We win 1.11u yesterday to start our run…

9-19  -3.77u

After eleven straight fight slates the UFC took a break over the holiday weekend only to line another set of ten fight cards together for our future investment consideration.

This week it is Fight Night Kansas City, Garry vs. Prates, a card with fourteen scheduled bouts consisting of athletes ranging from flyweight women to light heavyweight men.

An international set of gladiators will compete in a large thirty foot octagon, and in front of a full house of midwestern fight fanatics. Only eleven of the combatants on this schedule are from the United States with athletes coming in from all corners of the globe. China Georgia, South Africa, Mexico, Jamaica, and Uganda are represented just to name a few.

One facet of this event most important to understand, is where the few local/regional fighters are situated on this card as they may have some effect on the crowd then of course potentially the judging.

UFC Kansas City prelims begin at 3pm PT with the main slate airing at 6pm PT.

Let’s fight!

Ian Garry -130 vs. Carlos Prates +110 Welterweight (170lbs.) main event

Thirteenth ranked Brazilian phenom Carlos Prates enters this fight with huge momentum and confidence brimming which is why he did not hesitate to take this substantial step up in competition after his original opponent Geoff Neal had to drop out of the fight.

Prates, a member of the gang of destruction that is Brazil’s ‘fighting nerds’ team is a world class Muay Thai striker who also holds a black belt in BJJ.

He is fearless, forward pressing, and ultra-aggressive. Prates has decimated all four of his UFC opponents faced, as well he has faced an improved, more refined adversary in each of those four bouts.

Prates attempts to walk down any opponent to plant feet and throw hammers. One thing he must improve, however, is his propensity to accept a strike as he accepts a slightly higher number of significant strikes per minute than he lands. Prates’ power is profuse, he has become reliant on tagging opponents and when he does, he shuts them down.

Irishman Garry who is now living in Brazil and training with the assassins at Chute Box is as close to a perfect opposite of Prates as we can find stylistically.

A black belt in Judo with improving grappling Garry is as highly athletic as he is brash and verbose. Garry’s strength in fights is to use his deft footwork, fluidity of movement and strike evasion to force opponents into lunging forward to engage, reaching and forcing engagement which has the result of leaving them wide open to Garry’s flash precision counter striking attack.

Garry’s been in with better competition, his experience coupled with his athleticism may simply be too refined and advanced for the forceful approach of this most dangerous pulverizer.

Prates carries momentum into the cage yet despite Garry taking this fight on short notice, I handicap his skills to be just a bit more refined, advanced, and developed for Prates especially understanding that this is a five-round battle.

Garry -125

Total in this fight 2.5 Rds. Over -180

Over -180

Michel Perreira -145 vs. Abus Magomedov +120 Middleweight (185lbs.)

The middleweight division of the UFC is a deep and competitive group where some twenty of its athletes may be legitimately regarded as top fifteen combatants.

Fourteenth ranked and rising up the ranks in furious fashion in Brazilian Michel Pereira. Periera has blossomed as a fighter once he accepted the fact that he was compromising himself too much trying to compete in the lower welterweight division.

Handicapping Pereira, the middleweight mandates that one must wonder how the massive middleweight makes this 185lb division let alone how he ever made the 170-pound limit.

A black belt in BJJ as well as Karate, Pereira prefers to attack opponents immediately and unleash his power through a barrage of fists, elbows, knees, jumps kicks and tricks.

Flamboyant is an understatement for how Pereira fights, and in fact his Wildman approach can sometimes put him in compromising positions. A subtly refined and focused Pereira is expected for this battle as he arrives off a loss to Fluffy Hernandez, one in which he was exposed in his ability to effectively compete for a full five rounds.

Pereira is sure to be looking to rebound off that humiliating last loss.

In Abus Magomedov we have a Russian fighter who will be slightly older than Pereira but two inches taller with a five-inch reach advantage. That height/reach advantage plays into his favor when this fight will be standing.

Magomedov’s striking to be honest is more workmanlike and less explosive in nature than is Pereira’s, but he delivers shots straight down the pipe and in classic boxing fashion as opposed to the wildly awkward angles that his maniacal adversary Pereira will hurl at him.

Once this fight enters the second round, we will witness one or both men begin to wane as neither is known for deep cardio ability so conditioning and pace stand to be an important aspect of this fight.

With a victory Pereira regains some momentum he lost to Hernandez in his last bout, but a Magomedov win catapults the Russian up into the middleweight rankings allowing him to threaten the top fifteen.

This is a very important fight in the division.

Total in this fight 1.5Rds Over -165

Friday midday PT the ‘Bout Business Podcast drops just after weigh-ins are completed. Access it at GambLou.com

Thank You for reading and enjoy the fights.

GambLou

It’s Business!

Miami, Fl is the host city for this week’s UFC 314 a PPV event.

This fight card from Miami is scheduled for 13 bouts of which three will be competed at 170 lbs. or above. The larger octagon is in use in Miami and the crowd will be festive, furious, and frenetic.

Early prelim action starts at 3pm PT with preliminary fights dropping at 5pm PT and the main card 7pm PT.

Last week I put up a stinker with both of my releases losing a total of 2.5u bringing this year’s digital results to 7-10 -3.45u

Time to dig in.

Alexander Volkanovski -125 vs. Diego Lopes +105 Featherweight Championship

Two years ago, Diego Lopes debuted in the UFC and took current featherweight Mosvar Evloev, currently the division’s fourth ranked fighter to a razor tight split decision loss …on a five-day notice! Many including myself, feel that Lopes actually won that fight.

Since that decision loss, Lopes has scorched all five featherweight adversaries leading into this championship opportunity and in each case the level of competition he faced in those opponents increased.

That will be no different this week.

Lopes, a BJJ blackbelt training in Mexico will be the younger man in this title fight by five plus years, he’s six inches the taller fighter and he’ll possess an inch of reach advantage over the former champion.

He employs an aggressive forward-pressing striking attack backed up with brilliant BJJ. Lopes is tough, durable yet and as importantly, he enters brimming with the confidence that comes from destroying his last five opponents. Now he competes for the belt he has always dreamed of capturing.

Alexander Volkanovski is the featherweight division’s most elite champion. However, at thirty-six years of age and coming off of two decisive knock-out losses, many believe that Volkanovski may be on the other side of his prime.

Those losses were to Ilya Topuria and Islam Makhachev, but those two assassins are the two top pound for pound athletes in the UFC currently.

I believe Volkanovski took the second Makhachev fight, the one in which he was finished in, too soon off the heels of the first Makhachev loss, the one in which he shined so brightly.

Then the warrior in him made the first mistake worse in rushing back to face Topuria, his second rush back to competition.

So now, Volkanovski enters this fight with over a year of rest which in this case seems a wise idea.

Once this fight begins, Volkanovski must be measured early when the young Lopes is his most fierce. Navigating the first ten minutes of this fight and forcing the younger less experienced Lopes to use mental and physical energy is foundational to Volkanovski success because in previous fights, Lopes has shown tired as fight extended.

Those that believe Volkanovski is able to execute the same plan against Lopes as he used against Max Holloway in three epic battles will have an easy time picturing how a Volkanovski win will appear, deft movement and combination striking/kicking.

Those that feel Volkanovski’s skills have waned from those past two losses will take the position that he will be unable to execute such a plan against Lopes at this age and after two substantial knockout setbacks.

The key to this confrontation comes down to Volkanovski’s ability to navigate this fight into the third round and perhaps beyond where Lopes has not yet been at this level of competition.

He’ll accomplish this by employing deft footwork with striking quickness/precision all while relying upon his deep championship pedigree.

Volkanovski’s depth of five round championship experience, his cardio, his complete fight arsenal and most especially his nimble footwork together with his depth of five round championship experience provide him advantage over anyone in the division but…he must have those legs.

Volkanovski opened -150 in this fight and is now -125. He was a buy at -150.

Volkanovski -125 or better

with advice to be patient and allow the flow on Lopes to continue, capture Volkanovski at his most advantageous price.

Total in this fight: 2.5Rds Over -210

Jean Silva -325 vs. Bryce Mitchell +265 Featherweight (145lbs)

Thirteenth ranked Mitchell is a country boy from Arkansas who has a sturdy wrestling base and is as strong as a country mule. Mitchell is best in fights when he can control the pace by pressing opponents backward then entangling them with his takedown ability and wrestling acumen.

As capable a wrestler as Mitchell is, that’s how uncomfortable and awkward he is as a striker. Though improving on the feet, Mitchell’s striking and strike evasion skills are the reason he sells out to wrestle. Look no further than his loss to Josh Emmett two fight back to realize that on the feet Mitchell is susceptible against any formidable striker.

Jean Silva is not only a capable striker, he may be the scariest fighter in the division currently. He is short, compact, lightning fast and packs obtuse power in his frenetic striking style.

Silva’s not lost since 2018, and he’s finished all four of his UFC opponents. That mentioned, this fight with Mitchell does represent a step up in class of opponent for Silva as well Silva’s not competed against a wrestler of this ability prior, so there is a path of destruction for Silva. That path would be to allow this fight to transition to the canvas.

Silva’s momentum, his youth and his shorter compact physique, which he can emply to keep the taller Mitchell from taking him down, coupled with the threat of his one strike finishing ability force me to regard him as extremely dangerous in this fight.

One last note, for many reasons, the UFC may not be Bryce Mitchell’s biggest fan. They sometimes have a way of cleaning house in their own manner. Mitchell getting this absolute killer, at this time, off that devastating loss to Emmett two fights back seems to be a perfect example of what the organization can do to someone who is ‘on the fringe’ of their graces.

Silva via demolition

Total in this fight: 2.5Rds Under -175

Virna Jandiroba -145 vs. Yan Xiaonan +125 Women’s Strawweight (115lbs)

In this battle Jandiroba, the division’s third ranked fighter who is a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a green/white prajied in Muay Thai striking steps up into the elite of the division.

Jandiroba’s won her last four fights against ‘top’ competition in the division but that competition has not been ‘elite.’ In this fight, she enters into the realm of elite competition against China’s Xiaonan who has recently competed for the title.

Yan was a fighter long, thin, and almost frail when she entered the UFC. However, the UFC Institute in China, Chinese strawweight champion Weili Zhang and Xiaonan’s desire to become a proud Chinese champion together provided the impetus for Xiaonan’s steady transformation, growth and improvement in mixed martial arts.

Xiaonan will have a certain striking advantage when these two are on their feet. She is younger, taller and the more seasoned fighter as well she is the much stronger lady. Xiaonan understands that to earn victory, she’ll need to keep this fight standing.

Her size/strength will be great assets to her as well her past with champion Zhang for while Jandiroba is a cobra when she gets opponents to the mat, her challenge is that her wrestling is not complete enough to be able to take down such a large, structured woman like Xiaonan.

Xiaonan’s power striking, championship experience and take down defense are all advantages in this fight against the Brazilian Jandiroba who is less experienced at this level of the division and is more singular in fighting dimension/expertise.

Jandiroba opened -140 in this fight.

Xiaonan +125

Total for this fight: 2.5Rds Over -180

Weigh ins from Miami are 6am PT so the ‘Bout Business Podcast will drop mid-morning PT this Friday at GambLou.com.

Thank You for reading and enjoy the fights.

GambLou

It’s Business!

This Saturday’s UFC FN 104 takes place at the UFC’s APEX facility where the smaller 25’ octagon is in use and few fans will be in attendance. Preliminary action begins at 1pm PST with the main card dropping at 4pm PST.

There are fourteen scheduled bouts for this event with the preliminary action kicking off at 1pm PST. Four big boi fights which are matchups featuring welterweight fighters or larger populate the card, and the mix of countries. which is always interesting includes (beside the usual Brazil, Russia, US) Congo, Venezuela, South Korea, and Ecuador just to name a few.

Gathering trained combatants from every corner of the world who arrive to battle with every conceivable combination of fight specialties and a focused mentality all sporting diverse physiques is what fascinates me about the UFC. These athletes, all prepared for war are then led into a cage to determine whose fighting method is the greatest is man’s earliest passion …and I must say that it is mine also.

Favorites you ask?

Why yes, this year they’re 51-34-5 or 56.6% which is fourteen plus points lower than what we experienced last year! That’s a big regression but it is early…let’s see if this regression is sustainable as investing in underdogs is becoming fun/profitable again.

Marvin Vettori -155 vs. Roman Dolidze +125 Middleweight (185lbs.) main event

Eleventh ranked Dolidze arrives to this rematch without major fight decorations however his mixed martial arts arsenal is forged from Sambo and BJJ which he developed as a youth. Dolidze also won a Grappling FILA world championship.

Dolidze is aggressive and forward pressing in attack. He is strong, determined, durable and experienced. His cardio, once a concern, has evolved as witnessed by his five round decision loss to top ranked Nassourdine Imavov last February.

Five years the older fighter at thirty-six, Doilidze’s remained active as this will be his third fight in eight months as well, he takes this rematch after coming off of two straight wins.

Vettori, thirty-one, is the eighth ranked middleweight. He has dominated the division’s masses but struggles when he competes against the elite middleweights where his forceful, bullying tactics and singularly dimensioned attack are less effective.

Once this fight begins, we’ll see much of what we saw in the first fight between these two except this competition will/should last twenty-five minutes as opposed to fifteen as this is a main event fight.

Should a finish arise, it’s my judgement that Vettori could find a way to ground and pound the Georgian late in this fight should Dolidze struggle with his old foe, cardio.

I regard these two athletes as being in different hierarchies of the middleweight division. Vettori is elite and it’s my judgement that Dolidze is not to that level.

This fight is lines 4.5Rds over -215 so if it’s fireworks, finishes and a frenetic pace you fancy then it may be best to watch the earlier fights on this card.

Vettori -155

Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos -195 vs. Chidi Njokuani +170 Welterweight co main event

Fireworks!

While grappling, wrestling, and clenching may best define what we expect from the main event, the co main event should award us with two fighters who are characterized by their pure power striking, forceful forward aggression, and flamboyant fighting styles.

Chidi is a lightning fast, explosive power striker who is trained in kickboxing, Muay Thai and has earned a black belt in BJJ. For up to six minutes of competition time, Njokuani exhibits dynamic abilities however after six minutes his effectiveness can wane.

Chidi’s owns a four-inch reach advantage and will sport a seven-inch reach advantage in this fight, both great advantages in a fight that remains standing which is expected in this war.

Chidi’s height, reach and straight down the middle striking will provide certain leverage over Elezeu dos Santos especially early in the fight when he is firing fresh.

For the Brazilian Zaleski dos Santos, his approach revolves around staying out of Njokuani’s range early in this fight. How he executes this will be fascinating to determine. Does he try to play the stand-up game long enough to forcefully enter the pocket on the striker or will he come out blitzing from the start and try to engage this monster from inside the pocket when he is fresh?

A flamboyant Capoeira striker with Muay Thai accents Elezeu displays speed, precision, and power with his stand up and it’s this matchup of striking specialties that has fight fans yearning to understand the result of this clash of warrior styles.

In my judgement this fight sets up to be favorable for Njokuani because Zaleski dos Santos must come forward in order to make this fight either striking or grappling.

However, should the Brazilian find inside access to his adversary early in this fight he’ll be in position to sap the slugger of his snap by forcing him to defend.

It’s at this juncture of the fight that we discover if Elezeu can maintain inside position and wage war or if Chidi is going to ‘bang’ ‘bang’ him from range.

Total in this fight is 1.5 Rds. Over -190

This is a fight card that I refer to as ‘due diligence’ cards in that there are many debut fighters as well, athletes with less than three UFC performances under their belts. We have one fight where a journeyman athlete is dropping two weight divisions to battle a debuting fighter!

Because of the obscurity of these athletes and my lack of data on them, I choose to use these fights to learn and often refrain from wagering upon them. This is that card!

Stephanie Luciano -230 vs. San Hughes +200 women’s strawweight (115lbs.)

Brazilian Luciano is tall, young, attractive and enters her sophomore fight in the UFC after defeating a woman that she fought to a draw on the Dana White Contender Series. She’s a striker.

Sam Hughes enters her ninth UFC fight 4-5. She comes to the cage with fierce determination, tremendous cardio, and a founded grappling/wrestling base.

Hughes opened +275 so others are seeing what I am reporting on. That Hughes is in a great position to compete Saturday.

Hughes +200 .5u

The ‘Bout Business Podcast at GambLou.com is where one finds my releases for each week’s UFC event.

Thank You for reading and enjoy the fights.

GambLou

It’s Business!

The UFC is in the midst of an eleven-week run of fight productions, this week they host LV 103 at the APEX in Las Vegas where fans are few and the 25’ smaller octagon will be in use.

This card has twelve scheduled fights. There are but three big boy bouts featured in this smaller cage, a Welterweight fight, a middleweight co main event and a heavyweight tussle which is on the underbelly of this slate.

Some may choose to criticize obscurely populated fight cards such as this, however I choose to tip my hat to the UFC for deftly populating each fight card despite the many last-minute changes, cancellations, and injuries. The UFC offers fight fans ten to fourteen bouts per card, forty-four to forty-six times each year, and never cancel an event.

Last week the Moldovan Hulk Ion Cutelaba, submitted his overmatched Turkish opponent as a +165 underdog. Ion’s quick work allowed us to take a huge bite out of this year’s slow start as digital results now stand: 3-4 -1.60.

Manuel Kape -218 vs. Asu Almabaev +180 Flyweight (125lbs.) main event

Eighth ranked Kazakhstani fighter Almabaev arrives to this five round main event in relative short notice for Kape was scheduled to fight top ranked men’s flyweight Brandon Royval.

Almabaev has a solid wrestling base complimented by employment of high volume striking. After entering the UFC from K1 Global then Brave, he’s won all four of his bouts although he has faced modestly talented UFC competition to date.

Manuel Kape is a fighter with immense talent but also an immense ego and an obtuse level of overconfidence.

He’s wildly athletic, strong for the division and when focused stands to be regarded as a top three talent. However, he is a bit of a bully, and he’s struggled with weight because he is too big for the division. Couple that with an ego the size of Texas and we have an athlete that can offer any type of performance, from lethargic and under active to lightning quick employing one strike fight ending power.

Kape, an athlete the UFC seems to like, started boxing at fourteen and developed a fluidity of movement, a quick striking offense backed with precision kicks, and he levies profuse power from all limbs.

Kape has three losses in his UFC career, two early losses to fighters who were more experienced and able than he then and a loss to a high-level wrestler two fights back which will be the blueprint for Almabaev in his attack.

A motivated Kape will be difficult for anyone in the division to best but trying to determine which Kape shows up to this fight is almost folly in my opinion.

Kape fights a competitor that has the wrestling/grappling tools to execute exactly what those adversaries in Kape’s three losses did. Almabaev could well be a live underdog in this fight.

Kape opened -250 and is currently -235 with the total lined 3.5Rds Over -200 after opening -150 and it’s rising. We’ll likely see 4.5 as the total by the time mid-week rolls up.

No determination can be made on this fight until weigh-ins if at all, but I hold interest in Almabaev should Kape come in late and heavy.

Julian Marquez -170 vs. Cody Brundage +140 Middleweight co main event 

Two highly desperate fighters compete in the co main event on Saturday.

With a win, one athlete has the chance to solidify standing in the UFC middleweight division, but a loss more than likely puts the loser on the cutting board as both of these backed up battlers enter with this brawl with dubious past performances.

In Marquez we have a power striker who is tough, durable, and willing to engage. Marquez will own height and power advantages over his opponent Saturday but the fact that he is now thirty-four and coming into this fight off of three straight early round finishes is troubling. He must thwart takedowns, keep his opponent standing and be able to expend high energy for fifteen minutes, all of which Marquez has struggled to do previously.

His opponent Cody Brundage has had his own set of futile early career UFC performances, yet it was during a dominant loss, to Bo Nickal where we saw unrelenting forward pressing aggression, wrestling pop and striking ability from Brundage let alone determination which is something he has struggled with in previous fights.

Brundage actually performed his best against a dominant future star in the organization. Since that Nickal fight Brundage had a semi competitive bout against a power striking middleweight in Abdul Rakak Alhassan that was declared a no contest back in July.

So, in this co main event we have two desperate fighters, one, Marquez, a power striker with limited cardio who can wilt under the pressure of any forward pressing wrestler/grappler and the other Brundage, the wrestler who has been finished by strikes twice in his career and can wilt under opposing pressure when a bully opponent flushes him on the face with fists.

In my judgement this bout comes down to cardio and deep seeded guts/grit/heart. In Brundage I have the younger athlete with cardio I know I can trust. He must ensure that he does not get touched early in this fight because if he can force unrelenting pressure on Marquez, take distance away from him and not get discouraged in the early stage of this fight then I feel he can win this battle.

Brundage +140

I would consider via decision props also

Total in this fight 1.5Rds. Under -135 and this price is rising….

Jose ‘Chepe’ Mariscal -495 vs. Ricardo Ramos +400 Featherweight (145lbs.)

Chepe attacks adversaries with aggressive forward pressing power striking and he backs his striking up with a solid judo base. He is a simple ‘seek and destroy’ fighter. He trains in Colorado at Team Elevation, so we know his cardio is exemplary, he is 4-0 in the UFC and enters this fight with swelling confidence. Chepe opened this fight as a favorite of -180 and has been bet up to -410.

His opponent is Brazil’s submission specialist Ricardo Ramos who opened a +155 underdog to Mariscal and now finds himself being disregarded as his current price is +350.

Ramos has struggled with fighters that can overpower him, ground him then bully their way into a submission because he has little to no wrestling to compliment his world class BJJ.

Good news for Ramos and fight fans is that Chepe’s no submission slickster by any means, he is a dedicated knock out artist.

8-5 in the UFC, Ramos, a black belt in BJJ, is the taller, younger, longer man in this fight. Those physical assets will work to his favor when this fight is standing. However, it is in Ramos’ best interest to try to eventually receive one of the aggressive, forward rushes that Chepe will unleash toward him, to wrap his neck, grab a single leg or clasp onto an arm. Ramos game will be to use the maniacal striker’s aggression against him which just happens to be the premise behind BJJ.

Can Chepe implode the younger taller more experienced Brazilian with his brazen aggression or will Ramos be able to lure Chepe into a submission of some form?

That is the intrigue of this bout.

Total in this fight: 2.5Rds Under -160

Lean Under

GambLou.com

It’s Business!

Please see below the link to this week’s Sneak-Teep Podcast for UFC 312

 

This week the UFC travels around the globe to Macao, China for its Fight Night Macao.

The event’s preliminary action begins at 3am EST Saturday morning so prepare yourselves accordingly fight fans!

There are 14 scheduled bouts on the fight card but 4 of those are championship bouts for the UFC production called ‘Road to UFC’. I don’t handicap fighters until they arrive into the UFC so I have not handicapped these four bouts which leaves me with ten actionable bouts on this slate. Of those ten fights, four in the 170lbs welterweight division or larger where there the finish rates are higher.

UFC Macao features seven Chinese and one Mongolian athlete who will be fighting combatants from around the globe.

There are but two remaining fight cards in ’24 after this event from Macao. The next is December 7^th, UFC 310 Pantoja vs. Askura from the T-Mobile arena in Las Vegas.

Petr Yan -360 vs. Deiveson Figueiredo +300 Bantamweight (135lbs) main event

Brazilian Figueiredo, the former Flyweight (125lbs) champion enters this bantamweight bout winner of his last three in a row and against pedigreed, legitimate 135lb. competition but competition from outside the top of the division.

At 125lbs. Figueiredo was used to overpowering most flyweights but as he now steps into the fire to fight the elite of the 135 division, he may find that his quickness, agility and grappling may not hold up as structurally against larger men with as diverse a mixed martial arts resume but who have been used to competing against larger framed foes.

My best Petr Yan metaphor is as follows: he fights like a cornered, wounded, pit bull mother ready to defend her young against predators. Yan’s 5’7” and is smaller than most bantamweight competition but he makes up for it with as complete a mixed martial arts munition as there is in the whole of the UFC,

Yan’s a master of sport in boxing, a master of sport in MMA and a Blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Where Figueiredo has relied on blunt force trauma and raw power to subdue most opponents, Yan at a higher weight class has had to overwhelm his opponents with footwork, technique, pressure, and unending cardio. Yan sports a positive strike differential; he has effective take-down ability and an 85% take down defense.

Yan has competed against elite bantamweights for years now and has earned his number three ranking in the division. It is my position that fifth ranked Figueiredo has been gifted his position in the rankings without having to overcome any bone fide, true test of his bantamweight ability.

In Yan he’ll get his test, and it will be a stern one at that.

Yan, surprisingly and for the first time in almost forever will be the taller, larger, younger (5 years) man in the cage when these two tussle.

Once the fight starts it’s likely that Yan’s size, footwork. forward pressure and technical power striking will force Figueiredo sooner than later into trying to apply his specialty of grappling. It’s then we will learn if Figueiredo can hang with the elite of this division because if he can press Yan to the cage, take Yan down and engage in BJJ he may thrive.

However, if Figgy is unable to engage/clasp onto his Russian foe, then Yan will be in position to keep this bout a standing battle where Figueiredo will be unable to compete effectively against a man just as fast but much larger, stronger, and more precise with his striking.

It is not out of the question that Yan finishes Figueiredo.

Total in this fight: 4.5Rds Over -170

Muslim Salikhov -185 vs. Kenan Song +160 Welterweight (170bs)

Russian Salikhov is an honored Master of sport in Wushu Sanda, a master of Sports in Complex Martial Arts and a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He’s extremely durable, he takes his fights directly to opponents and prefers to batter foes from distance with his diverse kicking/striking acumen.

Salikhov’s strengths are his durability, his experience, and his ability to compete anywhere a fight goes but he is now forty years old. After a couple of losses Salikhov enters this fight off a split decision win that many thought should have gone the other way.

Salikhov could well be fighting for his job Saturday which makes him mighty dangerous.

In Song we get an experienced Chinese mixed martial artist who will be six years the younger man in the cage, he’ll be taller and will sport a two-inch reach advantage over his Russian adversary.

Song, primarily a distance striker, is matched up for success in this fight in front of his fans as Salikhov will relish the opportunity to compete with him in a standing competition. I envision neither man attempting takedowns unless their bell gets rung, and the frazzled fighter reacts by shooting.

Both men are experienced, both have competed against an array of legitimate welterweight competition, and both are more than likely fighting to remain in the organization which will bring out the best in each combatant.

The total in this fight of 2.5Rds Over -160 indicates a three round competitive battle. With that in mind I’ll side with the advantages of size, reach, youth, and home Country.

Song +160

The ‘Bout Business Podcast drops early Friday this week as the fights come to us very early Saturday morning from China.

Enjoy the fights and thank you for reading.

 GambLou.com

It’s Business