Abu Dhabi, UFC 251, the place where all fighters want to fight at some point in their careers. Exotic? Yes. Rich? Yes. This is just a place that every fighter can look back and say, “I fought there”. OK so fight Island? Ehh…. We’ve already been there, we’ve already been to fight Island, its the same Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, but it was just less special then. Anyway, the pandemic is still going on for most of America. A lot of people are still out of jobs, and the country is still moving more slowly than it did before, the fights bring some normalcy.
| vs |
Kamaru Usman should be fighting Jorge Masvidal here. The fight would’ve been bigger. The build-up would’ve been bigger. They decided not to pay Masvidal right now, so…. We dont get the fight. Jorge Masvidal is huge. He should be fighting in Abu Dhabi for a lot of money -He’s that kind of fighter. Check out my post about MASTERY. Check out the little story about Picasso there. Anyway, I see this as a very competitive fight. Usman has a high fight IQ, and he’ll be looking to exploit some weaknesses of Burns, and Burns is pretty damn good in his own right. And dont think of Burns as only just a BJJ fighter anymore. The man hits hard. I think this is gonna be a stand and bang contest.
| Kamaru Usman | vs | Jorge Masvidal |
The MMA Gods know how to set everything right, don’t they? This is the fight that IS supposed to happen, and this is a spectacular fight. The only thing that kinda erks me about this matchup is that Masvidal will have to cut about 20 lbs in 6 days, and that can be very rough on your body. Usman is a very smart fighter and he’ll be looking to capitalize on the short notice weight-cut by Gamebred. What do I expect from this fight? Fireworks… Both have a high fight IQ. Masvidal has better Muay Thai, Usman has the better wrestling, but Masvidal’s wrestling defense is grossly under-rated. Masvidal is essentially a super-technical fighter with a loose-street personality. Masvidal 4th round submission.
| Alexander Volkanovski | vs | Max Holloway |
I dont think Max Holloway really wanted this fight. I think the UFC pushed him into it. He never really asked for a rematch, and he always wanted to move up to 155. He’s been talking about his brutal weight-cut forever. I Just hope that the UFC is paying him what he’s worth, and not just reminding him that “He’s a warrior” That being said, I see Volkanovski taking this one, if Max gets desperate and tries to engage more, I think Max is going to get finished.
| Petr Yan | vs | Jose Aldo |
I like this fight, but I dont like this fight for the title. They should’ve held off on that. This is a tough, tough fight to pick. Yan fights with so much bad intentions, he’s just looking to hurt you badly -all the time. Aldo is a savvy vet, but sometimes he has a kill or be killed mentality to his game. I’m gonna go with Aldo here. But this is a very tough one
| Jessica Andrade | vs | Rose Namajunas |
So Rose hasn’t fought in a year, and she comes back to rematch the lady that slammed her on her head and took her title away from her. Andrade who comes forward Shute Boxe style -ready to tear your head off, will be looking repeat what she did to Rose. In an interview sometime last year, Andrade said that when she’s picked up Rose to slam her, Rose was incredibly light. Anyway, I think Rose will have a better sprawl and get the win here
| Paige vanZant | vs | Amanda Ribas |
Its a shame that Maycee Barber isn’t available, ain’t it? That would make this fight huge. Anyway. The UFC is looking to launch Ribas here.
| Volkan Oezdemir | vs | Jiri Prochazka |
I dont know what to make of this… Prochazka was a champ in Rizin, and Oezdemir is a tough test for anyone. I’ll make a pick, but I dont want to…. I pick Oezdemir.
| Elizeu Zaleski | vs | Muslin Salikhov |
Zaleski is one of my favorite fighter in the UFC, and the thing is, they always give him no-name killers, its kinda like the UFC hates him. I got Zaleski here
| Makwan Amirkhani | vs | Danny Henry |
This is actually a pretty good fight. I like Amirkhani here
| Leonardo Santos | vs | Roman Bogatov |
Leonardo Santos is kinda like a secret character in a video game, he fights rarely, but he has big wins over impressive competition. I see him winning by submission here
| Marcin Tybura | vs | Maxim Grishin |
They throw a lot of new fighters on the UFC XXX cards. I think its so that they can pay the guys at the top more. Anyway, Grishin is new, but I got him. I haven’t been impressed with Tybura. So… This is mainly a pick against Tybura
| Zhalgas Zhumagulov | vs | Raulian Paiva |
Zhumagulov is new, but I’ll go with him
| Vanessa Melo | vs | Karol Rosa |
Tough fight to call, I’ll go with Rosa
| Martin Day | vs | Davey Grant |
Tough fight to call. I’ll go with Day here
The Volkanovski fight at UFC 251 will be unbroken