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411’s MMA Roundtable Preview – UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Teixeira
WELCOME:
Former title challengers Alexander Gustafsson and Glover Teixeira each look to move one step closer to another light heavyweight championship opportunity when they meet at UFC Fight Night! In the co-main event, rising light heavyweight contender Misha Cirkunov takes on Volkan Oezdemir. At welterweight, Peter Sobotta fights Ben Saunders. Also in welterweight action, Abdul Razak Alhassan battles Omari Akhmedov. Plus, Oliver Enkamp faces Nordine Taleb, Jack Hermansson vs. Alex Nicholson, and more!
THE STAFF:
Preliminary Card
UFC Fight Pass
Lightweight Bout: Marcin Held vs. Damir Hadzovic
Welterweight Bout: Darren Till vs. Jessin Ayari
Fox Sports 1
Welterweight Bout: Nico Musoke vs. Bojan Velickovic
Lightweight Bout: Reza Madadi vs. Joaquim Silva
Middleweight Bout: Trevor Smith vs. Chris Camozzi
Bantamweight Bout: Pedro Munhoz vs. Damian Stasiak
THE MAIN CARD:
Middleweight Bout: Jack Hermansson vs. Alex Nicholson
Jeffrey Harris: Alex Nicholson, Decision
Robert Winfree: Jack Hermansson, TKO, Round 2
Dan Plunkett: Hermansson, KO, Round 1
The staff picks Jack Hermansson, 2-1.
Welterweight Bout: Oliver Enkamp vs. Nordine Taleb
Jeffrey Harris: Nordine Taleb, Decision
Robert Winfree: Nordine Taleb, Decision
Dan Plunkett: Taleb, Decision
The staff picks Nordine Taleb, 3-0.
Welterweight Bout: Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Omari Akhmedov
Jeffrey Harris: Omari Akhmedov faces the undefeated Abdul Razak Alhassan, who impressed many in his Octagon debut last November at UFC Fight Night 99 when he knocked out Charlie Ward inside of a minute. Akhmedov has a somewhat middling UFC record at 4-3. Alhassan is a judo practitioner, but he’s also proven to be a sound knockout artist so far in his MMA career. He has seven first-round knockout wins for his pro career, and two of those fights were in Bellator MMA. Akhmedov has more experience, but Alhassan seems like he could definitely be a guy to watch going forward. A bit of a limb here, but I’m picking Alhassan.
Winner: Abdul Razak Alhassan, TKO, Round 1
Robert Winfree: There was a time when Akhmedov might have been something at welterweight, but that time seems to have passed. Akhmedov is still a good wrestler with some serious top control, but his striking defense leaves a lot to be desired even if he packs respectable power. Alhassan had a quick victory in his UFC debut but there are a lot of questions around him, he’s got power but we’ve never seen him have to fight off a wrestler or even really engage in a prolonged striking battle, or fight the full fifteen minutes. Given Akhmedov’s exposed chin I wouldn’t be shocked to see him go down here, but there are a few too many unknowns around Alhassan for me to comfortably pick him here.
Winner: Omari Akhmedov, Decision
Dan Plunkett: At some point, Alhassan won’t knock his opponent out in a minute and we’ll get to see how he fares in deeper waters. As of now, because of the way he’s been so successful, there are a lot of question marks around Alhassan. I think Akhmedov tests him here, and Akhmedov has proven more.
Winner: Akhmedob, Decision
The staff picks Omari Akhmedov, 2-1.
Welterweight Bout: Peter Sobotta vs. Ben Saunders
Jeffrey Harris: Peter Sobotta hasn’t done too badly in his second UFC run. He’s gone 3-1 in four fights. He faces UFC veteran Ben Saunders, who recently had a successful return to the Octagon last January, beating Court McGee by decision. Sobotta is a good kickboxer, and he’s definitely gotten better since he came back to the UFC. However, Saunders is no slouch himself on the ground, and I think he has the grappling skills to give him a considerable edge over Sobotta. Saunders takes this one.
Winner: Ben Saunders, Submission, Round 2
Robert Winfree: Sobotta has looked decent in his return to the UFC while Saunders seems to have reached his ceiling. Sobotta has been soft to the body before and while he’s a good grappler his takedowns are unspectacular and he had better be well prepared for Saunders’ rubber guard from bottom. At distance this is pretty much all Saunders, I expect him to light up Sobotta with long body kicks and wear him down, possibly taking him out as the fight progresses.
Winner: Ben Saunders, TKO, Round 3
Dan Plunkett: Ben Saunders is a tough fight for just about any welterweight due to his size and diverse skill set. For that reason, I lean toward him in this fight.
Winner: Ben Saunders, Decision
The staff picks Ben Saunders, 3-0.
Light Heavyweight Bout: Volkan Oezdemir vs. Misha Cirkunov
Jeffrey Harris: This is a tough fight, but it’s one Misha Cirkunov will need on his road toward becoming a potential title contender. Right now, all the eyes, excitement and momentum are on Cirkunov. Arguably, this is his fight to lose. Cirkunov had an eye opening performance with his first round destruction of Nikita Krylov last December. And then there was the controversy over him becoming a free agent and almost being out of the UFC. Thankfully, Cirkunov re-upped at a time when light heavyweight is in desperate need of prospects, fresh faces and contenders. Cirkunov could be that guy, but he has to get through Volkan Oezdemir. Oezdemir is 13-1 and he beat a ranked opponent in his Octagon debut in Ovince Saint Preux. It was a garbage fight, and Oezdemir won an uneventful split decision. However, OSP was ranked, and there’s been a mass exodus of light heavyweight contenders from the UFC as of late. Ryan Bader left to Bellator. Phil Davis left to Bellator. Anthony Johnson retired from MMA. Nikita Krylov also left. All those men were ranked in the top 10 when they left. So yeah, now we have Oezdemir is ranked at No. 5 in the light heavyweight division. So, it’s important for Cirkunov to remain consistent here. The good news here is that if he wins here, he’s effectively in the top five, and he could be in a very good position to get in the title mix very soon. I don’t really feel confident about picking Oezdemir after his last fight, and Cirkunov seems to be a talented submission artist. He’s finished all four of his UFC wins, and three of those were submission wins. It might be a tough fight, but I’m picking Cirkunov.
Winner: Misha Cirkunov, Submission, Round 1
Robert Winfree: If you want an indictment of the UFC’s light heavyweight division look no further than number 5 Volkan Oezdemir. Oezdemir won an awful fight with OSP via split decision, two fighters ranked above him left the UFC, and now he’s a top five guy. Oezdemir looked serviceable in his debut against OSP, but nothing more. Misha Cirkunov has been tearing things up in the UFC, he’s moving from prospect to contender pretty rapidly. Cirkunov has decent power but takedowns and grappling are his bread and butter, he’s got crushing power with his arms and a variety of submissions at his disposal. I think Cirkunov continues his rise here and he could be in the title picture by the end of the year.
Winner: Misha Cirkunov, Submission, Round 1
Dan Plunkett: Oezdemir showed some good striking early in his last fight, but faded badly as it went on. Thankfully for him, his opponent did too so he ended up winning. Cirkunov is the real deal with championship potential. I think he takes care of Oezdemir.
Winner: Cirkunov, Submission, Round 2
The staff picks Misha Cirkunov, 3-0.
Light Heavyweight Bout: Alexander Gustafsson vs. Glover Teixeira
Jeffrey Harris: Things being as they are, the winner here could very well be the next title contender at light heavyweight depending on how things pan out. Obviously, the ideal scenario for the UFC would be Jon Jones winning the title at light heavyweight, keeping his nose clean, and then setting up the long awaited rematch between Gustafsson and Jones. Now for Teixeira, if he were to win, he’d probably best hope for Cormier to somehow beat Jones, as that would be his quickest path to the since because Jones already beat him beforehand. That’s a rematch about several years in the making as well. This is a tough fight. Both guys can hit hard. Teixeira has good boxing and heavy hands. He’s pretty well rounded, but so is Gustafsson. I could see this going any number of ways, but I’m mainly leaning toward Gustafsson. Granted, Gustafsson has had more than a few wars as of late, and he wasn’t all that active last year due to injuries. I could see this going a bit back and forth, but I see Gustafsson edging out the fight.
Winner: Alexander Gustafsson, Decision
Robert Winfree: With both Ryan Bader and Phil Davis now out of the UFC Glover Teixeira is the last remaining bridge between the majority of the light heavyweight division and top couple of guys. Teixeira has good power but his striking is predictable, he dips and tries an overhand right into a left hook. That predictability has cost him numerous times, Ryan Bader was tagging him before getting caught, Jon Jones constantly ducked under that off balance right to close distance and maul him in the clinch, and Anthony Johnson timed his dip into a highlight reel uppercut. Now Gustafsson doesn’t have Johnson’s power but he’s a smart and accurate puncher. Teixeira has good takedowns and grappling, but better wrestlers and grapplers have failed to really impose their will on Gustafsson. I tend to think Gustafsson keeps distance and uses combinations to chew up Teixeira, and as long as Gustafsson doesn’t get sloppy with his defense this is a fight he should win.
Winner: Alexander Gustafsson, TKO, Round 3
Dan Plunkett: Alexander Gustafsson doesn’t always perform as good as he is, but he can certainly rise to the occasion. There has been a fairly consistent cast of characters atop the light heavyweight division for the past few years. Gustafsson has fought three of them during that time, and lost each time, but he also fought tooth-and-nail with the two best light heavyweights in the world. Glover Teixeira is on the decline; he’s getting older and slower, but he’ll still beat most of the top 10-15 light heavyweights in the UFC because he’s very dangerous in multiple areas. In this fight, I don’t see him putting Gustafsson away, but I can see him making it a close fight. Ultimately, I see Gustafsson getting his hand raised, but I don’t think Teixeira will make it easy on him.
Winner: Gustafsson, TKO, Round 4
The staff picks Alexander Gustafsson, 3-0.
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