Josh Emmett vs Lerone Murphy background

The UFC featherweight division is never dull, with veterans such as Josh Emmett, who has never turned down a tough fight. He has battled former interim champion Yair Rodriguez as well as up-and-comers like Bryce Mitchell. Most interestingly, Emmett also stood tall against Ilia Topuria head-on without being overwhelmed by the soon-to-be former featherweight champion’s firepower.

Lerone Murphy is an undefeated British fighter set to become one of the most recognized figures in the sport. He has performed exceptionally well, and as he goes into his fights, he keeps improving. The last fight against Dan Ige was a display of his ability and tenacity, and his next fight against Emmett is eagerly awaited as he looks to produce a thrilling show once more.

You may be surprised to learn that Sidekickboxing founder Daniel Knight once sponsored an FCC event in which Lerone Murphy competed.

Josh Emmett vs Lerone Murphy Stats

Josh Emmett and Lerone Murphy Fighting Styles

Josh Emmett

Josh Emmett has been a well-established boxer/puncher in the featherweight class for a long time. Emmett’s power in striking continues to be an aspect to fear for opponents, as his vast experience and agility in the ring make him an offensive threat at any distance.

Emmett tends to put a lot of weight on his front leg but keeps his hands up. His go-to combination is landing hooks at close distance, and an overhand right can finish the fight at any time if landed correctly. Even though he is not mainly recognized for kicking, he can deliver strong leg kicks that cause significant damage. However, his hands are still his go-to tool.

As for his ground game, Emmett mostly likes to double-leg takedowns from a distance. He mostly prefers to fight standing, though. He’s only got two submission victories, but his defensive wrestling is an important aspect that increases his chances in stand-up battles.

Lerone Murphy

Lerone Murphy’s fighting style is very different from Josh Emmett’s. He is taller and leaner and likes to attack at range. Whereas the Brit pushes forward, he is also effective at defending himself, dodging big shots and picking his time to counter wisely.

Other than Emmet, Murphy makes good use of his kicks. He tends to use them to gain distance and land direct punches. His midsection kicks, along with body kicks, make him a complete striker. Although he possesses sufficient power to cumulatively cause damage to his opponent, it is not comparable to Emmet’s astronomical power.

What makes him even stronger is his ground game. His previous bouts are proof of his grappling skills, which set him apart from his opponents. He is great not just at double-leg takedowns but also has good single-leg shots. Moreover, his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu skills are awesome, enabling him to get submissions from nearly any position.

Josh Emmett vs Lerone Murphy: ways to victory

Josh Emmett and Lerone Murphy offer an interesting encounter between two polar-opposed fighters. They have varying skill sets and will seek to employ them in their much-awaited fight.

Josh Emmett

Josh Emmett needs to make his presence felt in the center of the octagon early on in the fight, putting constant pressure on Lerone Murphy right from the beginning. By advancing aggressively, he can seek to catch Lerone Murphy with his trademark overhand right, a punch that has made him a name in the sport.

Apart from emphasizing head strikes, Emmett needs to incorporate body shots into his game plan as well. By striking Murphy’s midsection, he will knock the wind out of his opponent and break up his rhythm. This body attack will not only be damaging but will open up opportunities for bigger shots as well. While Emmett lands these body hooks, he will increase the threat of a big overhand punch, keeping Murphy in a defensive posture and enabling Emmett to pounce on any error. 

Emmett not only needs to work on improving his takedown defense but also actively make the presence of a believable takedown threat a part of his game plan. This way, he is able to make Murphy uncomfortable, which makes him more hesitant and even possibly change his approach to the fight.

Lerone Murphy

Lerone Murphy has to be careful in working within Emmett’s range of strikes because the latter is known for his explosive strength and capacity to knock out an opponent with a single punch. Though confidence in style is paramount, letting Emmett land cleanly may change the direction of the fight in no time.

To create a successful game plan, Murphy would do well to take a page from the book of Yair Rodriguez’s strategy against Emmett. This involves keeping distance and using a varied arsenal of kicks to keep Emmett at a distance. Adding a mix of strikes—like strong straight punches, body kicks, and constant jabs—will establish control in the bout and create openings without putting Murphy in harm’s way for major counterattacks.

Murphy’s submission and grappling skills are where he has the opportunity to utilize a strong strength. Employing his wrestling skills effectively is important; he needs to close the range cleverly by pushing Emmett against the cage, restricting Emmett’s striking space. From there, Murphy can shoot for an expert double leg takedown at the right moment, enabling him to take the fight to the ground where he can then utilize his grappling excellence.

Final Prediction

Hoping for a close fight, but Sidekick predicts British sensation Lerone Murphy to win this fight against Josh Emmett this weekend. He will use his grappling and submission skills to get a rear naked choke in the third or fourth round. 

READ MORE: UFC 314: Time, How to watch and Full Fight Card

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Judging by the magnitude of this fight, both fighters are looking for their ways to victory and we here at Sidekick are going to present you 03 different methods for each fighter to claim victory in this exceptional Thai clash.

Background

The pair have already fought at One Friday Fight Night 42 in June 2023. Superlek overcame the height discrepancies and became victorious in their first meet-up. Despite the first defeat, Anane has revolutionized his fighting prowess and gathered 06 straight wins before this re-collision against Superlek.

“The Kicking Machine” Superlek Kiatmoo9 hasn’t lost a single fight since 2021. His list of defeating tough opponents is growing, with the latest being veteran kickboxer Jonathan Haggerty. Thus, Superlek’s reign as the best Muay Thai and kickboxer remains unchallenged in One Championship, as no one is even close to his achievements.

Superlek vs Nabil Anane: Ways to victory.

Superlek

Counterstriking.

Counterstriking is Superlek’s one of the best weapons in this fight. His opponent Nabil Anane is significantly taller than him, so he would definitely have that reach advantage. Superlek has to be patient and he also shouldn’t lead the dance. Instead, Superlek should wait for his opponent to throw and counter the strikes accordingly.

Leg Kicks.

Here comes ‘The Kicking Machine’s trademark. The leg kicks would serve him really well in this encounter. When it comes to Muay Thai, Superlek is the overall best leg kicker and he should use it whenever Anane is trying to close the distance. The leg kicks will cumulatively damage his opponent’s legs and that can easily turn the tide of this fight.

Nabil Anane

Range

What could be more useful than range for a 6-foot-4-inch phenom? Although Anane can move forward and land significantly bigger strikes, he can also fight backward and attack. His long reach allows him to find opportunities from anywhere and make significant contact. If, Superlek does press forward, Anane can make him pay for that.

Knees.

This has to be Anane’s primary weapon against Superlek. The vicious knees. If Superlek decides to stay away from the range and counter, Anane can press forward and with all those lanky strikes, he can add in a knee in between. This strategy would hurt Superlek’s chances and a well-timed knee strike could do severe damage.

Prediction

This fight is an interesting rematch. A lot is at stake for each of them. Anane will try to avenge his first loss and Superlek will look forward to gaining another victory over his massive winning list.

However, we at Sidekick predict, Superlek Kiatmoo9 to win this fight via TKO once again. He has once proved that size discrepancy means nothing to “The Kicking Machine” and can handle an oversized fighter pretty easily.

Fight Card.

• Flyweight Kickboxing: Takeru Segawa vs. Rodtang Jitmuangnon
• Featherweight Kickboxing: Tawanchai P.K.Saenchai vs. Masaaki Noiri [a]
• Bantamweight Muay Thai: Superlek Kiatmuu9 (c) vs. Nabil Anane (ic) [b]
• Flyweight: Adriano Moraes vs. Yuya Wakamatsu [c]
• Strawweight Kickboxing: Jonathan Di Bella vs. Sam-A Gaiyanghadao [d]
• Women’s Atomweight Kickboxing: Phetjeeja Lukjaoporongtom (c) vs. Kana Morimoto [e]
• Featherweight Kickboxing: Marat Grigorian vs. Kaito Ono
• Atomweight: Muay Thai Rak Erawan vs. Nadaka Yoshinari
• Lightweight: Shinya Aoki vs. Eduard Folayang
• Bantamweight: Kickboxing Hiroki Akimoto vs. John Lineker
• Lightweight: Adrian Lee vs. Takeharu Ogawa
• Flyweight: Muay Thai Yodlekpet Or.Atchariya vs. Shimon Yoshinari

Like this article? Please read: ONE 172: Rodtang Jitmuangnon vs Takeru Segawa prediction for a better ONE 172 experience.

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ESPN vs UFC

In 2010, ESPN displayed their initial interest in covering MMA after the immense success of UFC’s centurion event where the combined efforts of starfighters like Brock Lesnar, George St. Pierre, and Dan Henderson generated a whopping 1.6 million dollar pin ay-per-view buys for the promotion. Although ESPN didn’t have official broadcasting rights, they ensured covering everything related to that event. 

Following the 100th event, many remarkable things happened for the UFC. They merged with WEC, purchased Strikforce, renewed deal with Fox, went international, and also included Women’s MMA which turned out to be revolutionary for the women’s combat sports. 

This humongous development can only be apprehended by the ardent viewers of this sport, and soon, the promotion was going to take another drastic step. In 2015, the UFC’s parent company Zuffa LLC decided to sell the company for 4 billion dollars. 

There were a couple of potential buyers, but in the end, WME-IMG (now Endeavour) purchased the UFC because the Fertida brothers had a connection with their CEO, Ari Emanuel. Dana White remained president with a 9% stake in the company. 

Noticing the UFC’s growth, in 2018, ESPN decided to crack a whopping 600 million dollars per year deal for a five-year broadcasting contract succeeding 21st Century Fox. Since 2019, till now, ESPN has been the promotion’s broadcasting partner. 

What Happened between ESPN and UFC?

The broadcasting bond between the UFC and ESPN is on the verge of being over. As they progress towards negotiating a new deal, the relationship is gradually souring as both parties are lodging complains about each other. 

ESPN is concerned about UFC’s poor pay-per-view buys, and the UFC is not happy with their broadcasting partner’s streaming quality. The inception of this quarrel began with the streaming of UFC 313: Pereira vs. Ankalaev event, where people complained about constant bufferings whilst fights were going on. 

So, both involved parties have enough reasons to dislike one another, and this kind of dispute usually resolves with a separation. 

UFC president Dana White looked more pissed in this situation. Their fan-favorite fighter lost and he has to deal with the circumstances related to broadcasting. 

 “Oh yeah, it made it to me. They were having problems buying it on ESPN+. I don’t know what happened with their platform tonight. There were a lot of pissed-off people.” – White added. 

Netflix emerges as the new contender for UFC’s broadcast deal. 

The UFC is currently following in the footsteps of WWE, expecting to shift the broadcasting to Netflix. But, why them?

Both WWE and the UFC is under TKO, and recently, the former struck a $5 billion deal with the streaming giant Netflix. The platform is known for their awesome library of movies and web series, but recently they stepped into the domain of sports by streaming Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson which bought over 100 million viewers. 

The UFC head honcho, Dana White is also looking for a deal with similar magnitude. The president is targeting a 1.5 billion dollar per year deal with Netflix, promising the viewers that the streaming experience is going to be seamless and not a bad experience like ESPN. 

White on Dan Rafael’s podcast, “And the question is Who’s it going to be? Is it gonna be Amazon, YouTube, or Disney? The list goes on and on. That’s who the players will be. But what’s fascinating right now is when you look in, you got NFL, college football, NBA college basketball, you got the NHL, Major League Baseball, the NBA, you got the UFC, WWE, and tennis. All these sports are looking for rights deals right now, right? I always go out and figure out how to build s*** without the help of anybody.

Not sure, the UFC would stick to their usual pay-per-view system or we will see a total shift in their revenue model. Good or bad, it will be an interesting endevour for the company moving forward. 

READ MORE: Irish Leaders Denounce Conor McGregor’s Views After His Meeting With Donald Trump

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After TKO was created to unify the whole of fighting sports, some people wanted to keep the different promotions away from each other to avoid any confusion. However, some people wanted to be amused by several crossovers between different fighters who are stars in their field of combat sports.

Recently, fights between former UFC fighters and boxers have created a buzz among viewers. Every time a popular MMA fighter like Nate Diaz gets interested in fighting someone from the boxing world, people flock to see the fight. So, the UFC didn’t want to miss the opportunity to cash in on such a tempting opportunity.

Dana White as president, took the UFC to new heights. Because of his promotional prowess, a combat sports investor like Turki Alalsheik was bound to get impressed. After his Highness and White announced that they were going to introduce a medium of sports entertainment that is going to be the face of boxing, everybody from the fighting industry took notice.

“I wouldn’t be sitting here right now if it wasn’t for the sport of boxing. That’s where I started, and I’ve been talking a lot of smack about boxing for a long time. I’m looking forward to implementing changes and things that I think would definitely help the sport. Simple things like the best fight the best. How about that?” – Dana White

That’s what Dana White had to say about the structure of TKO boxing. He has found a problem in the boxing industry, and the UFC head honcho is here to fix it. He has built a sport like the UFC from the beginning, and he’s going to use his years of experience to provide TKO with a strong foundation.

“What I would love to do is build this thing from the ground up, the way that we did the UFC… You have everybody start fighting everybody [and] when you get to the top 5, there’s no denying who the best five guys in the world are. And then they all fight it out to see who’s the world champion” – Dana White.

According to Billi Bhatti of the Wrestling Informer, TKO’s grand slam event could probably take place next year –

“”At some point this year or next, a mega card is expected to take place in Saudi Arabia,” Bhatti said during an episode of The Wrestling Informer podcast. “Featuring boxing, UFC or MMA, and WWE all at the same event.”

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Following the loss against Tommy Fury via unanimous decision, KSI took a long break from boxing and focused on content creation. Now, he believes the time is right to set his foot in the ring and become an active boxer. 

Initially, KSI was scheduled to fight former footballer Wayne Michael Bridge. The bout was about to take place on January 20th, 2025, but prior to the bout, Bridge withdrew. 

On February 04th, it was revealed that Dillon Danis has stepped in to save the event. KSI also disclosed in a YouTube live chat that former UFC fighter Nate Diaz, Tony Ferguson, Donal Cerrone, and OG BMF champion Jorge Masvidal were offered this fight, but all of them refused. 

KSI vs. Dillon Danis Statistical Match Up. 

KSI vs Dillon Danis Prediction. 

The influencer boxing is going to witness two popular internet personalities battling against each other. But, let’s not restrict the event’s significance by saying that both KSI and Dillon Danis aren’t professional fighters. 

KSI has repeatedly demonstrated that he’s capable of throwing hands against his opponents, Tommy Fury being the more notable one. The younger fury is a trained professional, and despite his efforts, it was hard to put a novice like KSI down with his boxing prowess. 

Although Dillon Danis is not a professional boxer, he has diligently trained martial arts throughout his life. Danis might not be a puncher like his opponents, but he possesses a tough spirit to accept fights like this. 

Who has the Upper Hand? 

Technically, this fight is not very hard to break down. It is pretty obvious that both fighters are sorting out their ways to defeat each other, but KSI has the upper hand in this fight. 

KSI is a power puncher. You can call him the influencer version of Deontay Wilder. JJ relies on his massive right hand to score a knockout at any moment, even his previous opponents like Logan Paul and Tommy Fury wanted to stay away from. 

As per Logan, JJ hits way harder than Floyd Mayweather, and that’s obvious because of the size discrepancy. But, that’s not the end. If you have ever watched JJ’s fights, you would notice that his jabs are also pretty sharp. He leans down to land jabs to the powerful jabs to the body, surprising his opponents. 

So, JJ surely has some tricks up his sleeves to win this boxing match. He’s favored for a reason. But, besides JJ’s boxing, it is also because of his opponent that people are favoring him massively to win this fight. 

Dillon Danis is mostly recognized for his controversial nature. He’s a decent grappler, but he is not a boxer, period. He likes to engage in trash talk with some of the famous influencers to gain financial surplus, and that’s alright. I’m not going to slander him for the way he’s approaching his career, everyone has their way. 

Coming to the fight, I believe there’s nothing significant he can do strategically to win this fight. Yeah, he can surely land a punch to knock JJ out, but this is much unlikely to happen. My logic doesn’t support this possibility. 

However, he has a gift that many don’t have. Dillon is blessed with a block head. He can take 1000 punches and still come forward, that’s an amazing feature to have. 

In his fight with Logan Paul, Dillon was punished in every way possible. This man ate countless jabs, crosses, hooks, combinations, and still had the energy to stand in front of the opponent holding up his guard. In fact, Logan was looking a bit tired, and Dillon was still thriving. That was pretty impressive to be honest, I thought there wouldn’t be another Kris Mountinho. 

Other than a lucky puncher’s chance, I don’t see Dillion even coming close to defeating JJ. The only interesting factor is whether JJ will show any signs of slowing down in the end of the fight. JJ is a massive man, and he’s going to push for a knockout. So, in that moment, who knows Dillon can finally show some of his techniques. 

To provide a prediction, Sidekick Boxing picks KSI to triumph over Dillon Danis via decision. 

JJ Otalunji will be too powerful, too sharp for a novice boxer like Dillon Danis, and it would be an upset if something happens otherwise. If this fight happened inside an octagon my prediction would’ve been different, however, since it is happening inside the ring, the victory will be on KSI’s side. You can catch the fight Live on DAZN.

READ MORE: What is Misfits Boxing?

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A few days ago, UFC CEO Dana White revealed that Topuria is content with his accomplishments as a featherweight, and now, he’s ready to challenge himself against the bigger guys at lightweight. 

White further stated that Topuria himself wanted to relinquish the belt because he didn’t want to hold back anybody’s opportunity to fight for the vacant title while he is chasing double-champ glory. 

In search of an undisputed champion, the UFC announced former featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski’s much-awaited return against a new and fierce contender, Diego Lopes, at UFC 314 in Miami. 

Although Dana White revealed Topuria’s inclusion in the lightweight division, he didn’t disclose the opponent. Many are assuming that the current champion Islam Makhachev will welcome him, but I assure you, the options are plenty, and they are similarly striking matchups. 

So, Sidekick Boxing brings you “Top 03 Opponents” for Ilia Topuria’s lightweight return since the Jai Herbert fight. 

1. Ilia Topuria vs. Dustin Poirier.

Dustin Poirier blessed us with countless wars in his outstanding career as a fighter. But sadly, he’s very close to leaving his gloves inside the octagon. 

He primarily teased retirement after losing to Islam Makhachev at UFC 302, in June 2024, but apparently, “The Diamond” is ready for one last dance before leaving this sport. 

Every time Dustin Poirier fights, the ambiance inside the arena goes wild, and for the last time, he wants to provide this feeling to the people of his hometown in Lafayette, Louisiana. 

Dustin was proposed with a few up-and-comer names, but he’s only interested in fighting legends, and who can be more legendary than former champ Ilia Topuria?

It would not only make Dustin’s last fight more impressive, Ilia Topuria will also have another high-profile name on his resume that would make his run even more impressive. If “El Matador” secures a victory against another legend like Dustin Poirier, that will make his resume more impressive, and every doubt before facing Islam Makhachev will be cleared. 

Recently, Ilia Topuria appreciated Dustin Poirier’s ability as a fighter which might be a hint of a future fight between them.

2. Ilia Topuria vs. Islam Makhachev.

This is the most popular possibility. Everybody wants to see the pound-for-pound number one, Islam Makhachev’s highly anticipated lightweight title defense against Ilia Topuria. 

After Ilia Topuria profoundly knocked out Alexander Volkanovski to win the title and successfully broke Max Holloway’s legendary chin to retain the belt, him vs Makhachev super fight became a very real possibility. 

The majority of the fans, mostly casuals were captivated by this fight, but hardcore wanted something different. Some argued that Ilia Topuria had competition left in the featherweight division like Diego Lopes and Movsar Evloev, and ignoring them would have been an injustice to the division. 

Why injustice? Because as per tradition, a champion can only challenge another champion after cleaning out the division. The alternative way is if the champion vacates the championship belt and leaves the division.

Since Ilia Topuria didn’t want to fight emerging featherweight contenders, he thought the latter would be a much better option for his career. 

However, this fight becomes even more interesting because of Makhachev’s triumphant reign. He has defeated almost everyone besides Justin Gaethje and Arman Tsarukyan, and nobody is currently looking exceptional enough to beat him. 

Because Ilia Topuria knocked out two legendary back-to-back, he’s looking capable of defeating such a dominant fighter like Islam Makhachev. If someone could do it, it’s “The El Matador”

3. Ilia Topuria vs. Charles Oliveira.

If the Islam Makhachev fight and the Dustin Poirier fight don’t come to fruition, then former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira will be more than interested to greet him inside the octagon. 

For many, this fight would serve as the perfect challenge for Ilia Topuria before fighting the champion. 

Charles Oliveira is a former champion, he defeated Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje both, and he’s already a legend. The style difference also makes this fight really interesting, because both fighters possess robust amounts of punches and possibly score a knockout at any moment. 

Other than the striking, the grappling exchanges are also going to be a treat to watch, because both of them are highly offensive on the ground. If there’s a remote chance of getting a submission, one of them is surely taking it. 

There are other possible match-ups for Ilia Topuria that the UFC can look forward to, one of them is Justin Gaethje after his recent victory over Rafael Fiziev at UFC 313. Another fun fight that might not happen is Ilia Topuria vs. Paddy Pimblett if “The Baddy” triumphs against Michael Chandler at UFC 314. 

Thank You for reading this article, please follow Sidekick Boxing for more combat sports content.

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At first, Dan “The Hangman” Hooker was scheduled to fight Justin Gaethje. We all were expecting some astounding fireworks inside the octagon, but Hooker suffered an arm fracture resulting in an unfortunate withdrawal from the highly anticipated fight. 

Fans wondered, who would replace an audacious fighter like Hooker? Gaethje’s former opponent, Rafael “Ataman” Fiziev ended his year-long hiatus to save the eminence of the co-main event. 

How To Watch Justin Gaethje vs. Rafael Fiziev?

Justin Gaethje vs. Rafael Fiziev is the co-main event of UFC 313 which is headlined by Alex Pereira defending his light heavyweight championship against Magomed Ankalaev. 

The fight can be streamed on ESPN+ (USA), TNT Sports (UK), and Kayo Sports (Australia). Please check your respective channels to get more information. 

Statistical Match Up.

How Justin Gaethje beats Rafael Fiziev?

Justin “The Highlight” Gaethje is an actual phenom. As the former undefeated lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov stated: “Gaethje hits like a truck” should be a good enough testament to explain his fighting prowess. 

To explain Justin Gaethje’s fighting style in one word, we can say he’s a steamroller. He likes to engage with his opponents in close range and exchange heavy strikes. Overhands, looping hooks, and uppercuts are Gaethje’s staple punches and he packs an unbelievable amount of power in those shots. 

Gaethje also uses a lot of cheeky inside and outside leg kicks in his fights. You can just Imagine being Gaethje’s opponent and getting utterly irritated by his constant barrage of leg kicks. In addition, he has also learned a solid way to feint his right hand and follow up with a high kick.

Against Rafael Fiziev, Justin Gaethje doesn’t need to change much. The Azerbaijani is stepping in on short notice, so there’s a high doubt that his team had enough time to adjust Fiziev’s fighting style accordingly. 

Both fight similarly with their hands up while loading up hooks, but in the long run, Gaethje is always going to have an advantage because of his head movement and his ability to land damaging leg kicks. 

In the first fight, Fiziev was on the front foot most of the time pressuring. He wanted to attack Gaethje with lead hooks, so Fiziev followed him against the cage to land big shots. But, each time Gaethje evaded them and countered with either an overhand or a right hook. In the third round, Gaethje found an uppercut + jab combination that destroyed Fiziev, because he became a stationary target. 

After tasting defeat against Gaethje, Rafael Fiziev faced Mateusz Gamrot in a UFC Fight Night main event. Before tearing his ACL, Fiziev was doing good, but nothing exceptional. Despite knowing that he’s susceptible to jabs, Fiziev didn’t show much improvement, because a grappler like Gamrot was able to land some really good jabs against him. 

If Gaethje notices that Fiziev is using the same approach that he used in their last fight, then he should start landing that jab + uppercut combination. Also, he should target Fiziev’s body more with jabs and hooks. So, it has to be overall damage instead of headhunting. Gaethje should take 15% power from his shots and be more precise.

Besides the striking, Gaethje should also use his wrestling which he never uses. He has a background in high school and collegiate wrestling, but why never applies it during fights is always surprising. If he mixes up striking with grappling, he will be unstoppable. 

How Rafael Fiziev beats Justin Gaethje?

Rafael Fiziev is making a comeback after fighting a critical injury like a torn ACL. His being -162 favorite in the first fight against Justin Gaethje, showed us that people were ready to pick a rising contender against a legend. 

However, Justin Gaethje proved to be more than a tough challenge. His face got smothered with Gaethje’s relentless fierce strikes and there was no way to recover from this amount of beating. 

Now, Fiziev has the chance to avenge that loss and also get straight back among the top lightweights by defeating Justin Gaethje. But, how he’s gonna do so? Well, there are some ways “Ataman” can pose a significant threat. 

Let’s take us back again to their first fight. If somebody observed that fight closely could easily identify that Fiziev’s body kicks were the most damaging shots against Gaethje. He wanted to do even more damage but didn’t allow himself to be more precise with them. Fiziev landed some decent punches, yet missed many. 

To win this fight against Justin Gaethje, Rafael Fiziev has to change his approach. The way he usually fights with his hands up and marching with hooks is not going to help him. Instead, he should stick to his jabs and mix them up with body kicks which he utilized very well during the first fight. 

Max Holloway has shown us kind of a blueprint to defeat somebody like Gaethje. He used a lot of straight punches and spinning back kicks to nullify Gaethje’s power strikes, and eventually, those strikes showed their effects in later rounds. So, Fiziev should stick to his jabs and follow it up with straight shots. Another thing Fiziev has to remember is to check those leg kicks which Gaethje is definitely going to use. 

Fiziev has a solid takedown defense, so it can be confidently said that he’s gonna stuff them all. 

Final Prediction. 

This fight is absolutely the second most anticipated after the main event. It’s a high-profile rematch, and a lot is depending on it, especially for Gaethje. He is steadily moving towards the end of his career and after losing the BMF belt brutally against Max Holloway, it’s going to be difficult for him to climb back into the rankings and fight for the championship. So, Gaethje needs a win here to remain a strong lightweight contender.

To provide a prediction, sidekick picks Justin Gaethje to beat Rafael Fiziev via unanimous decision. 

READ MORE: Amanda Serrano vs Katie Taylor 3 Announced For Historic Women’s Card At MSG

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How Many Events The UFC is going to host in 2025? (Events in January and February are Not Included)

The UFC will host 13 events including fight nights and pay-per-view events from March 08 to June 29. More events are yet to be announced for latter half of the year.

UFC in March.

UFC 313: Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev 

Date: March / 08 / 2025

Venue: T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, United States.

Fight Card

Main Card

• Alex Pereira © vs. Magomed Ankalaev (Main Event) (Light Heavyweight Championship)
• Justin Gaethje vs. Rafael Fiziev (Co-Main Event) (Lightweight)
• Jalin Turner vs. Ignacio Bahamondes (Lightweight)
• Amanda Lemos vs. Iasmin Lucindo (Women’s strawweight)
• King Green vs. Mauricio Ruffy. 

Prelims

• Curtis Blaydes vs. Rizwan Kuniev (Heavyweight)
• Joshua Van vs. Rei Tsuruya (Flyweight)
• Brunno Ferreira vs. Armen Petrosyan (Middleweight)
• Alex Morono vs. Carlos Leal (Welterweight)

Early Prelims

• Mairon Santos vs. Francis Marshall (Featherweight)
• Djorden Ribeiro dos Santos vs. Osman Diaz (Middleweight)

UFC Fight Night: Vettori vs. Dolidze 2

Date: March / 15 / 2025

Venue: UFC Apex, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Valley, United States.

Fight Card

Main Card

• Marvin Vettori vs. Roman Dolidze (Main Event) (Middleweight)
• Chidi Njokuani vs. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (Co-Main Event) (Welterweight)
• Choi Seung-woo vs. Kevin Vallejos (Featherweight)
• Alexander Hernandez vs. Kurt Holobaugh (Lightweight)
• Da’Mon Blackshear vs. Cody Gibson (Bantamweight)
• You Su-young vs. AJ Cunningham (Bantamweight)

Prelims.

• Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Ryan Spann (Light Heavyweight)
• Stephanie Luciano vs. Sam Hughes (Women’s Strawweight)
• Diyar Nurgozhay vs. Brendson Rivero (Light Heavyweight)
• Carlos Vera vs. Josias Musasa (Bantamweight)
• Daniel Berez vs. Andre Lima (Flyweight)
• Josiane Nunes vs. Priscilla Cachoeira (Women’s Bantamweight)
• Evan Elder vs. MarQuel Mederos (Lightweight)
• Yuneisy Duben vs. Carli Judice. (Women’s Flyweight)

UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs. Brady

Date: March / 22 / 2025

Venue: London, O2 Arena, England.

Fight Card

Main Card

• Leon Edwards vs. Sean Brady (Welterweight)
• Jan Blachowicz vs. Carlos Ulberg (Light Heavyweight)
• Gunnar Nelson vs. Kevin Holland (Welterweight)
• Molly McCann vs. Istela Nunes (Women’s Flyweight)
• Jordan Vucenic vs. Chris Duncan (Lightweight)
• Nathaniel Wood vs. Morgan Charriere.

Prelims

• Jai Herbert vs. Chris Padilla (Lightweight)
• Lone’er Kavanagh vs. Felipe Dos Santos (Flyweight)
• Marcin Tybura vs. Mick Parkin (Heavyweight)
• Christian Leroy Duncan vs. Andre Pulyaev. (Middleweight)
• Shauna Bannon vs. Puja Tomar. (Women’s Strawweight)
• Nathan Fletcher vs. Caolan Loughran. (Bantamweight)

UFC on ESPN: Moreno vs. Erceg.

Date: March / 29 / 2024

Venue: Arena CDMX, Mexico City, Mexico.

Fight Card

Main Card

• Brandon Moreno vs. Steve Erceg (Main Event) (Flyweight)
• Manuel Torres vs. Drew Dober (Co-Main Event) (Lightweight)
• Kelvin Gastelum vs. Joe Pyfer (Middleweight)
• David Martinez vs. Saimon Oliveira (Bantamweight)
• Ronaldo Rodriguez vs. Kevin Borjas (Flyweight)

Prelims

• Edgar Chairez vs. CJ Vergara (Flyweight)
• Jose Daniel Media vs. Ateba Ageta Gautier (Middleweight)
• Loopy Godinez vs. Julia Polastri (Women’s Strawweight)
• Rafa Garcia vs. Vinc Pichel (Lightweight)
• Austin Hubbard vs. TBD (Lightweight)
• Christian Rodriguez vs. Melquizael Costa (Featherweight)
• Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Vinc Pichel (Bantamweight)

READ MORE: Hitman Fight League: Liam Harrison vs Araya How To Watch

UFC in April

UFC Fight Night: Emmet vs. Murphy

Date: April / 05 / 2025

Venue: UFC Apex, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Fight Card

Main Card

• Josh Emmett vs. Lerone Murphy (Main Event) (Featherweight)
• Pat Sabatini vs. Joeanderson Brito (Co-Main Event) (Featherweight)
• Cortavious Romious vs. Lee Chang-Ho (Bantamweight)
• Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Martin Buday (Heavyweight)
• Torrey Finney vs. Robert Valentin (Middleweight)

Prelims

• Rhys McKee vs. Daniel Frunza (Welterweight)
• Diana Belbita vs. Dione Barbosa (Women’s Flyweight)
• Loma Lookboonmee vs. Arianne Carnelossi (Women’s Flyweight)
• Vanessa Demopoulos vs. Tatila Alencar (Women’s Strawweight)

Other Announced bouts

• Ode Osbourne vs. Luis Gurule (Flyweight)
• Davey Grant vs. Daniel Santos (Bantamweight)
• Victor Henry vs. Pedro Falcao (Bantamweight)
• Geral Meerschaert vs. Brad Tavares (Middleweight)

UFC 314: Volkanovski vs. Lopes

Date: April / 12 / 2025

Venue: Kaseya Center, Miami, Florida.

Announced Bouts

• Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes (Main Event) (Vacant Featherweight Championship)
• Michael Chandler vs. Paddy Pimblett (Co-Main Event) (Lightweight)
• Bryce Mitchell vs. Jean Silva (Featherweight)
• Yair Rodriguez vs. Patricio Pitbull (Featherweight)
• Geoff Neal vs. Carlos Prates (Welterweight)
• Dan Ige vs. Sean Woodson (Featherweight)
• Nikita Krylov vs. Dominick Reyes (Light Heavyweight)
• Yan Xiaonan vs. Virna Jandiroba (Women’s Strawweight)
• Darren Elkins vs. Julian Erosa (Featherweight)
• Jim Miller vs. Chase Hooper (Lightweight)
• Alberto Montes vs. Roberto Romero (Featherweight)
• Sedriques Dumas vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk (Middleweight)
• Su Mudaerji vs. Mitch Raposo (Flyweight)
• Tresean Gore vs. Marco Tulio (Middleweight)
• Nora Cornolle vs. Hailey Cowan (Women’s Bantamweight)

UFC on ESPN: Hill vs. Rountree Jr.

Date: April / 26 / 2025

Venue: T-Mobile Arena, Kansas City, Missouri, United States.

Announced Bouts

• Jamahal Hill vs. Khalil Rountree Jr. (Main Event) (Light Heavyweight)
• Randy Brown vs. Nicholas Dalby (Co-Main Event) (Welterweight)
• Malcolm Wellmaker vs. Cameron Saaiman (Bantamweight)
• Matt Schnell vs. Jimmy Flick (Flyweight)
• Mitch Ramirez vs. Ahmad Sohail Hassanzada (Lightweight)
• Chelsea Chandler vs. Joselyne Edwards (Women’s Bantamweight)
• Jaqueline Amorim vs. Polyana Viana (Women’s Bantamweight)
• Ikram Aliskerov vs. Andre Muniz (Middleweight)
• Giga Chikadze vs. David Onama (Featherweight)
• Michel Pereira vs. Abuspian Magomedov (Middleweight)
• Anthony Smith vs. Zhang Mingyang (Light Heavyweight)

UFC in May

UFC Fight Night 256

Date: May / 03 / 2025

Venue: Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa, United States.

Announced Bouts

• Dieveson Figueiredo vs. Cory Sandhagen (Bantamweight)
• Marlon Vera vs. Mario Bautista (Bantamweight)
• Maria Rodriguez vs. Gillian Robertson (Women’s Strawweight)
• Trevor Peek vs. Lee Jeong-Yeong (Featherweight)
• Cameron Smotherman vs. Serhiy Sidey (Bantamweight)
• Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Daniel Rodriguez (Welterweight)
• Miesha Tate vs. Yana Santos (Women’s Bantamweight)
• Junior Tafa vs. Tuco Tokkos (Light Heavyweight)
• Montel Jackson vs. Daniel Marcos (Bantamweight)
• Ryan Loder vs. Azamat Bekoev (Middleweight)

UFC 315: Muhammad vs. Maddalena

Date: May / 10 / 2025

Venue: Bell Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Announced Bouts

• Belal Muhammad (C) vs. Jack Della Maddalena (Main Event) (Welterweight Championship)
• Valentina Shevchenko (C) vs. Manon Fiorot (Co-Main Event) (Women’s Flyweight Championship)
• Modestas Bukauskas vs. Ion Cutelaba (Light Heavyweight)
• Jose Aldo vs. Aiemann Zahabi (Bantamweight)
• Jessica Andrade vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius (Women’s Flyweight)
• Gilbert Burns vs. Michael Morales (Welterweight)
• Mike Malott vs. Charles Radtke (Welterweight)
• Alexa Grasso vs. Natalia Silva (Women’s Flyweight)
• Navajo Stirling vs. Iva Erslan (Light Heavyweight)
• Marc Andre Barriault vs. Bruno Silva (Middleweight)
• Brad Katona vs. Bezkat Almakhan (Bantamweight)
• Benoit Saint-Denis vs. Joel Alvarez (Lightweight)

UFC Fight Night 257

Date: May / 17 / 2025

Venue: Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail, Qatar.

Announced Bouts

• Park Jun-Young vs. Ismael Narudiev (Middleweight)
• Hamdy Abdelwahab vs. Mohammad Usman (Heavyweight)
• Sergei Spivac vs. Shamil Gaziev (Heavyweight)

UFC Fight Night 258

Date: May / 31 / 2025

Venue: UFC Apex, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Announced Bouts

• Allan Nascimento vs. Jafel Filho (Flyweight)
• Dusko Todorovic vs. Zachary Reese (Middleweight)
• Dustin Jacoby vs. Bruno Lopes (Light Heavyweight)

UFC In June

UFC 316

Date: June / 07 / 2025

Venue: Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey.

Announced Bouts

• Julianna Pena (C) vs. Kayla Harrison (Women’s Bantamweight Championship) (Rumored)
• Alexandre Pantoja vs. TBD (Rumored – Kai Kara France)

UFC 317

Date: June / 28 / 2025

Venue: T-Mobile Arena, Nevada, Las Vegas, United States.

No Announced Bouts So Far.

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The post UFC Schedule Preview: What cities will the UFC be in 2025? first appeared on Sidekick Boxing.

During the UFC Vegas 103 event, The Championship Round on X (formerly Twitter) observed that the promotion displayed a graphic of UFC 316 featuring flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja’s name. Although the graphic was removed after the event was aired, it had already been noticed by the viewers.

The UFC 316 event is scheduled for Newark, New Jersey on June 07, 2025, at Prudential Center with Julianna Pena (C) vs Kayla Harrison as the rumored headliner. 

Alexandre Pantoja’s path to becoming the champion was relentless as he had to defeat almost every notable contender before earning a title shot. He defeated Brandon Moreno to win the flyweight championship and defended the belt against Brandon Royval, both being high-profile rematches. 

In the quest for a promising challenger, the UFC fast-tracked Steve Erceg and debuted Kai Asakura straightly into a championship bout only to be cannibalized by Pantoja. 

As the UFC has not yet announced any details regarding Alexandre Pantoja’s next opponent, it is our responsibility at Sidekick Boxing to list five strong contenders who are likely to be chosen by the promotion to face Pantoja at UFC 316. 

1. Alexandre Pantoja vs Merab Dvalisvili. (For Bantamweight Championship)

After Alexandre Pantoja submitted Kai Asakura with a rear naked choke to retain his title, the bewilderment about his next opponent is natural for a fight fan. 

While some notable names in the flyweight division have sparked interest, they haven’t generated enough hype amongst the viewers. Only match-up involving a current UFC star could make Pantoja’s next fight intriguing, and the excitement is primarily centering around the bantamweight division’s champion. 

Merab Dvalishvili just demolished Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 using his ultimate gas tank, wrestling, and hilarious showboating. After Merab’s victory, many have been wondering who will be his next opponent, a similar speculation to Pantoja’s next match. 

Former bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley is likely next in line to rematch against Merab Dvalishvili for the belt. He is currently ranked number one in the bantamweight rankings, only behind another former champ Petr Yan who suffered a loss each against the current champion. 

So, before Merab embarks on the journey of rematches, it would be absolutely awesome to see him defending the bantamweight championship belt against Alexandre Pantoja. 

This is the best solution for both divisions currently dominated by their top champions. The card can be structured in such a way that Alexandre Pantoja and Merab Dvalishvili can fight for glory, while the undercard will solidify future flyweight and bantamweight contenders.

2. Alexandre Pantoja vs Kai Kara-France. 

One of the City Kickboxing’s stars, Kai Kara-France could very well be the next contender to face Alexandre Pantoja for the flyweight championship. 

Kai has long been the flyweight division’s dark horse. He has come remarkably close to a title shot on multiple occasions, but each time, he narrowly missed the opportunity to capture the gold. 

There was never any doubt in Kai’s ability as a fighter. He is agile, immensely powerful as a flyweight, and has an astute fight IQ. With 13 first-round finishes to his name, Kai can definitely put anybody out at any moment.  

However, Kai’s UFC career has experienced a series of fluctuations of success and monumental setbacks. He was defeated by some top flyweight contenders like Brandon Moreno, Brandon Royval, and Amir Albazi when it mattered the most, yet he rebounded back with a thunderous knockout against former title challenger Steve Erceg. 

What makes this fight really interesting is that we are all aware of Alexandre Pantoja’s tremendous ground game. Pantoja has taken down almost everyone he has fought so far and against Kai, taking to the ground will be Pantoja’s primary strategy. 

But, Kai infuses a ton of power in his shots, and if he connects with something significant, it could swiftly conclude the fight for the current champion despite having a great chin. A fighter like him who is capable of dealing a lot of damage at any point always has a chance to become victorious with a surprise. 

3. Alexandre Pantoja vs Manel Kape. 

Manel Kape recently gained a lot of popularity for his based personality and brashness. He might be a flyweight, but his unwavering courageous nature makes him immune to intimidation and because of that, he wasn’t afraid to lash out at Israel Adesanya who is a middleweight and is a giant compared to his size.

Many wanted to see him vs Kai Kara-France because of their bitter rivalry. However, Kape’s recent victories have taken him way closer to a title shot than we think, and he might be getting a rematch against Pantoja. He is currently on a two-fight winning streak and both of them are via third-round knockout. 

Kape knocked out Kai Asakura at Rizin 20 and then he joined the UFC. Ironically, he is yet to get a title shot, and Asakura got it on his debut. That gives us a valuable lesson, that the timing of everything matters. 

In his UFC debut, Kape faced the reigning champion Alexandre Pantoja in 2021 and lost via unanimous decision, followed by another loss against Matheus Nicolau. Since then, Kape has significantly improved his game and despite a few losses, he has an impressive win-to-loss ratio inside the UFC. 

Pantoja emerged victorious in the last battle, and who knows? Kape’s enhanced takedown defense and offensive striking could be handy against the champion. 

4. Alexandre Pantoja vs Deiveson Figueiredo. 

The return of a legend to the division he once ruled is also a possibility. After being highly competitive against the bantamweights, Deiveson Figueiredo is teasing his anticipated return to flyweight. 

After a thrilling quadrilogy against Brandon Moreno, Deiveson Figueiredo moved up to the bantamweight division because the weight cut was becoming too difficult. The Brazilian “God of War” had an impressive run, defeating top bantamweights like Rob Font, former champion Cody Garbrandt, and Marlon Vera. He also had an amazing competitive fight against former champ Petr Yan. 

Alexandre Pantoja is currently experiencing a remarkable ascent since his last defeat in 2020, and Deiveson Figueiredo is one of the few fighters against whom Pantoja has tasted defeat. 

If Figueiredo decides to make a return, him vs Pantoja can be a Steller encounter at UFC 316. 

5. Alexandre Pantoja vs Brandon Royval.

This option is very unlikely to happen, but it is also a truth that Brandon Royval gathered two consecutive wins against former champ Brandon Moreno and Tatsuro Taira. 

If other possibilities don’t happen, Brandon Royval might find himself facing Alexandre Pantoja for the third time. Their second fight became competitive in the later rounds, but in the intense moments, Pantoja used his jiu-jitsu effectively to get the victory. 

Primarily Royval is a striker and after going through 07 rounds against Pantoja, it would be interesting (may not be interesting than other options) for fans (hardcore) to see what adjustments he makes if he gets the chance. 

READ MORE: UFC AND WWE BOSSES TO HOST BOXING LEAGUE IN SAUDI ARABIA

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The post Top 05 Opponents for Alexandre Pantoja to face at UFC 316.  first appeared on Sidekick Boxing.

The current champion Alex Pereira will be defending his belt for the fourth time in the span of 12 months. He is on the verge of becoming one of the modern greats in the UFC. However, to achieve this feat, he needs to beat the challenger Magomed Ankalaev who is considered as Poatan’s biggest challenge so far. 

Both fighters have some unique strategies that they can use to claim victory. So, let’s analyze them and make a prediction. 

How to watch UFC 313?

UFC 313 Main Card will broadcast on – ESPN+ (US), TNT Sports (UK), and Kayo Sports (Australia). 

UFC Early Prelims and Prelims will be on – UFC Fight Pass. 

The timing of the event, the pricing, and the active subscriptions to watch the event may differ by country. 

Alex Pereira vs Magomed Ankalaev Statistic Match-Up. 

Alex Pereira vs Magomed Ankalaev Prediction. 

Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev is your classic striker vs wrestler match-up. This fight catches more eyeballs because the fans are eager to see if Poatan is capable of defending his championship belt against a highly-skilled wrestler after beating three opponents who were predominantly strikers. 

The stakes are not only high for the champion, but the challenger is also under the same amount of pressure. Magomed Ankalaev has been waiting for this opportunity since his draw against former champion Jan Blachowicz, and he’s seizing every chance to roast Pereira on social media platforms. So, both fighters have a lot to prove. Let’s begin the prediction – 

Strength And Weakness Analysis. 

The headliners of UFC 313 events possess really contrasting combat techniques. Alex Pereira and Magomed Anakalev bring some unique advantages over each other that can turn the tide at any moment. 

Alex Pereira. 

In the UFC, Alex Pereira serves as a specialist doctor in kickboxing and we expect nothing less from a two-time Glory Kickboxing Champion. Pereira has refined his skills while fighting top contenders in the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions. 

What makes Pereira a special martial artist is his ability to shape his striking according to his opponent. He has a keen eye for identifying even really small mistakes and utilizing his striking. Poatan is gifted with un-godly power which greatly increases the chances of knocking out anybody against him. 

However, the most crucial aspect of Pereira’s success inside the octagon is his ability to increase pace without getting tired. Poatan has enough force on his hands to dominate anyone, but the way he regenerates during the later championship rounds without a considerable loss in strength is definitely troublesome for his opponent. It doesn’t matter if it’s round 01 or round 05, Poatan has the rigor to land a finishing blow.

Training with former light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira has improved his takedown defense, allowing him to navigate the threat of being taken down against the cage. Pereira might not actively search for a takedown, but he showed us against Blachowicz that surviving with a 205-pound fighter on the back is something he can do. 

When it comes to picking up mistakes in Pereira’s fights, we all know one, it’s his wrestling. Although he avoided getting choked out against Jan Blachowicz and then outstruck him to win the fight via split decision, it’s pretty clear that he struggled a lot to reverse the positions and didn’t show anything that could be considered as a threat on the ground. 

On top of that, Pereira also hasn’t fought elite wrestlers which might be a concern for him to win this fight against Magomed Ankalaev who has the best wrestling accolades in light heavyweight division. 

On the feet, Pereira doesn’t have many technical mistakes, but he often gets caught with a straight punch. In the first Jiri Prochazka fight, Pereira was hit with two straight right hands, and Israel Adesanya famously knocked Pereira out with a counter right hand. 

When Pereira successfully lands something big and rocks his opponent, he generally lets his guard down to chase them. He becomes overconfident and gradually draws him into the chaos that engulfed him against Adesanya. 

In the Khalil Rountree fight, he showed really high fight IQ where he was sticking to landing jabs and a right behind it. Again, Pereira was getting reckless landing against the fence where a wounded Khalil Rountree managed to land some parting shots before ultimately getting knocked out. 

Magomed Ankalaev. 

The boogie man of the light heavyweight division, Magomed Ankalaev is all set to receive his second shot at the gold. 

His last fight against Jan Blachowicz was absurdly considered draw that snatched his chance to become the light heavyweight champion. Since then, Ankalaev was looking for another opportunity, and after two resounding wins over Johnny Walker and Aleksandar Rakic, he is ready to challenge Alex Pereira for the undisputed belt. 

The division is currently boats an array of elite strikers like Jiri Prochzka, Jamahal Hill, Aleksandar Rakic, and Jan Blachowicz. Among these formidable fighters, Magomed Ankalaev has emerged as a well-rounded fighter who has a decisive edge over others. 

Ankalaev likes to exert pressure on his opponent while moving forward and has a tasty straight left hand that always finds the mark. His defensive head movement is also a very underrated part of his striking. In addition to his crisp boxing, Ankalaev has some unique kicks that he effectively incorporates into his fight. 

For example, Ankalaev’s side thigh kick might not be painful at first, but he continuously targets his opponent with this particular kick multiple times and also mixes it up with a high kick. 

Despite possessing better wrestling than others, Ankalaev doesn’t fight like traditional wrestlers who actively look for takedowns. Ankalaev uses his wrestling skills only when it’s necessary and mostly relies on his kickboxing.

He would pressure his opponent with body kicks and jabs, and shoot a double leg against the cage to secure a takedown. So, we can say, that Ankalaev compliments his striking with the wrestling as a significant part of the overall game plan

When it comes to mistakes, Ankalaev is very susceptible to leg kicks. Jan Blachowicz almost crippled Ankalaev with leg kicks and Aleksandar Rakic also dealt some significant damage using leg kick. 

In this context, Ankalaev’s mistakes on the ground are somewhat irrelevant because Pereira won’t engage with him on the ground. Perhaps a greater analysis of the ground game will take place in his next fight. 

Ways to Victory. 

Alex Pereira.

Takedown Defense: This has to be the prime strategy in Alex Pereira’s title defense. He has to defend every takedown attempts and keep this fight on feet to get the victory.

Leg Kicks: Leg kicks work really great against Ankalaev. Jan Blachowicz and Aleksandar Rakic utilized them effectively, so Pereira can really deal significant damage using them frequently. 

Target The Body: Ankalaev mostly fights with his hands up, forming up a guard over his face to avoid big punches like an overhand or a hook. Pereira can use this to his advantage and land body jabs and kicks. Doing that would eventually lower his lead hand, thereby creating an opening for Pereira to land a decisive right hook. 

Knees: Alex Pereira should be prepared for a lot of clinching and double leg attempts from Ankalaev. In this situations, a well timed knee works great against double legs or in a clinch. 

Magomed Ankalaev.

Takedown: This has to be the go to game plan for Magomed Ankalaev. Pereira hasn’t fought any top-class wrestlers, initiating wrestling wil be a smooth path for victory. 

Feints: Feiting is going to allow to things – (i) It would make Pereira think about a cheeky takedown, (ii) A straight punch. 

Straight Punch: Alex Pereira mostly blocks punches with his face, so if Ankalaev is more measured, then he would find an opportunity to land that 1-2 combination or a straight right which often finds the mark against Pereira. 

Final Prediction. 

Considering all the possibilities, sidekick predicts Magomed Ankalaev to beat Alex Pereira via 3rd round Rear Naked Choke Submission to become the new UFC light heavyweight champion of the world.

READ MORE: ONE 172: Rodtang Vs Takeru A.I. Prediction

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The post UFC 313 Main Event: Alex Pereira (C) vs Magomed Ankalaev Prediction.  first appeared on Sidekick Boxing.