After an exciting regular season, the highly anticipated PFL playoffs have arrived. Looking for betting spots on tonight’s PFL 8 card, I’ve found a fight that intrigues me.After an exciting regular season, the highly anticipated PFL playoffs have arrived. Looking for betting spots on tonight’s PFL 8 card, I’ve found a fight that intrigues me.
The Number #1 Seed
At the start of the season, not many people thought Steven Siler would be going into the playoffs at the head of the featherweight pack. Although he’s 2-0 so far, both of his wins have question marks around them.
Against Magomed Idrisov, Siler took a tonne of damage and the fight probably should have been stopped when he was eating ground strikes without answering back. Still, one mistake by the Russian fighter left him caught in a triangle and forced to tap.
In Siler’s next bout with Alexandre Almeida, he latched onto a guillotine choke but the referee appeared to stop the contest prematurely. Almeida is a high level jiu-jitsu practitioner and would have taken top position if he was able to get his head free.
There’s no question Siler is an opportunist submission threat, but I’ve never felt he was the most well-rounded fighter. He’s not a great wrestler and although his offensive striking is serviceable, he’s extremely hittable. Fortunately he has a good chin, because he’s going to need it against his Argentinian opponent who is the much better boxer.
A Well-Rounded Veteran
At 32-years-of-age, Nazareno Malegarie has been fighting all around the world in a number of organizations. Although he dropped a decision to Andre Harrison in his last bout, his striking looked good against Marcos Galvao in his previous contest.
On the feet, the Argentinian’s boxing-centric attack is effective. Although he head hunts and loads up on his shots, that might not be a bad thing against an opponent who leaves his chin exposed like a lighthouse in the misty night.
Malegarie is the superior wrestler and sometimes shoots takedowns on his opponents. However, he’d be wise to wrestle defensively here. Siler likes to fight off his back and there is no reason for Malegarie to take the fight to the mat when he has the striking advantage.
Still, if this fight does hit the ground Malegarie has good jiu-jitsu and a number of submission wins on his record.
Who Wins?
Given that this is a two round fight and Siler’s best chance of victory is a submission, I think this favors Malegarie. I expect the Argentinian to box his way to a decision victory while stuffing the occasional takedown. Although Siler’s best asset is his jiu-jitsu, he rarely shys away from a shootout on the feet.
Pick: Nazareno Malegarie -115
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