulatory news, MMA officials have voted to remove the ban on “12-6 elbows” as of November 1st, 2024. This opens up an interesting can of worms as Dana White and the UFC have worked in the past, on behalf of Jon Jones, to overturn his lone UFC loss, a fight against Matt Hamill where Jon was demolishing his opponent until the referee made the call to stop the fight. Will we see Jon Jones’ record returned to a zero in the loss column? Stay tuned!

We may get some seriously fun grappling exchanges this weekend👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

UFC 304 Recap

Belal Muhammad def. Leon Edwards (Unanimous Decision)

It’s no secret that Belal Muhammad is not a fan-favorite fighter (yet). It’s also no secret that Leon Edwards was not entirely keen on this matchup in his time as the reigning UFC 170lbs champion. What once happened to Leon, being passed over and disrespected in the pecking order, was now being done to Belal, by Leon himself!

It seemed for a long time this fight may never happen, especially with the surge of UFC newcomer Shavkat Rakhmanov. One of the best win streaks in the history of the 170lbs division, being left to fester on the outside looking in. Once the date was set however, we all knew this was likely the one shot Belal Muhammad would get to secure a UFC championship.

AND BOY DID HE DELIVER!

Round 1 was largely even except for the stellar wrestling of Belal Muhammad where he was 2/2 in takedowns. Most educated minds saw Belal’s 51 strikes to Leon’s 25 and gave the round a 10-9 Muhammad with the dominant wrestling.

Round 2 was more of the same with the dominant grappling and less so on the striking. Muhammad landed 4 of 5 takedown attempts and secured 3.25 minutes of control time. Easy 10-9 Muhammad again.

It was between Rounds 2 and 3 that you really saw Edward’s head coach Dave Lovell start getting into it. Quotes like “DO YOU F*CKIN’ WANT IT SON?” began to ring out from the Edwards corner as the frustration was setting in. The UFC champ who to this point as a champion had never face much adversity, was now likely down 2 rounds in a defense of his title belt on home soil.

Round 3 was the best Leon Edwards round by far as he was able to secure a takedown and the back of Belal to the tune of 4 minutes and 18 seconds of control time. Muhammad wasn’t able to do enough in those 42 seconds of standing and thus gave this round to Leon. Running score: 29-28 Muhammad heading into 4.

Round 4 some could argue was the best Muhammad round, as he secured 1 of his 2 takedowns on the way to 3 minutes 17 seconds control time on the floor. In addition, he out struck Leon 62 to 10.

Finally in Round 5, we saw some life out of Leon Edwards, but it was too little too late. Heading into R5 it was likely a 3-1 lead for Muhammad that would require a finish from “Rocky” Edwards, and whilst he DID give it his best shot, landing his best flurry of strikes in the waning seconds of the round that cut Belal to the tune of a butterfly stitch backstage, he was unable to do enough to even with the round in the eyes of many.

QUICK HITTERS from UFC 304 in Manchester, England

• Tom Aspinall def. Curtis Blaydes with a WILD KO just 60 seconds into the first round. Aspinall did get clipped a bit which is worrisome if you’re looking across the cage at Alex Pereira or Jon Jones, but damn if Tommy Aspinall didn’t show up and show out for this one. You gotta’ feel for Blaydes who got less than a minute to try to win the UFC title but, I didn’t think it was an early stoppage by any means. Aspinall, aka “The Honey Badger” is slowly chipping away at being the best heavyweight of all-time.

• Paddy Pimblett def. Bobby Green via Triangle Choke submission in the first round. I felt like Paddy looked good on the feet in the limited exchanges we saw, but I will never understand what Bobby Green was thinking shooting a takedown on a guy who was once known as a submission specialist. This low fight IQ move led to an easy chain of submission attempts that resulted in the ultimate choking unconscious of Bobby Green. Does this fight signal to me that “Paddy the Baddy” is a contender at 155lbs? Not at all, but we are certainly in for some excitement with his name breaking into the rankings.

• I felt like Christian Leroy Duncan would be better than Gregory Rodrigues on the feet and piece him up to the tune of a 3 round decision. I was in fact WAY WRONG and I will never fade “Robocop” Gregory Rodrigues again. He was better than CLD in every phase of the fight AND the dude has an incredible chin. Forgive me Robocop, I will never cross you again!

• This fight had a few stinkers I won’t lie, even President Dana White said so in the post-fight press conference. The 7-straight decision run nearly put me to sleep on my chair after the card started off pretty strong.

• Part of those decisions was a dominant win by Bruna Brasil over “Meatball” Molly McCann. I think McCann was something like -450 when this fight started…to which we are all wondering HOW after Bruna Brasil put on an absolute CLINIC. I don’t say this lightly, Bruna Brasil is a future champ now that she has aligned with the Fighting Nerds camp. Not just how she looked, but the improvements she’s making in a WMMA division that can be easily traversed with the right set of skills.

How to Bet UFC on ABC 7

The UFC returns to ABC this weekend for #UFConABC7 and features Cory Sandhagen taking on Umar Nurmagomedov in the main-event in Abu Dhabi, plus, a whole slew of banger matchups that you do NOT want to miss, with a special mid-day start time!

THIS WEEK:

• CORY SANDHAGEN (+245) vs. UMAR NURMAGOMEDOV (-305)

  • In the headliner for UFC on ABC 7 we see two of the top 135lbs fighters in the world squaring off to see who remains to contend for the UFC Bantamweight title, a belt that was recently announced to be on the line at the upcoming UFC NOCHE event at the Sphere in Las Vegas.

    • Cory “The Sandman” Sandhagen, enters the cage having lost just 4 times in his entire career, only 3 of those being in the UFC, and all of those three being against former UFC Champions in Aljamain Sterling, TJ Dillashaw, and Petr Yan. He is a dynamic striker, perhaps one of the best in the entire sport, and since that loss to Aljamain in 2020 has had a fire about him that is hard to put out.

    • Umar Nurmagomedov, yes of the same Nurmagomedov lineage as legendary Khabib and Abdulmanap, will step into the cage as the undefeated phenom, largely unproven however in the UFC. It’s wild that Nurmagomedov is the -305 favorite here given that his UFC resume is not what one would called “stellar”.

  • What stands out to ME when betting this fight, is knowing that Cory, whilst not a grappler or wrestler, has had to contend with some great wrestling from fighters like Song Yadong and Marlon “Chito” Vera. His resume is worlds apart from Nurmagomedov’s but that alone doesn’t say much. The intangibles play a factor in this fight, with the mindset of Cory Sandhagen over the last few months likely leading him to a very dark place in terms of wrestling and grappling preparation. Has Cory ever wrestled with someone on the caliber of Umar Nurmagomedov? I believe so! — I do NOT believe Umar has ever had to deal with someone of a striking prowess like Cory Sandhagen, not even in a training setting.

    • Prediction: Cory Sandhagen is able to defend the early onslaught and piece up Umar Nurmagomedov to the tune of a 4th or 5th round stoppage where he outstrikes Umar 3-1.

• DEIVESON FIGUEIREDO (-135) vs. MARLON “CHITO” VERA (+114)

  • This is one of those fights where you just hate to see either guys lose when Figgy takes on Chito. Figueiredo, the former 125lbs champion and all-around badass, enters the cage for his 3rd bantamweight fight where he looks to make it 3 wins in a row in this new division, against a 135lbs staple in Marlon “Chito” Vera. Not one to ever say no to a challenge, Vera is coming off a title fight defeat to Sean O’Malley in a spirited unanimous decision rematch from their August 2020 fight. Both guys bring the action, drive a heavy pace, and are sure to entertain us fans sitting at home midday on Saturday.

    • My pick for this one is the favorite “Deus Da Guerra” aka “God of War” in Brazilian Portuguese.

• TONY FERGUSON (+455) vs. MICHAEL CHIESA (-625)

  • Okay guys, BUCKLE UP, because this one is going to get wild. Fan-favorite “El-Cucuy” is back and looking to put the end to a 7-fight UFC skid against the greatest mullet in all of MMA, “Maverick” Michael Chiesa, who himself is hoping to end a 3-fight losing skid.

    • Now when it comes to betting this fight, and really most UFC fights, you’ve got to bet the number! It is surely a greater possibility that Chiesa defeats Ferguson in this spot, his -625 number would indicate he gets it done 86.75% of the time and I simply can’t agree with that. You are getting the former champ, the boogeyman himself, at nearly a 5-1 number against competition who let’s be honest, is not banging down the door of elite competition. This is easily the most winnable fight Tony has had in the last 5 years on this skid, and if he can’t get it done here, it’s probably “adios” for “El Cucuy”.

POUND 4 POUND PODCAST

Watch our interview with Cory Sandhagen before his fight this weekend!

LISTENER HOT TAKES

WHAT UP ETHAN, HOW WE FEELING?

Now oftentimes when I see people spewing “hot takes” on MMA twitter, I’m on the side of “what the f*ck are you thinking?”.

NOT TODAY ETHAN…NOT TODAY!

Here’s the cold hard truth, I agree with you, Ethan.

The Conor McGregor that fought Eddie Alvarez on November 11th, 2016 was a mythical being. Okay rewind, you kind of have to look back to understand how incredible this win was.

Conor McGregor right, this phenom from Ireland, comes into the UFC and rattles off wins against Brimage, Holloway, Brandao, Poirier, Siver and Mendes. He gets a title fight booked against Jose Aldo who at the time was unbeatable. Jose Aldo was the Jon Jones of 2016, the Floyd Mayweather of 145lbs MMA on earth. That fight dropped, in steps on short notice Chad Mendes the best wrestler in featherweight history. What does Conor do? Defends his takedowns, puts his back to the cage, and puts Chad Mendes to sleep. 5 months later, he clips Aldo in 13 seconds to become the undisputed champ.

McGregor then was going to attempt to be the first UFC double champ by going up to challenge Rafael Dos Anjos at 155lbs, but an injury from RDA would change history forever. We then got the back-to-back McGregor vs Diaz fights where Conor/Nate would split loss to win.

Once Conor was back into the win column in August 2016, it was November 11th set as the stage for a bout with Eddie Alvarez, Philadelphia’s own Underground King fighting at MSG.

Not only was this the promotion’s first fight at MSG, opening up the New York market FINALLY after decades of trying, but it was McGregor’s debut at 155lbs (after the Diaz fights were at 170lbs).

Two title fights preceded this one, a feat that to my knowledge had never been done before with the 3 title fights on one card.

Then, McGregor’s walkout, changing from his usual “Foggy Dew” intro to the musical stylings of “50 Cent” and the track “I Get Money” which features the line “I RUN NEW YORK” as it fades out into Sinead O’Connor’s hymns.

The confidence, the swagger, the sheer aura of “The Notorious” on this night, will likely never be matched.

For the performance itself, go back and watch it sometime. Conor was landing everything with surgical precision. He made Eddie Alvarez, who at the time was considered one of the best 155lbs fighters of all-time, look like an amateur. I don’t say that lightly. He made Eddie look like an unranked UFC fighter against a champion.

The Conor McGregor that fought Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 was the best fighter we have ever seen walk into a UFC octagon?

AGREE! 👍️ 👍️ 👍️ 

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THANKS FOR ALL THE SUPPORT!

I need to get me a pair of these META glasses ✊