#also the Big Stat is that the latine pop in the US is the second highest demographic

[combustion-man]

One trope that super annoys me in a lot of tv shows (mostly) and movies (not as often) of the past idk decade or so is when some white character experiences an Accidentally Racist Moment and assumes the Latine* cast representative is Mexican, and is rudely corrected that “I’m not Mexican, I’m [insert any other LatAm ethnicity]” and the white person has to backtrack

I’m not mad bc of the correction or representation of other Latin American ethnicities. I think it’s really great and important to highlight different cultures from the whole Latin American region, there’s a HUGE range of diversity in culture and language and food and customs that most definitely need to be represented and explored in American media.

My problem is this happens to almost every nice, fun, personable, well rounded character. Which leaves the only Mexican representation to be cartel, coyotes, and undocumented migrants/domestic workers. Again, these stories can be super important to tell and represent (if done correctly which honestly I have seen very very few times, at least in more Hollywood/studio productions)

Also often the character correcting the white people are offended at the idea of being Mexican. It’s implying “how rude of you to just assume I’m Mexican, you racist!” Bruh if they’re racist against Mexicans they’re racist against you too, you just caught them off guard

Idk in general I just want this post to be calling for better Latine rep and especially Mexican rep. And like, Latines of all colors, we got light skinned folks and black folks. We have the range darling, it’s time we showed off

* Latine (LAH-teen-ey) is being used here rather than Latinx or Latin@ for:

1. Gender neutral language that also includes non-binary Latin American folks

2. Speakability for Spanish speakers; “Latinx” (or so I recall) was meant to be a figurative placeholder in writing until a better option was found (we found it!) and while in English it’s fairly easy to adapt to “Latinx” in speech, it does not work well for Spanish speakers, and has no way of translating into other gendered vocabulary or work as a usable word in speech. “X” as a letter is pronounced differently in Spanish, and simply just cannot lingually exist well at the end of a word to

#I’m gonna bring back nightblogging and it’s gonna be me posting essays at 1am #it’s so annoying watching something bc i know it has some good latine rep and I just once want them to be Mexican #and they’re all enjoyable shows and I don’t want to negate them bc they are adding something good! #but like y’all are using PR actresses to be Cuban or Mexican actresses to be Honduran or whatever tf #like they’re coming from all sorts of places it’s not a stretch to throw in some Mexican rep #also the Big Stat is that the latine pop in the US is the second highest demographic #and within that guess which LA country has the highest pop in the US #surprise we share a land border with them it’s ¡México! #like guessing Mexican is statistically a good guess #I’m Mexican and grew up in SoCal and just assumed all the latine peers I had were Mexican unless I knew otherwise #just once I wanna see a family party for like thanksgiving with the normal food and #huge plates of carne and pollo asada and tacos and salsa that one aunt made too hot for even most of the fam but your dad can handle it #and like meeting a new person when you’re 24 at a party and somehow that’s your cousin apparently #Mexican stories don’t need to be sad sob stories or day of the dead stories #oh god I forgot about coco #and book of life #but there’s more to Mexican culture than day of the dead and undocumented immigration #Allison night logs #apparently

[calypsomarshall]

intro !

⌠ BRITTANY O’GRADY, 21, FEMALE, SHE/HER ⌡ welcome back to gallagher academy, CALYPSO NATALYA MARSHALL! according to their records, they’re a SECOND year, specializing in LINGUISTICS, CULTURE, & ASSIMILATION + ADVANCED ENCRYPTION; and they DID NOT go to a spy prep high school. when i see them walking around in the halls, i usually see a flash of (dark red combat boots, a mass of messy curls, the smell of coffee and cinnamon spice, ink stains on her fingers, multilingual curses falling off her lips). when it’s the (capricorn)’s birthday on 01/11/2000, they always request VEGETARIAN LASAGNA from the school’s chefs. looks like they’re well on their way to graduation. ⌿ lily, 20, she/her, gmt ⍀  

[@gallagherintro​​]

|| CONNECTIONS PAGE || PINTEREST || ABOUT || STATS || BIO ||

[ c h a r a c t e r ; ]

the basics:

Full Name: Calypso Natalya Marshall

Nickname(s): Cal, Callie

Age: 20

Date of Birth: January 11th

Hometown: Brooklyn, NY

Ethnicity: African American

Nationality: American

Gender: Female

Pronouns: She/her

Orientation: Bisexual

Language(s) Spoken: English, Russian, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Latin, Dutch, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, Greek, Ancient Greek, Archaic Latin

Accent: Central American

Relationship status: Single

the personality:

zodiac sign: capricorn

mbti: INFP

temperament: melancholic

element: earth

enneagram type: type 5, the investigator

five positive traits: determined, loyal, hardworking, patient, intelligent

five negative traits: guarded, stubborn, impractical, self-critical, moody at times

likes: the smell of lavender and woodsmoke, the colors purple and red, the sound of busy new york streets at night time, neon lights, reading a good book, being flirted with

dislikes: cigarette smoke, ignorant people, rudeness, being vulnerable, feeling trapped, sports

bad habits: picking at her fingernails, tapping surfaces when anxious

hobbies: reading, learning languages, playing guitar, watching old sci-fi/horror movies, coding, flirting

fears: enclosed dark spaces, clowns, needles, car crashes

[ s t o r y ; ]

background:

born on January 11th to her mother Olympe and her father Alexei, she grew up in a little red-brick apartment in Brooklyn

her mother was a ballerina, having been a dancer all her life, and worked with a dance company as a teacher

her dad was always gone on ‘work trips’ (he actually worked as a spy, but never told calypso as he didn’t want her involved in his life)

he was a big part of calypso’s life when he was home - making blueberry pancakes for her on the weekend, teaching her a little bit of self defense, taking the family out to the movies, etc.

when he died she was 15 and it hit hard - calypso was told it was a car accident by his ‘company’ and her mother (though he was really killed in action on a mission)

her mother, grief-stricken, became distant - and plagued by the secret of her husband’s death, she became entirely focused on her job, leaving calypso alone at home most of the time

calypso became pretty closed off, choosing not to make any real friends to avoid opening up to anyone about her dad

instead spending countless hours reading and learning

she speaks french and russian due to them being her parents’ mother tongues

she used read all of her dad’s old mythology books as it would help her feel closer to him, and bring back memories of when he would teach her about constellations

however, when she was 17 she opened one his old books she found it hollowed out, with two extra passports of his (each holding a different name) and a wad of russian money

her mother finally broke and admitted everything when calypso confronted her, and told her that he was killed in action as a spy (though they were never given specifics) instead of a car crash

she instantly did as much research as she could on her father and how he died, which is how she picked up computer skills and hacking - to bypass firewalls on encrypted websites

managed to crack a firewall of a russian intelligence agency, which was coded in russian, ancient greek, and archaic latin to keep people out -- all languages she knew

this is how she was noticed by the school, as one of the alumni worked for the agency and had to rethink their whole security system after the attack

when she received her letter, she said yes instantly, knowing it was her only chance to either find out what happened to her dad through the school, or gain the skills to find out the truth on her own

now:

she can get super obsessive about things, and buries herself in her studies - unfortunately, not always the ones she needs to be doing for school - but the things she’s most interested in

for example, she currently head over heels into ancient greek / archaic latin

she’s always been in love with the idea of love - her parents were like the romantic movie example of a perfect couple, and she yearns for that perfect relationship

she’s flirty as a result of that, desperate to try out relationships all the time and find love whenever and wherever possible

which results in her heartbroken nature -- she’s constantly searching for the perfect ideal of love, and has never found it, so constantly carries a sadness with her

lots of one night stands, friends with benefits, etc, as a result of that

she has a lot of trust issues due to her parents lying to her over her whole life, as well, so that element will pop up from time to time when she starts getting really close to people

others:

her father gave her a pair or dark red combat boots for her 15th birthday - the last gift she ever received from him - and you will hardly ever see her without them. they’re so worn in they feel like a second skin to her

weirdly good at hitting a target, but still learning how to properly use any weapons - they still freak her out a little, especially as she knows they were somehow involved in killing her father

she still sometimes has panic attacks in/around cars - although she now knows that’s not how he died, she spent two years thinking that was what killed her dad

she’s p thin and small so in a fight her strengths are stealth and agility

but she way prefers being the ‘behind the scenes’ person, like translating or coding

loves mythology and old stories

is basically obsessed with the constellations: she feels like they connect her to her dad’s memory, as well as the fact that they’re a constant factor in life, something she doesn’t have a lot of 

stubborn as hell, once she sets her sights on something she’s entirely determined to get/do it, partially why she’s so good at languages - pure willpower.

uhh she’s really empathetic?? if a friend of hers is sad or angry or anything she tends to adopt those emotions, burdening herself with other people’s problems constantly

that’s also why she’s a vegetarian -- she can’t think about meat separate from animals.

connections page 

#( ◦ ⟡ ✰ — ❛ calypso isms. ❜ ) #here she is!! #intro #gallagherintro

[jdiep95]

Mariah Carey: Top 10 Most Iconic Songs

To celebrate the holiday season, which has really become the season of Mariah Carey this year, and “#All I Want For Christmas Is You” finally becoming a #1 single, I am sharing with you my “Top” lists of MC songs every Monday and Tuesday up until the 25th. For example, we’re going to start things off with the Top 10 Most Iconic Mariah Carey songs; on Tuesday, we’ll look at remixes. All songs mentioned these lists can be found on streaming services (e.g. Spotify and Apple Music). That means deep, deep cuts like “Slipping Away” off the B-side of the “Always Be My Baby” single, and “Help Me Make It (Through the Night)”, Mariah’s cover of a country song, which aren’t available, aren’t included. Unfortunately, that also means the entire Glitter soundtrack will not be mentioned as it is not yet available for streaming. #JusticeForGlitter #Loverboy2020 Let's make Loverboy MC's 20th #1 in 2020!!

To explore the most iconic MC songs, we have to look at streaming numbers (based on Spotify data, accurate as of Dec. 2019), MV views (based on YouTube data, accurate as of Dec. 2019), appearances on concert set lists, but also it’s prevalence outside of the Mariah fan base. “Butterfly” is an iconic ballad within the fan base, but pales compared to another empowering song like “Hero”, which non-MC fans most likely know even if they hate Mariah.

Is the list TL;DR? No worries. I compiled each list into a respective playlist, starting from No. 10 and ending at No. 1, so you get to listen to the Most Iconic MC songs while on the go.

https://open.spotify.com/user/jdiep95/playlist/1T0OU0p1cjR82LV1XX7f7j?si=AT9_aL0kSgmxySvIasZjsw

10. “My All” Butterfly

No. of streams: 37 182 150

MV views: 142M

“My All” makes its way into almost all of MC’s concert set lists since its release in 1997, appearing most recently in Mariah’s Caution World Tour. In this way, it gathers a lot more exposure than some of her other #1’s, such as “Dreamlover” or “Honey”. Despite its relatively low number of streams compared to other songs on this list, the number of views for the main music video is actually placed sixth on this list, and for good reason. The MV for “My All” is arguably the most artistic of MC’s catalogue, if not at least the steamiest. The video is in black-and-white, and features Mariah Carey floating on water with cutscenes of some hot model. The song appeals to a more specific audience, mainly adults, but the incorporation of Latin guitars will evoke a certain headiness seen only in a handful of Mariah songs.

9. “Vision of Love” Mariah Carey

No. of streams: 25 938 743

MV views: 25M + 2.6M*

*Includes a live version from the Daydream World Tour released on Mariah Carey’s official Vevo channel

This may be confusing; overall, “Vision of Love” received the least views and least streams of any of the songs listed here. Why is it not last on the list? Unlike “My All”, this song is one for the entire family. Don’t believe me? Many popular artists of the 2000s cited this song as their inspiration, including the great Beyoncé. Besides the complex runs, which becomes more complex in the live version, “Vision of Love” is a peer into Mariah’s vocal range, from her lows (E♭3) to a signature whistle note (C7), and a blend of genres, including pop, R&B and gospel. Even if it spawned a generation of over-singing vocalists, this was MC’s debut, a tour de force that inspired a new generation of singers. And thanks to its prevalence in Mariah’s concert set lists, it could very well even be inspiring this new generation.

8. “Fantasy” Daydream

No. of streams: 85 048 626 + 24 904 151*

MV views: 58M + 11M*

*Includes the “Bad Boy Fantasy Remix” featuring O.D.B.

“Fantasy” is a bop, and arguably the song that pushed Mariah to super stardom. Despite being nominated in six categories and controversially winning nothing on the night of the 38th Grammy Awards, Daydream cemented MC’s status in the music industry. “Fantasy” was the album’s leading track, and it became the first ever single by a female artist to debut #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It stayed there eight consecutive weeks. If the pop version isn’t iconic enough, with the music video featuring Mariah riding on a roller coaster, the remix with O.D.B. is arguably just as famous, if not more so. The “Bad Boy Fantasy Remix” introduced the featured rapper formula into mainstream music, a formula that’s practically standard in the industry nowadays.

7. “Always Be My Baby” Daydream

No. of streams: 148 422 869

MV views: 162M

Yet, the numbers for "Fantasy" cannot compete with this song. A reason for this is perhaps a lack of airplay; “Fantasy” is danceable but there’s no hook.“Always Be My Baby” was the third single off the Daydream album. After breaking records with “Fantasy”, by debuting at #1, and “One Sweet Day”, for logging 16 weeks at #1, “Always Be My Baby” debuted at #2 and logged only 2 weeks at #1; however, the stats show how age has affected the song’s popularity with the MV views for “Always Be My Baby” doubling those of “Fantasy”. “Fantasy” takes more of a backseat in Mariah’s concert set lists. “One Sweet Day” almost faded into obscurity before it made a resurgence this decade when songs like “Despacito” and “Old Town Road” rivalled its chart records; it’s also made a reappearance on set lists. All of this is to illustrate that “Always Be My Baby” has always been a staple, a favourite amongst fans and the general listeners. The song has many great Mariah moments, but what really latches on and sets the ground for “Always Be My Baby” to play on is the opening “Doo doo doo”. This song does what “Fantasy” didn’t do, and that’s creating a feeling. The song and the music video is a perfect pairing. You listen to the song, and you are reminded of sitting by a firepit, reminiscing about a significant first love that’s no longer, the exact imagery that’s been replicated by the MV; this is probably why it has so many views.

6. “Touch My Body” E=MC²

No. of streams: 64 797 196

MV views: 185M

“Touch My Body” is Mariah’s second-most recent #1 single of her 19 chart-toppers, and the leading single to the 2008 album E=MC². Although its release was in the middle of February, the song really transports you to an eternal summer. The song received its fair share of critiques, including more than a couple that said “Touch My Body” lacks Mariah’s 5-octave range; nonetheless, if MC’s previous album, The Emancipation of Mimi, was MC’s comeback, this single solidified her status as 'the diva' with a new decade of listeners. It’ll be wrong to think, however, that Mariah wasn’t in on all the fun as well, and this is why the MV has its views. The music video is a fantasy sequence of Mariah flirting with Jack McBrayer in a mansion. After her comeback, this was Mariah’s way of going back to doing something that defied the critic’s expectations. With The Emancipation of Mimi, she proved that she still got it — the range, the ability to write hits, the star power; "Touch My Body” brings back the Mariah we have come to love in the past decade — the extravagance, the luxury, the seeming aloofness. For a moment, “Touch My Body” captures MC having fun, and the simple structure of this song reflects that.

5. “Obsessed” Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel

No. of streams: 82 625 131

MV views: 127M + 15M*

*Includes the remix featuring Gucci Mane

“Obsessed” gained new life this year, ten years after its initial release in 2009, with the #Obsessed challenge on TikTok. Teens were creating choreography for this song, and simultaneously propelling Mariah to becoming Queen of Memes, one of MC’s many titles. The opening to “Obsessed” breathes new life into a line borrowed from one of Mariah’s favourite movies, Mean Girls, “Why are you so obsessed with me?” This line, along with “I don’t know her”, has its place in meme culture. Besides its relevance to a new generation, its iconicity can also be contributed to the fact that it's a high profile diss track that attacks Eminem’s harassment, but it’s pop, not rap. Its conception introduced a new generation of pop artists to using their tracks as a way to call-out others. “Obsessed” resurfaces perennially when Eminem decides that his almost-two-decade old alleged fling with MC somehow deserves another mention. Maybe she’s the best thing to have happened to Eminem? Lyrically, “Obsessed” is one of Mariah’s sharpest, with her directly calling out Eminem’s desire to make something out of nothing; see: “you hatin' hard/Ain’t goin' feed you, I'm a let you starve/Graspin’ for air, and I'm ventilation/You out of breath, hope you ain't waitin’.”

4. “We Belong Together” The Emancipation of Mimi

No. of streams: 210 251 706

MV views: 399M

“We Belong Together” is Mariah’s comeback track. Regardless of whether she knew this song would make it big when she was writing it, this song would live on in the history books as the song that told skeptics that Mariah ain’t going anywhere. “We Belong Together” is very stripped down — it’s Mariah singing on top of a piano and a beat, then Mariah singing on top of herself in the chorus. For a song about unrequited love, which Mariah usually packages as being more upbeat than it should be (see: “Always Be My Baby” or “All I Want For Christmas Is You”), “We Belong Together” is incredibly visceral. It’s a sad song and it shows, and somehow Mariah communicates the frustration and swirling of emotions so well that you might even tear up by the end when she holds that fifteen-second note. The other unique thing about this song is that she sings the lyrics as if it’s a rap, very reminiscent of her earlier hip-hop inspired tracks like “Breakdown” ft. Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, an overlooked fan favourite. Try singing it without ever practising, and you’ll find that MC placed words in a very specific rhythm. This song also introduced the ‘Mariah-ballad structure’, a formula that she continues to follow for many of her ballads: It consists of an absent bridge with a belted last chorus that takes its place. And as for the MV, Mariah elopes with a lover in a car while wearing the same Vera Wang wedding dress she wore at her real-life marriage is as iconic as it gets.

3. “Emotions” Emotions

No. of streams: 41 251 987

MV views: 32M + 2.7M* + 9.9M**

*Includes the Club Remix

**Includes the MTV Unplugged live version, and the 1993 Here is Mariah Carey live version

There’s a reason “We Belong Together” didn’t crack the Top 3: It’s strictly a song about unrequited love. Mariah, alone, has quite a few of those in her catalogue. And there’s only oh-so-many occasions in which to bring back this song unless it’s already part of your daily repertoire. If Minnie Riperton’s “Lovin’ You” takes first place for the most iconic use of whistle notes in a pop song, “Emotions” no doubt takes second; however “Emotions” has to take first for inspiring every pop singer and their grandmas to use whistle notes, from Christina Aguilera and Leona Lewis to Ariana Grande and Tori Kelly. Yes, “Emotions” is a love song, similar to “We Belong Together”, but it’s also a learning tool for many aspiring pop and R&B singers — this song is a resource. It’s like learning music theory and referring back to Mozart and Beethoven. “Emotions” contains those whistle notes, all the up to an E7, but it also contains low notes (several C3s), high belts (F5s and G5s), head notes (the “You” in G5), repetitive phrasing from C5 - E5, a couple of sustained E5 belts, and melismas. In the live versions, you really get to observe MC’s stamina as we goes through the song with ease. And if you compile all of the live versions of “Emotions”, Mariah demonstrates five full octaves from B2 to B7. Simply put, “Emotions” is an encyclopedia of vocal virtuosity for rising and seasoned singers.

2. “Hero” Music Box

No. of streams: 99 556 980

MV views: 236M + 5.7M*

*Includes a live version from the Daydream World Tour

There’s a thing about “Emotions”, and it’s best if I told you through an anecdote: I played this song in a classroom once, and one of the 5-year olds asked why she [Mariah] was screaming in the song. Blasphemous, I know. Arguably though, the whistle notes are more well-known than the actual song itself. But “Hero” is one of those instances where you know the song, even though you don’t think you do. Just listen to those opening piano notes; flashes of the entire song will surely follow. Not surprisingly, this is the first ever MC song I’ve ever heard; I heard it when I was seven because we had to perform an ASL version of it, but I didn’t know it was Mariah at the time. I didn’t know until possibly a decade later when I thought back on the signs, and the lyrics “And a hero comes along” popped into mind. Obviously, this list is tinged by my own biases; however, “Hero”, this song about loving yourself, and finding that hero within yourself, is special, not only to the fan base, but to anyone who needs a pick-me-up, even if they’re not Mariah fans. It’s radio-friendly; it’s singing competition-friendly (it only goes up to an E5, a mid-belt for Mariah; for reference Idina Menzel goes up to E♭5 in “Let It Go” and “Into the Unknown”); it’s graduation-friendly; and it’s concert-friendly, considering Mariah almost always ends her concert with “Hero”. It’s a sappy song, one that Mariah initially didn’t like, but she explains that she sings it every time because you never know who might need it.

1. “All I Want For Christmas Is You” Merry Christmas

No. of streams: 595 428 506

MV views: 602M + 11M*

*Includes the alternative Black & White version, and Unreleased Video Footage version

Perhaps you can avoid unrequited love, high notes, and graduations, but in North America, can you really avoid winter? With winter comes holiday season comes Mariah Carey, Queen of Christmas comes “All I Want For Christmas Is You”. Released in 1994, this song has finally reached #1 on the Billboards Hot 100 after 25 years. MC released a handful of versions, including a re-recorded, Disney-sounding version in 2010, and another with Justin Bieber in 2011, but let’s make it clear that the version that makes a resurgence every year, and that we all hear on the radio, is none other than the original 1994 recording. The original recording which was never released as a single was not allowed to chart in ‘94, but ever since Billboard updated its rules to allow songs to re-chart in the Top 50 in 2012, “All I Want For Christmas Is You” has made a reappearance every year. It broke into the Top 10 for the first time in 2017, then the Top 5 in 2018. It’s hard to best something when it’s already so close to perfection, if not perfect. “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is such a definitive holiday-pop standard that it’s been broken down into a two-part formula. The formula finds it’s way into many of the new released Christmas songs hoping to make it big, which in some ways are their downfall because it sounds disingenuous, particularly in a season where sentimentality drives sincerity, or at least the façade of it. This two-part formula that it has inspired includes: (A) Wrapping up a unrequited love song to sound like an upbeat Christmas song; and (B) The “Wall of Sound” sound originally created by Phil Spector, which includes a underlying chorus line, a strong accompaniment, and the use of symphonic instruments. You’ll find at least one, if not both, pieces of the formula, whether it’s intentional or not, in recent holiday songs such as “Mistletoe”, “Underneath the Tree”, “One More Sleep”, “Santa Tell Me”, and even “Christmas Tree Farm”. Walter Afanasieff, the co-writer of this song, said, “Back then, you didn’t have a lot of artists with Christmas albums,” and with that he meant in the ‘80s and ‘90s, rising stars didn’t record an entire studio album's worth of Christmas songs. Whitney didn’t have one yet, Madonna didn’t have one (and still continues not to have one), Michael stopped doing them when he recorded under Epic Records in 1979; and y’alls are probably thinking of Wham!’s “Last Christmas”, but that was a single. Despite Mariah initially not wanting to do a Christmas album, and as pessimistic as this may sound, Merry Christmas has re-introduced the lucrative Christmas song business to pop singers.

We may remember this decade’s Mariah — a diva with shaky performances, but this two-dimensional image erases the gut-wrenching, tear-jerking efforts she put into the two previous decades. MC was a trailblazer, and continues to be one as you will see in the upcoming lists. To say that Mariah leans only on past achievements, and relies too heavily on titles like “Queen of Christmas” or “Queen of Memes” diminishes the fact that the upkeep of the legacy she’s built for herself requires time and hard work.

#mariah carey #all i want for christmas is you #merry christmas #song list #playlist #spotify #JusticeForGlitter #Loverboy2020

[thesportssoundoff]

“A damn good local guy main event on a card with plenty of latin flavor” The UFC Fight Night Argentina Preview

Joey

November 12th, 2018

The UFC schedule churns onward and upwards and we're back on the international loop, fellas! After toe touching in Chile, the UFC heads to Argentina for what feels like a way overdue debut. They're not bringing their A game card (and injuries have hurt it) but like some of the other Fight Nights we've seen recently; a really decent top three filled with prospects underneath give the illusion of depth and intrigue. It helps that this card has a ready made main event with Ponz heading home to Argentina to take on Neil Magny in a battle of bottom top 10 welterweights. Darren Elkins vs Ricardo Lamas is an acceptable if absolutely dull co-main event. Helping assist the main card you got a tremendous women's strawweight fight and an intriguing light heavyweight fight. The rest of the card is a combination of debutants, short notice dudes, filler fights with "local" guys and a few intriguing lighter weight fights.

Fights: 12

Debuts: Anderson dos Santos, Jesus Pinedo, Ian Henisch, Johnny Walker, Laureano Staropoli

Fight Changes/Injury Cancellations: 7 (Veronica Macedo OUT, Ariane Lipski IN vs Maryna Moroz/  Maryna Moroz vs Ariena Lipski CANCELLED/Enrique Barzola OUT, Sergio Giglio IN vs Nad Narimani/Sergio Giglio OUT, Anderson dos Santos IN vs Nad Narimani/Tom Breese OUT, Ian Heinesch IN vs Cezar Mutante/Alessio DiChirico vs Jared Cannonier CANCELLED, Claudio Puelles OUT, Jesus Pinedo IN vs Devin Powell)

Headliners (fighters who have either main evented or co-main evented shows in the UFC): 6 (Neil Magny, Santiago Ponzinibbio, Ricardo Lamas, Darren Elkins, Cynthia Calvillo, Cezar Mutante)

Fighters On Losing Streaks in the UFC: (Austin Arnett)

Fighters On Winning Streaks in the UFC: (Santiago Ponzinibbio, Neil Magny, Poliana Botelho, Michel Prezares, Bartosz Fabinski, Cezar Mutante)

Main Card Record Since Jan 1st 2016 (in the UFC):   35-14-1

Neil Magny- 4-2 Santiago Ponzinibbio- 5-0 Ricardo Lamas- 2-3 Darren Elkins- 6-1 Cezar Mutante- 5-1   Ian Heinesch- 0-0 Khalil Rountree- 3-2-1 Johnny Walker- 0-0 Guido Cannetti- 1-1 Marlon Vera- 4-3 Poliana Botelho- 2-0 Cynthia Calvillo- 3-1

Divisional Breakdown:

Welterweight- 3 Featherweight- 3 Women's Strawweight- 1 Flyweight- 1 Middleweight- 1 Bantamweight- 1 Light Heavyweight- 1 Lightweight- 1

Too Low- Poliana Botelho vs Cynthia Calvillo

What if I could make an argument, somewhat compellingly, that this fight should be the co-main event. Think of it this way; the 115 lb division is beginning to start to take steps towards bringing in a new crop of talented female fighters. Calvillo and Botelho are apart of that run---compared to Ricardo Lamas and Darren Elkins who have basically been checked back to the outskirts of the elite at 145 lbs. What's more, these two are proven finishers at 115 lbs and could be what's needed as women's strawweight is the division that throws the most strikes with the least amount of KO/TKO finishes behind it. This is a more compelling fight than Lamas vs Elkins is.

Too High Up- Michel Prezares vs Bartosz Fabinski

This fight is the prelim header and I'm disappointed.  I simply can't imagine this fight being remotely entertaining to anybody. Fabinski and Prezares are like minded grapplers who just sort of collide into each other willingly at short distances. It's not for me, man.

Stat Monitor for 2018:

Debuting Fighters (Current number: 28-36-1):  Anderson dos Santos, Jesus Pinedo, Ian Henisch, Johnny Walker, Laureano Staropoli

Short Notice Fighters (Current number: 29-25):  Ian Heinisch, Anderson dos Santos, Jesus Pinedo

Second Fight (Current number: 36-29-1): Hector Aldana, Nad Narimani

Cage Corrosion (Current number: 22-37):  0

Undefeated Fighters (Current number: 31-22-1):  0

Keeping An Eye On But Not Really: 0

Twelve Precarious Ponderings

1- This main event is all kinds of intriguing, even if the names on the billing aren't going to  make you consider this destination viewing. Neil Magny has been pretty damn tough to topple since about 2014 or so. His only losses are to Demian Maia, Lorenz Larkin and Rafael Dos Anjos and those three are no small jokes. In between that time he's got wins over Carlos Condit, Kelvin Gastelum, Hector Lombard, Johnny Hendricks and Erick Silva which may not sparkle now but were credible quality wins then. He's a tremendous "test" opponent who comes prepared, has the grappling to trouble anybody, is blessed with outstanding cardio and just wears on fighters. He's a blanket I suppose (3 finishes in his last 10 fights) but he has the tools to finish dudes and lit up Kelvin Gastelum a bit before opting to go with his wrestling. The danger with Magny is this feeling of inevitability whenever he's on the feet. You just get this sense that eventually something is going to touch him and he's going to lose his legs or have to fight off a big barrage. Against Lombard and Gastelum it worked; against Lorenz Larkin it didn't. He's the sort of guy who makes the best with what he has while also potentially hiding some hopeful untapped potential. Even if this is who he is, he's sort of a poor man's version of Kamaru Usman which is still a really good 170 lber.

Santiago Ponzinibbio is a different story entirely. It's not a joke to say that around this time last year, there were some who were frothing at the mouth of the idea of an all violence sort of takeover of 170 lbs led by dudes like Ponz, Darren Till, Mike Perry, Colby Covington and other members of the meatier parts of 170 like Elizeu Zaleski, Lyman Good, Vicente Luque and others. Ponz is the one dude of that group who hasn't had a chance to prove us either wrong OR wrong in 2018. We saw Till in two fights this year, we saw Covington (ONCE), we saw Perry perhaps more times than we've needed to and we've seen the action glut at the bottom half of the division have brawls while Covington, Usman and Maia have hurt out feelings at the top of the heap. Ponzinibbio beat Mike Perry in a Rock Em Sock Em war (after finishing Gunnar Nelson in the first round) and then disappeared. A late May headline spot in Chile vs Kamaru Usman was derailed due to a hand injury (the same hand Ponz broke on TUF and the same hand he might've hurt vs Mike Perry as well if memory serves) and now he gets the chance to headline in his native country of Argentina. Ponzinibbio is not without his flaws; he's defensively woeful at times, way too willing to engage and gamble on his hands and he often times lacks the back up plan needed if he gets hurt. That said, he's one of the funnest strikers in the UFC's 170 lb division and he'll be at home with a marquee win needed to make one final push into the real top of the 170 lb class. He's not quite on the level of Till, Woodley and Covington but outside of those guys, it's Wonderboy and Usman who might have a better claim to being contenders.

If Ponz wants a blueprint on how to give Magny troubles, the likes of Gastelum and Lombard provided one that he can follow to fruition; be patient, land when Magny willingly gives ground and then avoid pressing the issue when he's hurting. Conversely if Magny wants an easier gameplan on how to beat Ponz, Ryan LaFlare's idea of taking advantage of Ponz when he got too aggressive and finding the time and energy to put him on the canvas repeatedly would fit just fine. It's an intriguing fight; not one to pop a rating but one worthy of sinking your teeth into on this card.

2- The best part of the hometown advantage aspect of this fight is this; Ponz will be 'at home" but Magny has fought Maia in Brazil, Lombard in Australia, was willing to fight Nelson in Europe and fought Gastelum in Mexico. Those may not be perfect "hometown crowd" settings but the point is that Neil has never had an issue fighting a road game where he's the enemy to the audience. The pressure is probably on Ponz if we're being fair and honest.

3- We joke about 205 lbs but let's talk about 170 right quick and have a chit chat about its top of the division, using the UFC rankings for emphasis:

Tyron Woodley- Mid 30s, coming off shoulder surgery, likely fighting Covington Colby Covington- Fighting Woodley whenever, coming off some sort of nasal surgery Darren Till- Is he a WW? Will he go to MW? RDA- Fighting Kamaru Usman in late November, turned down Ponzinibbio in Argentina, already smoked Magny Wonderboy- Went from fighting Robbie Lawler in January to MIA in the interim Robbie Lawler- Ben Askrin in Jan Kamaru Usman- RDA in late November, seems like the sort of dude who will sit out if need be, apparently Covington turned down an interim fight with him back in the earlier parts of 2018 Demiam Maia- Smoked Magny in 2016, retiring in in two fights Neil Magny- Booked obviously Jorge Masvidal- Filming a reality show, apparently he and Magny have issues but they can't agree to a fight Ponz- Yoooo booked

Where does the winner go? If you're Neil Magny, you're not getting Woodley or Covington, Till is probably not an option, RDA beat you, Maia beat you and Usman is probably not fighting anybody outside of a title fight if he beats RDA. That means your best choice is who? Wonderboy feels like an easy fight to make but who knows if that's possible. If you're Ponz. There's a lot of opportunities available to you but how many of them are realistic? Lawler's booked up, RDA turned you down, Till and Ponz would make some sense since they were in preliminary talks to fight before Till got yanked to fight Cerrone in October before anything was official. Like most divisions, the title seems to be at a serious standstill and the contenders are just farting around in the mean time.

4- Really curious to see how this audience responds to Ponzinibbio. It's worth remembering Ponz fought on TUF Brazil and on the show spoke about having to fight in Brazil due to needing better support for his career. He's sort of the guy who might be stuck between two audiences BUT I do hope he gets a tremendous ovation in the main event. Things are more fun when crowds are engaged and excited.

5- Anybody get the feeling the winner of Lamas vs Elkins is going to get the Zhabit fight?

6- Putting Darren Elkins on a main card seems to bring bad vibes to cards so here's hoping Elkins doesn't have to bare the brunt of an impatient Argentine crowd.

7- Poliana Botelho vs Cynthia Calvillo is such a great little fight that I'm almost mad they put it together because it means some really good young fighter is about to ake a serious knock backwards in the division. Calvillo is so toolsy but Botelho seems to have a better understanding of how to use those tools. That said Calvillo probably learned more in a loss to Carla Esparza than Poliana learned in every fight she's had as a professional so it's going to be a fun toss up. Getting some Grasso vs Suarez type vibes from this one.

8- Shout out real quick to the Latin American countries represented on this show:

Argentina (Ponz, Guido Cannetti, Laureano Starpoli) Peru (Jesus Pinedo, Humberto Bandenay) Ecuador (Marlon "Chito" Vera)

Plus of course Mexico and Brazil repping Spanish America and South America as well. I still believe that the more good young talent we can bring in from counties in Latin America, the better off this sport is. MMA is better and has the propensity to potentially make a lot more money for a lot of people if everybody feels welcome and invited. Let's hope some of these guys and gals turn out to be pretty damn good.

9- I cannot believe the temerity to do Prezares vs Bartosz Fabinski. The fight equivalent of setting your pubes on fire.

10- Johnny Walker vs Khalil Rountree is an action fight between two fun flawed fighters. Rountree has basically saved his UFC career and turned it around in a big way with a 3-0-1 record in his last four fights. Walker is similar to Rountree just not anywhere near as athletic. Could make for a tremendous little slugfest in a division that plenty of folks are dragging right now.

11- Alexandre Pantoja and Ulka Sasaki are two guys who could be successful up in weight at 135 lbs but the way this division is going, the loser needs to be REALLY REALLY impressive.

12- Does Argentina get a follow up show after this?

#MMA #UFC #Ponz #RDA #Argentina #Magny #Lamas #Elkins #combat sports

[gocatboygo]

1-50 for Sarsaparilla?

ohhh my god skfjskdf sarsaparilla has no development whatsoever this is gonna be a blast and a half

1) which faction did they side with (NCR, legion, yes-man, or house)?

she sided with the legion from the time she saw vulpes in nipton bc Romam Armor Look Cool, cured caesar of his tumor & everything, and then just before the battle of hoover dam, assassinated caesar and sided with yes-man. she realized about halfway through her work for caesar that siding with the legion was never going to pay off and decided to Fool Him TM and then take vegas for herself

2) preferred armor?

OOF probably like… leather armor sdkfjsdk i dont know. she wore the tribal raiding armor at the very beginning of the game. she doesnt wear the legion uniform but i imagine her w some Legion Accessories TM like a mark of caesar on her chest or something

3) melee, guns, energy weapons, or unarmed?

melee babey

4) highest skills? secondary skills? lowest skills?

her highest skills are melee, stealth, and medicine (she polishes that up real nice when she realizes caesar has cancer). secondary skills are explosives and lockpick. lowest skills would have to be barter and survival :/

5) SPECIAL stats?

im just guessing at this point bc i dont remember them skdfjkd but i would say ST:5, PE:6, EN:4, CH:4, IN:6, AG:9, LK:9

6) what are their perks?

black widow, cherchez la femme, friend of the night, cannibal, scrounger, ninja

7) favorite companions? least favorite companions?

literally no one will hang out w her bc she’s legion ksdfjsd. she takes boone as a companion at the very beginning of the game and then she has to kill him. her fave would probably be cass, or raul, who is the Only Mf who will talk to her

8) any romantic partners? how do these relationships begin and end? are they healthy?

she thinks vulpes is hot for 0.2 seconds but she also thinks that about violet, gloria van graff, and some securitrons so i wouldnt worry about it

9) gender / sexuality / ethnicity / species / etc.?

cis female / bi / asian / human ((i just realized all my couriers are cis even though im trans as hell sdkfjsdkfsdj yikes))

10) where were they born/raised? when/why did they leave?

she doesn’t remember anything from b4 the bullet but she’s from new reno. she left because it’s new reno.

11) when, why and how did they become a courier? how long did they remain a courier before benny shot them?

she needed work after she left home and delivering packages didn’t seem terrible. she did it for like 2 years max before she got shot

12) how did the bullet affect them?

took out most of her memories (including her name) and sort of scrambled her good sense. she doesn’t feel very much fear, restraint, or remorse anymore, which is why she’s been doing All This recently

13) how did they deal with benny?

seduced him, slept with him, killed him in his sleep, and took his roomba yes-man

14) what’s their reputation with the ncr / the legion?

the ncr - fucking horrible she can barely go on the strip sdjfskdsd. pile body upon body babey. / the legion - superb. sparkling. if she weren’t a woman they’d even stop insulting her

15) what do the people in freeside think of them? the followers, the kings, the garrets, the van graffs?

the followers aren’t a fan of her because of all that legion business. the kings like her because she takes care of rex. the garrets generally dislike her. the van graffs like her a lot because she let them kill cass & did all their quests

16) what’s their reputation with goodsprings / novac / primm? (i know primm reputation was cut from the game but like let’s pretend for a minute sdkfjd)

goodsprings: bad bc she sided with the powder gangers kdsfjs / novac: she did come fly with me so its lookin alright! / primm: very mixed bc she’s pro-powder ganger but she also got them a new sheriff (meyer) 

17) what’s their reputation with the khans / the brotherhood / the boomers / the powder gangers?

the khans: she’s a Legion Ambassador… a shining monument of their new allies… Excellent and yet they know fuckall about her / bos: well she did blow up that whole bunker. / boomers: i dont remember / powder gangers: as i mentioned before she sided with them at goodsprings and made meyer a sheriff so they like her a lot. boxcars is happy to see her

18) what do the people on the strip think of them? the omertas, the white gloves, the chairmen, ncr military police, mr. house? do the gamblers like them?

the omertas: she did cachino’s quest so it’s pretty good / white gloves: idolized / chairmen: hey that’s the fink that killed benny / ncrmp: BAD / mr house: well considering the fact that she killed him, not excellent 

19) what is their motive for taking vegas?

literally just ‘she wants to’. the whole point of this courier was that she’s a no rules run, she’s lost a lot after the bullet scrambled her brain and she’s literally just doing whatever she wants to do

20) do they have a theme song?

no :(

21) what do they look like? how tall are they? are they attractive? any piercings, tattoos, scars?

she has black hair in the “blast back” style. pretty short, like 5′4″. no piercings or tattoos (but she probably gets a legion brand at some point w like the mars symbol or something). there’s of course a bullet scar on her head, and a few around her arms and torso.  

22) how old are they? do they know their birthday? if so, what’s their sign?

she’s in her early-mid twenties, very young. im not sure if she remembers her bday (probs not) but she’s a Sagittarius 

23) do they speak any languages other than english?

god no. she doesnt even try to learn latin jhjhkjgfkj she pronounces all of it wrong and caesar’s like please shut up,

24) can they read, write, do math, sing? did they ever receive an education?

she went to school in new reno so she can do all that. maybe not sing.

25) what were their parents like? are they still on good terms with their parents?

i honestly havent given it much thought. her parents were probably Just Okay TM. she doesn’t remember them.

26) what’s their d&d alignment? (bolded bc i really like that one ksdjfksd)

chaotic neutral, leaning into chaotic evil.

27) how’s their karma?

not great

28) how do they feel about killing people? do they try to avoid it?

like i said, the bullet messed w her remorse a lot, so it doesn’t particularly bother her anymore.

29) do they take chems? if yes, when and which ones?

yes, sometimes! usually mentats, buffout, med-x, or psycho.

30) do they gamble? where? is their luck good?

she likes to gamble. usually at the ultra-luxe. her luck is pretty good!

31) where do they usually sleep? do they have more than one home location? do they live with any other people?

she usually stays in the lucky 38, in her hotel room in novac, or in the tent Big C TM hooked her up with at the fort. if it comes to it she’ll sleep in the ncrcf. no one else really lives in her 38 save for the securitrons

32) what are their favorite weapons? where did they get these weapons?

her caesar’s fall collection legion-brand machete babeyyyy, one n only! she’ll also use a pistol (a light shining in darkness most of the time since u know she sides w joshua graham) or a police baton if that’s appropriate

33) do they flirt a lot? is it well-received?

yes she does and no it isnt! she licked vulpes. just. right on his visibly ugly face. one time she tried to climb yes-man

34) do they goof around a lot? do other people find it funny or do they just entertain themselves?

once again yes she does and no they do not! she’s doin it all for her, baby. chaotic neutral here we go

35) what do their companions think of them? are they close? have they done any companion quests?

the companions,, obviously dont think very well of her most of the time bc she’s legion. cass thinks she’s a Real Wild Card and respects her for that at first. raul doesn’t like her very much but he’ll still travel with her from time to time just to see what she Does TM.

36) why did you create them?

i wanted to do a no rules run! like i thought it would be cool to just. do the craziest things i could think of in fnv and do it all with one courier. and thus sarsaparilla was born

37) do they draw, paint, play any instruments?

hell no

38) how do they deal with injuries? do they use stimpaks, healing powder, med-x? does a companion help them? can they bear a lot of pain, or do they need to attend to injuries immediately? when they do have to see a doctor, do they have a preferred doctor, or do they just see anyone?

she uses all 3 depending on how bad the wound is. for minor wounds she uses healing powder because she has an abundance of it from the legion, but since she has fairly low endurance she often just has to use stimpaks & med-x. she’s not very tolerant to pain all of the time? but if she has a lot of adrenaline (which she comes by very easily) she can all but ignore it entirely. she doesnt have a preferred doctor

39) have they ever been irradiated? how did they deal with it? did it have lasting effects?

probably a few times but she just threw up and then took a bunch of rad-away and ended up fine. she’s never been damaged by radiation permanently 

40) in conversation, are they kind? gentle? sarcastic? rude? do they speak warmly and openly with people, or are they more guarded? do they talk a lot?

she’s somewhat talkative, she mostly says whatever pops into her head whenever it comes to mind so her talking is just. a big mess of Thoughts She Had. she likes making a lot of jokes that are mostly for her

41) do they like long journeys through the mojave, or do they prefer to travel more quickly? do they prefer using roads or travelling through the deep desert?

she likes to travel quickly. no time to waste! she’s almost always using the roads

42) name a random fact about your courier.

she thinks it’s really funny to blow vulpes’s cover whenever she sees him undercover on the strip & she almost gets killed every single time. oh holy shit it’s vulpes! vulpes inculta! spelled v-u-l-p– oh my god its the ncr mp quick vulpes take your dick out in this gift shop

43) do they watch movie holotapes? what are their favorites? least favorites?

yes but shes literally only seen blazing saddles, gladiator, and we bought a zoo

44) what do they do with the lucky 38? do they like being there? do they leave their companions there? if they’re a yes-man courier, do they open it back up as a casino?

she doesn’t leave companions there too often, like i said. she likes it pretty well bc of the robots and the hot water? but i think that she really prefers staying in hotels except for special occasions. she doesnt open it back up bc yes-man kills her sldkfjds great transition 

45) what do they do after hoover dam?

yes-man says fuck work and just absolutely murders her. hes like ok enough of this and finds a new human to do what he needs done skdfjksd

46) how do they die? how is their death received, by the mojave and by their companions?

yes-man fucking KILLS her ass! the mojave takes a great big breath of relief knowing they wont have to watch her shenanigans anymore skdjfds

47) what are their vices? are they an alcoholic, a thief, a hoarder?

oh boy literally all of them. she definitely steals a lot but thats literally just. a part of her “do whatever you want” complex that Is TM her greatest vice

48) can they cook, and if so, what do they cook? what are their favorite & least favorite foods?

she absolutely cannot. she likes pizza from the tops dskfjkds

49) did they kill caesar? vulpes inculta? what about prominent ncr figures, like kimball and colonel hsu?

yes she did kill caesar! her securitrons killed vulpes at hoover dam and she was power-tripping so hard she didn’t realize they’d already gotten to him. she probably didnt think about him again before she died. she didnt assassinate kimball herself but she definitely assisted in making the assassination go smoothly, and im sure her robots got to hsu sometime before she had yes-man throw oliver off the dam skdjfskd

50) what’s their happiest memory?

not to be fake deep but all this shit she does obviously causes more adrenaline than happiness. you could say that it’s when yes-man threw oliver off the dam, because that was her most exhilarating moment, or you could say that it was when she woke up in goodsprings, because it was the last time she was calm and being taken care of.

—

thank u so much if u read all this and thank you for sending me this ask. it took a long time but its a good exercise like i said skdfjsdf. send me more if these if yall have the heart, maybe not a whole 1-50 but like ! & please reblog my fnv courier questions post because i do think its nice, bye

#courier 6 #sarsaparilla #fnv #long post

[disndatradio]

It’s A Good Time To Be Bad Bunny

The name Ocasio derives from the Spanish “ocasión,” which means what you think it means: an occasion, a time. According to Ancestry.com, most people named Ocasio are Puerto Rican, in heritage if not in residence, and the word’s “meaning as a surname” is unclear.

What is clear is Puerto Ricans named Ocasio are living up to their names by having a moment in 2018 — or at least two of them are. There is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the 28-year-old Democratic socialist who upended the incumbent in the New York primary this past spring and appears to be a lock to win a Congressional seat next week. When you Google “Ocasio,” the results are all about her. But another Ocasio is taking the world by storm this year, maybe even more so than the presumptive Congresswoman from New York’s 14th. His name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, but the world knows him as Bad Bunny.

Many English speakers had their proper introduction to Bad Bunny this past spring, when he featured alongside Cardi B and J Balvin on “I Like It,” a song from Cardi’s Invasion Of Privacy that flipped Pete Rodriguez’s Nuyorican boogaloo classic “I Like It Like That” into an unstoppable hip-hop club crusher. “I Like It” went to #1 on the Hot 100 and was deemed by many (including the readers of this website) the song of the summer. It also, in the wake of hits like “Despacito” and “Mi Gente,” continued to firm up a lane for Spanish language in the American pop mainstream, with both Bad Bunny and Balvin, from Colombia, delivering their verses in their native tongues as usual.

Since then Bad Bunny has popped up on a brisk reggaeton-house banger called “Está Rico” alongside Marc Anthony and Will Smith and released “Mia,” a Drake duet on which Drake performs entirely in Spanish. Now, Drake is a champion wave-rider who will seemingly hop on a song with any rising star he thinks will score him some cool points. I’m sure he’s accomplishing some serious brand expansion with his turn on “Mia.” Although I must admit he sounds quite fluent, hearing him rap and sing in Spanish on a Latin trap star’s song gives me the same awkward feeling of watching white American tourists attempt to show off by speaking the local language in a foreign country. On the other hand, imagine the triumph for Bad Bunny: The biggest star in music is guesting on your song, and he’s the one caught in your gravitational pull.

Bad Bunny, 24, grew up skateboarding and watching pro wrestling in Almirante Sur, Puerto Rico, the son of a truck driver and a retired schoolteacher. He famously started posting songs to SoundCloud a few years ago while working as a grocery store bagger and studying communications at the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo. His single “Diles” (“Tell Them”) got him signed in early 2016, and by the end of the year he had a breakout hit with “Soy Peor” (“I’m Worse”). In the ensuing two years, he’s piled up hits and become one of the biggest names in the Spanish-speaking music world. Although he has yet to release an album — his official debut The New Religion is supposedly well underway — the Bad Bunny Essentials playlist on Apple Music is 50 songs long, spanning three hours and 35 minutes.

As one of the defining figures in Latin trap, Bad Bunny operates within a young tradition, combining reggaeton (and its Dominican cousin, dembow) with the Atlanta trap sounds that now rule American hip-hop. In various proportions, hip-swinging Caribbean club beats are paired with moody keyboard patches and heavily Auto-Tuned sing-rapping. The sound is as rampant within the Spanish-speaking diaspora as Migos ripoffs in the English-speaking rap world, and Bad Bunny has mastered it. He deploys his deep baritone with a rapper’s rhythmic mastery and a singer’s ear for melody — repeatedly hammering on one or two notes, suddenly spiking upward in dynamic flourishes, his voice subtly fraying at the edges when he dips into the bottom of his range.

Bad Bunny’s music helped to codify the sound of Latin trap, but he’s also a bit of a wild card within that framework. He’s definitely a live wire on the mic, known for unfiltered emotional outpourings and explicit sexual narratives. Both impulses were on display in his first two big hits: “Diles” errs toward the lascivious, with Bunny instructing his lover to let the people know how effective he is in bed, while “Soy Peor” finds him lashing out against an ex in language that — oblivious English speaker beware — is not so different from Juice WRLD’s toxic emo rap. But what really stands out is his idiosyncratic personal style. If his fluid low-register vocals and tendency toward dark rumination put him in parallel with Future’s digital codeine blues, his colorful visual presence marks him as Latin trap’s answer to Young Thug, Atlanta’s eccentric-in-chief.

This is a man with a personal aesthetic. He refused a stylist for his Fader cover story, dressing himself instead and looking better than most people in a glossy magazine feature. He recently showed up on the American Music Awards red carpet with a third eye painted on his forehead and kept it there during his performance. Like Thugger, he often subverts gender norms in fashion via elaborately painted nails or pink hair. His collection of tiny glasses probably makes Kanye jealous. I can’t wait to see what he looks like at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade three weeks from now.

Watching this iconoclastic Puerto Rican superstar waltz into one America’s most sanitized holiday traditions — at a time when the president and his affiliates are working hard to dehumanize and erase Hispanics in this country — will be a trip. It also might generate whiplash when compared with the current predicament of Puerto Rico, which remains in a state of prolonged recovery following last year’s Hurricanes Irma and Maria, partially thanks to that same president’s denial and neglect of the catastrophic damage.

It’s a cruel twist of fate that Bad Bunny’s rise has coincided with a period of deep struggle for his homeland. According to the Fader feature, as of last summer his parents’ home was still without electricity, and he personally showed up back in Almirante Sur to distribute food, water, and generators in the aftermath of the storms. In his celebratory summer hit “Estamos Bien” — which translates loosely to “We Good” — he acknowledges his fortunate circumstances in context. Translated from Spanish to English, the chorus reads, “Don’t worry, we’re fine/ With or without one hundred bills/ But having them is not bad.”

He seems on track to keep piling those dollars up. Continued domination of the Latin trap scene is close to inevitable. Furthermore, “Mia” just debuted at #5 on the Hot 100, a wildly impressive feat for a song performed entirely in Spanish. With a foothold from that song and “I Like It” he may be primed to start landing singles in the American rap mainstream without assists from bulletproof hit-makers like Drake or Cardi. It will be very interesting to see how far Bad Bunny and his Latin trap peers can burrow into pop culture. Lord knows trunk-rattlers like “Chambea” and trap ballads like “Dime Si Te Acuerdas” hold their own against the latest from Tyga or Post Malone. There’s rarely been a better opportunity for a full-fledged crossover, and Bad Bunny is rising to the occasion.

CHART WATCH

For the third week in a row, Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born soundtrack is the #1 album in America. Per Billboard, it’s the first soundtrack to spend its first three weeks at #1 in 11 years, since High School Musical 2 in 2007. For theatrical movies, you have to go back to Bad Boys II in 2003.

A Star Is Born is now Lady Gaga’s longest-standing #1 album as well, surpassing Born This Way’s two-week run in 2011. The soundtrack can thank strong sales for its continued dominance: Of its 109,000 equivalent album units this week, 61,000 are from people actually buying a copy of the record. By contrast, Future and Juice WRLD’s collaborative album WRLD On Drugs, which enters at #2 with 98,000 units, only did 8,000 in actual sales. It’s Future’s 10th top 10 album and Juice WRLD’s second following this year

Debuting at #3 with 87,000 units/80,000 sales is Anthem Of The Peaceful Army, the debut full-length by Led Zeppelin enthusiasts Greta Van Fleet. It’s followed at #4 by the debut of Disturbed’s Evolution with 71,000 units/65,000 sales. After Lil Wayne, Lil Baby and Gunna, and Drake comes the #8 debut of Khalid’s Suncity EP with 50,000 units/9,000 sales. Travis Scott and Post Malone round out the top 10.

Over on the Hot 100, Maroon 5 and Cardi B’s “Girls Like You” somewhat surprisingly holds on to #1 for a sixth straight week. Here’s a weird stat via Billboard: It’s now the longest-running #1 hit by a group (defined as three or more people) since MAGIC!’s “Rude” lasted six weeks back in summer ’14.

Hopping from #7 to #2 thanks to the release of its music video is Travis Scott’s “Sicko Mode,” which becomes Scott’s highest charting song as a lead artist — this after he went to #2 as a guest on Kodak Black’s “Zeze” last week. “Sicko Mode” also features Drake, who for some reason is not credited as a featured artist on the album but is credited in the video. Juice WRLD’s “Lucid Dreams” remains at #3, followed by Marshmello and Bastille’s “Happier” at a new #4 peak. It’s Marshmello’s biggest US hit to date and ties Bastille’s peak position with 2014’s “Pompeii.” It’s also the first song that has charted on Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart to reach the Hot 100 top five this year.

Post Malone’s “Better Now,” Kodak Black/Travis Scott/Offset’s “Zeze,” 5 Seconds Of Summer’s “Youngblood,” and Lil Baby and Gunna’s “Drip Too Hard” are #5 through #8. Another Post Malone song, the Swae Lee duet “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse)” debuts at #9. It’s Post’s fifth top 10 hit and Swae’s second following the French Montana collab “Unforgettable.” Khalid and Normani’s “Love Lies” rounds out the top 10.

POP FIVE

Carly Rae Jepsen – “Party For One” “Run Away With Me” this is not, but it’s good! Good enough that I’m not panicking about the long-awaited follow-up to E*MO*TION. It sounds like CRJ might be angling for radio play, like she did with “I Really Like You” ahead of the last album, before settling into her well-established role as a critically acclaimed underdog-juggernaut. Then again, will radio play a song about “making love to myself” at this point in history? I can’t tell anymore.

Mariah Carey – “A No No” All these new Mariah Carey singles have been fantastic. This one effortlessly infuses its late ’90s R&B core with jittery trap programming and brisk diva house without ever coming close to sounding like “trap house.” It slaps.

Imagine Dragons – “Machine” Coming from arguably the most consistent pop hit-makers in rock, “I’m not a part of your machine, I am the machine” is some kind of twisted spin on Jay-Z’s immortal “I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man.” As a longtime Imagine Dragons antagonist, I gotta admit, these guys are finding stranger and more inventive ways to be infectiously obnoxious. In this case it’s kinda like “We Will Rock You” crossed with Mr. Big’s “Be With You,” but with an ambiguous message about being your own person, or something.

Mumford & Sons – “If I Say” I feel like Mumford & Sons are getting better at being Coldplay — or, like, Damien Rice fronting Coldplay. Whether I could withstand a whole album of this much melodrama remains to be seen, but this song really goes for it with the orchestration and it pays off.

Kiiara – “L*** Is A Bad Word” Kiiara was a bad word for a while there during her ill-advised post-Iggy rap phase, but this pop move is doing it for me big time. It sounds like they threw everything at the wall, it all stuck, and then they meticulously carved it from there. It sounds like wearing three or four clashing patterns that somehow cohere into a surprisingly pleasing aesthetic. I think the understated vocal amidst so much noise is what seals it.

NEWS IN BRIEF

That viral photo of “Justin Bieber” eating a burrito sideways was a prank. [Newsweek]

Here’s Ariana Grande singing “The Wizard And I” from NBC’s A Very Wicked Halloween. [YouTube]

And here’s Ariana Grande singing “God Is A Woman” backed by an orchestra and choir for her BBC Music special. [YouTube]

Iggy Azalea tweeted than she wants to leave Island (“I feel I would be better off if I could make my own timeline etc choices and I have the funds to do it”) but then she deleted it. [SOHH]

Panic! At The Disco covered Outkast’s “Hey Ya!” for Spotify. [Spotify]

Shawn Mendes remade Lost In Translation in the video for his Zedd collab “Lost In Japan.” [YouTube]

Alessia Cara revealed the cover and tracklist of new album The Pains Of Growing, out 11/30 via Def Jam. [Twitter]

5 Seconds Of Summer released a cover of “Killer Queen.” [YouTube]

Little Mix and Nicki Minaj released a video for “Woman Like Me.” [YouTube

Halsey released a video for “Without Me.” [YouTube]

2 Chainz launched his own weed brand, Gas Cannabis Co. [High Snobriety]

Clean Bandit’s “Baby,” featuring Luis Fonsi & Marina, is out tonight. [Instagram]

So is Katy Perry’s cover of “Waving Through A Window” from Dear Evan Hansen. [Billboard]

Diana Ross, John Legend, Bad Bunny, Kane Brown, Sugarland, and Ella Mai will be part of this month’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. [Business Insider]

HOLD ON, WE’RE GOING HOME

What they don’t tell you is that they were rated out of a Maroon 10

— Julian McCullough (@julezmac) October 30, 2018

Source link

source https://disndatradio.com/its-a-good-time-to-be-bad-bunny/

[reverseskydives]

15 Essentials to Creating a Trust-Boosting YouTube Profile Page

Did you know that more than 500 million hours of videos are watched on YouTube each day?

That’s mind-boggling!

But here’s what’s really crazy.

In 2017, “more video content is uploaded in 30 days than the major U.S. television networks have created in 30 years.”

These two stats demonstrate just how huge YouTube and video marketing in general have become.

And what I really love about video as compared to other mediums is the trust-building opportunity it presents.

Don’t get me wrong.

Traditional blogging, guest-posting and other text-based formats are great.

But they have inherent limitations when compared to video.

Someone can read one of my blog posts and get a feel for my personality, style, sense of humor and so on.

But watching even a brief video lets them see the whole package:

They can see me, hear my voice, read my body language and get a feel for what I’m really like as a person.

With trust being such an integral part of marketing, video is almost a necessity and should be a part of any well-rounded campaign.

This leads us to a very important question.

How do you create a trust-boosting YouTube profile page?

In this post, I’ll cover some essential elements your YouTube page should have as well as some practical tips for engaging your viewers.

1. Start with a customized banner

Here’s Gary Vaynerchuk’s YouTube page:

And here’s Pat Flynn’s:

Both have solid followings and are well trusted in their industries.

Once I land on their YouTube homepages, one of the first things my eyes are drawn to is their professional, fully customized banners.

They both pop from an aesthetic standpoint and lend an air of legitimacy to their channels.

I can’t stress enough how vital your banner is.

Not only does it need to look great, it needs to capture the essence of your brand.

That’s what I aimed for with my YouTube banner:

I suggest staying away from a generic banner and creating a customized image tailored to your brand.

Check out the YouTube Banner Maker from FotoJet for more on this.

2. Beef up your About section

Have you ever heard the term tabula rasa?

It’s Latin for blank slate.

And that’s how I like to think of first-time visitors to a YouTube channel.

They’ve probably never heard of you, have zero idea of what you’re about and have no clue what type of content you cover.

Your job is to quickly and succinctly tell them what your channel is about.

The description on your About page needs to be spot on.

Here’s a great example from Brian Dean’s YouTube page:

In just a few words, the opening line explains precisely what his channel is about.

From there, visitors can read on for more details.

But the first line immediately grabs the attention of most of his demographic.

Pat Flynn also does a great job of this:

Be sure you’re following this same formula with your About page.

3. Nail it with your “explainer” video

Whenever visitors first land on a YouTube homepage, they’re presented with an introduction, or “explainer” video.

This gives them a brief overview of the channel and informs them about the theme, subject matter, etc.

If you’re a big brand like TED Talks, you can slap up pretty much any video you want because you’re already established.

There’s already built-in trust.

But what if you’re a fledgling brand, trying to get your name out there?

You need to explain your mission and what you do.

This is how I approached my YouTube profile page:

Chris Ducker does something similar with his “YouTube Channel Intro:”

I recommend doing this with your homepage video because it will answer first-time viewers’ questions, spark interest and create some initial trust.

4. Record in HD

Presentation is everything.

The last thing you want is to create grainy, low-quality videos on your channel.

You need to record in HD.

In fact, a study analyzing 1.3 million YouTube videos found that “68.2% of all videos on YouTube’s first page are in HD.”

It’s a significant ranking factor.

These days, standard definition isn’t going to cut it.

If you expect people to take you seriously, you need your content to be in HD.

And if you need help making HD videos on YouTube, check out this video.

5. Record videos just under 15 minutes

One of the biggest questions new YouTubers have is about the length of their videos.

Some prefer quick snippets, while others opt for longer, more in-depth content.

According to research,

the average length of a video ranking on the first page of YouTube is 14 minutes, 50 seconds.

So just under 15 minutes.

YouTube even confirmed that video “watch time” is a definitive ranking signal:

This doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right length for everyone.

In fact, most of my videos are considerably shorter.

But it’s a pretty good length to aim for, especially if you’re just starting out and looking to build trust with your audience.

Just under 15 minutes should allow you to explain a topic in-depth without overwhelming your viewers.

6. Upload at least one new video per week

The other main question is, “How frequently should I upload a new video?”

Most experts would agree it should be at least once a week.

That’s the frequency Marie Forleo sticks with.

However, two or three times should work as well.

Your goal is to build your subscriber base by supplying viewers with fresh content so that they don’t forget about you or lose interest.

But at the same time, you don’t want to overwhelm them by posting every day.

Creating one to three videos per week is a safe bet.

7. Encourage comments

Comments are one of the main forms of currency YouTube uses to decide where to rank videos.

Just look at how the higher number of comments correlates with higher rankings:

Comments can also boost your trustworthiness, especially when they’re positive.

Just think about it.

Which would you take more seriously?

A video with five comments or 5,000?

I know I’m a little skeptical when the comment section of a YouTube video is a ghost town.

If no one else cares, why should I?

My point here is you should get in the habit of encouraging your viewers to leave their comments and weigh in with their opinions.

Better yet, ask a question at the end of each video to spark a discussion.

8. Encourage likes and shares

Likes and shares are other key forms of YouTube currency.

Not only does this type of engagement correlate with higher rankings, it can crank up the level of trust the viewers feel toward you as well.

Of course, getting a high number of likes and shares is easier said than done.

But asking viewers to engage by using a CTA at the end of a video will help.

Here’s a really simple script you can use:

Thanks for watching this video. Be sure to leave your comments and like or share if you found this content helpful.

9. Bring in influencers

What if your brand equity is only so-so?

One of the quickest ways to elevate it is to feature a well-known influencer on your channel.

That’s what Pat Flynn did a few years ago:

This particular video was posted on Halloween 2014, back when Pat could still be considered an up-and-comer.

It obviously paid off and helped him elevate his brand and gain more recognition.

This isn’t to say that you need to feature someone of a Gary Vee status to make an impact.

Just try to find someone with a big enough following to make a splash.

Getting in touch with someone via YouTube is easy.

Just click on the “Send message” box on the About page:

10. Be helpful without ulterior motives

Content marketing differs from most conventional outbound techniques in that it provides value without asking for anything in return.

It’s more about helping the consumer than shamelessly promoting your product.

And this is why content marketing is so effective.

Most people are sick and tired of being barraged by ads.

Just look at the growth of ad blocking software over the past several years:

Adblock Plus, the world’s most popular ad blocking extension, has been downloaded over 500 million times!

The moment you blatantly try to push your product on YouTube viewers is the moment you lose their trust.

Instead, place your focus on helping and informing your viewers without having any ulterior motives:

Obviously, you’re looking to promote your brand, but taking this approach will boost your trustworthiness and ultimately lead to sales.

11. Redirect viewers to helpful resources

You can cover a lot in your videos, and your knowledge goes a long way.

But you’ll never have all the answers.

Often, it makes more sense to send your viewers to external resources, where they can learn more about the topic.

This is just another way to prove you’re genuinely invested in helping, which is huge for boosting trust.

12. Create an intimate feel

What I love about YouTube is that it allows me to connect with my audience in a way that isn’t possible with most other mediums.

When creating your videos, it’s super important that you achieve an intimate feel and come across as personable and approachable.

HubSpot pulls this off well.

Even though they’re a fairly big company, most of their videos are delivered in a direct, one-on-one manner.

13. Stick to your niche

I didn’t get to where I am today by trying to wear a bunch of hats.

My focus has primarily been on business and digital marketing, and I haven’t strayed from it.

Just look at the topics of my YouTube videos:

They all fall under that umbrella.

I’m not saying you should pigeonhole yourself into a single micro-niche, but you need to stay focused on your area of expertise.

This will enable you to be recognized as an authority and help you build trust.

Otherwise, being seen as a generalist can hurt your credibility.

14. Promptly respond to comments

A survey from Altitude found that

84% of consumers expect companies to respond within 24 hours after posting on social media.

But in reality, most people expect it even quicker than that.

I’ve heard that some people even expect a response within 30 minutes!

The bottom line is when someone takes the time to leave a comment, they want to know you’re seeing it and they want to be acknowledged quickly.

I realize it’s not feasible to respond to every single comment within minutes. That would require you to live on YouTube.

But you should try to respond within 24 hours.

It’s going to help you from a trust standpoint and can lead to some extremely loyal subscribers.

15. Live-stream a portion of your content

The concept of live video is fairly new.

But it’s blowing up like crazy, and YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and others all have their own versions of live streaming.

Not only can viewers watch you in real time, they can send in their comments and questions live.

For YouTube, you need to have at least 1,000 subscribers, so it’s not viable for tiny channels.

But if you have 1,000+ subscribers, I highly suggest doing live streaming for at least some of your content.

Just check out this guide from YouTube to learn more about live streaming.

Conclusion

The amount of trust you’re able to build with your audience directly impacts their receptiveness to your brand and their likelihood of buying.

That’s why trust building should be at the forefront of your mission.

Fortunately, YouTube is the perfect resource for building trust that can spill over to your broader marketing campaign.

It’s just a matter of zooming in on the right areas and following the essentials.

What makes you trust a brand on YouTube?

from Social Media Marketing http://ift.tt/2tUI7cF via Social Media Marketing

#Social Media Marketing

[thesportssoundoff]

“Pretend it’s August and enjoy a damn good show” UFC 213 Preview

Joey

July 6th

The UFC's annual post 4th of July big PPV has arrived and it's...pretty good. UFC 213 is more or less a victim of immeeasurable expectations. Every year regardless of the drama and the stupidity which dominates MMA, you can always count on the 4th of July show to deliver the goods. This year? Well not quite. It's a fine show, don't get me wrong. The main card features two very good title fights, a pretty damn good HW fight which could easily be a #1 contender fight if we are to believe that Cain Velasquez is on another back injury fueled hiatus plus a really intriguing lightweight fight designed almost entirely to determine if Anthony Pettis is broken or not. The prelims are certainly fine even if a few of the fights hoarding undercard space are questionable in their merits of being on a card like this. At the same time, it's still a pretty solid event that can't be punished for not being post 4th of July worthy or for not being the show that UFC 214 seems set to be. View it on its own and its a fine enough show.

Fights: 12

Debuts: 4 (Cody Stamman, Terrion Ware, Trevin Giles and James Bochnovic)

Fight Changes/Injury Cancellations: 3 (TJ Dillashaw/Cody Garbrandt cancelled, Donald Cerrone/Robbie Lawler cancelled, Alan Jouban out, Chad Laprise IN vs Brian Camozzi)

Headliners (fighters who have either main evented or co-main evented shows in the UFC): (Valentina Shevchenko, Amanda Nunes, Yoel Romero, Robert Whittaker, Jim Miller, Fabricio Werdum, Alistair Overeem, Anthony Pettis, Travis Browne)

Fighters On Losing Streaks in the UFC: 3 (Daniel Omiealnczuk, Travis Browne, Jordan Mein)

Fighters On Winning Streaks in the UFC: 6 (Valentina Shevchenko, Amanda Nunes, Yoel Romero, Robert Whittaker, Gerald Meerschaert, Douglas Silva da Andrade)

Stat Monitor for 2017 (with an event the night before, these will have to be cleaned up come fight time):

Debuting Fighters (Current number: 16-18)- 4 (Terrion Ware, James Bochnovic, Trevin Giles, Cody Stamman)

Short Notice Fighters (Current number: 10-17)- 1 (Chad Laprise)

Second Fight (Current number: 19-18)- 1 (Brian Camozzi)

Cage Corrosion (2-2)- 0

Twelve Precarious Ponderings

1- Much has and will be made about the first fight between Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevechenko. While I'm not going to say to throw it out (because that'd be idiotic), I do think there's reason to not expect a repeat of the 1st fight with two more rounds tacked on. For starters, Amanda Nunes has improved in every fight she's been in even if you throw out the Ronda fight for obvious reasons. If cardio isn't something you can improve then cardio maintenance is something you can. She does to her credit seem way more patience and less bullish, opting to instead swarm with patience and precision over aggression. Similarly people are talking like Shevhchenko is going to decision Nunes but Valentina was very honest that the decision loss to Nunes made her more aggressive. As such, it's entirely possible she'll come out with more urgency off the chute especially when she knows her cardio can hold up. Lastly this has become a bit of a bad blood fight and those tend to involve a level of "throw the book out the window" to them.

2- So seriously, who is next for the winner? Shevchenko vs Nunes III would be an....interesting decision to take the division. If she wins, Shevchenko's got some cred in Latin America (Peru and all) so maybe if you're really looking to pop a market out in South America, you can have her headline on free TV vs a Sara McMann/Ketlen Vieira? It's crazy to even fathom this but Holly Holm might be the one best equipped to fight for the title at 135 lbs. Unless you're ready for that Rocky Pennington title shot. I mean I know I am.

3- Would another win over Valentina Shevchenko give Amanda Nunes the greatest WMMA resume of all time?

4- Lost in the discussion of Whittaker vs Romero is the fact that Yoel Romero tends to finish people late in fights. For all of the discussion about cardio and how he applies it, Romero's not a guy who shuts it down late in a fight. There's only been one fight where he simply didn't have anything left and that was vs Jacare in a fight where he dominated the first round and comfortably won the second round.

5- Another point of contention; Yoel's TDD is amazing but his offensive wrestling at times is rather clunky and shuntsy. Robert Whittaker's takedown defense is very good but his scrambling game is absolutely fantastic. Now the argument could (and maybe should) be made that Romero on top of you is different than Jacare or anybody else but Whittaker is not a guy who is bothered by wrestlers. The fighters who have given him problems are the sort of   guys who can pop his so-so striking defense frequently enough to give him pause while also forcing him to fight going backwards (Brunson and Thompson).

6- Speaking JUST in an MMA context, I would almost make the argument that Fabricio Werdum's striking is better than Alistair Overeem's striking. Obviously in a K1/Glory setting, Overeem would work Werdum but  Werdum's combinations, aggression and versatility are backed by his always outstanding grappling and sub game. That in my estimation actually works to amplify his striking chops. Overeem's wrestling has come a very long way and the last time out it was his ability to wrestle which helped him take a decision over Werdum. But let's not talk about the 2nd Werdum/Overeem fight, k?

7- The UFC picked a rather perfect opponent to find out if Anthony Pettis is truly washed up as an elite level mixed martial artist. Jim Miller is NOT the sort of guy who is going to test Pettis from an athletic standpoint but few men in the UFC have Miller's guts, toughness, adaptability and grappling chops. Miller's been on the upswing recently; having beaten up on Thiago Alves, finishing Takanori Gomi and giving Joe Lauzon fits in a very good fight. Throw in a Dustin Poirier war and a half and there's plenty to be giddy about for Miller's recent career trajectory. On the other hand, Pettis simply hasn't been the same since his fight vs Rafael Dos Anjos all those moons ago. The book on Pettis is out; pressure him so that he can't throw any of his flashy stuff, dare him to hurt you with his hands and if the heat gets too much, take him down and defend subs because he's not going to rush back up to his feet. Curious to see if Pettis still has the skills to use his athletic gifts vs a quality opponent or if he's been broken completely.

8- Speaking of broken completely, Travis Browne is in a weird spot isn't he? Remember that he's still younger than every HW in the top 6 sans Stipe and Ngannou.

9- Belal Muhammad vs Jordan Mein is a really interesting fight on paper, primarily because both guys are at very pivotal points in their careers. For Mein; he's still ONLY 27 even if his time pre-Strikeforce almost borders on abuse. He's taken a crazy amount of punishment and in his last three or four fights, he's looked and fought like a guy who is having a tough time pulling the trigger and a tougher time sticking in when shit starts getting hairy. At 28 years old, Belal Muhammad has the talent to fight with the top of the 170 lb division but his chin seems to have a serious dent in it. He's relied more and more on his wrestling and his workrate to get him by. The loser of this fight takes a serious backwards step in the division.

10- Has Alistair Overeem officially hit that point in his UFC career where every major fight he's going to have is a rematch of some kind?

11- Thiago Santos vs Gerald Meerschaert is a really good intriguing fight on paper. Santos' loss to Mousasi was just a case of one guy being great and another guy being good---but the Spicely fight was a tough pill to swallow. He was outwrestled and submitted by a guy who they were trying to serve up as a can to him. Since then he had an amazing war with Jack Marshmann and NOW Santos gets another Spicely-type in Meerschaert. Gerald's one of those long time crafty veteran types who are murderous on the ground for novices or overenthusiastic fighters. Good test for both guys.

12- Last time Rob Font fought an aggressive Brazilian he essentially broke down and did dick all. Andrade is a similar type to Lineker minus the amazing chin, cardio. Same love of endless pressure and a pursuit of violence though.

Must Win

Yoel Romero

At 40 years old, there HAS to be a day where Yoel Romero finally turns old and he'll be just like everybody else at 185 lbs. The clock is ticking though and Romero has to know that the big fights with Bisping and Silva and company are on the line with this fight. Romero has to beat Robert Whittaker because otherwise you're going to be left out in the cold.

Anthony Pettis

I mean...duh? Pettis cannot lose this fight. They've found him the perfect opponent with a name to test him. If he loses to Jim Miller, I'm not even sure what you can do with him. He's barely 30, he's a name, he's lost 4 of his last 5 fights and hasn't improved since his days of subbing Benson Henderson.

Travis Browne

Yeah, look, I know Travis Browne is a bit of an undesirable kind of guy. I get it. This is still pro sports and sports are a microcosm of society where undesirable folks with talent will always get sheltered. Browne is still young for the UFC's heavyweight division at 34 years of age and chances are that if he can put his athletic gifts together with a MODICUM of "give a shit", he can still be a factor in the HW division. Oleksiy Olynik is a decent challenge for him, primarily because Olynik's grappling chops and his surprising pop make for a competent solid heavyweight.

Five Fights Not To Miss:

1- Yoel Romero vs Robert Whittaker

Robert Whittaker has never had a boring fight and stylistically, this is an awesome matchup. Two competent strikers; one an unorthodox throw it all to the wind brawler and the other a fantastic boxer. One is an amazing wrestler, the other has amazing takedown defense. Guys who can finish a fight at any moment's notice. Five rounds for them to work. It's a special fight and not one to miss.

2- Valentina Shevchenko vs Amanda Nunes

There's a decent chance that come late in the fight, things could get messy. It's a risk you have to be willing to take because rounds 1-3 could be really fun. I'm not counting Nunes out until she eventually loses, whenever that may be. Until it happens, I'm going to believe she's a more than live dog in this fight.

3- Jim Miller vs Anthony Pettis

It's been a long and peculiar fall from grace for Anthony Pettis but he's still very much a fun fighter to watch. Even if he's not quite the finish machine he used to be, he's still a special guy who, when on, can dazzle folks. Jim Miller is never in a boring fight and you know he's looking to be ultra impressive in this one.

4- Rob Font vs Douglas Silva da Andrade

Rob Font's offense is always a lot of fun and he took it to another level vs Matt Schnell. He gets a big challenge in Douglas Silva de Andrade who had a war and a half vs Henry Briiones. Think of this as a poor man's Lineker vs a poor man's Donald Cerrone in terms of fighting styles.

5- Trevin Giles vs Cody Bochnovic

Trevin Giles is one of those guys who is an utter wacko of a fighter and the sort of dude who is likely to rack up bonuses by virtue of how he almost always seems to be flirting with disaster each fight out. In the limited stuff I've seen of Bochnovic, I see a guy who might follow a similar path.

#MMA #UFC #UFC 213 #Romero #Whittaker