The Fight Analyst comes back down to earth a bit with a 1-1 night (66-33 overall). He will be looking to bounce back for the last PPV of the year at UFC 282.
The UFC is heading back to Las Vegas to end the year after an east coast trip to Orlando, Florida. This past event was arguably one of the great fight night cards in recent memory.
Up next is UFC 282 which is headlined by former light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev looking to capture gold to become the next champion. The rest of the card is littered with elite talent from top to bottom. With that said, let’s take at The Fight Analyst’s Best Bets for UFC 282
Erik Silva vs. TJ Brown
In the Featherweight division, we have a fight between newcomer Erik Silva and TJ Brown.
Silva burst onto the scene with a dominant performance on the Contender Series that saw him finish Anvar Boynazarov in less than 2 minutes. He has finished 7 of his 9 opponents with 6 of them coming in the first round.
Brown has some mixed success in the octagon with a 2-3 record. He’s most recently coming off of a loss to Shayilan Nuerdanbieke where he was taken down and controlled for a good portion of that fight which doesn’t bode well in this matchup.
Silva isn’t a known commodity and hasn’t faced much adversity but this is a good stylistic matchup for his debut fight. Brown is a plus athlete and has some power in his hands but his defensive grappling will be his downfall. Being as he’s been taken down and controlled in 4 of his last 6 fights he’s got a tough road ahead of him. In short, Silva keeps it competitive on the feet until he takes Brown down to eventually sink in the rear-naked choke.
| The Fight Analyst’s Pick |
|---|
| Erik Silva to win -120 |
Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Chris Daukaus
In the Heavyweight division, we have a banger between two ranked contenders in #9 Jairzinho Rozenstruik and #11 Chris Daukaus.
Rozenstruik is coming off of a first-round beatdown at the hands of Alexander Volkov. He had a ton of trouble with the range of Volkov, something he should have no troubles with against Daukaus. Of his 12 wins, 11 of them have come by way of knockout.
Daukaus is coming off of back-to-back losses for the first time in his career. The power of both Derrick Lewis and Curtis Blaydes was deemed too much for Daukaus. Now, Daukaus will get yet another heavy hitter in Rozenstruik.
This should be a fun one for however long it lasts. These two come to throw down from the moment the referee tells them to fight. If Rozenstruik isn’t timid because of his last loss, I fully expect him to do what Daukaus’ recent opponents have done to him. In the end, Dauakus looks good early until Rozenstruik lands a big power shot and puts him out.
| The Fight Analyst’s Pick |
|---|
| Jairzinho Rozenstruik to win -170 |
Chris Curtis vs. Joaquin Buckley
We have a great scrap in the Middleweight division between Chris Curtis and Joaquin Buckley.
Buckley is coming off a competitive loss to surging contender Nassourdine Imavov his last time out. He has looked much improved since his short-notice fight against Kevin Holland and he will be looking to put those improvements to the test here against Chris Curtis.
Curtis was on a hot streak coming into his toughest test yet against Jack Hermansson. Unfortunately, he fell short as he had trouble with the range of Hermansson. That is someone that he shouldn’t have to deal with all too much in this contest with Buckley.
This should be a very closely contested matchup throughout the end. Both fighters are durable and great strikers. I expect this fight to hit the judges’ scorecards which gives us value on the over 1.5 rounds. Instead of taking a side here, take the over and watch a great fight unfold.
| The Fight Analyst’s Pick |
|---|
| Curtis vs Buckley Over 1.5 Rounds -170 |
