Contender Series 2022: Week 7

The official Tapology discussion thread for the event!

This is the first time I’ve ever seen people acting like Antigulov is some world beater lol. He had a horrible run in the UFC and Petrino beat an even older version of him, you can’t really put to much stock into that win. 

* Edited at 09.05.2022, 4:17 PM ET *

he went 2-4 in the ufc, all stoppage losses. and gassed in every fight

Damn this is the Brazilian LFA alum showcase isn't it? The Bonfim brothers are probably the rare oddity of two brothers actually both being good. That being said, Ismael might actually lose b/c his opponent has beaten some good dudes. Gabriel is probably better tho, so that is why they are giving him Ismael the better opponent to see if he can actually beat someone really real. I think most of these winners, if not all, should have a decent career in the UFC.

Nariman is a brawler. It’s kind of shocking the amount of people he’s beaten imo 

Ismael having losses to prime Moicano and Adriano Moraes is like basically not having any losses compared to other people at DWCS level of competition.

Wait, Ismael faced Adriano Morales at 14 years old?

-this is a rematch, vitor knocked out bellato the first time in embarrassing fashion

-bellato has had 3 fights since then (pro 5-0 coming in) (pro 8W-1L)

-vitor has had 5 fights since then (pro 0-0 coming in) (pro 6W-0L, amateur 3W-1L)

-vitors last opponent antigulov is arguably tougher than bellato's last 2 combined

-bellato (pro 8W-1L, 3 finish in a row) 1 unlisted kickboxing W against ronilson santos (can)

-6'2" height 77" reach 

-100% finish rate 8/9 finish wins 4/9 KO/TKO 4/9 Submission rates

-bellato 25 minutes of cage time

-bellato opponents records 23-22

-bellato looks like the smaller light heavy weight

-first 6 bellato fights fighting less experienced fighters on average

-bellato gets knocked out by 3-1 amateur vitor 


-bellato burned thru favorites marcos wreck it ralph, carlos eduardo and vieira, the bum burners, made them look like cans, they had arguably the same amount or more experience than bellato

-bellato has good ground game

-bellato good progression in his grappling, BJJ, submission strength

-bellato since being knocked out improved his stand up guard but still leaves his chin out

-bellato training partner with minotauro nogueira who beat randy couture and rafael cavalcante who beat yoel romero 

-long before vitor ko bellato (missing tattoos), bellato fight ronilson santos in kickbox (not listed tapology) 
-bellato win, and ronilson santos also lost to 3-0 volkan oezdemir
-this is bellato only link to the ufc (this was added as a meme)

-vitor (3W-1L amateur record) (6W-0L pro record)

-3/4 amateur KO/TKO rate, 5/6 pro KO/TKO rate 1/6 decision victory rate

-6'0" 76" reach

-looks like the bigger light heavyweight 

-vitor opponents records 26-31

-vitor 32 minutes pro fight time + 15 minutes amateur fight time

-vitor dominant decision victory against ewerton hulk, vitor lost a point for grabbing cage and still won
-vitor sets the pace in stand-up then cage control for first 2 rounds
-ewerton picks up the pace in round 3 and controls vitor for half a round, vitor ends fight on his back

-vitor gassed in the third round against hulk

-vitor has fought cans (1-17, 0-6) and crushed them

-vitor then knocked out 4 more people in a row, including antigulov

-vitor gassing in the 2nd round against antigulov, 

-vitor good stand-up striking, good defense

-vitor good takedown offense, ok defense 

-vitor ok on the ground

-vitor threatens knockout power standing in his range and ground & pound lunches

-vitor vs antigulov

-antigulov consecutively lost by finish 4 times in ufc bouts, named against Ion Cutelaba, Michal Oleksiejczuk, Paul Craig,  Maxim Grishin, unlucky I guess

-antigulov 2 ufc wins, total 16 minutes in ufc

-antigulov fights like a 40 year old, but still managed to rock & sock with petrino

-vitor doesnt look AMAZING here, but he looks comfortable and respectful with antigulov as they engage in striking and wrestling at this constant dagestani-level pace set by antigulov

-this was a good test to get petrino warmed up for the ufc

-they nearly take each other's heads off, vitor mostly having fun brawling with antigulov, antigulov is chinnier

-vitor gets pieced up a bit and taken down by antigulov once or twice in their ~9 minute fight

-antigulov cant keep vitor down throughout the fight, but keeps him down for a minute or two

-vitor stuffs a few of antigulovs takedowns, ok takedown defense

-vitor earns a knockdown and it rains ground and pound, but antigulov defends it

-vitor was in nearly full control of the fight when antigulov kneed him in the nuts

-vitor still showing signs of gas limit

-they both hit each other enough in the stand up striking to cause damage to each other, antigulov's chin gives out first

-vitor KO antigulov with vicious uppercut followed by ground and pound

-antigulov is back to fighting cans

i take petrino as more ufc-ready

bellato is still flawed enough to get cracked in standing range and/or taken down or controlled on the ground

vitor strength in wrestling give him the edge in octagon control and striking exchanges

that being said bellato is live for a sub if petrino gasses in the third round and gives up his back 

vitor ground and pound his way into a ref stoppage or knock him out standing up again

what he did against antigulov i expect to be easier against bellato, bellato not strong wrestling like antigulov, perhaps even chinnier than him, definitely not a better striker than antigulov or as tough

Vitor by KO/TKO, round 1

Williams vs. Lawson
Jimmy Lawson, TKO, R1
'm!

Yeah Vitor has a lot of power and the tools to KO Bellato at anytime (he already did it once), there’s no denying that, I just think Bellato and Team Nogueira have made the necessary changes. I just hope Bellato chooses to start grappling early because like others were alluding to he is very stationary and is there to be hit, if he can make it a grappling match in round one I feel like he’ll take away a lot of Vitor’s tools in the process. 

* Edited at 09.05.2022, 4:55 PM ET *

Williams vs. Lawson
Jimmy Lawson
Loop

Please look at Jimmy Lawsons Tapology pic and then go to Said Sowmas profile

LMAO ***??

Looks like for Titan FC 54 they weighed in on a boat probably some sponsor.

Shaheen Santana weighing in on the same boat for the same card. https://www.instagram.com/p/BwsNGGdFN6T/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

* Edited at 09.05.2022, 9:46 PM ET *

Bellato vs. Petrino
Rodolfo Bellato, SUB, R1
Bellato will revenge his first loss

Bonfim vs. Waters
Gabriel Bonfim, TKO, R2
Bonfim is better overall and will destroy Waters

Williams vs. Lawson
Jimmy Lawson, TKO, R1
Another easy prediction, Lawson will demolish Williams

Bonfim vs. Abbasov
Ismael Bonfim, DEC
Close fight, Abbasov should eat the big shots and survive all three

Bledá vs. Maia
Tereza Bledá, TKO, R2
Ground and pound TKO here

Bellato vs. Petrino
Rodolfo Bellato, SUB, R2
How are most of you picking Petrino? His wins are against cans and a former fighter from the UFC that SUCKED. Bellato will grapple him and get a late second round sub.

Yes because that obviously worked so well for Bellato last time when he threw a naked leg kick in punching rage and ended up face first in canvas 🤣

* Edited at 09.05.2022, 10:34 PM ET *

Bellato has drastically changed since then. 4-0 since the loss.

Abbasov/Bonfim is an absolute banger for a Contender series fight. 

Bleda vs Maia anyy comments? why Bleda is such a huge fav?