Dateline Vegas, we’re back with a stacked PPV this weekend. This card is stacked with some great scraps! Let’s dive right in!
Sean O’Malley vs Thomas Almeida
In the main card, we have the very hyped “Sugar” Sean O’Malley taking on the Brazilian sensation Thomas “Thominhas” Almeida.
Sugar Sean was hyped as the next undefeated star of the UFC, but the hype train took a detour when he took his first career loss last year due to a mid-fight injury. It was a tough pill to swallow for the undefeated Sean, but he has since worked harder on his footwork and is set to showcase it in the octagon. O’Malley is an entertainer, he is famously known to have walk-off knockouts. Sean ensures that one of his punches is enough to sleep his opponent.
On the other hand, we have the veteran in Thomas Almeida who has been in the UFC for 7 years now. He always promises the fans a great show whenever he steps into the octagon, having finished 17 of his 22 wins by knockouts. Almeida has had some losses to great fighters in Cody Garbrant & Rob Font but not before he had a hard go at them.
This is a great fight as we have two knockout artists facing off and fight fans know that this fight is not going to the judge’s scorecard. It’s also an important fight for the UFC Bantamweight division as it opens the gate for one more contender in the already stacked division.
Almeida has been in the shoes of Sean as he was an undefeated contender once too and now, he has the experience needed to win important fights. O’Malley has unorthodox footwork and unbelievably powerful hands. Fighters do not wake up when they take a right hand clean on the chin from Sugar Sean. Thomas has a good chin on him, but he has been knocked out twice in his last 5 fights. This is a great test for O’Malley as he looks to get back to the win column after his first setback, against a wily veteran. We believe the Sugar show is here to stay and he has made the adjustments in his game to continue his path to the UFC Championship belt. Don’t blink your eyes, this fight might be over before you know it.
Prediction – Sean O’Malley By Knockout
Odds- 2.40 (Industry Odds)
Tyron Woodley vs Vicente Luque
In the Cc-main event of the evening, we have the 7th ranked ex Welterweight champion Tyron “The Chosen One” Woodley taking on the 10th ranked phenom Vicente “The Silent Assassin” Luque.
The new fight fans are unaware of the ability possessed by Tyron Woodley. Coming off 3 fresh losses, recency bias has led fight fans to write the ex-champion off. Woodley has been held in the argument to be called the greatest welterweight champion of all time. He defended the belt four times during his Welterweight reign which included submitting then-undefeated star Darren Till. He is also a decorated NCAA and Olympic wrestler, possessing lethal one-punch knockout power. Tyron has lost 3 fights in a row but only to the champion Kamaru Usman and title challengers Gilbert Burns and Colby Covington.
You can’t have a fighter more well-rounded than Vicente Luque in the UFC. Luque has 11 first-round knockouts which equal the heavyweight ko artist Francis Ngannou. Apart from his knockout power, Luque is a brown belt in Jiu-Jitsu supported with 6 career wins by submission. He has it all but he still ranked 10 and not at the top yet because of his lack of championship experience. Vincent has won 13 of his last 15 fights demolishing fellow top contenders. His most notable losses were handed to him by 2 top 5 opponents in Stephen Thompson and Leon Edwards. Luque’s lack of championship experience should not affect him against Tyron because of it being a 3 round co-main.
This fight could go anywhere, on the ground Tyron being a wrestler will have an edge, but Luque’s Jiu-Jitsu skills and his submission threats make it interesting. On the feet, Tyron is the harder hitter but Luque is the more technical striker. Both of these men are very durable, and I don’t see them finishing each other at the end of the final horn. You can expect an exciting 15-minute encounter between these two top Welterweight contenders. Woodley will look to wrestle and rack up points on the scorecard by control time on the matt. While contrarily Luque will try to use his jabs and lead calf kicks to keep Tyron at a distance and pick him apart. We don’t want to count out an ex-champion in Woodley, but we believe Luque’s technical striking will be enough to get his hand raised.
Prediction- Vicente Luque by Decision
Odds- 2.40 (Industry Odds)
Stipe Miocic Vs Francis Ngannou II
Main event time, as Jon Anik said, “Nothing can match the intensity of a UFC championship fight”, we can’t agree any more. This is a huge main event involving the reigning, defending Heavyweight Champion of the world Stipe “Stone Cold” Miocic taking on the rank 1 Heavyweight beast Francis “The Predator” Ngannou.
Introducing first the champion, Stipe is regarded as the greatest heavyweight of all time after he defeated ex-double champion Daniel Cormier in their legendary trilogy. Stipe is one of the toughest fighters we have come across, he has the heart of a champion. He has won 6 title fights and defended his heavyweight belt 4 times in the UFC. Back in the early days of the UFC, the heavyweight belt was infamously known to be changing hands after every fight. Well, not after Miocic entered the division, as he holds the record for the most title defenses in the UFC heavyweight division.
Introducing the challenger, Francis is one of the scariest men to enter the UFC octagon. He has finished his last 4 fights via round 1 knockout, with the longest fight being 1 minute and 11 seconds. Ngannou believes in a quick night at the office, and he has won the 2019 UFC knockout of the year to prove his ability. He faced Stipe for the belt in 2018 and suffered a unanimous decision loss after 5 rounds. Francis is not the same fighter anymore; he has made the adjustments needed to fight for that belt again. He has finished all of his 15 wins; he is as entertaining as they come as he looks to give the fans another great finish this weekend.
This is a battle of resilience. Francis Ngannou is evidently the stronger man and the better boxer out of the two men. Whereas, Stipe has the better gas tank and far superior wrestling credentials over Ngannou. In their last encounter, Francis lacked the patience and championship discipline to take out a champ like Stipe. Will their 2nd meeting go different from the first one? We’ll have to wait till the weekend to find out.
Stipe Miocic is set to go down as one of the best fighters to grace the octagon and he would look to get 2 wins over the scariest man in the UFC. The heavyweight champion of the UFC is given the accolade of the “Baddest man on the planet”. Francis Ngannou fits the accolade aptly as he enters the octagon with bad intentions every time. This fight can go two ways, the first way follows the path of their first meeting where Stipe will out grapple and pace Ngannou and get a decision win. The second way involves bad intentions, it ends with Miocic out “stone cold” on the floor and Bruce Buffer shouting “and new“. This fight is a pickem affair but according to the odds the challenger opens as a slight favorite. Ngannou is the baddest man on the planet but we just cannot write the heavyweight goat off. We think this fight will be tougher and more action-packed than the first one, but it does not end differently.
Prediction- Stipe Miocic by Decision
Odds- 5.0 (Industry Odds)
