My picks
Gibson UD
Lee UD
Howard UD
Thompson UD Thompson has been on the rise since the Brown loss. Cote is washed.
Masvidal UD
Cruz vs Mizugaki
Kind of hard to gauge Cruz since his long layoff. His whole style is based off his footwork but those ACL injuries could cause questions. Mizugaki is a typical charge forward boxer. Cruz usually moves around and hits all kinds of jabs, hooks, of angles. Normally, Cruz would wash Mizugaki but if he is a step slower, Mizugaki can make it interesting. I will go with Cruz UD
Zingano vs Nunes
Both of these girls are strong kickboxers who have a clinch oriented game. Both are average wrestlers who are susceptable to TD. Really hard to pick but I will go with Zingano because shes stronger and a little more technical.
Romero vs Kennedy
If Romero imposes his wrestling early like he did against Taveres, Romero wins easily. If Romero goes in there and throws wild power shots, he will get taken down like he did against brunson. Kennedy is an ok wrestler with a smothering grind top game. IDK. Another toss up. I hate Kennedy but hes tough as hell. He went to the ground against Roger Gracie and survived, even when his back got taken. His only losses are to Jacare and Rockhold and those were close. I will pick Kennedy due to his experience and toughness.
Mcgregor vs poirer
I said in the MMA thread, Mcgregor is a dynamic, powerful striker whos fun to watch. Poirer has a traditional boxing game who throws with a lot of volume and power. Both have good chins. I said earlier Mcgegor would easily beat Poirer but now that I think about it, thats not the case. Mcgregor comes forward and throws regardless of his opponent much like the Diaz so hes open to strikes. He got tagged a few times vs Brimage and Holloway. Poirer has only lost when hes gotten taken down and grinded out. I don't see Mcgregor doing that. Mcgregor has nice TD skills but he hasn't shown dominant top control or sub game.Plus Poirer is an underrated grappler. I still got Mcgregor by UD tho because of his variety of strikes, accuracy, distance control, ability to throw moving forward, backwards, off angles, etc. But its much closer then I thought.
Cerrone vs Alvarez
Another competitive fight. Both guys start slow and take shots in the first round. Both have poor head movement and are easily hittable. But I will pick Alvarez. He is a very good technical boxer with some fast hands/combos. Probably the best boxer at 155lb. Cerrone usually beats guys who have a basic kickboxing game who allow him to get his range and unload his muy thai strikes. I don't think Alvarez will allow him to get his groove. As long as he stays agressive he should beat Cerrone.
Cariaso vs DJ
Cariaso is a solid 125lb like almost all fighters in that division. But DJ is just still on another level in terms of quickness, footwork, strikes, level changes, clinch work. Don't see any part of Cariaso game that will trouble DJ. DJ by UD
cant wait to see mcgregor crush the featherweight gatekeeper!
UD
