Volkov is basically a gatekeeper. Nobody actually wants that title, let's be real, but if he wants to climb the rankings again, he’s going to have to defend his spot against some serious hitters a few times in a row (just like Anthony Smith did). Before the Aspinall fight, he picked up a win against Tybur but dropped one to Gane. Looking at the division above him, he's staring down guys like Gane (who beat him), Lewis (who beat him), Blades (who beat him), plus Stipe, who isn't fighting right now, and Ngannou. He's pretty much stuck fighting whoever is currently climbing the ladder.
Elizabeth Mendoza, can you seriously not go five minutes without picking a fight? Like, if there isn't a real reason to argue, you just make up some total nonsense?
The prelims were absolutely stacked with fights. I was actually catching them earlier this morning whenever I had a spare second. If you missed out, you seriously need to check these: Abdurakhimov - Pavlovich, Krylov - Craig, and Mokaev - Durden.
Pavlovich is kind of a forgotten heavyweight since he spent a few years away from the cage. But man, that fight was intense. Krylov - Craig was an instant classic—honestly, even WWE wouldn't be ashamed of a brawl like that. As for Craig, I swear he picked up that pre-fight stare-down move from his compatriot Drew McIntyre. Mokaev, though, is the youngest guy on the roster and this was his UFC debut. This kid has massive potential.
Even Dana was clearly feeling the energy from the crowd and the action: he handed out 9 performance bonuses tonight. Anyone who finished their opponent walked away with $50k.
stormybadger8 said:My money is on the engine, or at least not the ICE... I'd bet it's an electrical issue—either the generator/motor unit or the battery itself.
Look, Pierre Gasly's car caught fire, but it was obvious the battery or the wiring went, not the engine or fuel... If it were Max Verstappen's engine, we would've seen smoke. Same goes for Perez...
This whole thing reeks of electrical problems. I have a feeling Red Bull Racing was trying to get cute again, maybe cutting corners on the electrical components just to shave off some weight...
It's totally possible some auxiliary electronics messed things up for both Gasly and Max. I can't say for sure about Checo, though; it looked more like his engine or gearbox just seized up.
Jason Campbell70 said:Back when we had Alonso, the car just wasn't there. By the time the car was actually good, Alonso was gone.
It’s basically defined his entire career. He’s an absolute top-tier driver, but honestly, after 2007, he just never landed in a championship-winning seat at the right moment.
I’m dying to know what actually went down with the Red Bull Racing crew. First, they told Max Verstappen that the battery was fine, but then the commentators started claiming Checo Perez stalled the engine. Is it even possible for both of them to have engine issues at practically the exact same time?
Huge props to Ferrari! It’s been way too long since they actually looked this good. 🙏 Man, I feel for Checo, that was rough. Lewis Hamilton basically just stumbled onto the podium by default.
It’s a massive win for the K-Mag comeback, and honestly, pretty solid for that new Chinese driver too. 🙏
All things considered, this is almost certainly going to be the year of FN, and honestly, maybe even the year of the UFC in general. This card is looking incredibly stacked. 🙏 🙏
As long as he keeps winning, he’s going to pull in more eyes than half the big names in the UFC. It’s all about how long this winning streak actually lasts. He took a nasty shot right out of the gate this time, too. Honestly, I think Dana could be pretty smart and just keep him matched up against unranked fighters for as long as possible. The ratings stay high either way, and it keeps that hype train from crashing too early.
The crowd in the States is just next level. Honestly, I can barely make out a word they’re saying half the time. I caught Darren Till doing a live Q&A in the arena yesterday, and man, the questions from the crowd were even harder to follow than his answers. Actually, I think Stipe is the only one in the whole UFC who struggles more with English than anyone else in the organization. But damn, the energy they bring... It's incredible. 🙏 🙏 🙏
I seriously can't get behind these hideous hubcaps... For years, everyone’s been talking about how bumping up the rim size would make the cars look better. Well, here we go—these new ones have an extra 5 inches of diameter, and then they slap these black hubcaps over them that make the whole wheel look like one solid chunk of rubber. I totally get the aerodynamic goals, but man, they could've at least etched some rim lines on them. These look exactly like the cheap hubcaps you'd find at a Walmart. 🤣
Ilia Topuria barely made it through that first round against a guy who had a massive size advantage. He took some heavy shots that definitely rattled him, but then he just shut it down with one clean strike in the second. Honestly, you'd think they were fighting in the HW division... 🙏
Alright, following brisktrucker51's suggestion and looking at how we handled Covington - Masvidal, we’re going to do live scoring for the main event (that's Aspinall - Volkov). We’ll be using the standard 10-9 system for the rounds—no draws allowed unless the ref pulls a wild card and hands out a point deduction. You can submit your round scores anytime from the moment a round ends until the next one kicks off. If at least three of us end up scoring all the completed rounds, we’ll tally everything up for a final total score at the end.
We’re looking at an awesome grid tomorrow! Ferrari leads the pack with Bikić ahead of his teammate, Hamilton has Kevin Magnussen behind him, and Bottas is right there hungry to prove himself. 🙏
Huge props to Ferrari for looking actually solid during pre-season testing—that really matters. 🙏 It's been a minute since we've seen them look this good.
It’ll be pretty wild seeing when Mercedes actually becomes a threat for a win again. Tomorrow, at Los Angeles, then heading to Indianapolis... maybe never.