Brazilians seem to be the main entrants at UFC Fight Night in Fortaleza, Brazil on Saturday night. And that’s not surprising given the impetus to draw big home crowds. However, odds-makers believe it is going to be a mixed night for the locals. Vitor Belfort vs. Kelvin Gastelum The main event features former light heavyweight […]
Brazilians seem to be the main entrants at UFC Fight Night in Fortaleza, Brazil on Saturday night. And that’s not surprising given the impetus to draw big home crowds. However, odds-makers believe it is going to be a mixed night for the locals. Vitor Belfort vs. Kelvin Gastelum
The main event features former light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort versus Kelvin Gastelum, which everyone hopes will be a cracker of a fight. Bookies believe that Belfort (+353) could go down to Gastelum (-425). However, the crowds may cheer up in the co-main event where Mauricio Rua (-135) may get the better of Gian Villante (+124).Belfort’s odds continue to grow to over +300 from an initial +235 as money continues to pour in on Kelvin Gastelum who had a great fight at UFC 206 versus Tim Kennedy. Kevin Lee vs. Francisco Trinaldo
It is important to note that the former TUF Brazilian veteran Francisco Trinaldo has 7 wins to his credit since September 2014, which is one of the longest winning streaks. His last outing in September last year resulted in a resounding victory over Paul Felder. One the other hand Lee pulled off a good fight against Magomed Mustafaev last November at UFC Belfast. Currently, punters seem to be in favor of Lee who is now a -175 favorite and don’t seem to take into account Trinaldo’s winning streak.
UFC Fight Night 106 is fast approaching and one fight that catches my eye is the match up between Francisco Trinaldo and Kevin Lee. Both are prospects, both have shown tons of improvement since their UFC debuts, and both fight in a completely different style. That style clash makes for a pretty damn intriguing match up, but the fact that Francisco Trinaldo at 38 years of age is putting a beatdown on many of his younger opposition makes this a Cinderella story any fight fan can find intriguing. That being said, Kevin Lee is no slouch and could easily bring Trinaldo’s streak to an end.
UFC Fight Night 106 is fast approaching and one fight that catches my eye is the match up between Francisco Trinaldo and Kevin Lee. Both are prospects, both have shown tons of improvement since their UFC debuts, and both fight in a completely different style. That style clash makes for a pretty damn intriguing match up, but the fact that Francisco Trinaldo at 38 years of age is putting a beatdown on many of his younger opposition makes this a Cinderella story any fight fan can find intriguing. That being said, Kevin Lee is no slouch and could easily bring Trinaldo’s streak to an end.
With a mostly striking oriented attack, Francisco Trinaldo has changed since he first debut in the UFC back in 2012. Once a brawler with an over aggressive fighting style, Trinaldo has tapered things quite a bit and has created for himself a striking based attack that is focused on movement and sudden rhythm changes to throw his opponents off their game. He can be bouncing light on his feet backwards then suddenly move forward with a straight or looping left hand or left body kick when fighting an orthodox opponent. His movement will serve him well in this match up as Kevin Lee loves nothing more than to come forward and use his wrestling game. If Trinaldo is able to keep up his lateral movement throughout the fight, Lee will have trouble getting in on his hips. He’ll need to remain diligent and avoid his brawling tendencies.
Kevin Lee’s road to victory is pretty straight forward. He’ll want to use his striking skills primarily to set up his takedown. He has a great reactive double leg takedown and knows exactly when he should abandon the wrestling game and shoot in for a double or a single. Even if the takedown is unsuccessful, Kevin Lee could use his game to smother Trinaldo into the fence. Where Lee is sure to find success with his wrestling game is drawing Trinaldo into an exchange. If he can bring some of that old brawling Trinaldo out, Lee will have little issue ducking under the strikes and entering in on the hips of ‘Massaranduba’ for a reactive double.
Both men have tools to bring the other into their game so strategy is absolutely key in this match up. The intangibles will be equally important like scrambles and the orthodox versus southpaw tactics, but ultimately it’s the fighter that draws the other into their rhythm that will ultimately prove to be the victor.
Who do you think wins: the veteran Francisco Trinaldo or the young prospect Kevin Lee?
Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his Twitter and Facebook to keep up with his antics.
Kevin Lee has no sympathy for Khabib Nurmagomedov’s botched weight cut. Mixed martial arts (MMA) enthusiasts were anticipating an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) interim lightweight title bout between Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson at UFC 209. The fight was canned when “The Eagle” was removed from the event due to falling ill. The illness was due […]
Kevin Lee has no sympathy for Khabib Nurmagomedov’s botched weight cut. Mixed martial arts (MMA) enthusiasts were anticipating an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) interim lightweight title bout between Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson at UFC 209. The fight was canned when “The Eagle” was removed from the event due to falling ill. The illness was due […]
Kevin Lee is willing to do the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) a “favor.” Lee is set to do battle against Francisco Trinaldo at a UFC Fight Night event in Fortaleza, Brazil on March 11. Lee isn’t currently seen on the official UFC lightweight rankings, but a win over Trinaldo would likely get him there. Trinaldo […]
Kevin Lee is willing to do the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) a “favor.” Lee is set to do battle against Francisco Trinaldo at a UFC Fight Night event in Fortaleza, Brazil on March 11. Lee isn’t currently seen on the official UFC lightweight rankings, but a win over Trinaldo would likely get him there. Trinaldo […]
Kevin Lee (14-2) will be in enemy territory for his next bout. “The Motown Phenom” will go toe-to-toe with Francisco Trinaldo (21-4) on an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Fight Night card in Fortaleza, Brazil on March 11. Combate (via Bloody Elbow) revealed the match-up. Trinaldo is riding a seven-fight winning streak. His last loss was back […]
Kevin Lee (14-2) will be in enemy territory for his next bout. “The Motown Phenom” will go toe-to-toe with Francisco Trinaldo (21-4) on an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Fight Night card in Fortaleza, Brazil on March 11. Combate (via Bloody Elbow) revealed the match-up. Trinaldo is riding a seven-fight winning streak. His last loss was back […]
This packed weekend (November 18-19, 2016) gave fight fans an astounding four events from major promotions. With so many fighters in action and bouts being broadcast all day Saturday, you might have missed some. The all-female Invicta FC kicked off the weekend with its 20 The all-female Invicta FC kicked off the weekend with its 20th
This packed weekend (November 18-19, 2016) gave fight fans an astounding four events from major promotions. With so many fighters in action and bouts being broadcast all day Saturday, you might have missed some. The all-female Invicta FC kicked off the weekend with its 20
The all-female Invicta FC kicked off the weekend with its 20th event, capped by two title fights. Then the world’s leading MMA promotion brought us an afternoon offering from Belfast, Northern Ireland, followed immediately by another one 5000 miles away in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Running concurrent to the second UFC card was an event from the second banana of MMA, Bellator. The Viacom-owned promotion trotted out a title fight of its own, pitting two-time champion Michael Chandler against former WEC and UFC king Benson Henderson.
We at LowKick are here to help sift through the debris. Who impressed, who disappointed, and who is just treading water in their respective divisions are the questions that will be considered. Read on for the answers.
