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The lead up to UFC 228 has been extremely hot, with the weigh-ins leading to a lot of drama, but not from the expected source. The main event of the night was considered by many to be in danger, as Darren 'The Gorilla' Till was not expected to make the weight. The fight against Stephen Thompson earlier in the year had seen him try to go down to 171, but the entire process was a struggle. With talks of a weight cut making him ill, he was just able to make the weight to face Thompson and got past him with a narrow win to set up the bout against the Welterweight Champion, Tyron Woodley.
On this occasion, he was able to make weight and even came up at 169 pounds. Tyron faced more difficulty but eventually came in at 170 pounds. On the other hand, the co-main event of the night between Nicco Montano and Valentina Shevchenko did not survive, as Montano had to be taken to the hospital with health concerns, and she pulled out of the much-anticipated Title defence.
UFC 228 still has a fantastic fight card to look forward to, however, and each fight of the night has the potential to steal the show. While there is talk about how Woodley is the favourite, truth be told, it is hard to say before a fight starts.
In this article, we will take a look at the predictions of the night from the UFC 228 main card of the night.
#5 Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Niko Price (Welterweight):
Abdul Razak Alhassan is called 'Judo Thunder', by himself more than other people. While he is no doubt a brilliant fighter, and a black belt, his 9-1 record has not come about due to his skills in judo. In fact, all nine of his wins are a result of extremely violent endings and strikes. What's more, all of his fights have ended in the first round. If someone has a record like that, going into a title fight, it is expected that they will still stick to their same game plan.
However, he will face proper competition from the likes of Niko Price. His own record of 12-1 has not come without dominating endings to fights. He has the unpredictable styles of his idol. Dominic Cruz and the different and creative methods he can adopt at times is indicative of that.
Both of the fighters have their weaknesses and lost a fight in 2017. Their vulnerabilities can easily be fixed, but what remains to be seen is if the cool approach of Price is too much for Abdul Razak. Alhassan will only be looking the knock out early on, which might be exactly what leads to his loss.
PREDICTION: Niko Price defeats Abdul Razak Alhassan
#4 Jimmie Rivera vs. John Dodson (Bantamweight):
Jimmie Rivera's undefeated streak came to a sad demise earlier this year in June when he lost at UFC Fight Night in a mere 33 seconds. The loss will be something that is foremost in Rivera's mind heading into the fight with Dodson. His only other loss came at the absolute beginning of his career.
John 'The Magician' Dodson, on the other hand, has known a lot of losses over his career. His last fight in March of this year, however, saw him with the win.
In this fight, however, the advantage that Rivera has is easy to see. If he can put the previous fight out of his mind, his long reach and ability as a boxer should see him as the winner without any problem.
PREDICTION: Jimmie Rivera defeats John Dodson.
#3 Zabit Magomedsharipov vs. Brandon Davis (Featherweight):
Zabit Magomedsharipov has been looking like he could be the next big thing in the UFC. Not only has he looked indomitable in his first three fights for the company, he has also been one of the most entertaining fighters. He is one of those fighters who has since found his place on the card and proved to be one of those that needed to be watched out for.
Unfortunately for him, after Yair Rodriguez was pulled out of the fight with an injury, leaving a gap in the main card for the night, he will have to wait for his big breakthrough. He can, however, still impress on the night when he takes on Brandon Davis.
Davis filled in for Rodriguez when the fighter had to pull out of the fight, and he was hailed by everyone to have good spirit for having done so. Unfortunately, that may be all that he has. Nothing is expected from Davis, with a loss at UFC 220 and one win and another loss at UFC Fight Nights. While he impressed in Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender series, there is still a long way that he has to go.
With the advantage of no one expecting anything from him, however, Davis may be in prime position to pull of a shocker. It would be unexpected but is unlikely at the moment to last against Magomedesharipov.
PREDICTION: Zabit Magomedesharipov defeats Brandon Davis.
#2 Jessica Andrade vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz (Women's Strawweight):
Karolina Kowalkiewicz looked like she was about to make a huge jump in the UFC Women's Division when she defeated Rose Namajunas back in 2016. However, things have changed drastically since then, with two losses back to back. She has recently made more of a comeback with her last two fights ending with her as the victor, but now she has a lot of work to do.
Jessica's fight against Claudia showcased all of her vulnerabilities against the stronger and more aggressive fighter. That is exactly what she will face when he goes against Jessica Andrade. In fact, Andrade recently picked up a win against the same Claudie who gave Kowalkiewicz so many problems when those two face off.
The fact of the matter remains that while Kowalkiewicz is a good fighter, she does not have the power to finish off Andrade early, and if she is to win, she will have to work for a Decision win. Unfortunately for her, Andrade could easily take advantage and use her power and work on the ground to pick up an early win.
PREDICTION: Jessica Andrade defeats Karolina Kowalkiewicz
#1 Tyron Woodley (C) vs. Darren Till (Welterweight Championship):
The last time that Tyron Woodley fought in the UFC Octagon was over a year ago. Woodley has not been the most active champion and his last fight against Maia left him with injuries. However, coming up for his fight against Darren Till, Woodley has often been looked upon as the favourite.
While the fighter is far from the sure winner, things have been thrown into murkier waters now. Till was not expected to make the weight, but when he did, it not only shocked people, but his confidence added to it as he flipped off all of those who did not believe in him.
Till is a good fighter as he proved against Donald Cerrone, and Woodley will have to watch out for him. Till has spent the last year training and fighting, getting better all the time, while Woodley sat around. Woodley is also seemingly overconfident heading into the fight, something that may work against him.
Till has the height advantage, but not a reach one. It is likely that Woodley will spend a large part of the fight hitting and landing blows, but at the end of the night, Till will be the one to win the fight.
PREDICTION: Darren Till defeats Tyron Woodley.
