The co-main event of UFC Fight Night 64 is a three-round light heavyweight bout between Jimi Manuwa and Jan Blachowicz. According to the current betting lines available at Several Bookmakers, Mauwa is a -155 favorite (bet $155 to win $100) while Blachowicz is a +135 underdog (bet $100 to win $135). MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas opened up Manuwa at -125 and Blachowicz at -115, and the public has come in on the favorite Manuwa. This is a tough fight to predict but I have to lean towards Manuwa. Here’s why. Manuwa (14-1) is 3-1 in the UFC with knockout wins over Ryan Jimmo, Cyrille Diabate and Kyle Kingsbury and a knockout loss to Alexander Gustafsson. The 35-year-old Brit is extremely dangerous on the feet and has won 13 fights by knockout in his career. He throws extremely heavy kicks and not many fighters are able to survive his heavy blows. However, he has flaws. His wrestling is not that good, and we saw against Gustafsson that his chin isn’t the greatest either. So there are definitely some question marks surrounding him. Should he keep this fight against Blachowicz on the feet and land strikes then he absolutely can win by knockout, but if he can’t get an early stoppage and his cardio doesn’t hold up and this fight goes to deep waters, he could be in trouble, making him a dangerous play this weekend even though he is rightfully entering the fight as the favorite. Blachowicz (18-3) is 1-0 in the UFC with a knockout win over Ilir Latifi. The 35-year-old Pole is an extremely well rounded and dangerous light heavyweight who possesses skills both on the feet and on the mat. He has five knockouts, seven submissions, and six decision wins in his career which shows he can win fights in many ways. He showed in his UFC debut against Latifi that he has dangerous kicks and knockout power, and coming off of that victory I expect him to be ultra confident. He is currently riding a six-fight win streak and with a win over Manuwa he could jump into the top 15 in the UFC light heavyweight division. Against Manuwa he will have to be very careful on the feet because he’s facing a guy with huge knockout power, but if he can avoid the big strikes and implement a well-round mixed martial arts attack he could absolutely steal a victory in this one. This is a tough fight to call, and I could see it playing out in many ways. Ultimately I believe this will be a standup fight and if that’s the case it’s hard not to favor Manuwa. His leg kicks are just absolutely devastating and we’ve seen in the past that Blachowicz has been hurt badly by kicks. So if Manuwa can land them on a consistent basis, he should be able to win by either knockout or decision. Having said that, Blachowicz, the hometown fighter, is improving rapidly and it would not shock me at all if he was able to implement a point-fighting gameplan here and win a decision. I do not recommend a bet on this fight, but I will pick Manuwa to get his hand raised.
