MMA Preview – Makwan Amirkhani vs Jonathan Pearce at UFC Fight Night 208
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MAKWAN AMIRKHANI VS JONATHAN PEARCE FACTS
When is UFC London? Sunday 23rd July, 2022 - 18:00 start (UK)
Where is UFC London? The O2 Arena, London (UK)
Where can I get tickets for UFC London? Click here to buy tickets for UFC London
What channel is UFC London on? BT Sport 1
Where can I stream UFC London? BT Sport subscribers can stream the fight online via the BT Sport website
For viewers in the United States, the event will be shown live on ESPN+ and you can sign up for access as part of a Disney Bundle here!
MAKWAN AMIRKHANI VS JONATHAN PEARCE LOWDOWN
Makwan Amirkhani (17-7) is coming off one of the most impressive wins of his career. He was slipping on a three-fight skid going into the fight after losing unanimous decisions to Edson Barboza (2020), Kamuela Kirk (2021) and swallowing a hellacious knee from Lerone Murphy (2021) to suffer the second knockout of his career. He was then matched with an elite wrestler in Mike Grundy back in March and took less than a minute to wrap him up in his Anaconda choke bagging a ‘Performance of the Night’ bonus in the process.
He has now been paired up with Jonathan Pearce (12-4) who is in the form of his life. His only loss in his last in his last nine was that shock knockout to Joe Lauzon (2019) on his UFC debut. Since then, he has knocked out Kai Kamaka (2020), submitted Omar Morales (2021) and most recently outpointed Christian Rodriguez back in March.
MAKWAN AMIRKHANI VS JONATHAN PEARCE PREDICTION
We can see this going a similar way to the Grundy fight. Amirkhani loves to burst out the gate to unsettle his opponents. He is quick and aggressive, but he will have to pace himself against Pearce.
The American is solid, well-rounded and if he gets out the first round unscathed, he has the wrestling to grind out a decision. His wrestling will be key, but on the other hand, look what happened to Grundy.
There will be a lot of opportunities for Amirkhani to pounce on a choke. He will try and latch onto Pearce as soon as possible to wrap up a body lock and work on a submission and we are backing him to find one.
The most likely outcomes here are a Pearce decision or Amirkhani submission and as Mr Finland is the underdog, he represents all of the value.
Prediction: Amirkhani via Submission - CLICK HERE FOR PARIMATCH'S WELCOME OFFER (BET £5, GET £30 IN BONUSES!)
Value Bet: Amirkhani via Submission
