The vast majority of eye pokes are completely preventable though. If fighters were penalized more often for it they would be forced to change the way they fight. Eye pokes are also tremendously dangerous, and it's a shame for the fighters' health that they are allowed so often without repercussion.

I'd love to see a statistical breakdown of eye pokes but my guess is that you'd find certain fighters break this rule far more often than others and some long term fighters have never eye poked anyone in the UFC. On that note, I suppose serial offenders could just start receiving lengthy suspensions.

Hey guys, it's come to my attention that there is a fighter named Usman Nurmagomedov and he is undefeated. That is all.

Usman Nurmagomedov doesn't shower, he only takes blood baths.

One thing that might be forgotten was Usman was clearly bothered by a kick to the body, just before the head kick. I think the consensus from the booth was that it was above or at the belt line.

There was a lighter kick to the nuts earlier, and Usman did not want to give Edwards any breaks, he kept fighting.

Next thing you know he’s no longer pressuring and instead he gets KO’d.

They booked it. Delighted for the local boy and a massive win for UK MMA.

Glad I cashed out a big bet (for me) on Usman. Can't lay that much chalk on a competitive fight between two top guys; anything can happen.

Sup guys, I thought I'd re-open some discussion on MMA.

I have been tailing Cody Saftic's picks for the past couple of years. He was hot and reliable in 2020, but as of the past few months he has been pretty cold getting his top ticket (most reliable) picks wrong. Just wondering if there is a more reliable source to tail out there? I think Ian Parker on UFC Best Bets on ESPN is pretty good as well though.

On a related topic to MMA, is anyone following the Jake Paul vs Silva boxing match? Odds are showing Paul as a slight favorite. That doesn't seem to make sense to me as I'd think Silva would be a decent favorite there. Silva is an MMA guy, but his main skill set is striking so he'd be much more skilled than Woodley with his hands. Also, he has fought at 205, so he'd be a better size matchup as well. Any thoughts on this?

I'm not exactly sure where the Anderson Silva vs Jake Paul line should be. After seeing Anderson beat Julio Caesar Chavez Jr I figured Anderson would be a clear favorite. As this fight has gotten closer, my opinion has shifted to Anderson as a slight favorite. However, I don't think Jake Paul as a slight favorite is that unrealistic either.

Jake Paul is the younger more driven fighter and he's receiving the best training you can get. I'm sure they have spotted holes in Anderson's game or they wouldn't have taken this fight. Anderson is more naturally gifted and experienced but he's 47 years old. All outcomes are possible in this one. Anderson could knock Jake out, and Jake could knock Anderson out, especially if Anderson drops his hands as he does when he's feeling himself. Either could score a decision.

It's a completely different scenario than the Woodley fight where Woodley's only realistic path to victory was via KO (which really wasn't all that likely). Anderson's a way tougher opponent but the line on the Woodley fight should have been much wider. Don't even get me started on the Ben Askren line as that was one of the most out of wack lines in combat sports history.

If you want to bet on an MMA fighter vs Jake Paul then this is the one to do it (Belfort vs Paul would be another). Regardless of the outcome, Anderson is a very live opponent. Betting against Paul in his last few fights was just MMA fans throwing their money down the drain just as they did betting McGregor vs Mayweather.

I'm probably total noise here, but I'll say something anyway. My instinct was to bet Paul just because Silva is so old and he has to cut weight, but the Caesar Chavez Jr fight really shook my conviction. However, I saw that Oscar De La Hoya said that his money was on Paul because Caesar Chavez Jr was "10%" of himself in that fight. I don't know what the hell Oscar is talking about because I don't follow this stuff, but if Caesar Chavez Jr was injured or sick or something for that fight, then I think that's pretty meaningful. All that being said, I'm taking out a home-equity line of credit and putting it on Paul.

I saw that from De la Hoya too and I definitely took what he said very seriously considering he is a legend of the sport. Then I remembered how he's always coked up saying stupid ****, so I don't really know what to think.

Jake Paul's also the A side, even against Anderson

If there is a fix, and it is WAY more common on boxing than MMA, the fix will always be in Paul's favour

Idk if Anderson would take a dive, i'm a huge Anderson fan and he wouldn't have in his prime but he might take 5 million to take a dive or something here as a last big payday and justify it to himself as he can do a lot of good with that money etc. He did do steroids in the UFC, likely including during his run at the top which is a form of cheating, so it certainly leaves open the possibility he'd take a dive for money (which I think there's a reasonable chance any of Jake Paul's opponents may have done too)

Of course if the fight is legit, Anderson is 47 too. I'd lean towards Anderson being the small fav anyway if it's legit because he is an infinitely better striker than anyone Paul has faced even as washed as he is but if Paul's previous opponents didn't throw the fights he isn't that bad and does have power so he's very live to win legitimately too as well as via fix if it's not a legit fight.

If Jake Paul is fighting I will 100% be betting on Jake Paul if I take a side though because betting against the A-side in boxing that is more likely than usual to not be legit is not a smart move - if there was a 100% guarantee the fight was legit I would probably take Anderson though but I legitimately put fix in at a double digit percentage as with all Jake Paul fights

Boxing is a dumb sport though so whatever prob not gonna touch it

That's a ridiculous post that comes across as a typical sore loser MMA fan that can't wrap his head around the fact that this YouTube kid can beat his MMA heroes' asses in a boxing ring. The thought that the Askren or Woodley matches were fixes makes absolutely no sense considering how overmatched those two were going into their respective matches against Paul.

I can't imagine Anderson risking a felony to fix a fight. How does the economics of that even work?

I'm of the opinion that Jake Paul will be similarly marketable whether he wins or loses. Hell, Logan Paul went 0-1-1 and then got a match vs Floyd. There is little monetary value in becoming a boxing world champion for Paul. If he were to lose a match that would likely open the door to even more matches, potentially against bigger name celebrities that wouldn't necessarily be willing to get in there with a world beater.

If Anderson Silva hadn't beat a former world champion, then Jake Paul would be the favorite in this match for a lot of reasons.

• Anderson Silva is 47 years old

• In the last 10 years, Anderson went 2-7 in MMA (technically 1-7-1), albeit vs top flight competition

• In Anderson's last MMA fight, Uriah Hall dropped him with a not-that-powerful punch and then finished him.

• Boxing has never been Anderson's primary discipline and it's not like he was just outboxing people left and right in the UFC (see Weidman #1, Uriah Hall). Boxing was at best Anderson's 4th discipline. If one were to rank his proficiency's in the various disciplines while in MMA it would probably be 1) Muay Thai, 2) BJJ, 3) Tae-Kwondo, 4) Boxing 5) Capoeira

Of course we saw Anderson beat Julio Cesar Chavez jr and that match should be very relevant, but Oscar De La Hoya says it isn't . He says Chavez was not even 20% of himself in that fight. De La Hoya is predicting that jake Paul will knock him out, and that's not that crazy of a prediction.

Of course, Anderson does bring size and length that Jake Paul hasn't had to deal with in the ring. Of course he's dealt with it in training though and was well aware of what he was getting into when he took this match. On the flip side, if Jake loses this match, the Jake Paul train doesn't suddenly come to a screeching halt. Far from it. I think they are willing to take a tough match like this in part because Jake Paul will still be a highly marketable boxer whether he wins or loses.

This is a good question. Or maybe it isn't, but I don't know the answer to it. You can't just send someone $5m without financial authorities investigating. Maybe the Paul team hires Anderson as a consultant or something ridiculous for his next couple fights, but no way in hell they could get away with paying him several times over what he earned as a purse in their fight. Maybe making a donation to some charity that Anderson runs is the least suspicious way to do it (the Clinton way, if you will), but it's still super fishy.

Looking forward to waking up and catching some UFC tomorrow! Got my bets in and they are mainly around Ian Parker's bets on ESPN best bets. I'll probably do some live betting as I watch as well. I don't have anything I'm super confident or sure of, so I just bet around what Ian picked. I've lost a bit of confidence in Cody Saftic's picks for awhile now.

Yan by decision
Rosa by decision
Brady/Mohammed over 2.5 rounds

I went Sterling/Dillashaw over 2.5 rounds, but that was my own bet. I'll be cheering for Charles and Aljo tomorrow, but no cash on them at the moment.

I'm not saying it's a favourite to be fixed by any means i'm just saying boxing does fix some fights and yes, if Paul's fights have been legit, of course he is live because Anderson is 47 etc but to outright dismiss the possibility of shenanigans is foolish as well since when Jake Paul loses, the amount of money he can make in future fights does go down. Look at Conor right now, sure he's still a big draw but he lost his last couple rivalries and he's a long way from the draw he was when he was knocking out Aldo and Alvarez etc

There are a ton of ways to get Anderson the money if they wanted to fix it. I don't think that's a favourite to happen by any means and I even bet on Jake Paul against Woodley and Askren Offshore bank accounts or crypto being two of the main ones, ton of others, i'm not a 'sore loser MMA fan' if anything i'm saying it's a reason to bet the Paul side, either he's legitimately quite decent or IF the fight is fixed (even 5% of the time affects the odds substantially), it will be fixed in Paul's favour.

Stuff I like today and am already on

Rosa, Gamrot - i've been a big Dariush backer but Gamrot was insanely impressive against Arman and I think Dariush's chin is still an issue and he may need to get a finish to win too

Stuff I might bet

Borralho, Oliveira, O'Malley (O'Malley is probably a dog but not sure he's that much of a dog as I do think people overrate Yan slightly even though he's legit) - Oliveira I think is fairly live, I got on small at +170 at one book but if it becomes available at a book I can get more down at maybe.

I'd take the Dillashaw of a couple years ago against Aljo (and I had Aljo both times vs Yan) but not sure about current version of him so sitting it out and gonna enjoy it as a fan.

Considered Krylov too but turns out he's a dickhead and I want to see him lose and it's slightly too vigged now anyway

Took a bit of a pounding on my bets today I hope I do better with NFL tomorrow.

Did the Oliveiara go under or over 1/2 rounds ? my book hasn't graded the bet yet and the only info i can find online is the finish and the round (round2) but i cant find the exact time of the finish ?

NVM just got graded

McGregor is not a good example to make your point whatsoever. McGregor has just 1 win in the last 5 years, and yet his last 2 PPVs each did over 1.5 million PPV buys (which is more than he did vs Alvarez or Aldo).

These guys draw casual fans who don't care much about win/loss record or the legitimacy of the sport. Social media is what sells their fights. McGregor has 46 million IG followers. If he decides he wants to fight, his next fight will outdraw any UFC ppv this year. Jake Paul has 21 million IG followers. Win or lose, there are many people that want to see him box. If he were to lose to Anderson it could actually open up the potential for matches vs some really big draws who wouldn't even consider boxing him if he proves to be a dominant boxing machine.

The vast majority of people that bring up Jake Paul matches being fixed bring it up because Jake Paul beat a couple UFC guys and for some reason dipshit MMA fans can't wrap their heads around the fact that a YouTube kid can be a much better boxer than a couple UFC greats.

No, it's because there is a shitload of corruption in boxing

Of course Paul could have beaten them legitimately too, Woodley is washed and Askren isn't a striker

Obviously they need to tailor fights towards Paul winning or the money train stops. Whether that's through 'only fight guys who are too old/bad strikers' or actual corruption isn't really provable one way or the other

My point is that if I were to bet the fight I would be betting on Paul because it is in everyone involved in promoting the fight's financial interests that he wins. Now that may be worth 0% beyond whatever his legitimate win percentage is if the fight is legit, or he could be 100% to win but even if it is only fixed in his favour 6% of the time or whatever, that has to be priced into the 'correct' market price.

Saying things like "Woodley is washed" tells me you are indeed a disgruntled MMA fan. Jake Paul would wipe the floor with a prime Woodley in a boxing match. It's not even close and to think otherwise is totally asinine. And lol @ "Askren isn't a striker." That's like the understatement of the year. Askren is one of the (if not the) worst strikers in UFC history. Maybe his former teammate CM Punk (worst UFC fighter of all time) is worse. Not sure. Maybe that's the boxing match that needs to happen.

Isn't provable?!? What?! It's super provable. Jake Paul boxed a basketball player, then he boxed quite probably the worst striker in UFC history, then he boxed Tyron "career high 61 significant strikes landed in a 25 minute UFC match" Woodley not once but twice, and now he is boxing a 47 year old. It's very obvious what has been going on.

"Don't judge someone by their wins. Judge them by their losses. It's people like Anthony Joshua who lose but come back every single time, and come back with heart. The world can only beat you up if you let it. The world can only put you down if you let it, and I don't think I can lose anything in life. I've already won."

- Jake Paul on October 26th, 2022

Market went insane for Jake Paul today so got on him while I still could at like -169 he's something like -210 or whatever now at most books

Idk if it's the Anderson got ko'd in training rumours or a fix or just Anderson carrying an injury or whatever but markets with the A side so I am too

Either going to be easy money or i'll look like an idiot either way lol should be fun

I'm impressed by Jake Paul's improvement in boxing and he's young and been doing this for a few years now. If it's legit he's live because Anderson is 47, if it's not legit, i'm on the correct side of the fix if it is.

It's because Anderson said:

“And the last sparring with [my sparring partner], he is knocked me out two times, and when I finish my training, I talked to my coach and even said, ‘Coach, let me tell you something, why the guys knock me out two times?’ And the coach said, ‘You need to prepare for war, and you prepare for war.’"

His coach denied that he was knocked out.

Anderson then clarified his statement (although, who knows where the truth lies):

“One, I was NEVER knocked out in sparring. I misspoke in that interview as I sometimes do when interviewing in English and exaggerated the normal back-and-forth action that occurs in sparring."

“Second, this sparring session I referenced was in early September. The interview with MMA Weekly was done on Sept. 13 and, for some reason, just released this week. So, it wasn’t recent.”


Glad to see you on the right side of the nonexistent fix which makes very little logical sense considering Jake Paul is already set for life, doesn't need boxing in any shape form or fashion in order to make loads of money going forward, and even within boxing can make crap loads of money whether he wins or loses this match. He's a celebrity boxer who will sell matches whether he wins or loses, not some young boxer desperate for a big pay day and in need of an unblemished record in order to rise up the ranks.

Jake and Anderson have been all lovey dovey throughout this entire process. Anderson has now flipped the switch though. He's a bit scary, tbh. If Jake doesn't catch him, I think he might be in some real trouble. All indications are that Anderson has taken this match extremely seriously. Regardless, Jake Paul as a two and half to one favorite doesn't make sense.