UFC Heavyweight bout: Brendan Schaub vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
Odds: ( -160 Gonzaga / +130 Schaub )
Betting Pick: Brendan Schaub
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In the opening bout of the evening, recent Ultimate Fighter finalist Brendan Schaub will face his toughest test since signing a contract in the form of Gabriel “Napao” Gonzaga. Schaub has great power and is very athletic, but Gonzaga is heavy-handed and has a world class ground game, so this is a good litmus test for how bright Schaub’s future in the division really is.
Schaub, who steamrolled his way through The Ultimate Fighter before being knocked out in the final by Roy Nelson, is one of the most athletic and explosive heavyweights in the UFC. A giant guy with good boxing and a lot of punching power, Schaub is an extremely imposing figure. He also has fairly decent wrestling, and has very good cardio for such a big fighter. The biggest question marks are his chin, which Roy Nelson exposed as vulnerable, and his submission defense, which has never really been tested the way Gonzaga is capable of testing it.
Gonzaga has some of the best submissions at Heavyweight, but oftentimes chooses not to employ them. Instead, he tends to rely on his standup, which is fairly formidable in its own right. The problem is, while he has serious knockout power in his hands, he doesn’t have a durable chin to go along with it and his cardio is more than a little suspect, which means his punches start to lose power fairly quickly.
One thing is certain, and that is that this will be a short fight. Both Schaub and Gonzaga will be more than happy to exchange power punches, the question is who will land first and hardest. I have to give the edge to Schaub, in that regard. Both guys pack a mean punch, but Schaub is quicker and lighter on his feet, and should be able to exploit that speed advantage and KO Gonzaga.
Prediction: Brendan “The Hybrid” Schaub via second round KO.
- Bet on the UnderDog Schaub to pull off the Win at +130.
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