UFC on ESPN+ 32 - UFC Apex
- Thread starter mrpickem
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mrpickem
SDQL Badass Stat Boss
Potential POD in the first fight tonight.
I don't understand why Rivera is the fav here. I love Rivera's confidence, has good boxing and a decent gas tank. But just looks a little amateurish to me. He came to the ufc as a last minute replacement to fight Chikadze. Versus Danny Sabatello in Titan FC, the fight right before coming to the UFC...Rivera lost the 1st 2 rounds after getting taken down, then started to beat Sabatello on the feet in rounds 3 and 4. Not as total domination or anything but he got the win in R4 due to a body shot that crippled Sabatello.
This Sabatello guy looked terrible in stand-up though. When he faced Chino Duran in Combate Americas, a older guy who only did mma part time and was finishing up his mma career, 8-9 going into that fight, and this was after Rivera had already lost his 1st 2 fights in Combate Americas. Rivera got taken down round 1 and lost that round from what I remember. Then Rivera started to pick up the pace and easily won the next 2 rounds but no finish. This was 3 years ago fwiw, but it's not impressing me. He has a win over Lazar Stojadinovic who got his ass beat on Dana White's contender series by Thanh Le. Overall Rivera just doesnt pass the eye test for me, even though I do like his confidence and his boxing is not half bad. He's a fun guy to watch which maybe is why the UFC brought him in vs Giga.
Ali Al Qaisi's record is a bit better than Rivera's. Al Qaisi's first 2 pro fights were losses and then he has gone 8-1 since . The one loss was him randomly moving up to featherweight, maybe on short notice? Wish I could find more info on that fight. But bantamweight is clearly his weight class. Al Qaisi's loves his takedowns. He has at least 2 1st round subs. He looks composed, technical, professional, like someone that belongs in the UFC. His most recent fight was vs the 6th rank middle eastern pro bantamweight and he won via unanimous decision by getting repeated takedowns. Not sure how good hiss stand-up game is, but what is clear to me is that Al Qaisi loves his takedowns and he seems very strong for bantamweight. I'm guessing Al Qaisi will have a small size advantage over Rivera. Plus Rivera seems to repeatedly struggle with getting taken down by opponents weaker than Al Qaisi. Ultimately I think Al Qaisi will take Rivera down, especially in that smaller cage, and win a decision. Even if Rivera's boxing turns out to get the better of Al Qaisi and his kickboxing, I doubt it will matter.
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I don't understand why Rivera is the fav here. I love Rivera's confidence, has good boxing and a decent gas tank. But just looks a little amateurish to me. He came to the ufc as a last minute replacement to fight Chikadze. Versus Danny Sabatello in Titan FC, the fight right before coming to the UFC...Rivera lost the 1st 2 rounds after getting taken down, then started to beat Sabatello on the feet in rounds 3 and 4. Not as total domination or anything but he got the win in R4 due to a body shot that crippled Sabatello.
This Sabatello guy looked terrible in stand-up though. When he faced Chino Duran in Combate Americas, a older guy who only did mma part time and was finishing up his mma career, 8-9 going into that fight, and this was after Rivera had already lost his 1st 2 fights in Combate Americas. Rivera got taken down round 1 and lost that round from what I remember. Then Rivera started to pick up the pace and easily won the next 2 rounds but no finish. This was 3 years ago fwiw, but it's not impressing me. He has a win over Lazar Stojadinovic who got his ass beat on Dana White's contender series by Thanh Le. Overall Rivera just doesnt pass the eye test for me, even though I do like his confidence and his boxing is not half bad. He's a fun guy to watch which maybe is why the UFC brought him in vs Giga.Ali Al Qaisi's record is a bit better than Rivera's. Al Qaisi's first 2 pro fights were losses and then he has gone 8-1 since . The one loss was him randomly moving up to featherweight, maybe on short notice? Wish I could find more info on that fight. But bantamweight is clearly his weight class. Al Qaisi's loves his takedowns. He has at least 2 1st round subs. He looks composed, technical, professional, like someone that belongs in the UFC. His most recent fight was vs the 6th rank middle eastern pro bantamweight and he won via unanimous decision by getting repeated takedowns. Not sure how good hiss stand-up game is, but what is clear to me is that Al Qaisi loves his takedowns and he seems very strong for bantamweight. I'm guessing Al Qaisi will have a small size advantage over Rivera. Plus Rivera seems to repeatedly struggle with getting taken down by opponents weaker than Al Qaisi. Ultimately I think Al Qaisi will take Rivera down, especially in that smaller cage, and win a decision. Even if Rivera's boxing turns out to get the better of Al Qaisi and his kickboxing, I doubt it will matter.
mrpickem
SDQL Badass Stat Boss
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