UFC returns to the APEXfacility on Saturday night for Fight Night 193. The main event is a lightheavyweight tilt between Johnny Walker and Thiago Santos, formerly a titlechallenger in this classification. Aspen Ladd and Macy Chiasson were going tofight at bantamweight for the co-main event, but Ladd missed her weight and didnot look steady at weigh-in. Now, the co-headliner pits Kevin Holland againstKyle Daukaus in a middleweight tussle.
Let’s check out the fullfight card, along with our UFC betting insights on the two top fights.
UFC Fight Night 193: Santos vs Walker Preview
Main Card (ESPN+)
Thiago Santos vs JohnnyWalker (Light Heavyweight)
Kevin Holland vs KyleDaukaus (Middleweight)
Alex Oliveira vs Niko Price(Welterweight)
MIsha Cirkunov vs KrzysztofJotko (Middleweight)
Alexander Hernandez vs MikeBreeden (Catchweight – 158.5 lbs)
Preliminary Card (ESPN+)
Joe Solecki vs Jared Gordon(Lightweight)
Antonina Shevchenko vsCasey O’Neill (Women’s Flyweight)
Bethe Correia vs Karol Rosa(Catchweight – 138.5 lbs)
Jamie Mullarkey vs DevonteSmith (Lightweight)
Douglas Silva de Andrade vsGaetano Pirrello (Bantamweight)
Shanna Young vs StephanieEgger (Women’s Bantamweight)
Alejandro Perez vs JohnnyEduardo (Bantamweight)
Thiago Santos (21-9, 13-8 UFC, -170) vs Johnny Walker(18-5, 4-2 UFC, +150) gives usone of the most violent finishers in UFC, with a kicking game that just takesopponents apart, such as Anthony Smith and Jack Hermansson. However, for thosewho are willing to absorb a little punishment and work through to his defenses,trying to take the fight to the clinch, Santos is beatable. This worked in thefirst round for both Gegard Mousasi and David Branch — and Eric Spicely, whohurt Santos’ knee on the floor and then delivered a submission. After Santosrealized he had hit a plateau, he decided to move up a division and quicklybecame a challenger. Santos’ kicking game made him the biggest threat Jon Joneshas ever had to his belt despite having a significant knee injury in the secondround. He came back and looked aggressive against Glover Teixiera, but Santoscould never finish the knockout, and Teixeira came back to win via submission.Santos lost his last fight to Aleksandar Rakic on the cards, a slow fight thatdid not feature much action either way.
Walker is a striker who hasa creative approach and enough length to establish a powerful reach advantage.He only needed 51 seconds to beat Khalil Rountree, Justin Ledet and MishaCirkunov combined. However, Nikita Krylov was able to beat him on the floor,and Corey Anderson used his striking to take Walker apart. He did bounce backto win against Ryan Spann, delivering a knockout. Walker’s reckless approachshould bring him in range for a big bomb from Santos, and Walker doesn’t have thechin to eat that kind of damage.
Final Prediction:
Santos wins via knockout
Kevin Holland (21-7, 8-4 UFC, -150) vs Kyle Daukaus (10-2,1-2 UFC, +130)
Holland was a great UFCstory in 2020, as he won five fights in a row in seven months, including athird-round KO of Ronaldo Souza. 2021, though, has been a different story. Hegot his first main event, against Derek Brunson, and Brunson’s wrestling game causedHolland all kinds of problems — and he had not solved those problems threeweeks later, when he lost in similar fashion to Marvin Vettori.
Daukaus comes in for hisfourth UFC win; in his debut, he took on Brendan Allen last June. He can bringpace and likes to keep moving forward. He lost on the cards, but he did plentyof damage, and he followed that up with a win over Dustin Stoltzfus. His thirdfight came against Phil Hawes, who traditionally has struggled in cardio.Daukaus’ pressure style should have worked, but Hawes showed some improvement– and took the win on the cards. Daukaus should be able to exploit Holland’sstyle despite his inferior athleticism. Holland has the advantage in lengththat will allow him to do damage from distance, and Daukaus’ lack of quicknesswill make him vulnerable.
Final Prediction:
Holland wins via decision
UFC Betting Odds
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