UFC 205 – Preview Part One

After years of being denied an event in New York City, the UFC finally gets to show the ‘Big Apple’ exactly what they’ve been missing when it presents UFC 205 this Saturday night. And with the fight card stacked from top to bottom with some of the biggest names in the sport, the promotion aren’t holding back on their debut in the city. The headline fight for UFC 205 is a lightweight title fight between recently crowned champion, Eddie Alvarez and the UFC featherweight champion – and arguably the sport’s biggest star – Conor McGregor.

There are plenty of valid arguments as to why this fight shouldn’t take place, but there’s no denying that this is an extremely exciting match up with both fighters possessing styles that can cause problems for the other.

Eddie Alvarez has been somewhat of a changed fighter since he crossed over to the UFC from Bellator.

Gone are the wars that he has been famous for throughout his career and now we have a fighter who is more than happy to grind out wins over his opponents with a smothering wrestling game. That’s not to say that his ability to crush opponents on the feet have diminished, as he crumpled Rafael dos Anjos in the first round of their fight to win the title but it’s safe to say that Alvarez has become a lot smarter when choosing his game plan for each opponent, as opposed to going in and opting to go toe-to-toe every time.

Alvarez has great wrestling, in particular up against the cage where he cuts it off well and wears down his opponents over the course of the fight. The champion is coming into this fight as the slightly smaller fighter but come fight night, his weight could be around the 185lbs mark, which is a huge difference to where McGregor will be and Alvarez uses this extra weight really well when gaining top position and looking to wear people down against the cage.

Having been in as many wars as he has throughout his career, it’s hard to know just how durable Eddie Alvarez is at this point, however, he took some of dos Anjos’ best shots in their fight and continued to come forward looking to land, so he may have plenty of gas left in the tank. Walking into the left hand of someone who hits as hard as he McGregor would be a questionable strategy.

Conor McGregor comes in to this fight after avenging his decisive loss to Nate Diaz back at the start of the year

Fresh off a unanimous decision victory over ‘Stockton’s finest’ at UFC 202, McGregor now bids to become the first UFC fighter in history to simultaneously hold belts in two different divisions. It’s safe to say McGregor will come into this fight full of confidence, and it’s a confidence that so far in his career been justified.

McGregor faces arguably his toughest test in Alvarez, especially in the wrestling aspect of the fight, as Chad Mendes aside, McGregor hasn’t fought many good wrestlers and there are plenty of question marks over his ability to handle a fighter who looks to wear him down against the cage or on the canvas. Luckily, McGregor is one of the better ring generals in MMA and is very good at using the Octagon to his advantage and circling away when opponents attempt to trap him there. On the rare occasion he does find himself up against the cage, he doesn’t stay there for too long before looking to escape and deliver some punishment in the process.

The featherweight champion is known for his huge left hand and that will be a key attack for him, although it will be interesting to see if he utilises the leg kicks that we’ve seen from him previously in an attempt to reduce the power of Alvarez’s takedown attempts. Tough whether or not he’s confident to attempt the kicks, knowing that it could lead to a takedown…

Prediction: McGregor by KO round two

Despite Tyron Woodley calling out GSP…

The current UFC welterweight champion finds himself facing number one ranked, Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson in his first defence since capturing the welterweight title from Robbie Lawler. This isn’t as high profile a match up as the fight he was after, but it’s arguably just as challenging.

Tyron Woodley beating Robbie Lawler came as a surprise to a lot of fans, but Woodley showed in that win that he packs a punch as hard as anybody in the division, as well as being one of the best all round athletes at 170lbs. Woodley’s ability to cover distance at great speed to land his shots is arguably his biggest asset. The ability to move in and out of range in the blink of an eye makes Woodley a dangerous opponent and is the reason he currently sits at the top of the pile at welterweight. However, as well as having power in his fists, Woodley is an accomplished wrestler who’s happy to grind out a victory with relentless take downs if needs be and against a fighter like Thompson, whose striking style is so elusive, getting the takedown could prove crucial throughout the course of the fight.

It’s safe to say Stephen Thompson is one of the best strikers currently competing in the UFC…

And over the course of the past two years he has shown the ability to deliver severe punishment to his opponents, whilst taking very little damage along the way. Thompson’s point fighting karate style has managed to frustrate the majority of the opposition he has faced thus far in his career, with Matt Brown being the exception to the rule.

As well as being hard to hit, Thompson has proven to be difficult to take to the ground and on the odd occasion that he has been taken down, he pops straight back to his feet, taking minimal damage along the way. When you consider the amount of very good wrestlers in the welterweight division, this is quite an impressive achievement.

If Thompson is going to win this fight, he will need to get the timing of Woodley’s movement in and out of the striking exchanges and avoid the inevitable takedown attempts.

Prediction: Thompson via unanimous decision

A battle of elite Eastern European strikers

The third title fight on the main card is between the current strawweight champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk and challenger, Karolina Kowalkiewicz. Jedrzejczyk has had a stranglehold on the division ever since its inception and with each performance is improving, staking a legitimate claim as being the best pound for pound fighter on the roster. Her ability to pick opponents apart and deliver devastating violence with such ease is phenomenal and during her career, she has only ever looked to be in trouble against fighters who have pushed the pace against her early on in her fights. Jedrzejczyk has always managed to turn it on in the later rounds, however and wrestle momentum back from her opponents, and always finishes fights strong.

The champion’s defensive wrestling is solid and, mix that in with her technically sound and efficient striking, she has very little holes in her game – at least from what we have seen of her so far.

Whilst Jedrzejczyk is no slouch on the feet, Kowalkiewicz is an accomplished striker in her own right and is currently undefeated thus far in her career. All of her victories in the UFC have come via decision and, whilst she does have submission wins on her record, we’ve yet to see her actively look to submit opponents in the time she has spent in the Octagon.

Kowalkiewicz likes to throw a lot of strikes in volume and in previous fights has thrown between 25-30 strikes in a minute, which is enough to keep her opponents on the back foot and guessing as to what is coming next. Unfortunately, whilst she does throw a lot of strikes, she also leaves herself open to be hit and is susceptible to being tagged on the counter, something Jedrzejczyk does extremely well. Unless Kowalkiewicz can change this, it’ll be a long night for her.

Prediction: Jedrzejczyk via TKO round four

Check out our #SprawlStaffPicks for UFC 205 HERE.