Alex Volkanovski vs. Jose Aldo
Volkanovski’s toughest fight to date is this weekend and while he has performed very well ever since debuting for MMA’s premiere organization in late 2016, he might be at a disadvantage this weekend. Plenty of fans completely wrote off Aldo after suffering back-to-back losses against Max Holloway. He was an underdog at some books against Jeremy Stephens and a pick ‘em against Renato Moicano. No disrespect to either of those fighters but neither is Max Holloway. Holloway is a generational type of fighter and just had the right style to beat Aldo. Volkanovski is rising up the ranks of the featherweight division but he certainly has his work cut out for him on Saturday. I don’t think he’ll be able to handle the counters and leg kicks that Aldo has been known for. I also am very confident in Volkanovski not having much to any success in taking Aldo down if he chose to. The only slight worries I have here is Aldo’s gas tank. If Volkanovski pressures him enough through the first and second rounds he could do enough to steal the rounds and win a decision. Perhaps even earn a referee’s stoppage due to unanswered strikes. I think Aldo will be fine though and control the pace of the fight along with the distance in the octagon.
Prop: Jose Aldo wins by decision (+184)
Jessica Andrade vs. Rose Namajunas
It’ll be hard for Namajunas to keep Andrade off her and avoid the constant pressure. Namajunas doesn’t really offer much power of her own or anything for Andrade to really fear to keep her from coming forward 90% of every round. She’s been compared to John Lineker plenty of times and rightfully so. She’s a tank with brutal power and nonstop aggression. Namajunas has been out of action for a while and some reports I’ve read is that she has dealt with some neck issues keeping her out of action. If true, neck injuries are one of the worst to recover and come back 100% from. Namajunas can certainly win this fight, but she’ll need to fight it almost identically to how Joanna Jedrzejczyk did in 2017 – constantly circling around and picking apart Andrade as she just continues to come at you. IF Namajunas is able to do that and avoid the power and takedowns, a decision is in her reach. I’ve been leaning towards an Andrade victory here and while it could be by TKO stoppage, I also don’t think a decision victory is out of question either. I’m picking TKO though due to believing Namajunas eventually succumbs to the power of Andrade and gets dropped for a finish. Plus, the value in the Andrade TKO prop is too good for me to pass up.
Prop: Andrade wins by TKO (+340)
