Main Event: Stipe Miocic vs Daniel Cormier (UFC Heavyweight Title)Â
Betting odds: Miocic -220 or 2/5, Cormier +245 or 2/1.
UFC Heavyweight Champion Stipe Miocic & UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier were in similar predicaments in their previous title defences facing younger fighters who were coming off of multiple impressive knockout finishes. They managed to see off their respective challenges and as a result, Cormier is moving up to fight for the heavyweight title. Daniel “DC” Cormier has not relinquished the light heavyweight title which means he has the opportunity to hold two belts simultaneously.
Stipe Miocic had struggled to gain the respect that previous champions like Cain Velasquez & Junior Dos Santos once had up until he defeated Francis Ngannou. Ngannou was the slight favourite going into the fight despite his lack of experience but Miocic showed that it would take more than just raw power and strength to take his place at the top of the heap at 265lbs. Francis Ngannou threw the kitchen sink at Miocic to no avail, the champion slipped and ducked himself out of harm’s way just long enough to exhaust the bigger man before dominating the rest of the fight.
Daniel Cormier is a completely different proposition altogether, what Cormier lacks in size and power he more than makes up for with his polished skill set. With Cormier moving up to heavyweight he immediately becomes the most well-rounded fighter in the division, he can stand with world class strikers he can wrestle with the best grapplers there’s simply no area that Cormier is obviously deficient in.
Volkan Oezdemir found that out the hard way when he attempted to take Cormier out in the first round of their fight, Cormier withstood the early pressure eventually taking the fight to the mat where Oezdemir was clearly outmatched. From that position, it was all one-way traffic.
This may look like a massive risk on paper for Cormier going up to a division that stretches from 205lbs to 265lbs however, this isn’t Cormier’s first taste of competing at Heavyweight. Cormier is the former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion who held a record of 13-0 as a heavyweight before dropping down to 205lbs to steer clear of any conflict of interest with fellow stablemate Cain Velasquez.
Cormier was cut short of his run towards the 265lb title in 2013 so it seems fitting he finally gets a crack now that he’s coming to the final stages of his career. Stipe already has more title defences than any other heavyweight in UFC history, another successful defence would be the icing on the cake.
A win for either guy would be the most significant of their career albeit for different reasons.
Co-Main Event: Max Holloway vs Brian Ortega (UFC Featherweight Title)Â
Betting odds: Holloway -170 or 4/7, Ortega +160 or 6/4.
Not all of the title fights over the last few years have been worthy of high praise both on paper or in action, this particular fight title or no title is one of the best match-ups UFC could have made this year. The ingredients required to produce a memorable fight go beyond having two recognised names and putting them together on a big show it has more to do with styles. Holloway & Ortega possess complementary styles the likes of which contain the ingredients for a fight of the year candidate.
The current champion Max Holloway dethroned the most dominant featherweight champion there’s ever been with back to back stoppage victories.
His record is littered with names of former champions and he’s only 26 years of age. You’d have to go back to 2013 to find his last defeat against Conor McGregor since that loss Holloway has won 12 straight including big names like the aforementioned Jose Aldo, Cub Swanson, & Anthony Pettis. Holloway is as active a fighter you’re likely to see, he lands 6.20 significant strikes per minute (FightMetric) drowning top quality strikers in kicks and punches which can sometimes result in wild moments like this.
Max Holloway is a big featherweight he is larger than the majority of the fighters in the division which gives him a slight advantage when matching up with most featherweights, that won’t be the case against Brian Ortega who is a similar size, Ortega will be giving away a 3-inch height advantage but the reach is identical.
On top of being closely matched in size, Ortega is one of the best finishers currently competing in MMA. Whether it’s on the feet or on the ground, down on the scorecards against the clock Ortega finds ways to finish fights even against fighters who have a reputation of being difficult to put away.
Holloway is more of a fighter who plays the long game, he gets his nose in front and looks to build on that with his work rate and volume if you can’t keep up he’ll look to get you out, he doesn’t often take unnecessary chances until he feels there’s minimal danger offered by the opponent, a more cerebral type of fighter. During Holloway’s 12 fight win streak he’s lost only a handful of rounds.
Ortega’s game isn’t built around mounting a lead or scoring points he’s working an angle to score a home run by finishing the fight, the emphasis on that is most likely why he’s so good at it. There’s no element of luck involved he’s shown in multiple scenarios how he can finish a fight in an instant.
Five rounds is a long time to find a finish considering before now in 7 fights with the UFC (one no contest) he’s found a way to finish the fight every time in just three rounds.
The contrasting styles, in this case, is what makes this fight enticing. When you have a fighter like Holloway who attempts to control every round the perfect antidote is someone who doesn’t play that game of tag, this is why Johnny Hendricks was an intriguing opponent for Georges St-Pierre and why TJ Dillashaw vs Demtrious Johnson is an exciting potential match up. The possibilities for how this contest could play out are almost endless.
Francis Ngannou vs Derrick LewisÂ
Betting odds: Ngannou -320 or 3/10, Lewis +299 or 5/2.
The perfect warm-up for two title fights, a heavyweight contest between two knockout artists.
Ngannou failed in his attempt to claim the heavyweight title from Stipe Miocic back in January, 6 months later he attempts to continue his prior run of devastating finishes, the last victim was, of course, Alistair Overeem.
For the owner of the hardest punch ever recorded time is of the essence, Ngannou who started MMA late is 31 years old with glaring holes still present in his game, he can’t afford another slip up in the octagon if he wants to be the star he was promoted with the intention of becoming.
Derrick Lewis can also end a fight in the blink of an eye, he may not have the same visually athletic appearance as his July 7th opponent but he moves deceptively fast.
Lewis hasn’t yet competed for the title, he was on course for a title fight until a loss against Mark Hunt set him back, a victory over Ngannou in a relatively weak division would put him right back in contention.
Two big heavyweights with knockout power who have had issues with stamina in the past, is this fight going the distance? I’d be extremely surprised if we see the second round.
PredictionsÂ
Stipe Miocic vs Daniel Cormier (Cormier by Decision)
Max Holloway vs Brian Ortega (Ortega by Submission)
Francis Ngannou vs Derrick Lewis (Ngannou by KO/TKO)Â
Michael Chiesa vs Anthony Pettis (Chiesa by Decision)
Gokhan Saki vs Khalil Rountree (Saki by KO/TKO)
