Advertise on podcast: The MMA Vivisection Shows: 'Main Card Preview' & 'Prelims Card Preview'

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC 333 is a stark reminder of how great the UFC can be when they actually put effort into their cards. Thoughtful matchmaking and putting together bouts without them being absolute squash matches is what us old-timers were brought up on. This is a genuinely excellent event, but it also makes me feel cheated for what we get about 90-95% of the rest of t…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC Edmonton is almost as bad as last week’s card. Hell, maybe it is just as bad, but since there are two ranked fights and the bigges losing skid is three fights, I guess I should cut them some slack. The dearth of recognizable talent is indicative of where the UFC’s promotional ability is these days, which is to say barely existent. I do love the co-m…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC Vegas 122 is a miserable card. It’s filled with lateral movement, losing records and athletes that shouldn’t even be in the promotion. This is the truest form of Apex slop, and it’s shameful that this is the state of the promotion that commands billions. The single ranked fight isn’t even the best one on the card. What a miserable state this sport i…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC 332 is a card slapped together with what looks like zero regard for traditional numbered event standards. This one looks like it would be right at home in Salt Lake City, but billed as a Fight Night. Now I’m sure the action will find its way to our screens, but the bar is pretty low, to say the least. The main card is fairly fun and intriguing but t…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC Vegas 121 is exactly what you’d expect of an Apex card. Not much in the way of name value, ridiculous card order and some miserable stats. This is supposed to be a TUF finale card, so I understand the dearth of ranked talent, but once upon a time, TUF finales were well matched, thoughtful events that felt like impactful, important events. Those were…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC 331 is minimum effort card slapped together by the matchmakers. It does have three ranked fights but all ranked fights are not created equal. Joshua Van vs. Alexandre Pantoja sits atop the main card, our lone title bout. It should be a good, action-packed fight that will determine if Van has what it takes to hang on to his belt now that Pantoja has …

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com The UFC is in Glendale, Arizona this weekend with a pretty decent Fight Night event. “Fight Night”, you ask? Well, if a Noche event is not in Mexico, is it really a Noche event? I’ll leave you to ponder that one. The bouts, at least on the main card, are pretty dang good. Fiorot vs. Grasso and McMillen vs. Rahiki are certified fresh matchmaking, imho an…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com The UFC is in Paris this weekend with a card that has no ranked fights and just three ranked fighters. Considering the card is in the City of Light and the local government likely paid a small fortune in site fees, this is kind of nasty work by the promotion. I do like the debut of Parnasse being the main event, and there are some fun fights, but they s…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com The UFC is in China this weekend with a card that actually looks pretty good. There’s interesting matchmaking, fairly good stats, and some lightweight name power. Fans in China should thoroughly enjoy what the promotion is bringing to them on Saturday. Aorqileng vs. Kai Asakura is low key fire, in my humble opinion. Now, let’s take a look at all the fig…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com The UFC is in Sacramento this weekend with a card that’s light on ranked fights and fighters, but heavy on Contender Series alumni. The solo ranked contest is an interesting one, featuring Gregory Rodrigues taking on Anthony Hernandez, fresh off his loss to Sean Strickland. Hernandez ended up going out to Las Vegas to train with Strickland after that fi…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com The UFC is back on their home turf at the Meta Apex, so you know what that means—a whole lotta meaningless and/or bad match-ups. The main event is somewhat intriguing but nothing to write home about, and the co-main is a sad state of affairs. Aside from the main event, we have but one other ranked fight, a decent women’s booking between a rising star an…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com The UFC is once again surprising us with their location. This week, they’re in Belgrade, Serbia. And once again, we ponder why it wasn’t set for another location. But according to reports, a site fee was involved, so there you go. The card is a whole lotta WTF and very little substance, but as we’ve often seen with events like this, they can deliver a l…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com The UFC is surprisingly in Abu Dhabi this weekend. Given the situation in that region of the world, one would think that locale would be postponed, but not for this promotion. No siree, Bob! The event is chock full of fresh faces, as well as some old-timers, and of course, we get the prerequisite duo of heavyweight bouts for the lovers of girth and jigg…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com The UFC is in Oklahoma City this weekend, and the official hashtag for the event was #UFCOCK, initially. It took the social media crew at the premier MMA organization a couple hours to get their hilarious blunder managed, but they got the job done. It isn’t the best looking card, especially for an on-the-road event. That said, it’s not the worst one we’…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com The UFC is on home turf in Las Vegas this weekend for their 329th numbered event. The T-Mobile Arena is host to the Conor McGregor-Max Holloway main event and the very good card that supports it. The matchmakers definitely put some effort into the main card, for sure. The co-main event is such a banger—all of them are, really—but the violent delights th…