Stacked Landing

Mathieu Nicolau Vs. Matt Schnell Technical Preview (UFC ESPN 42)      UFC Orlando (UFC on ESPN 42) takes place at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida on December 3rd, 2022. While the main event features a fun fight with big names, down the card features well-rounded fighters and interesting matchups. One that stands out to me is the Flyweight (125 Lbs) matchup between Mathieu Nicolau and Matt Schnell . Flyweight fights are some of the more technically interesting fights to watch, as the occasional check hook slipping through is not ending the fight as it does in bigger divisions. Nicolau and Schnell both embody the division in a lot of ways, and I'm glad they got high placement on the card. Both fighters have fought at the UFC level since 2016, despite Schnell only being 32 and Nicolau being 29. Two well-rounded veterans face each other to see who gets to face the elite of the division next, with both having very active fight styles. This is a rare treat I'm looking forwar

 UFC on ESPN 42: Thompson Vs. Holland Preview and Bet-Slip                UFC On ESPN 42: Thompson Vs. Holland takes place on December 3rd at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. Headlining the card are two guys with all-time highlight reels securing their place as elite welterweights, and also going for striking bragging rights. Another fight highly likely to provide fireworks on the main-card is Tai Tuivasa Vs. Sergei Pavlovich. Heavyweights with heavy hands, one of which is fairly well-rounded? Sign me up. The card, from the main event to prelims, has fun fights, good matchups, and ranked fighters. A great recipe for retaining viewers that check out UFC while looking for what’s live on ESPN, is to have active fights. Even some grappling matches are exciting to a casual fan if lots of scrambles or position changes. It’s likely someone tuning in to this card will see high-level fighting, or at least entertaining scraps. Let’s look at the main-card, some standouts from the undercard/p

 UFC Vegas 65: Lewis Vs Spivak , Nzechukwu Vs. Cutelaba      UFC Vegas 65, Lewis Vs. Spivak, took place at the UFC Apex on November 19th 2022. The main event of the card was cancelled , the most prominent coach was pulled day-of for state and federal investigations , and the main event featured two guys who aren't even in the top-15 in the second thinnest male division in the UFC. To top it all off, Muslim Salikhov obliterated my bet-slip and I ended up losing on the night in terms of official slip. (Added Acosta To Win, Kennedy/Cutelaba doesn't go distance parlay after Lewis cancellation.) Let's lick our wounds and take a quick look at the shortened main-card ESPN pays 50 million a year for. A card that did not feature a ranked fighter and had the two most popular stories the next day not involve the actual fights.      Derrick  Lewis Vs Sergey Spivak SIKE They pulled Lewis due to weight cut related stomach issues, AKA cramps. Upsetting for my bankroll that he didn't

Fights Some interesting fights to wager on, either outright or props. Couple example parlays as well. Feel better about bold examples.  Derrick Lewis Vs. Serghei Spivak Not going distance. Lewis not training, Spivak at a minimum trains like a professional. Lewis can always land and send Spivak into oblivion, but the most likely option is Spivak clinches and wears on him. In a 5 round fight involving grappling, Lewis will give up his neck to get out. If Lewis wins, it's not with 5 rounds of out-pointing Spivak. If this was Lewis of 4 years ago against the Spivak of now, I think "Black Beast," would find Spivak's chin through sheer activity and power. However, from the Gane fight forward Lewis has been more timid and I don't count the Daukaus fight.  Fight does not go distance Spivak To Win In Distance Kennedy Nzechukwu Vs Ion Cuteleba Ion + Not going distance. Kennedy has been improving his last 3 fights in terms of the very apparent issues: Weird boxing shell defe

​ UFC 281 Renato Moicano Vs Brad Riddell Renato Moicano took on Brad Riddell at UFC 281 , which took place at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The whole card was great, and the main event was a perfect ending to a night with impressive finishes. One fight that stood out to me before and after the event was Moicano Vs. Riddell. I thought their frames and fight styles would lead to an exciting fight, and it ended up being all action. A few days after the fight Brad Riddell announced he would likely be retiring as a fighter . He has a few surgeries to take care of and thinks he would better off preserving his quality of life while still training and being a trainer. Hats off to Riddell, and all the more impact added to Moicano’s win. Usually when a fighter retires it’s clear they don’t have much left, but I think Riddell did a great job firing back and ultimately found success in the last exchange on the feet. Moicano had a big edge in grappling going in, particularly in good

Neil Magny Vs. Daniel Rodriguez: UFC Vegas 64 Neil Magny Vs. Daniel Rodriguez took place on November 05th, 2022 at the UFC Apex and was the co-main of Rodriguez Vs. Lemos. Many were looking forward to this fight, with Daniel Rodriguez (D-Rod) looking to break into the top-15 and Magny ready to prove he’s still deserving of the position. Rodriguez has a fan-favorite style and backstory, while Magny has been the measuring stick for elite Welterweights for 5 years now. I expected D-Rod to have an advantage on the feet, and Magny would have one grappling. Styles make fights, and opposing styles often make good ones. After watching their last 5 fights, one-thing that was expected to play out was D-Rod’s struggles with defending the single-leg, and Magny’s ability to grab the ankle or body lock and turn. A recurring issue with Magny is that he will have stretches of choosing to strike, while having much more success grappling. With Magny being so long, it often leads to just leaning back wit