Tim McTiernan | UFC Betting Sites - The Best MMA Online Bookies

John Lineker vs. Ian McCall: Keys to Victory for Each Fighter

This Saturday, a huge fight goes down in the flyweight division between former Tachi Palace Fights champion Ian “Uncle Creepy” McCall and John Lineker in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 56.
McCall is ranked at No. 3 in the division, while Lineker …

This Saturday, a huge fight goes down in the flyweight division between former Tachi Palace Fights champion Ian “Uncle Creepy” McCall and John Lineker in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 56.

McCall is ranked at No. 3 in the division, while Lineker sits at No. 6. The winner of this fight could easily be next in line for a title shot at Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson.

McCall and Johnson have met twice before, with the first fight ending in a draw and the second in a unanimous decision for Johnson. Lineker has never faced Johnson before, and he is currently the second-highest ranked flyweight without a loss to him.

Let’s check out the keys to victory for each fighter.

Ian McCall

Intensity

McCall can be a ferocious fighter. He is fast and in your face from the first bell. He needs to do that against Lineker. Lineker is a striker with serious power, and if McCall is able to keep him on his heels, he won’t be able to generate as much power with his strikes.

In addition, Lineker cuts a lot of weight to make 125. If McCall keeps the pace up, Lineker could gas very easily. If that happens, then expect McCall to have a hugely impressive night.

Takedowns

McCall is one of the best grapplers in the division. There’s no doubt that he will be looking to take this fight to the ground and look for a ground-and-pound victory.

McCall has scored at least one takedown in all of his UFC fights, and he also took Dominick Cruz down twice when they fought back in 2009. This fight should continue that streak.

Keep His Head in the Game

McCall has without a doubt learned from the mistake he made in the first fight against Demetrious Johnson, but it still needs to be said.

When McCall had Johnson’s back, he was landing strikes but also trying to rally the crowd, instead of just focusing on finishing the fight.

If he sees an opportunity, he has to go for the finish instead of trying to win the crowd.

John Lineker

Knockout Power

There’s no question about what Lineker will be looking to do in this fight. He’s earned his last four wins by (T)KO, and he’ll be looking to make it five.

Working against him is the fact that McCall has never been knocked out in his 18-fight career, even though he’s faced some of the top fighters in the division.

If Lineker is able to land a power shot, though, he absolutely has the ability to be the first to knock McCall out.

Takedown Defense

This one goes without question: Lineker needs to stay on his feet.

McCall is one of the top grapplers in the division, and if he gets Lineker on the ground, it could quickly lead to the end of the fight. Lineker is only a blue belt in BJJ and has lost by submission three times in his career, most recently in 2012.

If Lineker is able to avoid the takedown and keep the fight standing, he’ll have a good chance of scoring a knockout victory.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC Fight Night 59: Benson Henderson vs. Eddie Alvarez Head-to-Toe Breakown

In just over two months, former lightweight champion Benson Henderson returns to the Octagon to face former Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez at UFC Fight Night 59.
Henderson last fought in August, when he suffered his first career knock…

In just over two months, former lightweight champion Benson Henderson returns to the Octagon to face former Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez at UFC Fight Night 59.

Henderson last fought in August, when he suffered his first career knockout loss in brutal fashion at the hands of Rafael dos Anjos.

Alvarez is also coming off a loss. His last fight was his UFC debut, in which he dropped a unanimous decision to perennial contender Donald Cerrone.

Both fighters will be looking to get back on track, and with Henderson ranked at No. 5 and Alvarez at No. 10, this is a fight with serious implications in the stacked lightweight division.

Let’s take a look at who has the edge in this early head-to-toe breakdown.

Begin Slideshow

UFC Fight Night 56: John Lineker vs. Ian McCall Head-to-Toe Breakdown

This weekend, the UFC has a double-header of fight cards, featuring Luke Rockhold against Michael Bisping on Friday night and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua against Ovince St. Preux on Saturday night. The co-main event on Saturday is a flyweight bout between fo…

This bout is big for the division, as McCall is ranked No. 3 and Lineker is sitting at No. 6. The winner of this fight is likely next in line for a title shot against the champ, Demetrious Johnson.

McCall and Johnson have fought twice in the past, with the first fight going to a draw and the second ending with a unanimous decision for Johnson. Lineker has never faced Johnson, but at 24-7 he has a lot of experience to face the champ with.

Let’s take a look at who has the edge on Saturday with this head-to-toe breakdown of McCall vs. Lineker.

Begin Slideshow

UFC 179: Glover Teixeira vs. Phil Davis Full Head-to-Toe Breakdown

This Saturday, UFC 179 goes down in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, as Jose Aldo puts his featherweight title on the line when he takes on Chad Mendes in a rematch of their battle from UFC 142.
In the co-main event, one-time light heavyweight title challenger,…

This Saturday, UFC 179 goes down in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, as Jose Aldo puts his featherweight title on the line when he takes on Chad Mendes in a rematch of their battle from UFC 142.

In the co-main event, one-time light heavyweight title challenger, Glover Teixeira, faces off against No. 6-ranked contender, Phil Davis.

Teixeira comes into the fight following a losing title effort against Jon Jones at UFC 172, as he was thoroughly dominated and lost the fight 50-45 on all scorecards.

Davis also fought and lost by unanimous decision at UFC 172, as he was beaten badly by Anthony Johnson for 15 minutes en route to a 30-27 loss on all scorecards.

These two will be looking to get back on track in a big way, so let’s take a look at who has the edge in a full head-to-toe breakdown of this light heavyweight bout.

Begin Slideshow

Ronaldo Souza vs. Gegard Mousasi: Breaking Down Their Original Match in 2008

This Friday, former Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza squares off against the former DREAM light heavyweight, middleweight and Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi at UFC Fight Night 50.
Souza and Mousasi will be…

Souza and Mousasi will be headlining the card, a rematch of a fight they had back in 2008 with the DREAM middleweight title on the line. That fight ended early in the first round when Mousasi landed a brutal upkick and knocked Souza out cold.

Each fighter has done very well for himself since that time, as Souza has gone 10-1 (1 NC) while Mousasi has gone 11-2-1.

While each fighter has improved by leaps and bounds since that time, there’s still plenty that can be learned from their first fight heading into the second.

At the beginning of the fight, Mousasi clearly has control of the ring, as he simply walks Souza down, constantly keeping him on his heels.

Then, when backed up nearly all the way to the ropes, Souza simply lunges at Mousasi‘s legs looking for a takedown, which Mousasi easily avoids. However, Jacare is able to use that opportunity to stay right on Mousasi and work for another takedown, which he gets with some help from the ropes.

Not only did Jacare score the takedown, but he did it by completely lifting Mousasi and slamming him onto the canvas directly into side control. Mousasi is able to get to half-guard rather quickly and looks for an escape, but Souza isn’t having any of it.

Mousasi then shows good ground striking defense, as he is able to grab and control the left arm of Souza to prevent him from throwing any punches.

There wasn’t a whole lot that happened on the ground, as Mousasi showed good defense and Jacare resorted to simply holding on tight but still looking to pass.

Mousasi is then able to work to a half-butterfly guard and briefly push Souza off him from there. Once Souza is pushed away, he immediately looks to throw punches and work back to the ground.

Souza throws a wild, diving right hand, while Mousasi throws two upkicks. The first upkick misses, but the second lands square on the jaw of Souza and knocks him out cold. Mousasi throws a number of quick punches before realizing that Souza is out and putting his hands up.

The fight officially ended at 2:15 of the first round with a knockout victory by way of upkick for Mousasi.

Even though Mousasi earned the victory, and their grappling appeared to almost negate one another’s, Souza looked like he could have had a serious chance to win if the fight stayed on the ground. Eventually, he would have seen an opening and could have capitalized on it.

On the other hand, Mousasi showed more control on the feet and could have possibly ended the fight that way, as he was able to keep Souza backing up.

Both fighters have improved drastically, with Jacare a serious threat on the feet now and Mousasi having shown off his ground game in a beatdown of Mark Munoz. Jacare may still have an advantage on the ground, and Mousasi may still have an advantage on the feet, but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t end the fight anywhere.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC: With a Win, Is Ronaldo Souza the Middleweight Division’s No. 1 Contender?

This Friday, the former Strikeforce middleweight champion, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, squares off against the former DREAM middleweight and light heavyweight champion as well as the former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion, Gegard Mousasi. They’ll be…

This will be a rematch of an earlier fight, as Souza and Mousasi met back in 2008 with the DREAM middleweight title on the line. The fight lasted just over two minutes and ended with a knockout victory for Mousasi.

That is one of only three losses on Souza‘s record, the other two coming in his first professional fight and then in 2011 when he lost his Strikeforce title to Luke Rockhold. You can be sure he’s eager to try and get that blemish off his record, as it was a particularly brutal knockout.

Souza is currently ranked No. 4 in the division behind only Anderson Silva, the former champion, Lyoto Machida, the most recent title challenger and Vitor Belfort, the next title challenger.

Souza has gone 3-0 in the Octagon, having earned a first-round technical submission over Chris Camozzi, a first-round TKO over Yushin Okami and most recently a unanimous decision over Francis Carmont.

Mousasi is ranked No. 7 in the division, and is 2-1 in his UFC tenure, 1-1 in the middleweight division. He lost his first middleweight UFC fight to Machida, but he absolutely trounced Mark Munoz en route to a first-round submission in his most recent fight.

If Souza wins this fight, does that make him the clear-cut No. 1 contender in the middleweight division?

Absolutely.

With a win, Souza will be 4-0 in the UFC middleweight division. The only other people in the top 15 with a win streak of four or more in the Octagon are the champ, Chris Weidman, No. 10-ranked Yoel Romero, and No. 12-ranked Thales Leites. Souza is significantly higher up the ladder than Romero and Leites and generally faces tougher competition.

In addition, Souza‘s finish of Okami is hugely impressive. Although Okami isn’t in the UFC anymore, Souza is one of only four people to finish Okami in his 38-fight career. He also did it faster than Anderson Silva.

Jacare has been improving and has gotten better in every single fight in the UFC thus far. Against Okami he showed that his striking is improving and that he is a serious threat anywhere the fight may take place.

In his fight against Francis Carmont, he displayed improved takedowns and takedown defense, as he was able to land two of his four takedown attempts while stuffing Carmont‘s only attempt, which came up against the fence.

With a win, Jacare will deserve the next title shot and will likely get it. The only exception would be if Belfort beats Weidman in December at UFC 181, then Weidman will likely receive a rematch, given the UFC’s fondness for immediate title rematches.

Even if Weidman does get the rematch, Jacare will still be the No. 1 contender and the most deserving to fight for the title after Belfort.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com