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All-time Final Preventing Championship (UFC) knockout king, Derrick Lewis, seems to keep away from the longest dropping streak of his Octagon profession this Saturday (Nov. 19, 2022) when he and fast-rising Serghei Spivac lock horns inside UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada. One division down, Ion Cutelaba makes an attempt to proper the ship in opposition to Kennedy Nzechukwu, whereas unbeaten huge man Waldo Cortes-Acosta makes his second look in three weeks reverse Chase Sherman.
UFC Vegas 65 options seven “Prelims” undercard bouts to get by way of earlier than all that, although. No time to waste …
135 lbs.: Ricky Turcios vs. Kevin Natividad
Relentless aggression carried Ricky Turcios (11-3) all over The Final Fighter (TUF) 29 home, leading to a Finale victory over teammate, Brady Hiestand. He entered his UFC debut as a big favourite over Aiemann Zahabi, solely to show in one of the bizarrely uninspiring performances en path to a call loss.
He boasts a three-inch peak benefit and a two-inch attain benefit.
Kevin Natividad (9-2) rode a five-fight win streak into his UFC debut, which noticed him undergo a glove-grab-assisted knockout loss to Miles Johns. His subsequent struggle was even faster, as Danaa Batgerel put him away simply 50 seconds into the primary spherical.
He fights for the primary time in practically 19 months.
Zahabi confirmed off a reasonably easy blueprint for beating Turcios: keep cellular, choose away at him, and exploit the truth that he doesn’t have a jab or some other means to reliably shut the gap. Sadly for Natividad, I’m unsure he’s constructed to execute that plan. He’s made his dwelling as an aggressive power-puncher, which performs proper into Turcios’ chaos-loving arms.
For all his faults, Turcios’ sturdiness and cardio make him well-equipped to come back out on prime within the kind of slugfests Natividad prefers. Plus, whereas Natividad is a succesful grappler, Turcios is remarkably tough to carry down. Turcios outlasts Natividad to an entertaining resolution win.
Prediction: Turcios through unanimous resolution
115 lbs.: Vanessa Demopoulos vs. Maria Oliveira
Unfazed by a UFC debut loss to J.J. Aldrich — her third defeat in 4 fights — Vanessa Demopoulos (8-4) survived an early knockdown to submit Silvana Gomez Juarez halfway by way of the primary spherical. Subsequent got here Jinh Yu Frey, whom Demopoulos narrowly out-worked to say a cut up resolution victory.
She stands 4 inches shorter than Maria Oliveira (13-5) and offers up seven inches of attain.
Three years after falling to Marina Rodriguez on Contender Sequence, Oliveira began her UFC profession with a defeat by the hands of Tabatha Ricci. Her sophomore effort pitted her in opposition to Gloria De Paula, whom “Spider Lady” battled to a controversial cut up resolution win.
She’s knocked out seven opponents as knowledgeable.
Expert as she is on the mat, Demopoulos isn’t massively tough to work round. She’s a really poor wrestler and very simple together with her placing, which consists largely of her remarkably sharp proper hand. Fortunately for her, she’ll haven’t any scarcity of alternatives to generate scrambles in opposition to Oliveira, a restricted slugger who simply loves dashing in straight strains. With Oliveira’s fondness for flying knees and tendency to march ahead with no regard for safeguarding her hips, it appears inevitable that Demopooulos will ultimately get it to the mat.
Oliveira might simply bludgeon her into oblivion, after all, particularly if Demopoulos is as reticent to wrestle as she was in previous efforts. That good double-leg Demopoulos landed in opposition to Frey provides me some hope, although, and sturdiness has by no means been a difficulty for her. She’ll catch Oliveira in some unspecified time in the future.
Prediction: Demopoulos through second spherical submission
135 lbs.: Fernie Garcia vs. Brady Hiestand
Fernie Garcia (10-2) fairly actually punched his UFC ticket with a brutal knockout of Joshua Weems on Contender Sequence that prolonged his win streak to 5. He wasn’t fairly so efficient in opposition to Journey Newson, who handed Garcia his first loss in three years through unanimous resolution.
He’ll get pleasure from a four-inch attain benefit.
Brady Hiestand (5-2) labored his approach into TUF 29 finals by toppling veterans Josh Rettinghouse and Vince Murdock. He squared off with teammate Ricky Turcios in each males’s Octagon debuts, in the end rising on the unsuitable finish of a cut up resolution defeat.
This marks his first look in nearly 14 months.
Garcia’s struggles with Newson don’t paint a fairly image of his possibilities right here. He appeared progressively extra befuddled by Newson’s rudimentary placing offense and had few solutions for his wrestling. Hiestand is a high quality takedown artist in his personal proper, and even in case you give Garcia’s mixture punching the sting on the ft, wrestling is a hell of an equalizer.
The largest concern right here is Hiestand’s cardio, which has betrayed him previously, however I’m optimistic that he discovered one thing from the Turcios struggle. It’s not a large deal if he didn’t, both, since Garcia lacks the ability for a late rally. Hiestand overwhelms him on the mat for his first Octagon victory.
Prediction: Hiestand through unanimous resolution
125 lbs.: Natalia Silva vs. Tereza Bleda
Natalia Silva (13-5-1) signed with UFC because the Jungle Battle champion, solely to spend the following 2.5 years on the sidelines. She made up for misplaced time in her June 2022 debut, a scientific dissection of Contender Sequence grad Jasmine Jasudavicius in Austin.
Her 10 skilled stoppage wins embody seven by submission.
The 20-year-old Tereza Bleda (6-0) was good (6-0) as an beginner earlier than reducing a swath by way of the Oktagon promotion in her native Czech Republic. Her efforts earned her a Contender Sequence berth, which she made probably the most of by dominating Nayara Maia to safe a UFC contract.
She’ll have 5 inches of peak and 6 inches of attain on Silva.
Bleda is an enormously promising younger girl who’s bettering at a startling price, however she’s getting thrown proper into the hearth right here. Silva appears custom-built to use the flat-footedness, shaky protection, and vulnerability to kicks that make up Bleda’s key weaknesses. As suffocating as Bleda’s grappling will be, she wants to beat Silva’s superior footwork and rapid-fire strikes to make use of it, and I’m not satisfied she’s developed sufficient to drag it off.
To be clear, Bleda’s high-speed evolution might simply have patched sufficient holes in her recreation to provide her the win right here. After seeing Silva take aside an analogous kind of fighter in Jasudavicius, nevertheless, it appears a lot likelier that Silva takes her aside with kicks and rapid-fire punching flurries for both a large resolution or late stoppage.
Prediction: Silva through unanimous resolution
Three extra UFC Vegas 65 “Prelims” undercard bouts stay to preview and predict, together with a possible donnybrook between Zhalgas Zhumagulov and Charles Johnson. Similar time tomorrow, Maniacs.
Keep in mind that MMAmania.com will ship LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow protection of all the UFC Vegas 65 struggle card proper here, beginning with the ESPN+ “Prelims” matches, that are scheduled to start at 4 p.m. ET, then the remaining major card stability (additionally on ESPN+) at 7 p.m. ET.
To take a look at the newest and best UFC Vegas 65: “Lewis vs. Spivac” information and notes you should definitely hit up our complete occasion archive right here.
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