The Octagon Report with Nicnas - April 20, 2018

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It has been an exciting few weeks in the MMA. It doesn’t stop just yet. We have one fun UFC fight night this Saturday to focus on. Next weekend we will get Bellator 198.

We will focus on this weekends UFC Promotion and their Fight Night 128. This one will be in Atlantic City’s Boardwalk hall and should be fun. With 13 fights on the card starting off on UFC’s Fight Pass for 3 and heading over to FS1 starting at 8PM / 5PM ET/PT for the Prelims and Main Card.

The fights I will highlight today will be that of the hard hitting Edson Barboza versus a king of submissions, and “the Motown Phenom”, Kevin Lee. Before that fight we will have the number 3, featherweight division, Frankie Edgar versus the number 4 Cub Swanson. The third fight I will highlight, and the third to last on this card, is that of some up and coming fighters. A rising heavyweight Justin Willis verus Chase Sherman.

Highlighting Upcoming Fights

First up for review is the that between two up and coming fighters. One of which is looking really good and exiting. That is the heavyweight Justin “Big Pretty” Willis against Chase “The Vanilla Gorilla.” Justin is 6 and 1 and is very heavy handed. This is going to be fun. He also can bring his opponent to the ground with a 75% accuracy on take down attempts. But he is unlikely to submit them. This should be a fun one to watch and see if either may have a bright future in the UFC.

The second to last fight of the night is that of Frankie Edgar and Cub Swanson. This one is important as both of these fighters battle to get to the top of the ranks in the featherweight division. With Edgar in 3rd and Swanson in 4th. Both of these veterans are amazing fighters who have a range of skills. They meet again after delayed 2.0 matchup. Frankie has a slightly better Submission and Decision win rate and Cub has a better KO/TKO rate. While they both are slightly better in different areas, either one of these stars can challenge the other whether it be on the ground or standing. I see this fight going to decision, and if that is the case I think Cub may just walk away with the victory.

This is his chance to get back at Frankie after his dominant rear naked choke tap out victory of him. An adventage that Cub might have is Frankie was knocked out less than 2 months ago and is back in the ring already. He was knocked out and dominated by Brian Ortega, who has similar skills at stand-up as Cub, just with a little more oomph. But Frankie will be fighting with passion after winning the first of this matchup and being determined to get back to the top for a title fight. They both would love a fight for the belt against Max Holloway.

The main event of the evening in the UFC Promotion is that of Edson “Junior” Barboza and his amazing knockout ability versus Kevin “The Motown Phenom” Lee with his incomparable submission and grappling game. Barboza is 19 and 5 with a stunning 58% KO/TKO rate where as Lee has a 50% submission rate. Even though Lee is better at the grappling game, he has a slightly less rate of takedowns and worse takedown defense. This fight is all going to come down to whether Barboza keeps the fight standing or Lee can make it a wrestling match.

These two are fighting for relevance in this heated division. Khabib Nurmagomedov just took the belt after it was stripped from Conor and Conor is now holding the number 1 position. Behind them is Tony Ferguson and Eddie Alvarez and then Dustin Poirier rounding out the top 5. Edson and Kevin are at 5 and 6 and hoping a win here would catapult them into a higher ranking and allow them a shot at the title before too long. This fight has huge potential in a division highly contested at 155 pounds.

Upcoming

MMA News and Highlights

• Multiple stars and comentators are agreeing and speaking openly about the special treatment that Conor McGregor is receiving in the UFC. Almost any fighter would have been kicked out of the UFC Promotion after losing the PPV event 3 different fights. He is likely to receive a slap on the wrist by UFC president Dana White because he brings in so much publicity for the promotion.
• Nate Diaz is officialy able to fight again after stacked suspensions.
• Last month the UFC agreed to terms with Amazon for a huge sum and PPV rights. They are now in negotiations with a cooperation of ESPN and FOX for the UFC’s TV rights. Fox Sports alone was likely unable and unwilling to spend the amount needed to make the deal. It is rumored that Fox is more interested in WWE rights at this point in time.
• Happy 4-20 for any of you whom celebrate. FDA is recommending its first drug with CBD oil (Cannabidiol) in it for approval. Drugs without the psychedelic effects but with the benefits of marijuana have been doing wonders for people with pain and especially those with seizures and epilepsy. The drug being recommended for approval is called Epidiolex and is set to be approved for those having seizures. Its availability will be limited.
  
  

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_{Author: @nicnas
Editor: @bacchist}

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