*Note: Eddie is out again this week with his high seas adventures. The card that should’ve been left an unfulfilled dream on Sean Shelby’s pillow is over and with it, Neil Magny’s hopes of hanging on to that Number 15 ranking. It was pretty much a foregone conclusion, but watching it in practice was kind of sad. Reinier de Ridder showed out in his debut, defeating Gerald Meerschaert in a wild brawl that saw the UFC vet arm-triangled in the third round. Did the card have its moments? It sure did,...
Nov 10, 2024•52 min
Hard to believe there have been 99 events held at the Apex because we can’t remember most of them. This particular card is especially bad considering the momentous occasion of hosting 100 shows under its roof. 14 fighters coming off losses for a 12-fight card is shameful. As the title suggests, it truly is a new apex of suck. Let’s take a look at the event’s main portion and the alternative stats. Of note: The bout order was changed from yesterday, with Kowalkiewicz vs. Gomes moving to the featu...
Nov 08, 2024•1 hr 16 min
The Apex will celebrate its 100th UFC event this Saturday night and they did absolutely nothing to celebrate the milestone. Instead, the promotion decided they would present the worst Apex card of the year, perhaps the worst one ever—a feat hard to achieve with 99 bare-minimum cards under their belt already in the venue. We do slightly lament the loss of Garbrandt-Johns, but it wasn’t setting the world on fire, and aside from the main event, there’s a plethora of going-nowhere fights. Lateral mo...
Nov 07, 2024•1 hr 27 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com Canada is getting the rough treatment from UFC this weekend. A 14-fight event where 13 of the featured athletes are coming off losses seems like a hard sell, even with four ranked bouts. Sitting atop the heap is a great flyweight matchup between Brandon Moreno and Amir Albazi. Is it the kind of fight you put atop an on0the0road card? Probably not, but b…...
Oct 31, 2024•1 hr 8 min
*Note: Eddie out this week, so Zane winged it solo UFC 308 is in the books and with it, the hopes and dreams of many. What hopes and dreams, you ask? The ones that would’ve seen Max Holloway and Robert Whittaker leave the octagon victorious. Instead, they were finished, and they were violent finishes, to boot. Topuria never opened his mouth the entire fight. Cardio through the roof and I’d imagine his pulse rate hovered in the triathlete range. Holloway’s lauded cardio never failed him, but he w...
Oct 26, 2024•1 hr 12 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC 308 is finally here and with it, one of the better PPV main cards of the year. At the top of the event is the featherweight title bout between reigning king Ilia Topuria and the challenger, one Jerome Max Holloway. Straight up banger, full stop. The co-main event of Bobby Knuckles and Khamzat Chimaev is a fight we’ve all looked forward to for a hot …...
Oct 24, 2024•1 hr 35 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC Vegas 99 is thankfully in the history books and not a moment too soon because that was an insanely long card. Just two finishes in eleven fights, and the fights that went the distance were mostly nothing to write home about. Michel Pereira got absolutely dominated by Fluffy Hernandez, then finished in the fifth round. It was an embarrassing performa…...
Oct 20, 2024•1 hr 18 min
You guys and gals aren’t going to believe this, but a mythical entity is afoot. The ultra-rare decent Apex card. That’s right kids, we’re getting a pretty solid event with UFC Vegas 99. Not only do we get three ranked fights, we have some really good matchmaking at play, as well. Charles Johnson vs. Sumudaerji is certified fresh. The main event is good, too. Middleweight doesn’t look completely barren these days. It’s not robust, by any means, but it’s got potential, and it’s been awhile since w...
Oct 17, 2024•1 hr 15 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC is back in business this weekend with their 98th Vegas themed Apex card, and much as one would expect, it’s kind of miserable. Okay, it’s a lot of miserable. If you don’t believe it, just scroll down to the alternative stats and feast your eyes on those. Outside the main event, there isn’t another truly intriguing fight. There are plenty of interest…...
Oct 10, 2024•1 hr 17 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC 307 is finally in the books and good riddance. The judging stunk the place up. There were several decisions that made us give the side-eye and there were also several fights that made us want to stab our own eyeballs with a dull knife. But Kayla won, and we’re very interested in seeing her compete for the belt (you know she’s next). Poatan won his f…...
Oct 06, 2024•1 hr 17 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com RED ALERT! UFC is giving us a card with SEVEN ranked fights! Of course it’s a PPV, but we can admit when the promotion is churning out solid content, and for the last few weeks, we’ve gotten some good matchmaking. This week features much of the same—although we’re not overly thrilled with the two dinosaur matches on the undercard. Means vs. McGee and OS…...
Oct 03, 2024•1 hr 22 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC Paris is now history, but within the timeframe that it was an active event, it brought some show-stopping moments and another KO of the year candidate. The action was in high gear from the very first bout and was maintained all the way to the main event. Brian Battle declared he wouldn’t lose to a Frenchman after finishing Jousset and Renato Moicano…...
Sep 29, 2024•1 hr 15 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC Paris has arrived for 2024 and as you probably guessed, it’s a decent card, as they tend to be when on the road. Have to make sure those seats are sold at a premium, right? At the top of the card is an excellent bout between Number 11 ranked Renato Moicano (Moicano wants MONEY!) and Number 12 ranked Benoit St. Denis. Will Moicano continue to surpris…...
Sep 26, 2024•1 hr 26 min
A pretty underwhelming Noche UFC card didn’t deliver the action where the two title fights were concerned, but up to that point, we had a great run of fights, even if there was a dearth of finishes. There were only two finishes on the entire card. We did get a contender for round of the year (the decade even) with the third stanza of Zellhuber vs. Ribovics, which was an outstanding contest. The production pizzazz didn’t really kick in much until the main card, aside from some color changing disp...
Sep 15, 2024•1 hr 8 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC 306 week is finally here and with it, a solid card. Is it worth all the hype and huge production budget the promotion has invested in it? Absolutely not. Will it be a fun watch considering the match-ups? Yes it will. Maybe we see Sean O’Malley be the one to stop the Dvalishvili juggernaut, or maybe the Georgian ends Sugar’s title run. And if the boys…...
Sep 12, 2024•1 hr 34 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC Vegas 97 is over and done. The fat lady has sung her song. The man with one name (Yizha) was soundly trounced. Jacqueline Amorim answered everything Vanessa Demopoulos threw at her for 3+ minutes, then decided she’d had enough and submitted her. Jessica Andrade was bested by Natalia Silva and Sean Brady beat Gilbert Burns by a considerable margin. L…...
Sep 08, 2024•1 hr 15 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC Vegas 97 isn’t where all the action is happening, or even part of it, but it does have a fight here and there that is worth the watch. It gives that deja vu feeling, though, like we’ve already seen it before. Such is the way of all Apex cards. Who knows, maybe we’ll get better quality cards once the expansion is done. We won’t hold our breath, thoug…...
Sep 05, 2024•1 hr 36 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com Another off-week from UFC, another great episode of our terrific trio suffering through horrendous fights so you don’t have to. They really do love us. This time around, we get a quartet of miserable contests from none other than our reigning middleweight champion. The king of looking gassed until he’s won is in four separate stinkers, and we’re here to…...
Aug 29, 2024•23 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC Vegas 96 is in the books along with the latest TUF finale. Jared Cannonier fell to Caio Borralho, as did Angela Hill to Tabatha Ricci. Neil Magny got smoked, as well. It was not a good night for aging veterans. Victoria Leonardo can count herself among the defeated too, although ‘aging veteran’ might not actually apply here, being that she’s only be…...
Aug 25, 2024•1 hr 4 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC 96 isn’t just a raggedy Apex card. This time around, it also bears the distinction of being a TUF finale event, as well. And before you ask, yes, TUF is still a thing. The show is headlined by a middleweight contender matchup between Jared Cannonier and Zane’s favorite fighter, Caio Borralho. Will the leader of the Fighting Nerds be able get the W? …...
Aug 22, 2024•1 hr 21 min
We’re just a day away from a pretty solid PPV with UFC 305, and even the undercard has a little razzle dazzle. Once again, I can’t help but laugh to myself when I stop to think what you all are guessing the title means. It would be pretty great to see some of you came up with before you listened to the show. The comments are right there, just in case you want to share. MMA Vivisection & 6th Round is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a...
Aug 16, 2024•1 hr 3 min
I bet you guys are wondering what the title means and it tickles me to death to tell you to listen to the show to understand why. Also, quick reminder that this week’s Vivisections will be FREE in their entirety. One of our hosts has a family obligation this weekend, so there won’t be a 6th Round Post-fight Show. To make it up to you, our loyal listeners, we’ve decided to make our bonus content for this week on the house. MMA Vivisection & 6th Round is a reader-supported publication. To rece...
Aug 15, 2024•1 hr 48 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com Thank the heavens that card is over! There were only 3 finishes and one would be hard pressed to locate a contest worthy of FOTN. Unfortunately, that was reflected in the bonuses. The event seemed like an afterthought—just thrown together while the matchmaking brass were on the golf course, or while they were engaged in some other trivial activity. It’s…...
Aug 11, 2024•1 hr 2 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC Vegas 95 is terrible. Full stop. We don’t think we’ve seen a worse card in the history of the sport, and if there was, it’s escaped our memory. It’s like the UFC threw darts at their roster and wherever the dart landed is how the matches were made. Just an absolute mess. Don’t let the alternative stats fool you. When you peel back the layers of the …...
Aug 08, 2024•1 hr 11 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC Abu Dhabi is here and surprise, surprise, it’s a good card. Generally, the on-the-road fight night events usually are pretty good. UFC wants to make sure they maximize their gates by saving the better fights for these shows and it appears to be working. That and jacking up the rates of the tickets, but don’t let me get caught up in that. Let’s inste…...
Aug 01, 2024•1 hr 45 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC 304 is in the books, and if you had a parlay, you’re probably wondering what the hell happened. Last night was filled with upsets and surprise endings—not that it’s a bad thing. Belal Muhammad is the new champ, but will everyone remember his name? That remains to be seen. Tom Aspinall, however, is still the interim HW champ, though. There’s a reason…...
Jul 28, 2024•1 hr 12 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com Hold onto your hats! The UFC has given us a very solid card with this coming Saturday’s offering. UFC 304 bears all the hallmarks of a great event. Not one, but two title fights, name value, ranked talent…it has it all. Thank you matchmaking brass for finally getting on the ball. We are most definitely worthy, considering how much we sink into the ever-…...
Jul 25, 2024•1 hr 26 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC Vegas 94 is almost here and boy is it a really meager card. We’re sure the old platitudes of “these crappy-on-paper cards always deliver” will be there, but it’s about getting the butt in the seat first. How are we to do that if only the hardcores are the ones willing to watch, and they aren’t always paying subscribers? It certainly isn’t going to b…...
Jul 18, 2024•1 hr 23 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC Denver is officially in the books and the Fighting Nerds have logged another TKO victory. Jean Silva cut Dober open over his right eye and then targeted it relentlessly until Herb Dean was forced to call in the ringside physician. It was a FOTY contender, easily. At some point, Zane will reluctantly embrace this team. Rose Namajunas showed that ther…...
Jul 14, 2024•1 hr 3 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com The UFC is back to business after a brief, one-week respite. We return with a card on the road, to the mile-high city where Tracy Cortez will be able to let us all know if two days really is enough time to acclimate to that altitude. And Thug Rose will be able to answer the question of where her flyweight ceiling is. MMA Vivisection & 6th Round is a rea…...
Jul 11, 2024•1 hr 31 min