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thewhovianperson · 3 years

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Round 8 of my Companions with Each Doctor series has led us to the absolute sweetie that is Victoria Waterfield. Well, here goes!

1: One would protect Victoria with everything they had, and would be a great father figure. This would be a wholesome team. 100% would watch.

2: Two and Victoria and Jamie was always a lovely pairing, and honestly I'd have been very happy to have seen another season of them (and then another two of Jamie and Zoe after that). However 2's run is fairly consistent and Victoria was visibly not happy with the level of violence and scary, so while it would be fun to watch I don't think she would find it fun.

3: "Doris, I've adopted a child!" Victoria would be adopted into the UNIT family immediately, and would be so safe and loved there. I think this would honestly be the ideal era for her. This or one later down the line, but we'll get there when we get there.

4: I feel like Victoria wouldn't like Four's flippant attitude to everything, but might find the worlds they encountered interesting. Sarah would protect her though, and also teach her a lot about female empowerment, so it would be good.

5: Young and maybe gay. I can see her growing very well rounded under the triple parenting of Five, Nyssa, and Tegan. This would be a nice era for her character development.

6: Nope too much angst. Victoria needs a protective team and everyone is too busy dealing with Sixes bs to help her.

7: Seven would 100% protect Victoria. Like, if something scared her I'm pretty sure they would go back in time and manipulate the Interstellar travel business to make sure they were too busy taking a flight somewhere when they were meant to be scaring her. She would have a whale of a time with their whimsical side and I'd be all here to watch it.

8: Once again this would be great. Eight loves travelling to important events, beautiful places, and generally tries to keep things nice and quiet. Okay they fail most of the time and the last story I listened to they accidentally melded their mind with a journalist in an insane asylum but when it was good I'm sure Victoria would enjoy her time here.

War: Yeah no Victoria don't need no Time War BS.

9: Nine was too busy dealing with their own shit to help bring a child up. I don't think this would work well.

10: Yeah, Ten would be fine with Victoria? I think that she would enjoy learning from Ten whenever they went off on a technobabble rant, but might find the adventures a little too energised.

11: Way, way, way too scary. However River Song is an icon and would make sure she was well looked after. So I can see this working well. Maybe. It would either work well or end in a therapists office.

12: Twelve needs someone who can stand up to them. Victoria isn't that, which isn't a knock on her but she just isn't that sort of personality. She could maybe do well in the pre-Missy series 10 team with Bill though?

13: Calm family atmosphere with a frantic cat thrown into the mix. The fam would be a lovely group for Victoria, and I can see her liking Graham in particular, as a surrogate father figure.

Ruth: Hrm, lemme think. Nah. Victoria would find this far too violent, far too fast paced, and far too... well, much. Conversely Ruth wouldn't have much time for her as they would be dealing with their own bs. Not a good matchup.

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edengarden · 3 years

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hi! may i please have a regular haikyuu matchup? i’m a straight female and i’m a scorpio with personality type istp! for appearance, i’m about 5’7 last time i checked, i have brown eyes and brown hair. i have a red scar above my eyebrow but i can typically cover it up with my hair and it looks like todoroki’s scar but misplaced haha! i have an athletic build since i’m a competitive figure skater!

i’ll start with flaws since that’s easier >.< :

i have narcolepsy which is a big pain. it really affects me and my everyday life. so, typically i’m really tired and it’s hard for me to sleep at night so i’m a big night owl to the max. but when i’m energized, i’m like energized energized! i’ve been told i’m intimidating, and that it seems as though i don’t like to show emotion. i really don’t like to show my more negative emotions, i don’t want others to see me as weak and look down upon me. i’m a super impulsive person and don’t nessecarily think when i’m in a panic which a lot of times end me up in bad situations. i’m quiet which i don’t think it’s bad, but i’m not afraid to speak my mind and call someone out when needed. i’m stubborn and hate hate hate asking others for help. i judge a lot and i’m a really selective person, so if we are friends, then that means something. i hate unorganized spaces and i don’t like giving my opinion. if i don’t like something i will go out of my way to avoid it and just ignore whatever it is whether it’s schoolwork or a person, i could care less. i just really don’t care about things either way life will go on and i just have to live with it, i could care less.

now for a more positive go:

i’m a super fun person! like i said, when i’m energized i’m energized! when i’m most awake is at night typically so that’s when i do lots of things! i can do a hella good scooby doo impression like scarily good. my favorite thing to do is go to get slurpees at 7/11 when it’s 4 am because the employees are too tired to yell at me for getting two flavors. favorite song is womanizer by britany spears and i love to scream it at the top of my lungs to feel like a baddie b. i’m very loyal and keep my friends super close, because if i trust them then that is saying something. i’m super independent which can be a good and bad thing, i try to do everything efficiently and alone. i’m a perfectionist which is also probably a bad thing agh. i really like monster energy drinks and when i just straight up don’t sleep catch me surviving off of pure willpower with a monster in hand. i try to make the most of my life while i can, because i know if i die it might as well be in a badass way so i’m pretty adventurous! my passion in this world is figure skating and i’m a national champion! i love to surf and i love to snowboard. i’m a huge reader and i even work at a local bookstore! you can catch me with a book usually and i love anything to do with true crime, marine biology, and linguistics. i love anime and it makes me all happy and cozy to sit up in a. corner on a saturday morning and binge watch one piece with my chai tea. i also love christmas, especially the song mele kalikimaka i could sing it year round! my favorite thing in the entire world is plants eeeee!! i love plants so much i could go on for hours about them, i have many plants and my favorite one is a monstera a close friend gave me and ahh i love them! though, runner ups behind are chai tea and candles! i play the viola and i have a love hate relationship with the instrument. my favorite songs are lucy in the sky with diamonds and just like heaven but i also love classical music like clair de lune and danse macabre. my favorite bands are queen, nirvana, abba, billie holiday, and fleetwood mac! i’m a sucker for anything vintage and from the 40’s or 70’s. i have a dark academia type aesthetic i guess and love dressing of the sort.

hmm fun facts:

i’m from the netherlands and i love love love snow and any sort of rainy weather

i can speak 9 different languages and learning languages is one of my favorite things i find them so fascinating, (dutch, english, spanish, french, japanese, portugese, russian, german, and swedish! i’m trying to learn italian !!

my favorite book or manga i guess, is anything by junji ito

i can dislocate my fingers and relocate them

i love ferrets! i used to volunteer at my local shelter all the time.

i love horror movies as well the movie sleeping beauty it always makes me happy

i love wrapping presents

the way i got my scar was by once hitting my head on a coat rack because i was way too confident i was dreaming and that my head would just go right through, i wasn’t dreaming.

i’ve been kicked out of a walmart for laughing at a bag of marshmallows when i was way too tired and i probably looked like a maniac to be fair

these aren’t very fun facts bleh

my favorite color is either orange or navy blue and white

i’m rambling now and itend to ramble when i write i’m so sorry, thank you so much for your time and have a good day !!!

OH MY GOSH CLAIR DE LUNE IS THE MOST ROMANTIC SONG ON THIS EARTH?? Shit makes me cry.

Omg you’re such a mood too

I’m matching you up with Akaashi!

Especially with the negative traits that you’ve highlighted, I think he’d be a great option for you! Akaashi’s a trustworthy individual; I think he has an aura that just screams “trustworthy”, and we KNOW he’s a loyal mf. He’s a bit worried about SOME of your habits, but he would understand that you can’t exactly control your narcolepsy. Will he search it up to see if there’s anything he can do for you? Yes, absolutely. But he won’t outright help you; he’ll only start doing that (wordlessly) when he notices that you don’t reach out for help.

Oh my gosh, your dynamic is so amazing?? Akaashi being calm and collected and you being an absolute gremlin. I love it. At the beginning you’re just like “hey look what I can do” and you freakin dislocate a finger and boy freaks out, but after two years he just goes “nice baby I’m proud :)” and really, he IS proud. And he’ll tell you often. He also never misses a skating event; he’ll make sure to clear his schedule for them. Akaashi really enjoys the sport, it’s really beautiful to him. He thinks it’s an art.

You two are such an Intellectual Couple though?? With you practically being a linguist and him in literature? Big respect, people see you and they have to fight back the urge to bow. Y’all are royalty, and that’s that.

ALSO AOSKSJDHS THE THOUGHT OF YOU TWO SETTLED DOWN ON THE COUCH WITH FACE MASKS AND WINE WATCHING TRUE CRIME SHOWS IS SO FUNNY YET SO ACCURATE THESE ARE YOUR FAVOURITE DATES

Songs!!

- Jazz Suite No. 2: VI. Waltz II, Dmitri Shostakovich (do not question me; Akaashi wants to learn the waltz for this song)

- I’ll Follow the Sun, The Beatles

- Moondance, Van Morrison

- Win, David Bowie

#haikyuu matchups #haikyuu!!#matchup #akaashi keiji

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thesportssoundoff · 5 years

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“The BMF in MSG on pseudo PPV” UFC 244 Preview

Joey

October 28th, 2019

The UFC's first two showcases in MSG were based entirely around putting on insane title fights that flexed the UFC's superior depth as an organization. Conor/Alvarez in a battle of champions with two title fights and a host of big names (Edgar, Stephens, Romero, Tate, Weidman) underneath it followed up by GSP/Bisping with Dillashaw/Garbrandt and Rose Najamunas/Joanna underneath it. 2018 signified a change as big fight after big fight fell through and the UFC was left just aiming to put on a crazy deep card with high levels of violent potential on it. It succeeded on that but the card felt a step behind the other shows. This one feels more like a return to old with hints of the more modern formula sprinkled in. There's no Conor and no Khabib, there's no big title fight, there's no real fight of divisional significance either. What there is a big main event pitting two big stars against one another with a fake belt on the line (but aren't they all really if we're being honest) with an undercard that doesn't showcase the UFC's depth and isn't loaded with big superstars but has a litany of really fun action fights on tap. Nate Diaz vs Jorge Masvidal for the BMF title feels like the UFC doing the rare thing; giving the fans what they want while also giving themselves what they need. Under that you have just a rush of really freaking good action fights that maybe won't matter in a year from now but combine to create a very appealing way to spend a Saturday night, Let's talk about it.

Fights: 12

Debuts:

Fight Changes/Injury Cancellations: 2 (Colby Covington vs Kamaru Usman CANCELLED/Krzysztof Jotko OUT, Brad Tavares IN vs Edmen Shahbazyan)

Headliners (fighters who have either main evented or co-main evented shows in the UFC): 11 (Jorge Masvidal, Nate Diaz, Stephen Thompson, Kelvin Gastelum, Darren Till, Blagoy Ivanov, Derrick Lewis, Kevin Lee, Corey Anderson, Brad Tavares, Andrei Arlovski)

Fighters On Losing Streaks in the UFC: 4 (Stephen Thompson, Derrick Lewis, Kevin Lee, Darren Till)

Fighters On Winning Streaks in the UFC: 14 (Jorge Masvidal, Jair Rozenstruik, Vicente Luque, Corey Anderson, Johnny Walker, Blagoy Ivanov, Johnny Walker, Jennifer Maia, Chance Rencountre, Hakeem Dawodu,Edmen Shahbazyan, Shane Burgos, Mawkan Amirkhani, Gregor Gillespie)

Main Card Record Since Jan 1st 2017 (in the UFC): 31-17

Nate Diaz- 1-0 Jorge Masvidal- 3-2 Darren Till- 4-2 Kelvin Gastelum- 2-2-1 Stephen Thompson- 1-3 Vicente Luque- 6-1 Derrick Lewis- 4-3 Blagoy Ivanov- 2-1 Kevin Lee- 3-3 Gregor Gillespie- 5-0

Fights By Weight Class (yearly number here):

Welterweight- 3 (67) Heavyweight- 2 (36) Middleweight- 2 (42) Featherweight- 2 (55) Light Heavyweight- 1 (40) Lightweight- 1 (70) Women’s Flyweight- 1 (32)

Women’s Strawweight- (28) Bantamweight- (53) Flyweight- (15) Women’s Featherweight- (8) Women’s Bantamweight- (18)

2019 Number Tracker

Debuting Fighters (38-59-1)-

Short Notice Fighters (29-36)- Brad Tavares

Second Fight (56-35)-

Cage Corrosion (Fighters who have not fought within a year of the date of the fight) (22-38-1)-

Undefeated Fighters (40-37-2)- Gregor Gillespie, Edmen Shahbazyan

Fighters with at least four fights in the UFC with 0 wins over competition still in the organization (12-9)-

Weight Class Jumpers (Fighters competing outside of the weight class of their last fight even if they’re returning BACK to their “normal weight class”) (29-23)- Darren Till, Kevin Lee

Twelve Precious Ponderings

1- Anyone else we still had buyrates to pour over for this one? Imagine being able to comp this to the Conor/Nate fights or Conor/Khabib or the bigger Jones fights to see where these two really rank in terms of buyrates.

2- So what's the end result when this is over? Are we going to pretend the BMF thing is real? Are we going to retire it? Is this like when the WBC has some new title made for Floyd's next big fight then he just keeps it in his attic in his 50 room mansion? I'm just perplexed what the long term plan is for this title that allegedly costs thousands to make.

3- One of the more interesting things about this fight is that Masvidal;s pretty much changed how he fights going up in weight. I don't know if it was just more confidence in himself without nixing off 15 lbs or if he made a concession that he needed to change to adapt to his weight class but he went from not having a stoppage via strikes at LW for six years to stopping 5 of his 6 WW wins. Nate Diaz is notoriously durable but he's also been hurt in the past at 170 lbs and I think Masvidal's pop is legitimate up at WW. Conversely we've seen Masvidal dropped by guys like Till and Larkin only to rise up and get right back to doing what he does. I'm curious if Masvidal will come out fighting Nate like he has every other welterweight or if this turns into a cautiously fun fight where nobody really gets a serious edge and it's a respect filled slodge down the stretch.

4- How does Conor wiggle himself into the main event conversation before all's said and done.

5- What could Darren Till and his camp possibly see in Kelvin Gastelum that this is the fight they wanted for his debut?

6- Derrick Lewis is undefeated against big Eastern European dudes. Just want to keep that in the conversation.

7- Speaking of weird matchups that don't make any sense on paper, Kevin Lee opted to drop back down to 155 lbs and his first fight is Gregor Gillespie. This after we just saw two straight fights where Lee struggled to get off the fence against grapplers with more strength and a better understanding of control than he does. Now to his credit, Lee beat Michael Chiesa who is similar but I'd argue Chiesa is more of a big slug muk type LW whereas Gillespie is a fluid mover with quick enough pop in his hands to survive fights at range if need be. I don't know if Lee made the right call here unless he's got a secret escape route vs Gillespie. It is fair to point out that Gregor Gillespie has never faced a guy with Kevin Lee's overall skillset but if this turns into a battle of wills and cardio, I gotta bet on Gillespie.

8- They're not the sexiest of names on a card like this but both of these featherweight fights are great fun. Hakeem Dawodu vs Julio Arce is a great striking contest where you have two hittable featherweights sort of trying to scrap their way out of the bottom half of the ranks going at it. Arce has the better resume but Dawodu has crazy upside and promise. Arce tends to fight his opponent's fight so chances are this is going to be a pretty fun back and forth all kickboxing affair. Makwan Amirkhani vs Shane Burgos should be a hilarious striker vs grappler fight as Burgos is one of the best featherweights at controlling range and pace while Amirkhani probably beats every featherweight who he can get to the ground (minus Arnold Allen who JUST edged out a decision). Amirkhani's hands haven't taken the next step the way a lot of folks expected but beyond that, he's a lot of fun. Burgos is one of the many dudes who adopted Conor McGregor's stalk and strike style and I'd imagine it's going to be pretty tense in the latter rounds to see Burgos chasing with this being a takedown vs knockdown style chess match. Good fights on the prelims.

9- Andrei Arlovski vs Jair Rozenstruik is going to be a happenin'. There's a good chance Rozenstruik is going to be racing Ciryl Gane for most impressive UFC newcomer down the stretch.

10- Corey Anderson is the guy the UFC doesn't ever want to give a title shot to because nobody would possibly care about Anderson vs Jones. Johnny Walker is in a small circle of fun LHWs who the UFC believes will be big pieces of their puzzle once Shogun, Glover and company clear out the middle of the division. This is a very strange yet kinda appealing risky fight from the UFC.

11- Brad Tavares grinded and scrapped his way up the UFC rankings to get one main event slot and now he's back on the prelims testing prospects. Life is tough in UFC land. They also clearly think he's cooked because they're handing him over to the Ronda promoted prospect who has two first round finishes in three UFC fights.

12- Is the winner of Jennifer Maia vs Kaitlyn Chookagian the #1 contender?

#MMA #UFC #Diaz #Masvidal #Till #Gastelum #Lewis #Black Beast #Ivanov #Thompson #Luque

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delvalentine · 4 years

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Hello and thank you for taking the time to do all of these matchups! I'm a chubby 5'4" pan girl with long black hair. I was an English literature major back in uni with a minor in French. I'm a polyglot and 5 different languages: English, French, Vietnamese, Japanese, and Italian. I clearly love languages and linguistics. My main area of expertise in literature is Romantic and Victorian poetry and prose since I used to work in a (1/4)

museum and library that specialized in it. I used to work in a luxury candy boutique, but my dream is to become a screenwriter. I like writing and telling stories, and finding ways to connect to others. Despite this though, I am largely more of an introvert. I can be social, but dislike small talk and won't often initiate conversations by myself. I'm normally rather mature, but those that know me argue that I can be very chaotic and feral as well. (2/4)

I feel that the best way for me to describe myself though is by saying that I'm a Hufflepuff/Slytherin mix. I'm the Mom friend of the group, highly empathetic, caring, and loyal to those around me. However, if anyone tries to take advantage, is mean, or being rude to others, I won't take it lightly. Should someone scorn someone I care about, I will not hold back and do everything I can to make things fair and just. (3/4)

I have also been told that I am essentially a mix of Ushijima and Oikawa, if that helps you out. I have both of their stubbornness, Ushijima's awkward bluntness, and Oikawa's wit and eye for strategy. Thank you again for doing this! (4/4)

wow, 5 languages? i only know eng/viet haha good on ya. you seem like a really cool person to be around *star eyes*

opposites attract

suguru daishou !

🐍 “if anyone tries to take advantage, is mean, or being rude to others, I won't take it lightly.” — sugu’s whole character was based off of baiting others in the grey area. this might be seen as a friction point, but it’s good friction. whether or not you believe in nohebi’s plays, your personality would round his out and get him to be more honest.

🐍 you have a very artistic background; suguru’s a jock, through and through. the dynamics would be pretty fun, i think. dragging him to art museums and getting dragged to volleyball games... but your passion for your different loves has the potential to create very explosive synergy.

🐍 a mature girlfriend would probably settle our snake down. he’s not quite grown up yet and would really benefit from that mom friend s/o to cool him down and teach him how to live his life better. this is all assuming mika’s not around, of course—but i think that even if you find him irritating, he’s got really special soft spots that redeem his character, and it’d be pretty rewarding to support him and have him fall in love with you.

birds of a feather

chikara ennoshita !

🎥 “my dream is to become a screenwriter.” how convenient! chikara directs parodies with his friends all the time, so the two of you could really bond over this love.

🎥 despite his initially meek introduction, chikara’s got the guts to hold down the fort and become the next captain after daichi. he also shows commendable loyalty and empathy, so the two of you would never have to fight over not being communicative or kind enough in the relationship. he’d be a really gentle, caring boyfriend, but one that’s not afraid to whip you back into shape if you need it.

🎥 he’d also be fiercely protective despite thinking himself to be plain.. haha how cute. chikara would be the type who wants to keep you all to himself and gets jealous and pouty. both of you are that mature type with a hidden side. you’d work out really well.

#hq matchup #chye

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theincompetentgenius · 4 years

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Hi there! I love reading your matchups so I’m finally here to request one for me! Well, I’ll even be a bit greedy and request three (IkeSen, IkeRev and MLQC) if you don’t mind 😁

Let’s start!

I’m a 5’3 (162 cm) girl with fair skin, almond-shaped brown eyes and short warm sandy blond hair (you know, a bit like in the 1920’s). I wear glasses but I prefer to have contact lenses. I like reading since I’m a child and I’m particularly interested in History. I also like geography, politics, traveling and learning new languages. I’m sometimes (often) lazy though. I’m not really at ease with my body, even though I’ve lost pounds those last years and that I’m pretty normal now, I still find myself too fat, (yeah, the classical girl complex…). Approximately the 1950’s body type if you want to have an idea. About my personality, my MBTI type is INTJ. I’m pessimistic, introvert and really, really honest. I often hurt people without wanting it because of this straightforwardness. I’m stubborn too and I have a Manichean view about pretty much everything so my opinions are often judged as extreme. Really care about nature (the typical ecologist). People usually find me cold at first but if they get to know me better and become my friends, I’m really loyal and here to help them. Some random facts maybe? I’m vegetarian, I like spicy food, my Hogwarts house is Ravenclaw and I’m quite the tsundere type. I like winter when there is snow and I prefer night over the day (I like watching the starry sky, I could do this for hours!) and my zodiac sign is Scorpio, Leo rising (I’m born the same day as Jonah Clemence!). One last thing: I have one little brother and one little sister (they are twins and are four years younger than me) and I would give the world to them.

That was pretty long, I’m sorry, but I wanted to give you as much information as possible. I can’t wait to see what you’ll come up with! Thank you so much for taking my request darling, your writing is as amazing as your mood boards!💙

Haha! It’s ok if you’re a bit greedy– I mean, aren’t we all when it comes to matchups? And I thank you SO MUCH for all the info you put because it honestly made my life 10x easier when trying to match you with the different suitors. In fact, some I was able to pick immediately because of all the info you gave.

But anywho, let’s get on with the matchup!

MLQC

I’d pair you with………. Victor!

So I started with MLQC because I immediately knew who I was pairing you with. Obviously, I had to glance over your description again to figure out who else you’d work with, but it was really hard since your description literally screams “Victor” to me. Not that you’re as uptight as he is, but the two of you have a lot in common, but enough differences to allow for an amazing and fun relationship!

There are two ways this could play out: either you guys will butt heads or get along very well on a professional level. I’m betting on the latter scenario simply because you are intelligent, resourceful, and determined: qualities that Victor admires in others. He will notice you because of your work ethic and commend you for your admirable efforts. Additionally, he knows that he can count on you because you are the most loyal employee he has. However, you two might get into squabbles as both of you can be very stubborn, which will need lots of time and patience to smooth over. Nevertheless, Victor will see you as a valuable asset to his team.

In those moments of laziness, Victor would be the perfect motivator. His harsher words would serve as a wake-up and a prompt reminder of why you should be working towards your goals instead of letting all your work pile up (before it becomes unmanageable).

Victor admires your ability to be honest around him. Although the man wants to be perfect, he isn’t– and not many people tell him that. However, you’ve reached a level of familiarity with him where you can voice your honest opinions about him (without fearing for your job). He’s not used to hearing the cold truth because most people sugar-coat it instead (because they want to keep their jobs or be in good standing with the CEO).

But the two of you would be the biggest power couple ever. Whenever someone says something stupid, you both use sarcasm and sass to wipe them out. You start with a sarcastic comment while Victor follows it up with a classic sassy remark. The two of you ultimately receive a reputation for being the most savage people in the office, so everyone tries their best to please you.

Also, Victor would have no problem making spicy food! Although he doesn’t have lots of time to cook, when something special (such as an anniversary) arises, he’ll always make a creative spicy dish. Imagine eating top-notch, gourmet spicy food FOR FREE. You’re the real winner here smh

Another Possibility: Kiro

Ikemen Sengoku

I’d pair you with…… Shingen Takeda!

At first, I thought about Sasuke because the two of you seem to compliment each other pretty well. I mean, he’s more relaxed while you’re more uptight. He has no problem with your honesty and very much enjoys it. In fact, I kept switching between Sasuke and Shingen, but I ultimately settled for Shingen (for reasons I’ll explain below).

Your description literally radiates “cold boss bitch” energy, which we stan. However, this can easily cause clashes with some of the warlords with bigger personalities (Nobunaga, Kenshin, Ieyasu, etc), which you would not be willing to compromise. But fear not, because Shingen does not fall into this category of unnecessary bravado. His issues lie elsewhere……

Shingen’s initial “flirty hunk” attitude can be a real turn off for you. At first, it can be charming (almost endearing), but the shtick gets old REAL fast. You become irritated by his constant flirting and at one point, let him know exactly what you think. The moment is quite satisfying because you finally tell this idiot to shut up and the stunned look on his face is totally worth it.

He’ll definitely leave you alone for a while. However, Shingen will have to keep tabs on you since you’re Azuchi’s chatelaine– the easiest link to Nobunaga. However, you’re just as smart and play his game with him. As he observes you, you observe him back to figure what he wants. But at one point, it gets on your nerves. You can’t walk around without feeling as if you’re being watched. You confront him yourself, beginning Round 2 of blasting Shingen. This time, you threaten to expose him by telling everything you’ve learned to Nobunaga.

The more extreme confrontation leaves Shingen speechless. Clearly, you’re a lot smarter than he expected as you saw through him very quickly. He’ll have no other choice but to take you to the Kasugayama Palace, where you become his captive. However, his wonderful treatment towards you leaves you rather confused.

During this time, Shingen will heavily appreciate your honesty. He’s always putting up this facade around others that it is refreshing to see your honesty for a change. Although he doesn’t realize it, his facade begins to fall as he grows more comfortable around you. It doesn’t take him long before he realizes that you’re nothing like Nobunaga (despite your strong personality).

In fact, Shingen loves your strong personality. Although he is dedicated to his goals, the warlord is also known to be flexible. He has no problem accommodating your needs and your extreme opinions don’t bother him at all. If anything, he finds it fascinating that someone can be so different from him that he’ll want to learn more.

In the end, you learn to love him for his loyalty to his people. Whether or not you agree with Nobunaga’s actions about Kai, you admire Shingen’s dedication towards his people. It reminds you of your love for your siblings, which helps you make sense of his actions and thoughts. The man who was once an irritable playboy has become your lifelong partner.

Other Possibility: Sasuke Sarutobi

Ikemen Revolution

I’d pair you with…………………….. Zero!

Aren’t you lucky, you got paired with an absolute gem! Especially with his route out, Zero’s been the talk of the tumblr community these days (and with good reason). However, I originally had a strong urge to match you with Lancelot. The two of you would be the ultimate power couple that would help each other see through different perspectives and develop as individuals. However, you would probably clash more with Lancelot, which is why I ended up going with Zero.

Zero is one of the first people to be friendly towards you when you end up at the Red Army. Although he’s shy and not the most talkative person out there, you end up spending time with him (since everyone else in nearly insufferable). He truly appreciates the fact that you’re not some weirdo and have normal human behaviors (despite your quirks). It might be a little awkward at first, but the two of you warm up to each other fairly quickly.

Just like the other suitors I chose for you, one of the biggest things that draw Zero towards you is your loyalty. Zero himself is very big on loyalty, so its one of the key things that he looks for within a person. As he watches you defend your thoughts with a strong conviction, Zero admires you more and more

This man absolutely LIVES for the moments that you put Edgar in his place. It’s quite tempting to throw a jab at the Jack of Hearts and while Zero worries when you try it, his heart also swells with pride. Only his girl can stand up to Edgar, which only increases his admiration for you (especially when Edgar and Zero duel and you tell Zero to kick Edgar’s ass).

The thing about Zero is that you could talk about anything and he’ll have the sweetest smile on his face. The fact that he gets to spend so much time with you is the biggest blessing and gift that he could have ever asked for. He’s not even sure what he did to deserve someone like you, but for once, luck seems to be on his side. Even if he doesn’t understand what’s being said, he’ll try his best to comprehend the material because he loves you.

Another Possibility: Lancelot Kingsley

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thewinterwaifu · 5 years

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Hi! If you have time and are feeling better I'd like to ask for a matchup please! I'm a male infp-a, bi, have read up to part 6 and I'm here because being in the student council is giving me the b i g s t r e s s. I listen to nu disco and electro swing a lot, most of the time I listen to the "rainy jazz café" video I can fluently speak english, spanish, and a little bit of french. I love animals? Doggos are cute af? Sneks? Birbs? (1/3) ☄

I'm 5'7, latino, brown almost black eyes, short fluff black hair, I wear round glasses (I'm really blind) , and simple clothes, think of a grandpa, that's how I dress up. I like drawing, playing videogames, singing, writing, reading and practice climbing. Chances are you'll open the door to my room and find me doing a weird pose on the floor while singing "it's groove tonight". (2/3) ☄

I love travelling and learning languages, french is my next target. I'm a pretty quiet and shy person but I have a soft spot for loud people, especially if they take me somewhere fun that's just as loud as them. (3/3) ☄ thanks!

I ship you with...

Polnareff!

He can be quite loud around his friends,so there you go!He can help you become more fluent with your French and it makes him very happy to do so!He likes travelling as well so you guys would do that often,you can count on your honey moon being an exciting journey to the city of love!He would get a small pet to make you happy and you guys would keep it together.He enjoys taking you to karaoke and fool around,just glad to be having fun with you.He would try to play videogames for you,but expect him to get a bit pouty when he keeps on losing and losing!He would think climbing is exciting and would want to try it with you too!

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fnlrndcllctv · 3 years

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REVIEW: Final Fight Revenge (1999)

Capcom’s gaming output in the late 80’s and early 90’s was something of a revelation, even before the fighting game juggernaut that was Street Fighter II came around.

Their beat ‘em ups were particularly entertaining, with games such as Captain Commando, Knights Of The Round, Armored Warriors and Warriors Of Fate all offering up slices of “decimate opponents to progress through a stage” action from all sorts of different story perspectives.

Perhaps the most famous, and most important, example of Capcom’s brawler games was 1989’s Final Fight. The story of Cody and Guy battling through gangs of thugs to rescue the mayor of Metro City’s daughter from an evil crimelord was the perfect setting for the genre, and is still woven into the same in-game universe as the Street Fighter franchise to this day!

So, after almost a decade of sequels and spinoffs, it came time for Capcom to release an actual one on one fighting game based on the Final Fight series, and with a wealth of fighters and gameplay mechanics to lift from, fans were excited to get their hands on this.

Was it any good?

Gameplay

Fans of the original Final Fight games (and beat ‘em ups in general) will notice one of the game’s main features during a fight straight away. During a matchup, players are able to pick up and use weapons that are scattered around the stage.

It’s a fun idea, and elements of this can still be found when using specific Final Fight characters in modern Street Fighter games (Cody in particular!), and being able to knock weapons out of a foe’s hands is a blessing. Unfortunately, the weapons here don’t actually do enough damage to justify the risk when trying to pick them up.

This does feel more satisfying during the final boss fight though, as players can knock limbs off the opponent and use them as weapons.

Players each have a super gauge that, once full, allows them to perform special attacks on an opponent. These are one of the most interesting aspects of the game, as they feel more akin to something from something like Pocket Fighter than your traditional Street Fighter game, as they’re all highly tongue in cheek and cartoonish. For example, Rolento summons a helicopter to launch a deadly assault, Edi E jumps into a miniature cop car and Poison attacks opponents with sultry photographs of herself. They’re pretty entertaining for the most part, when the game actually allows you to land a hit, that is.

The controls adhere to using six buttons (2 punches, 2 kicks, dodge and taunt), but are marred by how clunky the movement is for each character. There’s also an issue with the gravity in this game, as it feels like jumping on the moon, which really ruins the pacing of a fight.

Even on the easiest setting, the AI of the computer controlled fighters will also almost certainly block most of your attacks, forcing you to grind through each match by getting time outs or chipping away at their damage bit by bit. It’s frustrating, and really drags the game down further.

Story

Final Fight Revenge’s plot acts as a pseudo-sequel to the first game, where some riots that have broken out in Metro City and Jessica Haggar, the mayor’s daughter, has gone missing amidst them.

Not only this, but a number of original members of the Mad Gear gang are getting back together to cause trouble for Guy, Cody and Haggar.

Although Jessica's whereabouts are never resolved in any of the characters' endings, the game’s developers have said that she was rescued by Mike, she broke up with Cody and left Metro City to study in Europe.

Fighting game storylines aren’t generally regarded as the best in the wider scope of video games, but this one feels like it was cobbled together at the last minute. The lack of any closure for the main story (along with the fact that the only way to know what the true ending was is to lookup an interview with the devs) when you finish a run in arcade mode makes it feel not only unfinished, but also completely unsatisfying.

Roster

Final Fight Revenge’s roster is made up of almost everyone from the first Final Fight game;

Cody

Damn D

Sodom

Hugo Andore

Mike Haggar

Rolento

El Gado

Edi E

Poison

Guy

What’s noticeable here is that the game completely ignores any of the characters that were introduced in Final Fight 2 and Final Fight 3, even as unlockable characters.

With that being said, being able to play as the entire cast of fighters from the first game (minus Abigail and Belger, of course) isn’t “bad” as such, it just feels really weak when you compare it to other the other 3D Capcom games of the era (especially the Street Fighter EX games).

Graphics

The graphics in Final Fight Revenge are possibly the biggest drawback of the whole experience.

I respect that the game was going for a more cartoonish look in places, especially during some of the characters’ special attacks, but as the fighters only have a few more polygons than the original Virtua Fighter (a title that was released more than 6 years prior to this one!), the whole thing just looks incredibly dated.

For a fighting game that was released by a major company in the months leading up to the millennium, there is truly no excuse for it to look this horrible.

Stages

The game includes a variety of different stages to fight in, each lifted from several areas in the first Final Fight game, including alleyways, marketplaces, public parks, junkyards, wastelands and more.

While there’s nothing particularly spectacular about any of these stages, they’re mostly better than the graphics of the fighters that occupy them during a match.

It’s a nice look at Metro City, if not a bit of a lifeless one.

Replayability

Besides the standard arcade and versus modes, there really isn’t much else that would warrant a player ever returning to the game once they’ve finished a playthrough.

The character endings are a single image each with some basic text, then we’re “treated” to the zombified final boss, Belger, dancing along to the music as the credits roll.

And yes, he does the Thriller dance, because of course he does.

With the rich amount of Final Fight lore from the decade that preceded it, along with the cast of characters that could have been in the game, the severe lack of content here further pushes just how much of a wasted opportunity Final Fight Revenge really is.

Final thoughts & overall score

Final Fight Revenge is an incredibly disappointing experience. Considering the sheer amount of 3D fighting games that preceded it, it’s utterly baffling to try and figure out why a game released in 1999 looks worse than games from more than half a decade before it.

While it’s definitely hard to recommend this to even the most die-hard of Final Fight fans (or fighting game fans, for that matter), it is saved by the skin of its teeth by the fact that the game doesn’t take itself too seriously and by including a number of interesting special moves.

As a concept, a fighting game based on the Final Fight franchise has so much potential, so it’s a shame to see it squandered with such a sub-par execution.

Do you agree with our review of Final Fight Revenge?

Let us know in the comments section below!

#Review #Capcom #Final Fight Revenge #1999 #Sega Saturn #Final Fight

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puclpodcast · 6 years

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PDL Week 8 Recap

We have a lot to discuss this week from Playoffs to an interview with The Fluffiest Whimsicott so let’s jump right into Week 8,

DEP vs. NYY: 0-1

NWN vs. BFS: 3-0

HEH vs. NJJ: 4-0

COG vs. VAV: 2-0

TOT vs. SLC: 0-3

PIP vs. BAL: 0-2

HFW vs. JAX: 6-0

ITA vs. DCC: 0-3

LOL vs. MID: 0-1

BLP vs. AUK: 1-0

MIL vs. MIN: 3-0

There were a lot a really close games this week. That had a lot of playoff implications but I go into more detail about that below. This was a week of inter-divisional matches with a division game thrown in and it is starting to make things a lot more interesting. I cannot emphasize how important every match is in the rest of the season. There are 22 out of 24 teams that have a path to the playoffs, while for some it is unlikely or requires a specific string of losses and win it is crucial that you bring you A game every week. Worst case it is just as much fun to crush someone’s dreams of playoffs as it is to make them, but first let’s enjoy a nice week off as we have our final bye week of the regular season. This week was a positional week. A lot of teams got some crucial wins and overall showed how week to week, you can be playing a different team. Playing any team that prepares well and plays well is going to be difficult to deal with. There are no free wins in this league every one has to work to earn every win.

Pick’ems

Pick’ems this week has left us with one person at the top and several only a point behind. There really inst much more to say about it other than the picks have been off from perfect so it looks like no one will be shout out again… unless in the last 4 weeks the pickers miraculously do what has not been done since week 1. We will see how it goes in the remaining 4 weeks before the playoff bracket

Trades

We have 3 more weeks to make trades and they are still coming through so lets go over them.

AUK Lucario T2 TOT Diggersby TOT Diggersby T2 AUK Lucario PIP Weezing T4 Free Agent Arbok PIP Gourgeist T5 Free Agent Froslass LOL Scizor T2 SHS Espeon SHS Espeon T3 LOL Scizor

AUK and TOT traded Lucario for Diggersby respectively. This trade helps both teams as AUK is hoping this trade will help their team as they make a late season playoff push. PIP dropped Weezing and Gourgeist and picked up Arbok and Froslass. I really like this trade since it gives PIP a grounded poison type to absorb toxic spikes as well as a spike setter in Froslass. The last trade of the week was between LOL and SHS. LOL traded Scizor to SHS in hopes that Scizor can help SHS make playoffs. In return LOL gets Espeon doubling up on Psychic types and adding a magic bounce user to their squad.

Playoff Picture

With 4 weeks left lets start looking at playoffs. I’ll be doing a breif overview of how teams can make playoffs but as we get closer I’ll go into more detail. Let’s assume that you need a 7-5 record to hit playoffs so let’s dive into how each team can make playoffs. It is possible for 15 teams to hit the 7-5 benchmark but it would require some crazy scenarios. Realistically 7-5 will probably make it and potentially a 6-6 team or two.

Tiebreakers: 1. Overall Record 2. Win % in Division 3. Head to Head 4. Best Record vs. Common Opponents 5. Strength of Victory 6. Strength of Schedule 7. Coin Flip

Corsola Cola: There are 4 teams that can reach the 7-5 threshold; BFS, NWN, DEP, and VAV. At the current moment NWN has the tie breaker over BFS even though they have the same record and both teams need 2 wins to achieve playoffs. These teams would also need DEP/VAV to lose 1 game to guarentee playoffs as either 1 or 2. It is going to come down to how well these teams battle in the last few weeks to determine who will win the division. DEP and VAV ideally need to win out to hit 7-5.

Green Tauros: COG has clinched a Playoff spot either as 1 or 2 for the division. They can drop 2 of their last 4 games and still get the number 1 spot due to tie breakers. The real race is between SLC and SHS. SHS is 2 games behind and the last game of the regular season is a battle between the two. If SHS can catch up 1 game and be only 1 game down going into the last match of the regular season then the winner will be the #2 seed and the other can make playoffs in Best of the rest.

Corsola Cola: There are 4 teams that can hit the threshold; HFW, PIP, ITA, and BLP. BLP would have to win out vs. the entire division which is no simple task, but possible. HFW needs 1 win to clinch playoffs and they need to have a better record than PIP to win the Divisin since PIP wins the tiebreaker between them. PIP would need 2 wins to hit the goal and ITA needs 3 wins. This division is fairly clean cut. You need to win out.

Rhyhorn Steakhouse: This division is crazy so I saved it for last because there is a lot to go over. Let’s start with the fact that every team can make playoffs some have a tougher road than other. To hit the threshold, AUK needs to win out, DCC and MIN needs to win 2 games, BAL and MIL need 1 more win and MID would have clinched if 7-5 is good enough. In the last 4 weeks everyone in this division has 2 divisional matches and DCC has 4. Every divisional match is going to be crucial in seeding and the out of divisional matches for some are going to be just as tough and crucial since 5 of these teams are within 2 games of each other. There is no way to know how this will turn out just yet but it will be exciting to follow.

Interview with The Fluffiest Whimsicott

This week I’m joined by the Italian Crusader herself, The Fluffiest Whimsicott!

Clod9: Thank you The Fluffiest Whimsicott for joining us this week. Luckily it’s easier to schedule interviews than battles but let’s get started what have been your impressions on the draft league format thus far?

The Fluffiest Whimsicott: Thank you for having me, it’s quite the honor! As for your question… it’s a lot more stressful than I anticipated, although it’s certainly still fun.

C9: How did your draft go in your opinion?

TFW: Uh… extremely well at the beginning, then it was a panicked downward spiral down to the end. I was confident that with 20 people picking before me, my favorite S-Tier, Mega Mawile, would be long gone by the time my turn came around… but nope, Ravioli was still there! I had a loose draft structure to follow him, but as I kept getting sniped and having to go for my second or sometimes third choices, I found myself scrambling… and at the end I emerged from the deep drafting haze in my head holding: a Hail core I wanted and no one else (wisely) did; Minior; and half of my roster having quadruple weaknesses. I still don’t quite know how it happened, but here we are.

C9: With the season half over, how have things gone thus far and how do you think you will fare in the second half?

TFW: Well. As I have just finished my eighth battle, the season is actually two thirds over for me, and… I have a neutral record, 4-4. It’s worse than I had been aiming for, that’s for sure. And with the opponents awaiting me in the last round of battles… let’s just say at this point I would be quite happy to keep it even.

C9: Who are you most looking forward to battling this season? TFW: The battle I was most looking forward to was the one against Geo, because it was the YOU YOU TEE SEE winners showdown. Ironically (and sadly), it was by far my worst battle, with one crucial distraction and a bit of RNG letting Geo grab the tiny millimeter of momentum he needs to bring any match home (it’s Geo, after all, you breathe slightly wrong and he beats you… and sometimes you do everything perfectly and he beats you anyway, because, have I mentioned? It’s Geo).

C9: I know I’m looking forward to battling you this week 12, It should be a fun time. Now for the flip side is there anyone you are glad you don’t have to face in the regular season? TFW: Mr. Seth. “Stallmaster”. Vilo. I love the guy, but battling him is the utmost torture. (Which I’m sure he’ll take as a compliment, as he should.) And yeah, I’d say I’m looking forward to battling you, too, but you’re decimating our division and I know I’m going to be in a lot of pain in my final week…

C9: Why did you choose the team name, Italian Azurills? TFW: Ah… as embarrassing as it is, it’s actually a pun! See, soccer is a huge deal in Italy. It’s THE sport here. And the Italian National soccer team is nicknamed “gli Azzurri” (“the Blues”), because their uniform is a nice shade of blue… the exact same shade as Azurill, as it happens. From there, the pun was irresistibly obvious, and the logo followed suit.

C9: Were there any secret techs that you brought for your matchups that you didn’t get to showcase? TFW: Yes. The most prominent is that I once brought Counter Ampharos, against Geo, but then I choked and neglected to click the move. It would have been quite fun.

C9: Who would you say is the mon you are most excited to use on your team this year? TFW: Well, Mega Mawile was the one I was gunning for, obviously. And I am always excited to use Alolan Ninetales, of course, just because it’s the prettiest Pokémon ever.

C9: You are currently on the Bubble for making Playoffs, do you feel the pressure as you prepare for your last couple weeks/ Do you think you will make playoffs?

TFW: At this point, the bubble is about to pop. Had I beaten Bigby, I would have made an honest and confident try for it. As it is, I’m certainly not giving up, but I am trying to keep my expectations realistic. I honestly don’t know if that makes the pressure better or worse…

C9: Let’s learn about you as a pokemon Fan. When did you start listening to PUCL?

TFW: September 12th, 2014. (Is it weird that I know the date off the top of my head? It probably is.)

C9:What pokemon generation did you start with?

TFW: Pokémon Red, baby! I am ancient, after all.

C9: What is your favorite region?

TFW: Oh, no. Now I have to resist the urge to launch into an essay! Let’s say Alola, Kalos and Hoenn are all very, very pretty and leave it at that.

C9: Who is your favorite pokemon?

TFW: This one is kind of a cheat question, isn’t it? I’ll give you some bonus answers. Besides the obvious Whimsicott, it’s Leafeon and Alolan Ninetales.

C9: If you had to pick: Attack or Special Attack?

TFW: Tough question. Special Attack, just because I much prefer the types that were Special before Gen IV.

C9: What is your battle style: Stall/Hyper Offense/Bulky Offense/Balance?

TFW: It’s definitely somewhere around Bulky Offense. Balance if I’m having a good day.

C9: Do you prefer Speed or Trick Room?

TFW: Speed all the way. Trick Room just cost me a very important match, after all, so I’m holding a grudge!

C9: What is your favorite Weather; Hail/Sand/Rain or Sun?

TFW: Sun because of SovietThatch and all the Grass types who thrive in it, but honorable mention to the weather that makes Aurora Veil possible and Alolan Ninetales (vaguely) usable.

C9: Electric/Misty/Grassy or Psychic Terrain?

TFW: Psychic Terrain. I know Lele simply could not fit in a Draft League format, but man, I miss my favorite Tapu.

C9: Favorite status to inflict: Sleep/Freeze/Paralysis/Burn or Poison?

TFW: Freeze is convenient, but just too evil. I’ll say Burn, because it whittles things down while also making physical attackers too weak to OHKO my prettiest Pokémon, who are of course also the frailest.

C9: Have you watched the Pokemon anime? If yes, what is your favorite Theme song?

TFW: I watched the first… two seasons, I think? And my favorite theme song is probably… the Italian one. It was very cheery (and cheesy, but aren’t they all?).

C9: Will you be participating in other pucl events like the Summer League?

TFW: I’ve already submitted my application to be a Gym Leader again this year. I hope I get picked, because it was a ton of fun last year, but if I’m not, I’m definitely challenging the Gyms myself! I just love battling and having fun with everyone in the community.

C9: Thank you once again for joining us this week! Good luck in your future battles! That’s all the time we have this week. See y’all again next time!

from PDL Week 8 Recap

#pokemon #pucl #pokemon podcast #ORAS #nintendo #video games

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thesportssoundoff · 6 years

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“I ain’t sayin’ it’s Gaethje and friends but....” The UFC in Lincoln, Nebraska preview

Joey

August 19th

Enjoy your UFC break? Hope you went out, saw the world, watched some MMA I hope, maybe dabbled in some boxing perhaps? Plenty of football and Big 3 basketball to take in too. Don't forget yourself some EPL action as well! Whatever you did and whatever you found pleasure in; the UFC is back with a card from Lincoln, Nebraska of all places that's....weird. Ya know how the UFC has those events with damn good undercards and then no main event that'll draw viewers? This is a big like the opposite really. Justin Gaethje vs James Vick is a tremendous lightweight fight; a test to see how far Gaethje has fallen after two concussive damaging losses to Dustin Poirier and Eddie Alvarez while testing if James Vick is finally ready to sit at the big boys table of 155 lbs. The problem is once you skip through that; you have a collection of average to good fights without one true defining co-main event. For the BRIEFEST period of time, we were told that Deiveson Figuerido vs John Moraga would be our co-main event. That changed in late July seemingly as the co-main event was THEN going to be Alexa Grasso vs Angela Hill. THAT then changed to what we have now as it'll be Andre Fili vs Michael Johnson in our co-main event of the evening. The rest of the card isn't BAD but teeters on four tiers; good but kinda pointless, an prelim level action fight, poor matchmaking/spotlight matchmaking and lastly and perhaps more interestingly "Who would ever care about this on any level?" There's some good here but nothing is really going to stand out or be remembered 24 hours from now. NOW that's not to say you can't enjoy it! This is just sort of like a popcorn MMA event; it's a JCVD movie at 5 PM on a Sunday. You're going to watch it----but you're not going to remember it tomorrow. Chances are you might not even remember it six hours from the end of the main event so indulge in it while you can. Think of it as a chance to watch some MMA on a Saturday night after three weekends of nothing.

Fights: 13

Debuts:

Fight Changes/Injury Cancellations: 3 (Al Iaquinta OUT, James Vick IN vs Justin Gaethje/Alexa Grasso OUT, Courtney Casey IN vs Angela Hill/Antonio Braga Neto OUT, Markus Perez IN vs Andrew Sanchez)

Headliners (fighters who have either main evented or co-main evented shows in the UFC): 8 (Justin Gaethje, Courtney Casey, John Moraga, Eryk Anders, Michael Johnson, Jake Ellenberger, Mickey Gall, Joanne Calderwood)

Fighters On Losing Streaks in the UFC: 8 (Justin Gaethje, Michael Johnson, Jake Ellenberger, Courtney Casey, Bryan Barberena, Andrew Sanchez, George Sullivan, Kalindra Faria)

Fighters On Winning Streaks in the UFC: 5 (Andre Fili, James Vick, Warlley Alves, Drew Dober, Rani Yahya)

Main Card Record Since Jan 1st 2016 (in the UFC): 28- 22 (Folks better thank James Vick for Anthony Smith-ing this card out of the doldroms. Remove his 5-1 and this show is a 23-21 which is scaaaaaary close to unacceptable)

Justin Gaethje- 1-2 James Vick- 5-1 Michael Johnson- 1-3 Andre Fili- 3-2 Angela Hill- 3-2 Courtney Casey- 3-3 Jake Ellenberger- 1-4 Bryan Barberena- 3-2 Deiveson Figuerido- 3-0 John Moraga- 3-2 Eryk Anders- 2-1 Tim Williams- 0-1

Divisional Breakdown:

Welterweight- 3 Middleweight- 2 Bantamweight-2 Lightweight- 2 Flyweight-1 Women's Flyweight- 1 Women's Strawweight- 1

Too High Up- Jake Ellenberger vs Bryan Barberena

I hate to do this to Jake Ellenberger in his hometown. The fact of the matter is I think Ellenberger has only been prelim bait like once in his UFC career since about 2014 or so and that was for a Fox card. He's clearly a valued name by the UFC (and probably by more fans than we'd like to admit). That said he's 1-4 in his last five fights and there's really no point in doing this to the guy on the main card. Barberena is a good style for him (Ellenberger's TDD still seems pretty solid) and I don't think this is the WORST fight for him ever but let's be fair; this is not main card worthy. It's here because Jake's a hometown dude and because the only other alternatives are "the little guys". Could also call out Angela Hill/Courtney Casey or Tim Williams/Eryk Anders but it'd be unfair to move Angela Hill from co-main to prelims due to an opponent change and Eryk Anders is getting a showcase matchup to rebound him from that Machida loss.

Too Low- Iuri Alcantara vs Cory Sandhagen

THIS fight has serious good fight potential in it. You know how we talk about 135 lbs developing into one of MMA's best divisions? Well this is one of those fights that helps build you some depth and test you some prospects. Sandhagen was a short notice signing who beat the shit out of Dana White's Tuesday Night Contenders Series signee (sorta) Austin Arnett who IMO is one of those AAAA fighters who is too good for the regionals but noway near good enough for the UFC. This is a much tougher test for Sandhagen whose losses prior to the UFC was to professional prospect killer Jamall Emmers. Now he faces Iuri Alcantara who is probably not good enough to be anything more than a tremendous prospect tester and veteran smashing machine. If Sandhagen's "got it" then chances are this fight will be a lot of fun because his style meshes up well with the style that brings the best out of Alcantara. We're talking forward pressure, funky movement and some offensive versatility for Alcantara's power counters early.

Stat Monitor for 2018: Debuting Fighters (Current number: 20-26):

Short Notice Fighters (Current number: 21-11): Courtney Casey, Andrew Sanchez and James Vick

Second Fight (Current number: 31-24): Cory Sandhagen and Tim Williams

Cage Corrosion (Current number: 15-26): Joanna Calderwood and Jon Tuck

Undefeated Fighters (Current number: 22-19): Deiveson Figuerido

Keeping An Eye On But Not Really:

The UFC Win Check Test The records of fighters who have 4 or more UFC fights (or three full calendar years in the organization) but 0 wins against people still in the UFC: Luke Sanders, Jon Tuck, Joanne Calderwood

Twelve Precarious Ponderings

1- Gonna get this out of the way first; Jake Ellenberger is on the show because he's from the area and is a big draw there. Ticket sales were poor out the gate so Ellenberger wound up popping on. That's it and that's all there is to it, okay?

2- Who has more to gain here in the main event? I think it's easy as to "Who has more to lose?" because a James Vick win means that Justin Gaethje PROBABLY got flattened in his third straight fight which, in turn, means that we're looking at an obvious tragic combustion of one of the greatest action fighters of all time. Now having said that, what does Gaethje really gain from a win? He beats a top 10 guy (Vick should be ranked in the top 10 by now and if not, I'm gonna be floored) but not one of the elite names. He gets a win but it's not the kind of win that will carry any sort of casual clout because casuals don't even know who James Vick is really. At this point, it's JUST a win on a show. It's a filler W. On the other hand, James Vick beating Justin Gathje will be big in theory but I wonder how many "Alvarez/Poirier did it first!" type comments will accompany it. I wonder if people will take a loss for Gaethje as more about what Justin has lost than what James Vick has gained.

3- People like to act as though Tony Ferguson had a unique road to the top of the 155 lb scene. James Vick had to beat Nick Hein, Polo Reyes, Joe Duffy, FRANCISCO TRINALDO and Jake Matthews-----and then had to wait for an injury to get his first UFC main event. It's a very loaded division that pities nobody.

4- Did Demetrious Johnson losing cement Deiveson Figuerido vs John Moraga getting knocked down a peg to the middle of the main card?

5- Does Lyoto Machida get a big snazzy Bellator contract if Eryk Anders snoozes through the fifth round of a close fight in enemy territory?

6- Speaking of Anders, he and Markus Perez on the same card reminds me of the vibe I had recently; Perez vs Anders is going to be one of those fights five years from now that we'll all agree happened too soon. Both guys were a bit too raw and Anders was just too damn strong for Perez. Expect both guys to show out in Nebraska and expect them to be familiar faces at 185 lbs. The UFC pushed Anders away from a fight with Paulo Costa for a reason.

7- Maybe I'm an idiot (yeah, I know) but I'm not off the Courtney Casey bandwagon just yet. She still shows so many brief tactical snafus that I'm just hoping experience will breed a better more polished version of a fighter who has tremendous offensive potential at range and in the clinch. I'm HOPING for the best while acknowledging the worst. Angela Hill is going to be a fine test for her.

8- Mickey Gall is officially in the "Okay now what?" stage of his UFC run which is kind of a problem. He's in the embryonic stage of developing his skills but he's at the point where "rush him!" will collide with "He's not ready!" repeatedly. I bet his trainers don't even have a real solid grasp of what he is and what he'll do on a fight to fight basis. To this point Mickey Gall is 3-1 in the organization but his wins are over 1) a photographer, 2) a pro wrestler and 3) MMA's favorite golden retriever in Sage Northcutt. The last is a credible win but Sage is one of those guys who is also sort of still in a developmental embryonic stage. Against Randy Brown in November, Mickey was pretty much outclassed minus a tremendous sweep in the second round. Brown is a competent average-ish WW who will give most people some trouble so it's not a big surprise. It still showed how far Gall has to go but also how hard it is for a 170 lb prospect to really get major work in. Put it this way, there's basically three levels at 170 lbs:

A: The Top Of The Division- Mostly wrestlers/grapplers backed with power in their hands with big time experience who aren't the most exciting guys but know how to push a pace, know how to pace themselves and despite the increasing age, they're on a different level compared to their contemporaries. Guys like Woodley, Usman, RDA, Covington, Till, Maia, Lawler, Leon Edwards, Wonderboy, DHK and the like.

B: The Action Fighter Center- Everybody here has flaws but they all hit really hard or have tremendous cardio. They're too flawed to take the next step in their respective careers but you can count on them to throw down and will probably beat each other/most prospects up en route to ascending up the rankings. Think of it as a nesting doll situation with spinning kicks. Guys like Alan Jouban, Mike Perry, Donald Cerrone, Ponz, Gunnar Nelson, Ben Saunders, Zaleski, Lyman Good, Frank Camacho, Matt Brown, Cowboy Oliveira and Niko Price. Basically this is where the spirit of 170 lbs lives on.

C: A mess. It's either an aging dumpster fire where you gain nothing if you win and look bad if you lose or some dude nobody has ever heard of who is 2-2 in the UFC living on the prelims. Mostly guys who have had long careers up until this point and are just trying to hold onto something for one last final run. Most of the dudes in this area are journeymen types who have so much experience that they can absolutely upset a dude based just on having seen it all and done it all.

There are no prospects at 170 outside of Gall and Northcutt so Mickey's forced to try and live dangerously in Group C knowing full well he's not ready for Group B. George Sullivan is your Group C guy; he's almost 40, he's had six UFC fights since 2014, he hits really hard and his experience level/vet savvy alone should make him a heavy favorite. It's a risky fight for Gall but this is basically what happens when you're a "prospect" at 170 lbs. No free rides.

9- James Krause vs Warlley Alves is a really interesting fight to me as Alves continues to try and chase himself back into "Hey this guy is really good" category. He blasted out Sultan Aliev in May and Krause is a similar dude to Aliev in that he's another Group C welterweight where the risk kind of outweighs the reward. Alves really needs to find himself a spot somewhere because "Colby Covington will make him a draw out of spite."

10- Drew Dober is fighting at 155 lbs again after California told him not to. They apparently cleared him to try it but....man I wish we could just get out of the "bigger at a lower weight class" issue. It's not conducive to healthy long term MMA.

11- Has any fighter had a more precipitous decline in terms of relevance than Joanne Calderwood?

12- If we're in the ESPN era, this is on ESPN+ right? How many Nebraska type cards a month would you need for it to be worth your $4.99?

Three Under Pressure

1- Justin Gaethje

The weird thing about Justin Gaethje is that his losses are basically just his wins stylistically except he doesn't land the flurry to end it all. He stalks, takes damage, kills your lead leg, eventually finds home for sharp combinations, wears you down and then eventually finishes you when you're hurt, tired and broken. He couldn't break Alvarez (although Eddie was honest that his leg was done) and he couldn't break Dustin Poirier either in time before Poirier shut him off with a fantastic combination. Gaethje hasn't been figured out because the book's been the same the whole time. The difference is instead of wailing away with Luis Palomino or someone of that ilk, he fought two of the top 5 LWs in the universe. The question becomes whether Vick is in that class or whether Gaethje is truly finally broken. A lot will be revealed win or lose here.

2- Deiveson Figuerido

Demetrious Johnson will eventually get a title rematch but until that happens, Figuerido and the rest of the "little guys" at 125 lbs have to view every opportunity on TV to try and make good on what should be a truly legitimate chance to stand out. Moraga is a former title contender with some clout on the best run of his career (since the MM fight) and now Figuerido, arguably Brazil's best young chance for a title contender below 145 lbs, has to try and get the name win on his record. I'm still not sure how good Deiveson is or where his upside truly rests but this fight will tell us everything.

3- Eryk Anders

Anders tried to do JUST enough to beat a dude in his hometown in a main event where he didn't do much to begin with and paid the price. The only way to right that is to come out hot and get a quick W over a dude who is there to get stomped on in theory.

Five Can't Miss Fights

1- James Vick vs Justin Gaethje

2- Michael Johnson vs Andre Fili

3- Iuri Alcantara vs Cory Sandhagen

4- John Moraga vs Deiveson Figuerido

5- Courtney Casey vs Angela Hill

#MMA #UFC #Lincoln #Jake Ellenberger #Justin Gaethje #James Vick

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techcrunchappcom · 3 years

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New Post has been published on https://techcrunchapp.com/rivers-ready-for-another-big-showdown-with-jackson-ravens/

Rivers ready for another big showdown with Jackson, Ravens

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Philip Rivers could write a book about his personal matchups against some of the NFL’s best players.

There was the time in 2007 when Brett Favre rallied Green Bay past his San Diego Chargers. There were memorable twice-a-season duels with Peyton Manning as AFC West rivals when Manning left Indianapolis for Denver. And he still hasn’t forgotten — or perhaps forgiven — Andrew Luck for throwing that 63-yard TD pass with 77 seconds left to beat the Chargers in 2016.

On Sunday, he could create another memorable chapter when he leads the Indianapolis Colts against reigning MVP Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens, in a matchup that airs live on News 3 at 1 p.m.

“He can play the style I play. His other style I can’t do,” Rivers said, drawing laughter. “He certainly is an awesome player. He’s been great for our league. He and a lot of other young quarterbacks, they can throw it and run it, extend plays and make unbelievable runs. It’s been great for the league.”

Rivers has seen Jackson’s act one other time, in 2018 when he threw for 204 yards and one TD while rushing for 39 yards in a 22-14 victory.

This matchup between two playoff contenders sporting 5-2 records will be quite different.

Jackson is now an established star, while Rivers is on the cusp of moving past Hall of Famer Dan Marino for fifth in league history in yards passing. Rivers needs 231 yards.

And in this topsy-turvy season, injuries and one positive COVID-19 test have put the Ravens in scramble mode.

2019 All-Pro cornerback Marlon Humphrey has been out since Monday while seven other defensive players missed practice after being deemed close contacts. If they continue to test negative, all seven could be cleared Saturday.

Baltimore also will be without 2019 All-Pro left tackle Ronnie Stanley (ankle), who suffered a season-ending injury last week. Pro Bowl right tackle Orlando Brown Jr. will replace Stanley and veteran D.J. Fluker is expected to step in for Brown.

Jackson also hopes to rewrite the narrative after playing one of his poorer games in last week’s loss to Pittsburgh. He fumbled three times, lost two, had two interceptions and was sacked four times. It won’t get any easier against another stingy defense.

“Darius Leonard, he’s a great linebacker,” Jackson said. “He’s one of the best in the game right now. Their defensive line is great. I feel like our guys will do a pretty good job. We just have to go out there, have fun and play football, play great Ravens football.”

Either way, Rivers is hoping to celebrate another storybook moment.

“It’s fun to watch these guys and what they can do,” Rivers said. “It’s unbelievable what they can do.”

MIDSEASON FORM

At age 38, Rivers is rounding into midseason form. He started his first season with Indy by throwing five interceptions and four touchdown passes in his first five games. The last two weeks, victories over Cincinnati and Detroit, Rivers has completed 52 of 77 with 633 yards, six TDs and one interception. Coach Frank Reich believes there’s a good reason for the improvement.

“I think Philip played exceptionally well (Sunday), in numbers and every other thing,” Reich said. “When it’s not there — we had a play on the goal line that didn’t come up quite how we wanted — and he said, ‘Let’s just dirt it and let’s just move on and have confidence in the next play call.’ But Philip is a great decision maker.”

RIVAL WEEKENED

Rookie running backs Jonathan Taylor and J.K. Dobbins will renew their personal rivalry at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Dobbins and Ohio State beat Taylor and Wisconsin here twice in Big Ten championship games, and both workhorse running backs returned last winter for the NFL’s scouting combine.

Each started the season behind incumbent starters and now they could both be starting again this weekend.

Dobbins is coming off his best game as a pro, running 15 times for 113 yards in place of the injured Mark Ingram. With Ingram still dealing with a high ankle sprain, Dobbins could get another hefty workload.

“He’s explosive. He’s a shifty guy,” Jackson said. “He’s what you need in a back, and that’s what we have.”

Taylor also is expected to start despite having only one second-half carry last week at Detroit. Reich said Taylor suffered an ankle injury during the game, though he did practice this week.

STREAKING

Baltimore has won won nine straight road games, the league’s longest active streak, while the defense has forced a turnover in 20 straight games.

The Ravens also have scored 20 or more points in 30 successive games, tied for the longest streak in NFL history with Denver (2012-14). And the Ravens also have rushed for 100 yards in 30 straight games.

___

AP Sports Writer David Ginsburg also contributed to this report.

___

More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL

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#another #jackson #ravens #ready #rivers #showdown #Sports

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undauntedtcg · 4 years

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My Run at Richmond Regionals/Day 2 Cup Report

I played Zoroark Garbodor in Richmond last weekend, and things were...weird. So all in all, just another day of Expanded. I went 3-4-2 day one, a worse day than Greensboro last season, however, I do believe that I improved in many ways despite a worse finish (more on that later). Let’s have a look at what went wrong!

R1 vs. Archie’s Night March LWT

This was such a cool deck! They used Archie’s Ace in the Hole with Swampert to give them more draw to improve control matchups. In game 1, I played a Karen to disrupt his damage output and he responded with double compressor, power draw and sycamore to build right back up on a one-shot and took the game fairly easily. Game 2 was a different story, Karen actually stuck and I just took my 6 prizes without any difficulty, which is really the only way to win this matchup. We got to game 3, he went first, played power plant, let loose’d me into an unplayable hand, I got basics down and then time was called. Super lucky to have tied that one, given the hand I got in that third game.

R2 vs. Archiestoise LL

This is the most polarized matchup ZoroGarb has. If they stumble at all turn 1, we can just win. If they get a cross division off, we just lose. Neither of those things happened here though! I whiffed energy the entire round and by the time I was hitting energy, it didn’t matter as the board state was too far gone.

R3 vs. MewGardy LWW

MewGardy is just a really bad deck. I prized double trubbish game one and couldn’t get there with Zoroarks alone, but as soon as I had access to all my pokemon in the second two games it was pretty easy. This would’ve been a tie had my opponent not scooped on turn 2 of time, seeing that his board was completely lost. S/o to him for being friendly!

R4 vs. ZoroToad LL

This. Matchup. Sucks. I was item locked the entierty of both games, with sudo down and no way to take prizes. Probably just an autoloss. In game 1, I saw the toad and assumed it was a control variant, which we can beat. But when they’re prize racing with LaserBank and Quaking Punch, our options are limited. ZoroToad doesn’t have many favorable matchups in this format, I would even go so far as to say that it’s just bad. But it definitely beats ZoroGarb most of the time.

R5 vs. MewGardy WW

My opponent had a rough start both games and by the time he was attacking, trashalanche was one-shotting everything. Round was over in a little under 20 minutes.

R6 vs. Archiestoise WW

The matchup went the other way this time. My opponent had decent turn ones both games but my deck actually functioned properly and Cross Division never happened. Great games with a super friendly opponent, though.

R7 vs. Trev LL

This used to be a free matchup last season. Now, however, they play 4 Power Plant. It’s more like 50/50 now, but if they brick you off of Let Loose + Plant there’s just nothing you can do. I got a board set up but never got to a point where I could attack and whiffed evolutions all both games. Nothing I think I could’ve done differently, but it all felt so bad. This was the round that took us out of contention for day 2.

R8 vs. Durant WLT

With Oranguru, this matchup is pretty favored. Took game one through Resource Management and KOing Ants. Game 2 I wasn’t able to develop to a point where I could be aggressive enough to take out ants often. Eventually we decked out after some Handiwork double heads. Time was called in game three, I had 2 prizes left by the end. Neither of us wanted to tie but both of us were trying to hit points, we talked with a judge about how else we could resolve it. Going by prizes isn’t really fair when it’s a mill strategy so we just agreed to draw. Thinking about it, I wonder if there is a mathematical way to equate cards left in deck to prize cards and use that to decide. Either way, this took us out of contention for points.

R9 vs. Archiestoise WLL

This is the only round I really felt like I was playing sub-optimally. I was tired, I couldn’t get anything no matter what happened this round, I just wanted to leave. I was basically brain dead and on autopilot the whole way through. I don’t even remember how I got the first game, it just sorta happened. He got Cross Division off Games 2 and 3 and there was just nothing happening for me. Oh well.

Looking back through all of the rounds I would do a few things differently.

I would’ve cut the girafarig. It’s good, but I never hit the matchups it’s good in. Cobalion GX would’ve been way more helpful to stop cross division.

In a more broad sense though, I think I should’ve just played Zoroark Control. I’m comfortable enough with the deck, the only reason I didn’t play it was that I didn’t think I could play it perfectly for 9 rounds. In retrospect, I think I still would’ve had better chances with it than what I played.

On the positive side, I played much better than I did in Greensboro. I remember making small mistakes and throwing matches last time. Here, I think my play improved, but everything else got worse. My matchups were horrendous, I drew poorly off of Let Loose + Plant. A lot went wrong.

I can place an amount of blame on my preparation, for sure. I think the list could’ve been slightly better, and that’s definitely my fault. But at the same time, my list was geared to beat the decks I was expecting, and I didn’t come across as many of those as I would’ve liked.

After that pretty awful day 1, I played in the League Cup on day 2 with a different version of the deck. Playing cards like Bodybuilding Dumbbells and a heavier Parallel city count. I no longer have the exact list, but you aren’t missing much. Probably a little worse than what I played in the main event. But we’ll have a look at those rounds too, just for fun.

R1 vs. TurboDark W

I played against a player that attends tournaments in my area, which was rather nice. This was the first and only time I played against Dark the whole weekend and it was one of the most hyped decks going into the tournament. With Parallel and Sudowoodo, the matchup is pretty much just free.Keep control of their board and trashalanche until they lose.

R2 vs. Pikarom L

Half-bricked at the start of this game, had to bench more Lele and Dedenne than I would’ve liked. Game lasted a total of three turns, and two attacks. Full Blitz, Tag Bolt GG.

R3 vs. ZoroGarb T

This round didn’t go too well. He played cards that I wasn’t expecting, namely Acerola and Professor Kukui. We both kept Sudowoodo down the entire game. Trading two shots with Acerola inbetween for 30 minutes, then I used Tapu Cure GX to heal all the damage off my board in turn 2 of time and that was it.

R4 vs. Archiestoise W

My opponent missed Archie’s turn 1, 2 and 3. I don’t really have anything else to say here.

R5 vs. Archiestoise L

We both had horrible starts, but Cross Division made mine way worse. It was a close game in all honesty, but he got rid of all our Trubbish and we just couldn’t do anything from there.

R6 vs. Green’s Greninja BREAK L

Oh dear. This was horrid. No Trade, they limited their items too well for us to one shot anything. Really missed having Sky Field in this one.

R7 vs. Keldeo GX/Hoopa W

They played 0 outs to Garbotoxin, Garb just won the game outright.

I played 16 rounds of Zoroark Garbodor in it’s various forms this weekend! The deck is pretty busted, but the deck just can’t beat a lot of things. Let Loose + Power Plant can make any otherwise good matchup unfavored, we can lose to a lot of very specific random stuff.

Going forward, I think the deck actually gets better! The matchup against the 1st place EggRow deck isn’t too bad with double Klefki and some more hand disruption. For Portland, I would definitely be giving this deck a look! I will leave you all with a warning, however. If you want to play this deck, test it thoroughly. Know each matchup, know how the deck tends to run, always have a plan. The deck has a lot of options and isn’t for someone who wants to just do the same thing every game. For that, I’ll refer you to Turbo Dark.

I’m disappointed in myself for my poor performance and I’m very unhappy with how the tournament went for me. I understand that not everything that happened was in my control, and I’m very happy with how I played for most of the weekend, so I hesitate to call the weekend a complete failure. But I definitely have much to improve on and will be giving my all to the game from now leading up to whatever regionals I’ll be attending next.

Thanks for reading!

#Play! Pokemon #Pokemon #ptcg #Tournament Report

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junker-town · 4 years

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Predicting the 2020 NBA playoffs at the bubble

Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images

Here are our picks for the 2020 NBA playoffs.

Home court advantage doesn’t exist. The schedule is more demanding than ever even without travel, forcing teams to play every other day until they advance or get eliminated. Those summer vacations with family and friends players cherish so much have been replaced by the most intense work environment of their career.

Welcome to an NBA postseason unlike any in league history.

It’s too much to suggest we throw out the previous 72 games (or in the Portland Trail Blazers’ case, 73), but it does feel like the unprecedented circumstances of the 2020 NBA playoffs will create more variance. If you’re the sort of person who likes to complain about the NBA’s postseason too often going chalk, the bubble playoffs could be for you.

The playoffs feel more unpredictable than ever, but we’re going to try to make predictions anyway. Here’s our best guess at what will happen in the NBA playoffs.

Photo by Cato Cataldo/NBAE via Getty Images

2020 Western Conference playoff predictions: first round

No. 1 Los Angeles Lakers vs. No. 8 Portland Trail Blazers: Damian Lillard has caught fire inside the bubble. Jusuf Nurkic is healthy and playing like a top-five center. The Blazers have gone 7-2 since arriving in Disney and just won the first play-in series in league history. Portland is becoming a trendy pick to pull a monumental upset against the Lakers, but that feels too optimistic for one big reason: the Blazers’ defense is a disaster even before they meet LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Portland’s breakneck offensive attack will make this series entertaining, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be competitive. Prediction: Lakers in five.

No. 2 Los Angeles Clippers vs. No. 7 Dallas Mavericks: The Mavericks had the best offense in NBA history this season. Luka Doncic has been historically productive for a player who recently turned 21 years old. Kristaps Porzingis has averaged 30.5 points per game inside the bubble. It still won’t be enough to truly test the Clippers, whose deep bench and pair of superstar wings gives them the highest ceiling of any team in the league. Prediction: Clippers in six.

No. 3 Denver Nuggets vs. No. 6 Utah Jazz: The Nuggets have stumbled into the postseason at 3-5 since arriving in the bubble, but Denver seems to have found another star in Michael Porter Jr. Porter is averaging 22 points per game since arriving in Disney and gives the Nuggets a dynamic 6’10 shot-maker on the wing. Not having Bojan Bogdanovic at all and Mike Conley at the start of the series is a killer for Utah. Prediction: Nuggets in six.

No. 4 Houston Rockets vs. No. 5 Oklahoma City Thunder: How healthy is Russell Westbrook? That’s the question that hangs over this series after reports he will miss at least the start of this series with a strained quad. The Thunder have been the biggest surprise of the season, and you know Chris Paul would love nothing more than getting revenge on his former team. It’s tempting to pick OKC, but I’m rolling with The Beard. Prediction: Rockets in six.

Photo by Kathryn Riley/Getty Images

2020 Eastern Conference playoff predictions: first round

No. 1 Milwaukee Bucks vs. No. 8 Orlando Magic: It’s a damn shame the Suns missed the playoffs but the Magic and Nets made it. We’re at 20 straight years of Western Conference supremacy and it doesn’t feel like it’s going to stop any time soon. Prediction: Bucks in four.

No. 2 Toronto Raptors vs. No. 7 Brooklyn Nets: Brooklyn has been a pretty incredible story inside the bubble, going 5-3 at Disney despite a roster decimated by opt-outs and injuries. It would be great to see Caris LeVert keep going off like he did vs. the Blazers in the regular season finale, but the Toronto defense is simply too good to allow it. Prediction: Raptors in four.

No. 3 Boston Celtics vs. No. 6 Philadelphia 76ers: Philadelphia was my preseason pick in the East, but this year has been a disaster for them in every way. It just sucks that Ben Simmons is out with a knee injury. A competitive series would be so much fun if only for the smack talk between two of the league’s most passionate fanbases, but it seems unlikely to happen without Simmons. Prediction: Celtics in five.

No. 4 Miami Heat vs. No. 5 Indiana Pacers: It feels like a pretty monumental accomplishment for this Pacers team to get the No. 5 seed while playing without Victor Oladipo for so much of the year. It’s too bad Domantas Sabonis is now out with a foot injury — it would have been wonderful to see him battle Bam Adebayo in the middle. Miami feels dangerous right now. Prediction: Heat in five.

2020 Western Conference playoff predictions: second round

Photo by Jevone Moore/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

No. 1 Los Angeles Lakers vs. No. 4 Houston Rockets: If Westbrook is fully healthy, Houston’s small ball attack feels like it could give the Lakers trouble. The Rockets do an impressive job of defending the rim without a traditional center. James Harden is playing at an MVP level. Houston has to be due for some good shooting luck in the playoffs at some point, right? I’m tempted to pick the Rockets, but just can’t there. Here’s a bonus prediction: this is the series where everyone starts wondering if Anthony Davis is really the best player on the Lakers. Prediction: Lakers six.

No. 2 Los Angeles Clippers vs. No. 3 Denver Nuggets: It will be interesting to see how the Clippers chose to matchup with Nikola Jokic. Can they really get away with Montrezl Harrell at five in crunch-time against one of the league’s great centers? Ultimately, it probably doesn’t matter much either way. The Clippers’ talent advantage is too stark for this series to actually get close. Prediction: Clippers in five.

Bill Baptist/NBAE via Getty Images

2020 Eastern Conference playoff predictions: second round

No. 1 Milwaukee Bucks vs. No. 4 Miami Heat: There’s a convincing case to be made that the Heat matchup with the Bucks better than any other team. Miami can throw Bam Adebayo at Giannis and dot the perimeter with knockdown shooters like Duncan Robinson and Tyler Herro. This will have to be the series where Khris Middleton proves his amazing regular season numbers can carry over to the playoffs. Here’s guessing this is one of the best series we get in the bubble. Prediction: Bucks in seven.

No. 2 Toronto Raptors vs. No. 3 Boston Celtics: Another great matchup — with two top-five defenses, expect these games to be brutal knockdown, drag out fights. Tatum and Jalen Brown have been so great all year, but I don’t know if they’re ready for the biggest stages quite yet. Kemba Walker’s health also feels like a legit concern. Prediction: Raptors in six.

2020 Western Conference playoff predictions: finals

Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images

No. 1 Los Angeles Lakers vs. No. 2 Los Angeles Clippers: The series everyone wants to see. It feels like seven games won’t be enough. Can we make this a best-of-13 instead? The Lakers are the only team in the league with a better 1-2 punch than the Clippers, but it’s the rest of their roster that gives me pause. The Lakers just seem to have a few more holes that can be exploited regardless of how amazing LeBron and AD are. Prediction: Clippers in seven.

2020 Eastern Conference playoff predictions: finals

No. 1 Milwaukee Bucks vs. No. 2 Toronto Raptors: Toronto’s defense feels like the single most dependable unit in the league right now. The Raptors finished with the No. 1 defense in the bubble and it wasn’t particularly close. Stopping Giannis without the help of Kawhi Leonard will be the biggest challenge of Nick Nurse’s career, but to this point the Toronto coach has shown incredible creativity in solving any problem his team faces. I think the Bucks will finally miss Malcolm Brogdon in this series. If Milwaukee falls short, it feels likeit will be more of an indictment on Bucks’ supporting cast — which has been incredible all season — than Giannis. Prediction: Raptors in seven.

Photo by Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images

2020 NBA Finals prediction

Los Angeles Clippers vs. Toronto Raptors: It defies logic that the Raptors have a better winning percentage and a superior point differential this season without Kawhi Leonard than they had with him last season. This is the round where they will really miss him. The Clippers have had the best combination of top-end talent and depth all season. They were my championship prediction back in October. I’m sticking with them. Prediction: Clippers in six.

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islesblogger · 5 years

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10 Reasons Islander Fans Shouldn't Panic

Here are my top 10 reasons why NY Islanders fans shouldn’t panic with five games left. There is plenty of good news to go around.

1. The Standings

The Islanders are currently tied for second place with Pittsburgh in the Metro division. They are three points behind first place Washington, and four points ahead of Carolina who has a firm grip on the top wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. They are still seven points ahead of Columbus who is in ninth and on the outside of the playoff picture looking in. The playoff bubble projects to be 96 points. The Islanders would only need one win to eclipse that number. The maximum bubble is 99 points because Montreal plays Columbus on Thursday, and that is what the loser can obtain, even with the loser point. The Islanders would only need to play NHL .500 in their last 5 games to eclipse that total.

TEAMW L OT P PPG PRJGRATLTBL59144122 1.584 1305BOS46219101 1.329 1096TOR4525696 1.263 1046METWAS4524898 1.273 1045NYI4426795 1.234 1015PIT42241195 1.234 1015WCCAR4227791 1.197 986MON4128890 1.169 965OUTCBJ4230488 1.158 956PHI3632880 1.053 866

2. The Schedule

The last five games of the season will be tough no matter who they are playing. These games will be particularly tough, but will serve as a good experience for a young team with little to no playoff experience.

@Winnipeg The Islanders lost their only game against the Jets this year, but the Jets are a pedestrian 6-4-0 in their last 10.

Buffalo. They have split their season series so far. Both home teams have won 3-1. The Sabres are a mithir serable 1-8-1 in their last 10. If the Isles lose this one at home you might want to start looking for the panic button.

Toronto. They are 2-0 against Toronto this year and have outscored them 10-1. There’s another narrative at play here as our favorite ex-Islander may be shooting for his first 50 goal season. Toronto is a meh 4-4-2 in their last 10. This is a good matchup on paper, but there will be a lot of emotions on the ice and in the stands. It should be a fun one.

@Florida. As exciting an atmosphere April 1st will be at the NVMC, is about how dull I expect the arena to be on April 4th in Sunrise. Florida was done months ago and they’re 5-5-0 in their last 10 and on a current 3 game losing streak. The scary part… The Islanders are 0-1-1 against them. Barry Trotz will need to find some motivation to get his clearly superior team to defeat their ex-coach. Panther’s assistant, Jack Capuano, probably knows the Islanders better than he knows his own team at this point. There are some scenarios where this game can clinch playoffs, or home team advantage. That should be enough motivation because you don’t want to go into the last game of the season with those things hanging over your head.

@Washington. The final game of the season can mean so much… or it can just be 60 minutes of practice for two teams preparing for the playoffs. Unless it is for first place in the Metro, let’s hope it’s the latter. The Isles are 1-2-0 against the current Metro leaders and they have been playing well of late. The Caps are 6-3-1 in their last 10 and the current Stanley Cup champions seem to be firing on all cylinders going into this year’s tournament.

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3. Barry Trotz

If there is one thing that has made this season vastly different than any other since 1994 it’s Barry Trotz. For the first time in 25 years the Islanders have been led by an experienced, Stanley Cup winning coach. The results so far have been fantastic, and there’s no reason to doubt their future. The defense first philosophy brought in by Lou Lamoriello has been embraced by every member of the organization. It may not be pretty to some, but winning is.

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4. The Goalies

Currently the Islanders have given up 188 goals against. That is the lowest in the Eastern Conference and tied with Dallas (who has played one fewer game) for the league lead. This is mostly due to the overall defensive strategy. You don’t get their from the team with the worst GA total in the league without stellar goaltending. Robin Lehner and Thomas Greiss have been, by far, the best goalie tandem in the league. They are third and fifth respectively in save percentage in the league. More importantly they are first and second in the eastern conference. It appears that Robin will be the “hotter” of the two as they enter the final five, and the playoffs. There will be almost no drop off in expectations should the first starter fail.

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5. The Defense

For the first time in over a decade, maybe two, the Islanders have SEVEN NHL caliber defensemen. The improvements of the young four at the core over the past four months has been exceptional. Ryan Pulock is a legitimate top pairing defenseman who has shown he can play in all situations. That was expected since his pro debut in Bridgeport. But it wasn’t expected from the rest of what could be considered the rest of the top four. Adam Pelech, Scott Mayfield and especially Devon Toews have performed well within the scope of being called NHL “Top Four” defenders. That is status earned by the other three defensemen (Nick Leddy, Johnny Boychuk and Thomas Hickey) years ago. Going into the playoffs with seven NHL defenseman is unfamiliar territory for the NY Islanders. It will present a strong foundation for whoever their opponent might be.

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6. The Centers

The most worrisome part of the team in October was their center group. After losing their 2009 number one overall selection to free agency the organization went into panic mode. They had last year’s Calder Trophy winner, a perennial 20 goal enigma, and the pivot of what was once considered the best fourth line in hockey.

If nothing else, Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz are astute assessors of hockey talent. Lou went out and acquired Val Filppula and Jan Kovar to compete with Stephen Gionta and Tanner Fritz for their vacant center roles. They also had some prospects that needed some AHL development. All we, as fans had, was hope and fear… not particularly in that order.

What transpired over the next 5 months shows what good leadership and instruction can create from, well, not much. Instead of trying to break scoring records Lou immediately identified the need for two way play by subtracting Kovar from the roster. Barry Trotz has done masterful work transforming Nelson and Barzal into defensively conscious 200 foot players, though young Mr. Barzal is still a work in progress. The acquisition of Filppula was the highlight in hindsight. He became the long sought after replacement for Frans Nielsen by almost every measure. Stephen Gionta basically proved that his time had come and gone.

The top four centers have been identified. Nelson, Barzal, Filppula and Cizikas got this team to first place in the Metro Division. They also created some depth at the position. Something nobody thought would ever happen this year.

They cut Tanner Fritz late, but knew that he could play in the NHL He’s been proving that as a replacement for injured Val Filppula.

One of the more pleasant surprises from Bridgeport this year was the development of Otto Koivula after moving him from wing to center. He still needs some work, but with an off season to work on his skating and another year of AHL work the Islanders could have a legit middle six center in the wings.

If they sign Nelson, Filppula and Fritz they should be in a good place going forward. They could fish for something better in July, but more importantly they will probably target a center in June.

7. The Playoffs

If you’ve gotten this far you understand that the Islanders are playing for position in, rather than to be in, the playoffs. Given their October expectations this is all gravy. It is well beyond even the most optimistic predictions. I consider myself among the most optimistic of fans, and still only had them as a bubble team, about where Columbus is now. Any entry, even a “back in” has got to be looked at as a victory given that lens.

8. The Draft

Currently the Islander project to be well within range to pick up one of the top centers in the draft. I like the choice presented in TSN’s Mock Draft here. They should have a wider selection earlier in the draft unless they have an incredible playoff run. The one good thing about “standing pat” at the trade deadline is that they still have all their prospects, and their 2019 first round pick. This may also be a time to shed some contracts (Nick Leddy) for a few more picks. It should be a positive few days for Islanders fans, especially with their scouting staff’s recent June successes.

9. Free Agency

There are currently 9 pending unrestricted free agents on their roster. They also have over $30M in cap space for 2019-20. I expect them to sign 5 of their UFA’s (Lee, Nelson, Lehner, Filppula, Fritz) at a cost of around $23M per year. Possibly shedding a contract or two, and Andrew Ladd’s likely LTIR status should give them some ammunition to target big game on July 1st. This hasn’t been the case for decades, but the team may be a bit more attractive thanks to the new attitude ushered in by ownership, Lamoriello and Trotz. July will bring, if nothing else, some heightened interest for Islander fans.

10. 2019-20

Just scroll up. The team should start next season without the 20 game learning curve they had this year. Their biggest question mark might still be their power play. Their defensive and penalty killing issues were certainly addressed and mostly resolved. They should be able to start the season in competition for the Metro Division. Something they didn’t really avail themselves to until December. They already have half their home games scheduled for the Nassau Coliseum and hopefully this year’s success will help improve attendance numbers at Barclay’s Center.

Things are looking good. This is no time to panic. It’s time to celebrate a season of improvement and the beginning of the playoff season… something we’ve missed the past two years.

Let’s Go Islanders!

10 Reasons Islander Fans Shouldn’t Panic was originally published on islesblogger.com

#Barry Trotz #Islanders #Lou Lamoriello #Mat Barzal #Ryan Pulock

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ravensale46-blog · 5 years

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Bears vs. Lions: Notes from an electric 34-22 victory

The Chicago Bears kicked off the second half of their regular season on a high note, defeating the Detroit Lions 34-22. Though it was far from a perfect win, it was a win, and an important one at that. The Bears improved to 6-3 with a divisional victory and extended their lead in the NFC North. Here are some of my takeaways from Sunday’s action.

Offense

Mitchell Trubisky is not Blake Bortles.

Trubisky had one of the best games of his career this week. He ended up completing 23 of his 30 passing attempts for a career-high 355 passing yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He looked poised in the pocket, comfortable and ready to strike at any moment. His footwork has looked progressively better throughout the season, which has improved his accuracy as a result. His pocket presence has also improved, as he is nuch less jittery under pressure than he was in the beginning of the year. Eight of his passes resulted in gains of 20 yards or more, which speaks to his accuracy, Matt Nagy’s confidence in his quarterback, and Chicago’s receivers’ ability to create separation.

Trubisky hasn’t been perfect this season, and the fact that Patrick Mahomes, who was drafted after him in 2017, has been having an MVP-caliber season automatically makes him look like a bad pick in the eyes of those who don’t actually pay attention to the team. Despite what some particular pundits may say online, Trubisky is a good quarterback who has proven that he can lead the Bears to the playoffs, as opposed to one who has to rely on his defense to carry him there.

Running the ball, the Bears were pretty ineffective. Jordan Howard picked up a nine-yard gain on the very first offensive play of the game but failed to pick up a gain that went for longer than that. Tarik Cohen had a lackluster game, as well, only gaining 15 yards on seven carries. He also caught six passes, but he only ended up with a total of 29 yards. A new-look Detroit run defense led by stud defensive tackle Damon Harrison Sr. did a number on Chicago’s ground game, but their secondary failed to slow down an electric Bears passing attack.

Allen Robinson and Anthony Miller both put together their best performances of the season on Sunday. A-Rob was the dominant presence that the Bears signed him to be, catching six passes for 133 yards and two touchdowns in his return from injury. He made a phenomenal touchdown grab on a contested ball in the end zone on a 45-yard bomb, putting his size and physicality to good use. Miller has the best game of his career with five receptions, 122 yards and a touchdown. He showed off the ability to separate from cornerbacks and pick up yards after the catch that had him so highly touted coming out of Memphis. Trey Burton also caught four passes for 40 yards, and he caught a two-point conversion pass from Trubisky in the third quarter. It’s encouraging to see so many weapons in Chicago’s offense doing well this year, and the presumptive return of Adam Shaheen from injury next week should open up even more opportunities for them to get open looks.

Although the Bears’ run blocking was less than ideal, they did a good job of giving Trubisky a fairly clean pocket. He was only sacked once, and he was given several chances to deliver darts under very little pressure. Though unlikely they play that well every week in their stretch of divisional games, it was a good sign to see them successful against an underrated Detroit pass rush.

Defense

The Bears took their feet off the gas pedal in the fourth quarter, as they allowed 12 points in the span of one minute and nine seconds. Granted, a recovered onside kick gave the Lions very good field position on their second touchdown drive of the quarter, but Chicago’s defense was not fantastic late. Still, their performance in the first three quarters was nothing short of great.

Khalil Mack made his triumphant return from injury on Sunday, and he came back in a way that only he could: by dominating. Despite missing the previous two weeks, he finished the game with five tackles and two sacks. His impact was definitely evident throughout the game, as he opened up opportunities for several teammates. Leonard Floyd continued his hot streak by snagging that ever-so-elusive first sack of the season. Bilal Nichols, who was limited with a knee injury, also picked up a sack and a forced fumble.

Roquan Smith had another good game, picking up 10 total tackles, a sack and a pass deflection. His speed and ranginess really helps the Bears get bailed out on some plays that may otherwise blow past the second level. Danny Trevathan picked up five tackles of his own.

Kyle Fuller didn’t have any pass deflections or interceptions this week, but he did a good job in coverage for the most part. Save an allowed touchdown catch by Kenny Golladay, Fuller had a solid game. Prince Amukamara wasn’t necessarily perfect, but he lit up the stat sheet with eight tackles, two pass deflections, one interception and two forced fumbles. Bryce Callahan had yet another fantastic game, tallying five tackles, two pass deflections, an interception and a sack on a nickel blitz. He should be Chicago’s top priority to bring back this offseason, as he has been one of, if not the best nickelback in the league.

Both Eddie Jackson and Adrian Amos had their fair share of mistakes, but neither of them were particularly terrible. Jackson in particular showed some tenacity as a tackler and added on a pass deflection. While not an elite safety duo, they have more than serviceable for most of the year and complement each other well.

Three and out

3. Cody Parkey...yikes. The kicker, who was signed to a four-year, $15 million deal this past offseason, missed both of his field goal attempts and missed two of his four extra point attempts. Every single one of them hit the goalpost. Between this, Pat O’Donnell’s struggles and an inability to both defend and return kickoffs, Chicago’s special teams might just be one of their biggest weaknesses at the moment. Poor performance on the third phase could potentially cost the Bears down the line if they don’t get something figured out.

2. Many have compared Trubisky to Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes, the two other quarterbacks selected in the first round of the 2017 draft. Because of the latter two quarterbacks’ success on a national stage, many have forgotten about Trubisky and have considered him to be a bust. Let’s break down how each signal-caller has done so far this year.

Trubisky: 9 games, 2,304 passing yards, 19 touchdowns, 7 interceptions, 65.5 completion percentage, 6-3 team record

Mahomes: 10 games, 3,150 passing yards, 31 touchdowns, 7 interceptions, 67.0 completion percentage, 9-1 team record

Watson: 9 games, 2,389 passing yards, 17 touchdowns, 7 interceptions, 64.9 completion percentage, 6-3 team record

Mahomes has easily been the best quarterback of the three, even if you take out the extra game he has played. However, Trubisky’s performance has been on par with, if not better than that of Watson, who has been praised much more often by the national media. While one can argue that Mahomes is the best quarterback of the class - which is definitely warranted with the way he has played this year - all three of them are playing at a high level and are helping their teams win.

1. The Bears take on the Vikings next week in a Sunday night matchup, and it is one that promises to be a fun one to watch. Chicago currently sits as the two-point favorites, but Minnesota could realistically come away with the win. The Vikings are 4-1 in their last five matchups, and their lone loss came against the red-hot New Orleans Saints. Their defense is playing better than the one that gave up 27 points to the Buffalo Bills, and their offense seems to be clicking quite nicely. The Bears are themselves in the midst of a hot streak, having won their last three games. Next week will surely be an entertaining battle for NFC North supremacy.

Source: https://www.windycitygridiron.com/2018/11/12/18085662/chicago-bears-vs-detroit-lions-notes-from-an-electric-34-22-victory-game-recap-mitchell-trubisky

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thesportssoundoff · 7 years

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A lot of good fights with a wacky main event: a preview of the UFC’s return to Brazil

Joey

March 8th, 2017

So the UFC's PPV offerings haven't quite delivered the excitement you'd hope for---but their free shows have been pretty damn solid. They may have lacked name value but they've delivered on the action quotient with some big finishes and shocking moments relative to the card quality. So now we move on to the UFC's FIRST offering from Brazil, a really solid card both in terms of name value AND card quality. The headliner is oddly intriguing; a fight that shouldn't make a lot of sense but somehow it does and it figures to be fun until it ends however that may be. Beyond that, you have a REALLY REALLY good back to back co-main and tertiary fight in Shogun Rua vs Gian Villante and Beneil Dariush vs Edson Barboza. If you move beyond that, Bethe Correia vs Marion Reneau figures to be a testy back and forth brawl given how both women tend to do their best work coming forward. MAYBE even a potential #1 contender fight at flyweight? Oh and Tim Means is going to fuck some shit up vs Alex Oliveira who seems to enjoy fucking shit up/people in wacky fights. Let's get on to the getting on:

Fights: 12

Debuts: 2 (Paulo Henrique Costa, Davi Ramos)

Fight Changes/Injury Cancellations: 4 (Ion Cutelaba vs Luis Henrique cancelled/Kyle Bochniak vs Godofredo Pepey cancelled/Max Griffin out, Davi Ramos in/Alex Nicholson out, Garreth McClellan in)

Headliners (fighters who have either main evented or co-main evented shows in the UFC): 9 (Alex Oliveira, Shogun Rua, Vitor Belfort, Kelvin Gastelum, Jussier Formiga, Bethe Correia, Edson Barboza, Josh Burkman and Beniel Dariush)

Fighters On Losing Streaks in the UFC: 3 (Vitor Belfort, Garreth McClellan, Josh Burkman)

Fighters On Winning Streaks in the UFC: 11 ( Joe Soto, Rani Yahya, Mauricio Rua, Kelvin Gastelum, Edson Barboza, Beneil Dariush, Jussier Formiga, Ray Borg, Kevin Lee, Francisco Trinaldo, Michel Prezares)

Stat Monitor for 2017:

Debuting Fighters (Current number: 7-6)- Paulo Henrique Costa, Davi Ramos

Short Notice Fighters (Current number: 5-7)- Davi Ramos, Garreth McClellan

Second Fight (Current number: 4-9)- Jeremy Kennedy

Twelve Precarious Ponderings

1- So let's begin with this the obvious. If this fight sees round three or so, it's probably not going to go well for Vitor. Hell I'd draw the line at 3 minutes into the second for Vitor's chances to win. Gastelum is a workhorse when fights stretch and while he's not a concussive one punch knockout artist, he can absolutely positively overwhelm guys with his aggression and his output. The KEY is the first eight minutes of the fight. Gastelum can get caught cold; he lost the first round to Niko Musoke, lost the first to Woodley (IMO) andd while I don't think he lost the first to Tim Kennedy, he certainly wasn't very sharp. He started slow vs Means as well. This is a fight between a guy who has fought somewhat successfully at 205 lbs (Vitor) and a natural-ish 170er who loves good food (Gastelum). Gastelum thus far, ironically enough, has had his best performances at 185 lbs but this is a dangerous fight. At least early.

2- Is the UFC going to keep Vitor around until he retires? Or will they let him become a Bellator fighter and risk him becoming a ratings popper for their competitor?

3- As much as we ALL love to giggle and sniggle about it; facts remain that if Shogun wins this fight, he'll have the third longest winning streak at 205 lbs behind DC and Cirkunov. Think about that, kids.

4- As much as Cirkunov vs Shogun would've made sense from a "Create a star" perspective, Villante vs Shogun is a perfectly well put together action fight. Both guys are explosive early, hittable throughout, low on chin but high on recuperative ability. I greatly approve of this fight from a gawking perspective.

5- I'm calling Ray Borg vs Jussier Formiga a #1 contender fight for one reason; anybody who beats Jussier Formiga eventually fights for a title. So if Borg can a) fucking make the weight and b) beat a super tough Brazilian grappler in Brazil? He's got a chance to fight for a title. I just hope Borg's striking has made some sort of progress.

6- Sergio Moraes vs Davi Ramos should just be given GIs for this fight. Don't strike (even though when Moraes commits, he can crack folks).

7- Bethe Corriea vs Marion Reneau is a really interesting fight. Reneau is far, far better than her so-so 3-2 UFC record. She beat the uncrowned Bellator 145 lb champion in Alexis Dufresne and beat the future (don't @ me) 115 lb champ Jessica Andrade in Brazil. One of her losses was to Holly Holm (no shame in that) and then a decision loss to Ashlee Evans Smith don't @ me. She's a lot better than people will ever give her credit for and could definitely be a top 6 or 7 women's bantamweight. Bethe is one of those wacky ladies who seems to always be in exciting fights. Reneau doesn't always fight with clean fight IQ (although her punch technique is superb) and s we could be in for something crazy.

8- In many ways, Rony Jason is proof positive of the UFC's stumbles in Brazil. When they first started cultivating Brazil, Rony Jason was one of the guys who seemed destined for superstardom as the UFC marched its way into Brazil, the winner of their inaugural Brazilian TUF season at featherweight. Jason got off to a hot start with back to back finishes in front of a massive crowd----and then Jeremy Stephens happened. Since that Stephens fight, Jason has gone 2-3 with a no contest due to steroids thrown in. He's a really fun exciting fighter but like the UFC in Brazil, it feels like he never found a way to bridge the old generation of champions with the next generation. Jason is your FS1 headliner and he faces Canadian grappler Jeremy Kennedy in a fight he should win and do so impressively.

9- Speaking of that TUF Brazil season, Francisco Trinaldo was a key piece to that season. A monstrous hulking middleweight, Trinaldo was built up as a big beast on the season----but he quit on his stool in the opening fight. Despite being a super muscular dude, Trinaldo has since dropped to 155 lbs. He started off pretty slow in the UFC, racking up a so-so 4-3 record vs chaffe but since then? Seven straight wins against reputable names like Ross Pearson, Paul Felder, Yancy Medeiros and Norman Parke. He'll face the very great Kevin Lee who is riding a streak of his own.

10- Joe Soto, good luck. If you beat Rani Yahya you'll be the biggest hero of all the times.

11- How could Beneil Darisuh beat Edson Barboza? Edson's such a great wrestler (really underrated) so unless Dariush can outbox him, which is possible, what's his immediate path to victory?

12- Alex Oliveira's career in the last six fights:

Super duper short notice fight vs Joe Merritt; like a fight in ten days.

Shmelted Piotr Hallmann in the third round of a 50K winning performance.

Short notice step up vs Donald Cerrone in a "Cowboy vs Cowboy" fight where he tapped like two minutes in.

Fight with James Moontasri where he hit him in the dick like three times.

Potential career defining win for Will Brooks where he showed up 6 lbs overweight and then taunted Brooks afterwards.

Illegal knee no contest vs Tim Means where Oliveira was basically wheeled out.

Dude loves the strange.

Must Wins:

Ray Borg

The 125 lb division needs a guy who can stand out. Ray Borg was on a hot streak as a wacky squirrely grappler with Mexican ties and a little bit of swag to him prior to weight issues and a loss to Justin Scoggins. He's got a massive chance to tip the apple cart at flyweight if he can beat Jussier Formiga. Again, EVERY LOSS FORMIGA HAS HAD HAS LED TO TITLE FIGHTS FOR THE WINNER! The weird thing is that if Borg's striking has tightened up in any capacity, his ability to scramble and his athletic upside suggests he absolutely positively could win this fight.

Kelvin Gastelum

This is a weird fight for Gastelum. Sort of kind of. Gastelum should beat Vitor Belfort---but you simply can't overlook that Gastelum's a slow starter fighting probably outside of his weight class in Brazil. It's not a perfect fit and there's no obvious path to victory. Is he strong enough to take Vitor down? Maybe possibly. Can he avoid a Vitor Blitz? Rafa Cordeiro's done some amazing work but Gastelum's head movement is never going to set the world on fire. Does he has to win impressively? Vitor's been finished in his last three losses and all within two rounds. Gastelum's in a tough spot but I don't think it's a big ask to suggest that an impressive win is really important to him.

Gian Villante

In some respects the "Shogun" Rua decline has been overstated. The division in general is old and at 35, Shogun's not THAT much older than say DC, Glover, Bader, Rumble or Jimi Manuwa. Shogun's 3-4 in his last seven fights but outside of that "the fuck?" loss to Chael Sonnen, the other guys were awful stylistic matchups for him. Villante is a kill or be killed low cardio slugger aka the sort of dude that Shogun should have a theoretical path to success against. Again IF Shogun wins, that's THREE wins in a row and you could legitimately start talking title picture. Yes, title picture.

Five Underlying Themes:

1- So is going/fighting in Brazil still a big thing? Will the crowd see it as a big thing?

2- The Shogun/Villante potential FOTY slopfest of all the times.

3- Whether the UFC can find SOMEBODY under the age of 32 to become a star or a face in Brazil as they move forward.

4- Whether Edson Barboza, a serious prodigy for so long, can finally turn the corner and stamp his arrival as a top 5 lightweight.

5- A REALLY deep undercard featuring some Brazilian veterans and one new middleweight who they expect to open some eyes.

Predicting (Bonus) Winners!

Current record: 16-19 (Missed on: Houston card, UFC 208, the Canada card. Went 4-7 on the last show I did, UFC on Fox)

Kelvin Gastelum Shogun Rua Edson Barboza Jussier Formiga Marion Reneau Tim Means Kevin Lee Sergio Moraes Rani Yahya Michel Prezares Rony Jason Paulo Henrique Costa

FOTN: Shogun Rua vs Gian Villante POTN: Edson Barboza, Kelvin Gastelum

#MMA #UFC #FIght Night #Shogun #Vitor Belfort #Kelvin Gastelum

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