The first non-title PPV of the year provides a matchup between former teammates and friends, Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal. Unfortunately, the buildup for the fight hasn’t been too enthralling, the press conference was hard to watch. Hopefully the card delivers, it looks solid throughout.
Sergey Spivak vs Greg Hardy – Heavyweight Division
Although we’ll most likely see a finish, this fight doesn’t excite me. Anywho, Spivak needs to take this to the ground to avoid Hardy‘s knockout power. If he can do that, he’ll most likely grab a submission or win via ground and pound. Hardy will obviously be aware of this and could potentially catch him with shots on the way in. This fight is really a toss up, yet I’m going to side with Sergey Spivak for the win.
Prediction: Sergey Spivak by submission in round 1
Kevin Holland vs Alex Oliveira – Welterweight Division
Great fight here. The UFC has finally given Kevin Holland a striker once again so he’ll definitely be looking to get back on track with a win here. Although Kevin has lost against Derek Brunson and Marvin Vettori due to being dominated by wrestling, I wouldn’t be surprised if he used it in this fight. Oliveira’s jiu-jitsu is noticeably weak and Holland is a jiu-jitsu black belt. I think Holland is also the better striker. Oliveira is an exciting fighter that will try and make it into a dogfight but if Holland keeps his range, fights behind his jab, he could easily breakdown his opponent. I think Kevin will return to winning ways this weekend.
Prediction: Kevin Holland by TKO in round 2
Edson Barboza vs Bryce Mitchell – Featherweight Division
Pretty simple breakdown, if Mitchell can take this to the ground, it’s going to be a long fight for Barboza. You’ve also got to bare in mind that Barboza’s biggest weapon is his kicks, which he’ll have to be careful throwing to prevent Mitchell catching one and taking him to the mat. Mitchell himself is an underrated kicker, he’ll usually start a fight circling his opponent throwing low kicks and due to his brilliant ground game, fighters don’t take him down. I think this fight is going the distance, with Mitchell taking the win, I think the win will be due to his grappling advantage.
Prediction: Bryce Mitchell by decision
Rafael Dos Anjos vs Renato Moicano – Catchweight (160lbs)
Moicano replaces Rafael Fiziev to fight the former 155lbs champion in a five round fight, with five days to prepare. Huge respect for him taking the fight. Apparently, Moicano weighed 180lbs on Tuesday so this might be a tough weight cut for the Brazilian. Baring in mind, in his last fight, although he grabbed the win, he looked extremely tired after round one. Dos Anjos will be looking to grapple early, I’d expect a takedown attempt early in round so he can test the endurance of his compatriot. If Dos Anjos can get this on the ground, he can dominate this one. I’m taking the legend by submission.
Prediction: Rafael Dos Anjos by submission in round 3
Colby Covington vs Jorge Masvidal – Welterweight Division
This fight is a lot closer than most people think. The majority of people think Colby will simply takedown Jorge and keep him down for 25 minutes. I don’t think that’s the case. In his first fight with Kamaru Usman, Jorge was able to get up most times Usman took him down. I think there’ll be long enough periods for Jorge to strike and put Colby in trouble. As former teammates, they’ll know each other’s tendancies and even though they’ve changed since then, there’s always one thing that lingers. In terms of cardio, they both have incredible gas tanks and can go 50 minutes, let alone 25. If there’s a finish I can only see it going in Jorge’s favour to be honest, Colby’s striking has improved but we haven’t seen him strike with a pure striker like Jorge. This will be a fun watch, I’m going with Colby though, I think he might 48-47/49-46 this one.
Prediction: Colby Covington by decision
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