Welterweights
Abdul Razak Alhassan (7-0) vs. Omari Akhmedov (16-4)Power alone makes him a challenging opponent for Akhmedov, who has been knocked out in two of his last three fights. Akhmedov’s experience, however, cannot be denied. In a 20-fight career, he has made the walk to the Octagon seven times and emerged victorious in four of those bouts. He is far and away the most experienced opponent Alhassan will have ever faced and well-rounded enough that he could very well drag the newcomer into deep waters if he makes it out of the first round. That Akhmedov himself has a tendency to gas likely will not matter as much as the fact that he knows what it feels like to get tired and keep fighting.
Though he lacks Alhassan’s explosiveness, Akhmedov is a powerhouse of a fighter with heavy hands, a strong clinch game and a vicious array of elbows and punches on the ground. As a judoka, Alhassan may very well have a potent, sprinting submission game, but only two men have ever submitted Akhmedov: veteran submission ace Michail Tsarev caught him in a guillotine in his second pro fight and elite grappler Gunnar Nelson did the same after knocking down the “Wolverine” with powerful strikes. Otherwise, Akhmedov has never looked out of depth on the ground, especially if he can gain top position.
THE ODDS: Alhassan (-265), Akhmedov (+225)
THE PICK: Akhmedov’s experience and well-roundedness could present challenges the likes of which Alhassan has never faced before. Even so, Alhassan is extremely aggressive and quite comfortable in exchanges, using his speed and timing to find openings in the midst of wild combinations. Akhmedov has a tendency of getting drawn into firefights, and while he is not unskilled in a wild tussle, he is slower, more mechanical and, of course, somewhat fragile. The pick is Alhassan by first-round TKO.
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