The X Factor: When it comes to grappling, McFedries has all the talent of a striker who’s spent his whole career focusing only on scoring knockouts. While Foupa-Pokam is hardly the shining star of the jiu-jitsu scene, he is competent enough on the mats to tie McFedries into knots. It won’t be easy dragging McFedries to the mat, though, because he’ll be the significantly bigger man come fight time. With that said, McFedries has shown that any time he spends on the mat is typically just a way of him killing the clock before tapout time comes.
The Bottom Line: This won’t be an easy fight for Foupa-Pokam, but all he really has to do is keep McFedries from turning this into a glorified game of Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots. Look for Foupa-Pokam to get on his horse early. He’ll stay out of McFedries’ range before turning the tables and taking over with his versatile kickboxing game. Once that happens, a takedown will be there and Foupa-Pokam will be all too willing to take the opening on the ground and close out McFedries.