Middleweights
Odds: Pinas (-225), Almeida (+185)
This should be fun. Damian
Pinas is in the raw but talented mold that a lot of Contender
Series prospects fit into, but so far so good for “The Baba Yaga”
after earning a contract last year. Pinas is a bit of a mess and
even his wins can be a bit of an adventure, but it’s also apparent
that he has a ton of natural power once he gets going, as he
obliterated both his Contender Series opponent and Wes Schultz in
fairly short order. The Aruban gets a solid step up in competition
here against Cesar
Almeida, who might not be a massive success story transitioning
to mixed martial arts after a long kickboxing career, but has
adapted to his new sport quite well.
The worry was that Almeida’s striking approach might be too passive
in terms of looking to hit his opponents on the counter, but he’s
done a solid job of picking up the pace as needed while continuing
to prove himself as a knockout threat – but title contention looks
to be several steps too far for the Brazilian at age 38,
particularly since he’s found himself quite helpless in the face of
dedicated wrestlers. Pinas is certainly explosive enough that a
quick knockout isn’t out of the question, but Almeida has
historically been quite durable and comfortable under fire, so it
seems likelier that the veteran can land a big counter against the
much rawer prospect; the pick is Almeida via first-round
knockout.
Jump To »
Whittaker vs. Krylov
Steveson vs. Ellison
Garbrandt vs. Yanez
Riley vs. Kamaka III
Cortez vs. Wang
Pinas vs. Almeida
Basharat vs. Garza
Gandra vs. Reese
Durden vs. Costa
