SMARTZ usually has good reads on fights but got reverse swept. He had some major misreads on the fighters he backed. For instance Stipe fought DC in the last 2 defenses who was a shell of himself. Stipe is also 38 and his reflexes are close to shot and his chin is now suspect. Francis Ngannou had also been working constantly with grapplers and wrestlers. He's a smart guy who has now figured it out. He could be champion for a long time.
Did you watch these fights? The trilogy was incredibly competitive. Feel free to find me any article where the authors felt DC looked outmatched and terrible.
By that logic 38yr old Derek Brunson and 38yr old Jan Blachowicz had no business cashing in weeks prior vs young up and comers.
Suspect chin? Part of my writeup was the risk you take betting against Ngannou is he has an eraser. No suspect chin, he just got hit by a tank.
And lastly, every striker in the promotion works with wrestlers and grapplers and vice versa. It's mixed martial arts, specialists of other disciplines are flown in every camp. Just because you train with people of other disciplines, doesn't mean you manufacture results. If you used that info as an edge, every single fighter would be worthy of a bet.
Admittedly, I was on the wrong side. Ngannou handled his cardio and Stipe's grappling far better than I expected. I knew I was in trouble after watching Francis stuff and reverse Stipe's first shot.
Gillian Robertson had a poor gameplan. Sometimes these fighters aren't the smartest tools in the shed. Then Tyron Woodley showed he's done! He's lost 4 straight fights against top level fighters but what is really concerning is he's lost 16 straight rounds. Not even one of those 16 rounds has been close. His reflexes & chin at 38 are a mere shell of what they were at 32, 33 or 34 years old. When your done in this sport your "dog meat". I expect the UFC to cut him within the next month. The only reason he keeps fighting is for a paycheck. At this point he has "Bellator Fighter" written on his forehead.
Gillian was the wrong side. Her gameplan was poor but she didn't seem to have any significant edge on the mat either. Which was what I was banking on.
I thought Woodley looked outstanding. If I knew he would approach the fight that aggressively I would've risked 3u no doubt. I don't know how you can say it wasn't close. He rocked Luque bad, got too excited, rushed in for the kill and got clipped himself. Just like Gilbert Burns did vs Kamaru. Shit happens. Luque's takedown defense looked very much improved.