Dos Santos vs Tuivasa, Hunt vs Willis, Shogun vs Pedro Fight Picks

-Tai Tuivasa: UPSET SPECIAL: A lot of people say Junior dos Santos hasn’t been the same since his 3rd fight with Cain Velasquez. But I disagree because after that, he beat Stipe Miocic. It was the fight after that where he got knocked out by Alistair Overeem that he hasn’t been the same since. Dos Santos is still a serviceable, upper tier gate keeper, but he doesn’t have the same power in his strikes. Tuivasa is a very young heavyweight. 25 years old. Pretty one dimensional so far. If he wants to be champion, he’s going to really need to work on his take down defense. But dos Santos poses no risk there in taking him down. They’ll strike. And as long as Tuivasa paces himself, I see him knocking dos Santos out in the 3rd round.

-Mark Hunt: Hunt has lost 2 fights in a row and 3 out of the last 4 fights. But it’s not as bad as it looks. He got knocked out by a better striker in Alistair Overeem, got out wrestled by Curtis Blaydes and out grappled by Alexey Oleynik. The 1 win Hunt has is a knockout over top contender Derrick Lewis. Justin Willis is an above average prospect. 3-0 in the UFC. But so far, Willis has lacked power. He’s been more of a volume puncher. And that’s not going to work with Hunt, because the longer Willis trades with Hunt, the more time there is for Hunt to knock him out. Easy pick. Hunt by 2nd round knockout.

-Tyson Pedro: Pedro is a grappler. Hands are getting better, but the grappling is his best tool. He’s 3-2 in the UFC so far. And basically he only loses when his opponent has better grappling and wrestling. He got out wrestled by Ovince St Preux. And he wasn’t able to take Ilir Latifi down who won the striking exchange. So this is a good matchup to build Pedro up. For him to be a contender, he needs better wrestling and striking. But he takes on Shogun here who won’t give him problems. Pedro will go to his bread and butter here. Will take Shogun down. And submit him in the 1st round.

-Jake Matthews: Really, really intriguing fight here. Matthews debuted in the UFC when he was 20 years at 155 lbs and for a few years, looked like an average prospect, where the main thing he had on his side was his age and having so much time to develop and get better. Well, he made a decision last year to move up to 170 lbs and he broke out in a big way in his win against Li Jingliang. At 24 years old now, Matthews looks like a possible title contender. And what’s interesting is Anthony Rocco Martin (formerly Tony Martin), is on a pretty similar path. Started in the UFC at 155 lbs. Went 4-4. Then moved up to 170 lbs and he’s had his 2 most impressive wins of his career. Stylistically, Matthews can do it all. And even though Martin’s hands have improved alot, his wrestling and submissions are way ahead of the striking. And I think that’s what sets Matthews apart in this fight. Yes, Martin did get his 1st knockout in his last fight against a solid gate keeper in Ryan LaFlare. But LaFlare has zero stand up. I think Matthews keeps the fight on the feet and knocks Martin out in the 2nd round.

-Jim Crute: The UFC thinks they have a star in the making with Crute. I do too. Paul Craig is really beatable as long as you don’t get anywhere near him on the ground. Crute’s pretty well rounded and I see him knocking Craig out pretty quick in the 1st round.

-Sodiq Yusuff: Suman Mokhtarian is a submission specialist. But he’s only fought cans. Yusuff is going to be a giant step up in competition and this whole fight will come down to if Mokhtarian can take Yusuff down. And I don’t think he’ll be able to. Fight stays on the feet. Yusuff knocks him out in the 1st round.

-Aleksei Kunchenko: Yes, Yushin Okami looked impressive in his last fight. But it was against Dhiego Lima, who has a 1-5 UFC record. Okami is 37 years old and I think it’s hard on his body to make the 170 lb weight cut. Kunchenko is probably the 2nd best welterweight outside the UFC. 19-0. 34 years old though. He’s beaten a who’s who of the best prospects in Europe. I see Kunchenko being a lot faster and being strong enough to stuff Okami’s take downs to keep the fight on the feet. 2nd round knockout for Kunchenko.

-Ben Nguyen: Nguyen has really taken his game to another level in the past few years. He got knocked out by Louis Smolka, but that’s looking like more and more as a fluke. When the UFC signed him, he was mainly a striker, but has become way more well rounded, as shown in submitting Tim Elliott and Ryan Benoit. He lost to Jussier Formiga in his last fight, but at 30 years old, Nguyen has a solid chance of becoming a contender and getting a title shot in the next couple years. Wilson Reis is still an upper tier gate keeper, but he relies to heavily on his wrestling. When he can’t take his opponents down, he loses. Same thing will happen here. With Nguyen’s improved grappling, he’ll keep the fight on the feet and knock Reis out in the 1st round.

-Christos Giagos: Giagos and Mizuta Hirota are two fighters enjoying their second tour in the UFC. For Giagos, he went 1-2 in the UFC, was released. Then lost his next fight in a regional fight against Josh Emmett. But in his last four fights, Giagos has gone 3-1 against 4 fighters who I think are all better than Hirota. Hirota is now 37 years old. Has average stand up. Average wrestling. And that’s about it. He looked terrible in his last fight against Ross Pearson. I think Hirota is done and Giagos, being 28 years old is in his prime. So I’m confident in Giagos winning via decision.

-Elias Garcia: Garcia is a decent prospect. More projection than production at this point as the best fighter he’s beaten had a 3-0 pro record. He’s well rounded. Kai Kara France is a journeyman on the regional scene. 17-7 pro record. Mostly a striker. And the reason I see Garcia winning is because he’s much more well rounded and Garcia is going to use his grappling and wrestling to take France down and submit him in the 2nd round.

-Keita Nakamura: Salim Touahri is a below average prospect. 29 years old. One dimensional striker. Has only beaten cans. He might be the worst fighter currently in the UFC at 170 lbs. Nakamura will never be a contender, but he’s 3-3 in the UFC and has served as a decent lower tier gate keeper. 34 years old. But has plus grappling. He’s going to use that to take Touahri down and submit him in the 2nd round.

-Damir Ismagulov: Really lopsided fight. Here we have Ismagulov. Top prospect. Has beaten quality opponent after quality opponent. 16-2 pro record. And on the other side we have Alex Gorgees with a 6-0 pro record, but really, it’s 5-0. He picked up 1 win due to disqualification. He’s only fought cans. Gorgees looks to be well rounded. Ismagulov has plus stand up and plus wrestling. I see Ismagulov taking Gorgees down and knocking him out on the ground in the 1st round.

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