We're Back With Another LineStar Weekly Knockout!

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

Instagram: @therealsethgeko & Twitter: @DadHallOfFamer

Amelia Earhart, Gilligan, Tom Hanks, Darrelle Revis, like those who came before me, last Saturday night, I sat on an island. Hundreds of miles away from civilization. Conch shells, rocks, anything I could gather, I used to spell out S-O-S on the shoreline after hours of clearing away driftwood. The crashing waves, the seagulls cawing, the language of the sea provided the only conversation.

As if barred by the imaginary boundaries of restricted airspace, not a single plane flew overhead. The smoke signals went unnoticed, rising into the air like giant genies looking down on me condescendingly, flipping me off.

I’ve grown used to it, the loneliness. We’ve become fond of each other. We first met on a similar island when I was the only one who picked Charles Oliveira to beat Michael Chandler. We managed to survive by collecting dozens, hundreds of tiny sand crabs that popped their heads out their tiny holes when the tide receded. We used large rocks to crack open coconuts and satiated our thirst with their milk.

This time it was like my old friend was expecting me. We spotted each other from opposite ends of the beach and ran in slow motion with open arms into each other’s embrace. This time was different. I didn’t spend any time wondering how I got here or if I would ever again leave. I didn’t care either way. I knew the fate that awaited me when I picked T.J. Dillashaw to beat Cory Sandhagen. Isolation, reclusion, an island awaited me.

Some will say the judges held up Cory Sandhagen at gunpoint at a familiar Valero gas station in the middle of the Nevada desert and that he actually won the fight three rounds to two. All I can say to that is, I’d like to take the time to apologize… to absolutely NObody! You live and die by the robbery. Kyler Phillips was robbed in the co-main event, a guaranteed dub tossed into a duffel bag, and hustled off in a black Chevy Tahoe. No, no I won’t be handing back this dub anytime soon.

The only question that remains is, will anybody be willing to camp out on Uriah Hall Island and pick him to beat the wild mother-shut-your-mouf, Sean Strickland?

Sean Strickland (-215 ) vs Uriah Hall (+170)

Strickland: DK: $9.3k | Hall: DK:$6.9k

I famously mistook Sean Strickland for Tom Breese for almost the entirety of 2020. I didn’t realize the mistake until November when Sean Strickland dominated Brendan Allen, TKO’ing him in the second round. I was thinking, “Damn, Tom Breese’s hands got way better.” Then I felt like an idiot for writing about Sean Strickland like he was Tom Breese and vice versa.

But I wouldn’t be here today without the mistakes I’ve made in the past. The important thing to remember is that Sean Strickland has serious boxing skills. At first glance, it may not look like it, but Sean Strickland is a unique striker. He’s a moron, in a good way, an oxymoron. His style is oddly vanilla and intricate at the same time. Strickland arm punches; he doesn’t turn over his hips and snaps his punches using his shoulders to propel them. His short, quick three to four-punch combos seem to come out of nowhere. There’s little wasted motion and zero telegraphing, but the tradeoff is a lack of power.

Instead of one-punch KO power, Strickland uses volume and an accumulative effect to end fights. He is constantly touching his opponent with varying degrees of peppering and power shots. Defensively, Strickland has holes. His stance is very upright, and his movement is similar to a skyscraper’s in a high wind; he sways but not much more than that. Sean also has a bad habit of reaching down to catch low kicks; that’ll get you kicked in the head real quick.

Sean Strickland will talk ish then kick ass, kick ass then talk ish; he’ll gum bump for the duration of the fight while delivering four-piece combos on roller skates like old school Sonic’s. In other words, he’s wild; he howls at the moon. Strickland will push a much more aggressive pace than Uriah Hall and force Hall to fight outside his comfort zone, a slow technical back and forth kickboxing match. Pressure is the key for Strickland; get in Uriah Hall’s chest and stay there and force Hall to exchange in the pocket where he doesn’t excel.

But check it: Sean Strickland is 23-3 professionally with a 10-3 UFC record spanning back to 2014. One of those L’s was a decision loss to Kamaru Usman at welterweight in 2017. He’s riding a four-fight dub streak and five of his last six.

Passivity is the only opponent to beat Urijah Hall in his entire MMA career. Otherwise, he’s undefeated. Dana White dubbed Urijah Hall the next Anderson Silva during Hall’s season of the Ultimate Fighter. Hall made it to the finals but lost in a huge upset to Kelvin Gastelum. To say Urijah Hall hasn’t lived up to those expectations is to say the judges last Saturday couldn’t pass a Costco eye exam, a complete understatement.

Urijah Hall is one of the worst fighters to bet on like OSP; you have no idea what Urijah Hall you’re going to get. The killer Urijah Hall that puts strikes together and mixes in fight-ending spinning attacks, or the Urijah Hall that stands in front of his opponent staring at him for eighty-five percent of the fight. He still has KO power, especially in his right hand, and when he lets his hands go, he’s still very dangerous. Hall’s jab is nasty, one of the best in the UFC. GSP used to defend his belt with his jab almost exclusively. Urijah Hall can win fights like that too.

In his last bout, Uriah Hall became the first fighter in the UFC to win a fight without throwing a punch when he beat Chris Weidman. Weidman wrapped his shin around Uriah’s shin like Tiger Woods wrapped his car around a tree. Hall burned more calories climbing the steps into the Octagon than he did during the seventeen-second fight. Uriah is on a four-fight winning streak and has won five of his last six bouts, his lone loss in that span coming to the Dave & Buster, Paulo Costa in 2018.

Only a knockdown can bring this fight to the mat, and it should be an exciting five-round striking showcase, but that all depends on Uriah Hall. More important than coming out aggressive is coming out and setting a consistent pace, a pace Uriah can keep for five rounds. He has to limit the periods of inactivity, or Sean Strickland will turn into Castor Troy and box Hall’s face…off.

Uriah Hall is always a finishing threat and possibly worth a long shot. I said last week, Mickey Gall had the potential to flip rosters, and he did just that with a first-round submission. Uriah Hall could prove to be much of the same, but I’m rolling with Sean Strickland. Hall has plateaued, Strickland is ascending, and his forward pressure and peppering combos should overwhelm Hall at some point.

The main event-winning streak sits at four and includes thirteen of the last fourteen. Sean Strickland via TKO, round three. On wax.

Winner: Sean Strickland | Method: TKO Rd.3

Kyung Ho Kang (-135 ) vs Rani Yahya (+110)

Kang: DK: $8.5k | Yahya: DK:$7.7k

This is a certified grappling banger. If you ran into Rani Yahya at the Sprouts olive bar and he took the last of the garlic-stuffed green olives, you’d likely feel compelled to talk ish. And you’d quickly find yourself riding shotgun in a black Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am through space on a mission to save the galaxy and the King’s bodacious daughter. Don't let his looks fool you; Rani Yayha is a veteran contract killer. Yayha has eighteen fights in the UFC and five in the WEC, which served as the UFC’s second promotion that featured the lower weight classes. He has an excellent 12-4-2 UFC record and is a perennial sleeper.

If you’ve never heard of Rani Yahya, it’s likely because he’s mostly a one-trick pony, and his style often makes for grimey three-round drawn-out grappling matches. I think of him as a smaller Demian Maia without the overhand left on the feet. Very few fighters in the stacked bantamweight division can roll and survive with Yayha on the mat. He only runs into trouble when he struggles to score takedowns and is stuck standing for the duration. His career record is 27-10-2 and features zero point zero career TKO/KO’s and twenty-one submissions. That tells you all you need to know about Yayha’s striking. (Insert Denver sports fan joke here).

Rani wins fights in two ways, with chokes and top control. He is a patient submission-over-position grappler who slowly, methodically works his way into position to hunt for his specialty, head-and-arm chokes. Yayha will be facing the power wrestler/grappler Kyung Ho Kang, and the key for Yayha could be his guard and ability to remain active from his back.

Kang is 6-2-1 in the UFC dating back to 2013. I don’t ever remember seeing Kang fight, and I haven’t missed a UFC since UFC 37.5. Yes, 37.5. The main event was Vitor Belfort vs. Chuck Liddell. That’s a lot of PPVs I didn’t buy if you know what I’m sizzlin’. Kyung Ho is a top control position-over-submission wrestler who wins fights by controlling his opponents on the mat. He’s riding a three-fight winning streak, his last loss coming to Ricardo Ramos in 2018.

There isn’t much to Kang’s game; he has one objective, close the distance and score takedowns. He relies on the fence to work trips from the clinch and doesn’t focus much on causing damage with ground and pound. Everything is about control with Kang, and the fight will come down to who can initiate and secure the takedown first. Yayha will have the better guard and diverse submission attacks from his back, and Kang is more dependent on maintaining the top position. If this turns into a takedown stalemate, I’ll be in the attic cheesing.

Complete toss-up. Rani Yayha will provide the better submission threat, but Kang has eleven subs in seventeen career fights. The problem for Kang is that Yayha has only been sub’d once in thirty-seven career fights, and that was back in 2006. In the end, I think Kang will be able to control Yahya on the mat for long stretches and eke out a decision. Kyung Ho Kang via decision. On second thought, give me Rani Yahya via arm triangle, round two.

Winner: Rani Yayha | Method: Arm Triangle Rd.2

Cheyanne Buys (-170) vs. Gloria De Paula (+140)

Buys: DK: $8.9k | De Paula: DK: $7.3k

This will be a kickboxing showcase between two ladies making their sophomore appearances in the Octagon after disappointing debuts. Both ladies faced grappling/striking style matchups in their UFC debuts, and both came up short. Cheyanne Buys was the victim of the lamest game plan ever implemented in any MMA organization. Montserrat Ruiz latched on to an old school bully headlock (technical term: scarf hold) and held on to it for thirteen of the bout’s fifteen-minute duration. Buys didn’t do herself any favors and demonstrated High Pitch Erik-level fight IQ by continually accepting and at times initiating the clinch, which led to her getting caught repeatedly in the headlock. Montserrat Ruiz went on to get absolutely obliterated last weekend by Amanda Lemos in under a minute, and no one can say the MMA Karma gods don’t have a sense of humor.

Cheyanne earned a UFC contract after an impressive fight on The Contender Series. She displayed high-level kickboxing and overwhelming aggression. A combination striker, Buys is a throwback punches-in-bunches type of fighter who literally plays tag with her opponents. If you touch Cheyanne, she implements touch-backs and immediately gets you right back. Take one, give one. That’s a fundamental technique that translates to any level of striking. Buys consistently uses three-punch combos and ends them with her lead hand. Watch Manny Pacquiao; he is a master at sneaking that lead hand in around the guard after a quick one-two.

This fight should be dubbed The Battle Of Right Hands. Both fighters have fight-changing power in their rear-hand strike. It could come down to who can land theirs first. Gloria De Paula is another kickboxer, but she has a much different style on the feet. Paula is a single-strike fighter; when she throws combinations, her defense springs leaks that Flex Seal can’t even cover up. It's weird, but Paula looks like a completely different fighter when she stays on the outside, picking her shots and not attempting to engage with extended combos. Her footwork is the classic two-left feet cliché. She tends to start reaching with her punches, and it all begins with not using the jab enough. Gloria relies heavily on her right hand to close the distance and cause damage, but on occasions, she throws a palm-down lead hook behind the cross, and it always finds its mark.

In her debut against Jinh Yu Frey, Paula struggled to defend takedowns because she didn't use her jab to establish range. Takedown defense always begins with the jab and creating an obstacle for the opponent to navigate around to get inside to your hips. Without the jab, you might as well start the round laying on your back. Fortunately for Paula, I don’t think Cheyanne Buys will look to relocate the fight; her mentality seems to be to bite down on the mouthpiece and scrap.

Give me high output and combinations over low output and single strikes every time. Cheyanne should outwork Paula on the feet, giving her a big advantage in the judges’ eyes during close rounds. Well, maybe not last weekend’s judges; they rolled up like three faded Jack Sparrows with ADD. Anywho, on wax, Cheyanne Buys via decision.

Winner: Cheyanne Buys | Method: Decision

Niklas Stolze ( ) vs Jared Gooden ( )

Stolze: DK: $7k | Gooden: DK: TBD

This whole card has completely fallen apart. I’m making last-minute adjustments as the main card lost two fights and a third fight originally scheduled between Mounir Lazzez and Niklas Stolze just fell through. Jared Gooden will be stepping in to replace Lazzez on just a couple of day's notice. The new main card now features some less than stellar matchups, like this one and Ryan Benoit vs. Zarrukh Adashev.

Gooden is 0-2 in the UFC but has provided for some entertaining bouts. He’s coming off a loss to a Nurmagomedov (likely a sixth cousin of a cousin of Khabib’s) in March. That fight exposed major holes in Gooden’s takedown defense and ground game, but luckily for Gooden, Niklas Stolze likely won’t try to relocate the fight to the ground. Gooden is a short, stalky power puncher with aggressive forward pressure and throws bombs with both hands. He made his debut in 2020 against the tough Alan Jouban and showed that he can hang with high-level strikers.

Niklas Stolze is a veteran of twenty professional kickboxing matches and reminds me of a mix between Eddie Wineland, with a low hand position, and Tim Means, with short, crisp punches. Stolze uses broken cadences and tempo changes to keep his opponents guessing. He likes to throw peppering shots to lull the opponent into a false sense of security before exploding with power shots. When Stolze switches to the southpaw stance, he’s going to throw left-round kicks almost exclusively. He made his debut last summer against Ramazan Emeev, who is a very tough grappler and heavy power striker. The fight was very competitive, and Stolze had some impressive moments in the stand-up.

Stolze has noine finishes in twelve career wins, and Gooden has thirteen finishes in seventeen career wins. But both fighters are tough to finish, Gooden has only been finished one time in twenty-three career fights, and Stolze has never been finished in sixteen career fights. This should make for a nip/tuck, back and forth scrap, but I can’t help but feel like my seven-year-old self on Christmas day when Santa left a crappy boombox under the tree instead of a Nintendo. Stolze’s original opponent, Mounir Lazzez, is a moon howler, wild, and I was looking forward to seeing if he could bounce back after a devastating loss earlier this year. Oh well. Niklas Stolze via decision, on wax. If you’re in a bind for a middle/lower tier fighter, Gooden has KO power that he carries for three rounds and could be a solid option.

Winner: Niklas Stolze | Method: Decision

Bryan Barberena (-275 ) vs Jason Witt (+220)

Barberena: DK: $9.6k |Witt: DK:$7.8k

This should be the inaugural B.J. Penn Applebee’s Parking Lot League main event. Bryan Barberena works graveyards guarding the Bridge of Death and is an eleven-fight UFC veteran. Barberena is a goon, in a good way. He’s fought everybody at welterweight, Colby Covington, Leon Edwards, Vicente Luque, and both Ellenbergers. He has a solid overall game and can hold his own anywhere the fight goes. His downfall is he gets hit a lot because he fights like he’s hitting a heavy bag and doesn’t expect to get hit back. But Barberena fights up to his opponent's level. Against top killer, Vicente Luque, Barberena was on his way to a decision victory but snatched defeat from the jaws of victory when he was KO’d in the closing seconds.

Jason Witt has three fights in the UFC, and two of them ended quicker than the time it takes a Pop-Tart to burn in the toaster. Both of those were opening-minute KO losses. The one fight he won was against a Flying J custodian or janitor if you want to be a Richard about it. He’s a wrestler and needs to get this fight to the ground. There’s some KO power in his hands, but overall he lacks technical skills on the feet. His path to victory is gaining top position and grinding out each round. Barberena has solid takedown defense, so Witt will have to string together techniques to finish his attempts.

Witt has been TKO/KO’d twice in the last twelve months, and that’s not a good look. The first round will be the key for Barberena. If he can stay on his feet and force a stand-up fight, he will slowly take over. Bryan Barberena via TKO, round three.

Winner: Bryan Barberena | Method: TKO Rd.3

Ryan Benoit (-135 ) vs Zarrukh Adashev (+115)

Benoit: DK: $8.3k |Adashev: DK:$7.9k

This fight went from the opening fight of the night to the main card, and I’m over here at the end of a four-footer . The good: We have a fight between two guys with kickboxing/Muay Thai backgrounds that should remain standing for the duration. The bad: Both fighters are hanging on to a roster spot like a doodie you have to bounce on the seat to pinch off. The ugly: Zarrukh Adashev has a 3-3 career record, and Ryan Benoit has a 3-5 UFC record and is 10-7 overall.

Ryan Benoit is a southpaw with heavy left-round kicks and decent hands when he lets them go. His biggest issue is his output and not pulling the trigger enough, and falling behind in fights. Zarrukh Adashev is a short power hooker. As in, he throws mostly wide hooks with KO power in both hands. His last fight was a competitive war against the highly touted Su Mudaerji. Adashev marched down Mudaerji for the entire fight and even hurt Mudaerji at one point.

Benoit has the more proven finishing track record with noine of his ten wins coming via finish, eight by TKO/KO, and is coming in as the (-135) favorite. There’s definitely value for Adashev as a low-tier roster option; he is fearless and aggressive and throws bombs all over the place. If Benoit comes out passive as he has in the past, Adashev could jump all over him quickly. This is turning into an ugly card, so I’ve decided to make some ugly picks. Give me the upset, Zarrukh Adashev via TKO, round two.

Winner: Zarrukh Adashev | Method: TKO Rd.2

Prelims

Highlighted Matchups

Danny Chavez (-105) vs. Kai Kamaka (-115)

Chavez: DK: $8k | Kamaka: DK: $8.2k

*Banger Of The Night*

This fight should be on the main card and should be in the running for BOTN. I love comparing fighters with similar styles, and here’s another one: Danny Chavez reminds me a lot of former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo. He carries his hands low in a squared stance, essentially giving him two power hands, and he has very little interest in defense. Chavez uses the Figueiredo low calf kicks and has a similar natural curve to his overhand punches with both hands. Pay attention to Chavez’s body lean. He will dip his lead shoulder and throw a one-two; the lead hand will come from below the opponent's guard, and the power hand will come from above it. This is hard to defend because the punches come from two different peripherals.

Danny is a tale-of-two-halves type of fighter. In the opening round, Chavez is all speed and power with unpredictable spinning wheel kicks mixed in. He overwhelms early with pace and output, BUT he gasses in the middle/late rounds and relies on an early lead because he limps to the finish line. Chavez's downfall is his chin is his only defense, and he often gets caught with counters in the pocket because he admires his work and doesn’t step off at angles or cover up on the way out.

Kai Kamaka is a more traditional boxer with occasional low kicks. He’s a power puncher who relies on his right hand to turn the tide. Kamaka uses basic short, two-punch combinations and often spends too much time looking for the perfect shot. As a result, his output suffers and he tends to lose close rounds.

The game plan for Kamaka should be to test Chavez’s takedown defense and ground game early and then test Chavez’s stand-up late. He has to make the first round boring and slow play Chavez by pushing him up against the cage and grinding on him. Kamaka has a control-over-damage top game, which will help him wear down Chavez if he can get Chavez down early. If Kamaka can’t relocate the fight in the first round, he will have to survive an early storm, and Chavez’s speed could overwhelm him.

Both fighters are coming in off losses, and Kamaka has lost two straight; this will be a pivotal fight for both guys. The knock against Kamaka is he doesn’t finish fights. Seven of his eight career wins are by decision. On the flip side, Chavez isn’t much of a finisher either, with three TKO/KO’s in eleven professional wins. Chavez will have a higher output, and Kamaka comes with the possibility of scoring top control time. Speed kills, Danny Chavez via decision, split.

Winner: Danny Chavez | Method: Decision

Collin Anglin (+115) vs. Melsik Baghdasaryan (-140)

Anglin: DK: $7.6k | Baghdasaryan: DK: $8.6k

I don’t know much about these two, but like when the McFlurry machine breaks and you’re fourth in line, I can sense when a good fight is lurking just around the corner. Both fighters are making their UFC debuts fresh off The Contender Series, where they both had impressive performances. This one reminds me a lot of last weekend’s Adrian Yanez vs. Randy Costa banger.

Melsik Baghdasaryan is a dynamo on the feet. He is a southpaw with heavy power-side kicks, round and snap kicks up the middle. Melsik attacks the body and the head in combination while marching forward, stalking the opponent. Collin Anglin is also a solid striker with the aggression to match Melsik’s. If the fight goes to the ground, Anglin has heavy ground and pound and strong wrestling. I don’t know anything about Melsik’s ground game, but if his clinch game is any indication, his ground game will be formidable as well.

Melsik’s left hand is nasty, and he hides it behind a barrage of kicks, and I think it will be the difference in this one. Melsik Baghdasaryan via TKO, round two.

Winner: Melsik Baghdasaryan | Method: TKO Rd.2

Twenty-Twen-Twen Sleepers

Twenty-Ten-Twen Sleeper

I'm looking at Uriah Hall as the Westminister Best In Class underdog this week. I know, I know. Rule number one is never bet on OSP, and rule number two is never bet on Uriah Hall. But... he has the power and skills to finish anyone in the division. Go back to his win a few years ago against Gegard Mousasi, who he KO'd with a spinning back kick and a follow-up flying knee. Sure, Hall went on to hand that dub back to Mousasi in a rematch a couple of years later, but he still pulled off an improbable upset the first time. If he's aggressive with his jab and fights with urgency, he can definitely pull off the upset. Maybe instead of a Jackson, I'll just drop a Lincoln on him.

Honorable mention: Wu Yanan; she's facing Nicco Montano, who will be at a disadvantage on the feet if she can't get Yanan to the mat, and Nicco hasn't been very active in the last couple of years with an overall record of just 4-3.

Pick 'Em

Nicco Montano (-240 ) vs. Wu Yanan (+190 )

Winner: Nicco Montano

 Method: Decision 

Chris Gruetzemach (+220 ) vs. Rafa Garcia (-280 )

Winner: Rafa Garcia

 Method: TKO Rd.2

Jinh Yu Frey (+115 ) vs. Ashley Yoder (-140)

Winner: Jinh Yu Frey

 Method: Decision

Ronnie Lawrence (-160) vs. Trevin Jones (+130)

    Winner: Ronnie Lawrence

 Method: TKO Rd.3

Philip Rowe (+125 ) vs. Orion Cosce (-150 )

    Winner: Orion Cosce

 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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