UFC London
14/03/22 - 20/03/22
Youtube Subscriber Count: 470
I have been very very foolish. As the deadlines for some assignments have begun to rear their heads coming to the close of March, I forgot that one of those deadlines was for one of the most important third-year assignments of all: my dissertation. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I have done nothing in preparation for the 10,000-word write-up, but if I had actually checked and not assumed the deadline was “sometime in May” I would’ve done a lot more. So, with that being said, I haven’t been able to progress with the channel as much as I would like to, but I have got some things done.
Firstly, I have completed the research stage of my Hemingway video and am now on the write-up stage. It is a shame that this write-up stage coincides with over 10,000-words worth of writing I need to do for my dissertation and another assignment, but it is what it is, and I will get it done and recorded before I head back home on the 1st of April. The one thing I am struggling with in regards to this video is the introduction. I have always prided myself on my ability to open and close a video (the stuff in between is debatable), so not being able to come up with a good enough introduction has already stumped me before getting into the gritty details. It also doesn’t help that my mind is a million miles away on a variety of topics both related and unrelated to university as well. Additionally, I have this to write up and my review on Slouching Towards Bethlehem.
You may be asking yourself: “Selador, why are piling all these extra stresses on yourself? Why don’t you just completely focus on university?” I asked myself that same question a lot. Realistically none of these “things I have to do” are really that bad, I know I can get it all done if I really wanted to, and plus I would love to someday get paid to be writing this, and the only way to get to that stage is to remain consistent regardless of whether anyone is reading or not. I think I am going to keep this up until June, see where the YouTube subscriber count is at, and then slide in a little Substack promotion before a video. Right now, my Substack link sits in the description of two of my videos, but I would be amazed if someone clicked on it. My plan is to hopefully make enough money from YouTube, Substack, and – maybe – Patreon, if I can justify it to myself. I think charging money for Substack is completely fair considering the whole point of this is to document my channel growth and the behind-the-scenes scenarios that come along with growing a channel, however, Patreon just seems like asking for money for no good reason. This doesn’t mean I will completely rule it out, but I would have to deliver a separate service in order to justify it to myself. We will see…
Either way, if I could get to July 1st and be making enough money to live off, I plan to travel, document my travels on this Substack, add additional monthly articles, make YouTube videos, and just enjoy myself. I have always wanted to be on the move and make money whilst doing it, and this could be my chance, so I am not going to throw away all the consistency and momentum because of some insignificant dissertation.
UFC London
Seeing as I got sideswiped by my looming deadlines this week and have progressed no further than completing the research stage on my video, I decided to write about UFC London. I have been following the UFC since Jon Jones fought Alexander Gustafsson the second time in late 2018. There may have been a couple of events I took notice of around this time, but that fight was the first I ever stayed up for. Since that night I have been keeping up with the UFC on the regular and occasionally (and when convenient) have been staying up for multiple events. However, it wasn’t until 2020 when I would say I became a huge fan of the UFC. I am still a casual at heart, and I love being a casual; for me, there is nothing better than enjoying something at its surface value and not feeling the need to try to be an expert – sometimes being ignorant is more fun. When I watch fights, I enjoy them for what they are, and I don’t try to pretend I know everything about what I’m watching; UFC is just a thing that occurs in the background, and every once in a while, an event will come round where I will make a day of the event, which is something I don’t get to do that often. Last night (UFC London) was one of those nights….
For starters, the event took place at good GMT times. The number of times I have had to stay up all night and sacrifice the following day for a UFC event is too much to count. You can’t blame the UFC for it, but it does get annoying when the choice between watching an event and not watching an event is the choice between ruining your Sunday or not ruining your Sunday. But I digress.
UFC London was the best card I have seen this year, and that is not saying much because I am not someone who watched every single card this year, but that is, however, my opinion. It is great to see England have some talent that could actually reach gold. Ever since Darren Till got knocked out in 2019, his chances at getting the belt have been up in the air, whereas Leon Edwards has been sidelined for a title shot so long most people forgot about him. Luckily for Edwards, he has recently been confirmed to fight Usman, and I have been saying for a while now that Edwards is the guy to beat Usman; if not him, then nobody can – besides Khamzat Chimaev. However, since these two front runners for British MMA have been out of the limelight, it felt as if the British could never quite develop high-level fighters that could compete with the Top 5 guys in their respective divisions. Until last night.
There are two guys who seem destined for gold who fought last night: Tom Aspinall and Muhammed Mokaev. Two men who both started the night and ended it. I will begin with the latter.
Mokaev possesses the overwhelming and immovable quality of being from Dagestan. When I saw a photograph on Twitter of Mokaev posing on the scales, I immediately recognized his body as being similar to Khabib’s. I tried to explain it to my flatmate who is also a UFC fan but struggled to get the words. Mokaev’s body is – what me and my friend term – a “fridge body”, yet his abs are very slim in the middle. Honestly, I can’t explain it any more than that but have a look at the photo of Mokaev at the ceremonial weigh-ins on Friday and compare it with one of Khabib’s and you will understand what I mean. Those Dagestanis are legitimately built different.
As for the fight itself, Mokaev really could not have done anymore to put the Flyweight division on notice: he kneed the victim in the face and very quickly submitted him. Mokaev has said that he is looking to break Jon Jones’ record of becoming the youngest UFC champion (Jones was champion at age 23, Mokaev is currently 21), and I believe he can do it. The Flyweight division’s talent pool is shallow, and Mokaev seems to be hungry enough and well-rounded enough to plow through the contenders like a hot knife through butter and touch gold. I won’t lie, I have been sleeping on this guy until I saw him fight yesterday, so recency bias does play a factor in what I am saying. But fuck it, I am a believer.
Secondly, we have Tom Aspinall. The last time Aspinall fought was on my 22nd birthday (September 4th, 2021), and because of this I had to miss watching the event live, but I was able to rewatch the following morning. His last fight was very promising, but in all honesty, I wasn’t sold on him; it is not that I thought he looked bad or anything, it was more the caliber of opponent that didn’t get me hyped. As well as this, he was overshadowed by the debut of Paddy Pimplett and the headline: Darren Till vs Derek Brunson. After last night, however, I am sold on Tom Aspinall. I can’t believe how fast this guy is, it is incredible to watch him slip punches so effortlessly at heavyweight. I think the highlight of the fight came mid-way through the first round when Aspinall pulled back from a kick thrown by Volkov, and as he was coming in, slipped a punch, and went into a takedown, which subsequently led to him getting the submission. There is not much to say that couldn’t be said by someone who actually understands MMA, so I will leave it there instead of risking looking like an idiot. However, I would just like to say this: if Aspinall wins the belt, there is no current fighter I would rather have represent the UK than him. This is not because I dislike anyone or anything like that, but Aspinall just seems like such a cool guy, so I can’t help but root for him.
As for other highlights, we had Paddy’s fight. The fight itself was okay, it was more the spectacle of Paddy that caught the audience’s eye: the energy, the walkout, the hair – all of that. I am not so convinced he can touch gold. He has only had two fights in the UFC, so he needs a little more time to progress, but in both fights, he has got hit by a big shot. If he proves me wrong, I will accept that happily, but I just do not see him ever getting a belt.
Lastly, we have Molly McCann’s spinning elbow knockout. There was definitely something off about the woman she was in there with. I can’t remember her name right now, but the Brazilian woman McCann was fighting seemed lethargic right from the get-go, and her kicks (considering she was a supposed Muay Tai champion) were so painfully slow. Either way, none of that is McCann’s fault, and the only thing you can do in a situation like that is to make a statement, and a statement she made. McCann’s spinning elbow knockout could potentially be “Knockout of the Year” and it is only March. I hope she gets it because I actually really like McCann, she seems like another cool as fuck person coming out of the UK MMA scene.
That was it for all the most notable moments of last night’s event. Once again, it was the best UFC event I have watched this year.
I just want to end off this week’s note with an apology for my rushed and uninspired write-ups as of recently. I know nobody is currently reading, but I believe someday someone will, and – whether or not someone is paying right now – I am charging money for these write-ups, so an apology is due. Once I get my life back together, I aim to do a lot more with this Substack. I have plans to travel, write about current affairs, release more videos, and improve upon my writing abilities. It is hard to progress with the YouTube stuff and the writing stuff when I have these University obligations, but once that is all over by late March, I will be back a lot stronger. As well as this, my Rage video is currently sitting at 22k views. This figure is crazy, I never expected to be looking at 50k views as the next target with only 9 videos out on the channel. Exciting times for me, I have never excelled in much so this is cool to see such an overwhelming consensus of positive feedback. I must make more videos.
Once again, thank you for reading.
The Selador.