UFC 276 is set to be an exceptional card with some amazing fights, possibly the best card ever. Including the trilogy of Volkanovski vs Holloway and the long-awaited battle between Israel Adesanya and Jared Cannonier. Here is my complete prediction and breakdown for the two title fights.
Alexander Volkanovski vs Max Holloway 3
The trilogy! Both fighters have improved since their first fight, but to me Volkanovski is just on a whole other level. In the first fight Volkanovski was very deliberate in his leg kick pattern, inside-outside, inside-outside, and you can tell that Holloway can sense it. Even in saying that Volkanovski completely dominated all five rounds, and if you aren’t scoring that one 5-0 Volk I really don’t get it. Second fight, Volk won the last 3 rounds and if we are being honest he was winning the first two rounds too if it wasn’t for him getting knocked down. Knocked down to one knee mind you.
Holloway is going to need to knock Volk down to win a round in this fight, and Holloway isn’t a power punch guy. Max has improved his elbows and knees but a Volk is just too skilled to be caught by one of those. Volk has been active, looking good, took no damage against the Korean Zombie, he is ready to just keep going. Holloway hasn’t fought since November, where he took some big damage.
I see this fight being controlled by the more skilled Volkanovski. The short body, long reach has always been a problem for Holloway to deal with and with the level Volk is fighting at right now, there is no way Holloway can win this fight.
Take Volkanoski to win, and back him with confidence.
FREE PICK: Alexander Volkanovski ML (-196) (2 Unit)
Israel Adesanya vs Jared Cannonier
I believe that Adesanya will land some good strong leg kicks early on in this fight. We know Cannonier has good checks on leg kicks, and can throw leg kicks himself. That however is playing right into Adesnaya’s game, and with the range that Israel can kick from, Jared is going to have a hard time keeping up. Adesanya has more range and a solid jab, pair this with the fact that Cannonier won’t really be able to grapple with him, I just think that Adesanya’s bag is too deep for Cannonier to handle.
Cannonier isn’t a young guy either, coming into this fight at 38 years of age. It isn’t that rare to pick up a few little injuries in training camp when you are 35+. In scything that, Cannonier knows this is probably his last chance to win a title. We know that Adesanya, will play this from a distance, keep him at range with some leg kicks, and dominate the fight. So, if Adesanya is clearly winning after the first 3 rounds, you can expect Cannonier to get desperate, knowing he has to finish him to get a win and start taking some big risks. That is where I think Adesanya will take advantage of Cannonier’s desperation and land the blowout hit.
FREE PICK: Israel Adesanya by TKO (+170)
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