WEC 48 Preview: The Prelims

Alex Karalexis vs. Anthony Pettis

The Breakdown: The first half of the SpikeTV preliminary twin bill pits Bostonian par excellence Karalexis against Duke Roufus protégé Pettis. Anyone in search of some rugged wrestling or grappling brilliance need not tune in. Pettis and Karalexis are going to swing until one of them stops moving.

Who ends up on the business end of that scenario depends largely on how Karalexis, a close-quarters combat specialist, negates Pettis’ long-range violence. A tall order for the diminutive Karalexis, as his short reach and brawler’s instincts make him particularly vulnerable to opponents who can work him from a distance. Pettis’ slick jab and tremendous timing on his kicks make for a nasty 1-2 considering Karalexis’ first instinct is to rush inside.

Trying to collapse the pocket on Pettis in such a simplistic fashion will only leave you open to his left high kick of doom. No one has the chin to survive playing that game with Pettis. Karalexis needs to try to either use angles or get Pettis to overcommit on his strikes before trying to get inside on him. While Pettis is no dummy inside the phone booth, it remains the only place Karalexis could feasibly land the power punches he needs to win this fight.

Mixing up the tempo with ground-and-pound would also seem to be a smart strategy for Karalexis, but his positional control isn’t good enough to corral Pettis’ guard. In other words, Karalexis has to play the dangerous game of trying to work a one-dimensional strategy against an opponent built to pick it apart. Barring the debut of any newfound technical flourishes to Karalexis’ game, this is the kind of fight he’s just good enough to make exciting and far too flawed to win.

The Bottom Line: Lateral movement will be the difference maker in this fight. Pettis will combine his reach with intelligent movement to keep Karalexis at bay. Living on the end of Pettis’ strikes is nothing more than the precursor to tasting some sweet shin music and a canvas chaser.