#ufc194

UFC 196 takes place this week (5th in USA, 6th in Australia) in Las Vegas. A welterweight fight between Featherwieght champion Conor McGregor and late replacement Nate Diaz is set to be the main event of the evening. The co-main event will be a women’s bantamweight title fight between champion Holly Holm and Miesha Tate.

 In the lead up to the co-main event, the main question is can Holly Holm prove not to be a one-hit wonder? During that fight with Ronda Rousey, Holly displayed elite boxing that can only be obtained with years of training and experience.  Her technical footwork and movement were outstanding and once she got into a rhythm, she could have not been beat. Her jab is the weapon of choice for setting up high kicks and lefts. With a longer reach over her opponent will become an advantage for establishing range against Miesha. While Tate comes from a wrestling background, her improved boxing and durability have earned her this title bout. On a 4 fight winning streak with wins over Sara McMann and recently Jessica Eye, Tate is starting to fulfill her potential and become an all-round fighter. However, based on what I have seen from both fighters recently, Holly needs to win this and should. Tate’s 4 fight winning streak have all been decisions. Always seen as a hittable target, Miesha will get hit and hot a lot during this fight. Considering Miesha has been knockout before, Holly will finish her in the 4th round, if she can defend Tate’s takedowns.

 Conor McGregor’s rise in the UFC has been unquestionably unprecedented. From debuting in 2013 to becoming featherweight champion 2 years later, it has been a journey that has only started. Was scheduled to face Rafael Dos Anjos this week, but due to a broken foot for Dos Anjos, the Lightweight champion, plans to become the first UFC two-way world champion have been put on hold. In comes Nate Diaz on 2 week short notice. Diaz, a veteran of 29 fights compared to Conor’s 21, is a test for the featherweight champion because of Nate’s crisp boxing, durability and high level jiu-jitsu. Whereas Conor sets up attacks with spinning kicks, high and mid kicks while cutting the cage off his opponent. He presents movement like no other fighter, with stellar footwork and the rare ability to fight offensively or counter-offensively, it brings a new challenge for not only Diaz, but for all his future opponents. The movement will free up a Conor, who will look to put the fight away quickly, as Nate’s durability will kick in during the late rounds, while we never have seen Conor fight at championship rounds, we suspect his cardio will be limited than when he was at 145lbs because of an increase in muscle and during the Chad mendes fight, seemed to get tired during the late stage of the second round. However, using his movement and power left hand, Conor will put away Nate for a first round TKO. With power that can put the likes of Jose Aldo out, who is considered to have a great chin, Conor can knockout anyone with that left, which will be the ultimate finishing blow to an 18th TKO/KO victory for the Irishman.

UFC Fight Night 83 takes place this week in Pittsburgh. With a less than average card, depleted with injuries and fighters pulling out for other different reasons. Headlined by Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone fighting Alex ‘Cowboy’ Olivera, both fighters move up a weightclass from lightweight (155lbs) to welterweight (170lbs). Olivera is coming on short notice, however, performs well when he has had regular fights. Yet being the highly skilled fighter Cerrone is, he should get this win. Having been destroyed by Rafael dos Anjos in his last fight, Cowboy would have learnt a lot from that fight. In this fight, he needs to start fast, which has been hard for him in future fights, but get in the face of the Brazilian with constant pressure, using his kicks and later taking him down for the submission win. I’m also picking Cody Garbrant and Derek Brunson to win by TKO.