Alexa Grasso – Decision (As long as the fight remains on the feet, Grasso is far too slick at a mid-range and in the pocket to ever lose total control. Still, even considering Araujo’s porous striking defence, Grasso lacks the heavy hands to prevent Araujo from walking her down. Even in her twilight years, Araujo remains a physical beast at Flyweight and could certainly find a way to out-muscle Alexa Grasso. Grasso struggled against wrestling-heavy gameplans at Strawweight, yet has looked far more comfortable in her keeping herself on her feet at Flyweight. Over the five rounds, it feels safer to back Grasso’s high-volume striking to clean the scorecards)
Cub Swanson – Decision (Breathing life into his career with a weight change, Swanson still continues to struggle with range striking. Martinez will consistently launch leg kicks and sharp boxing combinations that will create a real hurdle for Swanson to work with at distance. My heart is letting me trust Cub in his twilight years to expose Martinez’s lacklustre athleticism and difficulty dealing with dynamic trades on the inside)
Duško Todorović – TKO Round 2 (Wright has an array of powerful kicks, but he will struggle to keep the distance against an opponent looking to create messy scrambles. Todorović is very hittable while he tries to close the distance, but his chin was able to hold up to a decent amount of punishment against Njokuani. Expecting a mess with an early stoppage – if there are any hangovers from Todorović’s KO loss, we could see an amusing Beverly Hills Ninja highlight reel)
Alonzo Menifield – TKO Round 1 (Misha Cirkunov is no longer the bright prospect with title ambitions from 2016. Rather, Cirkunov returns to Light Heavyweight as broken goods against a technically limited yet exceptionally talented athletic specimen in Menifield. The Latvian will struggle to takedown Menifield, eventually offering the opportunity for the American to land flush during one of his clubbing flurries)
Mana Martinez – Decision (Martinez will struggle to handle Davis’ penchant for brawling if they meet toe-to-toe, but thankfully the younger man is more than willing to buy time against the cage. There is also a fire deep in Martinez, as shown against Ronnie Lawrence, that can be tapped into to create a messy war if required. Davis is a limited fighter out of his depth at the UFC, but he is tall, rangey and capable of winning rounds off his jab and strong chin)
Victor Henry – Decision (Assunção rose close to the top off of the back of his striking defence, but as seen over the past few torrid years, Assunção is a sitting duck. Without the athletic foundation to maintain his stifling jab and pressure footwork, Assunção looks all but lost to the MMA Gods. Victor Henry may be unable to replicate his career performance against Raoni Barcelos, but his aggression alone should still be enough to beat the trigger-shy Assunção)
Jacob Malkoun – Decision (Malkoun is a very well-rounded, jack-of-all-trades fighter. The main issue is a lack of athletic edge that will likely keep the Aussie pigeonholed as a sticky gatekeeper. Maximov is physically superior, so there is a that the Diaz-protegee can keep Malkoun on his back, but it will torch the gas tank)
Joanderson Brito – TKO Round 1 (Brito is a wild man on the feet, ducking into hooks and throwing full-blooded head kicks. Meeting him in the middle is UFC debutant, Lucas Alexander, who is a vicious leg kicker. Brito is a durable brick wall, but if Alexander can hamper Brito’s mobility early, it will offer Alexander more breathing room from dangerous overhands. This may descend into a sloppy mess in the later rounds, but I’m favouring Brito’s freakish power to make the difference early)
Piera Rodriguez – Decision (Hughes has managed to tie together her ground game with a functioning striking game. Rodriguez’s TDD didn’t look too solid against Kay Hansen, meaning there is an avenue for Hughes to shoot early. Still, Rodriguez is a mobile striker that Hughes may struggle to tie down, but it’s a good litmus paper step-up)
Tatsuro Taira – Decision (Taira is an educated counter-puncher, but so far has been unable to show the tools necessary to maintain such a style higher up the rankings. The Japanese prospect is well-schooled and very slippery, yet lacks the power to gain the respect of his opponent. Vergara is still likely at a level that Taira can still out-manoeuvre, but it will be dangerous to allow Vergara to lead the fight)
Pete Rodriguez – TKO Round 2 (Rodriguez is very green, needing a lot of time on the regional scene to iron out the many wrinkles in his entertaining striking game. Still, Mike Jackson is not a natural fighter, meaning this bar brawl-level fight should be relatively well-matched)
16 Comments