UFC 247 invades the hotbed of Houston, Texas this Saturday February 8th, and everything is indeed bigger in Texas.
The promotion is bringing our first two title fights of 2020 as two of the best to ever put on 4oz. gloves Jon Jones and Valentina Schevchenko defend their respective titles. Also, hometown hero Derrick ‘The Black Beast’ Lewis meets Ilir Latifi in his heavyweight debut.
Jones, if he comes out of Houston with a victory over Dominic Reyes will be adding to a long list of what would now be 18 straight title defenses, tying Anderson Silva. However, us here at FanFavorite do not think he will be victorious tonight.
Jon ‘Bones’ Jones is a great champion and has showed us time and time again that he is excellent in using his range and outpointing every opponent that comes his way, but every win has been by less and less on the judges scorecards. When you are a champion for so long as Jones is, it is only a matter of time until there is a way to knock you off your game plan. I believe Reyes not only has the power to be able to stop a guy like Jones, but he also is new to the promotion (6 fights) and finishes fights relatively early. As a result of that, there is not much film of Reyes. Also, as a fan wouldn’t it be so fun to see a huge shakeup at 205? Jones has had this division vice gripped for around the last decade and there has been little to no good fights at 205 since the days Cormier, and Gustaffson have been around.
PREDICTION: Reyes by K/O
In the co-main event of the evening, Valentina Schevchenko is putting her 125 pound title on the line as she faces off against Katlyn Chookagian. Chookagian standing at 5’6 and carrying a 1.5 inch reach advantage on paper could present some matchup issues for Valentina. At the end of the day, Schevchenko is the most technical MMA fighter on Planet Earth. I think her mix of lateral quickness, knockout power, and supreme Muay Thai will be too much for the ‘Blonde Fighter’.
PREDIC TION: Schevchenko within 4
OFFICIAL UFC 248 PICKS:
MAIN CARD:
- DOMINIC REYES
- VALENTINA SCHEVCHENKO
- JUSTIN TAFA
- MIRSAD BEKTIĆ
- DERRICK LEWIS
PRELIMS:
- TREVIN GILES
- ANDREA LEE
- KHAOS WILLIAMS
- MILES JOHNS
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