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

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Main Card

Brandon Royval (+225) vs. Manel Kape (-280)

Royval: DK: $7k | Kape: DK:$9.2k

About last night... I can barely recognize my city twenty-four hours after Petr Yan rid its streets of Merab Copium. I almost got lost walking to 7-11 without a trail of liquid doodie to follow. Within hours of Petr Yan’s hand getting raised, urban camping came to an end. The once-bustling tent cities vanished overnight, like a modern lost civilization. The people crowding every sidewalk like rush hour traffic—their last moments immortalized in suspended animation like those in Pompei who were caught unawares by a raging flow of lava and left eternally immortalized in casts of hardened lava—migrated elsewhere much like Americans in the Rust Belt in the 1920s.  

Today, the bantamweight division celebrates one week of sobriety. But given how unstoppable Petr Yan looked against Merab, it won’t be long before the world is addicted to hating him as they once did Merab. Because that’s just how the world works. Although people strive for it, they tend to hate greatness when they see it. The only downside: No more cheeseburgers in exchange for a little Merab Copium.   

Now back to regularly scheduled programming. Here we are: The final card of 2025. And the main event is a crunchy little banger. With Toja Cat going down last weekend, the new champ, Joshua Van, could see the winner of this fight in his first title defense. Although Tatsuro Taira made a strong claim for the first shot when he did what no fighter had ever done: finished Brandon Moreno. It was a shitty way for Toja Cat to go out. The opening seconds of that fight were shaping up to be an all-time great banger. Toja will be back, but until then, the division is now wide open.    

Yo DJ! Hit that Harlem Globetrotters theme song! If you’re sitting cage side this Saturday night, you could become part of the show when Manel Kape fights. They call him Starboy, but with a dub over Brandon Royval, Kape will be more like Constellationboy. This guy turns every fight into a pick-up game at Rucker Park. In his previous fight, Kape looked like the Harlem Globetrotter legend Curly Neil as he launched behind-the-back half-court shots and dribbled circles around Asu Almabayev. To the delight of the crowd, Kape even hit Asu with the water bucket trick between rounds.  

Kape is the MMA version of Hot Sauce from the old-school And1 mixtapes. Homie will hit you with a three-piece combo before hitting you with an AI crossover. And I ain’t talking artificial intelligence. This MF will knock you out, then step over you disrespectful style like Iverson did Tyronn Lue in the NBA Finals. Kape will hit you with “Pistol” Pete Marovich no-look punches. He'll turn into Max McClung at the dunk contest, jumping over a Tesla and landing a flying knee. Manel “No” Kape will break your ankles before he breaks you off like The Roots and Musiq Soulchild. Hit that “Break You Off!” BTW, I don’t say this in jest. Homie will literally start dribbling an invisible basketball between his legs as a distraction before launching into a blinding three-punch combination. Kape is a functional show-boater like Roy Jones Jr. was. He uses wild antics to create distractions, like our government and false flags.  

Speed, footwork, movement, and power, the only ability Kape doesn’t have is availability. His major malfunction is that he has that Zion availability. This guy is a habitual fight-dropper. He should be on his third title defense or title shot by now. Instead, he’s still on the outside looking in despite winning six of his last seven fights. Kape’s availability is like eggs at Costco—like Stanley water bottles thirty seconds after release. If he shows up on fight night, he can beat Brandon Royval with speed and superior footwork. Kape is a master at making you miss and creating angles. Kape is also a bit of a head case like George Pickens, but if he shows up on his game, he will literally do the Cha-Cha or Tango around Royval. Kape can make elite strikers look silly.   

“Crown” Royval should come with a purple velvet bag to put loose change in. Trust me, one day you will have to crown Royval. This guy only loses to champions. His only losses came to Brandon Moreno, Toja Cat, and Joshua Van. This guy beat Tatsuro Taira earlier this year. If you wanna crown his ass, then crown him! That’s what I’m doing. It took me a while to reach this conclusion, but Royval can wear the belt someday. If there were a lower weight class BMF title, Royval should fight for it. They call him “Raw Dawg,” so you know he’s a risk-taker. And like Alec Baldwin, he ain’t shooting blanks. They call him “Raw Dawg” because he doesn’t pull out of fights like his opponent is known to do.   

Brandon Royval is the MMA Pete Rose; he bets on himself. He rolls the dice like Ashy Larry on every exchange—like my Aunty at the nickel slots, max betting every hand. This guy gambles on every exchange like Ohtani’s manager playing poker at Chauncey Billups’ house. Royval’s motto: “You miss every punch you don’t throw.” You can’t take punches with you when you die. Royval strings together never-ending Killer Instinct combinations. Crown Royval beats you with volume, never allowing the opponent any time to take a breath. His major malfunction is that he doesn’t use protection, hence the name “Raw Dawg.” He doesn’t defend at all. Royval uses a low hand position and lacks lateral movement. His only defense is managing distance to stay just outside of the opponent’s range.   

The numbers: Royval averages five and a half SLpM compared to Kape’s five. This should be a high-output banger. I’m surprised Kape is the (-285) favorite, and Royval is the (+235) live-ass dog. I thought this would be closer to even. Simply stated, I trust Brandon Royval more than I trust Manel Kape, like I trust Ceedee Lamb more than I trust George Pickens. One shows up every fight ready for war (Royval), and the other has a history of taking nights off (Kape). But Kape is the better fighter. He’s a true artist when he gets in the zone. I think the play for this one is a decision. Kape has never been finished or even close to finished in the UFC, and Royval has only been submitted once (he had a TKO, but that was due to a freak shoulder injury).   

The main event dub streak never got to streaking. If you can’t trust Merab, who can you trust? This is a brutal pick to end the year. In his three UFC losses, Kape didn’t let his hands go. Royval can steal close rounds by simply being the more active fighter if Kape gets to cappin’. Fook it. Dogs won the co-main and main events last weekend. Give me the fookin’ dog... the Raw Dawg! Brandon Royval via decision. Put that shit on wax! 

Props

Royval: TKO/KO (+1000) Sub (+700) Dec (+500)  

Kape: TKO/KO (+140) Sub (+900) Dec (+225) 

Winner: Brandon Royval | Method: Decision

Giga Chikadze (+245) vs. Kevin Vallejos (-305)

Giga: DK: $7.1k | Vallejos: DK: $9.1k

I think this is the co-main event. This card has been all over the place, and I haven’t seen a finalized bout order. A striker’s delight like this one is definitely worthy of the position. Never forget the time when “Kevin!” Vallejos went the distance with Jean Silva on the Contender Series. Going the distance with Jean Silva is like being the lone survivor of a plane crash after parachuting from a hole in the fuselage. Yo! Hit that Akon and Jeezy "Soul Survivor!" If you're looking for Kevin Vallejos, he’llbe on the block, with his right hand cocked, possibly sitting on the drop now. Homie took a beating that night, like the Cowboys when you start believing in them. But he never stopped coming forward. Jean Silva remains his only career loss. Vallejos has since gone 2-0 in the UFC with a dub on the Contender Series.   

Vallejos has a special move: the counter right hand. For Vallejos, “counter right hand” is the answer to all life's questions. If train A leaves the station going 50 miles an hour, and train B leaves the station one hour later going 70 miles an hour, how many miles will it take for train B to catch up with train A? Counter right-hand. Opponents run face-first into his counter right hand like dogs run into screen doors. They go in headfirst like they’re stealing home. Sometimes, his left hand takes PTO time for an entire round. His left hand looks like Will Smith in the living room on the final episode of The Fresh Prince. 

The Robin to his right hand’s Batman, is body shots. And I ain’t talking belly buttons and lime wedges. Homie attacks the body like a flesh-eating disease. Last weekend, we saw Petr Yan destroy Merab with body work. It proved that nobody is immune to body shots. Once your hands come down to defend, you wake up in front of the pearly gates. Vallejos will have a power advantage against Giga. The only thing this kid lacks is footwork and head movement. He’s an NES directional pad striker, moving in straight lines. He’s 16-1 with eleven TKOs/KOs and two subs. His output is nearly double Giga’s. He averages just under six and a half SLpM compared to Giga’s just over three and a half.  

If you don’t know, Giga Chikadze is the creator of the Bunion Enema. He owns several enema solons across his home country of Georgia. The Giga Kick is Giga’s signature move. Four out of five doctors recommend Giga Kicks to alleviate constipation. Nothing will brown your chonies like medium/high heat like a Giga Kick to the liver. When you fight Giga, you have to bring a spare pair of chonies in a Ziploc bag with your name on it, like you’re in preschool. Giga will turn you into a Method Man skit real fookin’ quick. He’ll tape your booty shut and keep feeding you and feeding you and feeding you kicks to the liver. After Giga gets done kicking the shit out of your liver, they use it as an exhibit at the Bodies Museum next to the smoker’s lungs. Taking a Giga kick is worse for your liver than drinking a gallon of moonshine.   

Giga is most dangerous in the opening minutes. He comes at you like an Alicia Keys remix, “That boy is on fire!!” This MF comes out swinging from the Chandelier like Sia. You shine bright like a diamond from all the pressure Giga puts on you. This guy pressures you like the ocean floor with extended hand combinations and punctuating Giga Kicks. He puts more pressure on you than a landlord when the rent’s due. Giga’s hands aren’t great, but they inundate you like broken water mains. He floods your basement with alternating lefts/rights. He’ll turn the Octagon into a biblical prophecy, flooding it with forty days and forty nights of kicks and punches.   

Giga’s problem is after the first five minutes. He starts to fade like Jada’s hairline. He’s like a bully; if you stand up to him, his intimidating facade starts to crack. But Giga is still a world-class kickboxer who competed at the highest level for the Glory promotion. And he’s never in boring fights. I’m not used to seeing Giga as a (+200) dog against another striker. But here we are. Vallejos will be the (-240) favorite. The most telling numbers: Giga is thirty-seven, and Vallejos is only twenty-three. Giga’s low tread warning is starting to show. He was kicking ass, feet stinking, when Vallejos was still sitting on Santa’s lap in the mall. In eleven UFC bouts, Giga hasn’t been finished. He’s only been submitted once in his career. I like playing this one to reach the final bell. But I can’t pick against the young Simba. Kevin Vallejos via decision. On wax.  

Props

Vallejos: TKO/KO (+175) Sub (+1200) Dec (+145) 

Chikadze: TKO/KO (+700) Sub (+2800) Dec (+450)

Winner: Kevin Vallejos | Method: Decision

Cessar Almeida (+170) vs. Cezary Oleksiejczuk (-205)

Almeida: DK: $7.5k | Oleks: DK:$8.7k

Two Cesars, one cage. This matchup epitomizes striker versus striker. Cezary Oleksiejczuk is the younger brother of Michal, who is known for his awkward style and Chief Wiggum's stupid power. Yes, there are two of these monsters. Cezary is a slightly more technical version of his brother. Imagine having to break up a fight between these kids back in the day. Like his brother, Cezary is also an unorthodox southpaw. I’m calling shenanigans. What are the chances of having two left-handed babies? Eugenics? Anywho, there’s a chance Cezary could be better than his brother Michal. And this matchmaking supports that assumption. Because Cesar Almeida has a professional kickboxing background that dwarfs his MMA experience. The only way this fight will go to the ground is if one of them gets buried in it after sustaining a devastating KO.   

Cesar Almeida fought Alex Pereira three fookin’ times under kickboxing rules. Check it: He even beat Pereira once. That’s like surviving three Final Destination movies. That’s like surviving Justin Bieber’s 14th, 15th, and 16th birthday parties. Beating Pereira in any striking competition is like beating Mike Tyson in Punch Out! Cesar Almeida survived the real-life Squid Games. Fook redlight/greenlight, Cesar survived Left Hook/Right Hand. Almeida is a low-output striker who fights with the urgency of Jason Vorhees, never breaking from a casual walking stride while still managing to stay only a step behind his victims. Almeida can erase any lead in the striking stats with a single punch because he has life-changing power. No one man should have all that power. Yo, DJ! Hit that Kanye “Power!” Homie has that short bus, Lenny from “Of Mice and Men” power. He doesn’t know his own strength. 

But I bet you can guess his major malfunction... His ground game. If MMA attributes were the SATs, Almeida would score 800 on the striking portion and get shut out on the grappling section. He wouldn’t even get points for spelling his name correctly on the ScanTron. As soon as Almeida’s ass hits the mat, his homies start pouring out 40 ounces and playing “Tears in Heaven” on the jukebox. Yo! Hit that Eric Clapton! “Hey buddy! Don’t make me cry!” You’re not crying; I am, pal! The good news is, this fight won’t go to the mat unless someone scores a knockdown. Almeida’s only UFC loss came against Roman Kopylov, a striker through and through who scored five takedowns and racked up noine minutes of control time.  

While I’m on the topic of shitty ground games, the name Oleksiejczuk is synonymous with terrible grappling. I haven’t seen Cezary’s grappling, but he’s guilty by association because his brother’s ground game is hard to look at, like Zach Ertz blowing his knee out. But we’ll worry about Cezary’s ground game another time. This kid is a monster on his feet. Similar to his brother, Cezary’s striking cadence is like my Tio’s cadence by halftime of the first Thanksgiving game after sipping that spiked horchata all morning. Cezary has the cadence of a fiend, scratching and twitching. His cadence looks like a zombie when they first start to turn. It looks like his body was commandeered by a supernatural entity, and it's trying to figure out the controls. The star of Cezary’s striking is his jab. His jab is like a 300 Spartan spear. His jab lays the foundation for the famous Oleksiejczuk left hand.   

Cezary’s advantage will be in volume. He commits to combinations and is often the first to bomb. Yo! Hit that Makaveli Seven Day Theory track one! Cezary is 16-3 with noine TKOs/KOs and two subs. All noine of his TKOs/KOs came in the first round. Cesar Almeida only has eight MMA bouts with a record of 7-1. Although Cezary has more MMA experience, Almeida has far more UFC experience, as Cezary will be making his debut.  

Cezary will be the (-170) favorite, and Almeida will be the (+145) live-ass dog. If Almeida can beat Alex Pereira within kickboxing rules, he can beat anybody. This fight is probably the biggest unknown on the card. I have no idea what to expect. These guys are dangerous as all get-out with excellent technical skills. I’m sorry; I don’t really know how to play this one. I see value in a decision between two kickboxers who could show each other too much respect. And I can see one of these guys getting got at any time. Maybe hedge your bets, putting some scratch on a finish and decision one way or another. My deciding factor is output. If it goes the distance, I think Cezary’s output could steal close rounds. Cezary Oleksiejczuk via decision. Put it on wax.  

Props

Almeida: TKO/KO (+400) Sub (+1800) Dec (+450)

Oleksiejczuk: TKO/KO (+110) Sub (+800) Dec (+400)

Winner: Cezary Oleksiejczuk | Method: Decision

Neil Magny (+300) vs. Yaroslav Asomov (-400)

Magny: DK: $6.8k | Asomov: DK: $9.4k

Neil, don’t call him Neal, Magny is back... already. And once again, he’s being thrown to the wolves. Magny has had more fights in the last three months than Zion Williamson has played games. In his previous bout against “I Didn’t Know You Liked to Get Wet” Jake Matthews, Magny became the first fighter to ever get submitted in the first round, then go on to win the fight in the third round by submission. Homie was waved off in the first round just before the bell sounded. But the ref allowed the fight to continue, and Magny went on to do Magny shit and stole a late dub. It was like an arcade game: “To Continue Add Coins...” Magny had a Game Genie cheat code for extra lives or some shit. Anywho, you already know we don’tapologize for dubs at the WKO. Magny is now riding a two-fight dub streak. 

What can I say about Neil Magny that I haven’t said a dozen times before? This guy has been in the UFC for going on twenty fookin’ years. He’s pushing forty, and he’s still winning scraps. His most recent loss came back-to-back against Carlos Prates and Michael Morales. Fighting those guys back-to-back is considered cruel and unusual punishment in forty-noine states. That’s like being blown to pieces while storming the beaches of Normandy on the morning of D-Day, only to be resurrected and napalmed to death in Vietnam. And if you go further back, his most recent loss before those two came against Ian Garry! The last three fighters to beat Magny are all in the mix to be next in line to fight Makhachev. This MF is Geralt of Rivia; he’sthe motherfookin’ Witcher. All he does is fight monsters. Monsters Inc. Monster Mash. Homie drives a fookin’ monster truck while sipping Monster Energy drinks! Everywhere he turns: Monsters! 

Hit that DJ Khaled “Another one!” Here comes another monster: Yaroslav Asomov. “Slav” in the first name + “ov” in the last name = Ass-whoopin's. I don’t know much about the debuting Asomov except that he’s 28-1 and trains with Khamzat Chimaev. I can’t walk down the stairs twenty-noine times without falling more than once. Asomov began his career by winning twenty-seven straight fights. I can’t think of anything I can do successfully twenty-seven straight times. I can’t drink from a cup twenty-seven straight times without dribbling down myself at least twice. And his dubs didn’t come against Buc-ee's truck stop custodians (janitors, if you wanna be a Richard about it). Asomov had noine fights under the Bellator banner and was the Welterweight Champion. His lone loss came against a guy whose nickname is “The Ass-Kicking Machine.” There’s no shame in losing to someone with that moniker.  

Asomov is a ground specialist. I hear a lot of people mention his striking, but his striking looked average to me after watching film. But on the mat, this guy is trying to make ground and pound great again. When this guy gets you to the mat, he punches you like blue-collar workers punch a clock. Asomov has more TKOs than Tom in receiving after working mandatory OT. For his career, Asomov has noine career TKOs/KOs and eleven subs, including fourteen first-round finishes. Against Neil Magny, Asomov will have a clear advantage on the mat. But he could run into trouble on his feet.   

From the fights that I watched, Asomov’s striking looked pedestrian. I’m talking crosswalks. On his feet, Asomov is on that Shakespeare shit: Much Ado About Nothing. I noticed a major defensive flaw. And if I noticed it, I’m sure Magny and his camp did too. Asomov crouches toward his power side every time he jabs. He’s just begging to be countered with a head kick or knee. Homie blows out the candles on his kids’ birthday cakes, wishing to get head kicked. “Wish I may, wish I might, get kicked in the head tonight.” Don’t get me wrong; he’s no crumb bum on his feet. He has tight, technical striking. But I didn’t see anything dangerous. Magny can out-point Asomov from range and walk away with a third straight dub.   

Asomov is the (-370) favorite, and Magny is the (+285) live-ass dog. Yes, live-ass dog. Neil finds ways to win. He’s especially handy with executing late-round comebacks. If Asomov can’t submit Magny early, he might get Magny’d late. But Magny’s major malfunction is his guard and overall grappling from the bottom position. And rocking a fifty-five percent takedown defense is a bad look when facing an elite grappler. The value of Asomov is a submission. The play for Magny is a late TKO/KO. I think he’ll spend too much time on his back to win a decision. Man, I want to pick Magny, but I can see him getting smothered on the mat. Yaroslav Asomov via Anaconda Choke, round two. On wax.   

Props

Magny: TKO/KO (+700) Sub (+425) Dec (+350)  

Asomov: TKO/KO (Even) Sub (-220) Dec (-150)

Winner: Yaroslav Asomov | Method: Anaconda Choke Rd.2

Amanda Lemos (+170) vs. Gillian Robertson (-200)

Lemos: DK: $7.4k | Robertson: DK: $8.8k

I gotta show the ladies some love one last time in 2025. The WKO always gets love from the ladies. This is a classic grappler vs. striker matchup. Gillian Robertson is one of the best undercover dogs in the women’s divisions. This lady will submityou like travel expenses. The mat is lava, and Robertson will turn that bish into Pompei. She’ll have you looking like that guy who got caught unawares watching the Spice Channel when the lava came rolling through, “Hey, buddy! I’m busy—” At least that guy went out doing what he loves. You’ll be immortalized while getting choked out or getting your arm broken. Robertson is a lady on her feet and a freak on the mat. She’ll choke you like public executions in the 1600s. And if Robertson can’tsubmit you, she’ll beat you like the U.S. government beats the war drums. Robertson is a dual finishing threat on the mat. She can submit you or pound you out. Hey, Pawtna! Don’t threaten me with a good time! 

Robertson’s major malfunction is her striking. She can’t win fights on her feet. For starters, she severely lacks head movement. On her feet, she’s cruising around in a motorcade, if you know what I mean. The last thing she wants to do is get stuck striking with “Wild Thing” Amanda Lemos. Yes, I’m talking about Ricky Vaughn coming out of the bullpen. Robertson has to use her two and a half takedowns per fifteen minutes to exploit Lemos’s sixty-four percent takedown defense. Lemos has been finished three times in her career, and two came via submission. 

Now quit playing and hit that The Troggs “Wild Thing!” Amanda Lemos will make your heart sing when she lets her right hand go. Her right hand is like Henry Rowengartner’s from Rookie of the Year. She throws frozen rope no-hoppers from the stands to the catcher. She once threw a right hand and sniped a bird like a clay pigeon mid-flight on some Randy Johnson-type-ish. This lady could knock the pinstripes off a Yankee. Lemos has so much power that her feints are considered significant strikes. She might be the first fighter to record a feint KO. The problem with Lemos is that sometimes she fights like she needs a Roger Dorn pep talk, “Strike this guy out!”   

Lemos pulls rose petals to decide if she’s going to defend takedowns. “Defend takedowns... Defend them not.” If she sees her own shadow when she wakes up, she will spend most of the fight on her back. I rarely pick Lemos’s fights correctly. When I have faith like George Michaels that she can stay on her feet, she gets taken down with little resistance. And when I think she will get taken down and spend fifteen minutes on her back, she turns into Jose Fookin’ Aldo defending takedowns. She turns into fooking Chumbawamba: She gets taken down, but she gets up again, you’re never gonna keep her down! Yo! Hit that “Tubthumping!” When Lemos is on her back, she looks like Mason Rudolph when Myles Garrett was on top of him. 

Robertson is the (-165) favorite, and Lemos is the (+140) live-ass dog. This card is filled with live-ass dogs. If Lemos stays upright, she will dominate this fight. If she gets taken down, Robertson will dominate. This one is a toss-up. The thing about Robertson is that she chain wrestles. She has a full arsenal of takedowns. None of that Jiu-Jitsu takedowns shit. She wrestles like her life depends on it because it does. I like playing this one for a decision, but the value in Lemos is in a TKO/KO finish. Robertson can submit Lemos, but Lemos is strong. She can power out of submissions. One last pick of 2025... Give me Gillian Robertson via decision. Wax on, wax off.  

Props

Robertson: TKO/KO (+550) Sub (+225) Dec (+225)  

Lemos: TKO/KO (+500) Sub (+1000) Dec (+400)

Winner: Gillian Robertson | Method: Decision

Prelims

$7k Value Menu

Brandon Royval ($7k): This might be the worst lineup on the Value Menu for the entire year. There’s a good chance that this week’s menu will leave you Fantasy points famished. You’ll be in a soup kitchen line begging for some Fantasy points. The single best option is Brandon Royval. A finish is not likely in the cards, but this guy averages over five and a half SLpM. And check out his last four striking totals: 111, 145, 124, and 215 in his most recent bout against the new champ, Joshua Van. Even against the grappling wizard Alexandre Pantoja, Royval landed over one hundred significant strikes. Not only can Royval beat Manel Kape, but he is almost guaranteed to eclipse one hundred strikes in a striker vs. Striker matchup. Shit, he might even surpass two hundred as he did against Van in a losing effort.  

Cesar Almeida ($7.5k): Of all the options on the Value Menu this week, Almeida is the biggest finishing threat. This is a guy who fought Alex Pereira three times under kickboxing rules. And he beat him once. Almeida won’t light up the scoreboard with output. His highest striking total in four UFC bouts is fifty-seven. But he does have two TKOs/KOs. Almeida vs. Oleksiejczuk will be a striker’s delight; Almeida won’t have to worry about defending takedowns. I picked Oleks to win this fight, but to me, it’s a complete toss-up. Oleks will be making his debut, while Almeida has already experienced the bright lights. Without a finish, Almeida will likely only record moderate significant strikes at best. But he is a real finishing threat against a striker who likes to lead the dance and will provide Almeida with plenty of opportunities to land a kill shot.   

Amanda Lemos (7.4k): Lemos is another option that won’t light up the scoreboard. But she will have a good chance of scoring points for winning a decision. Lemos rocks a sixty-five percent takedown defense. There are times when Lemos is impossible to take down and even asserts her own wrestling/grappling. And there are other times when she ends up on her back for nearly the entirety of the fight. If you look at Gillian Robertson’s losses over the years, they all came against fighters she couldn’tget to the mat. Robertson cannot survive on her feet. If the takedown well dries up, Robertson will be up Shits Creek with paddles this deep; she’s still gonna sink. Lemos will run away with the fight on her feet.   

 $6k Clearance Rack  

Neil Magny ($6.8): Magny is the only Clearance Rack option this week. And he’s not a bad option. I actually like him more than I do most of the options on the Value Menu. Magny will have to survive on his back early. As long as he defends the D’arce/Anaconda chokes in transition (easier said than done), he can get this fight to its latter minutes when Neil Magny tends to do Neil Magny shit and steal fights. His range on the feet will be a problem for Yaroslav Asomov. Asomov is the former Bellator welterweight champ, but Magny may be one of the best fighters he has faced. Magny will definitely have the most experience of any fighter Asomov has ever faced. And Magny has faced stiffer competition than Asomov. Just look at his last three losses: Ian Garry, Carlos Prates, and Michael Morales. After facing those guys, who the fook is Yaroslav Asomov?    

Twenty-Twen-Twen Sleepers

Neil Magny (+300): I’m throwing it out there. Even when Magny loses, he finds a way to win. Just ask Jake Matthews, who submitted Magny in the first round of their bout, only for the ref to allow the fight to continue. What did Magny do? He went on to submit Matthews in the third round. Magny is riding a two-fight dub streak and has the experience to make it three in a row. Magny will have an edge on the feet if he can keep the fight standing. The red flag for Magny is his guard game. Magny is a power top but a passive bottom. If he can get this fight into the third round, he can drag Asomov into deep waters. I hope Asomov can Swim Good like Frank Ocean... 

 Brandon Royval (+240): Crown Royval only loses to champions. The judges will favor his output and aggression in close rounds. Although he’s not much of a finishing threat, you never have to question which version of Crown Royval will show up. You do have to wonder which version of Manel Kape will show up. The ass-kicking, walking And1 mixtape version, or the disinterested, too-cool-for-school version, who dances around and lets the clock run out without offering much offense? If the best version of Kape shows up, Royval will be in trouble. But Royval is the more consistent commodity. Other than a freak injury against Brandon Moreno, Royval has never been finished on his feet. Also, this is five rounds. Royval tends to get stronger as the fight progresses. Go back and look at the fifth round against Pantoja.   

Lance Gibson Jr. (+200): I hope I’m wrong on this one. Gibson Jr. will be making his UFC debut on short notice against my favorite current fighter, King Green. Gibson is 9-1 with four TKOs/KOs and three subs and has fought extensively for the Bellator promotion. This guy is a southpaw with quick, heavy hands and clean kicks. King Green in his prime would absolutely walk through Gibson Jr. The problem is that Green isn’t in his prime. His chin is half the man it used to be. Green is coming in off a devastating spinning wheel kick KO against Mauricio Ruffy. Before that, Paddy Pimblett choked him out. Two fights before that, Jalin Turner knocked out Green. Lately, Green has looked slow, and his trademark footwork has been nonexistent. This pick is more based on my lack of confidence in Green nearing the end of his career than on my confidence in Gibson Jr.  

Pick ‘Em

Mel Costa (-115) vs. Morgan Charriere (-105) 

 Winner: Mel Costa 

Method: Decision 

Kennedy Nzechukwu (-130) vs. Marcus Almeida (+110)  

 Winner: Kennedy Nzechukwu 

Method: TKO Rd.3 

King Green (-240) vs. Lance Gibson Jr. (+200) *Late Replacement 

 Winner: King Green *Homer Pick 

Method: Decision 

Joanderson Brito ( ) vs. Isaac Thomson ( ) *Late Replacement 

 Winner: Joanderson Brito 

Method: TKO Rd.3

Sean Sharaf (+190) vs. Steven Asplund (-230)   

 Winner: Steven Asplund 

Method: TKO Rd.2 

Luana Santos (-125) vs. Melissa Croden (+105)   

 Winner: Luana Santos 

Method: Decision 

Allen Frye (+150) vs. Guilherme Pat (-175)   

 Winner: Guilherme Pat 

Method: TKO Rd.2 

Tereza Bleda (-145) vs. Jamey-Lyn Horth (+125)   

 Winner: Jamey-Lyn Horth 

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.