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

Top Pick’Em Offers 💸

Our editors found the top Pick’Em DFS deals so you don’t have to! Use Pick’Em Props to pick 2 or more UFC fighters to win big!

1. Sleeper DFS - Deposit Match up to $100

2. Underdog DFS - Up to $250 Bonus Cash when you make your first deposit

3. Chalkboard DFS - Deposit Match up to $100

4. Parlay Play - Free $5 Entry no Deposit Required

_{Terms: Must be 18+ (some states may require 21+) and be present in an eligible state; if you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling, and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER. Using an affiliate offer will help support LineStar who may receive a commission fee from the referral. Other conditions may apply, please see link for full details.}

Main Card

Marcin Tybura (+135) vs. Sergey Spivak (-160)

Tybura: DK: $7.9k | Spivak: DK:$8.3k

RoboCop 2, Dumb and Dumber To, Deuce Bigalow European Gigalow, Jaws 2, Speed 2, Grease 2, Caddyshack 2, Pet Sematary II, The Hangover 2, Teen Wolf Too, Scream 2, Basic Instinct 2, Batman & Robin (That Mr. Freeze shit), Space Jam 2 (That LeBron James shit), Marcin Tybura vs. Sergei Spivak 2: Off the top of my head, and after Chiefin’ like Geronimo, these are some of the wackest sequels of all-time. These muhf**kers are dripping with wack juice – marinated, slow-cooked in your Grammy’s vintage Rival crock pot, and basted in their own wack juices for twenty-four hours. Fall off the bone sequels. You ever seen a sequel, and you didn’t even know there was a first one? That’s Tybura vs. Spivak. The first fight was in 2020 and promptly erased from our memory - hit with a neuralyzer. Some people even claim the first fight never happened and that it is a false implanted memory, like the movie Shazaam with Sinbad. Well, I can attest to the fight’s authenticity because I watched that shit yesterday. Hov did that, so hopefully, you won’t have to go through that. 

Speaking of forgettable, Marcin Tybura's fights are like the movie 50 First Dates – I'm Henry Roth, and each round is like the first round all over again. At the start of each round, I say, “Who is this guy?” I’ve seen every one of his noineteen UFC fights, but every time I see one, it’s like for the first time. I’m like Jason Bourne pulled from the ocean – can't remember shit. I’m over here leaving Polaroids of his fights taped up all over my house. I have my notes tatted all over my body on some Memento type-shit, trying to remember watching them the next day. They call Marcin Tybura’s style The Butterfly Effect. Tybura is that level of forgettable. He’s a Street Fighter without any special moves and just basic controls. Punch: Jab/Strong/Fierce. Kick: Short/Forward/Roundhouse. There ain’t any Hadukens, Shoryukens, Sonic Booms, or Flash Kicks. It’s not really a knock, but Tybura’s style is just plain. He rocks Ordinary eau de toilette by JAG.   

I say all that to say this: Tybura ain’t a chump. He has a 25-8 career record, including 12-7 in the UFC. The problem is, he’s built like a retired water polo player. Tybura is built like defensive coordinators in the 90s. He looks like a Darkside-of-the-Ring-fighting-in-middle-school-gymnasiums-retired Rafael Fiziev. And it’s easy to think he’s a TLC Scrub. But he has a well-rounded game and is a hard out for most fighters in the heavyweight division. On the feet, he has an odd, tipsy cadence. That bottle of wine flow. That liquid courage, hollering-at-the-ring-girl-between-rounds cadence. When Tybura steps into the cage, it looks like he’s been pregaming at Casa Bonita, drinking Happy Hour slushy margs. But he’s a functional tipsy striker. He has makeshift Dominick Cruz footwork, changing stances mid-combination while attacking at angles. Tybura isn’t dangerous on the feet, but he’s good enough to stand with most, at least long enough to set up takedowns.   

It was Tybura who dominated the wrestling/grappling in the first fight. He recorded two takedowns and over eight minutes of control time. Spivak is a monster from the top position but looks like his parents tucked him in too tight from the bottom. Tybura has noine career TKO/KOs and seven career subs, but those TKO/KOs are mostly results of ground and pound from the top position. Fantasy-wise, Tybura will rack up control time while chipping away with moderate strikes landed from the top with a good shot at a late stoppage. The first fight went the distance, but if Tybura can replicate the success from the top position, he will likely grind out a late finish.   

Serghei Spivak has more ways to spell his name than he has paths to victory in any given fight. If Spivak can’t get you down (yeah, literally you), he can’t beat you. Wait. Hold up, hey.  

“Didn’t you say Spivak would beat Ciryl Gane?” 

Listen, I don’t say things just to say things. What am I gonna do, just all of a sudden jump up and pick Spivak to beat Gane like it’s something to do? C’mon, I have a little more sense than that... Yeah, I remember saying Spivak via rear-naked choke, round two – put it on wax. Sativa is a helluva herb. But we win, or we learn here at the WKO. I learned Spivak is like Life of Pi on the feet. Life of Spivak. Homie is stranded, lost at sea on the feet, and it’s only a matter of time until he succumbs to starvation/dehydration, gets eaten by the tiger, or jumps in the water with the sharks. Spivak is Dre Stranded on Death Row on the feet. His main problem is his hand speed. Or lack of. His hands have intermissions on their way to the target. His hands come in three acts like a Shakespeare play. Spivak’s striking is only a formality before taking the fight to the mat.   

Spivak is a master of takedowns in the clinch. He has trips like autumn – little schoolyard fisticuffs trip takedowns. And he can run a power double at you if his trip game isn’t working. Once he gets you on the mat, Spivak folds you like Olive Garden napkins and packs you like carry-ons. He rag dolls you. He Real Dolls you - turns you into a Meek Mill Real Doll and throws a Bad Boy chain on. And like Diddy’s first album, there’s No Way Out. Unless the round ends or you join one of his seven career TKO/KOs or one of his seven career submissions. Spivak finished fourteen of his sixteen career dubs. But if he can’t control the top position, he is worthless as a Fantasy option.    

The stats: Both fighters average three and a half SLpM, but Spivak averages four and a half takedowns per fifteen minutes to Tybura’s one and a half. But that didn’t matter in the first bout, as Tybura was the only one to record a takedown. Spivak is the (-120) favorite, and Tybura is the (+105) live-ass dog. Why? Because he already won this fight. And he dominated on his way to victory. I don’t have any reason to believe this fight will go any differently than the first. Spivak’s striking has gotten better, but it was his wrestling (his specialty) that got exposed. He had nothing for Tybura from his back, and his takedown defense looked like the damsel in the arms of the hunk on the cover of your auntie’s romance novels. Both fighters are finishing threats, but I think Spivak is more of an early threat and Tybura a late one. 

Last week, only Chito Vera kept us away from perfection. We were 10-0 with three fights remaining, and I was starting to roll a celebratory phatty. But classic Mighty Casey-at-the-plate Chito Vera showed up and lost a fight he should have won. In the end, we had to settle for 12-1. But more importantly, we got the main event dub and have won five of the last six. This one isn’t a foregone conclusion, but I lost all faith in Spivak after he didn’t even attempt a takedown against Ciryl Gane. Marcin Tybura via TKO, round four. Put that ish on wax.   

Props

Tybura: TKO/KO (+400) Sub (+1100) Dec (+350) 

Spivak: TKO/KO (+180) Sub (+550) Dec (+350)

Winner: Marcin Tybura | Method: TKO Rd.4

Chris Gutierrez (-535) vs. Quang Le (+400)

Gutierrez: DK: $ | Le : DK: $

*Nearly the entire card changed mid-week after three fights were cancelled. Chris Gutierrez was originally fighting Javid Basharat and gets a late replacement in Quang Le. We are now down to a ten-fight card. Here’s what I wrote about Chris Guttierrez:  

Straight out the Civil War, a crazy muhf**ker named Gutierrez. The Civil War surgeon, Chris Gutierrez, is back. Nobody has amputated more legs on the battlefield than Chris Gutierrez. This guy’s fetish for amputating legs runs so deep that he rocked a Confederate uniform under his Yankee one, playing both sides of the field like a gang banger rocking blue jeans with blood stains. After taking the whole Yadong in his first main event last December against Song, Gutierrez is back and getting a bye week against a mid-week late replacement and debutante in Quang Le. Other than his name sounding like a Ninja Turtle villain, I know nothing about Quang Le other than he’s 8-0 with seven of his eight fights coming in LFA.  

Chris Gutierrez is in the pantheon of current great leg kickers. Gutirrez has created more crips than a Blood’s hitlist – more cripples than Polio in the early 1900s. My man is a kingpin running a disability ring and slangin’ placards for lifetime preferred parking and use of the master stall in any public restroom. This guy will kick the shit out of your calves and turn your socks brown. He’ll turn you into an MLB expansion team – The Brown Sox. In addition to destroying your legs, Gutierrez is a master of spinning shit; his hips are out here perjuring themselves. He has tell-me-lies-tell-me-sweet-little-lies hips, using hip feints to set up spinning back kicks and Shonie Carter backfists when you start seeing ghosts and anticipating his kicks. Controlling range with kicks is Gutierrez’s specialty, but he struggles when he has to rely on his hands.   

Gutierrez treats his hands like collectibles, leaving them in their original packaging. He’s like a fencer with his hands - one quick attack, then he’s out. But he struggles when opponents can get inside and force him to exchange in the pocket. And because of this, Gutierrez is pyrophobic; he’s afraid of a firefight. He sits in the non-smoking section at Denny’s. He wears a smoke detector around his neck like a Flava Flav clock. He doesn’t want any of that pocket smoke. No, Gutierrez wants to sit on the outside and dictate pace and range with his feets. When it comes to Gutierrez’s style, I could use a little more risk. Overall, Gutierrez is good enough to hit his head on the top-ten ceiling in the division. Gutierrez is 20-6 for his career with noine TKO/KOs and one sub. He out-landed Song Yadong in his last bout eighty-seven to seventy-seven, but there was a clear difference in power.   

I have never seen so many fights canceled at the last minute as in the previous couple of months. I just watched a quick fight of Le’s, and this won’t be a Diego Lopes making his debut on short notice against Movsar Evloev situation. Le has some power, but he’s a flat-footed 2-D striker with Nintendo controls – just an A and B button and a directional pad. He doesn’t have L or R buttons, trigger buttons, or joysticks. Le just throws left and rights while standing directly in front of you. Nothing is given in this sport, but Le is a regional talent and not at the UFC vet level that Gutierrez is. Gutierrez’s leg kicks will be a huge problem for the heavy-footed Le. 

I don’t know the odds, but Le will be a huge dog. Le does have good power and aggression and better hands than Gutierrez, but Gutierrez has superior technique and experience. Your guess is as good as mine on Le. He has an 8-0 record with two TKO/KOs and three subs. The submissions suggest he might be able to get Gutierrez to the mat. Gutierrez rocks a seventy percent takedown defense and has fought much better wrestlers than Le. I think this Quang cat might be tough, though, and could go the distance with Gutierrez. Chris Gutierrez via decision. On wax.   

Props

Gutierrez: TKO/KO ( ) Sub ( ) Dec ( ) 

Le: TKO/KO ( ) Sub ( ) Dec ( )

Winner: Chris Gutierrez | Method: Decision

Chepe Mariscal (-230) vs. Damon Jackson (+190)

Chepe: DK: $9.1k | Jackson: DK:$7.1k

Straight out the Grapes of Wrath, a dusty muhf**ker named Damon. Damon Jackson is headed Californee way in search of a little dub, like the Marsh’s in search of a little internet. There is nothing pretty about Damon Jackson’s style, and for that matter, there’s nothing pretty about this matchup. Chepe Mariscal was a combat veteran before he was ever drafted to the UFC roster. He had professional at-bats against big league pitchers like Steve Garcia, Joanderson Brito, Youssef Zalal, Pat Sabatini, and Bryce Mitchell before he got the call-up. Chepe is a scavenger ass-kicker, a vulture picking a carcass clean with punches and kicks and never-ending attacks wherever the fight goes. This was scheduled to be the co-main event a couple of weeks ago and will be a grimy, filthy little scrap. 

Damon Jackson pulls up to the sess packing dust bowls. Jackson is the type to only smoke discarded roaches. Jackson looks worn/used - they call him Play It Again Damon. But don’t ever try to judge him, dude. You don’t know wtf he’s been through. But he knows something about you; he went to Hard Knocks, and you went to a private school. Damon Jackson had his jersey hung in the WKO rafters after he KO’d the Travelocity gnome, Pat Sabatini, just days after his brother’s passing. He gave Pat a Bad Boy initiation beating that night. Action Jackson suffers from elephantiasis of the heart. You can hear his heart beat without a stethoscope. This muhf**ker earned everything his has – twice. He’s built like cars in the 50s when everything was built like a tank. When everyone was driving around like that homie who jacked the Sherman in San Diego a couple decades ago.  

Jackson’s style is to outwork and out-hustle you from bell to bell. He is a scrappy grappler with limited striking. He has throw-shit-against-the-wall hands. He just wings it on the feet like taking a pop quiz. “I didn’t know striking would be on the test...” He’s a Trey Styles petulant striker who tries to create chaos and, in doing so, level change opportunities. If he can get you to the mat, he can ride out entire rounds from the top position. He’s long and janky and especially dangerous from the back mount. Jackson is 23-6 with four TKO/KOs and fifteen submissions. Finish or Die Trying. That’s Jackson’s debut album. His Fantasy value will be in getting Chepe to the mat and sinking in a choke. Chepe is too good on the mat to get dominated for fifteen minutes while in guard. Jackson will have to create damage and try to take Chepe’s back during wild scrambles. 

Equally as grimy as Damon Jackson is Chepe Mariscal. His shit stinks with every element from A to zinc. He looks like the Raid roach and could survive a nuclear winter like one too. He looks like a catfish RDA. Chepe uses RDA as his profile picture, then shows up looking like Henry Cejudo. This dude is an MMA Navy Seal: Ground/Striking/Clinch. He can get down wherever the fight goes. He’s an all-terrain ass-kicker. He’s like a human monster truck tire; he’ll run over your ass in rain, sleet, or snow. He’ll even bust out Will Smith slaps just to fook with your mental. Chepe will bust out the baby powder and finish combinations with open-hand Rick James slaps just to add insult to a busted lip. Matter of fact, dude is borderline Bush League in that bish. Fence grabs, nut shots, Three Stooges eye pokes, it's all in play for Chepe Mariscal. If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying.   

Chepe doesn’t have a specific style; he can stand and bang, get down and break on the mat like Turbo and Ozone, and scrap anywhere in between. He’s the type to show up early to work. The type to work off the clock. A blue-collar, punch-the-clock scrapper, Chepe’s trade is making a fight seem like one long scramble with no discernible breaks in the action. One sequence flowing into the next. When he ends up on his back, he forces scrambles and reversals and never accepts the position. Chepe will be the higher output striker, averaging over four and a half SLpM to Jackson’s three. He will outwork Jackson on the feet and don’t sleep on his offensive grappling either. Jackson’s takedown defense is forty percent, while Chepe’s is sixty-six. Also, Chepe averages two and a half takedowns per fifteen minutes, the same as Jackson.   

Chepe is the (-230) favorite, and Jackson is the (+190) live dog. Jackson will be out-gunned on the feet, but he can make it close on the mat. Although Chepe has never been submitted, Jackson has a long frame that can cause Chepe problems, especially if Chepe gives up his back. The problem will be holding Chepe down. Can’t nobody hold him down, oh no. He’s got to keep it movin’. But without a submission, Jackson will be a Fantasy dud. He’s not good enough to land significant strikes at a high level on the feet. The play for both fighters is a decision. There’s a distant shot at a TKO/KO for Chepe, but Damon is Hard To Kill like Steve Seagal. Chepe Mariscal via decision. On wax.  

Props

Chepe: TKO/KO (+225) Sub (+700) Dec (+165) 

Jackson: TKO/KO (+1100) Sub (+600) Dec (+450)

Winner: Chepe Mariscal | Method: Decision

Yana Santos (-145) vs. Chelsea Chandler (+125)

Santos: DK: $8.4k | Chandler: DK: $7.8k

In the spirit of the Olympics, Chelsea Chandler, the current fastest woman in the Octagon, is back. Yo! Hit that The Pharcyde “Can’t Keep Runnin’ Away!” You may remember Chelsea Chandler when she turned into Chelsea Handler after getting punched in the face by Norma Dumont and attempting to run away. Like the Kool-Aid Man, she tried to break through the cage as if it was drywall to get away from Norma. She’s a runner; she’s a track star. In the 40-yard finals, Kat Williams and Chelsea Chandler would finish neck and neck, within five one-thousandths of each other. Disney is casting Chandler as the Running Woman, the sequel to Arnold’s 1987 classic The Running Man. But all that is old shit. Chandler came (walking) back in March and got back in the win column. Yes, she ran away from her problems. And the good news is Yana Santos’s striking doesn’t strike fear in anybody. Chelsea, you can leave the track spikes at home for this one.   

209 stand up! Chelsea Chandler is a Diaz Sister representative. For all my old-school MMA heads, Chandler is the female Josh Barnett. Her style is an ode to the MMA frontier days when wrestlers with fight-ending ground and pound roamed the Octagon. Chandler is at her best when she can strike her way into the clinch and dirty box while working trip takedowns. From the top position, she will duff and buff you out like you’re candy-painted. Have you dripping - leaving breadcrumbs on the pavement. But on the feet, you can drop the C. Handler has good power, but her hand speed is like she left their emergency brakes on. She makes up for slow hands and limited footwork with pure aggression; she will run into a dozen punches just to land one.   

Chandler is only 6-2 for her career with two TKO/KOs and one sub. The key for Chandler against Santos will be getting Santos to the mat and chipping away at her from the top. Chelsea will be the lower output fighter, averaging three and a half SLpM to Santos’s over four. Yana is a volume striker, so Chandler will have to stifle her in the clinch and up against the cage, or Chandler risks losing a decision.   

Lately, Yana Santos has been talking to dubs like Chael Sonnen talking to Wanderlei Silva, “I can’t let you get close!” She lathers in dub repellent and carries pepper spray for any suspicious-looking dubs that may be lurking around the corner. Her major malfunction? She hasn’t finished a fight in her noine-fight UFC career. She’s always in close fights that go the distance, and she can’t distance herself with power. She can’t produce any knockdowns or possible fight-ending moments. Yana has those Play D’Oh hands – end up all over the carpet and stuck to the bottom of your shoes hands. In every fight, Yana rolls into the Octagon, wielding two pieces of Mead notebook paper. She will slice and dice between your toes and fingers, and it will be quite annoying, but she’ll never finish a fight that way.   

That being said, she can beat Chelsea Chandler and turn her into Handler if Yana can use volume to keep Chandler on the outside and out of clinching range. Santos is good at peppering kicks and punches non-stop and disrupting the opponent’s offense. But she struggles to stay on her feet to the tune of a forty-two percent takedown percent. And getting back to her feet is a wish and a prayer. Chandler rocks a thirty-three percent takedown defense, so there is a path for Santos from the top position. That would mean operating within Chandler’s wheelhouse, though. Santos can hover around the one hundred strikes mark, but she’s more often in the forty to fifty range.   

Santos is the (-135) favorite, and Chandler is the (+115) live-ass dog. If Chelsea can make this ugly, she will grind out an ugly victory. Santos lacks get-ups from her back, and although Chandler is far from Umar with the takedowns, she will be the stronger fighter and can grind Santos against the cage and drag her to the mat. The play for each fighter is a decision. I would be shocked like Marv if there was a finish in this fight. You already know I have to ride with Stockton. Chelsea Chandler via decision. Wax on, wax off.   

Props

Santos: TKO/KO (+700) Sub (+2500) Dec (-110)  

Chandler: TKO/KO (+700) Sub (+800) Dec (+250)

Winner: Chelsea Chandler | Method: Decision

Danny Barlow (-350) vs. Nikolay Veretennikov (+285)

Barlow: DK: $9.3k | NV: DK:$6.9k

This one is a late addition to the main card. Danny Barlow is a street fighter, and I ain’t talkin’ Capcom. He’s a voyeur striker, leaving himself exposed - indecent every time he engages. My man is like a streaker running on the field in the middle of the game. Due to FCC regulations, ESPN has to blur out Barlow’s body up to his shoulders because he bears all - lets it all hang out with every strike. Barlow throws long, whipping punches, but he leaves himself exposed defensively. His chin is like the star on a Christmas tree every time he engages. Every exchange is like the proverbial train wreck you can’t look away from. He’s a master of disaster. It lurks around every corner on his way from the hotel to the Octagon. He can get got at any moment, but it hasn’t happened yet.   

Barlow is 8-0 for his career, including 1-0 in the UFC, after fighting the human heavy bag Josh “Giggity” Quinlan in his debut. Of his eight career dubs, five came via TKO/KO and one via sub. Barlow will be up against a much more reserved/technical striker in Nikolay Veretennikov. I don’t know much about this guy. He fought Michael Morales (A true savage) on the Contender Series and went the distance. He didn’t look particularly dangerous, but he has noine career TKO/KOs and one sub and is 12-4 for his career. This will be his debut, but he has experience in LFA and Fury FC.  

Barlow is the (-350) favorite, and Nikolay is the (+285) live dog. Though I don’t know much about him, Veretennikov’s technical style could cause Barlow problems. Barlow’s chin doesn’t deviate a centimeter off the centerline, and he throws from his waist like a true gunslinger. Nikolay’s tight, short punches will fit perfectly between Barlow’s long, looping ones. Barlow’s aggression can be a gift and a curse. I think both fighters are finishing threats, but I think the play is a decision. Nikolay showed he could handle an aggressive power striker when he fought Morales. He won’t take many risks, but that could help him weather the early storm. I have no idea about this fight, but I have to roll with the more aggressive fighter with a little UFC experience. Danny Barlow via decision. Wax on, wax off.   

Props

Barlow: TKO/KO (+110) Sub (+1000) Dec (+180)  

Veretennikov: TKO/KO (+650) Sub (+2000) Dec (+800)

Winner: Danny Barlow | Method: Decision

Prelims

$7k Value Menu

Marcin Tybura ($7.9k): In their first fight (a three-round bout that went the distance), Tybura landed forty-seven strikes and two takedowns with over eight minutes of top control time. If he can duplicate that outing, I think he will have a good shot at finishing Spivak late with a submission or strikes from the top. Neither fighter has ever fought into the fourth round, but I trust Tybura’s cardio more than I do Spivak's, especially if Spivak ends up on his back again for extended periods. And if the fight stays standing, Tybura is the far more technical and diverse striker. Spivak will have a puncher’schance, but overall, his hands move like freight trains coming to a stop. They’re slow as fook booooooooy!  

Jhonata Diniz ($7.2k): It’s hard out here for a $7k this week. This turned into a clusterfook of a card literally overnight. This guy Diniz is built like a shot putter or those guys that twirl around and sling the morning stars without the spikes like Hail Marys. Diniz has high-level kickboxing experience, having fought at the highest level in the Glory promotion. He even fought Rico Verhoeven, who is a legendary kickboxer. Diniz is only 7-0 in his pro-MMA career and has very limited grappling. Which is a bad look when facing a dominant wrestler like Karl Williams. Likely, Diniz will end up on his back for nearly fifteen minutes. BUT (Big but), Williams has shown a limited gas tank after the midway point in fights. If the takedown well dries up, Dinis will box Williams’ face... off. This is the very definition of an all-or-nothing pick, but there is a real chance of Dinis flipping the board.  

Toshiomi Kazama ($7.4k): This guy is a dead man walking on his feet. After competing on the Road to UFC: Singapore show, Kazama lost his first two official UFC bouts via first-round TKO. So why the fook would I pick this guy? Well, he has slick submissions and is a little grappling dynamo. He’ll be facing a wrestler-striker in Charalampos Grigoriou. Gigoriou’s legs are built like keyboard special characters, and I don’t think he’s very good. My man, Grigoriou, is built like Vic Guzman – like his legs were in casts for two years. That has to account for something in Kazama's favor. Even if Kazama ends up on his back, three of his five career subs were initiated from his guard. And he can force scrambles and submit you from the top position. If Kazama can avoid a kickboxing match, he can make this fight interesting and will have a shot at a submission. But, again, this is an all-or-nothing option, as most options are this week on the Value Menu.  

$6k Bathroom Clearance Rack

Nikolay Veretennikov ($6.9k): I don’t know much about Veretennikov other than he’s a technical striker. And Danny Barlow strikes like he’s ass-neked. He bares all - leaves himself fully exposed with every exchange. Barlow tends to parrypunches with his face while carrying his hands low like a gunslinger. This is another fight whose odds should be much closer. Barlow is a very dangerous striker, but he lacks defensive awareness. Veretennikov has noine career TKO/KOs and twelve career dubs. Dude is a finisher and will have more than a puncher’s chance against Barlow. Veretennikov went the distance with the heathen, Michael Morales, on the Contender Series, and he is far more technical than Barlow on the feet. But Barlow will be the slightly more dangerous fighter as he is willing to risk defeat on every exchange.  

Twenty-Twen-Twen Sleepers

Marcin Tybura (+135): He already won this fight, and it wasn’t really close. Tybura dominated the wrestling/grappling, and that’s Spivak’s specialty. On the feet, neither guy is a dangerous striker. But Tybura has lighter feet, quicker hands, and uses multiple stances and angles to attack. Spivak has none of that. He’s straightforward and backward with an occasional big right hand. Spivak has gotten better since the first fight in 2020, but Tybura has multiple paths to victory. Spivak only has the top position in which to win.   

Nikolay Veretennikov (+285): Barlow’s defensive unawareness will make this fight much closer than the odds suggest. Veretennikov will have to avoid extended exchanges in the pocket, aka a firefight. That will favor Barlow. But a technical bout in which Nikolay can manage exchanges from the outside will favor him. Although he will be making his first at-bat as a big leaguer in the UFC, Nikolay is a finisher, having finished ten of his twelve wins. Barlow is undefeated at 8-0, but that chin will eventually get got.  

Jhonata Diniz (+175): If the takedown well runs dry on Karl Williams, he will be up Fooked Creek without any floaties. Williams fades like Dre’s SL 4000, and Diniz has a one hunnid percent TKO/KO rate at 7-0 for his career. Staying on his feet isn’t likely, but if he can avoid an early submission, he’ll have a shot late.  

Pick ‘Em

Toshiomi Kazama (+175) vs. Charalampos Grigoriou (-225) 

Winner: Charalampos Grigoriou  

Method: Decision 

Karol Rosa (-210) vs. Pannie Kianzad (+175) 

Winner: Karol Rosa 

Method: Decision 

Jhonata Diniz (+175) vs. Karl Williams (-210) 

Winner: Karl Williams 

Method: Decision 

Youssef Zalal (-400) vs. Jarno Errens (+300) 

Winner: Youssef Zalal 

Method: Decision 

Stephanie Luciano (-170) vs. Talita Alencar (+140) 

Winner: Stephanie Luciano 

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 polic1