In recent news the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) has rescheduled a bout between Damian Maia and Carlos Condit from its original booking on UFC 202 to now headline the fast approaching UFC on Fox 21 which will take place on August 27th. While both men are well rounded mixed martial artists both are known for their specialties which for Maia is certainly his Jiu Jitsu while for Condit it would be his striking skills. This bout will likely come down to the man that is able to establish greater control of his opponent and as Maia has shown in his recent fights he is absolutely been able to do just that. However, although able to control well, as the fight ages into the later rounds Maia has shown that he is vulnerable to skilled strikers assuming they also possess skilled wrestling abilities. This was displayed in his bout against Long Island MMA’s Ryan LaFlare. As the rounds passed it began to sway more and more in LaFlare’s favor although in this instance Maia was still able to achieve victory.
Under the circumstances that Carlos Condit is able to drag Damian Maia into deep water and consistently stand up or avoid the takedown all together this could be a dangerous match up for him. However, this begs the question of whether Condit possesses the Jiu Jitsu skill set to survive the early onslaught of grappling that Maia is undoubtedly going to bring to the octagon that night for the main event? Who will be able to enforce their will come August 27th? If Maia is able to win what does this mean for him and a possible title shot? If Condit wins where will he find himself in the rankings after breaking the prominent win streak of Maia? Sound off below with your feelings and opinions about this match up!
The next major event that the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) will be hosting is set to take place Thursday July 7th; a date which is fast approaching. UFC Fight Night will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada and is littered with several very interesting match ups, some of which us here at Long Island Mixed Martial Arts have already set our picks! The first match up that we have decided on is between John Makdessi and Mehdi Baghdad.
These two fighters both possess exceptional striking and have the ability to deliver devastating power through their attacks. Makdessi possesses somewhat of a more exotic approach to his striking, incorporating several spinning attacks with both his hands and feet. Such unpredictable attacks make the possibility of catching Baghdad off guard slightly higher. Mehdi, however, is more of a traditional Muay Thai striker and is able to put together precise and disciplined combinations. Thus we may suppose that his striking may be somewhat more consistent than that of Makdessi. Using this reasoning as well as taking into account his significant reach advantage, we believe that Mehdi Baghdad will win this fight.
The next fight that we have predicted is between Alberto Mina and Mike Pyle. It seems that Mike Pyle possesses significant superiority in both the fields of striking and wrestling. Where it seems that Mina’s striking is readable and inconsistent Pyle is able to put together combinations and create angles of attack. In the wrestling department, the inconsistency of Mina’s wrestling offense displayed against Yoshihiro Akiyama leads us to believe that he will be trapped on the feet with Pyle; a situation that he is ill equipped for. Therefore, we have chosen Mike Pyle to be the winner of this fight.
Lastly, we have reviewed the match up for the main event which is a title fight in the lightweight division between the champion Rafael Dos Anjos and the challenger Eddie Alvarez! After some deliberation we believe that the champion will retain his title. Although Eddie Alvarez possesses brutal toughness and tenacity that has allowed him to devastate opponents in the past we feel that the composure and precision of Rafael Dos Anjos will carry the day. So there you have it, a few of our picks for the up and coming UFC Fight Night! Do you agree with our choices? If not, sound off in the comments and tell us your reasoning.
