UFC Fight Night 176 main event
On the night of September 5-6, MMA fans will have another first-class evening from Las Vegas (USA), where UFC Fight Night 176 will take place without spectators at the UFC APEX arena with the legend of this sport at the head of the card.
In the main event we will see a big fight and not only because Overeem and Sakai are big guys, the winner of the fight will be one or two wins away from the heavyweight title fight.
No. 6 Overeem was last seen in the cage in May, when he knocked out Walt Harris in the second round, which closed a humiliating loss to Jairzinho Rozenstruik with 5 seconds left in the fifth round. And before that, “Rome” scored two victories in a row by knockout in the first round over the Russians Sergei Pavlovich and Alexei Oleinik.
Sakai, who is ranked #9, has won all four fights in the UFC. His victims in the octagon were: Chase Sherman (TKO 3), Andrei Orlovsky (SD 3), Marcin Tybura (KO 1) and Blagoy Ivanov (SD 3).
Prediction for the fight
Overeem, though a veteran, is still dangerous. He is still one of the best athletes in the division. He is an amazing technical striker both in the clinch and from a distance. He is a strong, cunning grappler with a wide range of submission skills, especially his dangerous guillotine, and a merciless ground and pound. Of the minuses of the Dutchman, cardio and a “pierced” chin can be distinguished recently.
Sakai is a good striker who won 11 of his 15 victories by knockout. But he is slow and often forgets about protection. Plus, he’s not very good on the ground.
Overeem has a lot more tools to win. If he does not run into the “bomb” of the opponent, then he can do the same with Sakai as with Pavlovich – get close, knock him to the ground and finish there.
Overeem wins by knockout in the 2nd round
Main card
Alistair Overeem – Augusto Sakai
Ovince Saint Preux – Alonso Menifield
Sijara Eubanks – Karol Rosa
Michel Pereira – Zelim Idamaev
Brian Kelleher – Kevin Natividad
Thiago Moises – Jalyn Turner
preliminary card
Andre Muniz – Bartosz Fabinski
Vivian Araujo – Montana de la Rosa
Alexander Romanov – Marcos Rogerio de Lima
Cole Smith – Hunter Azure
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