Daniel Cunningham
Tomorrow night in the main event of UFC Seattle, we are going to see a big time matchup in the middleweight division. Former champion Israel Adesanya (24-5) will look to bounce back as he takes on Joe Pyfer (15-3) who is looking for the biggest win of his career.
Starting with Adesanya, he enters the octagon tomorrow night having lost three fights in a row. Three years ago, Adesanya knocked out Alex Pereira to regain the middleweight title. Then he lost the title to Sean Strickland in a fight where he didn’t seem like himself at all.
His next fight was a loss to Dricus Du Plessis where he looked great until he was submitted. After that, he lost to Nassourdine Imavov in another fight where he looked great until he was knocked out. He’s trying to show the world that he’s still a top level middleweight.
Joe Pyfer is trying to prove that he belongs with the elites at UFC Seattle. Pyfer won his first three UFC bouts before suffering his lone octagon setback against Jack Hermansson. Since that loss, Pyfer has now won three more in a row moving his record to 6-1 with five finishes inside the octagon.
UFC Seattle Prediction
The betting odds are very close with this matchup because of the trajectory that both men are on. Pyfer enters with three straight wins while Adesanya enters with three straight losses. In terms of skills, the advantage is with the former UFC middleweight champion.
I think that he’s way above Pyfer in terms of overall skill and fighting ability. That said, I do wonder about his chin after that Imavov knockout. Pyfer has some of the biggest power in the middleweight division and if he lands clean, I can see him putting Adesanya out. Adesanya is going to have to be defensively sound in this matchup.
The one thing that concerns me about Pyfer is his gas tank. Because of Adesanya’s chin questions, I can see him coming out really hard looking for the knockout instead of letting things flow. If he does that, I can see him getting tired early and then becoming target practice for the former champion.
In the end, I don’t think Israel Adesanya is done and I think he bounces back here. I expect Pyfer to try and start fast but as the fight goes on, the former UFC middleweight champion will take over. I actually expect Adesanya to score a late finish on a very tired Joe Pyfer in front of the Seattle crowd.
Prediction: Israel Adesanya by TKO
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