UFC Predictions: UFC Fight Night: Islam Makhachev vs. Bobby Green
This weekend sees the latest UFC Fight Night event take place at the Las Vegas APEX Center and the headline bout is a big one.
This UFC Fight Night is set to be headlined by a catchweight fight between lightweight stars Islam Makhachev and Bobby Green. There can be no doubt that the stakes are high.
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The rest of the card is lacking in name value somewhat, but with a main event that looks as good as this one, that really doesn’t matter. The best everyone can hope for is some exciting action.
On that note, here are the predicted outcomes for UFC Fight Night: Islam Makhachev vs. Bobby Green.
#1. UFC catchweight bout: Islam Makhachev vs. Bobby Green
Initially, this show would’ve been headlined by a major lightweight tilt pitting Islam Makhachev against Beneil Dariush. With both men currently ranked in the top five, this fight would’ve had major UFC title implications.
However, last week saw Dariush forced out with an injury. As a result, Bobby Green has stepped in on just ten days’ notice, forcing the UFC to switch the fight to 160 lb catchweight.
Does it make it much lesser of a fight? Not really. The truth is that this will still probably be the last stop on Makhachev’s ride to a title shot. If he beats ‘King’ impressively, it’ll be difficult for the promotion not to pit him against the winner of the upcoming Charles Oliveira vs. Justin Gaethje UFC lightweight title bout.
Can the native of Dagestan pull off the win? With all things considered, it’s probably difficult not to make him the big favorite here. To be fair, on paper at least, Green may be a tricky match for Makhachev. A solid high school wrestler with serious athletic skills, ‘King’ has been fighting in the octagon for just under a decade now.
During that period, he has beaten some excellent fighters, including the likes of Josh Thomson, James Krause, Lando Vannata and Al Iaquinta.
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Despite his wrestling background, Green is primarily a boxing-based striker these days. He prefers to use his slick head movement and shoulder rolls to avoid the strikes of his opponents, and return fire with sharp combinations of his own.
The issue ‘King’ has had during his tenure with the promotion is that often, he isn’t active enough in fights to secure the points he needs to clearly win in the eyes of judges. It should come as no surprise, then, that of his 18 octagon bouts, 14 have gone the distance – with Green losing six of them.
In this fight, it’s likely Green will look to cause Makhachev problems by keeping this fight on the feet and looking to out-slick his opponent. Makhachev tends to be a little wilder standing than he needs to be.
The problem with that game plan, of course, is that Makhachev is perhaps the division’s most powerful wrestler right now. He has never had a problem taking any of his opponents down, even other strong wrestlers like Nik Lentz and Chris Wade.
Add in the fact that Green is taking this bout on late notice, it’s difficult to imagine that ‘King’ can possibly be prepared for what Makhachev has to offer. Sure, Green hasn’t been submitted since 2009, but Thiago Moises looked like one of the best grapplers in the entire division, and Makhachev dummied him on the ground.
It wouldn’t be entirely surprising to see this one go the distance, but either way, the pick is Makhachev.
The Pick: Makhachev via second-round submission.