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

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Main Card

Ilia Topuria (-240) vs. Max Holloway (+200)

Topuria: DK: $8.8k | Holloway: DK:$8.6k

Who didn’t want to be Max Holloway after UFC 300? My son is going to be Max for Halloween, complete with chest plate, rub-on tattoos and Hawaiian board shorts. Last week, he got sent home from school early for pointing to the floor after a kid took his glue stick. It seems everywhere I go these days, I run into a Max Holloway. I was at a Weezer concert recently and accidentally made eye contact with a guy at a urinal. He stopped mid-stream, a few drops landing on his freshly painted toenails exposed within his Sketchers hiking sandals, and pointed to the floor. Stopping mid-stream is diabolical work. While stopped at a light, I gave the car ahead of me thirty seconds after it turned green before I honked, and he got out and pointed to the pothole-ridden street. It makes one wonder: How many Maxs will be at dinner tables around the U.S. this Thanksgiving?   

“Hey, son, I can’t believe you voted for war?” 

“I can’t believe you voted for war! And I ain’t your son, buddy!” 

(Gravy boat flies across the table) 

Only Max can save us from us. Why? Because He is HIM. He is Legend. He is Max. The NFL has “The Catch,” Joe Montana to Dwight Clark in the back of the endzone. The NBA has “The Shot,” Michael Jordan eliminating the Cavs with a buzzer beater from the top of the key. And the UFC has “The Punch,” Max Holloway sleeping Justin Gaethje at the sound of the final bell at UFC 300. Like Jerry West became the NBA logo, Max flexing while supporting his massive Randy Marsh nuts with both hands should become the UFC logo.  

How the fook do you top that? By winning a second world title five years after losing it, and any future title hopes were thought to be a thing of the past. Max is entering his power-puncher arc. He is coming in off back-to-back vicious knockouts. The only thing I thought Max couldn’t do, he did: knocking out Justin Gaethje. Fighting max is like a modern-day duel at one pace with .50 caliber hands. The fact that you got ‘replica’ written down the side of your hands, and the fact that Max has ‘Desert Eagle .50 written on the side of his, precipitates your huevos into shrinking when you exchange with him. Hit that Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels! From the opening bell, Max comes after you like the letter v, on some Eminem “Premonition” type-ish. Max is the ultimate volume puncher, having set the record for significant strikes landed against Kalvin Kattar at four hundred forty-five. And he landed over one hundred significant strikes in every fight since 2017, excluding against the Korean Zombie, a fight he finished in the third round.  

Yep, Max bombs atomically, Socrates philosophies and hypothesis. Max is the real-life Miklo from Blood In Blood Out. Every exchange is a risk, carnal. That will be tenfold when he fights the Pamplona ass-goring (No Diddy) brahman bull, Ilia “Tempura” Topuria. Trust Max has something for that ass. He’s been growing a little Three Musketeers mustache and bought a Traje de Luces costume with a muleta and an estoque from Spirit Halloween. Max is going to come out on some Manolete (the GOAT Spanish bullfighter) type-ish, using his jab to keep Topuria swinging at air. Ilia had serious problems dealing with Volkanovski’s jab early in their title fight, and the jab is Max’s best weapon. Max’s volume can force Ilia into being overaggressive and making mistakes lest he risk falling behind on the scorecards. Max averages over seven SLpM compared to Ilia’s just under four and a half.   

But Max’s best attribute is that you can’t finish him. He has only been finished once by submission to Dustin Poirier early in his career. There’s a better chance of R.R. Martin finishing The Winds of Winter than anyone finishing Max Holloway. Max’s volume will force Ilia to make up the gap with big power shots, leaving him open to counters. Barring any knockdowns, Ilia will likely need a finish to beat Max.   

And if anybody can do that, Ilia Topuria can. Ill-ia, aka Illmatic. He still has Volk’s ass impaled on his horns. They call Topuria’s fights The Running of Ilia. When he gets to goring and trampling your ass in the Octagon, not even Pennywise would jump in that bish to save you. He has had fifteen runs through the cobbled streets, and only two survived to tell their tales. Topuria is 15-0, including 7-0 in the UFC, and he finished five of them. And Josh Emmett was all but finished. 

Topuria has always reminded me of a TSA-approved Arman Tsarukyan but with better boxing. We forget Topuria is a world-class wrestler/grappler because he has been knocking everyone out. He made Volkanovski look like a toddler – they can fall asleep anywhere. Volk looked like he had a window seat and busted out a travel pillow just after takeoff. Topuria’s special move is a right-hand Overlook Hotel overhand ax chop behind the liver shot. It’s brown panty night when Ilia steps into the cage. What can brown do for you? Ilia gets on that UPS shit when he attacks the liver. You better have Chipotlaway on deck like a Diddy stockpile of Johnson’s baby oil when you fight Ilia. He brings your hands down to defend the liver shot, and then Clubber Lang clubs you over the top.   

The key to beating Topuria on the feet is forcing him to move backward. He likes to march opponents down and keep them backpedaling while he builds up some steam. You can’t let him get any momentum. The best way to do that is with extended combinations - Max’s M.O. Topuria can stand and bang with anyone, but he needs to make this an MMA fight as much as he can, threatening with level changes. I wouldn’t be surprised if all the tough-guy gum-bumping coming from Topuria is a front because he plans to wrestle. That would be the mature, responsible thing to do. Has Topuria reached that stage of his career? I’m not so sure. If the fight stays standing, Topuria will have to take big risks closing the distance to land fight-changing/round-changing shots. 

Topuria will be the (-245) favorite, and Maxey Baby will be the (+205) livest-dog of all live dogs. Get Max before he gets bet down. Topuria’s style plays perfectly into Max’s hands. He can do to Ilia what he did to Gaethje. Max has faced Topuria’s before. Topuria has never faced a Max before. Max’s volume will be the x-factor. He can steal close rounds by being the aggressor and outworking Topuria. Topuria’s style is power-based, not volume-based; he can’t keep up with Max and will need big moments to win rounds. I think the play for this one is a decision. Only Dustin Poirier ever came close to finishing Max on the feet. Topuria was nearly finished in the first round after a head kick against Jai Herbert, but that was at lightweight.   

The barista, Fluffy Hernandez, got us back in the main event winning column. In what world can a guy who looks like Fluffy deliver that kind of beating to a guy who looks like Pereira? That was the quintessential Diddy beating. As I’m typing, I have no idea who I’m picking. The safe bet is to go chalk and get the main events streaking again. But there’s a little Max on my shoulder whispering, “Life’s a risk, carnal.” Can you really doubt him after what he did at UFC 300? Max Halloway via decision. Put that shit on wax.  

Props

Topuria: TKO/KO (+175) Sub (+500) Dec (+250) 

Max: TKO/KO (+550) Sub (+2500) Dec (+400)

Winner: Max Holloway | Method: Decision

Robert Whittaker (+200) vs. Khamzat Chimaev (-240)

Whittaker: DK: $7.5k | Chimaev: DK: $8.7k

They better have Khamzat Chimaev in quarantine lest he catch a cold before the fight. Chimaev’s kryptonite is a kindergarten classroom. His immune system has a white belt. These two were scheduled to fight a couple months ago, but Chimaev caught smallpox somewhere between Independence Rock and Soda Springs. The flu is Diddy, and Cimaev’s white blood cells are Meek Mill. No man can beat Chimaev, but any virus can - even a computer virus. But if he makes it to fight night, this will be a fookin' banger and the ultimate wrestler vs. striker matchup. Bobby Knuckles is a man whose introduction is that he needs no introduction. For Robert Whittaker, this fight represents one step closer to becoming the GOAT middleweight. If he can recapture the belt for a third time and go through Chimaev to get there, I think he will lead the GOAT conversation.   

Khamzat is straight out of a B.C. timeline. Inside the Octagon, he sacks fighters, pillages and plunders, and leaves them a glowing pyre on the horizon. To the victors go the spoils type-shit. He’s a one-man Mongolian horde tearing down your shitty walls. There are no rules of engagement that Khamzat Chimaev abides by. The key to beating Chimaev is surviving the first round. The first round against Chimaev is like surfing a tsunami – paragliding in a hurricane. It’s like falling into the tiger exhibit at the zoo and surviving until the workers in little safari shorts tranquilize the MF. It’s like Roy surviving while Siegfried called 9-11. Or was it Siegfried who... Never mind. There isn’t a man on earth who Chimaev can’t ragdoll. He manhandled Kamaru Usman in the opening round of his last bout. His takedowns are unstoppable... in the first round. 

Then Chimaev starts to fade. Not completely, but fade indeed. I thought Usman won rounds two and three. Chimaev can be beaten on the feet. His striking looks tight and technical, but it has holes like SpongeBob. He’s a Bikini Bottom striker. Khamzat cannot defend more than one shot. He CANNOT. Extended combinations are his garlic and silver bullets. Also, Chimaev is an ego fighter with a Hulk temperament whenever he gets hit. You can draw him into reckless exchanges by touching his chin. Chimaev is all offense and moves like a dragster in straight lines. Angles beat Chimaev. And Bobby Knuckles has more angles than Kurt. Chimaev will find himself in trouble if the takedown well dries up as it did against Usman and Gilbert Burns. Bobby Knuckles is a better striker than both. And it’s not even close.   

In his last fight, Bobby Knuckles went straight Alonzo and turned Ikram Aliskerov in to Jake. “I didn’t know you liked to get wet, Ikram.” Bobby Knux Baby Boy’d Ikram like Snoop and Tyrese. You just a baby boy – you not the real McCoy. Not until you beat Bobby Knuckles. There’s nothing left to say about him. He still cracks ass like leaves in the wilderness – cracks ass like... Yo! Hit that Sisqo shit! You know what song I’m talking about. Bobby is all arm angles, delivering jabs, crosses, and hooks from angles you aren’t used to defending. And his special move is the same-time right cross to right high kick. He throws both strikes almost at the same time. His hand speed isn’t quite what it used to be but it’s still fast as f**k boooooooy! 

The red flag for Whittaker in recent bouts has been his chin. He has been hitting the Soul Train line a lot in recent fights. His chin has over two hundred fifty thousand miles – well past its powertrain warranty. Du Plessis basically KO’d Whittaker with a jab, and Paulo Costa had Bobby riding a pair of Heelys around the mall after a spinning wheel kick. Don’t let the Gerald Meerschaert fight fool you; Chimaev isn’t much of a one-punch power striker. But he can still cause Bobby problems on the feet because of the takedown threat. Whittaker has to show no respect and just go for it from the jump. He has to say “Biggie” three times in the mirror and blast “Hit ‘Em Up” when he pops up. No Retreat, No Surrender. Bobby has to accept that he will end up on his back and not be paralyzed by the threat of Chimaev’s wrestling.    

Chimaev will be the (-235) favorite, and Whittaker will be the (+195) live-ass dog. If Whittaker can survive the first five minutes, he can take over in the second and third. The fact that this fight is five rounds favors Whittaker because he will have plenty of time to make up for losing the first round. It affords him the ability to stay patient and ride it out when he gets taken down early. Much like Usman did. It’s nearly impossible to win the first round against Chimaev. And Chimaev’s gas tank is highly sus. I think Whittaker’s unorthodox stand-up will be too much for Chimaev in the long run. I would play Chimaev for an early submission and Whittaker for a decision. I’m not sure he can finish Chimaev, but he can outpoint him, especially in the championship rounds. I’m gonna do it. Don’t do it. Taking dogs in the main and co-main? That’s a huge risk. Exactly. Robert Whittaker via decision. On wax.   

Props

Whittaker: TKO/KO (+165) Sub (+240) Dec (+600) 

Chimaev: TKO/KO (+380) Sub (+2500) Dec (+650)

Winner: Robert Whittaker | Method: Decision

Lerone Murphy (-275) vs. Dan Ige (+220)

Murphy: DK: $8.9k | Ige: DK:$7.3k

I don’t know how Dan Ige will make weight with those Randy Marsh stones swangin’ between his legs. Who’s going to lift them out of the wheelbarrow? My man needs a spotter everywhere he goes. Dan Ige qualifies for disability after taking the Diego Lopes fight on just a couple hours' notice and dominating the third round.   

“Dan! Your balls!”  

“I know. Taking a fight on fifteen minutes’ notice and nearly pulling it off.” 

Ige didn’t lose that fight; he just ran out of time. Speaking of losing, Lerone Murphy doesn’t know what that is. L’s roll off Lerone Murphy like water off a duck’s ass – like he broke into Diddy’s baby oil vault on some Mission Impossible hanging from the ceiling type-shit. Murphy is coming in off a main event dub over what’s left of Edson Barbosa. That was glass-half-empty Barbosa, but Murphy will be up against glass-half-full Dan Ige. And Ige is no easy out for anybody.   

Lerone Murphy reminds me of a Hollywood Blvd. street performer version of Leon Edwards. Murphy doesn’t have any glaring holes in his game and can win scraps on the feet and on the mat. Most importantly, Murphy has one hundred twenty fight IQ. He’s Krang in that bish. No matter what happens, he sticks to the plot like funerals. Like a politician, he sticks to the script at all times. Lerone is on that Peyton Manning shit, always calling the right plays at the line. He’s a situational fighter who can point wrestle and strike.   

On the feet, you have to draw him into extended exchanges. You have to draft his ass and send him to the front lines – introduce him to some All Quiet on the Western Front trench warfare. You can’t let him chill a mile away in a bell tower and snipe you for fifteen minutes. Murphy went to Cranbrook; that’s a private school. You have to expel him and send him to a public school. Murphy likes things to stay nice and tidy, staying at range and controlling the exchanges from the outside. You gotta expose him to that secondhand smoke while being careful not to get taken down. Murphy isn’t quite Makhachev on the mat, but he has that Sooperman Luva top control. Hit that Redman “Sooperman Luva!” Lerone will get you down and hit you with that pillow talk until the end of the round.   

One thing Dan Ige is good at is turning scraps into firefights. Dan is the MMA Mega Man with photon cannons for hands. I liken Ige to a Left Twix Josh Emmett. He and Emmett are Brennan and Dale stepbrothers. Ige is highly regarded in his profession because of his strength of schedule. He once fought the Korean Zombie, Emmett, and Movsar Evloev consecutively. Hit that Eminem “Underground!” Ige walked up Elm Street with a fookin’ whiffle bat drew - fought Freddy Kreuger and Edward Scissorhands, too. In twenty-six career fights, Ige has never been finished. Seeing Ige get his ass kicked is like saying you saw a Sinbad movie called Shazaam. It’s an implanted memory – some Mandela Effect type-shit. It never happened. Ige usually loses to wrestlers who can hold him down for fifteen to twenty-five minutes.   

Against Murphy, Ige is going to stuff takedowns and let his hands do the talking like Cartman’s hand singing “Taco Flavored Kisses.” The red flag for Ige is his fifty-noine percent takedown defense, only to be outdone by Murphy’s forty-six. But Ige doesn’t wrestle; his hands boogie. Ige averages just over three and a half SLpM to Murphy’s five, but Ige has the power grid blackout power that Murphy doesn’t have. The finishing threat will be Ige. Murphy’s Fantasy value will be in a combination of significant strikes, takedowns, and top control. Murphy can rack up points quietly and is coming off a career-high two hundred twenty significant strikes landed in five rounds against Barbosa.   

Murphy will be the (-245) favorite, and Ige will be the (+205) live-ass dog. Ige can end the fight with one punch at any time. His power translates to the final bell. The big question is, can he stay on his feet long enough to land a fight-changer? Historically, the answer to that question has been no. Murphy averages one and a half takedowns per fifteen minutes and got Barbosa to the mat four times. He’s good at using the opponent’s aggression to level change. But there will always be value in Dan Ige as a live-ass dog. But I’ve been burned by Murphy too many times. Lerone Murphy via decision. Put it on wax. 

Props

Murphy: TKO/KO (+450) Sub (+2200) Dec (-160) 

Ige: TKO/KO (+800) Sub (+1800) Dec (+400)

Winner: Lerone Murphy | Method: Decision

Aleksandar Rakic (+300) vs. Magomed Ankalaev (-400)

Rakic: DK: $6.8k | Ankalaev: DK: $9.4k

Dana’s worst nightmare is Magomed Ankalaev winning the belt. I don’t blame him entirely. Sometimes, Ankalaev’s performances are offensive – downright insulting. I once (or twice) called Ankalaev a bigger/better Makhachev. Ankalaev has a similar skill set to Makhachev but lacks one thing: Fight IQ. Ankalaev has that presidential debate fight IQ – that Miss America Q&A fight IQ. This guy could take everyone down and dominate with ground and pound. But he chooses to stand and trade until he is nearly KO’d, or his legs have colostomy bags hooked up to them after they got the shit kicked out of them. Jan Blackowicz decapitated both Ankalaev’s ankles and had Ankalaev crawling around the Octagon like Rick James before Ankalaev attempted a single takedown. Once he did, Ankalaev nearly finished the fight on the mat and ran out of time, resulting in a draw. A draw in a title fight. That was the origin of Dana’s ire.   

Ankalaev insists on taking the Mad Max: Fury Road path to victory with dudes with silver spray paint around their mouths swinging from pole vaulting poles and lobbing Molotov cocktails through the sunroof. Or is it a moonroof? This guy doesn’t walk on the sidewalk; he walks in the middle of traffic during rush hour on his way to victory. He swears off wrestling until it’s too late. Magomed acts passive-aggressively toward the dub, pretending not to be interested until it loses interest and moves on. Also (while I’m on my petty shit), Ankalaev doesn’t have a single submission to his name. A guy with a dominant ground game. He couldn’t make you submit if he wore assless chaps and knee-high leather boots with a little tasselly horsewhip in hand. Someone has to teach this MF a Sharpshooter, a Mandible Claw, a Chicken Wing Crossface, or some shit.   

On the feet, Ankalaev is a bigger Brendan “Don’t Call Him Brandon Allan” Allen. He is good enough to give himself a little too much confidence. But he’s still dangerous. He has excellent round kicks and tight, technical kickboxing out of the southpaw stance. He has the luxury of being able to stand and let his takedowns develop naturally. The key for Ankalaev against Aleksandar Rakic will be setting up his takedowns and committing to his ground game early. Rakic also likes to wrestle, but he isn’t on Ankalaev’s level on the mat. Ankalaev only averages one takedown per fifteen minutes, but that should be two or three. He also averages three and a half SLpM to Rakic’s just under four and a half. And Ankalaev’s highest striking total is seventy-eight.   

Speaking of decapitating ankles, Aleksandar Rakic is the dude wearing the black hood, dropping the guillotine on ‘em. This guy has an acute disdain for calves. Somewhere along the road, some cankles hurt Rakic. This guy William Wallace’s calves. He’ll have you wiping your knees off on the Welcome mat real fookin’ quick. Rakic got conscripted in his last fight. He went to war against Jiri and earned a Purple Heart. He looked good in defeat – wore it like Li Jingliang wearing his blue plaid suit to his own wake after the Prates fight. He had Jiri hurt multiple times but couldn’t capitalize before Jiri did Jiri shit.

Rakic is a menace on the feet. His arms are long like scaffolding, and he’ll punch holes in you like Kyles and drywall. He’ll leave you like streets in NOLA, riddled with potholes. He’ll have them doing construction on your ass during rush hour, pissing off commuters. On the feet, Rakic is best at kickboxing range. He ate Jiri up from range. But within boxing range, Jiri got the better of him. Rakic had Jiri stepping off curbs in the cage after destroying both of Jiri's legs. Rakic showed he has that dog in him, and as you know, All Dogs Go to Heaven. He needs to have a similar approach to Ankalaev and turn this into a firefight. Ankalaev isn’t built for that kind of chaos. Rakic also has sneaky wrestling and could flip the script and take down Ankalaev. Both fighters have solid takedown defense, both averaging eighty-five percent.   

Whoa. Ankalaev is the (-410) favorite, and Rakic is the (+305) live-ass dog. Live-ass dog? Last week, the Twenty Twen-Twen Sleepers hit on “Jane” Austen Lane (+300) against Robelis Despaigne. This is another fight with skewed odds. This fight is much closer to a toss-up. You can’t trust Ankalaev like Chris Brown can’t trust these garden tools. There’s a good chance the fight will remain standing, and it’s 50/50 who will get got. That being said, I think the play is a decision one way or another. I see these guys showing a little too much respect on the feet. Fantasy-wise, expect moderate significant strikes landed at best, barring a finish. Damn, the dog is tempting, but I don’t know about taking three dogs. Magomed Ankalaev via decision. On wax.  

Props

Rakic: TKO/KO (+650) Sub (+2800) Dec (+650)  

Ankalaev: TKO/KO (+225) Sub (+1800) Dec (-115)

Winner: Magomed Ankalaev | Method: Decision

Shara Magomedov (-160) vs. Armen Petrosyan (+135)

Shara: DK: $8.6k | Petro: DK:$7.6k

Shara Magomedov is fighting for the third time in 2024, and I’m all out of one-eye jokes. Eye for an eye, and we’ll all be Shara’s? Homie is the Slick Rick of MMA. Yo! Hit that Slick Rick “Street Talkin’!” The streets have been talkin’ about Shara Bullet. Because he looks like he’s straight off an R.L. Stine book cover? That, and he is a walking Smithsonian of kicks. When using Shara on UFC 5, the X, B, Y, and A buttons are kicks. The trigger buttons are punches. This MF has Double Dragon helicopter kicks, Van Damme finishing move roundhouse kicks, 300 Spartan kicks, down-on-your-luck kicks, Messi kicks, messy kicks... Yo! Hit that From Dusk Till Dawn shit!  

“Alright, kicks, kicks, kicks! C’mon in kick lovers! Here at the Shara Twister, we’re slicing kicks in half! This is a kick blowout! We got purple kicks, yellow kicks, hot kicks, cold kicks, formaldehyde kicks! If Shara don’t got it, you don’t want it!” 

Shara’s kicks are the starter, and his hands are the bullpen. He relies on his kicks to build a lead and on his hands when he fatigues from throwing six significant kicks per minute or when the opponent starts to solve the puzzle. Shara’s hands are just as dangerous as his kicks but not as diverse. He mostly throws hooks that got their marching orders – left, right, left. But he lacks defensive prowess and ends most of his combinations with his hands at his waist. This should be an FX Nip/Tuck kickboxing match. Petrosyan also has excellent kickboxing and fast hands, but Shara will have a power advantage. Shara is 14-0 with eleven TKO/KOs. He has an eye that doesn’t see and a tongue that hasn’t tasted defeat.   

Once upon a time, Armen Petrosyan and Roman Kopylov met at Woodstock ‘99 during Jewel’s set. And shortly after, Chase Hooper was born. Coincidence? There’s no way Chase Hooper isn’t a Petroyan/Kopylov offspring. Yo! Hit that Offspring “The Kids Aren’t Alright!” Nobody will be alright once they make that connection. In addition to looking like Chase Hooper and Roman Kopylov, Armen Petrosyan looks like he should be better. He has all the skills on the feet, but he lacks power like the Amish and any kind of ground game.   

But make no mistake, Petrosyan has second-team All-Castor Troy honors. He will kickbox your face... off. Petro keeps his hands pumping like he’s at an EDM concert - on the Jersey Shore, rocking a mean blowout. The key to Petro’s striking is his left leg. He’s a Flanders Leftorium kicker: All left everything. No matter which stance he is in, Petro kicks with his left leg. Petrosyan flat-out discriminates against his right leg while his left leg is all up in the videos. His right leg is Bad Boy, and his left is Death Row. It’s the East Coast vs. West Coast beef all over again. But Petro isn’t all kicks; he has thread-the-needle hands, lacking one degree of curve. Like my grandpappy used to say, “He’s built like a needle but f**ks like a sewing machine.” Petro will create garments out of you like Leatherface. Petrosyan’s M.O. is firing hands in three-shot bursts and punctuating them with round kicks.   

Petrosyan is 9-3 with six TKO/KOs and averages over five and a half SLpM to Shara’s just under seven. This should be a high-volume stand-up banger. Win or lose, both fighters should hover in the eighties or noineties. The play for both fighters is a decision. Petrosyan has been finished once by TKO/KO, but that wasn't in the UFC. And he’s a defensively sound fighter with good in/out elusive movement. This one will be settled by who leads the dance most often. Shara is the (-180) favorite, and Petrosyan is the (+155) live-ass dog. The entire main card is filled with live-ass dogs. The pick ‘em could be ugly this week. At the end of the day, when it’s all said and done, I’m riding with the more diverse striker. Shara Magomedov via decision. Wax on, wax off.  

Props

Shara: TKO/KO (+320) Sub (+1800) Dec (+140)  

Petrosyan: TKO/KO (+650) Sub (+2800) Dec (+200)

Winner: Shara Magomedov | Method: Decision

Prelims

$7k Value Menu

Brunno Ferreira ($7.8k): A one-hunnid-percent finishing rate; that’s how Brunno Ferreira gets down. And he’s up against the former urban legend, Abus Magomedov. After the Sean Strickland fight, I haven’t trusted Abus. Strickland turned him into Avan, Acar, Abike, and Acan, and he has never been quite the same. Abus will need to get this fight to the mat because all Brunno knows in this life of sin is KO’ing people. He is 12-1 in his career with noine TKO/KOs and three subs. Get or get got; Brunno’s motto. He will either get taken down and held down intermittently for fifteen minutes, or he will TKO/KO Abus. There’s no in-between. The reg flag for Brunno is that he spells his name wrong and rocks a sixty percent takedown defense. Meanwhile, Abus averages nearly three takedowns per fifteen minutes. But if Abus can’t keep Brunno on the mat, Brunno will launch ICBMs until Abus is sleeping. Brunno is an all-or-nothing option with a huge upside.  

Max ($8.6k): This is a no-brainer. Max has eclipsed the one hunnid significant strikes mark in fourteen of his last fifteen fights. Three times, he landed over two hunnid and once over four hunnid! And the one time he didn’t land over one hunnid strikes, he KO’d the Korean Zombie. Hit that Cranberries shit! Zooooooombie! Zooooooombie! Zoooooombie! Win or lose, Max’s volume will make him a valuable Fantasy option. Plus, he has five-round championship experience. Topuria has never gone five rounds and has never faced a guy with Max’s volume. And if Max can flatline Justin Gaethje, he can do the same to Ilia Topuria. Max lands one-hunnid strikes before his morning cup of coffee. He represents the most consistent Fantasy option ever-ever. 

Armen Petrosyan ($7.6k): Petro averages over five and a half SLpM and has landed above or near one hundred strikes in three of his six UFC bouts. The only bouts that he didn’t land over one hundred were against grapplers desperate to get him to the mat. His opponent, Shara Bullet, has never attempted a takedown in his life. This will be a fifteen-minute kickboxing match with four-ounce gloves, giving Petro plenty of time to land high significant strikes. Petro’s downside is that he isn’t much of a finisher, and a finish against Shara is highly unlikely. But he can fook around and get a triple-double on his way to victory or defeat.   

$6k Bathroom Clearance Rack

Aleksandar Rakic ($6.8k): If the Rakic who showed up against Jiri shows up against Ankalaev, Ankalaev could be in trouble. Especially if Ankalaev refuses to use his wrestling early. Ankalaev’s major malfunction on the feet is defending leg kicks. Jan Blachowicz had Ankalaev walking on hot coals from the jump, destroying both legs. Rakic is a calf executioner, decapitating ankles like he’s wearing a black hood. And he throws nothing but bombs on the feet. If Ankalaev fooks around on the feet, he will find out. Rakic can not only win this fight, but he can also finish it if he can stay on his feet.   

Twenty-Twen-Twen Sleepers

Brunno Ferreira (+130): When you have a one-hunnid-percent finisher like Brunno, you’ll always have a live-ass dog dripping value all over your freshly Swiffered floor. If Brunno can make this a kickboxing match, I like his chances of landing something fight-ending - likely early. This is a guy who has a KO dub over one of my favorite fighters, Brazilian Deebo, aka Gregory Rodrigues. Also, Abus has been exposed as a fairly mid-fighter after all the hype after his UFC debut. 

Robert Whittaker (+210): Bobby Knux has only lost to two fighters since 2014. One of those fighters is the current champ (DDP), and the other is regarded as one of the middleweight GOATS (Stylebender). The key to this fight is that it is five rounds. Chimaev blows off a lot of steam in the first two rounds and visibly fades late in fights. I thought Usman got robbed against Chimaev in their most recent bout, and Gil Boo-urns dropped Chimaev in the second round. I once thought Chimaev was invincible, but now I know he is beatable. And Bobby has the angles and style on the feet to cause Chimaev all kinds of problems if Bobby can survive the opening five to ten minutes.   

Max (+200): Main event dogs have been howling at the moon this year, and Max is the dog of all dogs. After his UFC 300 performance, what can’t he do? The pace, the volume – Topuria has never faced a Max. Also, I think Topuria got Volkanovski at the perfect time. Volk was coming in off a KO loss to Makhachev and took little time off. I don’t see Topuria doing that to Max. Nobody has done that to Max. The only way to beat Max is to outpoint him, and that’s a tough task over twenty-five minutes. Plus-money Max is an automatic Andy Jack face down on the table.   

Pick ‘Em

Geoff Neal (-340) vs. Rafael dos Anjos (+270)  

Winner: Geoff Neal  

Method: Decision 

Mateusz Rebecki (+250) vs. Myktybek Orolbai (-300) 

Winner: Myktybek Orolbai 

Method: Decision 

Abus Magomedov (-145) vs. Brunno Ferreira (+120)  

Winner: Brunno Ferreira 

Method: TKO Rd.2 

Kennedy Nzechukwu (-225) vs. Chris Barnett (+185) 

Winner: Kennedy Nzechukwu 

Method: Decision 

Farid Basharat (-675) vs. Victor Hugo (+460) 

Winner: Farid Basharat 

Method: Decision 

Rinat Fakhretdinov (-245) vs. Carlos Leal (+205) 

Winner: Rinat Fakhretdinov 

Method: Decision 

Ibo Aslan (-105) vs. Raffael Cerqueira (-115) 

Winner: Raffael Cerqueira 

Method: Decision 

Ismail Naurdiev (-165) vs. Bruno Silva (+140) 

Winner: Bruno Silva 

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.