@MikesMMAPicks I’m not saying he’s going to win but I find it interesting that 15 odd years of Cruz fighting professionally and bettors and public in general still don’t understand his game, win condition, and the unique problems he presents to pretty much everyone he fights
@KpetersonUFC If you watch the video you’ll see Pedro saying briefly how he’s trying to close his left eye to open up his right, so many of you can’t be arsed to do your research.
@Newsome_MMA Paddy has very good offensive BJJ but if I remember rightly he’s been tapped/controlled on the ground for long periods of time at the U.K./European level
Dawson hits a lot of takedowns, is 6 years younger, 4 inches longer, but his striking accuracy and defence is not as good as Gordon. In his last fight his cardio completely fell out in R3 and he is against a renowned high-cardio fighter this weekend in Gordon
Gordon vs Dawson
We know Gordon is a very good hammer - he’s high volume and if he’s pushing forward, getting you to move back and he’s mixing in TD’s then he’s winning most fights - good low kick, good counter 2, good top pressure and sub defence #UFCVegas53
Font vs Vera
Vera very happy to weaponise his chin and walk through long range to get to the distance where he can land elbows and kicks with real power. Can be frozen momentarily by faster opponents in mid-range, as he doesn’t move his head well #UFCVegas53
He got a bit over zealous against Aldo and was swinging in R1 before he even got caught - against Cody he showed a perfect gameplan but he definitely won’t be wanting to grapple against Chito at the weekend imo
He can be caught by linear strikes up the middle and has a tendency to duck a bit which makes me think of Vera’s front kick immediately. Narrative of the fight will probably be - can Vera push through the better boxer’s jab to get close enough to cause damage/opportunistic subs
Striking wise we can rely on Guida pushing forwards, moving his head for 15 minutes, and he is by no means against an elite striker in Puelles, although Claudio is improving
Guida vs Puelles
Watching Puelles use his length and scrambling ability against Leavitt makes me anxious about Guida’s potential success with grappling in this fight - we saw Guida hurt by a body kick against Santos and Puelles has very good body kicks #UFCVegas52
Puelles has the ability to pull a sub from many positions but as we know Guida has decent defense on the ground in recent memory but he has been subbed 6 times in his UFC career