We're Back With Another LineStar Weekly Knockout!

Written by LineStar contributor, combat sports enthusiast and practitioner, Chris Guy. More about me at the end of this newsletter.

Instagram: @therealsethgeko

Main Card

Thiago Santos (-250) vs. Glover Teixeira (+195)

Santos: $8.8k, FD: $21 | Teixeira: DK: $7.4k, FD: $14

The witnesses stated there were three assailants; a trio of disembodied half faces masked from the nose down. Expertly choreographed, the assault was brief, carried out with military precision almost before anyone could ascertain the goings-on. Two broke off to either side, flanking the victim as they entered the cage, briefly drawing his attention away from the third mercenary who stepped in with staggered timing and blocked the only means of escape. The man was said to be smiling despite not displaying any discernible lower facial features, truly revealing at the moment like someone enjoying a favorite pastime.

Armed only with the ability to steal a man’s dreams and everything he’s worked and sacrificed for, the three made their demands known and met little resistance. Defiance was useless; their power was palpable, and their decisions, universally accepted as final. The victim, Thiago Santos, 21-7 with fifteen KO’s, complied immediately. He relinquished the championship belt he earned but never had a chance to touch.

Synchronized, as if cued by an unarticulated gesture, the two flanking assailants retreated to the cage’s opening, never taking their eyes off the would-be Light Heavyweight Champion. The third lingered a moment longer, basking in the economy of his handiwork and adding insult to the two torn ACL’s Santos suffered during the fight. He lifted his right hand in a closed fist, the back of his hand facing Santos, and made a cranking motion with his left hand as if winding a jack in the box. Slowly, his middle finger rose until it was fully extended, and he waved it back and forth melodically before backpedaling out of the cage, bewilderment the only evidence of their presence left behind at the scene.

This Saturday, Thiago Santos will return to the Octagon a little over a year after the judges robbed him against Jon jones and after recovering from two knee reconstructions. Instead of one of two scenarios, unifying his belt against the Interim Champ, Jan Blachowicz, or defending his undisputed belt in a rematch against Jon Jones, Santos will be looking to scrawl in cursive the wrongs done unto him in June of 2019.

Before his title fight with Bones Jones, Santos was on a four-fight winning streak and coming off a TKO victory over the now Champion, Jan Blachowicz. In the fight against Jones, Santos tore the ACL’s in both of his knees and fought compromised from the second round on. He went the full five rounds, and on every scorecard in the world except the three that mattered, he won rounds one, two, and the deciding fifth.

Santos is a power striker with a heart as big as the hammer tatted on his chest and never lacks for aggression. He has wide, round punches and powerful kicks that he throws in combination with his hands. Calf kicks slowed Jon Jones early in their title fight, and Santos used them to open up opportunities to land his wide hooks. Santos can fight from both stances, and when he decides to blitz, you better get out of the way; just take a lap around the cage until he simmers down. Spinning and flying attacks are in play for Santos, and he’s best known for extreme aggression, the only exception being the Jones fight, which Santos approached far more technically and cautiously.

Glover Teixeira is a man whose UFC career was postponed due to Visa issues, but whose name was always whispered of fondly within the inner circles of MMA secret societies. The Pit was the famed home gym of the legend Chuck Liddell, and Glover was one of Chuck’s main training partners. Chuck attached the moniker, future champ to Glover’s name, and with it, hardcore MMA fans attached lofty expectations.

Glover, too, fought Jon Jones for the Light heavyweight title in 2014 but was severely compromised, like Thiago Santos was, in the first round when Bones locked in a shoulder crank while pressing Glover against the cage. Like Santos, Glover went the allotted five rounds against the man many consider to be the GOAT (but not me).

A mostly pure boxer while on the feet, with power in both hands, Glover can also drag opponents to the mat and dominate with heavy top pressure. He’s durable, but as is a prerequisite for the description, he takes a lot of damage. Footwork and head movement are not Glover’s strengths, but he does wade forward with heavy hooks and has a stiff jab to work behind. Glover shines on the ground after he presses his opponents against the fence and drags them there, where he beats on them with closed fists and the points of his elbows. Ask Ion Cutelaba and Anthony Smith how that goes; Smith can tell you a story about how Glover apologized to him for whooping his ass mid-ass-whooping.

Both fighters have a moderate output, Santos averaging almost four and a half significant strikes landed per minute and Glover at almost four. Glover’s style will allow him to grind Santos like Jon Jones style couldn’t; he can make it ugly and force Santos to spend energy fighting in the clinch and defending takedowns. Santos will want to stay on the outside and beat up Glover’s legs with the low calf kick, choosing his openings wisely and timing his wild blitzes accordingly. He needs to pressure Glover while not over pursuing and running into takedowns. If Santos does find himself on his back, he needs to force scrambles, and like the Wu-Tang Clan said on track ten of 36 Chambers, Protect Ya Neck!

If this fight goes the full five rounds, I think Glover will walk away as the number one contender. He will be next in line for the winner of the recently announced Champ vs. Champ Light Heavyweight title fight, Israel Adesanya vs. Jan Blachowicz. Glover's best chance of finishing the fight is with grinding ground and pound and a choke finish.

Thiago has to test Glover’s suspect chin early and often; Glover has been KO’d before and has been wobbled on his feet in almost every fight. If Santos can make it a wild scrap and tries to end it early with heavy hand and kick combinations, he will find himself in a position to capture the belt that three incompetent judges stole from him a year ago. On wax, Thiago Santos via TKO, round two.

Winner: Thiago Santos | Method: TKO Rd.2

Andrei Arlovski (+230 ) vs. Tanner Boser (-300)

Arlovski: DK: $7.3k, FD: $10 | Boser: DK: $8.9k, FD: $21

In the year 2000, I was a junior in high school. I drove a 1987 Chevy Betty Slayer (aka Monte Carlo SS), rocked bleach blonde hair like a going out of business Justin Timberlake, and wore a pager on my hip with a pocket full of quarters in my corduroy cargo shorts, so I could check my messages on payphones. That same year Andrei Arlovski made his debut at UFC 28 High Stakes; they were still giving each event names like it was the WWF. This Saturday will be Arlovski’s thirty-second fight with the promotion, and there’s no doubt in my mind that the two-time Heavyweight Champion believes he still has what it takes to win the belt for the third time.

Unfortunately, he never will, but he’s still a legend, and the year 2020 will continue to be a farewell tour for the sport’s greatest fighters. Andrei just doesn’t have it anymore. It, the intangible talent that separates the good from the great. The biggest difference between 2000 Arlovski and 2010 Arlovski and 2020 Arlovski, is his chin, and his diminished hand speed. The hunger and love for the sport hasn’t wavered even slightly. When he steps into the cage against Tanner Boser, he’s going to be at a huge disadvantage in almost every category except for experience.

Tanner is the young up-and-comer with a pep in his step and fire in his hands. He’s small for the division and moves like a middleweight. Angles, angles, angles; it’s all about angles, and Tanner is constantly hitting angles with lateral movement and throws his hooks at odd ones. Tanner has the hand speed that Arlovski lost before Tanner even began fighting. The only way Tanner loses this fight is if he shows the legend too much respect and is lulled into a slow-paced, one-punch back and forth, I-hit-you-now-you-hit-me type of fight.

Chuck Liddell had an iron chin before he was KO'd by Rashad Evans. After Evans turned off his lights that night, you could flip the switch if you stared at it long enough. Arlovski’s switch is just as flimsy and has been known to go down from the breeze generated by a missed punch. This is a bad fight for The Pit Bull, and I hope I’m wrong, but give me Tanner Boser via TKO, round two.

Winner: Tanner Boser | Method: TKO Rd.2

Raoni Barcelos (-370 ) vs Khalid "Another One" Taha (+280)

Barcelos: DK: $9.1k, FD: $23 | Taha: DK:$7.1k, FD: $8

A fight of the night candidate right here, pitting two polar opposite striking styles against each other. All you need to know about Barcelos is that in his last fight, he beat a fighter with the last name Nurmagomedov. In a highly entertaining fight against the highly touted Said Nurmagomedov last December, Barcelos was a step ahead on the feet and in the grappling exchanges. He has Jose Aldo-like leg kicks and tight, technical boxing. Pedro Rizzo is an OG UFC fighter who is known for being one of the greatest leg kickers ever; he is Barcelo's head coach and has instilled his leg kicking chops in Barcelos. He counters punches with low kicks and hides them behind his hands when he initiates the exchange.

You gotta be careful when you're watching Khalid Taha fight, or you may mess around and catch a secondhand knockout while sitting on your Ikea futon. He’s got power for weeks in his right hand, nasty leg kicks, and he vaguely reminds me of Cody Garbrandt. Barcelos will have to be careful not to get caught in a firefight with Taha, or he’ll wake up backstage in jammies, tucked in snug as a bug in a rug with a warm bah-bah.

A red flag for Taha is his ground game, particularly off his back. Although he is tough to take down, he was held down for an entire round in his last fight against Bruno Silva. He went on to sub Silva in the third, but Bruno gassed, and Taha took advantage with heavy ground and pound. For a guy who out grappled a Nurmagomedov, the path to victory is clear for Barcelos, take Taha down, and hunt for his neck. Give me Raoni Barcelos via rear-naked choke, round two.

Winner: Raoni Barcelos | Method: Rear-naked Choke Rd.2

Ian Heinisch (-115) vs. Brendan Allen (-115)

Heinisch: DK: $7.8k, FD: $17 | Allen: DK: $8.4k, FD: $15

This is a banger and should be a very competitive fight with some violent exchanges on the feet and the ground. Ian Heinisch is a huge power puncher with solid wrestling and is 4-2 in the UFC. His gas tank is a little suspect, but he carries his KO power until the final bell. Two months before he was one-upped by Khamzat Chimaev’s ten-second KO of Gerald Meerschaert, Heinisch KO’d Meerschaert in one minute. He moves well laterally, uses leg kicks and front kicks to the body, and has a heavy overhand right.

Brendan Allen is a problem; he’s a solid all-around fighter and is the proverbial dark horse in the division. Allen has three wins in the UFC, including a second-round submission win over Kevin Holland, and competed on the Contender Series. He shines on the ground, with excellent top control and relentless ground and pound. In his last fight in June, he fought Chris Daukaus’s brother Kyle who gave Allen all he could handle in a very close decision victory. That fight featured back and forth scrambles and clinical ground striking from both fighters.

Heinisch is the more active striker on the feet, and Allen tends to rely on ground striking as the primary source of his significant strikes landed. The odds haven't been set, but I expect Allen to be a slight favorite. The key to the fight will be takedowns and who can secure them. Heinisch is the more dangerous striker on the feet, but he’ll want to stifle Allen’s takedown attempts with the threat of his own. On wax, Brendan Allen via rear-naked choke, round three.

Winner: Brendan Allen | Method: Rear-naked choke Rd.3

Claudia Gadelha (+110 ) vs Yan Xiaonan (-140)

Gadelha: DK: $7.9k, FD: $15 | Xiaonan: DK: $8.3k, FD: $17

Xiaonan Yan is going to be a future title challenger, and Claudia Gadelha will be playing a gatekeeper role on Saturday night. This fight is more about introducing a new name into the title mix than it is about a former title challenger and perennial top-five fighter making another run.

Claudia Gadelha used to be a better Jessica Andrade, but now Jessica Andrade is a better Claudia Gadelha. Claudia has lost a step, likely due to engaging in wars over the years, but her wrestling is still good enough to be competitive with anyone in the division. She stood by and watched Angela Hill get robbed by the judges in her last fight back in May, and is riding a two-fight winning streak. Her hands have slowed, and her standup isn’t as dangerous as it once was, and she’ll definitely look to implement a wrestling-heavy game plan against Yan.

This is a formal invitation for Xiaonan Yan to come train at the Thunderdome. If I can teach her how to roll off her punches and step off at angles to avoid counters while getting her head off centerline, she can be the champ someday. She tends to string together long combos while standing directly in front of her opponent and exits the pocket straight back with her head straight up.

Xiaonan has some small holes, but her standup is high-level. Teeps, front kicks, and sidekicks are the most underutilized strikes in MMA. Yan uses sidekicks like jabs and can disrupt her opponent’s forward pressure and timing. When a fighter throws sidekicks to the face rather than just to the body, you know they are particularly vicious and enjoy inflicting damage. Yan throws sidekicks galore to the face at the end of her punch combinations. She is difficult to take down and also has good grappling and initiates scrambles from her back.

At six significant strikes landed per minute and averaging over one hundred per fight, Yan is a solid pick for your roster even without a finish. She has excellent cardio and maintains a high output throughout. Claudia can win this fight but hasn’t had a finish in three years. Her low output is tough to justify a roster spot with other fighters like Trevin Giles and Ian Heinisch in her tier. Xiaonan Yan via decision.

Winner: Xiaonan Yan | Method: Decision

Prelims

Trevin Giles (-115 ) vs. Bevon Lewis (-115 )

Giles: DK: $8k, FD: $16 | Lewis: DK: $8.2k, FD: $16

This should be an entertaining fight. Trevin Giles is a power puncher with a stiff jab and wrestling in his back pocket if he finds himself at odds in the standup. He can get sloppy when he gets over aggressive, dropping his hands and throwing punches from his waist and reaching back for extra power, like the Bears’ Javon Wims when he sucker-punched the Saints’ C.J. Gardner-Johnson last Sunday. Giles has a sneaky, quick right hand and has less output than Lewis, but I think he has more power than Lewis. What Giles will be lacking in the standup, technically, he can make up with his wrestling; he has a strong top game and stays busy with ground and pound.

Bevon Lewis is a sound kickboxer with dexterous rear leg kicks. He almost exclusively uses his power side to throw teeps, round kicks to the legs and body, and he uses a nifty question mark kick—feints a low kick and comes high all in one smooth motion. One of my favorite techniques is the double jab; it’s an excellent way to close the distance and catch someone slippin’ when they’re trying to counter over the top. Lewis doubles up his jab and works combos off it, and disrupts his opponent’s timing and rhythm with peppering kicks. Watch for him to throw a same-side right hand/right head kick combination, a high-level technique, and very effective for sneaking in a devastating blow.

If this stays standing, Lewis can outpoint Giles from the outside, and if Giles doesn’t get sucked into an exclusive kickboxing match, he can win with takedowns and top control. I don’t see either fighter posting high fantasy numbers; they’re not high volume fighters and aren’t big finishers. On wiz-ax, Trevin Giles via decision.

Winner: Trevin Giles | Method: Decision

Giga Chikadze (-600) vs. Jamey Simmons (+400 )

Chikadze: $9.3k: , FD: TBD | Simmons: $6.9k: , FD:TBD

Chikadze is a veteran of the Glory Kickboxing organization and challenged for the featherweight title twice. Giga is a master of managing distance, similar to Stylebender, and even finishes combos with imaginary Hadouken's. No joke, he throws Hadoukens mid-fight.

Orthodox or southpaw, Chikadze can throw any kick ever invented from either stance and is perpetual lateral movement personified. He fights with his hands low and uses footwork to avoid strikes, and in his fight against Irwin Rivera, he showed solid takedown defense. He’s coming off a dominant win over the heavy puncher, Omar Morales, about a month ago. This matchup is a late addition to the card, and I imagine the UFC is slowly trying to test Chikadze’s all-around game with a debuting wrestler.

I was only able to find a single one-minute fight for James Krause-Simmons, and he appears to have a wrestling-dominant style with wrestler striking, power crosses, and heavy hooks. If he doesn’t come right out at the bell and shoot a double leg on Giga, he may get KO’d in the opening minutes.

Giga, Giga, and more Giga. Give me Giga Chikadze via TKO, round two. I think he’ll be elusive and difficult to take down while landing kicks from head to toe on Simmons. He will demand a super-max contract this Saturday if you intend to add him to your roster, coming in as the highest cap hit at $9,300. He doesn’t have a finish in the UFC in four fights, but that streak may end here.

Winner: Giga Chikadze | Method: TKO Rd.2

Alexander Romanov (-350 ) vs. Marcos de Lima (+265 )

Romanov: DK: $9k, FD: $22 | de Lima: $7.2k, FD: $9

Marcos de Lima, clear your browser history, my man, in case you don’t make it back to the hotel after the fight. Alexander Romanov is a couple of days late for Halloween, but he’s still a monster. This guy is fun to watch and comes out looking to catch a body and a life sentence when he fights. He starts fights shot out of a cannon, rushing across the cage shooting Goldberg spears across the cage. He has excellent slams and belly-to-back suplexes and aggressive, heavy ground and pound.

Marcos De Lima wants to get this fight… IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT MARCOS DE LIMA WANTS!!! Alexander Romanov via TKO, round one.

Winner: Alexander Romanov | Method: TKO Rd.1

Darren Elkins (-235 ) vs. Eduardo Garagorri (+185 )

Elkins: $8.7k, FD: $19 | Garagorri: DK: $7.5k, FD: $11

This is my runner-up for the fight of the night. Like apparitions, Chupacabra, and the Loch Ness Monster, a boring Darren Elkins fight doesn't exist. Elkins is eighty-one years old in fight years and has thin skin. I don’t mean he can’t take a joke; he’s tear-able, rip-able, and tends to start bleeding at the glove touch before round one. He never stops throwing strikes and moving forward, never stops scrambling when on the mat, and never stops competing even when it appears he’s out of the fight. He takes heaps of punishment in every fight and has only been finished three times in twenty-two UFC fights, and those were all by elite fighters.

I like to make comparisons for little known fighters to more household type names; Luiz Garagorri reminds me of Eddie Wineland in his WEC prime days. He carries his hands low and uses dual stance attacks. He is a right-hand dominant southpaw, which means he looks to throw his right hand more than his left when he is goofy-footed. Everything he throws is with power, even his counters; he likes to wait on his opponent to throw first before sliding out of the pocket and firing off one-twos. He is tough to get down to the mat and hold down, and he forces scrambles from his back, and that’s exactly what he’ll need to do against Elkins.

Like Max Griffin, I think Elkins is overvalued at $8,700, and I’ll take my chances with Garagorri at the introductory price of $7,500. Luiz Garagorri via decision, on wax.

Winner: Luiz Garagorri | Method: Decision

Max "Peter" Griffin (-150) vs. Ramiz Brahimaj (+120)

Griffin: DK: $8.6k, FD: $19 | Brahimaj: DK: $7.7k, FD: $12

Max Griffin is a serviceable fighter who’s long but not rangy. If you look at his size and long frame, you’d think he’d be a nightmare matchup for anyone, but he just doesn’t use those attributes very well. He pushes his punches rather than snapping them from the shoulders, and when he gets caught exchanging in the pocket, he usually gets the raw end of the deal. He has courtesy takedowns tucked in his waistband accompanied by very average grappling.

With only footage from one fight from back in 2018 to work with, there’s not much I can tell you about Ramiz Brahimaj other than he’s going to win this fight. He will implement a wrestling-heavy game plan and will deploy his hands and elbows to storm the entire terrain on max’s face from the top. Ramiz is 8-2 with all eight wins coming by submission, and seven of his eight wins have all come in the first round. I didn’t see much of his striking because he comes right out and shoots, but he looks to use power punches to close the distance.

This stinks of a trap fight for Griffin, and the crab people who set the salary cap prices for DraftKings are overvaluing Griffin at $8,600. Brahimaj is a steal at $7,700 and a definite sleeper. When the odds come out, I expect Griffin to be the favorite due to name recognition alone. Give me Ramiz Brahimaj via rear-naked choke, round two, and give me a little twenty-twen-twen on Brahimaj, too.

Winner: Ramiz Brahimaj | Method: Rear-naked choke Rd.2

Gustavo Lopez ( ) vs. Anthony Birchak ( )

Lopez: DK: TBD, FD: TBD | Birchak: DK: TBD, FD: TBD

Anthony Birchak is a late replacement and making his debut on less than a week's notice. Birchak is 16-6, with eight submission victories to his name. Gustavo Lopez made his debut in June against the future title challenger Merab Dvalishvili and was surprisingly competitive throughout the fight. For that reason alone, I’m taking Gustavo Lopez on a Mad-Eye Moody half-blind pick. Gustavo Lopez via decision.

Winner: Gustavo Lopez | 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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