I have been looking forward to this card almost as much as I have been looking forward to that one random card on Oct. 6th. The reason? Tyrone Woodley will be looking to defend his belt against the toughest opponent of his career. Woodley has repeatedly said he wants to catch Georges St. Pierre’s legacy and be known as “the best ever” in UFC history at 170 pounds.
This card in Dallas, Texas is going to be one to remember and not just because of the main event. Carla Esparza, the inaugural UFC women’s strawweight champion, will be taking on Tatiana Suarez (aka The Female Khabib) in the preliminary main event. This card is filled with stars and fan favorites. Without much further ado, here are my predictions:
Tyrone Woodley vs. Darren Till: Tyrone Woodley via unanimous decision
Look, up until about one week ago, I was sold on Darren Till. Not that I’m any less of a believer in his ability, it’s just I’ve come to realize who has the more realistic chance of winning this fight. Till is the more talented fighter in my opinion, but most of that talent resides in Till’s standup. If you combine his aggressiveness with his world class muay thai, you have the monster known as Darren Till.
The problem is Tyrone Woodley is a more versatile fighter. Woodley has a short but bulky frame and packs a lot of power behind his punches. Let’s also remember Woodley is very technical and is a calm counter puncher. Till is an aggressive fighter who’s going to try and control the center of the octagon and push the pace. I don’t know if that’s good or bad for Woodley necessarily, but what I do know is that he is going to go for the takedown on Till repetitively throughout the fight.
Why fight someone where they are strongest as opposed to where they are weakest? Darren Till will grow into the star we think he will, but he still needs to develop his overall game. Give me Woodley by a hard fought but impressive decision.
Jessica Andrade vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz: Andrade via 2nd round TKO
Karolina is one of the more polished strikers within the women’s divisions in the UFC. She is notorious for a clean and crisp standup game. She’s very efficient in terms of dealing continuous damage through a variety of kicks and punches as her fighting style is predicated on Muay Thai at the core. I cannot pick her against Andrade in this fight unfortunately. Jessica Andrade is a beast of a woman who is as vicious as they get. She will come at Karolina and she will come at her hard. Quite franky, I’m not so sure Karolina has what it takes to match that level of physicality.
Zabit Magomedsharipov vs. Brandon Davis: Magomedsharipov via 2nd round rear-naked choke
Yes folks. The hype is real. Zabit Magomedsharipov is absolutely insane. This is a guy who’s abilities are as hard to figure out as his name. The moves he pulls inside the octagon are ballistic. In terms of aggression, Magomedsharipov is second to none. Make no mistake, he will come looking to finish the fight on Saturday night and I believe Brandon Davis is just another name in the way of this hype train.
Carla Esparza vs. Tatiana Suarez: Suarez via 3rd round TKO
I have been a fan of Carla Esparza since she won the inaugural strawweight championship. She is going to be completely outmatched by Tatiana Suarez on Saturday night unfortunately. Carla is a world-class wrestler for her size, but Tatiana Suarez has earned the nickname “The Female Khabib” for a reason. As seasoned as Esparza is, she will not be the first person put a 1 in the loss column for Tatiana.
