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411’s MMA Roundtable – UFC Fight Night: Holohan vs. Smolka
WELCOME:
Trudging on through the curse of Fight Night 76, UFC returns to Dublin on Saturday! In the new main event, Paddy Holohan takes on Louis Smolka in flyweight action. In lightweight action, Norman Parke battles Reza Madadi. At welterweight, Nicolas Dalby fights Darren Till in a battle of unbeaten. Plus, Neil Seery takes on Jon Delos Reyes, and more!
THE STAFF:
Preliminary Card
All Bouts Stream on UFC Fight Pass
Middleweight Bout: Bubba Bush vs. Garreth McLellan
Featherweight Bout: Darren Elkins vs. Robert Whiteford
Welterweight Bout: Cathal Pendred vs. Tom Breese
Women’s Strawweight Bout: Aisling Daly vs. Ericka Almeida
Middleweight Bout: Scott Askham vs. Krzysztof Jotko
Lightweight Bout: Stevie Ray vs. Mickael Lebout
THE MAIN CARD:
Flyweight Bout: Neil Seery vs. Jon Delos Reyes
Jeffrey Harris: This is a decent flyweight match-up at least. Both guys are tough and underrated competitors. Seery is coming off a loss and will not want to go 0-2 here. Reyes is coming off an impressive submission win over Roldan Sangcha-an. I expect this will be a tough contest, but Seery will edge it out with his superior striking.
Winner: Neil Seery, Decision
Lorenzo Vasquez III: Seery is a pretty good boxer with a solid counter striking game. Reyes is athletic and powerful and likes to come forward. This will be a fight between technique and physicality. The outcome depends on whether or not Seery can out work and avoid Reyes’ power or if Reyes has the conditioning to keep up his physicality. Seery should be able to out work the younger fighter.
Winner: Neil Seery, Decision
Dan Plunkett: Seery is a solid fighter that will be performing in front of his home town. What concerns me most about Delos Reyes is that he’s completely unproven against guys at Seery’s level. When he stepped into the deeper waters of the flyweight division in the past, he struggled. Seery should take this one.
Winner: Seery, Decision
The staff picks Neil Seery, 3-0.
Welterweight Bout: Nicholas Dalby vs. Darren Till
Jeffrey Harris: Both men are undefeated fighters who are fairly unknown, but they are coming in with single victories in the UFC on their records. Between the two fighters, the British fighter Till has shown the stronger finishing ability in his career and had the more impressive UFC debut. Sort of a tough one to call, but I’m going with Till.
Winner: Darren Till, TKO, Round 2
Lorenzo Vasquez III: These two fighters are solid strikers. Till has a nice straight left and strong kicks. He likes to mix them up to confuse his opponents. He also has knock out power. I don’t know much about his ground game to say it decent so that’s a question mark in my books. Dalby is a volume puncher. He has some good movement and doesn’t loaded up on his punches. In addition, Dalby is also a solid takedown artist. He’ll change things up from time to time and hit a double leg takedown. Both of these guys are undefeated and I can see both walking away with the win. Till has the power, while, Dalby has the constant stream of strikes to break down a man. It’s a toss up and it may come down to where or not Till finds a home for his power or Dalby can switch things up with takedowns.
Winner:Darren Till, TKO, Round 2
Dan Plunkett: Darren Till is a strong finisher, although his 11 career finishes (in 13 fights) didn’t come against top quality opponents. Dalby is a good striker and, likely thanks to his karate roots, likes to strike from the outside. However, Till is solid on the feet as well, and seems to have more finishing power. When in doubt, go with the finisher.
Winner: Till, TKO, Round 2
The staff picks Darren Till, 3-0.
Lightweight Bout: Norman Parke vs. Reza Madadi
Jeffrey Harris: Reza Madadi returns to the UFC after a two-year plus layoff due to his incarceration for burglary. Madadi actually submitted Michael Johnson in his last UFC fight, and Johnson is currently ranked in the top 5. He faces Norman Parke, another hometown fighter for the card. Parke is another Irish fighter who has some good clinch and grappling work. However, he has a penchant for under-performing. In his recent losses, he really could have won if he tried to do more and was more active. It’s hard to really gauge how good Madadi is right now. Yes, he did submit Johnson, but that was also a long time ago. He hasn’t fought at all since that time. I could be going out on a limb, but I’m expecting Parke to take this one home.
Winner: Norman Parke, Decision
Lorenzo Vasquez III: Madadi is a submission wrestler first and foremost. His striking leaves a whole lot to be desired. He has good shot timing and he finishes takedowns. From the top he is aggressive and unloads ground and pound with his elbows, forearms, and fist. He likes to pressure and look for the submission. Parke is a judo practitioner with decent striking; in fact, he is turning into a fine kickboxer. Nonetheless, that is an area still under construction. His clinch game is strong and from the clinch he keen on finding takedowns. I feel Parke is the better and more well-round fighter. He should pick up the win via decision.
Winner: Norman Parke, Decision
Dan Plunkett: Reza Madadi was quite good when we last saw him in April of 2013, a long forgotten time that saw strange things like Chael Sonnen challenge for the light heavyweight title. Now Madadi is 37. That makes him really difficult to pick against someone like Norman Parke.
Winner: Norman Parke, Decision
The staff picks Norman Parke, 3-0.
Flyweight Bout: Patrick Holohan vs. Louis Smolka
Jeffrey Harris: It’s too bad this card lost its original co-main event of Stipe Miocic vs. Ben Rothwell. That was actually a strong and relevant heavyweight bout. This fight actually isn’t that bad as a last-minute, replacement co-main event fight. It features the hometown boy of Holohan facing Louis Smolka. So the fans will at least be rabid for this one. Both guys are actually quite decent and on winning streaks right now with winning Octagon records. Holohan actually has some decent grappling skills and is good at using his length. Smolka I believe is a little more well rounded. I see a few more ways he can win this fight. I think Smolka gets the win here.
Winner: Louis Smolka, Decision
Lorenzo Vasquez III: Both of these guys aren’t excellent strikers. In fact, they are far from it but their aggressive nature makes them effective. Grappling is where they both feel at home. However, when you put the package altogether, Smolka is likely the better all around fighter. This should actually be a decent bout. Smolka should be able to edge out Holohan. His ground game is better and he should be to defend well on the feet.
Winner: Louis Smolka, Decision
Dan Plunkett: The biggest main event in Fight Pass history should be a very fun grappling contest. It’s also very much a tossup. Smolka has been a bit more impressive recently, but I’m leaning toward Holohan to get the win in front of his home crowd here.
Winner: Holohan, Decision
The staff picks Louis Smolka, 2-1.
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