The Doctor's Stoppage MMA Blog

 Normally my weekly UFC round up post is in regards to the event that we just saw, but I don't really think that was necessary for this week. The event wasn't particularly interesting and a lot of people didn't even watch it, so me putting forth the effort to dissect it just isn't really there. Instead, I want to briefly touch on a few topics floating around the MMA world for the last week or so. First, I have to give props to Serghei Spivac for collecting the biggest win of his career. It is becoming evident that Derrick Lewis isn't the guy he once was, but that's a win that still carries some weight to me. Spivac did exactly what he needed and was able to avoid the big right hand that a lot of people, including myself, thought would be his undoing. He was able to ground the fight and submit Lewis pretty quickly. Spivac has himself set up pretty nicely for a big opportunity going forward. Also, shoutout to Devin Clark on a big win. Clark is a guy that is hard t...

 We're a few cards into the UFC calendar year now and we're likely getting a contender for the worst card of the year, at least on paper. Of course, we could end up getting some fun fights and maybe it will be a fine night, but it doesn't seem likely. Having the card start so late is nice for the Asian audience who has to watch every other card at a horrible hour, but I wish it was a better event. The one card they've gotten in years at a normal time and it's probably a contender for one of the worst events the UFC has had since they came back from the pandemic. At the same time, there's very little incentive for the average fan to want to stay awake late enough to actually watch this event. If you're someone like me, then you enjoy the projection and scouting process of new fighters who you don't know much about, but that only goes so far when the card is going to be ending at 3 or 4 in the morning. On the positive side, the Bellator card earlier on Sat...

 The UFC's first ever quadrilogy is now in the books and I would say that, as a whole, it delivered. It would have been unfortunate for the first one to have fallen short. While the ending was more anticlimactic than you would want in an ideal world, it was clear the way that fight was going. Moreno winning was probably the better thing for the promotion as well since he has a longer future at flyweight ahead of him. Regardless, this rivalry between Brandon Moreno and Deiveson Figueiredo has left the division in a much better place than they found it. There won't be any talk of folding the division for quite awhile now and that is a good thing. Brandon Moreno looks poised to hold onto this belt for awhile, especially if he can get past his next defense or two. Let's just get into it. This final chapter gave us the clearest picture of these two fighters in my opinion. Brandon Moreno has shown himself to just be the better flyweight at this juncture. The weight cut and age ha...

 UFC 283 really lived up to the hype and it was in large part due to the championship fights that capped off the night. The main event was kind of thrown together at the last second, but it was a fight that I was especially looking forward to. If you've been here awhile, it's not secret that I've been a Jamahal Hill fan (despite picking against him too often). While that took a hit due to his recent comments, I still feel good for the guy. He's been through a lot and has had a long road to this point. Seeing someone realize their potential and achieve their dream will always make me feel good, regardless of their opinions on other things. Unfortunately, that means Glover Teixeira had to lose, which no one wanted to see. Glover had taken on the role of MMA's favorite grandfather and we all knew it was coming eventually, but no one wanted to see him go. I'll get into it more, but I'm glad Glover got to go out on his own terms, even if it wasn't his best ni...

 The time for the first UFC pay per view of the year is upon us. We're coming off of a good first UFC card of 2023 and hopefully taking that momentum and building on it. Being in front of a crowd, especially a Brazilian crowd for the first time in a few years, should only help. We have two really great fights to end the night and the rest of the action should end up being pretty solid too in my opinion. I'm excited to get into this one, so let's not waste any time. Just to be clear,  my picks will be in the bolded font , and  the real results will be listed next to it in italics  after the fight is official. Official bets will be at the bottom. Bets are now being officially tracked at  BetMMA  as well. Daniel Marcos defeats Saimon Oliveira          Result: Marcos by KO (1-0)          A bit of a strange fight to start the night as I'm not entirely sure what I should make of either of these guys. Neither guy h...

 The first UFC event from 2023 is in the books and, all things considered, it was a pretty good Fight Night. Unfortunately, it got overshadowed by a lot of general MMA news. We now know that Jon Jones vs Ciryl Gane is scheduled to be the main event of UFC 285 on March 4. Part of me wants to be excited for it, but the other part of me will kind of believe it when I see it. The other part of that fight is that it's for the undisputed heavyweight title, meaning that Francis Ngannou is no longer holding the belt and is officially set to move on from the UFC. People are coming in with a lot of hot takes about who is right and wrong or who won and lost and I don't really think that's necessary, especially now. It's really impossible to say until we see what Francis does and where this decision leads him and the UFC's heavyweight division. I'm also not sure there needs to be a winner and loser. While someone may have "more success" (and that depends on how yo...