As if the day in sports wasn’t busy enough on Saturday, UFC on Fox 3 has a strong card featuring several top fighters hoping to pick up big wins. Anytime there are so many evenly matched fights, the card usually lives up to the hype.
Let’s take a look at three stars who will fall short, knocking them down the ladder at least a rung or two. With the competitiveness of UFC on the rise in recent years, every loss is key because there’s always somebody looking to take the spot.
Inconsistency has started to plague Diaz over the past couple years. Any time it seems like he’s starting to build up some momentum, he quickly loses it all. That’s why his two-fight winning streak really doesn’t mean anything as he prepares to face Jim Miller.
Miller doesn’t get the recognition he deserves for being one of the sport’s rising stars. The submission specialist has won eight of his last nine fights, including a quick victory over Melvin Guillard his last time out in January.
When Diaz does struggle, it’s usually against opponents like Miller that have shown the ability to play strong defense. Look for Miller to let Diaz wear himself out before earning the victory.
Josh Koscheck
Koscheck is difficult to figure out. When he faces lower-level opponents, he usually controls the entire fight. But whenever he tries to step it up to battle an elite fighter, he doesn’t showcase the same versatility and falls short.
That’s a worrisome trend as he gets ready to take on Johny Hendricks. The southpaw has won 12 of his 13 career fights in MMA, including a 7-1 mark since joining UFC. He’s a powerful striker that will cause plenty of problems for Koscheck.
This will be a huge chance for Hendricks to prove his record isn’t a fluke against a big name. I expect him to respond to that challenge with a strong showing to knockout Koscheck.
Lavar Johnson
Johnson was able to end his losing streak by defeating Joey Beltran back in January, but he’ll face a much tougher test from Pat Barry on Saturday. It has the potential to be the most entertaining fight on the card because both guys love to strike.
The problem of Johnson is Barry’s defense. Barry has only been knocked out once in his career while 14 of Johnson’s 16 wins have come via KO. So something has to give and you have to give the advantage to Barry, at least by a small margin.
Johnson will come out with his usual level of aggressiveness. Barry will wait for an opening and will earn the biggest win of his career so far, opening up bigger chances moving forward.
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