UFC Fight Night 150: Jacare vs. Hermansson - Predictions and Picks

#6 Roosevelt Roberts vs. Thomas Gifford

Roosevelt Roberts' fight with Thomas Gifford is a strange choice for the main card

I have no idea how this fight has ended up on the main card, to be honest. Not when the likes of Andrei Arlovski, Carla Esparza, Ben Saunders and Jim Miller are on the prelims. Sure, Roberts looked excellent in his UFC debut last year, but I’m not sure that a fight with a newcomer like Gifford really belongs on a UFC main card just yet.

For those who missed Roberts’ debut, it was really impressive. A hugely lanky fighter for 155lbs, Roberts stands at 6’1”, and lives up to his ‘Predator’ nickname thanks to his dreadlocked hair.

Faced with veteran Darrel Horcher, Roberts never allowed his opponent to get comfortable in the fight, and eventually finished him off with a nasty high-elbow guillotine choke.

His footage appears to show a fighter comfortable fighting from range, but also from inside the clinch, where he uses his long arms to deliver nasty elbows as well as securing bodylock takedowns. On the ground, Roberts’ favoured weapon appears to be the guillotine – hardly a surprise given other fighters with long limbs have also used it to great effect.

Gifford has been around a long time – since 2011 – but his record is nothing special and from his available footage, nothing really stands out either. He’s a decent striker, decent grappler but he’s also clearly beatable in both areas too, as his record of 14-7 shows. Essentially, the most notable thing about him is the fact that he resembles Edge of WWE fame.

I guess Gifford could win this fight as he’s more experienced than Roberts, and really, Roberts is a massively unproven fighter despite his UFC debut win. But I’m leaning towards the idea that the UFC sees Roberts as a potential star for the future and Gifford is likely a hand-picked opponent to push that idea forward. I’ll take Roberts in this one.

The Pick: Roberts via second round submission