UFC Vegas 63 + Bellator 287 Weekly MMA Report
UFC 280 PPV was one of the most stacked cards in the history of the promotion. Interestingly, there haven’t been many finishes, but the card was stacked with the upsets. I am not talking about favorites and underdogs, I am focusing on methods of victory.
Islam Makhachev dropped Charles Oliveira in the second round, then submitted him from the top. How hard it can be to submit a BJJ black belt, and a guy with the greatest number of submission finishes in the history of UFC? Islam nets an extra 50k for the Performance of the Night.
I am pretty sure everyone has seen how Makhachev submitted the man with most submission wins in UFC history, Oliveira 👍🏻
But in case someone hasn't seen it, here it is pic.twitter.com/vhaZdaJXta
— ABHI 🇮🇳🇷🇺 (@stargazer109) October 22, 2022
The second Performance of the Night went in the hands of Belal Muhammad, who punched his way through Sean Brady for a standing KO/TKO finish in round 2.
Belal Muhammad Knocks Out Sean Brady #UFC280 pic.twitter.com/Blpz9efIpS
— Pure Finishes (@PureKnockouts) October 22, 2022
The Fight of the Night bonus went into the hands of Petr Yan and Sean O’Malley. Both fighters earned an extra 50k, hence O’Malley won the razor-close bout via a very controversial split decision.
In the co-main event of the evening, Aljamain Sterling finished TJ Dillashaw with a vicious ground and pound.
Aljamain Sterling TKOs TJ Dillashaw!
Dillashaw's tough, battling through the dislocated shoulder as long as he did. pic.twitter.com/rbxiFZRPed
— 𝗙𝗢𝗟𝗟𝗢𝗪 @𝗙𝗧𝗕𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗱𝟳 (@FTBeard7) October 22, 2022
But let’s focus on the next chapter of the UFC, as the promotion travels across the pond again and returns to its headquarters for another event in the middle of the Mojave desert. This time, the event is headlined by a promising bout between Calvin Kattar and Arnold Allen. It takes place on Saturday, October 29th, 2022, and airs exclusively on ESPN+.
Image source: @UFCBrasil Twitter
Calvin Kattar took a lot of beating throughout his career, but his cardio is so epic, no way this guy is gonna get tired. Plus his boxing rocks. On the other hand, Arnold Allen’s ground game could play a role here, but finishing Calvin Kattar is so hard. This might go all the way!
Prediction: the fight goes the distance or Kattar wins (-110)
The co-main event of the evening brings another tough bout for betting, as Max “Pain” Griffin means heavy-handed Tim Means. These two vets are very experienced, and you can expect a lot of technical moves, great counters, and combinations. Griffin’s gas tank should be better, and he should win the bout, especially if it goes into round 3.
Prediction: Griffin to win (-175)
Please take a look at the whole fight card below, but you can also take a look at this link due to last-minute changes.
Main Card (ESPN+, UFC On Fight Pass, 7 PM ET, midnight UK time)
Featherweight: Calvin Kattar (23-6-0) vs. Arnold Allen (18-1-0)
Welterweight: Tim Means (32-13-1) vs. Max Griffin (18-9-0)
Light Heavyweight: Dustin Jacoby (18-5-1) vs. Khalil Rountree (10-5-0)
Heavyweight: Waldo Cortes-Acosta (7-0-0) vs. Jared Vanderaa (12-9-0)
Middleweight: Tresean Gore (3-2-0) vs. Josh Fremd (9-3-0)
Preliminary Card (ESPN+, UFC On Fight Pass, 4 PM ET, 9 PM UK time)
Heavyweight: Andrei Arlovski (34-20-0) vs. Marcos Rogério de Lima (19-8-1)
Featherweight: Chase Hooper (11-2-1) vs. Steve Garcia (12-5-0)
Middleweight: Joseph Holmes (8-2-0) vs. Jun Yong Park (14-5-0)
Middleweight: Roman Dolidze (10-1-0) vs. Phil Hawes (12-3-0)
Here are my picks for the upcoming card.
But that’s not all ladies and gentlemen, as we have another lovely event coming up – Bellator 287. It takes place in Allianz Cloud Arena, Milan, Italy. The prelims air on YouTube, while you’ll need Showtime access for the main card.
Image source: @BellatorMMA Twitter
The main event brings the battle between Adam Piccolotti and Mansour Barnaoui. Piccolotti is a better all-around fighter, but interestingly, he’s an underdog, so we should leave the door open for a potential upset.
Prediction: Adam to win (+100)
In the co-main event of the evening, the Birmingham-based heavy-handed striker Fabian Edwards squares off against dangerous scrappy Irishman Charlie Ward. Ward’s ground game rocks, but one punch from Edwards could seal the deal. This one gonna be interesting.
Prediction: the fight will not go the distance
Here are my picks for the upcoming main card:
There is no PPV event this week, but there will be many nice match-ups. This weekend looks very promising!
[…] UFC Vegas 63 looked weak on the piece of paper, but it turned into a pretty decent card. Unfortunately, we’ve seen two huge injuries. Roman Dolidze annihilated Phil Hawes in the prelims after his knee popped up, which led to a Performance of the Night bonus for a Georgian fighter too, while Calvin Kattar hurt himself after he landed a violent flying knee on Arnold Allen, which led to a second-round TKO victory for the Brit. […]