Will the veteran savvy of Dariush pay off? Or will the new blood of Tsarukyan make another statement? Read on to see how these high-level lightweights matchup and the best way to attack this fight from a betting angle.
COLUMN: FIGHTER'S BLOCK
All of your mixed martial arts and full-contact combat sports news on the world's best fighters and the most intriguing matchups from your favorite MMA experts.
Johnson stumbled in his UFC debut against a superior grappler, a flaw in his game he has worked on diligently after being smothered by Ronnie Lawrence a few years back. Johnson has defeated two standout grapplers in Mo Miller and Jack Cartwright, the latter of which was the win that earned him his UFC contract. He is a long, lanky striker who loves to establish his range with kicks, volume, and footwork to stay safe.
With Sean Strickland now ruling the middleweight division, there are a lot of new opportunities without Adesanya at the top. Adesanya had run through the division a couple times and left few challengers, but Strickland’s upset victory opens the door for new contenders to arise. This weekend’s middleweight showcase gives us a glimpse of two fighters who could soon find themselves in title contention.
At slight underdog money, Borshchev is a no-brainer play for me this weekend.
First off, the fans are the big winners in this fight. It would be tough to draw up a more intriguing and entertaining fight for the light heavyweight title than these two monsters who just so happen to love to strike. I would be stunned if we saw either fighter shoot for a takedown, which means this comes down to the technical savvy of Pereira or the unorthodox explosiveness of Prochazka.
It’s been a tumultuous post-covid era run for Hill as she is 3-6 over her last nine fights. She had a solid two-fight winning streak recently that saw her turn away hot prospects like Lupita Godinez and Emily Ducote. However, she continues to come up short against the more tenured and experienced fighters.
It’s been a long time since we’ve had such a dangerous finisher on the mat in the heavyweight division and this may be just the threat that could take it all the way to the top.
Magomedov is a finisher with 10 of his 11 victories coming inside the distance, but considering the nerves and fighter he is facing here, I expect him to play this safe and stay at distance with his output-heavy style to get his hand raised.
What made Khabib great is what makes Makhachev great, however many believe Makhachev has a better striking game than Khabib too. We don’t get to see it often due to how dominant his wrestling and grappling game is. Once he gets his opponents to the mat, he is disciplined and methodical with how he can transition to the next position that will eventually lead him to a dominant enough position to get the finish.