UFC 290 Predictions - Updated with Post-Fight Thoughts

Let's hop right into my predictions for the main card.

Dan Hooker vs Jalin Turner

Full disclosure, I've only ever seen Jalin Turner lose a decision against Mateusz Gamrot. But I have indeed seen Dan Hooker get his ass beat multiple times (AND I've seen him beat ass as well). Dan Hooker has the experience edge. I'm leaning towards Dan by stoppage or Unanimous decision.

Post-Fight reflection: Yeah, I was on the money with this one. Turner is a former champion and is definitely a damn good lightweight, but Dan Hooker isn't just any other lightweight. 

Alexandre Pantoja vs Brandon Moreno

That flyweight belt isn't real since Henry Cejudo vacated it. Further, this division has some of the fastest paced, yet boring and inconsequential fights. And that's coming from someone who fell in love with Mma off watching Demetrius Johnson tear through ONE FC.

I don't care but I hope Pantoja wins. We all know he won't.

Post-Fight reflection: Well, I guess I was wrong. I really dislike the UFC's flyweight division and the fact that only four dudes have ran through everyone else at that weight, with two of them leaving the division in their primes. Flyweight fights are always fast as hell on the feet and chaotic on the ground. There just doesn't seem to be enough people in the UFC's flyweight division for that to shine. No one with that 125 belt is the real champion until Demetrius Johnson retires and Cejudo drops back down and loses. 

Yair Rodriguez vs. Alexander Volkanowski

 

Yair is another one of those motherfuckers that fights like an Octopus. Volk is a short wrestler who has to close the distance to hit someone. He's not an unsolvable puzzle. And Yair throws strikes I've never seen before. He knocked out Zombie with a fucking weird ass upwards elbow. 

I can definitely see him head kicking Volk as he shoots for a takedown or tries to run out of range. 

However, Volk is heavy. And when I was watching tape I saw Frankie Edgar beat the flying goddamn fuck out of Yair by laying on him and hitting him. 

I'm leaning towards either a second round KO for Yair or a five-round beating that leads to a unanimous decision for Volk. 

Whatever happens, I won't watch another featherweight fight until Topuria gets a title shot.

Post-Fight reflection: I don't know. Volk is a tiny grappler who has to come down the center line to close the distance. A well-placed headkick or uppercut down the middle should at least drop him. Yet, Yair kept throwing side headkicks and switch kicks and kicks everywhere but down the centerline. And Volk checked all of them. Now, I'm no high-level mixed martial artist or Mma coach but it sounded like Yair's corner were telling him to do the same thing. But I'm pretty sure the fight ending sequence was initiated by Volk catching a kick up the middle, so what do I know? 

Editors Note: It was a leg-kick not a high-kick. 

Robert Whittaker vs. Dricus Du Plessis 

Whittaker is indeed old. However, I haven't seen anything to lead me to believe that Dricus is some next level middleweight. And I've watched all of his fights since last year. Dricus is a former champion in a different promotion and he's been fighting professionally for a deceptively long time so I'll give him that edge. He's probably had a game plan for Whitaker for a very long time. 

But this is Robert Whittaker. Can Dricus execute? I doubt it. 

Split Decision for Dricus. 

Post-Fight reflection: I'm not surprised. I didn't think he'd TKO Robert in the second round, but I knew anyone saying Dricus would get finished immediately was dead-ass wrong. I definitely thought it would be a drawn out stand-up war and Dricus would win on points. I think a lot of people were discounting that Robert has been fighting for ten years, and never even defended his belt. Whereas Dricus has been fighting for the same amount of time and did defend his belt (albeit in another promotion). He never was going to get walked down or not put up a fight. He said post-fight that he had indeed been watching Whittaker for years, and that he had been training with karate practitioners during camp. 

What I'm saying is that I was 10,000% right to assume that Dricus already had a game plan for taking out Whittaker. And goddamit, he executed.

Now I can say that he is next-level. 

I Told Y'all That Charles Oliveria Was on Another Level

Let's be 10,000% honest with ourselves. We all knew that this fight was going to end this way. I feel really, really sorry for Beniel because he spent the last decade of his life climbing the ranks of a version of the lightweight division that doesn't exist anymore. It's even more upsetting that the dude was optimistic enough to say he's willing to fight for the belt at 38. That shit is probably not happening. He probably won't be able to compete for much longer. He's chinny and he's old, and he's reached the level of competition where those things definitely matter and they will definitely get you fucking knocked out. It happened to Tony Ferguson. Dana White Privilege unfortunately exists. 

And he was going up against the fucking Octopus from the Bronx. As cringe-worthy as it may souond, watching Charles use all eight points of contact (fists, elbows, knees, and feet) in his fights is what made my ass start pursuing Muay Thai. That motherfucker hits you with every part of his body that he can. Look at how he finished Beniel. He fucking kicked him in the side of his head and then dove in for the finish immediately. It was not fun to watch that happen to Beniel. Given, that's bound to happen to any human being that fights Charles Oliveira, but it's always fucking scary to see how quickly he finishes people. He lets his hands go and lets them go and lets them go until whoever he is fighting is absolutely bloodied or disorientated or both. Once he was on the canvas and Charles was on top of him, Beniel looked like a terrified deer in headlights trying to defend himself. And he was only on the ground for five seconds max.

Credit to Gorilla Pen Combat for this cage-side footage...

Charles is scarily good and still in my mind the baddest motherfucker on the planet. I don't care who he loses to. Beneil Dariush stood absolutely no chance and it honestly felt like this was a lopsided fight to quickly get him out of the title picture.

Early June Reading Roundup

Guess who hasn't stopped reading? Anyways, let's go ahead and hop into some of the information I've picked up from my reading in the past few weeks starting with -

No More Mr. Nice Guy

I started reading this book again a few months back because my initial notes on it were not the best. Regardless, I just finished part of the book that emphasizes how Nice Guys (if this terminology confuses or upsets you, please pick up the book) often operate from a place of powerlessness and shame, refusing to do anything different. The big idea of this part of the book is to embrace life as it is, problems, chaos, conflict, and all. The book says that no matter how much we try to project, bottle up our emotions, act immorally, or refuse to set boundaries, we cannot stop life from being what it is. Life is worth fighting for, and not fighting for it is like trying to grab water.

I'd elaborate a little more on how those things can be done, but honestly, I'd prefer to just plug the book and allow y'all to dive deeper into those topics, if need be. This is a roundup, not a summary. (Editor's Note: the hell is the difference?)

You have to put your hands up and fight or life will kick the shit out of you. You may not always win, but the only way to lose for certain is to never fight.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad

Holy hell, this book espouses some essential knowledge. I've just dove into the second chapter, where Robert Kiyosaki talks about how as a child, his best friend's rich father took him under his wing and taught him about money. But he didn't teach them in the traditional way. He had young Robert work manual labor and pushed him to the brink of anger and fear to get him to learn. 

Some insightful things I've picked up from this book (and from everything else I've been reading) is that making financial decisions out of fear of poverty or greed will cause you nothing but pain. Because money cannot solve those problems. I don't want to get too preachy but I've actually come to find out that making any kind of decisions out of fear will ultimately screw you over in the long run. 

I cannot endorse this book more. Not because it's some well of hidden financial knowledge or because it's making me rich. I endorse this book because it's introducing me to a different way of thinking about money. And I think everyone can benefit from that.

The 6 Pillars of Self-Esteem

I've finally reached the second or third pillar of self-esteem in this book. And that pillar is to live with self-responsibility. And boy, this section of the book made me cry (yet again). This book really makes me want to go read the Chronicles of Narnia or Hop on Pop because it's a tough read. 

In terms of self-responsibility, the book basically says that none of us has the right to use anyone else to get our needs met or (and this is the part that made me upset) to passively allow ourselves to be used to meet someone else's needs. There are five or six sections that break this idea down, but honestly, they're just further stating the same harsh truth over and over. No one is coming to save a single one of us, and if we want something out of life, we have to get up and go get it. It doesn't matter if we were born with a silver spoon or if people have handed things to us our whole lives. It doesn't matter if we're shamans or blessed pastors or making zillions of V-Bucks. In order to build self-esteem we have to take responsibility for our own lives, our own trajectories, and our own thoughts. There is no other way. No matter who we are. 

The Book of Five Rings

I'd like to begin with a disclaimer that, despite this book emphasizing that the only way to properly understand it is to actively practice the principles it explains, I am not in any position whatsoever to be actively practicing military strategy.

The Book of Five Rings consists of five different scrolls that explain various aspects of the way of strategy as seen by the author. I have just finished reading the Fire Scroll, which outlines ideals and specific tactics that can be employed to achieve victory in combat.

Some of my favorite tactics from this scroll include:

1. Knowing Disintegration: This involves understanding when your enemy is weakened and seizing the opportunity to finish them off.

2. Knocking the Heart Out: This entails completely dismantling any notions your enemy may have of defeating you.

3. Small and Large Perspective: This requires comprehending both the bigger picture and the intricate details of your actions, and being able to shift focus between them when progress is not being made.

4. Letting Go Four Hands: This refers to completely changing tactics when faced with a stalemate.

The scroll concludes by stating that there are no other tactics, mindsets, or strategies to be employed in military strategy. As a noncombatant, I cannot speak to the validity of this claim, but interestingly, the next scroll opens with Musashi vehemently criticizing and dismissing every other school of combat, asserting that he will prove them to be foolish and wrong. The Wind Scroll serves as Musashi's definitive argument against any alternative approach to strategy apart from his own. I am genuinely excited to read it.

It could be the translation, but everything in this book possesses such matter-of-factness that it feels like some kind of dogmatic text. This is understandable because, at its core, the book deals with successfully navigating life-or-death scenarios, which are not to be taken lightly or joked about. 

Unlimited Power 

I intended to read this book before I read Atomic Habits, at the beginning of the year, but I couldn't find a copy of it, anywhere. So far, it's one of the most interesting things that I've read in a long while. I won't spill the beans (partially because I learned a lot of stuff that I need to reflect on) just yet about the big idea. But just know that unlimited power really means unlimited communication ability and knowledge. 

The Power of Now 

To be honest, I only read the introduction of this book, and for now, I'm going to set it aside and prioritize reading "Unlimited Power" instead. The author, Eckhart Tolle, is known as a spiritual teacher, and in this book, he shares his journey to becoming a teacher and provides answers to various questions asked during his seminars and lectures. It's like his own version of "Meditations" or "The Prince."

While I know that many people have found this book helpful, I'm not really eager to dive into the mystical ramblings of a German guru. Personally, I'd rather watch Sadhguru's videos for spiritual insights. I hope you understand that I say this with respect, but this particular book doesn't resonate with me at the moment.

Closing Thoughts

You know. Life is a big wave. It doesn't have a set shape or form. We just have to ride that motherfucker the best way we know how. No one can give you your surfboard or tell you what shape your wave is going to be or when it's going to come. But one thing I can say is that you have to ride that wave.

Late May Reading Roundup

At this point, I'm only really posting these reading roundups as a way to better remember what I've read.  I read a lot and it feels like robbery not to at least try to share some of the information that I'm learning. This post is somewhat of a follow-up to the previous reading roundup, where I talked about Dating Essentials for Men, the Four Agreements, Atomic Habits, and The Book of Five Rings. This time I'm going to be talking about some other books that I've started reading in the past few weeks. 

So let's get into it -

Rich Dad, Poor Dad

I read all day and have a Stem degree and countless academic accolades, yet I just taught myself how to ride a bike in March. Hell, I just figured out what sunburn is three weeks ago. 

My point is that it doesn't matter how much academic knowledge you have, you don't know what you've never been taught. Period.

And that's one of the big ideas of Rich Dad, Poor Dad. You can be the world's smartest scientist or sexiest model and still struggle financially because no one has taught you anything about money (or they taught you the wrong things)l. I'm only in the first chapter, but I'm looking forward to reading further and applying what I've read. 

And speaking of applying what you read -

The Book of Five Rings

For clarity, this book is divided into four different sections (which the book refers to as scrolls) that explain separate aspects of strategy. I'm currently reading the Fire Scroll, which talks about the intricacies of combat and outlines different tactics. Obviously, in this century, and in a noncombatant position of life you can't literally practice these strategies. 

[insert Luke Rockhold "I'm a samurai" clip] 

I've been using the strategies in different areas of my life. The tactic of letting go of four hands (which is when you change your approach to a problem after a period of little progress) has been invaluable in figuring things out. The biggest lesson I've learned from this book is to know what your tools are for and to use them for what they are for in seriousness. Musashi was the best at what he did because he practiced excellence and understood every little aspect of what he was doing. This is the Way that the book endorses  in all things.

The 6 Pillars of Self-esteem

I talked about this book during my last post. Currently, I've reached a section in this book that espouses self-responsibility as an integral part of self-esteem. Last time, I mentioned that this book is difficult to read because it makes me feel irresponsible and immature. I'm realizing that it's harder to read because it forces me to accept that many people have horrific self-esteem and try to drag down other people without knowing it. This book says that self-esteem is built through building consciousness and awareness. Sometimes becoming aware is very painful. Reading this book sometimes makes me cry because it highlights the errors in thinking that led to many of the mistakes I've made. And it also makes me feel hopeful, because I'm coming to understand that I'm the only person responsible for fixing any kind of errors I've made. 

As an aside, the author of this book was one of Ayn Rand's lovers. The guy mentions her in the book occasionally, and his romance with had a very observable impact on his life and career. Call me an ass, but every time I hear that Ayn Rand was out here breaking hearts, it makes me laugh my head off. It also highlights that my understanding of love and attraction is kinda naive but that's another story.

Anyways, tune in next time when hopefully I'll have finished one of these books and can give my complete thoughts on what I've learned. 

February - May Reading Roundup

It's been a metric ass-ton of time since I posted one of these. I think in February I was trying hella hard to read two pages out of two different books a day. I read five now on a good day. Which is about five hours dedicated to reading a day. 

It sounds like a lot, but I assure you, there are many different things sprinkled in between. I don't just sit down and read for five hours straight. And I'm not plowing through five books daily (that's the goal), I'm going excerpt to excerpt taking notes. This post is going to be tame because I feel some of the questionable stuff I've posted here is killing my fucking career prospects. But at this point, it ain't like I'm up to my neck in job offers, in the first place. Admittedly I find it embarrassing to talk about some of these books. I'm trying to teach myself to fall in love with the actions that I do and not the anticipated rewards. Even though according to one of these books that's not how the brain works...

The Four Agreements

The Four Agreements is a relatively short book at 84 pages, which can be read in an afternoon (which took me a month to read). This book offers a fascinating take on ancient Toltec wisdom and the path to freedom, explaining how most people think thoughts that are not their own, and these thoughts can be negative and do them harm. Don Miguel Ruiz and his son dedicate their lives to preserving the principles of ancient Toltec wisdom in modern literature, which I admire.

But here's the big idea. The path to Toltec freedom is to wake up every day and to take an oath to be yourself. That's all. Be your fucking self. Do your fucking best no matter what. Love everyone. Do no harm. especially not to yourself.

Dating Essentials for Men

On this blog, I have a pretty storied history with the works of Dr. Robert Glover. He's a therapist who writes books on masculinity and self-help. Or at least, that's the image he presents to sell his books. They're usually much more introspective and melancholic reading than you'd initially presume. Dr. Glover is damn good at making you remember that you sometimes literally can't judge a book by its cover.  

Once again, Dr. Glover pulls the caper of baiting readers with a specific topic and then doing a 180 and shifting to another subject entirely. As a whole, the book focuses on building social skills and working on personal flaws through effort and dedication instead of selling pickup techniques. And by the time you're reading the dating shit, you've made so many life changes that you don't even give a shit about that part anymore. The problem was the way you thought about the problem. Not the problem itself. I cannot stress enough that this book is not about pick-up techniques or trying to become James Bond; it's about changing one's worldview to lead a healthier life. 

The first and most important half of this book is a neuroscientific deep-dive into insecurities, self-limiting beliefs, and isolation, exploring why some men experience them and how to overcome them through effort and dedication. This "Mastering Your Mind" section is the book's most significant and valuable portion. 

For me, the book's impact was significant. I wound up in the same room with Steven Spielberg, I got free tons of shit and I've done tons of things that I never would've tried before. I also came to realize that I had already gotten ALOT of attention from women in my life, but I either wasn't paying attention or didn't know what the fuck was going on at the moment, because I (very ironically) was beating myself over the head for being unsuccessful with women and all kinds of unhealthy shit. 

You will never be able to receive or appreciate anything in life if you don't hold onto, love, and embrace what you already fucking have. This book taught me that. 

Atomic Habits

Atomic Habits and Dating Essentials had a significant impact on me when I read them simultaneously. This is why I can adamantly say that the shit in both books works.  I've been reading three books a day and have rebuilt multiple relationships, and made significant progress on things I never would have attempted before. Reading these two books was like a one-two punch, rewiring the way I thought about thinking. I now know I can change myself quickly and orient myself toward anything I want.

The most significant benefit of Atomic Habits was its emphasis on using automation. I took this to heart and started using ChatGPT to do everything I didn't need to do myself. This included finding answers to things I didn't know how to solve, which led me to start asking questions about myself and the things I've learned. In the end, I began writing down my life story, deep-diving into the different aspects of the things I learned and the intricacies of my life. This process has kinda changed the way I see and do things and it solidified to me Dr. Glover's view that there is nothing inherently wrong with any of us. 

The 6 Pillars of Self-Esteem

Every now and then a book comes along and it calls you an immature, irresponsible man-child and tells you to get your shit together. I call those books soul-rippers, because your mind winds up in therapy questioning who you are after you read them.

I don't want to be treated so harshly. But if no one has ever told you to (or showed you how to) act like a fucking adult then you need to hear it from somewhere, even if it is a damn book. 

I'm still reading The 6 Pillars of Self-Esteem, and so far, it has been a challenging read that is difficult to put down. It's been harder to read than No More Mr. Nice Guy (which was probably the hardest thing I've ever read in my life), and I find myself wanting to read fiction instead. Nonetheless, it's a beautiful book, and I'm enjoying what I'm reading so far. Most of the time, the content is painful, but there is nothing wrong with that. 

My biggest takeaway has been that I'm a real person and my actions have very very real consequences regardless of whether I acknowledge them or not. It doesn't matter how much someone obstructed my autonomy in the past, I'm a man with his own willpower and capabilities good and bad. 

The world isn't a motherfucking nursery. Everyone got their shit kicked in. We all just gotta deal with it. That's the essence of this book. 

This Trivium quote always resonated in my head over the years, but it wasn't until a week ago that I fully understood what Matt Heafy meant when he penned it. That's growth.

Another positive takeaway has been the book highlighting how much damage people do to themselves by denying their own talents. And it's made me realize that I'm a fucking prodigy and I always have been, but that's another story for another day. I've got to figure out what I'm going to do with this newfound knowledge. 

The Book of Five Rings

Don't try to practically apply this book. It's a strategy book. 

This book is about mastery in all different parts of life. It's helpful for everyone to read something like this book. Especially in tangent with the other books that I've read. One big takeaway from what I read today was to make sure that if your enemy is ever hurt in combat go ahead and properly and decisively finish him so he doesn't recover and finish you. That's some obvious shit -

The big takeaway for me was that Musashi said you're lazy and careless if you don't do this. And then he refuses to explain further. Musashi does this all throughout the book. This book talks about all kinds of things that most civilized people wouldn't dream about in gorey detail. But there's passages where the book will say something completely archaic, end the explanation with "worrying about the minor details is some sissy shit" and then continue on as if that isn't a complete break from seriousness. I think the translator was trying to be funny. 

Anyways, yeah. Books are fun and promote personal growth...

Rebuilding Yourself and Maintaining Good Health

 

The Six Million Dollar Man is an old TV show that aired in the '70s. The show is about a pilot named Steve Austin (not that one), who crashes a test flight into the ground and undergoes an emergency procedure to become a cyborg crime fighter.  I presume his crimefighting activities consist of running around stopping bank robberies and delivering anti-drug PSAs to kids. I honestly don't know. 

As you can probably tell I've never actually watched the show in my life. I don't care about the show. I fucking love the intro and the entire concept. Ever since I first saw it, I fell in love with the notion of a guy getting into an accident and being rebuilt "stronger, better, and faster" with science.  Honestly, every time I feel kind of down, or I've been on a bad streak of luck, I think of this intro. And it gets me going.

I have the tools to rebuild myself. Hell, we all have the tools to rebuild ourselves. It's just about finding the right ones and getting good at using those tools in the right way. Just like those scientists went into Steve's brain, rewired it, and fixed him up, we can look into our minds and do some rewiring and fixing.

We're all Six Million Dollar People (or 42 Million Dollar People, adjusted for inflation)...

How Not To Get A Job or Get Hired Ever: An Interactive Tutorial on Cleaning Up Your Online Presence

To be streamed at a future date -