Tomorrow at 3 a.m (GMT)/22:00 p.m (EST) UFC 221 takes place in Perth, Australia where the main event will be a clash for the interim title between the number 1 and 2 middleweight contenders Yoel Romero and Luke Rockhold respectively. Below are my predictions where i will begin with the fight pass bouts followed by the pre-lims and then the main card.
Without going in to detail below are my predictions for the fight pass card:
This bout will be taking place in the flyweight division and could lead to the winner getting a title shot.
Ben Nyugen has a record of 16-6-0 of which 8 are by way of KO/TKO, 5 by submission and the remaining 3 by way of decision and he is coming off of a win against Tim Elliot who has fought for the title.
Ben Nyugen will be on a high after his latest win and is not known to be easily submitted i think Nyugen will dominate the stand up and win by decision or possibly a KO.
This bout will be taking place in the featherweight division.
Alexander Volkanovski is a highly respected Australian fighter who currently has a record of 16-1-0 of which 9 coming by way of KO/TKO, 2 submissions and 5 by decision.
Though Kennedy is undefeated i believe Volkanovski will get the win either by submission or a close decision possibly a split decision.
This bout takes place in the middleweight division.
Israel Adesanya is a highly touted prospect with a ridiculous highlight reel and will be making his UFC debut he has a record of 11-0-0 all coming by way of KO, Adesanya also has an extensive Kickboxing/Muay Thai record with 65 wins (24 KO/TKO), 5 losses and 2 draws as well as a boxing record of 5 Wins (1 KO/TKO), 1 Loss and 0 Draws
Rob Wilkinson has a record of 11-1-0 where 4 of those wins were by KO/TKO, 6 by way of submission and 1 decision. Wilkinson's only lose was in his previous fight against Siyar Bahadurzada which he lost by TKO in September 2017.
The chances of this bout going the distance seem slim however if Wilkinson can take Adesanya out of his comfort zone with his grappling he may be able to etch out a decision win or even a submission, however i think Adesanya will be too much for him to handle and i believe we may see a early KO/TKO in Adesanya's favour.
This will be taking place in the lightweight division.
Damien Brown is very much a balls to the wall kind of fighter and always puts on a show he is coming off of a fight of the night split decision win against Frank Camancho and currently has a record of 17-11-0.
Dong Hyun Kim has a record of 15-8-3 and is coming off of a TKO win against the legendary (although faded imo) Takanori Gomi, he has had a rocky start in the UFC with his first two fights being KO loses but seems to have found his groove picking up 2 wins since then.
I believe if Dong Hyun Kim can use his range and movement he may be able to pick up a decision win although it won't be easy.
This will be in the Light-Heavyweight division.
Tyson Pedro has a record of 6-1-0 and is coming off of a decision loss to the heavy handed Ilir Latifi.
Saparbek Safarov is a Dagestani fighter from the same town as the infamous Khabib Nurmegomedov, he recently suffered his first loss at the hands of Gian Villante in early December.
Tyson Pedro is a heavy favourite coming in to this fight and i think he will have his hands full this weekend. Dagestani's are notoriously tough with good wrestling which i think will come in to play here and i believe Safarov will grind out a decision win.
This bout is in the welterweight division
Jake Matthews has a record of 11-3-0 and was once touted as a future contender, he was a contestant on TUF at the tender age of 19 where he lost his first fight, nevertheless he made enough of an impression to earn himself a UFC contract eventually though he has blown a bit hot and cold he is however coming off of a win against Bojan Velickovic
Jingliang Li is on a 4 fight winning streak 3 of which were KO/TKO's and his record currently stands at 14-4-0.
I think Jingliang Li will get the win in this one with the use of takedowns and ground control and may even get a stoppage win.
This bout is in the heavyweight division
Cyril Asker has a record of 9-3-0, of which 4 were in the UFC were he won 2 by TKO and submission and losing the other 2 though these were not back-to-back loses.
Tai Tuivasa is coming off of a performance of the night win where he got the KO via flying knee, he is an undefeated fighter with a record of 6-0-0 with all wins coming by KO/TKO.
Tai Tuivasa is the favourite coming in to this fight and i believe he will continue his trend of picking up KO/TKO wins although there has been negative speculation about his cardio so if it goes to a decision where he fades late on due to fatigue he could possibly take an "L".
This of course will be in the heavyweight division.
Mark Hunt has been a fan favourite for a long time and is known for his walk-off KO's his record stands at 13-11-1 with his last fight being a TKO win over Derrick Lewis.
The 26 year old Curtis Blaydes has been wrestling since he was in high school and currently has a record of 8-1-0 with his only loss being a doctors stoppage at the hands of the scary Francis Ngannou and has been on a winning streak since barring one no contest.
I believe Blaydes will grind out a unanimous decision win against Hunt by using his wrestling and keeping Hunt against the cage.
The main event of UFC 221 will be in the middleweight division and will most likely decide the next opponent for the current champion Robert Whittaker.
Yoel Romero is a feared middleweight with Olympic level wrestling whose last fight was for the interim title against the current champion Robert Whittaker to which he lost, Yoel seemed to be dangerous for the first few rounds attempting takedowns to which Whittaker mostly defended and then he seemed to fatigue which saw Yoel slow down and Whittaker take over.
Luke Rockhold was originally scheduled to face Robert Whittaker but injury caused him to pull out, Luke Rockhold is known for his technical striking and cardio the latter of which i think will be key, it seems Rockhold has been on the road to redemption since losing his title in dramatic fashion to Michael Bisping, he currently has a record of 16-3-0 with his last fight being a TKO victory over David Branch.
This is a tough one but i would go with Rockhold to win via dicison like i mentioned cardio will be key as well as take down defense as long as Rockhold remains focused i think a win for him is on the cards.
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