Here are my thoughts on the fights occurring at UFC 245 in a weeks time. USMAN / COVINGTON - I'm really looking forward to this fight. Heaps of bad blood between the two fighters and it's for all the marbles at 170. Both are extremely similar in fighting styles, both guys are decision machines and have excellent wrestling but the difference imo will be Colby's workrate/volume which is off the charts. Colby wins a decision imo. HOLLOWAY / VOLKANOVSKI - Holloway looks at least 2 weight divisions bigger than Volkanovski who is a midget fighting at 145. Yes he is a good fighter with a high workrate but imo he's fighting in the wrong weight class. Volkanovski beat Aldo with a solid workrate helped by the fact that Aldo did nothing for 3 rds then was shocked that Volkanovski won the decision. I like Aldo but don't think he's very smart. Aldo clearly lost that fight. Problem for Volkanovski is that Holloway has a great gastank/workrate unlike someone like Aldo. I see Holloway edging the early rds then taking over for a comfortable decision or late stoppage. NUNES / DE RANDAMIE - Honestly who cares about this fight ? I have no interest and expect Nunes to destroy her in rd 1 or 2. MORAES / ALDO - Ridiculous decision by Aldo going down to 135. He has always had a suspect gastank so this won't help him although it is only 3 rds. Who knows if he even makes weight. Either way he gets tko'd in rd 1 or 2 imo. Bank on it. YAN / FABER - Young hungry Peter Yan to be too much for an old Faber and win a fairly easy decision imo. GEOFF NEAL / MIKE PERRY - This should be an entertaining standup fight with Neal winning by being the superior striker imo. Probably a decision. Could be a good shout for fight of the night maybe ? MATT BROWN / BEN SAUNDERS - I like both fighters but Saunders always seems slow and seems to get easily destroyed on the feet in most of his fights recently. Saunders is very slick on the floor if he's not too hurt by that point. I see Brown taking him out rd 1. Great card of fights overall. Do you agree/disagree with my predictions ?
Agreed on all of them apart for Usman/Covington. Usman has a very similar style but far more string in his strikes.
I think you're spot on about Yan vs. Faber, Brown vs. Saunders, and Neal vs. Perry. I think there's a good chance we see Geoff Neal take a real step toward legit contender status with a win over Perry. I'm definitely excited for that bout. I also agree that going to 135 will be a disaster for Aldo. It seemed, to me at least, that Jose had two really good alternatives to dropping down in weight. 1.) he could fight Brian Ortega. That would be a dope fight and made sense because both guys were outstanding contenders who both have no chance at getting a title shot in the near future 2.) move up and finally fight Anthony Pettis at 155. Excellent chance he beats Pettis, who seems checked out at this point. If Holloway beats Volkanovski, I seem Holloway reigning for another year or year and a half, minimum. I think Volkanovski is clearly the biggest threat in the division. Zabit is skilled, but Holloways own skill and stamina virtually guarantee a win. Korean Zombie is another likely challenger, but Max has the skills to pick him apart and get a decision. Who else? Yair? Ortega rematch? I think Max beats all of those guys. Convincingly.
Good calls, but i will put my hand up and say i am a massive Nunes fan. The way she had zero pro mo like she didn't exist against Rousey and punched 3 shades of **** out of her. Was given little chance against Guyborg, she seen everything coming at her and subtle movement to avoid and flat lined him..She did a Holly on Holly with the leg kick She goes on Face time and talks to fans in an open way being herself, sure she aint no model etc, but she ****ed **** up when she wasn't suppose to and made the UFC look like the tools they are with the Rousey will obliterate her promos
I agree with you. Nunes ia a great fighter and the UFC should have promoted her better. They barely mentioned her in the lead up to the Rousey fight. What a disgrace. Just goes to show also how good a fighter Shevchenko is. I thought she beat Nunes when they last fought at Nunes weight. Imo Shevchenko is the no.1 p4p womans fighter in the world today. Nunes a close second imo.
But Usman is not a finisher, neither is Colby. Basically all their fights against decent level fighters go the distance. With Colby's workrate/gastank it will be hard for Usman to win a decision imo. I don't really think either guy hits hard enough to really hurt/badly drop their opponent. Will be interesting to see what happens.
Good well matched card with a couple of fight of the night contenders,with Nunes and Peter Yan probably the only certanties to win although I think Morales will win easily as well against Aldo who is making his move down in weight far to late in his career
Usman vs Covington - hard fight to predict. I do think Usman is stronger and will be able to takedown and dominate Colby for some periods of the fight. I think Colby have a bit better gastank and might take the later rounds. I'l go with a decision for Usman, 4-1 or 3-2. Holloway vs Volkanovski - pretty much agree with you, but i think Volkanovski might surprise a bit in the first two rounds and might win both. I will go with a 4-1 or 3-2 for Holloway, like the main-event. Nunes vs De Randamie - i don't wanna underrate Nunes and her accomplishments, because based of those this should be an easy win for her. But i see De Randamie as possible the hardest matchup for Nunes in the UFC right now. De Randamie are legit world class kickboxer. But we saw in their first fight how easily Nunes took her down and dominated on the ground. On the positive side that's 6 years ago now and both have evolved. I can see De Randamie pose a legit threat in this fight, but i will go with Nunes by TKO with gnp. Moraes vs Aldo - agree. Don't think it's a smart move by Aldo. He looks like TJ when he went for 125lb, doesn't look healthy. His chin have been cracked several times and Moraes are no joke. Cejudo did show a blueprint on how to beat him, constant pressure and high volume. Doubt Aldo will have the gastank for that strategy though. Moraes by KO/TKO. Yan vs Faber - i can see Faber have some succes early, but i think Yan will start dominate late in the 1st and eventually gets a TKO late 2nd or 3rd round. Neal vs Perry - should be entertaining. I'll also go with Neal by decision. Brown vs Saunders - agree again. Only thing is that Brown haven't fought in two years, so it also depends how he comes back after injuries.
I think DeRandamie will be competitive early before being stopped mid-late rounds by Nunes and the other 2 title fights will almost certainly go the distance and be close In the main event I favour Covington to win and set up a big grudge match against Masvidal,which will have a better promotion and more intense lead up as well as being a better fight then what I expect the Usman v Covington fight to be. I'll be cheering the aussie Volkanovski on to get it done but he's got a tough job against 1 of the best in the business Holloway.
Wow great win by Neal. I was extremely confident he would win, and I even expected a finish, but not something that devastating. Neal has looked so promising. He has a great future at 170, as long as the UFC doesn't give him the Alex Hernandez treatment by rushing him up the ladder 5 rungs at a time.
Card from early prelims to now have been entertaining, everyone trying to kill each other in every fight.
Colby is quicker and more fluid than Usman. The Ugandan's punches are stiffly thrown with little variance in power, making him susceptible to counters. I see Covington exposing the gaping holes in his opponent's technique while comfortably cruising to a unanimous decision.
