Written by LineStar contributor, combat sports enthusiast, and practitioner, Chris Guy. Instagram: @therealsethgeko | Twitter: @DadHallOfFamer

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Main Card

Jack Della Maddalena (-102) vs. Carlos Prates (-120)

JDM: DK: $8k | Prates: DK:$8.2k

“Don’t send your sons to finish what politicians start.” - U.S. soldier, Hamburger Hill 1969 

As Edwin Starr once said, “War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing.” The only beneficiaries of war are the dynastic families who have funded both sides of every war since America won its independence 250 years ago. Bankers, akafinanciers of death: The Rothschilds, Rockefellers, Warburgs (war is literally in their name), J.P. Morgans, Loebs, and others have had their financial fingerprints all over every major conflict since our inception. They funded the Allied and Central Powers during World War 1. They orchestrated the rise of Hitler after Germany’s defeat and later funded the Nazi war effort in World War II. Complicit with the Nazi’s atrocities were companies such as Ford Motor Company, IBM, Coca-Cola, General Motors, Chase National Bank (J.P. Morgan), and Standard Oil of New Jersey (owned by the Rockefellers). All the while, they funded the politicians who sent our grandfathers to their deaths in the hellscapes created by their lust for world domination. 

It’s important to note that not one of their sons or grandsons lost their lives during a military conflict. Conflicts that were devised in a back room on an old plantation similar to the one on Jekyll Island, Georgia, where the plans for the creation of the Federal Reserve were created. In short, they run the tab; you pay the bill; the blood is never their own. And needless to say, I am staunchly anti-war. Or... am I? 

There is one war that I fully support: Jack Della “Soul” Maddalena vs. Carlos Prates, aka The Marlboro Man. I type before you today as a reformed Neo-Con warmonger. Call me Lars Ulrich, the way I’m beating the war drums. I’ll give a speech on the House floor like Collin Powell declaring weapons of mass destruction in support of this war. I’ll even change my name to Chris Cheney. One trillion dollars? We may need a two-trillion-dollar “defense” budget for this banger.  

You'd be hard-pressed to find a better stand-up matchup than this one. You got a better chance of taking a doodie and flushing without looking at it first than this fight has of going to the mat. Which is a relief because nobody could forget JDM’s takedown defense against Islam Makhachev. Jack D went out like he drank a bottle of it and took home a Betty from the club named Kaitlyn; he couldn’t get up. Yo, DJ! Hit that Justin Gaethje: “If one man can hold you down, two can grape you.” JDM didn’t take those words to heart. Islam scored four takedowns and noineteen minutes of control time. Imagine another man holding you down for noineteen minutes. It would probably get awkward after two minutes. What would you talk about? 

“Hey, buddy. How ‘bout you let me up? I have a doctor's appointment at four.”  

JDM couldn’t get up if Sydney Sweeney was on top of him. They call that a double entendre, homies. My man didn’t even offer a courtesy oil check. At least pretend like you want to get up, Jack. The Ol’ D**k Twist, anything! Like they say: If you ain’t D**k Twisting, you ain’t trying.  

But JDM isn’t known for his grappling. He’s a striker exuding the air of a vintage 1920s boxer. I call him Della “Soul” Maddalena because the ass-whoopin’s he delivers are food for the soul. They make you feel warm and fuzzy inside. You can take one look at Jack’s nose and know he’s been throwing hands since Big Wheels and Mickey Mouse underoos. His nose is Sittin’ Sidewayz’ like Paul Wall. Sittin’ Sidewayz, nose in a daze. JDM’s nose came out of the womb broke like Gen Z.   

JDM will be on a fool’s errand against Prates. He will have to figure out how to get inside on Prates without eating a knee or left hand on the way in. JDM has to attack the body and extend combinations in the pocket.  

That won’t be easy against a man whose only loss in the UFC looked more like a win. Never forget when he beat Ian Garry so badly in the fifth round that Garry took Prates' name after the fight: Ian Machado-Prates Garry. Then he turned Geoff Neal into Jeff Neil, just some random dude who wears Venom fight shorts as swimming trunks to look bad-ass. And you can’t forget how he did Leon Edwards most recently. He left Leon doing the Maycee Barber Challenge, looking like most people on Monday mornings when the alarm goes off, and you start thinking that living in a cardboard box wouldn’t be that bad if you just didn’t go to work.   

Prates is the real-life Sagat. His special moves are Tiger Knees and Tiger Elbows. Hell, he’ll swing a damn tiger by the tail. But his best weapon is his left hand. Prates is Steph Curry with his left hand; he can’t miss. His left hand catches fire after landing three times. MF will be out there hitting half-court left hands. His left hand will leave you with more potholes than the streets of New Orleans, the pothole capital of the world. And, like guys in the ‘70s, he does everything with a cig in his mouth. When you step into the cage against Prates, you catch an ass-whoopin' and lung cancer from secondhand smoke. This MF breathes smoke like a dragon. Against JDM, Prates will have a massive advantage: range. Teeps and counter-knees will keep JDM stuck in no-man's land, where Prates can hit without getting hit. Prates has to dominate the center of the cage. The only place JDM can catch Prates and extend combinations is against the cage.   

Fantasy-wise, JDM is the higher output striker, averaging 5.5 SLpM compared to Prates’ 3.7. Be cautious with JDM, though. It will be hard to land for volume against Prates. Prates is the (-125) favorite, and JDM is the (+105) live-ass dog. JDM can stand with anybody in the division. His superior volume could win close rounds. There is value in a finish for each man, Prates early and JDM late, but I think this will go the distance. 

It was a tough card last weekend, but we’re still streaking. The main event dub streak sits at three after Aljo dominated Youssef Zalal. This week is another toss-up. JDM has the championship rub, but Prates has the reach. I just don’t know if JDM can get inside consistently on Prates without taking severe damage. Give me Carlos Prates via decision. Put it on wax.   

Props

Prates: TKO/KO (+165) Sub (+2000) Dec (+450)  

JDM: TKO/KO (+275) Sub (+1600) Dec (+300) 

Winner: Carlos Prates | Method: Decision

Beneil Dariush (+350) vs. Quillan Salkilld (-455)

Dariush: DK: $6.8k | Salkilld: DK: $9.4k

I don’t know if my heart can take another Benny Dariush devastating knockout. But at this point, my man’s chin has one ass cheek out the door as soon as he steps into the cage. Benny’s chin has an eject button. When someone presses it, a little parachute shoots out of the top of his head, and his brain floats to safety. Loud noises turn off Benny’s lights. He has a chin like The Clapper. A round of applause could kill this man. Benny’s chin can’t take a punch like Will Smith can’t take a joke. Poor Benny thought he was at amateur night at Deja Vu’s when Benoit St. Denis hit him with the shortest hook you’ve ever seen. BSD left Benny face down, ass up on the mat. People started throwing dollar bills into the cage. Yo, DJ! Quit playing and hit that Juvenile “Back That Azz Up!” Benny, you look good. Won’t you back that ass up?   

Benny’s major malfunction is that he has negative head movement, and he flies his chin on a flagpole. He turns into a possum in the pocket when punches get to whizzing by his dome; he just plays dead and waits it out, or he gets knocked out—whichever is first. Lately, he hasn’t even been lasting long enough to unleash his trademark twelve-year-old Andy Reid Punt, Pass & Kick overhand left. My man has that Uncle Rico left hand; he can throw his left hand over those mountains. However, he doesn’t have much else on his feet. That’s okay, though, because Benny is a human Rubik’s Cube on the mat.   

Benny is the Last Boy Scout because he’ll tie you in knots and earn a shiny pin for his merit sash. He’s Jeff Goldblum in The Fly on the mat. Because he sticks to you like you’re a piece of shit. As in, an actual turd. This guy will throw you in a standing crucifix. Someone could fend off vampires with your ass. I’ve seen Benny attack a knee bar and an arm bar simultaneously from the back mount. He’s only one loss away from beating Renato Moicano, a fight that Benny dominated on the mat. Benny needs to take a page from Aljo’s book and force a takedown ASAP and not mess with the stand-up at all. If he refuses to stand with Quillan Salkilld and instead ties up or level changes, he will win this fight. Salkilld isn’t a scrub on the mat, but he can’t hang with Benny. Few can.  

Yo, DJ! Hit that Cypress Hill “How I Could Just Kill A Man!” Here is something you can’t understand: How Quillan can just kill a man! Killed is in this man’s fookin’ name. His name is clever foreshadowing. Nasrat Haqparast looked like he had taken sniper fire after Salkilld head kicked him. Nasrat was an inside job; he fell at free-fall speed. Salkilld’s fights look more like assassinations. They convene an official fraudulent commission to investigate his KOs. They even set up a patsy—an MK Ultra patient—to take the fall. Salkilld’s opponents are Left 4 Dead, and we ain’t talking about video games. If he keeps the fight standing, the FBI will officially declare Salkilld a serial killer. They'll dub him the Son of Quillan. He'd have to slip on a banana peel to lose this fight on the feet.   

And Salkild isn’t too shabby on the mat. He rocks an 11-1 record with four TKOs/KOs and four subs. He submitted the Little Doodie That Could, Jamie Mullarkey, with a neck crank, in his previous bout. But there are levels to this shit like Elevators. Yo, DJ! Hit that Outkast “Elevators!” Salkilld isn’t on the same interdimensional plane as Benny when it comes to grappling. Salkilld can roll like a pair of dice, but rolling with Benny is like playing Twister with Diddy; you don’t want any part of that. Salkilld will either KO Benny in the first round or get submitted. His only loss came in his pro debut via rear-naked choke.   

Like, Whoa! Salkilld is the (-470) favorite, and Dariush is the (+360) live-ass dog. Live-ass... IDGAF! If Benny comes out shooting double legs, he will win this fight. But if he exchanges on the feet even once, he’s gonna get knocked out. But he has a path to victory. The value play for Benny is a submission. The only play for Salkilld is a TKO/KO. As I’m typing this, I don’t even know who I’m going to pick, so I’m just going to keep typing a long-ass run-on sentence that would enrage my seventh-grade Lit teacher, Mr. Curtis, who only had one arm, while I decide... I just don’t trust Benny’s chin. Quillan Salkilld via TKO, round two. On wax.   

Props

Salkilld: TKO/KO (-185) Sub (+550) Dec (+600) 

Dariush: TKO/KO (+900) Sub (+1400) Dec (+900)

Winner: Quillan Salkilld | Method: TKO Rd.2

Tim Elliott (+195) vs. Steve Erceg (-240)

Elliott: DK: $6.9k | Erceg: DK:$9.3k

Hit that Simon and Garfunkel “Sound of Silence!” Hello, darkness, my old friend.  Tim Elliot has come to talk with you again. Whenever Tim Elliott steps into the cage, the lights in the arena dim like a seance is underway. Marina Abramovich walks this MF to the ring. Exit light, enter night; Tim Elliott’s world is nothing but darkness. He’s like Riddick in Pitch Black; he’s like a damn fish at the bottom of the sea; Elliott only operates in total darkness. You have to go to a very dark place, the deepest recesses of your mind, if you want to beat Tim Elliott. Elliott is a mashup of “The Kids Aren’t Alright” and “Insane in the Brain.” Which means he has the perfect makeup for a professional prizefighter. Because something has to be a little off if you want to make a living punching and getting punched in the face.  

Tim Elliott is the kid who enjoyed burning ants with a magnifying glass and sprinkling salt on snails. He’s a real-life Huckleberry Finn, a grimy, mischievous MF who looks like he goes everywhere barefoot. The best way to describe his style is erratic, traumatic, and emphatic. And you don’t want no static. Hit that Nappy Roots “No Static!” Elliott’s style is confusing. You can’t make any sense of it, but it works. His stand-up looks like he ordered Dominick Cruz striking from the back of a cereal box. Like pop quizzes, Elliott just wings shit. He throws nothing but wild, looping overhands that create chaos. And in the ensuing chaos, Elliott uses the opportunity to level change and drag opponents into his dark world on the mat.  

Night at the Improv: Elliott just improvises on the fly. There’s no game plan other than to deliver an ass-whoopin'. But Elliott does his best work on the mat, where he has eight career submissions compared to just three TKOs/KOs. Averaging over 3.5 takedowns per fifteen minutes, Elliott is one of the most underrated grapplers in the promotion. His major malfunction doubles as one of his best attributes: pace. Elliott never stops flailing around. But his madness has a method. At least until he gasses. He pushes a heavy pace that he can’t possibly keep for fifteen minutes. When Elliot gets got, it’s usually late in fights. Against Steve Erceg, Elliott just needs to throw on the tin foil gladiator helmet and turn into Professor Chaos. Turn on the water spigot and watch the world slowly drown. He can win this fight on the mat by taking advantage of Erceg’s 62% takedown defense.   

But Erceg is no crumb bum on the mat. This could come down to who gets the first takedown. Elliott’s defensive grappling isn’t as potent as his offensive grappling. He rocks a 59% takedown defense. Elliott has been finished seven times in his career, and six came via submission. Never forget that Erceg was five minutes away from beating Alexandre Pantoja for the belt. An errant takedown attempt to start the fifth round cost him gold. Erceg had a Lin Sanity-like fifteen minutes of fame to start his UFC career. After just three UFC fights, he fought Toja Cat for the title. That’s like Kurt Warner going from bagging groceries to playing in the fookin' Super Bowl. Homie had a Hawk Tua rise to fame. He even had his own meme coin and an official rug pull on its investors.   

Hit that “Lose Yourself!” Snap back to reality... After the Toja fight, Erceg came crashing down to earth like a space shuttle pod dropped out of the cargo hold of a high-altitude plane. He went on to lose three in a row until he stopped the bleeding with a decision dub over Ode Osbourne. And Erceg was nearly KO’d in the opening minute of that fight. Erceg used to wear a wire like Altuve in the World Series; he was an undercover, unassuming savage. But recently, his striking was exposed. Erceg is a Sadie Hawkins striker; you have to invite him to the dance. You gotta pick him up and pick up the dinner tab. You even have to pin a boutonnière on this MF. He’s a staunch counter-striker who struggles when he has to initiate the exchanges. Erceg counters as if he has been waiting for this moment all his life. DJ! Hit that “In the Air Tonight!” 

Erceg will be the (-370) favorite, and Elliott will be the disrespected (+285) live-ass dog. Erceg is the favorite because his striking is far more technical than Elliott’s. Elliott’s best chance to steal this fight will be during transitions on the mat. He can catch Erceg slipping during the wild grappling exchanges that will surely ensue. If you’re betting this fight, it’s dog-or-pass. The value is in a Tim Elliott upset. Erceg hasn’t put a complete performance together since beating Matt Schnell earned him the title shot. Elliott has to finish this fight. A decision favors Erceg and his superior technical striking. My reluctance to pick Elliott is his cardio late in fights. He fades. But I may be putting my money where my mouth isn’t. Steve Erceg via decision. Put it on wax. 

Props

Erceg: TKO/KO (+900) Sub (+450) Dec (-110)

Elliott: TKO/KO (+1100) Sub (+800) Dec (+400)

Winner: Steve Erceg | Method: Decision

Shamil Gaziev (+120) vs. Brando Pericic (-140)

Gaziev: DK: $7.8k | Pericic: DK: $8.4k

This is where the card starts getting ugly. I’m talking reflections in Li Jingliang’s mirror type of ugly. Side Note: Where is Li Jingliang? Shamil Gaziev, aka The Round Mound of Throwdown, is built like a Food Network star. This guy’s fights are like Nat Geo wilderness documentaries. The bell rings, and this guy mauls you like the bear that ate Leo DiCaprio’s ass. Where Are They Now? Gaziev is the bear that wrestled Khabib when Khabib was a kid. Fast forward, and now Gaziev is getting knocked out by Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Waldo Cortez. And don’t look now, but another power striker lurks on the horizon. 

But don’t get it twisted; even though he’s built like Tony Soprano, Gaziev will beat you like dads in the ‘80s. He won’t hesitate to whoop your ass anywhere: While you’re sitting in the back seat on the way to church, in the tool section at Sears, or in the dugout after you struck out for the third time with the ball on a tee. And for a guy built like DJ Khaled, Gaziev has decent cardio. His best weapon is pressure, using aggressive combinations to force you against the cage and drag you to the mat. Noine of his fourteen career dubs came in the first round. When he wins, he wins early. All the while being built like the Mucinex booger. 

“Marlon” Brando Pericic will be stepping into the cage after spending less than two minutes inside the Octagon in each of his first two UFC bouts. All six of his career dubs came in the first round. This guy isn’t a striker; he just swings. He swings like pineapple shirts and Carnival cruises—swings like underdogs at the park. While Gaziev is built like Homer on disability, Pericic is built like a Minecraft character with a big-ass cube head. It’s impossible to swing and miss this guy’s head. It looks like Pericic could wear the hats outside Angel's stadium.   

Pericic rocks a 100% finishing rate with five TKOs/KOs and one sub. When this guy throws hands, your life flashes before your eyes. Left hook: You’re two years old, peeing on Santa’s lap. Right hook: You’re getting thrown out at first base on Prom Night. Overhand right: It’s 4th and 1, and Romo goes deep to Dez Bryant for the go-ahead tuddy, but the refs call the pass incomplete, and your neighbors call the fire department because you burned all your Cowboy paraphernalia in a giant makeshift bonfire in your backyard. The biggest knock against Pericic is his strength of schedule. He’s been fighting nothing but truckers in Buc-ee's parking lots. And he only has seven career fights. The only question that matters is whether he can defend a takedown. Unfortunately, I don’t know. I don’t think he’s even had to defend one yet.   

Pericic is the (-140) favorite, and Gaziev is the (+115) live dog. If Gaziev stands and bangs, he will get knocked out... again. If he fights to his strength and stays committed to wrestling, he has a shot to pull off the upset. He can’t get drawn into an ego battle on the feet. Which he is susceptible to doing. The play for Pericic is a TKO/KO. I think Gaziev will have to win the hard way, establishing top control for the better part of fifteen minutes. Fantasy-wise, Pericic will be all-or-nothing. He will either get an early finish or spend significant time on his back. Gaziev averages only 2.6 SLpM and fewer than one takedown per 15 minutes. He’s a walking Fantasy bust without a finish. Brando Pericic via TKO, round one. On wax. 

Props

Pericic: TKO/KO (+250) Sub (+1400) Dec (+215)  

Gaziev: TKO/KO (+1000) Sub (+500) Dec (+240)

Winner: Brando Pericic| Method: Decision

Jacob Malkoun (-1100) vs. Gerald Meerschaert (+700)

Malkoun: DK: $9.8k | GM3: DK: $6.4k

“Hey, Gerald. Did you shit your pants, pawtna?” 

“No, it’s just a Meerschaert, homie.” 

The submission hoarder is back. Gerald Meerschaert lives in a House of 1000 Submissions. He still has subs from twenty years ago lying around. His neighbors called the city because of all the rusty old subs lying around in his front yard. Theywere an eyesore and decreasing the value of the surrounding properties. Gerald has more career submissions than your grandpappy could shake a stick at. He’s the Elon Musk of submissions. Meerschaert has twenty-noine career subs and thirty-five finishes in thirty-seven career dubs.   

The problem is that Gerald has been stuck on twenty-noine for as long as the Cowboys have been stuck on five Super Bowl victories. Gerald has lost four straight fights since submitting Edmen Shahbazyan in 2024. The only thing he has come close to submitting since then is his retirement papers. Right now, Gerald couldn’t submit a corrupt politician if Gerald were wearing a full-body latex suit and wielding a tasselly equestrian whip. The only thing Gerald loves more than submitting people is being submitted. He has an orthodontist-made ball gag and fuzzy pink handcuffs for such occasions. Gerald has twenty-one career losses, and ten came via submission.   

Gerald’s major malfunction is that he has Mackenzie Dern takedowns. Or maybe Mackenzie Dern has Gerald Meerschaert takedowns. He’s a submission artist who can’t get the fight to the mat. And on his feet, Gerald has those Grapes of Delight hands—those couldn’t squash a grape hands. He literally can’t turn grapes into wine on his feet. Gerald will have to win this fight from his back. Because Jacob Malkoun will sell out for takedowns. Meerschaerts rocks a 42% takedown defense. Only Malkoun’s is worse at 33%. Whoever slips on a banana peel first will lose.  

Yo, DJ! Hit that Boyz II Men “End of the Road!” Because it’s the end of the road for Gerald if he can’t beat Malkoun. Stepping off an escalator is more dangerous than this guy. Malkoun ferments on the mat. He’ll turn your ass into 190-proof moonshine from the top position. That shit that will have you going blind, looking like Van Damme when Chong Li threw baby powder in his eyes. His path to victory is always as perilous as Mad Max: Fury Road, with spray paint huffing psychos using pole vaults to lob Molotov cocktails through the sunroof. Or are they moonroofs? Malkoun has to wrestle for fifteen minutes without coming up for air. And that’s difficult to do even for the highest-level wrestlers. 

 The biggest knock against Malkoun is his lack of finishes. He couldn’t finish a Dr. Seuss book. He couldn’t finish if he had a mouthful of 7-11 pills, the ones that spin on the little carousel next to the register. You could find better finishers at a fertility clinic. Malkoun is 9-3 with three TKOs/KOs. Malkoun is the (-1200) favorite, and that isn’t a typo. Gerald is the (+700) live-ish dog. Malkoun shouldn’t be a (-1200) favorite over anybody reading this. These odds are wild; they’re howling at the moon. Gerald can submit anybody who isn’t elite. And Malkoun isn’t close to elite. The only play for this fight is a Meerschaert submission. Malkoun will most likely win a decision. But Gerald will definitely be worthy of a submission prop sprinkle. But at the end of the day, when it’s all said and done, Gerald can’t be trusted. Jacob Malkoun via decision. Wax on, wax off. 

Props

Malkoun: TKO/KO (+110) Sub (+275) Dec (+225)  

Meerschaert: TKO/KO (+3000) Sub (+2000) Dec (+1400)

Winner: Jacob Malkoun | Method: Decision

Prelims

$7k Value Menu

Dom Mar Fan ($7.4k): Lately, the Value Menu has been getting uglier and uglier. You will have to scratch and claw for points this week. Dom Mar Fan made his way to the UFC through the Road to UFC series. In his official debut, Fan scored noinety-two Fantasy points after landing noinety-noine significant strikes. This guy is sneaky good. His cardio is excellent, and he never stops throwing strikes or level changing. There are no holes in this guy’s game. He’s just an awkward, unassuming fighter who looks like an easy out but is anything but. His opponent, the highly touted Kody Steele, shit the bed and rolled around in it in his debut last year. Steele looked every kind of overrated. I expected the world from him, and he handed me Needles, CA. I can’t believe Dom Mar Fan is the underdog. Steele is a classic vanilla wrestler striker. If he can’t dominate Fan on the mat, I think Fan will cause him fits on the feet.   

Robert Bryczek ($7.3): I went to bat for this guy, declaring him a future title contender, before his UFC debut. Of course, he went on to make me look like a complete Moe Ron in his debut against low-level talent. But then he came back and TKO’d Brad Tavares in his sophomore effort. And I have a lot of respect for Brad Tavares. Bryczek is a huge power puncher. Like Nate Dogg, Bryczek is all hooks. He’s a hooker and we ain’t talking about ladies of the night. I’m not sold on Bryczek’s opponent, Cameron Rowston. Rowston is very hittable. He has dangerous striking, but he lacks defensive prowess. Rowston holds his chin high during every exchange, and it’s only a matter of time until someone clips his chin. Bryczek could be that guy. My only apprehension about Bryczek is his ground game; I haven’t seen it. If he can stay upright, I think he will have a good chance to finish Rowston. Bryczek is one of the few finishing threats on the Value Menu this week.  

Shamil Gaziev ($7.8k): If Gaziev wrestles, he can beat Brando Pericic. No one has seen Pericic’s grappling. If he stands and bangs with Pericic, he will get knocked out. Gaziev’s two UFC losses came against pure strikers like Brando. But Gaziev’s last name ends in “ev.” These guys come out of the womb wearing singlets and ASIC Mat Flex shoes. Gaziev is a pressure fighter; he uses excessive aggression to force opponents against the cage, where he can clinch and drag them to the mat. Eliminating space is the key for Gaziev. If he can get in Pericic’s chest and make him fight in close quarters, Gaziev can rack up control time on the mat. But if he can’t immediately get Pericic to the mat, Gaziev will be a Fantasy bust. 

 $6k Clearance Rack  

Tim Elliott ($6.9): The Clearance Rack looks more appetizing than the Value Menu this week. All three options have paths to victory. Unfortunately, all three can’t be trusted. Benny Dariush can dominate his matchup on the mat. But his chin is a major liability. I think Tim Elliott will give you a full fifteen minutes. And I think he has the best chance of pulling off the upset against Steve Erceg. Elliott is a wild card on the mat. Erceg may be a more technical grappler, but Elliott creates chaos. His wrestling and submission game is highly underrated. Elliot has twenty-one UFC bouts over two stints. He is an OG in this game. He has faced every big name in the division since debuting against John Dodson in 2012. Elliott will be outmatched technically on the feet, but don’t sleep on his wild striking. He throws shit against the wall to see if it sticks. It’s hard to prepare for a free spirit in the cage like Tim Elliott. I think he has an outside chance of snatching Erceg’s neck during grappling transitions.  

Twenty-Twen-Twen Sleepers

Dom Mar Fan (+175): This pick is based on my lack of confidence in Kody Steele after his miserable debut last year. He entered the fight with Rong Zhu heavily favored, but failed to show up. He showed me absolutely nothing in that fight. I know Dom Mar Fan will fight for my money. And Fan is from Australia, where walking to the end of your driveway to check the mail can turn into a life-or-death situation. Wild dingoes, roided kangaroos, spiders the size of German Shepherds; what’s fighting a Kody (with a K) compared to that? Fan can outwork Kody for fifteen minutes. My only reservation is his takedown defense, but I have confidence in his ability to force scrambles. If he can defend one or two attempts, Kody will relent to a kickboxing match. And Fan is the far more diverse striker.   

Tim Elliott (+265): You will have to take some shots on some heavy dogs this week. Tim Elliott is fookin' good. Don’t let the Huckleberry Finn look fool you. My man looks like Cletus Spuckler's offspring. But don’t get it twisted, he will turn you into road kill real quick if you get to thinking shit’s sweet. Other than Tatsuro Taira and Alexandre Pantoja, there’s nobody Elliott can’t out-grapple. Elliott is the most dangerous during transitions on the mat. That’s when he can snatch Erceg’s neck. He will be outclassed on the feet, but that’s okay. On his feet, Elliott is nothing but windmills like little Dutch towns. But he’s aggressive, and you have to respect his wild punches, or you will get caught. Elliott will come out dancing like a happy drunk, hitting angles like Snoop and Dre hit switches. It’s easy to get hypnotized by Elliott's gyrating and shimmying. If Erceg freezes up, Elliott will put him on his back and get to work. I like playing Elliot for a submission. A decision favors the better striker, Erceg.  

Beneil Dariush (+345): If Dariush stands and trades for even ten seconds, he could get knocked out. Most likely by a head kick. But he is only one fight removed from dominating Money Moicano. If Dariush uses the same game plan, he can grapple rhombuses around Quillan Salkilld. Never forget the time that Benny out-grappled Mateusz Gamrot. There are levels to this shit, and Salkilld ain’t at Benny’s level on the mat. The problem is, Benny isn’t on Salkilld’s level on the feet. At least not anymore. There was a day when Benny had underrated striking. His left hand was a number one Stunna. But his chin has all the durability of Ikea furniture. If Benny treats this as a grappling match, he will dominate Salkilld on the mat. Might even fookaround and submit the young buck. That’s a whole lot of big “IF’s,” though.   

Pick ‘Em

Tai Tuivasa (-200) vs. Louie Sutherland (+170) 

Winner: Tai Tuivasa 

Method: TKO Rd.1 

Cameron Rowston (-175) vs. Robert Bryczek (+150)  

Winner: Cameron Rowston 

Method: Decision 

Junior Tafa (-210) vs. Kevin Christian (+175)  

Winner: Junior Tafa  

Method: TKO Rd.2 

Colby Thicknesse (-130) vs. Vince Morales (+110) 

Winner: Colby Thicknesse 

Method: Decision 

Ben Johnston (-150) vs. Wesley Schultz (+130)   

Winner: Wesley Shultz 

Method: Rear-Naked Choke Rd.2 

Marwan Rahiki ( ) vs. Oliver Schmid ( )   

Winner: Marwan Rahiki

Method: Decision 

Jonathan Micallef (-240) vs. Themba Gorimbo (+200)  

Winner: Jonathan Micallef 

Method: Decision 

Dom Mar Fan (+175) vs. Kody Steele(-210)  

Winner: Dom Mar Fan 

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.