Brothers at Odds

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Well well well… look who’s back on top where I belong. Chris can keep his little 5-4 lead for now, but let’s not get it twisted – when it came to the one fight that actually mattered, I showed up and he didn’t.

Let’s start with the obvious. Eric McConico absolutely handled Ro-DOODOO-lfo Vieira… and yes, I’m gonna say it like that because after all that hype, that’s what it looked like. But in all seriousness, much respect to Rodolfo Vieira – the man is still one of the most dangerous grapplers on the planet. With that being said, styles make fights and I called this exactly how it would play out. If Vieira couldn’t get that fight to the ground clean and early, his gas tank was going to become a problem. McConico stayed composed, stuffed what he needed to, and made Vieira work every second. By the time we got into the later rounds, it was clear who had more left in the tank. That wasn’t luck – that was the read.

And that was the Brother’s Battle of the Week.

Chris can talk about fence grabs, early moments, and “what ifs” all he wants, but at the end of the day we don’t score fights based on almosts. We score them based on what actually happens. And what actually happened is McConico outworked, outlasted, and outperformed Vieira over 15 minutes. That’s the difference between winning the moment and winning the fight.

Now overall, yeah, we both went 9 for 13. Solid night across the board. But let’s not pretend all picks are created equal. I hit the fight we circled. The one we both planted our flag on. That’s the one that separates a good card from a winning card.

Outside of that, I stayed sharp where it mattered. Raoni Barcelos grinding out Montel Jackson? Called it. McConico? Called it. Spann sending Buchecha into orbit? We were both on that, but I’ll gladly take the extra bread Spann put in my pocket. Grant, Marshall, McVey, Montague, Valenzuela – handled business just like I expected based on the tape. Although I am responsible for losing my pick of the week because Montague struggled to finish the soft as butter, No Bueno Silva.

Were there misses? Of course. This card had chaos all over it. Garcia got it done over Hernandez, and I’ll tip my cap there. Sterling did what Sterling does in the main event – heavy grappling, control time, veteran composure. Clean performance. I was very close to going 11/13  but I pick flipped to Polastri and Zelal last minute. Massive mistake on my part and I should have trusted my gut.

Chris and I can both celebrate Edwards because she was the UNDERDAWG of the night! She put lots of bread on our tables and we could not be more thankful!

So yeah, 9-13 for both of us. But only one of us walked away with the win that mattered. Scoreboard might say it’s close… but we all know who really won this card. Get gud, Chris. I am coming for that throne.

Well well well it looks like little Bobby is trying to make a comeback in the Brothers Battles as he was somehow able to pick up a win this week when Eric McConico was able to stifle Rodolfo Vieira’s takedowns for a gritty win. Vieira was looking good early, clinching his opponent against the fence and would have landed a big takedown immediately if not for the dirty fingers of McConico grabbing the fence. After that Vieira’s cardio began to fade and McConico was able to out-strike his exhausted opponent for a decision victory. I would have liked to see how the fight would have gone if Vieira was able to land that early takedown but I guess now we shall never know. I still have a small lead in Brothers Battles at 5-4 and I plan to stay on top forever! 

The main event went pretty much as I expected with Aljo almost in full control of the grappling. Zalal was competitive and did take Aljo’s back at one point but overall it was clear that Sterling was the superior grappler from the start. Aljo proved he’s still one of the best in the game and might have earned himself another title shot with this dominant performance. 

The co-main event had me sweating but I was thrilled when Joselyne Edwards came through for a decision victory. Edwards what’s one of the most confident picks I had ever made. I thought she was the most valuable underdog I had ever seen. Dumont was mostly her usual self in this fight, not really threatening Edwards with much of anything. Neither lady really landed anything significant so Edwards forward pressure is what really made the difference here. She had Dumont’s back to the cage for the majority of 15 minutes. Dumont’s only real success was a takedown in the first round but even then Edwards was able to get a nice reversal with about 30 seconds left to arguably steal the round. It felt so incredibly good to hit on this pick. Thank you so much to Joselyne Edwards for coming through!

Rafa Garcia was able to pick-up a solid decision victory over Alexander Hernandez in a fight that I thought was pretty close to a pick’em. I know Hernandez has the power to put anyone away but he’s been too reliant on his counter punching recently and that really hurts him when he can’t put an opponent away. Garcia is incredibly durable and strong and was able to pressure Hernandez for the majority of 15 minutes. Hernandez never landed the big shot he was waiting for. 

In similar fashion Davey Grant picked up another decision victory over the newcomer Martinetti. I really thought someone was going to get knocked out before this fight was over but instead we got a 15-minute slug fest. Grant proved he’s not ready to be done in this sport even though he’s 40 years old. Grant was able to take the fight to the newcomer and proved that UFC experience is massively important. 

In one of my ultimate picks of the night Raoni Barcelos picked up a very close decision victory over Montel Jackson. I saw this fight going one of two ways. Either Jackson would get an early knockout or Barcelos would be able to grind out a decision victory. Well the knockout never came for Jackson and Barcelos did just enough to steal a decision victory. Nice to hit this one. 

Prior to that we saw Ryan “Superman” Spann send Buchecha into orbit with a killer right hand of doom! Spann perfectly timed a one-two combination that absolutely obliterated his opponent. I picked Spann to win this fight, but even I admit I did not see that highlight real knockout coming. Good for him! Jackson McVey also ran through Sedriques Dumas dropping him with a beautiful tight hook and then wrapping him up in a choke. I wasn’t 100% confident McVey would come out the winner but I knew for certain this fight was not making it too a decision. I didn’t even think it would make it past the second round. 

While Michelle Montague did dominate Mayra Bueno Silva for all three rounds, she could not secure the finish I was looking for. Despite coming out on top Montague made some rookie mistakes during the fight that would have cost her against any other opponent. Montague’s cardio was also noticeably poor. Not sure how much I will trust her in the future. 

In a very surprising upset Cody Durden was able to take the fight to Jafel Filho proving once again that UFC experience is extremely significant. Durden’s experience kept him in the fight when Filho threatened early. In the end it was Durden’s superior conditioning that made the difference in the end as Filho faded in round 3. Impressive performance by the veteran. 

To wrap things up Francis Marshall spanked UFC newcomer Lucas Brennan for 15 minutes. Marshall was able to dominate the grappling and prevented Brennan from really producing any offense. Brennan landed only 9 significant strikes in the entire fight. Victor Valenzuela also picked up an impressive decision win over Max Griffin in a very competitive fight. In the end Valenzuela showed good composure for a UFC rookie and pressured the veteran Griffin late to lock up the victory. 

Last but not least Talita Alencar took the fight to Julia Polastri much to my dismay. I really thought Polastri was going to stuff Alencar’s takedown attempts and punish her with strikes but to my surprise it was Alencar that actually pressured Polastri on the feet. Polastri did a good job defending the grappling but she never really got her striking going and really just bounced around waiting for an opportunity that never came. I’ll be curious to see who Alencar fights next. 

Overall I went 9 for 13 which is fantastic! I will forever be grateful to Joselyne Edwards for coming through on this card. I’ve never felt more confident in an underdog and although the fight was close Edwards did enough to get the job done. Thanks again Joselyne!! But one thing keeps me from really enjoying that win as I lost the crucial Brothers Battle this week and my record there now stands at 5-4 which is too close for comfort. I cannot lose to Robert and his busted picks again!!!!