UFC Freedom 250: Matchups Preview

UFC Freedom 250: Matchups Preview

Holy smokes, it’s really happening guys. This Sunday, on Big T’s birthday, on the White House Lawn it all goes down under the CLAW. If you haven't seen the pictures or videos, I highly suggest checking out what they were able to build in just under a month's time. It will be quite interesting to see what A-List faces get the invite to sit within the structure, as there are only 4,000 seats for what you would hope to be 4,000 very important people, to watch history unfold.

Enough of that, let’s get into the matchups and what were about to see in a quick breakdown of each matchup. We’ll start from what’s presumably the first fight and work our way up. Note the official order of the card hasn’t been set quite yet so we’re going based on what’s rumored.

Diego Lopes vs Steve Garcia

This has banger tattooed on its forehead! Steve Garcia is one of the nastiest finishers in the entire division at featherweight. He’s put guys down by way of strikes in 10 of his last 13 fights, and is carrying momentum you really just don’t want to mess around with at all. Steve being only a slight underdog in this one against the fan favorite, Diego Lopes, should tell ball knowers a ton. While Diego doesn’t know how to put on a boring fight, has huge finishes on his resume, and a much tougher strength of schedule, we all know the public money is going to favor him by a steep margin. The fact that Vegas is keeping this line as close as it is should signal major caution flags with heavy Diego supporters. Should Diego be the favorite? Probably. Would you expect the line to keep scaling since odds were dropped? Definitely. But that’s just not what’s happened. 

Bo Nickal vs Chris Daukaus

In one that's seemingly set up to be a picture perfect matchup for Bo Nickal, one of the President’s favorite fighters, Bo will enter this one as a significant favorite. He is a lethal opponent for any man in the cage, with his wrestling accolades and pure athleticism, getting into the sport very late and thriving. What can be said about this one then? Well, let’s start with saying that Daukaus is definitely a very talented and hungry young guy that's approaching his prime just like Bo is. Chris will definitely have the fight experience on Bo in terms of octagon time and he is very much capable of landing a big one, or even snatching something sneaky from bottom position. There’s going to be a few favorites on this card that might feel really safe, and while most will presume this is one of them, an argument can be made that this will be much more competitive than advertised. Watch out for Daukaus to hang around in this one. Stylistically, this has Bo stamped all over it, but when you're young in the game is when you make the most mistakes, and that applies for both sides in this one.

Mauricio Ruffy vs Michael Chandler

Nightmares, nightmares, nightmares! What are they doing to Michael Chandler? Who did he piss off? This matchup of course gives him the opportunity to fight on his biggest stage yet, but at what cost? Ruffy is a precision striker that brings a level of creative danger to the octagon I’m not we’ve really gotten to see in a very long time. He flashes attacks people haven’t seen before or that fighters may have only seen as playful experiments in their training rooms. He brings that wild style into the cage with him and typically delivers in style. For a guy like Michael Chandler who just straight up refuses to fight in any way that could even be perceived as boring, this is a nightmare matchup. If he doesn’t plan to wrestle in this one, and wrestle early, there’s no saying how long this one goes for. Chandler’s age is not his friend right now and he hasn't won a fight since Dan Hooker almost 5 years ago, but now plans to outstrike of of the most promising up and coming strikers in all of the UFC. Expect to see some absurd movements and for a corpse to hit the mat in spectacular fashion here. Hats off to Chandler for taking this one, even though you’d think they’d try to A-Side one of the bigger patriots listed on the card. Oh well!

Josh Hokit vs Derrick Lewis

The Black Beast, Derrick Lewis, gets matched up with one of the most absurdly cringe characters we’ve witnessed since the Colby Covington days, in Josh Hokit. People are going to assume that because Hokit had a full standup war with Curtis Blaydes, throwing 100 middle fingers to the sky, that he will do the same in this matchup. I don’t think so. A few truths to consider highly in this one… Derrick is 41 years old vs Hokit who is 28. Hokit has built a 9-0 record purely based on smothering big dudes to the canvas, and has enough talent and athleticism to at one point be considered a potential NFL talent. The only way this goes poorly for Hokit is if he literally throws all hell to the wind and abandons a gameplan that him and his whole team know for a fact would work, wrestling. Time goes quick and to think a 41 year old Derrick Lewis is going to be able to keep the type of up and down fight style Hokit will bring into this one is extremely optimistic. Hokit stays busy with G&P and is quick and versatile enough to mix huge strikes into grueling chain wrestling takedowns. The Black Beast will be live for a KO the first 10-15 seconds of each round he can hang in there. Don’t get me wrong, a Black Beast W at the White House is most definitely what most people are rooting for as hardcore combat fans, it’s just hard to see it going well for him. Let’s just hope the UFC cuts the mic if Hokit wins.

Sean O’Malley vs Aiemann Zahabi

This one is going to be very interesting! While Suga is going to walk into this one a sizable favorite, it’s hard to not see Zahabi being an absolute pest in there with a great gameplan as he usually has. Anybody who’s been watching UFC for at least a couple of years knows that Suga is extremely fun to watch on the feet with his striking style, but his kryptonite is a strong wrestler. I’m not saying Zahabi is going to come out and give him Merab level problems in that department, but I do believe he’s going to be mixing it up the best he can to win rounds in this one. On the flip side its going to be O’Malley who will be trying to time up the big shots, avoid takedowns, and style on this man for 15 minutes. I think this line should be much closer, especially given Aiemann has been begging for this fight for way longer than it was ever announced or even rumored. He feels he has the strategy to win enough minutes against Suga and I can’t wait to see it. Will Suga get another vintage KO? That would be sick, but Zahabi has only been KO’ed 1 time and that was in 2017. This should be a dog fight and the first few clinch exchanges should tell the full future of this fight within the first 3 minutes. If Suga shrugs him off or gets Zahabi moving backwards in this one, it could end in spectacular fashion. On the other side, if Zahabi is able to play the small game from distance and capitalize on his inside bursts to grapple & clinch, it could make for a boring decision. We will see!

Ciryl Gane vs Alex Pereira 

Oh boy, this one is going to be good. Our first look at a 242lb Poatan will face off with the French Man. We are about to have a lot of our questions answered when it comes to the Heavyweight division on Sunday night. Sharps money is flooding Gane, as they presume he will be the quicker and more agile striker in this matchup. After his short glimpse of massive improvement with Aspinall, before he eye gauged the lad, he was looking like he was about to tag up Aspinall for 25 straight. I can understand the perspective as Poatan is making a massive move up in weight where we can assume he’ll be slower as well as more proportionate in size to his opponent. All that being said, Poatan basically has the kiss of death in his two stone paws and it feels like all it will take is 1 mistake from Gane to send him to the shadow realm. We will see if the power translates or multiplies for him. I’ve seen fans point back to the Izzy KO and claim Gane has the same straight shots and boxing in his arsenal to keep Alex off him. We’re just gonna have to find out in this one. First attempt at a triple champion in UFC history on the line here.

Ilia Topuria vs Justin Gaethje

The biggest superstar in all of combat sports, aura included, has to be the Spaniard ‘El Matador’ aka Ilia Topuria. This matchup seems like one the UFC was almost forced to make after they weren’t able to get Islam lined up for him this go around, and fell back to calling the most entertaining American fighter of this generation in Justin Gaethje. Just has fallen short of the champion status a couple times in his career, but will get the chance to retire on the highest possible note and take out the best fighter in the UFC as a massive underdog. Stylistically, it reminds me a ton of the Chandler vs Ruffy matchup, an absolute nightmare for one side. That side being Gaethje. Another guy who just straight up refuses to use his wrestling and only cares about putting on the best show possible for the fans. Let me just say, that is NOT what you want to do against debatably the greatest KO artist the UFC has ever seen. Ilia doesn’t have many holes in his game, if any at all. He slowly stalks his opponents and unleashes devastating combinations that typically leave them in puddles of themselves. For an aging guy like Justin who likes to stand in the pocket. Something needs to change on the gameplan route if he expects to not be face down on the canvas in this one. Boxer vs Boxer, it's not really close. Grappling? Heavily favors Ilia as well. Wrestling? Well maybe that’s a route to take, but the last time he’s wrestled in a fight Tony Ferguson was on a win streak. The longer it goes the more it favors Justin, but let’s see if he can withstand one of the greatest fighters to grace the octagon in UFC history. There’s a reason he is A-Side against an American on America’s birthday. He absolutely can’t miss television. Pray for Justin.