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Heavyweights

Maurice Greene (8-4) vs. Gian Villante (17-11)

ODDS: Greene (-230), Villante (+190)

It has been a decade since Villante was a highly touted prospect, and it is easy to see why the Long Islander had such potential. He was enough of an athlete to make it to the fringes of the NFL, and he does have some solid skills to go with his knockout power. However, for whatever reason, Villante just never developed any depth to his game. Villante still looks good in moments, but things quickly fall apart in the greater context of a fight. If Villante cannot overwhelm his opponent, he becomes a hammer in search of a nail, rotating through the same few ideas without much thought to adapting to whatever is in front of him. After a run of four straight split decisions, Villante got blitzed by Michal Oleksiejczuk and served the quickest loss of his career. In search of greener pastures—and slower opponents—Villante has moved up to heavyweight, where he will face an interesting test in Greene.

Greene certainly cuts an interesting figure. Beyond being skilled at crochet, the former kickboxer is a 6-foot-7 mountain of a man. He got his UFC career off to a hot start with three straight wins, using his size to intimidate opponents on the feet and busting out a shockingly crafty submission game. He may have beaten Michel Batista with the world’s slowest triangle choke, but that is still more than most men Greene’s size would be able to pull off. Things have quickly turned south in his last two bouts. Sergei Pavlovich showed that Greene simply does not react well to an opponent who is willing to charge him down, and while he did well to survive two rounds with Alexey Oleynik, their encounter quickly turned into a grappling match that he was never going to win. Greene does look to be improving from fight to fight and he has some rare physical advantages, so there is definitely something worth investing in, but who knows how he will develop as a fighter from this point forward. If nothing else, a win here against Villante is important to make sure that Greene keeps his place on the heavyweight ladder.

In the long run, Villante’s move to heavyweight was probably the right one. He has traditionally been durable and should be well-served by being the quicker and more athletic fighter against most of his peers at this weight. However, how well he handles Greene is an open question. If Villante comes out aggressive, there is a chance he can blitz “The Crochet Boss” and end the fight early, but depending on him to do anything is a bit of a risk. Villante has been more and more content to just trade shots lately, and Greene should be comfortable and able to set a range at that pace. This is a difficult one to read for all the worst reasons—unranked heavyweights, everyone—but the pick is Greene via decision.

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