ijosef

I'd be all-in on height classes. Imagine a heavyweight like DC or Mark Hunt fighting one of those 5'10" bantamweights, or a bean pole 155er like the late Corey Hill (RIP) fighting Overeem or Ngannou. Volkanovski, who is listed as a very optimistic 5'6", would run over all the other guys that height.

I'm an unapologetic WMMA shill and even I had a hard time watching that. Just the inertia of the whole thing... yikes. They spent the first three rounds standing there, shuffling around the ring while Dumont casually jabbed Aspen Ladd repeatedly in the face. Granted, she only landed one out of five of them or something like that, but that was it. I'm not on the butthurt bandwagon of hate against Ladd's boyfriend-coach (even though he seems like an idiot), since he told her what she needed to do. Do something. Anything. Anything at all. On a side note, Dumont has an absolute dump truck on her. She's one of those women who puts all her weight in her butt and thighs, which is evident even when she's in fighting shape: If she retires from fighting and embraces the mom bod life as so many women do, I can se her being one of those ladies who can't fit their rear end into a coach seat on an airplane.

...especially DJs who consider themselves to be "artists" or, worse yet, "musicians". They're button pushers, and they're very punch-worthy.

Bader is done.

I really hope he returns... ...and then gets cut after losing three straight in the HW division.

Manon Fiorot will be fed to Valentina if she gets another win.

I can see both points of view. The UFC gives title shots to guys coming off losses, so it's not like we can say there's some sort of meritocracy here. That said, Edwards is a boring point fighter who is not on any sort of win streak like he claims. He's 1-0-1 in his last two. That's not a streak of any kind.

Great fight. It looked like Fury was going to finish it quicker than last time when Wilder blasted him with that straight right that led to an eventual 10-7 round. Of course Fury's ability to rise like the Undertaker is well known, so he came back, scored a couple knockdowns of Wilder in the latter round and eventually got the late finish.

Surprised she didn't get a sub there.

Dern has the Brazilian flag... she was born & raised in Arizona.

Let's see if this 3ft tall chick can get a win after that close decision loss to Jessica Penne. I love Penne, but that decision was questionable.

That's a good point. Very few in her division have the ability to defend against her subs for a meaningful period of time. Even those who have legit BJJ credentials avoid going to the ground with her. So far Dern's biggest weakness is when she faces a superior striker who can avoid her big haymakers and sloppy takedown attempts - that's exactly what happened when Amanda Ribas beat her. I think Rodriguez can do the same, but as you said, if she does end up on the ground for too long it could spell disaster. If Dumpy Dern (thanks for that name, by the way) wins this one, I think she should get a big step up in competition. Joanna, or maybe the loser of the Zhang/Rose rematch could be next.

Well, she is very meaty down there so there isn't a lot of room for movement. That said, I'm crushed that the gorgeous and phenomenally talented Holly Holm won't be fighting on this card. She absolutely, undeniably deserves another title shot. I'm glad that Aspen Ladd was able to step in. Imagine going from badly missing weight and having your fight cancelled to headlining a Fight Night card... all within a month.

They used a very unflattering picture of Dern for that event poster. Either way, I hope she loses. I love it when BJJ hype trains get beat, and Rodriguez is no joke. Her only loss in the UFC is a questionable split decision to Carla Esparza, and while Dern is a far more accomplished submission artists than Carla, her wrestling is nowhere near as good. If Rodriguez shows up for this fight I think she has a good chance and slapping the fake accent out of Dern.

Also, Johnny Walker's mohawk looks like my neighbor's golden doodle.