This weekend Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman will square off for a third and most likely final time with Welterweight supremacy on the line. Gabriel Padilla shares his thoughts on how the main card will shake out.
In London, Leon Edwards defends his UFC Welterweight title against former champion Kamaru Usman in the main event. Twenty-four minutes into their prior fight in Utah at UFC 278 Usman had the win in hand but got caught with a beautiful kick by Edwards, in the last minute of the last round and shocked the world and became the new welterweight champion. In this trilogy fight “if “ Usman is healthy, it will be much of the same of what we saw from the last fight and he will get the win. Edwards should be able to touch him and have certain moments in this fight but ultimately, I believe the odds are against him with a worthy opponent in Usman along with the pressure of defending the belt for the first time also in London his backyard.
Pick: Usman
In the co main we have a battle in the lightweight division Justin Gaethje.vs. Rafael Fiziev. Both fighters come in with powerful kicks and in my opinion Gaethje has the better footwork, IQ, and experience but Fiziev will bring the power and speed. Fizieve will get the best of Gaethje and that would be credited to him just landing first and harder. Whether it is early or a bloody decision I am going with Fiziev to get the win.
Pick: Fiziev
Representing Iceland and coming off a win we have Gunnar Nelson vs. Bryan Barberena from Arizona fighting out of the MMA Lab. Gunnar’s forward pressure and technical high pace standup will be the key to success Saturday. Gunnar is very well rounded and showed it in his last two fights. Barberena will have his hands full in all aspects Saturday and it may be a bit much as he is also coming off some injuries that he has battled through out his career. Barberena has some credible wins and is no easy fight but Nelson will come out on top Saturday. Barberena has a certain set of skills that will be a threat to Nelson but in his neck of the woods I am picking Nelson.
Pick: Nelson
In the women’s flyweight division we have Jennifer Maia vs. Casey O’Neil, they both bring the pressure, and it will be a very close fight. Both fighters are coming off a win have forward momentum on their side the crowd will be warming up and I’m expecting a good fight. The line is correct in my opinion Maia sitting at a +150 underdog it will be a very even fight and I’m going with Maia.
Pick: Maia
Marvin Vettori vs Roman Dolidze will be very entertaining on Saturday and will be a fan favorite. Roman can catch Vettoriin a crazy submission and come out with a win but that’s why I’m picking Vettori. Which he has more paths to victory cardio, standup, and ground game will nullify Dolidzes huge submission threat that is not to be taken lightly.
Pick: Vettori
