UFC APEX, Las Vegas. USA
The top UFC middleweights Uriah Hall and Sean Strickland will meet in the main event of the UFC tournament in the early hours of August 1.
Uriah Hall: It's too early to retire
Hall has been in the UFC for a long time and has had many epic fights. One bad thing - he has already lost all his main fights against Whitaker, Mousasi, Paulo Costa, and others. Uriah is a former kickboxer, a black belt in kyokushin karate, a finalist of The Ultimate Fighter 17 tournament, a former ROC middleweight champion. Currently he is ranked #8 in the official UFC middleweight rankings.
The 36-year-old American has 19 wins (13 by KO, 2 by submission) and 9 losses (4 by KO, 0 by submission) on his pro record.
In his last fight, Uriah set an unbelievable record - he beat Chris Weidman before he could land a single punch. It all happened in the 15th second of the fight. Chris threw the first punch of the fight - a low kick with the right leg and hit his opponent just below the knee joint, right in the hardest place. What happened next was terrifying, Weidman's leg broke. Both fighters didn't realize at the time what had happened, but when the fighter tried to get up, his leg literally folded in half.
It's a little disturbing that instead of getting ready for another (very dangerous) opponent, Hall is dreaming of fighting the champion:
I'm looking forward to meeting the champion. I can't say anything bad about him, because I'm not here to talk nonsense about people. I'm very excited about the opportunity to fight Israel. He has an exciting style, but I think my style is perfect for him. He motivates me because I really like the way he runs his fights and plays his part outside the octagon. I can't say anything bad about him. Israel is the champion and is right where he should be right now. In the rankings, there are a few pairs ahead of me, but after I defeat them, I'll be able to face Israel.
Sean Strickland: It's make or break.
For some reason, Strickland is considered a young prospect even though he's 30 years old. He's in a make-or-break situation right now. If Sean loses, he'll still be at the bottom of the top 15, but if he wins, he will get the chance to get higher than ever.
The 30-year-old American has 23 wins (10 by KO, 4 by submission) and 3 losses (1 by KO, 0 by submission) in his overall pro record.
Sean was dissatisfied with his last win over Jotko and after that fight he complained about the fact that he could not win early. But that was his own fault, he led confidently, but without making a significant progress. The contenders fought in the octagon all three rounds, at the end of which all three referees gave the preference to Strickland - 30-27, 30-27, 30-27.
And about the upcoming fight, he mentioned the following:
I don't want to diminish the merits of Uriah, but for me, he's a great gatekeeper. If I beat him I'll be very close to a title fight, if I lose it will be very bad for me. I have no right to make a mistake. All the people around me say that this fight is very important and important for me, because it's going to be the main fight of the night. But I don't care about that, because if I win that fight, it's a big deal for me, but if I lose it, it's just a fight. I know that Uriah has a very uncomfortable fighting style and it's hard to adjust to him, but that's okay. The most important thing is to keep your hands to your chin and pay attention!
Expert betting tips
The analysts of bookmakers show that that the probability of an early conclusion of the fight is quite high. On the total under 3.5 with odds of 1.90, and on the total over than 3.5 for 1.93. And this is exactly the case when they are likely to be wrong. Neither fighter has a total advantage (although again, bookmakers consider Strickland a big favorite at odds of 1.50 versus 2.75), and we've seen more than once that they know how to be cautious.
Other predictions
