We're Back With Another LineStar Weekly Knockout!

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

Instagram: @therealsethgeko & Twitter: @DadHallOfFamer

It was Ed’s big dirty thirty Vegas weekend with the homies. He had avoided any issues well in advance, had wifey sign the hall pass months ago, and was surprised with her only mild protest. Her only stipulation was that he not stay at the Hooters Casino because she had heard that place was wild, too many people howling at the moon at that spot. Ed had heard similar things too and agreed, knowing he had agreed only not to stay there without any restrictions placed on going there.

But the Hooters Casino was on the horizon, and it’s always best to focus on things directly in front of you. And at the moment, that was a long two-lane street coursing through an industrial area off the strip. The homies were maintaining an air of mystery, allowing scant details of the debauchery they had planned for Ed. They had only shown Ed a picture and mentioned there would be some choking and a little hitting, but mostly to the body and not so much to the face.

Ed was cool with choking; it wasn’t his thing, but he knew a lot of people were into that type of shit. He had dated a girl once who choked on things at restaurants and got all sorts of free meals from it, so he was fairly familiar with the concept. It looked like more of a discomfort thing than a pain thing. Plus, the homies said it was mostly for the lady’s pleasure, which in turn would translate into Ed’s pleasure. What little apprehension he had sensed faded quickly with another glance at her picture.

Then there was Ed’s latex allergy to worry about; he had insisted on alternatives, leather or pleather, spandex, that sort of thing, and the homies had agreed, saying that she preferred to wear something that looked like a bathrobe anyways. Ed knew such attire wasn’t par for the course in this genre but also knew it would have little effect on the end result.

The spot looked like a warehouse when they pulled into the nearly full parking lot. How many people came to Vegas for this sort of thing? Did the homies have a Groupon or something?

They walked in, and the place was filled with people wearing bathrobes. Most were stretching in a large group with some stragglers here and there. Ed was relieved when the homies told the guy at the front desk that they had a private lesson with someone named Mackenzie; he thought it would have been super awkward to have all these people watching, observing, taking notes.

There was a large section of matting sectioned off to the side and not in use, and in the center stood the woman referred to as Mackenzie, looking even better than she had in the picture. The homies told Ed to take off his shoes and pushed him onto the mats.

Mackenzie bowed to him before wrapping him around the neck and waist and throwing him on his head. An instant later, she was choking him, only letting up just before blackness enclosed. She then bent him into GI Joe torture positions, his arms and legs twisting at impossible angles, and choked him over and over again. On it went for an hour. It was the best hour of Ed’s entire fookin’ life.

Main Card

Yan Xiaonan (+180) vs Mackenzie Dern (-240)

Xiaonan: DK: $7.1k |Dern: DK:$9.1k

Yan Xiaonan, I bet you think this song is about you, don’t you, don’t you? But I’m sorry, this one's about Mackenzie Dern, a lady in the streets and a freak on the mats. As the father of a daughter, I hope she grows up to be as deadly as Mrs. Dern. With all the talk of global warming, people have only grown colder. The need to be able to defend oneself is becoming more critical for survival. Mackenzie Dern walks through the Gotham City subway with no worries. On some Dark Knight type-ish, Batwoman. The Nightstalker wouldn’t stand a chance against Mackenzie Dern. She’d D’arce Choke Ted Bundy and Peruvian Necktie John Wayne Gacy. She isn’t afraid of the dark, the dark is afraid of her. Mackenzie Dern is the walking female embodiment of a Chuck Norris joke.

Dern is probably the best pure Jiu-Jitsu player to ever compete in women’s MMA. In the cage she chains submissions together like Manny Pacquiao does hand combinations. She can tie you up in Boy Scout knots and turn you into a contortionist real quick. Opponents often get stuck in positions they didn’t know they could get stuck in when they fight Mackenzie Dern. She has Jiu-Jitsu world titles stacked on top of Jiu-Jitsu world titles and even has two wins over Godzilla herself, Gabi Gracia.

So if she’s so great, why isn’t she the champion? Touché, asshole. Well, what had happened was, her striking isn’t the greatest. Dern has Jerry Springer striking and is best suited for the 90’s daytime television fighting circuit. She throws nothing but heavy, wide bombs and doesn’t lack aggression, but she lacks the intricate advanced techniques and movements. Also, she doesn’t have good traditional wrestling takedowns like double and single legs. Dern needs the clinch to initiate a trip or throw or to tie up the opponent and pull guard. If none of that works, and she gets stuck in a kickboxing match against a better striker, she struggles. But I’ll say this; her striking has improved dramatically since her debut in 2018.

Dern has a 12-2 career MMA record and is 7-2 in the UFC, with four wins coming by submission. Her two losses came to high-level competition, Amanda Ribas and Marina Rodriguez. This fight is tailor-made for Dern to dominate on the mat and secure a submission. Yan Xiaonan sports a just above average fifty-five percent takedown defense, and in 2021 was Carla Esparza’s only finish since Esparza debuted off the Ultimate Fighter in 2014. Dern’s value Fantasy-wise is in a submission finish. She averages just above three significant strikes landed per minute, and in her only five-round scrap against Marina Rodriguez, landed only forty-noine strikes. If Dern can’t get Xiaonan to the ground with any regularity, this fight could look similar to that Rodriguez fight.

It's rare you see someone lose two straight fights and land in a main event, but Yan Xiaonan would like to take the opportunity to apologize… to absolutely nobody! We live in the age of failing upward, where the sales(wo)man of the month can sell two things: nothing and not a damn thing and still get the coveted parking spot.

Yan Xiaonan is a solid fighter who only recently fell upon hard times in the Octagon. Before suffering two straight L’s, Xiaonan was 6-0 in the UFC with dubs over Claudia Gadelha and Angela Hill. Since the six-fight winning streak, she's lost to the current “Champ” Carla Esparza and top title contender Marina Rodriguez. Xiaonan is a sharp boxer with a steady output of two and three-punch combinations. She lands at over five and a half significant strikes per minute and will be the better striker against Dern.

Where Xiaonan falls a little short of being able to compete with the elite strikers in the division is her lack of creativity. Her style is like using Cammy in Street Fighter; it’s like playing Techmo Super Bowl with the creamsicle Bucs; there’s no dope shit. There’s nothing to be afraid of. She moves in straight lines and falls into repetitive cadences and attacks. She can out-work opponents but won’t ever overwhelm them. Case in point: all six of Xiaonan’s UFC dubs came by decision.

But against Mackenzie Dern, Yan will have to tread in deep grappling waters with no floaties on. Carla Esparza dominated Xiaonan on the mat and Dern can do the same and is a more dangerous finisher than Esparza. Xiaonan can win this fight if she can survive early and box late. Her value is in a decision victory and can top one hundred significant strikes in a five round fight.

Mackenzie Dern is the (-230) favorite, and Xiaonan comes in as the (+180) dog. A Dern submission will return (-120) odds, and I think that’s her most likely method of victory. A Xiaonan decision victory will return (+325) odds, and I don’t see her finishing Dern. I’ve never seen Dern even hurt in a fight, much less close to being finished.

We’re Frank The Tank streaking, three main event dubs in a row, and five of the last six. I think you can chalk up number four. I’m like Curry turning away and making the sleeping gesture while the ball is still in the air. Mackenzie Dern via armbar, round two.

Winner: Mackenzie Dern | Method: Armbar Rd.2

Randy Brown (-350) vs. Francisco Trinaldo (+265)

Brown: DK: $9.3k | Trinaldo: DK: $6.9k

This is a matchup of two of the longest mf’ers in the UFC. These guys are longer than Bill Withers holding his breath at the end of “Lovely Day.” Longer than War And Peace. Longer than the Cowboys Super Bowl drought. Randy Brown is a young scrappy up-and-comer in his prime while Francisco Trinaldo is a ripe Tom Brady forty-four years old and still looking like he has another two Super Bowls left in him.

I’m gonna let you in on a little secret. Francisco Trinaldo has been one of my best-kept secrets for a decade. This guy is the OG undercover killer; I’m talking deep state undercover, the head of the alphabet boys type-ish. Trinaldo has an excellent 18-7 UFC record and has faced almost every savage in both the lightweight and welterweight divisions. The crazy thing is, at forty-four years old, Trinaldo is still winning and is currently riding a two-fight winning streak and five of his last six.

Francisco Trinaldo’s tough like worn leather, his thread count is five thousand, blackout curtains; he’s neither tear-able nor rip-able. He can’t be destroyed; he takes meteor showers and bubble baths in lava flows. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Francisco Trinaldo get his ass completely kicked in the Octagon. He's been a tough out for any fighter he’s ever faced, and I guarantee the list of fighters who’ve turned down fights against him in the last ten years is longer than F(eye)zer side effects.

Ol’ Trinny Trin-Trin is a southpaw who throws massive looping hooks and overhands that are hard to avoid. Trinaldo has stupid power and throws punches from odd angles. He can throw from his ankles like Dennis Eckersley or over the top like Max Scherzer. His punches rack up frequent flyer miles traveling halfway across the country before reaching the target. Trinaldo can box your face off like Castor Troy, grind on you against the cage, or take you down and beat on you. Getting beat up by Francisco Trinaldo is like getting beat up by your Tío for touching the carne on the grill. Trinaldo is the King of doling out Nolan Ryan ass whippings in the Octagon and the very definition of a trap fight.

Al Davis said it best, “Just win, baby.” Trinaldo’s value is in getting a dub; he isn’t a big finisher, having only finished seven of his eighteen UFC dubs despite his massive power, but he’s grimy and finds ways to keep matriculating the ball down the field and get the win. At (+245), you already know what time it is. Slip and falls are imminent. Bust out the Piso Mojado signs. Trinaldo will be dripping with value from a betting standpoint, but without a finish, he’s iffy as a Fantasy option, barely averaging three significant strikes landed per minute in twenty-five UFC bouts. But he scores a lot of knockdowns in the course of a fifteen-minute fight and usually has at least one serious fight-ending sequence.

Randy Brown is an Evel Knievel, Homer-jumping-the-gorge striker, who bats his eyelashes and blows kisses at unconsciousness in most of his fights. He carries his hands down by his waist and relies solely on head movement to defend strikes, sometimes without footwork to aid his evasiveness. He often falls into defensive patterns, ducking to his power side repeatedly and tends to run into a lot of big strikes. But he can also make you miss and make you pay with quick counters and attack you when you think you’re safe, alone in the commode and free to let your cheeks flap in the wind. You’re never safe; the coast is never clear if your opponent is Randy Brown.

Brown mixes boxing slips and shoulder rolls and can slide in and out of the pocket, utilizing both stances to attack in both directions. The biggest hole in Brown’s stand-up game is his complete inability to defend leg kicks. On top of having Bones Jones chopsticks legs, he doesn’t know how to check a leg kick. His legs look like the Charlie Brown Christmas tree. The key to fighting Randy Brown is to start from the ground and work your way up. Don’t chase his head; bring his head to you by chopping his legs and softening the body.

Randy Brown has also had a low-key solid UFC career dating back to 2016. His promotional record is 9-4, and he’s currently riding a three-fight winning streak and five of his last six. He’s the favorite because he’s the newer, flashier model with all the bells and whistles, including that auto-drive where you can sit in the back seat and calculate how badly you're going to get your ass kicked this week in Fantasy football. In thirty-six career fights, Trinaldo has only been finished three times, all by submission. I don’t think Brown can finish Trinaldo, but he maintains a higher work rate and can consistently hit the one hundred strikes landed mark in three round-fights. In the end, I think Brown does just enough to out-point Trinaldo, but Trinny is a live dog. Randy Brown via decision.

Winner: Randy Brown Decision | Method: Decision

Raoni Barcelos(-240) vs. Trevin Jones (+190)

Barcelos: DK: $9k | Jones: DK: $7.2k

This past week, the legend Jose Aldo announced his retirement, and this weekend his Coachella hologram version, Raoni Barcelos, will be carrying on his legacy. It was only a year ago when Barcelos looked like a future title challenger, complete with the classic Chute Boxe Muay Thai and slick Jiu-Jitsu. He even has a win over a Nurmagomedov, Said Nurmagomedov. I don’t know if Said is blood-related to Khabib, but even if the Taraja people exhumed an ancient corpse with the last name Nurmagomedov written on the headstone and put it in the Octagon with me and I beat it (even by decision), I would never stop talking about it. It would be the first thing listed under accomplishments on my Indeed resume.

But then Barcelos lost two in a row, and some of the wind in his sails sailed, leaving him stuck in pack ice like the Terror and Erebus. The good news is he has a favorable matchup against Trevin Jones and should be the better fighter wherever the fight takes place. When Barcelos is flowing with his stand-up he looks like a fun-size version of Jose Aldo. He has the rounded shoulders, uses the classic boxing one-two-liver combination, and has nasty leg kicks. On the mat, he’s creative and has excellent back control and is constantly forcing scrambles from the bottom.

In his most recent bout, Barcelos ran into a little-known Victor Henry, who turned out to be an Op, an undercover heathen. It was a competitive fight, but Henry’s more diverse attack from both stances was a little too much for Barcelos. The key for Barcelos against Jones will be mixing up his attacks. Jones is an excellent grappler and thrives when he can dictate the fight from the top position, but Raoni is the better all-around grappler and shouldn’t shy away from using the threat of his ground game to open up his striking.

Trevin Jones made a name for himself when he stepped in on short notice against the highly touted Timur Valiev as a massive underdog. He got the entirety of his ass kicked (even the shaded unexplored area on its level map) in the first round, only to come back in the second and KO Valiev. Jones isn’t the most technically savvy striker, but he has decent hand speed and sneaky power. Overall, though, his strikes are a little too long, and he doesn’t put combinations together smoothly. His bread and butter is his wrestling and top control. Jones’ game plan will be to close the distance, tie up Barcelos, and try to drag him to the mat where he can clock control time and sneak out the back door with a dub while the Elite Security guard is on his California state mandatory thirty-minute lunch break.

For his career, Barcelos is 16-3 with eight TKO/KO’s and two subs, and Jones is 13-8 with three TKO/KO’s and four subs. I think the finishing threat is Barcelos, and he has the much higher output, averaging six significant strikes landed per minute to Jones’ just under three. Barcelos is the (-230) favorite and Jones the dog at (+185). The under for two and a half rounds with return plus money at (+145) and is probably a long shot, but Barcelos can pull it off if he can hurt Jones on the feet and take his back in a scramble. Raoni Barcelos via decision.

Winner: Raoni Barcelos | Method: Decision

Sodiq Yusuff (-1000) vs. Don Shainis (+600)

Yusuff: DK: $9.5k | Shainis: DK: $Free

Sodiq Yusuff was supposed to fight in the co-main event two weeks ago against the killer Giga Chikadze and now lands at the bottom of the main card this week against a weighted blanket, Don Shainis. “Shameless” Shainis will be making his UFC debut after accepting the fight on short notice, and I can’t pretend to know much about him. Yusuff not only has to win this fight, but he also has to finish it. Going from fighting Giga Chikadze to a guy named Don is like going from a Pit Bull latched onto your family jewels to a Pomeranian nipping at your toes in chanclas.

Sodiq Yusuff has hand speed to burn and an overhand right that can change a marital status real quick. He has a stiff boxer’s jab, a textbook one-two, and utilizes a high and tight hand-guard for defense. He reminds me of Bellator’s long-time lightweight champion, Patricio “Pitbull” Freire, the classic Brazillian upright, stalking Muay Thai. Yusuff’s pressure is constant even without using a high strike output, and he cuts the cage off well. Like a lockdown corner in the NFL, Yusuff can take away half the field by using his piston right hand to box in his opponents, leaving only one escape route.

Yusuff is a one-punch striker who prefers a controlled technical fight that he can dictate with his hand speed by getting in and out of the pocket quickly. The bad news for the wrestler Don Shainis is that Yusuff has better takedown defense than my neighbor’s Xmas lights. They’re still up, but in a few weeks they won’t look out of place.

I’ve seen Shainis’ style a million times; it’s like dying in my sleep, I don’t feel it. From the fights I’ve seen, Shainis is a position over submission wrestler with seventh-inning stretch plaza level striking and has trouble defending the high ground from a row above his opponent. His game plan will be to takedown Yusuff and lay on him like one of those lead vests when you get a chest x-ray.

Sodiq went quadruple digits on ‘em and will be stepping in as the gargantuan (-1000) favorite. Shainis will be (+600) and might not even draw any action from his family and homies. Sodiq Yusuff, don’t make me look stupid. Please. Sodiq Yusuff via TKO, round two.

Winner: Sodiq Yusuff  | Method: TKO Rd.2

John Castaneda (-200) vs Daniel Santos (+150)

Castaneda: DK: $8.8k | Willycat: DK: $7.4k

Ol’ Willycat is back. Daniel Santos, aka Willycat, fights like a homemade Robbie Lawler with all vegan ingredients. He throws nothing but short little bombs like Mega Man, and his opponent, John Castaneda, looks like a badass Eric Estrada. What you know about CHIPS, mother**ker! This one will be a crunchy lil’ groove, an under-the-radar banger, so make sure to use your Mary Jane break wisely so as not to miss it.

John Castaneda is a suit and tie professional fighter with very technical all-around skills. He has few glaring holes in his game and has gone 3-1 in the UFC with his only loss coming to the Birkenstock Bully Nathaniel Wood. Castaneda is one of those fighters that can fight well above his skill level and still remain competitive because he’s so technically sound everywhere. You have to beat him with better physical attributes, more speed, power, and athletic ability.

Willycat Santos is the opposite of Castaneda; he takes risks and uses an aggressive temperament to overwhelm opponents while leaving himself vulnerable in the process. He looks like a mix between Ricky Martin and Robbie Lawler, and like Raoni Barcelos, he has the classic Chute Boxe Muay Thai. Santos fights like he’s preprogrammed to only move in one direction, forward. Willycat’s special move is the spinning back kick, which he used to finish two fights. He also has a win by spinning elbow. Homie has more spins than Maytag, and the best way to avoid getting slept by spinning attacks is to use lateral movement. Spinning attacks have to be set up with preceding strikes to freeze the opponent’s feet momentarily. Constantly moving at angles takes away the threat.

Castaneda’s experience will be his biggest advantage in this one and is likely the reason he’ll be stepping in as the (-220) favorite. For his career, Castaneda is 19-5 with eight TKO/KO’s and six subs. I think he has a long shot to finish Santos by turning this into an MMA fight and grinding Santos against the cage and on the mat. But Santos is tough and has yet to be finished in ten career fights. He debuted against the undercover savage Julio Arce and more than held his own. The over for two and a half rounds is (-150), and the under (+115). The play for Castaneda is a win by decision and will return (+115). The play for Willycat is a TKO/KO valued at (+450). I don’t see Willycat winning by decision, Castaneda is too well rounded with more paths to victory, and Willycat will need to score a finish. John Castaneda via decision. On wax.

Winner: John Castaneda  | Method: Decision

Viacheslav Borshchev (+150) vs Mike Davis (+185)

Borshchev: DK: $7.6k | Davis: DK: $8.6k

Sound the emergency air horns, fire up the emergency broadcast system, and send the rich people to their underground bunkers; this one right here is an absolute banger likely to leave nothing but devastation in its wake. Bust out the HAZMAT suits; the Octagon will remain radioactive for decades after this one takes place.

Stop right meow and go check out on YouTube “Tiger Muay Thai team tryouts” in Thailand. There are multiple documentaries that show how insane the tryouts are. They make SEALS training look like frolicking in an apple orchard in the fall. Mike Davis won the team tryouts a few years ago, and is one of the baddest mother-shut-your-mouth’s you likely haven’t heard of. He lost his debut in 2019 to Gilbert Burns and most recently beat the heathen Mason Jones in January of 2021. He’s overall 9-2 and 2-1 in the UFC.

As you probably guessed, Davis has nasty technical Muay Thai. He hides kicks behind heavy punches and heavy punches behind kicks. His special move is the cross-liver combination, and he usually follows it with a heavy right leg kick. This dude reminds me of the Tiger Muay Thai head trainer and top lightweight contender, Rafael Fiziev. I get secondhand nervous for Mike Davis opponents and hope they made sure to clear their browser history before they engage in fisticuffs with him.

Viacheslav Borshchev is 5-2 professionally and has very slick striking. He has tight, technical kickboxing with fearless aggression and clever creativity and uses extended combinations consistently. My man even landed a rolling thunder kick in his bout on the Contenders Series and finished the fight in the second round with slick counter striking. Borshchev fights violently and attacks the body with combinations before unloading to the head.

BUT, big but; he turns into a victim on the mat. In his last bout against Marc Diakiese, Borshchev gave up eleventeen takedowns. A picket fence in the middle of a category five hurricane has better takedown defense than Borshchev. Eleven takedowns and Marc Diakiese isn’t a wrestler; he’s a kickboxer. This is a Choose Your Own Adventure fight for Mike Davis; he has multiple options and can choose his path to victory. If the fight stays standing, this will be a heat rock, and if Davis takes it to the mat, it will be deemed NC17 and censored by the FCC.

Davis is the (-185) favorite, and the play is for a finish one way or the other. Davis has noine career wins, including seven TKO/KO’s and one submission. Borshchev is 6-2 for his career with five TKO/KO’s. A Mike Davis TKO/KO will return (+350), and a Borschchev TKO/KO, (+425). I think this fight will stay standing, and one guy will eventually fall. Mike Davis via TKO, round three.

Winner: Mike Davis  | Method: TKO Rd.3

Prelims

Value Menu

Ilir Latifi (-175) vs Alexey Oleynik(+145)

Latifi: DK: $8.7k | Oleinic: DK: $7.5k

I thought I would never have to spell Alexey Oleink’s name again. It takes twenty minutes to decide which of the ten different spellings of his last name to use. I also thought he finally retired after securing his sixtieth, six-oh, professional win in his last bout. Turns out, Oleinick is one of the characters on Dave Chapelle’s Kneehigh Park skit that you can’t get rid of.

I highlight this fight because Ilir Latifi isn’t Jared Vanderaa and will likely TKO Oleyniq sometime after the first round. Alexey has an incredible forty-seven submission wins on his record, but in twenty-three career fights, Latifi hasn’t been submitted, and he’s far from a TLC scrub on the mat. Oleinic has about three to five minutes of fury in him when he’s dangerous if he can drag you to the mat. I mean, literally drag you to the mat like a lion hanging on the flank of a wildebeest drag you to the mat. If you haven’t tapped by the end of the first round, it’s a wrap for Alexey. Wrap-it-up, B.

Latifi is the (-175) favorite, and a TKO/KO method of victory will return (+195) odds. This is the equivalent of the odds makers just handing you money. “Here, we don’t want it.” Oleinique has lost three of his last four, and two were by TKO/KO. On the off chance Latifi slips on a banana peel in the middle of the Octagon, and Alexey taps him with an Ezekiel choke, it will return (+300) odds.

Guido Cannetti (+235) vs Randy Costa (-310)

Cannetti: DK: $7k | Costa: DK: $9.2k

The first fight of the night. Oddswise, this is an interesting fight. This is some Powerman 5000 type ish, when worlds collide. Randy Costa is the definition of a Missy Elliot one-minute man, and Guido Cannetti is only a few years away from qualifying for Medicare. Something will have to give.

Check it, Randy Costa is 6-3 for his career, and all six wins ended in the first round. His three losses all came in the second round. See where I’m going? The fight is favored to end inside one and a half rounds at (-165), and Costa is the straight up (-300) favorite. There are a few ways to play this. One, bet the over for one and a half rounds at (+125). Two, bet a Cannetti win either by points (+475) or by TKO/KO (+700).

Costa is working with a five-minute window, and Cannetti’s still deceptively fast and powerful on the feet at forty-two years old. He’s lost three of his last four, but he’s coming in off a first round TKO dub and was very competitive in a split decision loss to Mana Martinez the fight before. If he can avoid Costa’s wild limb flailing for the first five minutes, the fight will be his to lose. That’s a big if, though.

Twenty-Twen-Twen Sleepers

Twenty-Ten-Twen Sleepers

The dogs are looking extra mangy, fur matted, and rabid this week. Might want to steer clear. But I’ll never leave you without a dope beat to step to. There’s always one diamond in the rough, one seed in the Mary Jane jar.

Francisco Trinaldo (+265): This fight should be much closer than the odds suggest. I’ve seen it time and time again, someone comes into a fight against Trinaldo and underestimates him because of his age and his awkwardness on the feet. He’s not a smooth striker with crisp combinations; he’s herky-jerky, unorthodox, and awkward. Those three things are hard to prepare for because they are rarely seen in training. F!@k around with Francisco Trinaldo and find out.

Jessica Penne (+170): Penne is a seasoned vet and San Diego, CA representative with solid grappling and decent striking. She’s facing Tabatha Ricci, who's a one-trick wrestling pony. Ricci is a position over submission grappler who salts away the clock with top control, while taking little to no risks to end the fight. Penne has eight career submissions and is nifty with armbars, which come in handy when you'll more than likely end up on your back. And if the takedown well dries up and Ricci can’t score any, Pene is the better striker and will have the edge.

Pick 'Em

Ilir Latifi (-175) vs. Alexey Oleynik (+145)

Winner: Ilir Latifi

 Method: TKO Rd.2

Jessica Penne (+170) vs. Tabatha Ricci (-220)

Winner: Jessica Penne

 Method: Decision

Joaquim Silva (-145) vs. Jesse Ronson (+115)

    Winner: Joaquim Silva

 Method: TKO Rd.2

Krzysztof Jotko (-130) vs. Brendan Allen (+100)

    Winner: Krzysztof Jotko

 Method: Decision

Maxim Grishin (-175) vs. Philipe Lins (+145)

    Winner: Maxim Grishin

 Method: Decision

Julija Stoliarenko (-115) vs. Chelsea Chandler (-105)

    Winner: Chelsea Chandler

 Method: Decision

Guido Cannetti (+235) vs. Randy Costa (-310)

    Winner: Randy Costa

 Method: TKO Rd. 1

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