UFC 253 co-main event
On the night of September 26-27, “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi (UAE) will host the UFC 253 pay-per-view tournament. The entire bet on PPV sales was made by matchmakers for two title fights. In the main event, undefeated middleweight champion Israel Adesanya will take on fellow undefeated contender Paulo Costa. But the co-main event, which will determine the new light heavyweight king, is no less intriguing. And some of the rest of the show’s fights can be a pleasant surprise in terms of intrigue and drama.
After Jon Jones sharpened his skis in the heavyweight division and his light heavyweight belt became vacant last month, the UFC booked a fight for the vacant title between 1st and 3rd ranked Reis and Blachowicz, respectively.
Reyes got his second title shot in a row. In February at UFC 247, he suffered his first loss of his career, losing to champion Jon Jones via unanimous decision. However, there were many people who took it as a robbery of the applicant. Before making his way to the title fight, Reyes in the UFC defeated such strong guys as Jared Cannonier, Ovince Saint Preux, Volkan Oezdemir and Chris Wideman.
Former KSW champion Blachowicz is worthy of a title fight, having won 7 of the last 8 fights in the octagon. After losing by knockout to Thiago Santos in early 2019, the Pole went on a three-fight streak, knocking out Luke Rockhold and Corey Anderson and passing Ronaldo “Jacare” Sousa on the scorecards.
Prediction for the fight
Reyes has good wrestling skills, but he looks great in the stance and prefers to fight on his feet. His wrestling background helps him deal with takedown attempts by opponents, which opens up more opportunities for his knockout prowess – 7 of 12 Reyes won by knockout, 3 of them in the UFC.
Blachowicz is also great on the ground, being a dangerous grappler, but in recent fights, he has bet on his striking skills.
We believe that Reyes will impose his game on the opponent, avoiding the stalls and clinches and breaking Blachowicz from a distance. Reyes has a good chance of finishing the fight early, given his punching power and the fact that the Pole’s chin has already let him down.
Reyes wins by knockout in the 3rd round
Main card
Israel Adesanya vs Paulo Costa
Dominik Reyes – Jan Blachowicz
Kai Cara-France – Brandon Royval
Ketlen Vieira – Sijara Eubanks
Hakim Davodu – Zubaira Tukhugov
preliminary card
Brad Riddell – Alex da Silva
Diego Sanchez – Jake Matthews
Shane Young – Ludovit Klein
William Knight – Alexa Kamour
Early preliminary card
Jeff Hughes – Juan Espino
Hadis Ibragimov – Danilo Marquez
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