This weekend the UFC hosts it’s last scheduled event on Dana White’s “Fight Island” at the Flash Forum on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi with an absolutely fire Middleweight Main Event & a very solid undercard that boasts 4 former champions & perennial title challengers .
Prelim Quick Hits:
Nathaniel Wood (16-4-0) vs John Castaneda (17-4-0)
Ramazan Emeev (18-4-0) vs Niklas Stolze (12-3-0)
Bethe Correia (11-4-1) vs Pannie Kianzad (13-5-0)
Tanner Boser (18-6-1) vs Raphael Pessoa (10-1-0)
Movsar Evloev (12-0-0) vs Mike Grundy (12-1-0)
Tom Aspinall (7-2-0) vs Jake Collier (11-4-0)
Nicolas Dalby (18-3-1, 1NC) vs Jesse Ronson (21-10-0)
Francisco Trinaldo (25-7-0) vs Jai Herbert (10-1-0)
Main Card:
Khamzat Chimaev (7-0-0) vs Rhys McKee (10-2-1)
The main card opens with a fight that the fighters have a total of 1 UFC fights combined & as such it’s hard to get a gauge on this one, however having seen Chimaev absolutely DOMINATE John Phillips only 10 days ago & also coming down in weight to his natural weight division of Welterweight I think he pulls out another stunning victory.
Alex Oliveira (20-8-1, 2NC) vs Peter Sobotta (17-6-1)
This is one of the harder fights to pick since it features notorious Welterweight gatekeeper Oliveira against a man who hasn’t fought since losing to Leon Edwards in 2018 in Sobotta.
Sobotta is definitely enjoying a better second stint in the UFC than his first but will cage rust be evident after 2 years? We shall find out.
If Oliveira can bully Sobotta early that’s where he wins the fight in my opinion otherwise Sobotta will press forward, stay in Oliveiras face & grind out a decision. I’m going with the latter, Sobotta by decision.
Paul Craig (12-4-1) vs Gadzhimurad Antigulov (20-6-0)
Don’t expect this one to go the distance as both these men have a tendency to finish their opponents early however if this does go longer than anticipated then Paul Craig has the credentials to end it late or eek out a decision on the judges cards however I think Antigulov gets him down early & makes him tap.
Carla Esparza (17-6-0) vs Marina Rodriguez (12-0-2)
One of the more interesting fights on the card which would probably surprise a few but when you have a former & first ever UFC Strawweight Champion pitted against an undefeated brazilian things are bound to get a little feisty.
If Rodriguez can stop early takedowns & light Esparza up on the feet she is every chance to walk away a winner however she has never faced someone who wrestles with the volume in which Esparza does.
I expect Esparza to eventually get her way & take Rodriguez down which in turn will lead to a decision victory.
Fabricio Werdum (23-9-1) vs Alexander Gustafsson (18-6-0)
I am personally interested in this fight for all the wrong reasons I’ll be honest. Werdum is a man who has already retired in his own head & as such has no right getting into a cage for a fight however the man he is being locked in the Octagon with also retired & this is his return to action but with a Heavyweight twist.
Ever since dominating Alexander Volkov in 2018 but getting stopped late, Werdum has looked uninterested shall we say regarding fighting & his terrible 3 round performance against Alexey Oleynik was sure fire proof of that.
Gustafsson on the other hand almost dethroned Jon Jones in 2013 & Daniel Cormier in 2015, both widely recognized as the greatest Light Heavyweight Champions of all time however his last loss to Anthony Smith forced him into retirement but now at the ripe old age of only 33 years old he is back moving up a division trying to find that fire once again.
As I said both men look seemingly uninterested in being locked into a cage fight but in saying that I feel Gustafsson has more to give & will be too quick for Werdum to handle.
Mauricio Rua (26-11-1) vs Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (23-9-0)
I’m going to be honest & it’s going to pain me to do so as Shogun is my all time favourite fighter, dig up footage from 2005 then you will quickly understand why.
Shogun & Lil Nog have fought twice before & Shogun has won both times. Pride fight in 2005 was amazing while the second bout in the UFC was respectable albeit the same result.
Lil Nog will retire after this fight he has made that abundantly clear however & is very capable of getting the fairytale victory here however I think this goes a very long & painful 15 minutes where Shogun does a broom job on the 3 fight series where he gets a decision victory.
Robert Whittaker (21-5-0) vs Darren Till (18-2-1)
While this is a semi stacked card if you’re a hardcore MMA fan, this fight by itself should appeal to everybody. Both these guys love to throw leather & hurt other dudes, we all love to see that right?
Whittaker went on an absolute tear upon moving up to Middleweight on his way to becoming the Champion however once he got to the top of the mountain he got injured, then sick, then just plain old burnt out but he pushed through & took a title fight against Israel Adesanya, that didn’t end well unfortunately. But he is back after some time off & seemingly with the fire back in the belly which means could we see the return of Bobby Knuckles??
Darren Till made headlines by destroying Cowboy Cerrone then demanding a fight in the UK against Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson which put him in the championship picture, however Tyron Woodley was a different class of fighter en route to a submission loss for the Gorilla followed by a Gangster beating by Jorge Masvidal which ironically started Jorge’s career resurgence as a BMF.
The lone fight at Middleweight for Till came at MSG which brought a decision victory against Kelvin Gastelum.
For me this fight is simple, If Whittaker is 100% after the wars with Romero, getting mauled by Adesanya & illnesses then he will establish dominance down the stretch en route to getting Till out of there in the later rounds but if Till senses that something isn’t quite right with The Reaper then Till will make this a miserable time for the Aussie.
I think Whittaker comes in at 100% which means we see the return of Bobby Knuckles en route to a stoppage in the championship rounds.
Betting Odds
Robert Whittaker (-135) vs Darren Till (+115)
Mauricio Rua (-190) vs Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (+160)
Alexander Gustafsson (-340) vs Fabricio Werdum (+270)
Carla Esparza (+155) vs Maria Rodriguez (-180)
Paul Craig (-135) vs Gadzhimurad Antigulov (+115)
Nicolas Dalby (-260) vs Jesse Ronson (+210)
Alex Oliveira (-170) vs Peter Sobotta (+145)
Jai Herbert (+105) vs Francisco Trinaldo (-125)
Tom Aspinall (-300) vs Jake Collier (+240)
Movsar Evloev (-280) vs Mike Grundy (+230)
Tanner Boser (-240) vs Raphael Pessoa (+230)
Bethe Correia (+130) vs Pannie Kianzad (-155)
Ramazan Emeev (-400) vs Niklas Stolze (+310)
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