a live thread curated by the Crow.

OPENING THOUGHTS

My, oh my. This crow has been hopping around for both UFC 205, and the fact that The Corvid Review is having it’s first live thread!

Click here to view the official weigh-ins for UFC 205! 

And what a card it is!

Alvarez and McGregor? Woodley and Thompson? Joanna Jędrzejczyk and Karolina Kowalkiewicz?! Tate and Pennington?! And that’s just the tip of the iceberg!

Now, to clear things up. This thread will strictly be a reactions thread. No videos or anything of that nature will be shared (awesome images aside). However, there will be a play-by-play (depending on how static this crow is at the time, since he’s likely to be hopping all over the place during), and therefore there will be spoilers.

While there are some immense fights on the prelims, The Corvid Review shall only be focussing on the Main Card. There’ll be a quick recap before we begin, however, so you’ll be up to speed with events.

Expect amazing things, folks. MMA comes to NY! NY! It’s finally happening!

Iiiiiiiiiit’s TIIIIIIIMMEEEE! 

And so is it The Corvid Review‘s time.

^{By the way, did anyone else love how Tyron was videoing the whole kerfuffle during the pre-fight conference?}

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PRELIMINARY CARD

And, we’re live! Been a solid card so far.

JOHNSON VS NURMAGOMEDOV 

The Corvid Review enters the fray during Johnson vs Nurmagomedov. So far, so good. Johnson was in throuble at the end of that last round.

Round 2: Good attempt by Johnson, there. Nurmagomedov has him now.

Johnson’s barely surviving, here. What a punishment Khabib is unleashing, here.

Great job by Johnson surviving, but Nurmagomedov is unleashing Fedor levels of punishment upon him.

Round 3: Nice exchanges, early on, but Khabib got him again.

Absolutely lovely control by Nurmagomedov, there.

And, it’s over. 24-0-0 for Nurmagomedov. Johnson displayed immense heart, there, but it was nowhere close to Khabib’s skills. He deserves that title shot now, surely.

lol at comparing McG to a chicken. He’d be boiled bacon n’cabbage, wouldn’t it?

^{Or a lovely steak.}

FRANKIE EDGAR VS JERENY STEPHENS

This crow can’t believe this is a prelim fight. On another night, this and the last bout would’ve been main card affairs.

Round 1: Pretty good show so far (-3:44).

Tight-ish until the end.

Round 2: Edgar is edging this out with his technique, and OHHH! What a barrage of strikes!

Can The Answer weather this?! He’s still in trouble. Stephens is going for it!

AND WHAT A TAKEDOWN AND WHAT A QUICK SLIP OUT OF THE GUILLOTINE! HERE HE GOES AGAIN! 10 SECONDS TO GO! 

AND STEPHENS IS OUT AGAIN! WHAT A FINISH TO ROUND 2! 

Round 3: What a fight this has been!

Lovely takedown by Edgar, there. Lovely submission back-and-forth, there. What a barrage of elbows by Edgar! This is a grappling war right now!

We’re back to exchanges (-2:00, abouts). Edgar can’t be put away. Stephens is slipping through Edgar’s sub attempts. So far, The Corvid Review has Edgar winning this.

Last ten seconds! This is going the distance!

And we close it with a slugfest! Great fight!

Is it any surprise?! Edgar wins by unanimous decision!

And now, we move on to the Main Card!

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MAIN CARD

WARNING: THIS SECTION CONTAINS SPOILERS

Here we are! The UFC is in NY!

The Corvid Review‘s very own Crow predicts: Tate, Romero, Jędrzejczyk, Woodley, and McGregor, but he’d love too be surprised. 

Meisha Tate (#1) vs Raquel Pennington (#8)

The fighters are out. Let’s get this started! The winner has got to have a shot at the winner of Rousey vs Nuňes. Teacher vs Student. It can’t get much more romantic than this.

Round 1: Nice striking by Pennington so far (-3:00).

Tate working that takedown attempt hard. And HOLY SHIT! Tate’s in trouble! Everything’s switched all around, and… Tate escapes and scores a beautiful takedown!

Great show of strength right there along the fence by Pennington. Is that going to cost her, though?

Round 2:  That jab is fast becoming Pennington’s best move.

Overall, a very close Round 2, here. Pennington’s edging it, though.

Absolute grit all around in the second round. This crow scores it for Pennington. Nice exchange at the end, there.

Round 3: Ohhh! Tate straight with the jump-into-guard! Nice fight by Pennington, but Tate is moving into amazing positions. Just a little more would lock in some great submissions.

Tate is all over Pennington, despite the fight. But Pennington wraps her up. Not looking good for Tate all of a sudden.

Noce exchange or submission attempts. Tate’s going for the knee, and… a battering. Tate is down again. Pennington has the upper hand once more. If things end now, Pennington has this by a good margin.

1 minute to go.

Lovely takedown by Pennington. 10 seconds. She surely has this.

What a shame. Poor Tate.

Pennington wins by unanimous decision! There was no question. This crow is happy to be wrong.

Great job, Rocky. Great job!

Wait WHAT?! Tate is retiring?! Holy shit! Cupcake, nooo! You will be sorely missed.

Well, shit. Good luck with your future endeavours. This crow was really hoping you’d one day have your revenge against Ronda, though. It’d have been a great fight.

Chris Weidman (#2) vs Yoel Romero (#4)

This crow has been wrong once already. But he’ll stick to his guns and call Romero, still.

Let’s get this show on the road!

…zzz… Oh shit. Weidman’s walkout music near put this crow to sleep. And holy shit! It’s that song! And… another. This walkout’s all over the place.

ANYWAY! Weidman’s back, everyone! And there’s Bisping representing this crow’s flavour of nation!

Round 1: Weidman starts off quick, there.

What a takedown battle! And what is it with the chants of “Olé”?! Why is this a thing?!

(-1:57) What a fight so far. Romero tried to reverse that last advantageous position, but too little too late.

Round 2: Weisman opens strong again. Romero tries to counter with his wrestling, but they’re back up to standing after a short bit.

Just at the moment, Weidman’s out-thinking Romero, but nothing concrete has developed so far.

This crow definitely did not see that eye poke in there.

HERE COMES THE STRIKING SHOW! Things are getting heated, here. Romero’s beast-self is beginning to manifest, but Weidman’s holding his own well.

Romero’s all over Weidman with the wrestling right now. Playing to his strengths, and is swarming him.

Round 3: Romero’s corner wants him to go and finish it, but this crow thinks Romero has a good thing going.

AND JUST LIKE THAT! ROMERO GETS THE JOB DONE! 

WHAT A BRUTAL KO! 

Poor Weidman, what an explosion. That should have been stopped immediately. I would not want to take shots after that strike. Yamasaki should have reacted quicker.

It’s easy to criticise referees, but their job is not easy. It’s unfortunate that Weidman had to go through that.

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Joanna Jędrzejczyk (C) vs Karolina Kowalkiewicz (#2)

And we finally get around to the title fights! First off, the only undefeated UFC Champion, Joanna Jędrzejczyk, defends her title against Karolina Kowalkiewicz.

As said so often…

IIIIIT’S… TIIIIIIME!!!!1!11!!!1!

We are all now Polish.

This crow predicts that Karolina’s face shall be rearranged, soon. As Joanna Champion puts it: “She’s not going to be happy any more.”

crosses feathers 

Here… we… go!

Karolina’s just come out. She wants to oveeturn that amateur loss. This is going to be a war.

This crow might be slow with updates from here on out. This is where he starts hopping about. Thank fuck the mouse (an ex-MMA fighter herself) isn’t around any longer. This crow might’ve been knocked out already.

Apart from the mouse and certain others (Cyborg et al), Joanna Champion is not a woman this crow would like to cross.

Round 1: Just a minute in, and we’ve already had a stellar show of striking on display. The Champion’s getting the upper hand so far, overall.

Wow. Nice exchange just under a minute from the horn.

Jędrzejczyk takes this 10-9.

Round 2: And Round 2 opens just as expected, with more sparks flying in the striking. Karolina grabs that leg nicely, but it all breaks apart with an elbow by the Champion.

And we’re against the fence for a bit. Karolina does not want to be here.

This is going to be stand-up all the way through, it seems. Joanna seems to have a minor cut. Possibly a fingernail thingie beneath the nose. It could make her breathing a little troublesome.

That takedown defence is lovely, isn’t it? …one minute to go. That nose cut is getting troublesome. What a show of grappling along the fence. Nice job, there.

WHOOO! Spinning backfist! Jędrzejczyk takes this one as well. 10-9.

Round 3: There seems to be a clear division in class between the two right now. Karolina really needs to pick up her game to score a round. This could be outscored by the end of this round. Jędrzejczyk’s unleashing classic combinations right now. Just teeing off, really. Those kicks are lethal.

Nice job there by the champion, covering the mouth and unloading with the quick strikes.

Gruelling round. 10-9 to Jędrzejczyk again, The Corivd Review finds. Kowalkiewicz really needs a finish, here.

Round 4: Good fight there by the challenger, but the champion turns it around quick-like.

OH HOLY SHIT! 

JOANNA GOT TAGGED! AND AGAIN! AND AGAIN! AND AGAIN! 

This is nuts. Joanna scores a takedown, but they’re back on thseir feet. The champion is not doing so well right now. Karolina is pushing forward, now. This is turning nuclear!

Jędrzejczyk is absorving solid shots for the first time this crow has seen. This is going absolutely monkey crap!
The Champion looks out of it. And she finishes strong. But oh my goodness, this could be the most significant strike of the fight.

10-9 to Kowalkiewicz.

Round 5: We start out strong. Karolina needs the kill, now. This crow has never seen the Champion’s face rearranged so quick. And Kowalkiewicz is pushing harder, now.

Lovely combination by the Champion  there. As risky as it is, the Champion should try to wear it out to points. Careful and distanced should be all it takes. She’s 3-1 up so far. Halfway through this round, things are even.

Jędrzejczyk is taking serious damage, here.
More kicks. More kicks!

Holy ravioli! That swelling on Jędrzejczyk’s brow does not look good.

Clinch battle against the wall, but the Champion is getting a bit gassed. Nice combos, though.

Great shots to finish off by the champion, and the challenger.

What a finish!

The crow is not going to call this. Both women are champions after tonight. Jędrzejczyk wins on points, but fuck this crow, this was a true war.

Yup, that is how the sport works. I wouldn’t have scored that any other way. Great fight. Both women deserve respect.

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Tyron Woodley (C) vs Stephen Thompson (#2)

This crow continues to stick to his guns. This crow’s got Tyron. Let’s find out how this goes.

Round 1: Here we go!

So far, so patient (-3:30).

Lovely counter! That’s what this crow would do against himself. Seems Wonderboy and I have similar stances (except this crow is a soft numptie).

That has got to hurt. My sides are aching from all the way over here on my branch. Youch!

Tyron’s all over Wonderboy. This one doesn’t look like it’s ending well.

Round 2: There’s a war developing along that fence (-3:00).

Very nice round! This crow is confused.

Round 3: What a back-and-forth round. This crow’s going to score it for Thompson, actually.

Round 4: Ohhh! That was IT! This has to be over! Tyron just messed him up! And there’s a choke!

What fight from Wonderboy! He’s sagged. Tywron’s got this. This is incredible punishment.

HOW THE FUCK IS THOMPSON STILL KICKING?!

Please tap before you pas- Holy shit! He’s swinging! And he’s out! What in the hell did this crow just witness?! Woodley’s got to be gassed more than a bit. I want to learn that defence.

I pity the judges who have to score this. This has been total war.

Roqund 5: Awww! They both know what the other is putting in!

Lovely jump kick by Wonderboy, there.

If this goes the distance, it’s going to be difficult to call. 1 minute to go.

This crow doesn’t even know. What a battle this has been.

Great finish, there.

Results to come. This crow is leaning towards Woodley, despite the fight Thompson put up.

What a close fight to call! And the scorecards reflect that. Surely a rematch should be in the works? What a war, though. Great job, both you guys.

Okay, so it’s a majority draw. Not such a big deal. Would you booing fans please grow up and understand what Joe’s saying? It’s not the end of the world, jeez!

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Eddie Alvarez (C) vs Conor McGregor (FW/C)

And there’s Sinead, and it’s time.

And here’s Alvarez.

It’s time. In New York. McGregor vs Alvarez. Here we go!

The Crow reckons McG got this. Let’s all follow how this goes, now.

[This crow shall check out until the end of rounds, now]

Round 1: HOLY RAVIOLI, HOW DID ALVAREZ COME BACK FROM THAT?! OR THAT?! This is getting one-sided very quick.

That was a 10-8, surely.

Round 2: Great stop to the takedown attempt right off the bat, there. YOUCH! Alvarez isn’t doing too bad, but he’s being tagged all over the shop.

That’s it.

Done. Job done. He’s done it.

Ireland, you can be happy, now. That was beautiful. Picture perfect.

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CLOSING THOUGHTS

This crow’s going to go hop around all over the place, now. This was a great event. And lest you forget: this crow only got the one fight wrong. He’ll take the 4/5.

This event was worth both the wait and the price.

Well played.

Now, UFC, you’re going to have to deal with the Notorious One.

Again: thank heck the Mouse isn’t around to celebrate and wreck this crow’s house.

Wahoo! First man to hold two simultaneous titles in the UFC!

Event rating: 8/10