UFC Vegas 68 + Bellator 290 + Weekly MMA Report
The last week’s PFL Challenger Series was stacked with many decision victories, but a miracle happened in the case of Kendley St. Louis, who accepted the combat against Nick Alley on a 24-hour notice and score a superb rear-naked choke win.
Less than 𝟮𝟰 𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗦 notice
Kendly St.Louis stepped in and delivered a fight of night performance❗️
[ B2YB @JustForMen | #PFLonFubo] pic.twitter.com/bLjPlvw4Bo
— PFL (@PFLMMA) January 28, 2023
Image source: @UFCBrasil Twitter
The UFC returns this week with a stacked UFC Vegas 68 card, which takes place in UFC Apex Center, Las Vegas, Nevada. Yet, this fight card will get underway a bit later (prelims will start around 10 PM ET) because there are many Asian fighters on the card. Of course, as expected, it airs on UFC on Fight Pass or ESPN+, depending on your geolocation – this is not the PPV event.
The main event of the evening brings the highly-anticipated combat between Serghei Spivac and Derrick Lewis. Lewis is the most powerful puncher in the division, he broke Francis Ngannou’s punching machine record. Yet, the opponent moves a lot, so Lewis might have a hard time delivering a big shot on chinny Serghei Spivac.
On the other side, Spivac is known for great lateral movements, excellent wrestling and top control, and a big right hand. Spivac is very powerful, he likes to bench press and squat plus his head coach insists on massive one-punch knockout power. One way or another, somebody goes down in this combat.
Prediction: the fight will not go the distance
The co-main event of the evening brings the combat between two dangerous masters of long-range strikes – Devin Clark and Da Un Jung. The Korean fighter is also known for nasty close-range elbows, while Clark moves really well for a big guy and can land a massive counterblow from any angle. This one will hardly last for 15 minutes.
Prediction: the fight will not go the distance
Here is the rest of the card, but please check this link as we might witness last-minute changes.
Main Card (ESPN+, UFC On Fight Pass, 10 PM ET, 3 AM UK time)
Heavyweight: Derrick Lewis (26-10-0) vs. Serghei Spivac (15-3-0)
Light Heavyweight: Da Un Jung (15-3-1) vs. Devin Clark (13-7-0)
Heavyweight: Marcin Tybura (23-7-0) vs. Blagoy Ivanov (19-4-0)
Featherweight: Doo Ho Choi (14-4-0) vs. Kyle Nelson (13-5-0)
Welterweight: Yusaku Kinoshita (6-1-0) vs. Adam Fugitt (8-3-0)
Preliminary Card (ESPN+, UFC On Fight Pass, 1 AM ET, 6 AM UK time)
Lightweight: Anshul Jubli (6-0-0) vs. Jeka Saragih (13-2-0)
Featherweight: Zha Yi (21-3-0) vs. Jeong Yeong Lee (9-1-0)
Bantamweight: Rinya Nakamura (6-0-0) vs. Toshiomi Kazama (10-2-0)
Flyweight: Hyun Sung Park (7-0-0) vs. Seung Guk Choi (6-1-0)
Flyweight: Ji Yeon Kim (9-6-2) vs. Mandy Böhm (7-2-0)
Middleweight: Jun Yong Park (15-5-0) vs. Denis Tiuliulin (11-6-0)
Flyweight: Tatsuro Taira (12-0-0) vs. Jesus Aguilar (8-1-0)
Please check my predictions for the upcoming UFC fight card:
But that’s not all ladies and gentlemen, as Bellator returns with another lovely card (airs on Showtime) and two superb title fights.
Image source: @BellatorMMA Twitter
Ryan Bader will square off against Fedor Emelianenko in a 265-pound title fight. In their previous fight, Bader turned the lights out on Fedor with a nasty hook, but the Sambo fighter from Stary Oskol trained hard for this combat, plus this could be the last bout of his career. This is going to be a lovely war.
Prediction: Fedor to win
The co-main event hosts the 185-pound title show between the decorated wrestler Johnny Eblen and very tricky Anatoly Tokov. Tokov has the advantage in the stand-up, but you don’t want Eblen on top of you, his top control skills are amazing. If Johnny drags this fight to the ground, he will probably win every single round and score a decision win.
Prediction: Eblen to win
Checkout my Bellator 290 main card predictions:
What a great holiday of fights is coming up! Ladies and gentlemen, don’t miss these two great upcoming events. And don’t forget, UFC 284 PPV is going to take place in two weeks!
[…] had a pretty much weird card last weekend, as it aired a bit late for the USA time. Yet, there were many finishes. The main event was […]