8 Sides Blog

Admittedly, the headline for this piece is misleading. Aljamain Sterling vs Petr Yan for the Bantamweight championship isn't the main event for UFC 273, but it's the most compelling fight on the card and the one I want to focus on today. The actual main event features The Korean Zombie challenging Alexander Volkanovski for the title at 145, in a fight I expect the former to lose quite badly. Max Holloway is the only 145er in the world that possesses the physicality, technical depth and craft to at best, match Volko and even he came relatively unstuck in two fights against him. So what chance does a defensively shallow action fighter like TKZ have? Next to none. The fight will be exciting while it lasts but I expect Volko to finish him within the first four rounds. Onto the fight in focus, which features the best fighter alive in Petr Yan. The first fight between these two was a great watch while it lasted, Sterling came out fast and established a high pace, attempting to mitiga

Ok so UFC 268 happened last week and it was an amazing card. Admittedly I should have given you guys a breakdown/prediction for such a stacked card, but it was my birthday week and productivity was at an all time low. Still though, I hope everyone reading this enjoyed that event as much as I did.  Moving on from one of the best events of the year, we relocate to Las Vegas where my favourite fighter in the UFC is set to make the walk for the second time this year. This weekend we are being treated to a main event of Max Holloway vs Yair Rodriguez in the featherweight division. If you’re familiar with these pieces then you have an idea of what’s about to come next.  My prediction Right so here we have the best pressure boxer in MMA against a dude with limited defensive footwork and a shallow boxing arsenal. The fighters that have beaten the best version of Max Holloway have been able to out position him in the pocket and at range (Volkanovski) or stunt his rhythm and pressure with power

I know what you're thinking. ''Oh he's writing again, this won't last long.'' Admittedly I've been very lazy and inactive. But we back! There's a lot of amazing fights coming up and I'm excited to write about and preview them all. So forgive me for my absence.  Anyway, we're heading towards the business end of the year and Dana White and the UFC seem to be aware of it. Between now and the end of the year we're set to be blessed with some of the most entertaining match ups the sport of MMA has to offer across multiple divisions. UFC 267 has all the makings of being the best UFC card in a while. There are sneaky good fights sprinkled all over the card, including Khamzat Chimaev's return. However unlike everyone else, I'm not believing the hype till I see it for myself. So I'm not dissecting that contest in this piece. The fight I want to really focus on in this piece is the 135lb interim title fight between Cory Sandhagen and Pe

This weekend we're being ''blessed'' with a rare appearance from Conor McGregor. He takes on fellow top contender Dustin Poirier in the main event of the first pay per view UFC event of the year. A re match from their 2014 fight that was won pretty comfortably by KO by McGregor.  Following that fight, McGregor sky rocketed to stardom, having captured both titles at 145 and 155 by finishing both Jose Aldo and Eddie Alvarez, two bonafide all time greats. Dustin Poirier has also had quite the run too. His three fight win streak of Alvarez, Justin Gaethje and Max Holloway is as impressive of a three fight run as there ever has been in MMA. Both fighters come into this fight with questions, what shape is Conor in? Does Dustin have too many miles on the clock? I'll do my best to dissect and predict how this fight will go, I'll start with having a look at the co-main event, which also promises to be very good contest.  Dan Hooker vs Michael Chandler  Michael Chandl

  Happy New Year people - It's admittedly been a while. We're in the midst of a global pandemic and I've been lacking motivation but Jesus Christ and Mother Mary, Max Holloway just woke me the fuck up. I couldn't in good conscious not write something about him after what I just saw. You see a while ago, I told myself I was gunna commit to scribbling pieces about some of my favourite fighters every so often. Cos why wouldn't I want to pay homage to the people responsible for why I love this sport so much?  Anyways, last Saturday we saw something SPECIAL. Max Holloway put on what I have to say is the most clinical striking performance I've ever seen in MMA. Calvin Kattar is no joke. He's a fighter I've had my eye on for a while. Max made him look like a non ranked Bellator fighter -  so yeah... maybe overdue but I saw it more than fit to show one of my favourite fighters ever some love.    A diamond in the rough  Max Holloway made his debut in the Hawaiian

On Saturday night we’re back in Abu Dhabi for UFC 254 and what should be yet another spectacular card in the making on the now famous ‘Fight Island’. The main event will determine the undisputed champion in the UFC’s lightweight division, where the current UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov is set to take on the interim UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje, in what is most should go down as the biggest fight of this year. To mark the occasion, friend of the podcast, Ivan was kind enough to collaborate with me and share his thoughts on how he thinks today's main event will go. Before I go on, we have not dived into the co-main, which will be an amazing fight in its own right. Cannonier is a very calculated striker with real power and finishing instinct, but Whittaker is just better. He is the best defensive fighter in the sport and has the cleaner striking, footwork and fight IQ. The spotlight won't phase him, and even though I do believe attrition and brutal bookin