We're Back With Another LineStar Weekly Knockout!

Written by LineStar contributor, combat sports enthusiast, and practitioner, Chris Guy.

Instagram: @therealsethgeko & Twitter: @DadHallOfFamer

Welcome to the Weekly Knockout one-year anniversary edition. Yes, Ben Askren has made another complete orbit around the sun since the first issue. Another year has come and gone, and the Dallas Cowboys remain on a Super Bowl drought that would make the Sahara desert blush. If the Cowboys playoff wins since 1996 were equivalent to bitcoins, we’d still be broke. But this ain’t about the Dallas Cowboys’ quarter-century of failure. It’s about Rams fans getting kicked out of their own stadium by Chargers “fans” like Uncle Phil grabbed hold of them by the seat of their pants. Okay, it ain’t about that either. It’s about another year of Twenty Twen Twen sleepers, turning Jacksons into Grants, and getting held up at gunpoint in a Valero bathroom in the middle of the Nevada desert.

As I C-Walk like Dub-C down memory lane, hand in hand with Mary Jane, I find it ironic that my worst prediction of the year came on the very first issue of the Weekly Knockout’s legendary run to sit upon the Iron Throne of MMA newsletters. In that issue, I all but crowned Edmen Shahbazyan the middleweight champion before he fought Derek Brunson. It turned out that Shahbazyan had the gas tank of a Tesla. He got off to a fast start and then caught the speed wobbles and fell face first like a sixteen-year-old me rounding second base on prom night. Shahbazyan went on to take a second straight loss back in May to Jack Hermansson, and that time I didn’t fall for the Shahbazyan okie-doke and picked Hermansson to win the fight. Fool me once and all that.

I’m also reminded of the time I picked Paulo Costa to beat Israel Adesanya. To my credit, many people clung to the bowsprit of the Titanic alongside myself, Jack, and Rose and made the same upset prediction. Little did any of us know that Costa would come out with macaroni glued to construction paper for a game plan and read it like brail while Adesanya turned his leg into Hamburger Helper with four hundred calf kicks.

I also find it fitting that while my worst performance was on the very first issue of the Weekly Knockout, one of my best performances was on the most recent, UFC 265. If it weren’t for Casey “They Killed” Kenney and Pedro Munhoz, I would have accomplished the elusive perfect night. But I still dominated with an 11-2 record and extended the main event-winning streak to six and fifteen of the last sixteen overall.

Now here we are, come full circle, back where we started in the middleweight division with two top contenders. This Saturday, as we sit just three weeks away from the beginning of the Dallas Cowboys’ historic sixth Super Bowl championship run, Jared Cannonier and The Ultimate Fighter winner and one-time middleweight title challenger Kelvin Gastelum will face off in an undercover main event banger.

Jared Cannonier (-155 ) vs Kelvin Gastelum(+130)

Cannonier: DK: $8.7k | Gastelum: DK:$7.5k

Kelvin Gastelum was one round away from winning the middleweight belt when he fought Israel Adesanya two years ago and undoubtedly gave Adesanya his toughest test inside the Octagon, including the fight he lost to Jan Blachowicz.

By the end of the fight, Adesanya’s face looked like he ordered the Admiral’s Feast at Red Lobster with a shellfish allergy. He was swollen and looked a mess, and he had to dig deep in the fifth and deciding round to beat Gastelum. Even though he fell a little short of achieving championship gold, that performance was Kelvin Gastelum reaching his absolute potential. The loss to Adesanya began a three-fight losing streak for Gastelum, culminating in an early first-round submission loss to Jack Hermansson a year ago.

Gastelum rebounded with an impressive, decisive win this past February over Ian Heinisch. Getting back to his wrestling roots, Gastelum dominated the majority of the fight with timely takedowns and top control. But, in April, Gastelum fumbled in the redzone against Robert Whittaker and lost a lopsided five-round decision. With that loss, another title run and a possible rematch against Adesanya were all but put to bed like Jorge Masvidal when he fell asleep on his shoulder wearing a neck pillow against Kamaru Usman. Although Gastelum’s title hopes are likely over, he still makes for a top ten gatekeeper and barometer for potential future title challengers.

Kelvin rose to the top of the division as an undersized middleweight relying on superior hand speed and a laser beam, fight-changing left hand. His left hand is a Megaman cannon, and he can throw it straight or over the top, but what makes Gastelum special is his ability to cover distance and get inside on taller, longer fighters. He sets up his left hand with a solid fundamental jab that he doubles and triples to enter the pocket. His speed catches every opponent off guard, and his excellent defensive wrestling leaves them with zero options if they are a step behind on the feet.

The keys for Gastelum against Cannonier will be pace and wrestling. Cannonier prefers a slow-paced back and forth tactical kickboxing match. Kelvin has shown, against Adesanya and Whittaker, that he can keep up with and push a heavy pace, a pace that can make Cannonier uncomfortable. Gastelum won The Ultimate Fighter by beating the highly favored Uriah Hall in the finals with his wrestling. He won five fights in the welterweight division with a wrestling-heavy style before moving up to middleweight and abandoning it almost entirely. The Gastelum game plan should be to push the pace on the feet to get Cannonier moving backward and initiate the clinch against the cage and make Cannonier spend energy defending takedowns.

Jared Cannonier started his career with the UFC in the heavyweight division. He was undersized and went on the don’t-eat-so-much diet, dropping to light heavyweight not long after. He beat Ion Cutelaba but lost to Glover Teixeira and Daniel Reyes. It was back to the diet board, and he dropped to middleweight, where he’s won three of his four fights.

A reserved power puncher with clean, short combo’s, Cannonier can KO anyone in the division. He won’t overextend himself and get caught out of place and doesn’t take many risks. But he doesn’t need to. He has three TKO victories in his last four fights but didn’t tally more than twenty-eight significant strikes landed in his previous five bouts. He won’t wow you with volume or aggression, his output is closer to Jairzinho Rozenstruik than it is Gastelum’s, but he ends fights suddenly with his right hand.

Cannonier likes to fight out of both stances but is severely limited when he’s in the southpaw stance. He almost exclusively throws kicks from southpaw and rarely opens up with his hands. He uses his lead leg to throw low kicks and his rear leg to throw teeps and round kicks. It has proven to be an effective style, but it’s also like banging on trashcans in the dugout to relay the catcher’s signs to the batter, a huge tip-off. Basically, Cannonier is a Milli Vanilli southpaw, fakes the funk, and Gastelum should attack him anytime he switches stances and look to counter his kicks with straight punches.

It could be that Cannonier used the southpaw stance against Whittaker as much as he did because Whittaker is an orthodox fighter. But Gastelum is a southpaw, and Cannonier might not see the same advantage in attacking the lead leg from southpaw as he did against Whittaker. The key for Cannonier will be increasing the pace with his hands. He tends to stay busy with leg and body kicks, but he's too judicious with his hands. He has to be careful not to fall too far behind on the scorecards from being outworked by Gastelum. Cannonier doesn’t have to match Gastelum’s pace, but he needs to increase the chances of landing his right hand, a southpaw’s kryptonite.

The seventh straight main event pick rests on a complete toss-up. I think prime Kelvin Gastelum would beat Cannonier in his prime, which he might be in right now, but this will be far from prime Kelvin Gastelum. The first pick of the Weekly Knockout Era 2.0 is Jared Cannonier via TKO, round three. Put it on wax.

Winner: Jared Cannonier | Method: TKO Rd.3

Clay Guida (+145 ) vs Mark O. Madsen (-175)

Guida: DK: $7.1k | Madsen: DK:$9.1k

Clay Guida is in the Fan Favorite Hall of Fame, a unanimous inductee. He embodies everything romanticized about the sport, heart, perseverance, underdogs, never giving up, everything we all think we are, but we're never willing to test ourselves to find out. Since 2006, Guida has fought hard to be taken seriously and shatter the mold that typecasted him after his success appearing as the Geico caveman for several years. Guida has fought thirty times in the UFC and holds a 16-14 record within the promotion. Before his UFC debut, Guida fought in Strikeforce and the legendary WEC and became known as an MMA Gypsy, who traveled around in his Winnebago training at different gyms throughout the U.S.

Guida’s style can never be duplicated; it’s perpetual movement personified; his striking is erratic, sporadic, dramatic, and traumatic if you’re not prepared for his pace. He bobs and weaves, weaves and bobs, bounces and skips, and is overall just unpredictable. Cardio, Clay weaponizes it, and his superiority is usually so great that it can close most skill gaps. There’s nobody in the sport that can match Guida’s pace for any length of time, and he can seamlessly flow between his herky-jerky boxing and his relentless wrestling and tests every opponent’s all-around MMA skills. If you have any holes in your game, Guida will eventually find them and exploit them.

Clay will find himself dealing with quite the conundrum when he faces Mark O. Madsen on Saturday night. A big portion of Guida’s game is his non-stop takedowns and barbaric ground and pound, but his opponent this time around is an Olympic silver medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling and a four-time medalist at the World Wrestling Championships.

Mark O. Madsen has a perfect 10-0 MMA record and will be making his third appearance in the Octagon. His last appearance was a decision victory against Austin Hubbard in March of the year of Covid. Madsen came out belly-to-back suplexing Hubbard for five points and tossing him around the cage like Hubbard was a child. If you allow Madsen to get hold of you and lock his hands, you’re going to have a bad time. His control from any position—top control, the clinch, over/underhooks—is stifling; he stays glued to the opponent and allows very little room to maneuver or force scrambles.

The most dominant specialty in MMA is wrestling, and Mark O. Madsen is the perfect example of that. The fighter who can determine where the fight takes place always has the biggest advantage, and wrestling is the best tool at determining that. Madsen has a full takedown arsenal from open mat level change takedowns to the clinch and trips along the cage, and when he gains the top position, he is constantly working head and arm control and hunting for chokes.

You can probably guess Madsen’s major malfunction; his striking. On the feet, Madsen has a Denver Nuggets jersey farmer’s tan and is likely to get pieced up Willie if he can’t get Guida to the mat and keep him there for long stretches. Madsen has textbook wrestler striking, basic boxing consisting of short combos, usually 1-2s and 2-3s, and only looks to strike long enough to close the distance and level change or initiate the clinch. He has zero point zero idea how to defend leg kicks and is highly susceptible to up the middle attacks like knees, uppercuts, and snap kicks every time he looks to level change.

Madsen dominated the first two rounds against Hubbard, but he gassed heading into the third round and couldn't score any takedowns in the final stanza. Hubbard won the final round and exposed a major flaw in Madsen’s game. The one thing you can always count on with Guida is that he will never ever ever gas. Never ever. Guida should look to stay on the outside and pepper Madsen with his erratic protractor striking from every odd angle imaginary. Madsen will need to find an early submission because Guida will likely dominate late with output and aggression. The good news for Madsen, Guida has been submitted ten times in his fifty-six fight career. Yes, fifty-six.

Madsen will have plenty of value as a submission threat, utilizing constant head and arm control and dominant wrestling. Guida’s value will be in scoring significant strikes if he can manage to stay upright or end up on top at some point, especially late. I’m going with the underdog of all underdogs, Clay Guida, via decision. Put it on wax.

Winner: Clay Guida | Method: Decision

Chase Sherman (-190) vs. Parker Porter (+155)

Sherman: DK: $9.2k | Porter: DK: $7k

This will be like going to the zoo and watching the two alpha gorillas brawl with brief one-minute intermissions to catch their breath and throw feces into the crowd. This is an ugly fight; there’s no GPS alternative route around it. The Shermanator, Chase Sherman, looks like every coming-of-age 80s movie schoolyard bully. He’s a cross between Biff from Back To The Future and a Minecraft character. But don’t let that fool you, Chase Sherman is a very average fighter.

Sherman is almost exclusively a boxer with decent hand speed and basic short combinations. His best weapons are his hooks; he throws them palms down and sneaks them around the opponent’s guard. The problem for The Sherm is his defense. When he moves backward, he sticks his chin straight in the air and looks like a slip and fall lawsuit waiting to happen. He has terrible reactions to strikes and tends to take a lot of damage because of it. He also has a 3-6 UFC record over two stints because of it.

Parker Porter is a massive boxer with tree stumps for legs. In comparison to Sherman, Porter’s hand speed is economy mail during a pandemic, and his punches travel around the world before they reach the target, on some Where In The World Is Carmen San Diego type ish. He has heavy punches and leg kicks and has eight finishes in ten career wins. Parker has also shared the cage with some big names like Jon Jones and Gabriel Gonzaga, but those were both L’s.

If it sounds like I just said a whole lot of nothing, you’re very astute. I, in fact, don’t have much to say about these guys. As I’m writing this, this bout is scheduled on the main card, but you could make a very strong Epstein-didn’t-kill-himself argument that it should probably open the night on the pre-prelims. Could you salvage some Fantasy points from this fight? Well, the pace will be rush hour traffic on a Monday, so don’t expect a lot of significant strikes, but Chase Sherman has finished fourteen of his fifteen career wins. That’s a hell of a finishing percentage. Also, Parker Porter throws wide heavy bombs, and Sherman’s defense is Charles Barkley tuurble. I would take a shot on one of these guys to score a finish, but I’d probably use this fight as a Mary Jane politicking opportunity as well. Parker Porter via TKO, round two.

Winner: Parker Porter | Method: TKO Rd.2

Vinc Pichel (-110 ) vs Austin Hubbard (-110 )

Pichel: DK: $8.2k | Hubbard: DK: $8k

Vince Pichel has a glorious Rollie Fingers mustache, and that alone should be worth some Fantasy points when he steps into the cage against Austin Hubbard. This should be a highly competitive nip/tuck toss-up and could feature some entertaining grappling exchanges on the mat.

Vinc Pichel is a solid all-around fighter, but he doesn't have a particular skill that stands out. I consider him a grappler more than a striker. Pichel is a grinder; he likes to work against the cage in the clinch to work trips and needs top control to win fights. He is a position over submission grappler and doesn’t use much ground and pound other than peppering strikes to soften the opponent and to stay busy, so the fight doesn’t get stood back up.

If I were Austin Hubbard, I would look to avoid the clinch. Vinc is very savvy in the clinch. He maintains strong wrist control while delivering knees and elbows, and he has a knack for stealing rounds with Octagon control and being the aggressor. The crazy thing about Pichel is that I think of him more as a grappler, but all eight of his career finishes have come in the standup. He’s riding a two-fight winning streak, and his only loss in his last seven fights was to the grappling Gandalf, Gregor Gillespie.

Austin Hubbard is 3-3 in the UFC and has alternated between wins and losses, never having won two fights in a row. He won his last fight so… the world works in mysterious ways, and if the pattern holds, this will be an L for Hubbard.

A couple of fights ago, Hubbard fought the highly touted collegiate wrestler Max Rohskopf and made Rohskopf quit on the stool after the second round. I mean, really quit. My man was literally begging his corner to stop the fight between the second and third rounds, but the corner refused, and the ref was forced to step in. Hubbard survived Rohskopf’s takedowns in the first round and picked Rohskopf apart in the second and straight Shang T’sung’d Rohskopf’s soul.

Hubbard is a very average fighter, but he has eighteen career fights and has fought some very stiff competition, including Davi Ramos, Joe Solecki, and the aforementioned Mark O. Madsen. Austin is used to fighting strong wrestlers/grapplers, and this fight will be much of the same for him.

Austin stays busy on the feet but has a very squared stance that I would change immediately if he came through the Thunderdome—my one-car garage world-class training facility. His stance makes him very stationary and provides a large target for opponents; he’s just too vulnerable with squared shoulders.

Pichel should look to take advantage with up-the-middle strikes, knees, and uppercuts. Old Mother Hubbard also tends to throw a lot of naked leg kicks, and the natural counter is power punches down the middle. But Hubbard stays busy with a continuous barrage of 1-2s and 2-3s, and he has good defensive wrestling, and won’t be easy for Pichel to get to the ground.

I’ve never seen a card with more toss-ups than this one. I don’t see either fighter scoring a finish, and the fight will likely be a moderately-paced decision. Vinc Pichel via decision.

Winner: Vinc Pichel | Method: Decision

Alexandre Pantoja (-170 ) vs Brandon "Crown" Royval (+140)

Pantoja: DK: $8.9k | Royval: DK:$7.3k

*Banger Of The Night*

Banger. This one is Fourth of July fireworks in the park with zero point zero chance of turning into TJ sparklers in the driveway. Both fighters are elite and creative grapplers, and this should be the perfect showcase to debunk exciting ground fight deniers. The ones who beg the ref to stand them back up as soon as the fight hits the mat.

Brandon Royval shot up the flyweight rankings after just two fights in the UFC and found himself in what turned out to be a title eliminator against Brandon Moreno last November. The fight was as exciting a one-round fight as you’ll see. The action was back and forth on the feet and the mat, and in the waning seconds of the first round, Brandon Royval dislocated his shoulder while in the bottom position, and the ref stopped the fight with one second remaining. Royval was giving as much as he was taking against Moreno, and I think it’s a fight we’ll see again someday.

Royval fights like an extra in the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan. He runs headfirst into danger no matter where the fight is taking place. On the feet, he is movement personified, and his perpetual movement creates a sense of chaos even when the strikes aren’t flying. His pace is nonstop pressure, and he strikes from range with quick 1s and 1-2s. I’ve mentioned before there’s a difference in cadence between throwing combos and throwing single strikes in quick succession. Royval throws a lot of single strikes in quick succession. When I see Royval’s stand-up, I see Nate Diaz. The posture and the long arm punches are almost identical.

Brandon can work level changes into his striking, and his pace is just as furious in the top or bottom position as it is on the feet. Royval strikes from his back and the top and constantly forces scrambles, reversals, and transitions while maintaining continual ground and pound. The key for Royval will be pace and top position. He needs to force Pantoja to fight fast early to keep up with him. Pantoja will fade late, and Royal should have a big advantage in the final round.

Alexandre Pantoja is a ten-fight UFC veteran with a promotional record of 7-3. His only losses in the UFC have come to elite grapplers: Deiveson Figueiredo, future title challenger Askar Askarov, and Dustin Ortiz. Pantoja can end the fight on his feet, but his bread and butter is his Jiu-Jitsu. Like Royval, Pantoja keeps the opponent on the defensive on the mat, continually flowing between passes and sub attempts, and he has some very creative back-takes. Defensively, Pantoja uses submission attempts to defend takedowns and to create reversals from the guard. Submission attempts aren’t only successful when they end the fight; they can be used to force the aggressor to abandon their attacks in favor of defense.

Pantoja’s stand-up isn’t elite, but he has sneaky power. He has TKO/KO victories against Matt Schnell and one-time title challenger Wilson Reis. I guess you would consider Pantoja’s striking similar to wrestler striking, short basic combos with KO power but nothing intricate or advanced. His arsenal mostly consists of 1s and 1-2s like Royval, but Pantoja uses one hundred percent power in every strike and can’t fight outside the pocket like Royval. He’s basically a swinger and not a boxer. Not a swinger as in late nights in the Holiday Inn Express conference room and ten a.m. continental breakfasts, but swinger as in… he just swings, for the fences. Pantoja’s striking is probably better from the top position on the mat than on his feet, but if he catches you, you’re gonna have a bad time.

Fantasy-wise, Pantoja has eight wins by submission and eight by TKO/KO with twenty-three professional dubs. He’s a finisher and could catch Royval being over aggressive on the feet or the ground. Brandon Royval also has eight wins by submission and three by TKO/KO with twelve career dubs. Chances are high for a finish. Royval finished both of his UFC wins. Toss-up. On wax, Brandon Royval via rear-naked choke, round two.

Winner: Brandon Royal | Method: Rear-Naked Choke Rd.2

Trevin Jones ( ) vs Saidyokub Kakhramonov ( )

Jones: DK: $8.8k | Kakhramonov: DK:$7.4k

This fight was originally a completely different fight. Trevin Jones was a late replacement to fight Leomana Martinez, but Martinez dropped the fight, and now we have Saidyokub Kakhramonov stepping in. So this is a fight between two late replacements.

Trevin Jones pulled off possibly the upset and comeback of the year in 2020 when he survived an early first-round ass-whoopin' and TKO'd the highly touted Temur Valiev in the second. The fight was later overturned by the owners of a Valero gas station located in the middle of the Nevada desert because Jones took up Mary Jane on her offer for a nightcap.

Jones is an explosive right-handed southpaw who works most of his offense off his lead right hand. He uses it defensively while moving backward and also throws it at different angles to initiate his offense. Trevin likes to fight at a much more reserved pace than Saidyokub likes to push and tends to throw mostly single shots while peppering with leg kicks from the outside. Without the athletic commission stealing a win from him, Jones would be riding a four-fight winning streak, including two in the UFC with four straight finishes.

I don't know much about the debuting Saidyokub Kakhramonov other than I'm exhausted after typing his name twice. It reminds me of typing the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog one hundred times in typing class in seventh grade. I'll call him Said for short. Said throw bombs, and nothing but; he swings and kicks more than he boxes or kick boxes. Every punch is a wide looping hook and most of his kicks throw him off balance. His main weapon is aggression and creating wild 50/50 exchanges in the pocket, and he never stops walking forward.

Said has a loss on his record to the future title challenger and cousin of Khabib, Umar Nurmagomedov, in the PFL. He went the distance with Umar and was competitive throughout the fight. Kakhramonov has one two straight by way of KO.

This fight will likely end in a finish one way or the other. Said's over-aggressive style puts himself in danger every exchange, and Jones's defense on the feet falls apart when facing combinations. Said needs to push the pace and attack with volume, while Jones needs to control the pocket from the outside and look to counter Said's heavy pressure. Have one of these guys on your roster. Trevin Jones via TKO, round two.

Winner: Trevin Jones | Method: TKO Rd.2

Prelims

Highlighted Matchup

Roosevelt Roberts (-145) vs. Ignacio Bahamondes (+120)

Roberts: DK: $8.4k | Bahamondes: DK: $7.8k

Ignacio Bahamondes is a monster. He earned a UFC roster spot on the Contender Series with a coffin corner punt KO that was downed inside the one-yard line. Bahamondes won via Anderson Silva front kick to the face after putting on a striking master class. His movement is like my two-year-old playing Tekken, all over the place and unpredictable. Switching stances and being able to fight seamlessly out of both is a trademark of elite strikers. Bahamondes switches stances mid combination while moving forward and while countering moving backward, and he uses stance switches to cut off the ring and box in the opponent.

The first things you’ll notice about Bahamondes when he steps in the Octagon are the size eleven and a half mint black Avia tennis shoes on his feet and his Night Stalker haircut. Ignacio is long with a cape on, super long, and taller than the cage. He’s a physical mismatch for almost anyone in the division and will be a problem in the future if he continues to develop. Bahamondes manages distance well and uses snap kicks and round kicks with both legs, leaving opponents stuck in no man's land with no ability to get inside on him. This guy is creative and throws never-ending combinations of hands and kicks; he leaves no dead air and can push the pace for all three rounds.

Bahamondes is coming off a loss to veteran John Makdessi, but the fight was back and forth and very close. Ramirez, I mean, Bahamondes had to overcome early adversity after being rocked in the first round. His opponent this Saturday, Roosevelt Roberts, will be another tough test for the promising young Night Stalker.

Roosevelt Roberts is a less dynamic striker than Bahamondes, but he has better fundamental kickboxing and a laser beam right hand. He works traditionally behind the jab and double jab and has tight straight punches. Roberts tends to lead with his right hand a lot, and his specialty is the 3-2 (cross-hook) combination with a sneaky right high kick behind it. Roosevelt’s right high kick seems to come out of nowhere and is quick to the target with very little hip rotation.

There’s nothing flashy to Roosevelt’s game; he tends to stand flatfooted directly in front of his opponent with his head on centerline and uses subtle pulls and pull-counters in the pocket as his main defense. He manages the pocket very well, staying just outside of strikes while remaining in position to counter or sliding just enough out of range. Roberts has a little Nate Diaz in his striking like Brandon Royval; he whips punches from his shoulders with little hip rotation, which adds to their quickness.

This fight will be one of the first fights of the night, and it should be runner-up Banger Of The Night. I have a weird feeling the picks are off this week. These matchups all have split decision written all over them; the equivalent of whoever gets the ball last, the Cowboys or the Bills, will win the 2022 Super Bowl. Roosevelt Roberts via decision.

Winner: Roosevelt Roberts | Method: Decision

Twenty-Twen-Twen Sleepers

Twenty-Ten-Twen Sleeper

This is another card of complete toss-ups; almost every fight is an even matchup between middle-tier fighters and new young talent. The only dog I have any faith in is Brandon Royal. I think he pushes a heavy pace and creates a lot of chaos in the cage, and I don't know how long Alexandre Pantoja will be able to keep up with it. My major worry is Royval being over-aggressive and running into a big shot. He did just that against Kai Kara France but survived and changed the tide with a wild spinning back elbow. At (+140), Royval is a solid underdog pick with a good chance at scoring a finish.

Pick 'Em

Austin Lingo (+105 ) vs. Luis Saldana (-125 )

Winner: Luis Saldana

 Method: Decision 

Brian Kelleher (-175 ) vs. Domingo Pilarte (+145 )

Winner: Brian Kelleher

 Method: Decision

Bea Malecki (-155 ) vs. Josiane Nunes (+130)

Winner: Bea Malecki

 Method: Rear-Naked Choke Rd.2

William Knight (-185) vs. Fabio Cherant (+150)

    Winner: William Knight

 Method: TKO Rd.2

Sasha Palatnikov (+110 ) vs. Ramiz Brahimaj (-135 )

    Winner: Ramiz Brahimaj

 Method: Decision

Thanks for reading LineStar Weekly Knockout! We'll be back next Thursday with another one. Until then, good luck and support your local MMA Gym.

About Me

My name is Chris Guy, and I’m an avid combat sports enthusiast and practitioner. I’ve been a fan of MMA since the early 2000s when Limewire was still around, and I downloaded Bas Rutten’s Big Book of Combat. In 2004, I started training Muay Thai at City Boxing in San Diego, CA. I competed as an amateur for many years, and I've also dabbled in Jiu-Jitsu. I follow many different disciplines, such as Combat Ji-Jitsu, Muay Thai, Glory Kickboxing, Boxing, and MMA.

I’m equally as enthusiastic about the craft of writing, and in addition to writing about combat sports, I also write short fiction and music. I hope to bring unique prose to sports writing, and along the way, encourage people to not only become Martial Arts fans but to also become Martial Artists themselves.

In the future, you may see me refer to the Thunderdome; it's an ode to the old Mad Max movie and refers to the world-class training facility I built in my one-car garage. It's complete with throw dummies, wrestling mats, heavy bags, and six months' worth of Chef Boyardee cans from when I thought the world was going to end back in March. I hope you enjoy my work, and if you don’t, the Thunderdome has an open door policy.

Check out my Podcast The Whiskey (S)ick Podcast on Apple and Spotify. Parental Advisory Warning

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