We will be finishing off the year 2022 with a highly awaited title fight headlining UFC 282- featuring Jan Blachowicz (29-9-0) and Magomed Ankalaev (18-1-0), contesting for the vacant UFC Light Heavyweight championship.
The main event of UFC 282, heading to the T-Mobile Arena this Saturday night, was originally going to feature Jiri Prochazka vs Glover Teixeira, with Prochazka putting up his 205-pound belt on the line against former champ Teixeira in a highly awaited rematch of their UFC 275 clash.
However, a shoulder injury rendered ‘BJP’ unable to fight, and the Czech fighter even vacated his belt, with Ankalaev, the 4th ranked LHW fighter, to replace Prochazka against Teixeira. However, the Brazilian also decided to pull out of the event, and the empty slot went to Blachowicz, who’s a former divisional champ himself and is currently the 3rd ranked LHW.
Since losing his belt to Teixeira at UFC 267 last year, Blachowicz returned to winning ways via a 3rd round TKO victory against Aleksandar Rakic at UFC Vegas 54 back in May. Ankalaev, on the other hand, is 9-1 in the UFC and has remained undefeated after losing his promotional debut. In his last outing in the Octagon, the Dagestan native defeated Anthony Smith at UFC 277.
Heading into the fight,
Let’s compare the fight metrics:
Jan Blachowicz
Significant Strikes Landed per Minute: 3.55
Significant Striking Accuracy: 49%
Significant Strikes Absorbed per Minute: 2.77
Significant Strike Defence (the % of opponents strikes that did not land): 54%
Average Takedowns Landed per 15 minutes: 1.08
Takedown Accuracy: 53%
Takedown Defense (the % of opponents TD attempts that did not land): 66%
Average Submissions Attempted per 15 minutes: 0.3
Magomed Ankalaev
Significant Strikes Landed per Minute: 3.64
Significant Striking Accuracy: 54%
Significant Strikes Absorbed per Minute: 2.14
Significant Strike Defence (the % of opponents strikes that did not land): 60%
Average Takedowns Landed per 15 minutes: 0.94
Takedown Accuracy: 33%
Takedown Defense (the % of opponents TD attempts that did not land): 86%
Average Submissions Attempted per 15 minutes: 0.0
UFC 282 Betting Odds and Prediction
Jan Blachowicz (4.50) vs Magomed Ankalaev (1.23)
Prediction: Magomed Ankalaev wins
Paddy Pimblett (1.30) vs Jared Gordan (3.30)
Prediction: Paddy Pimblett wins or Fight doesn’t go the distance @1.50
Santiago Ponzinibbio (1.51) vs Alex Morono (2.45)
Prediction: Santiago Ponzinobbio wins the fight.
Darren Till (2.40) vs Dricus Du Plessis (1.53)
Prediction: Although better to avoid it, I am picking Dricus Du Plessis
Bryce Mitchell (2.20) vs Ilia Toupuria (1.63)
Prediction: Ilia Toupuria wins
Edman Shahbazyan (1.30) vs Dalcha Lunguimbula (3.30)
Prediction: Edman Shahbazyan wins the fight
Chris Curtis (2.15) vs Joaquin Buckley (1.65)
Prediction: Chris Curtis wins the fight
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