Anthony Smith has some good momentum. I think Volkan's stock got radically overvalued after two big kayos, especially given that he looked quite poor previously against OSP. If he beats Smith in definitive fashion it could signal he still has a chance to claim the title after Jones, Gus, and DC are all retired, old, or move to heavyweight permanently. By contrast, a loss or laborious win would validate the perception that he was overhyped. The co-main between Michael Johnson and Artem is also solid. Artem is obviously a living meme, but I really want to see this in the hopes that Johnson continues his rebounded. His trash-talk is obviously pure cringe, but he has shown he'll fight ANYONE. A win here would be a good setup for a fight with Cub Swanson imho.
I think the overrated Smith is getting knocked out early, he's not in with a washed up fighter for once. As far as Johnson/Lobov goes.... Johnson should win easily but he's better suited for LW - Not a fan of these desperate weight drops after a few rough losses. Embrace a role at the division you're best at or retire. Lobov is tough if nothing else so expecting him to hang tough for a while but he probably gets stopped here.
You don't really get momentum with wins over completely shot opponents, just maybe some false confidence. Beating Shogun and Rashad would've been a major deal 7-8 years ago but it doesn't much at all now. Volkan was a hypejob but he should get the job done here.
It does translate into momentum when a division is as barren as 205lbs. these days. The only two quality fighters are Jones, who might not even pass his next round of PED tests after a 1+ year layoff and Gus, who hasn't fought in even longer than Jones. Other than that, 205 is BLEAK. Shot to **** Glover, Corey Anderson, and Latifi are a miserable top five. I agree that Smith's momentum is basically fake, but he's stopping guys, which virtually no one is doing these days. I would favor Bader to easily wipe up everyone except Jones, and Phil Davis probably would too.
Rashad and Shogun aren't top 15 caliber guys anymore, esp Rashad who probably isn't top 30-40. Smith doesn't deserve much credit for stopping them. I just don't see Smith as a legit contender, even in a really poor division.
False momentum or not, there's an extremely good chance Smith's current run comes to a crashing halt inside the first round against Volkan.
Pray for Smithy after Volkan irons him out. Then UFC will slow things down with Smith again and probably match him with Little Nog in the not too distant future.
Fairplay for getting the prediction right. I still don't think Smith is very good nor a serious title threat.
I forgot OSP just fought. Did you catch the fight with Reyes? If so, can you give me the Sparksnotes? I was busy that night and only caught the Ferguson fight and then Khabib Conor. Smith vs Blachowicz would be good. Both guys are on the upswing.
Completely one sided fight in which Reyes almost stopped OSP late. Arguably a TKO at the bell in the 3rd. Think I scored it 30-26 for Reyes.
