The 6th Round Post-Fight Show

UFC Vegas 105 was miserable on paper and didn’t provide much more in practice. From weird judging to lackluster performances, the big moments we DID have just didn’t seem as impactful. There were a few surprises, though. Rhys McKee finally got a win, and a big one. Brad Tavares didn’t let Gerald Meerschaert have his way. Then there were the expected outcomes: Dione Barbosa finished Diana Belbita s...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC Mexico turned out to be a pretty eventful card, filled with wild escapes, questionable reffing (I’m looking at you, Mike Beltran), and a fighter’s post-fight speech that reminded everyone why UFC is the bad guy when it comes to fighter pay. Loopy Godinez and Julia Polastri put on one helluva fight but...

UFC Vegas 104 turned out to be a typical card. When you look at it on paper, it inspires you to want to load it into a cannon and fire it directly into the sun. But in practice, it delivered a lot of action and plenty of finishes. When it came to the main event, Roman Dolidze was able to scrape together the victory, avenging his previous loss to Marvin Vettori—who somehow managed to forget his cup...

UFC 313 looked decent on paper but in practice, it wasn’t much to write home about. We did get four great finishes and a banger from Gaethje-Fiziev, but the main event was anti-entertainment. It was a dud of a fight that saw Ankalaev hug his way to a title. Jalin Turner declared he was retiring, but King Green said he wasn’t—both were finished in the first round of their respective fights. It was...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC Vegas 103 looked absolutely dismal on paper and in practice…well, it wasn’t too bad. Hyder Amil managed to get a good fight out of William Gomis and Nasrat Haqparast defied the odds to eke out a split over Esteban Ribovics. Andrea Lee may have set a UFC record with most losses in a row, as she just log...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC Vegas 102 was awful on paper but delivered some high action moments. The problem still remains, though, just how valuable are those moments considering the level of talent. Youngish Gregory Rodrigues learned the hard way that old man strenf is a real phenomenon when Jared Cannonier introduced him to th...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC 312 was not a good card and only saw a couple good fights amid a sea of nothingburgers. Rongzhu’s battle with Kody Steele was definitely worth going back to see if you missed the event, and Weili’s absolute domination of Tatiana was just a wonder to behold. Sean Strickland made zero adjustments to his...

UFC Saudi Arabia was a solid card that came with a few surprises. First, we got to watch a daylight robbery when Hamdy Abdelwahab ‘defeated’ Jamal Pogues. Then, Michael Page managed to avoid Shara’s hot hand and won a decision. Said Nurmagomedov fell to the insanely good Vinicius Oliveira. And finally, we saw Izzy lose for a third, straight time via TKO, this time to Nassourdine Imavov. Let’s take...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC 311 looked phenomenal on paper, and despite having to get to the sixth fight before a finish was recorded, it did indeed deliver some really exciting moments. We saw some hype trains derailed, fantastic finishes and loud mouths closed—at least for now. We got to see new wrinkles from Jiri Prochazka, a...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC Vegas 101 was absolutely awful on paper but delivered some great action in practice. Not that cards like this are luring in new viewers but for the sake of just watching some fights, they delivered reasonably well. Mackenzie Dern avenged her loss to Amanda Ribas with a third-round submission and The Po...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC Tampa saw a night of action with several knockouts dotting the card, but the satisfaction of watching Colby Covington get worked over like Christmas dinner was undeniable. Having the last four fights all end by knockout was pretty gnarly too. And Cub Swanson, you’re never gonna go out on a higher note...

UFC 310 has played out in reality and just as we thought, Kai Asakura couldn’t stand up to the Cannibal test, opting instead to take a nap on the job. Shavkat Rakhmonov got a lot more resistance from Ian Machado Garry than he bargained for, and we got to see some of the most egregious judging in recent memory with Volkov-Gane. The undercard also bore witness to more questionable judging in the Ste...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC 309 is officially history, and likely Mickey Gall is too. Jon Jones still reigns supreme and Michael Chandler got the absolute brakes beat off him for 22 minutes, then did what he always does: rally as hard as he can for naught. Karine Silva F’d around and found out and Bo Nickal bored us all to tears....

*Note: Eddie is out again this week with his high seas adventures. The card that should’ve been left an unfulfilled dream on Sean Shelby’s pillow is over and with it, Neil Magny’s hopes of hanging on to that Number 15 ranking. It was pretty much a foregone conclusion, but watching it in practice was kind of sad. Reinier de Ridder showed out in his debut, defeating Gerald Meerschaert in a wild braw...

*Note: Eddie out this week, so Zane winged it solo UFC 308 is in the books and with it, the hopes and dreams of many. What hopes and dreams, you ask? The ones that would’ve seen Max Holloway and Robert Whittaker leave the octagon victorious. Instead, they were finished, and they were violent finishes, to boot. Topuria never opened his mouth the entire fight. Cardio through the roof and I’d imagine...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC Vegas 99 is thankfully in the history books and not a moment too soon because that was an insanely long card. Just two finishes in eleven fights, and the fights that went the distance were mostly nothing to write home about. Michel Pereira got absolutely dominated by Fluffy Hernandez, then finished in...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC 307 is finally in the books and good riddance. The judging stunk the place up. There were several decisions that made us give the side-eye and there were also several fights that made us want to stab our own eyeballs with a dull knife. But Kayla won, and we’re very interested in seeing her compete for...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC Paris is now history, but within the timeframe that it was an active event, it brought some show-stopping moments and another KO of the year candidate. The action was in high gear from the very first bout and was maintained all the way to the main event. Brian Battle declared he wouldn’t lose to a Fren...

A pretty underwhelming Noche UFC card didn’t deliver the action where the two title fights were concerned, but up to that point, we had a great run of fights, even if there was a dearth of finishes. There were only two finishes on the entire card. We did get a contender for round of the year (the decade even) with the third stanza of Zellhuber vs. Ribovics, which was an outstanding contest. The pr...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC Vegas 97 is over and done. The fat lady has sung her song. The man with one name (Yizha) was soundly trounced. Jacqueline Amorim answered everything Vanessa Demopoulos threw at her for 3+ minutes, then decided she’d had enough and submitted her. Jessica Andrade was bested by Natalia Silva and Sean Brad...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC Vegas 96 is in the books along with the latest TUF finale. Jared Cannonier fell to Caio Borralho, as did Angela Hill to Tabatha Ricci. Neil Magny got smoked, as well. It was not a good night for aging veterans. Victoria Leonardo can count herself among the defeated too, although ‘aging veteran’ might n...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com Thank the heavens that card is over! There were only 3 finishes and one would be hard pressed to locate a contest worthy of FOTN. Unfortunately, that was reflected in the bonuses. The event seemed like an afterthought—just thrown together while the matchmaking brass were on the golf course, or while they w...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC 304 is in the books, and if you had a parlay, you’re probably wondering what the hell happened. Last night was filled with upsets and surprise endings—not that it’s a bad thing. Belal Muhammad is the new champ, but will everyone remember his name? That remains to be seen. Tom Aspinall, however, is stil...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC Denver is officially in the books and the Fighting Nerds have logged another TKO victory. Jean Silva cut Dober open over his right eye and then targeted it relentlessly until Herb Dean was forced to call in the ringside physician. It was a FOTY contender, easily. At some point, Zane will reluctantly em...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC 303 came and went like a fart on the wind. After the card was ravaged by injuries, most notoriously by Conor McGregor’s bum pinky toe, it would continue to transform into the unrecognizable mess it became. Midway through the card, Brian Ortega withdrew from his co-main event bout with Diego Lopes. Appa...