Lima vs MacDonald - does Lima have what it takes to beat the guy who was 2nd best WW in the UFC? It's hard to say. Rory has the advantage in the strength of his resume in spades. I think Rory puts Lima down and submits him.
Chandler vs Yamauchi - glad he's back and recovered from the leg/ankle snapping fight against Brent Primus. Methinks Primus knows he got out of there with a freak accident win and has t seemed enthused about rematching Chandler. Chandler has wins over Benson Henderson, Pitbull Freire, David Rickels, and Derek Campos. Prior to that he lost twice to Will Brooks and once to Eddie Alvarez. I like Yamauchi, but Chandler's resume speaks for itself. Yamauchi has a talented list of submissions wins and a surprisingly dangerous guard for MMA, but I don't see Chandler spending much time there as his in and out, long stance and powerful straight cross do most of his work for him. Yamauchi lost a decision to a clinch heavy attack from Bubba Jenkins but that was 3 fights ago, unless Yamauchi can stun Chandler with an errant high kick et cetera, I see Chandler winning a clear decision.
Karakhanyan vs Corrales
K as I'll call him Bc I'm putting these thoughts down on my iPhone/blogger app, is a guy I've always liked watching fight. He comes to win, comes to get stoppages and is virtually always eclectic in his fights. He's for sedwral guillotine wins packed in with a diverse striking attack. Corrales has lost when he bumped up to the upper tier of Bellator's stable (losses to E. Sanchez, Daniel Straus, and Pitbull Friere). I expect a spirited affair but a clear win likely by stoppage from Karkhanyan.
Pico vs Kruchten - Kruchten's record looks good on paper, but my suspicion is the Bellator brass picked him for that reason, I'll say this -Pico hasn't really taken the softball route when fighting on the big stage. He's fought experience guys, stern tests in their own right, and frankly, it's bitten him before (his debut). Time will tell if he needs to dial it back and work over some beatable folks the way they're doing the Heather Hardy opponent picking for her fights.
Stipe vs Ngannou - a lot of folks are picking Ngannou. Stipe is a guy who fought Mark Hunt, Werdum, Overeem, Dos Santos, Arlovski, Gonzaga, and Toy Nelson. Barring him aging the way fighters at HW can do in an instant, I think he puts Ngannou on his back and pounds him out in half-guard showing that Ngannou really doesn't know what to do if he doesn't land the big KO.
DC vs Oezdemir - unless DC gets caught the way he did by a tactical stand-up set-up the way Jon Jones did setting up that high kick, I think DC puts Oezdemir with his striking blended to a takedown to a back take. DC really does put it together well. Putting Anthony Johnson down and finishing him twice the same way (just did it more efficiently the second time).
Almeida vs Font - Almeida has only lost to Cody Garbrandt and Jimmie Rivera. I'll leave it at that.
Gleison Tibau vs Makhachev - Tibau had never been stopped too Michael Johnson. Since then he's gone he's gone 3-2 after 3 decision wins and 3 losses on the form of an RNC loss to Tony Ferguson and pissing hot for PEDs. Makhachev is part of the burgeoning Dagestani roster in the UFC. He's 3-1 in the UFC with an RNC win, 2 decision wins, and a KO loss to Adriano Martins. Tibau is a stern test for anyone as since he's gone to the UFC he's only been stopped twice and has wins over guys with names like Rafael dos Anjos, Kurt Pellegrino, Rafaello Oliveira, Pat Healy, and a ton of other mid level fighters. This is a stern test and unless Gleison fades due to ring rust, he's too much for the Dagestani native to win over with a decision.
No comments:
Post a Comment