Michael Chiesa vs. Marcus LeVesseur
If it’s one skill LeVesseur possesses, it’s his wrestling. We’re talking about a man who went undefeated in his amateur wrestling career and even outwrestled the current Bellator welterweight champion, Ben Askren. While Chiesa is a skilled wrestler as well, it will be his jiu-jitsu that will pose problems for LeVesseur. In his fight with Cody McKenzie, LeVesseur showed novice level submission defense, and the same mistakes will cost him dearly against Chiesa. Although his submission defense was much improved in his fight with jiu-jitsu black belt, Carlo Prater, Prater doesn’t have the wrestling skills that Chiesa possess. The one thing that could cost Chiesa the win is his striking. Chiesa’s striking skills have been described as making Jake Shields look like a professional kick boxer, but even with his amateur striking, he was capable of defeating good strikers and powerful wrestlers to win the fifteenth season of The Ultimate Fighter. If Chiesa was able to submit a strong wrestler like Al Iaquinta, who is more jiu-jitsu savvy than LeVesseur, then he absolutely has the necessary tools to outsmart LeVesseur on the ground and will get another submission win with a second consecutive rear naked choke.
Raphael Assuncao vs. Mike Easton
Assuncao is undefeated since dropping to bantamweight, but Easton is a strong fighter, and fights with mass amounts of aggression. Unlike Assuncao’s last two opponents, Easton won’t let Assuncao to be the one to set the pace of the fight, and this may throw Assuncao off his game when he feels bullied. Assuncao has displayed creative striking in his recent bouts, but it was against lesser talented competition, and that may have allowed him to throw strikes that he won’t be able to land against Easton. After defeating Ivan Menjivar in his last fight, I‘m surprised that Easton isn‘t fighting someone closer to the top ten of the division. Because of this recent victory over a top bantamweight, Easton will be the favorite to win, and I agree with the odds. Easton will rush Assuncao in the opening second of the round and end this fight early. This fight should end quick, but even if Assuncao makes it out of the first round, I’m betting on Easton to get the knockout.
Ramsey Nijem vs. Joe Proctor
Proctor is talented on the ground, but Nijem will still be looking for the takedown. Nijem is a well rounded grappler who has both good wrestling style takedowns with judo sweeps as he displayed against C.J. Keith. However, Nijem relies too heavily on his ground game and will be in a world of trouble if he can’t secure a takedown. Nijem’s striking is on the border of awkward and sloppy. Even his most recent technical knockout win, which was grossly premature, was due to ground and pound and wasn‘t set up on the feet.. Although Proctor may not be on a professional kick boxer‘s level, he was able to knockout Jeremy Larsen, who is strictly a striker, and will without a doubt possess the striking advantage. C.J. Keith was able to mount Nijem for a short period of time in their fight, and Proctor possess better ground skills than Keith. Proctor was trained in jiu-jitsu by UFC veteran Joe Lauzon, so even if Nijem can take him down, he will hold his own and could potentially catch Nijem in a submission. I don’t see Nijem taking Proctor down over and over again at will; I find it much more likely that Proctor will make Nijem work for the takedowns and eventually catch him with one clean shot that will drop Nijem and he will land follow up strikes until the ref intervenes.
Yves Edwards vs. Jeremy Stephens
I’m quite surprised that so many people are picking Edwards to defeat Stephens in this fight. We’re talking about a fighter who engaged in a striking bout with Melvin Guillard and lost a split decision, and yet Stephens striking isn’t good enough to match Edwards’? Let’s not even bring up the fact that Stephens out struck Sam Stout in the majority of their fight and Stout was able to knockout Edwards in the first round. Even if their striking is dead even, Stephens has the heavier hands. Did no one do their research for this fight? If anyone is getting knocked out in this fight, it will be Edwards. Stephens traded shots with Donald Cerrone, Anthony Pettis, and Marcus Davis; I’m pretty sure Yves Edwards isn’t going to bring anything new to the table that Stephens won’t be more than capable of handling. Look for this fight to be a stand up war and end with Stephens putting Edwards to sleep with a big right hand.
Daron Cruickshank vs. Henry Martinez
Martinez is just about the most one dimensional fighter in the UFC. He’s going to stand in front of his opponent, and aggressively headhunt like he did against Matthew Riddle and Bernardo Magalhaes. This style is extremely predictable and I doubt Cruickshank will have any issue using his footwork and head movement to avoid any real damage. I doubt Martinez will be looking to take the fight to the ground, so Cruickshank will be able use more of his karate style kicks and keep Martinez out of attacking range. Even if Martinez is able to close the distance, Cruickshank has a wrestling background and will duck under Martinez’s punches to secure a takedown anytime Martinez looks to throw. In his fight with Bernardo Magalhaes, Martinez seemed to tire after the first round and was less aggressive because of it, so if cardio is an issue for Martinez in this fight, Cruickshank will be able to land a significant amount of offense. The only way I can see Martinez emerging as the victor, is if he gets a lucky knockout, which I don’t see happening. If Cruickshank can’t finish Martinez, there’s no reason he shouldn’t at take a unanimous decision victory.
Written by : Ryan “Fight Freek” Poli
@FightFreek