Friday, July 27, 2018

UFC on Fox: Alvarez vs Poirier - Predictions & Such


Sure, Poirier had Alvarez hurt in their last fight, but so have many man. Alvarez's resume speaks for itself and as such, I think Poirier finds a way to not win the fight. Alvarez sensed/smelled some kind of crack in the armor last time around, and will simply do the same this time around.

Aldo vs Stephens
Seeing Aldo wilt under Holloway's boxing-centric assault suggested to me someone with even heavier firepower will put him down inside of a round or two as well (ie: Stephens). Stephens, once written off simply as a marauding brawler with chin has an underrated set of tools, a deceptive ability to strike and mix it up, and more than enough mileage left he can absorb to batter a no longer nearly as fearsome or feared Aldo. This is a tough night for Aldo indeed, as I see Stephens looking to batter him even soon than Holloway chose to do so.

Joanna.....not that I'm hype on Tecia, but Joanna is simply the same fighter she was previously...and without the aura of invincibility she lorded over opponents (ala the Anderson Silva era when guys were psychologically beaten before the fight even began). Like I said, I'm not some hype train riding Torres fan, but I simply expect that Joanna has become a far to predictable fighter with the same, if not slowly degrading skills due to making the weight and championship level fight training camps. She's been beaten twice, stopped once convincingly, and those women just below her on the food chain now see a name opponent that can be beaten, that will catapult them to a title shot. The sharks are circling. I see Torres winning a hard fought split decision by being slightly more active and at times backing Joanna up.

Aubin-Mercier for the win because I rarely see him lose, and he's only improved in most of the appearances I've seen him in.

Makdessi vs Pearson
Pearson's ability to hang in there and stay on the roster as long as he has is a sort of moral victory all it's own. I see Makdessi has having less mileage and shrugging off enough takedowns to take a split or unanimous decision by picking and moving and sticking and circling off after landing flurries of punches and some spinning backfists.

Cutelaba for the win because I think he's a dark horse to eventually move in the top 5 in his division.


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