Connect with us

Featured

UFC Vegas 23: Marvin Vettori vs Kevin Holland Preview

Published

2 years ago

on

UFC Vegas 23: Marvin Vettori vs Kevin Holland Preview

UFC Vegas 23 goes down this weekend, as Marvin Vettori takes on short-notice replacement Kevin Holland in the main event.

The event was originally scheduled to be headlined by Marvin Vettori and Darren Till, but the Brit had to withdraw due to injury. Holland fought Derek Brunson a fortnight ago at UFC Vegas 22, losing via a lopsided unanimous decision. ‘The Trailblazer’ would be looking to make a quick turnaround after his five-fight win streak was snapped.

The card also features a featherweight bout between Arnold Allen and Sodiq Yusuff, a middleweight fight between Kyle Daukaus and Aliaskhab Khizriev, another middleweight fight between Sam Alvey and Julian Marquez, and a women’s strawweight fight between Nina Ansaroff and MacKenzie Dern.

Marvin Vettori vs Kevin Holland

Things have changed dramatically for Kevin Holland, who was a sizeable favorite against Derek Brunson, but against Marvin Vettori at UFC Vegas 23, he’s a moderate underdog. That has mainly to do with the fact that Vettori has got a similar wrestling-heavy style like Brunson, who dominated Holland.

But Vettori’s a better-rounded fighter than Brunson with an Iron chin. He’s never been finished in his career, and he’s relatively young compared to his counterparts. He’s also extremely aggressive. In contrast, Holland is a fantastic striker. He’s powerful, fast, and extremely sharp on the feet, but he should limit his showboating inside the Octagon if he’s to beat Vettori, who means business, and wouldn’t be indulging in any sort of games.

You shouldn’t miss this one.

Arnold Allen vs Sodiq Yusuff

Arnold Allen vs Sodiq Yusuff is a fantastic fight. Allen is a well-rounded fighter, whereas Yusuff is an all-out striker, who is explosive and accurate.

Allen enters this fight with a bigger tool belt. He has great footwork that helps him in offense and defense. Moreover, here’s a solid wrestler, and should the fight go to the ground, Allen will have the advantage. Yusuff is a high-pressure fighter, who loves to finish people with power punches. He also lands at a very high frequency as well, with over six significant strikes landed per minute on average.

Both fighters have their routes to victory at UFC Vegas 23. For Yusuff, he should be aggressive without overdoing what he’s best at doing. For Allen, he needs to avoid the early onslaught and use his movement and get out of the way of his opponent’s haymakers.

Kyle Daukaus vs Aliaskhab Khizriev

Kyle Daukaus vs Aliaskhab Khizriev is another fantastic fight between two up-and-coming prospects. The American is a submission specialist, with eight of his 10 wins coming by the way of submission, and the rest by decision. He’s 10-1 and is constantly improving.

Khizriev is an undefeated Russian with a record of 13-0, who’ll be making his debut in the UFC. He’s the better-rounded fighter with five knockouts, four submissions, and four decisions. He beat Henrique Shiguemoto via submission in under one minute at Dana White Contender Series the last time he stepped inside the cage, and he’ll look to make an instant impact in the UFC.

This fight guarantees fireworks at UFC Vegas 23.

Sam Alvey vs Julian Marquez

Sam Alvey vs Julian Marquez is an intriguing middleweight matchup. Alvey has lost four of his last five fights, with one draw, and is looking for a breakthrough. Marquez is 4-1 in his last five fights, and is coming off a third-round submission win over Maki Pitolo at UFC 258.

Despite Alvey being on a slump, he’s still well-matched with Marquez because they are very similar when it comes to their striking. Both fighters land nearly 3.5 strikes per minute on average and have a striking accuracy of around 40 percent, and both fighters have knockout power in their hands.

With nearly 50 professional fights, Alvey is the more experienced fighter by a wide margin, as Marquez has only fought 10 times in his professional career. However, Marquez is younger and more explosive than his opponent.

Nina Ansaroff vs MacKenzie Dern

Nina Ansaroff vs Mackenzie Dern is an exciting matchup in the women’s strawweight division. Dern is one of the best grapplers in the UFC, so there’s no secret what her game plan would be. She would certainly want to take the fight to the mat and finish it there. However, Ansaroff knows the kind of challenge she’s up against, and she’ll prepare well.

In her most recent fight, Ansaroff had some trouble dealing with Tatiana Suarez, who’s also a world-class grappler. She can’t afford to spend a lot of time on the mat with Dern, however, who’s a submission specialist, compared to Suarez, who has a wrestling-heavy and ‘smashing’ approach.

Ansaroff has the edge in striking, but it all comes down to whether or not she can stuff the takedowns.

  • Mike Perry vs Daniel Rodriguez
  • Jim Miller vs Joe Solecki
  • Scott Holtzman vs Mateusz Gamrot
  • Erin Blanchfield vs Norma Dumont Viana
  • John Makdessi vs Ignacio Bahamondes
  • Yorgan De Castro vs Jarjis Danho
  • Hunter Azure vs Jack Shore
  • Luis Saldana vs Jordan Griffin
  • Da Un Jung vs William Knight
  • Impa Kasanganay vs Sasha Palatnikov

What are your predictions for UFC Vegas 23?

Related Topics:

Yeshel Asif is an MMA journalist based in Pakistan. In his relatively young career, he has worked remotely for Asian Persuasion MMA, MMA Betz, and Fight Booth.

Trending