MMA Preview – Curtis Blaydes vs Francis Ngannou 2 at UFC Fight Night 141
AT A GLANCE
When is UFC Fight Night 141? Saturday 24th November, 2018 - 23:30 start (UK)
Where is UFC Fight Night 141? Cadillac Arena, Beijing, China
What channel is UFC Fight Night 141 on? BT Sport 2
Where can I stream UFC Fight Night 141? BT Sport subscribers can stream the fight online via the BT Sport website
Are tickets still available for UFC Fight Night 141? http://uk.ufc.com/event-ticket...
THE STATISTICS
THE LOWDOWN
These two monsters and top heavyweight contenders duke it out for a second time after Francis Ngannou eventually begun to puncture the resistance from Curtis Blaydes until the doctor had to step in. It was a close fight but the power of Ngannou made all the difference.
This was back in April 2016 and Blaydes has continued to improve since then, winning every fight convincingly and rising to #3 in the heavyweight rankings. His most recent fight with Alistair Overeem was his most impressive, taking him down with ease and finishing the legend with thunderous ground-and-pound.
Ngannou has also raised many eyebrows – for varying reasons. The Predator lived up to his nickname and finished four victims, catching everyone’s attention including the then champion Stipe Miocic who he met at the start of the year.
Ngannou was the heavyweight every fan had been waiting for but Miocic humbled him, exploiting his grappling weaknesses. This seemed to damage the Cameroonian mentally more than physically as his next fight with Derrick Lewis was surprisingly a snooze-fest where he seemed too hesitant to throw any kind of offence.
THE PREDICTION
Ngannou is going to have to prepare for this fight mentally. If he has lost confidence in throwing his murderous punches and kicks, Blaydes is probably the worst opponent to face. He is in the form of his life and had earned all his success on the back of a phenomenally strong wrestling and grappling game which we know is Ngannou’s weakness.
The Predator has to look back at their fist fight and other fights for that matter and ensure he is the first to engage. He needs to land on Blaydes early to diffuse his grappling. Any more hesitancy and Blaydes will chew him up and spit him out down the rankings.
Winner: Blaydes via Decision
Striking and grappling stats sourced via FightMetric.
