UFC Fight Night 154 takes place on Saturday night and we’ve got our predictions for all the fights below.
Main Card
Renato Moicano vs. Chan Sung Jung
It’s going to be interesting to see how this main event plays out, with ‘The Korean Zombie’ being known for his knack of turning fights into all-action thrillers, while Moicano has a more measured approach that’s earned him victories in five of his last 7 fights in the UFC.
On the feet Moicano works well from range and his kicks in particular are a dangerous weapon, which he’ll be looking to utlize to keep TKZ at bay and stop him from closing the distance and engaging in the kind of intense exchanges that he’s known for.
Moicano’s not much of a finisher on the feet, but he makes up for that with his submission skills and it would be intriguing to see how that particular battle would play out as Jung is also a crafty player on the mat too.
TKZ’s unrelenting pace also had to be credited, but I think Moicano can hold his own in that regard and in the end it’s his range management that I believe will just give him the edge here in a closely fought fight that will go right down to the wire.
Renato Moicano wins by decision.
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John Lineker vs. Rob Font
These two have already fought once before and it was Lineker who emerged with his hand raised on that occasion by unanimous decision.
Font had the physical advantages in that previous fight, being significantly taller with the reach advantage to go with it, but his naturally offensive approach was stifled by the fact that Lineker kept wading into range and getting the better of the exchanges.
It helps that Lineker has a stellar chin and of course having arguably the heaviest hands in the division helped take Font out of his game.
It’ll be interesting to see what adjustments Font might make now, having had three rounds to assess Lineker. He’s got a solid ground game that could come into play more, but Lineker has good takedown defense and I suspect this one may well end up looking quite similar to their previous encounter, with ‘Hands Of Stone’ emerging with another win on the scorecards.
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Bryan Barberena vs. Randy Brown
There wasn’t much fanfare when Baberena first joined the UFC, and to be fair there isn’t much even now, but he has gained respect for being a tough, blue-collar style fighter who is no pushover for anybody.
That kind of gritty, hard-nosed style may pay dividends in this fight, though ‘Bam Bam’ will be going up against a tricky physical specimen in Brown, who is 3″ taller and holds a 5 1/2″ reach advantage into the bargain.
Barberena will get hit in this fight, but I think his toughness will serve him well and he’ll be the more aggressive and offensive as he battles his way to a decision victory.
Bryan Barberena wins by decision.
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Andrea Lee vs. Montana De La Rosa
Despite her well documented domestic abuse struggles, which culminated in her husband being arrested late last month after a nine month manhunt, Lee has still managed to keep her winning run intact, picking up her 6th victory in a row back in February.
If she’s able to keep this fight on the feet then there’s a good chance that form could continue as her kickboxing prowess and strong clinch game are going to be a real problem for a less seasoned striker like De La Rosa.
However, De La Rosa does have a good grappling base and has been racking up submission victories of late, so there’s a real chance for her here, but Lee’s takedown defense has been improving and she presents a moving target on the feet, so I like her chances to keep things upright and find a home for her strikes on a regular basis to win a judges decision.
Andrea Lee wins by decision.
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Kevin Holland vs. Alessio Di Chirico
Holland definitely has some solid attributes, being a tall middleweight with a very long reach (81″) and he backs that up with some good striking and submissions.
The problem for Holland is that he seems to fight on instinct a lot, and that’s a problem because his instincts aren’t always strategically sound, so he doesn’t use his skills to their best advantage.
Di Chirico is very much a jack-of-all-trades and that middle-of-the-road style could pay off here if Holland is too erratic, but I think that overall Holland’s more unpredictable style and higher volume of strikes will eventually lead him to having his hand raised after 15 minutes of fighting.
Kevin Holland wins by decision.
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Prelims (Predicted winners in bold)
Dan Ige vs. Kevin Aguilar
Ashley Yoder vs. Syuri Kondo
Matt Wiman vs. Luis Pena
Allen Crowder vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
Ariane Lipski vs. Molly McCann
Deron Winn vs. Eric Spicely
Andre Ewell vs. Anderson Dos Santos
