UFC Fight Night 122: Bisping vs Gastelum (Preview & Predictions)
UFC Fight Night 122 goes down at the Mercedes Benz Arena in Shanghai, China on November 25th.
The event will see a riskily quick turnaround for former UFC Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping; who faces the ever-dangerous Kelvin Gastelum.
Furthermore, UFC Shanghai’s co-headliner has Chinese KO artist Li Jingliang compete against Zak Ottow. The rest of the card features several unheralded, but potential future stars. So, without further ado, here are the predictions and preview for UFC Fight Night 122: Bisping vs. Gastelum—
*Indian fans can watch UFC Fight Night 122: Bisping vs Gastelum from 5:30 pm on Saturday, November 25th only on SONY ESPN & SONY ESPN HD*
#Main Card (UFC Fight Pass)
#1 Michael Bisping vs, Kelvin Gastelum
Michael Bisping is an excellent fighter, and if it weren’t for his significant age disadvantage and recent war with GSP, I’d pick the Count to defeat Kelvin Gastelum.
Nevertheless, Bisping couldn’t possibly be at a hundred percent just weeks after his 3-round battle with Georges St-Pierre earlier this month. Add to that the fact that Gastelum is no slouch and almost knocked out Chris Weidman in his last fight, all signs point toward Bisping getting finished.
Expect Gastelum to start off in his trademark frenetic style; tagging Bisping while making the latter miss. He’d then catch Bisping at boxing range; knock him down and finish off the fight with follow-up strikes; handing the Count his second consecutive loss within the span of a month.
Prediction: Kelvin Gastelum def. Michael Bisping via TKO
#2 Li Jingliang vs. Zak Ottow
Li is a deadly knockout artist, and against someone with a relatively basic striking defence like Ottow, it’ll show.
Fans can expect the Chinese standout to gauge his foe’s timing and distance in the first half of the fight; before closing the distance and trouncing Ottow on the feet.
Prediction: Li Jingliang def. Zak Ottow via KO
#3 Wang Guan vs. Alex Caceres
This is Caceres’ fight to lose; given the fact that he’s better not only on the ground but also in the standup department as well.
Guan may look a bit threatening in the early going but will eventually fade in the face of Caceres’ volume and tenacity. However, fans can expect this fight to go the distance; considering Guan’s durability.
Prediction: Alex Caceres def. Wang Guan via Decision
#4 Muslim Salikhov vs. Alex Garcia
Garcia is a much better fighter than Salikhov, however, the latter has somewhat of an immovable object feel to his overall MMA game, which sort of allows him to take tremendous amounts of damage without going out.
Garcia is likely to outclass Salikhov in every aspect of this fight; including the transitions between the standup and the ground. Garcia may finish him in the latter stretch of the fight, but that seems highly unlikely, hence a decision win for the former would be the safe bet.
Prediction: Alex Garcia def. Muslim Salikhov via Decision