Mixed Picks: Vieira vs. Tate & Crawford vs. Porter (Patreon)

By Sam (@LiberationistMA)

This is going to be different from the typical fight picks you're used to seeing. Rather than picking every fight, I just give you the picks I feel strongly about.

UFC Fight Night: Vieira vs. Tate | Saturday 11.20.2021

Bantamweight: Adrian Yanez beats Davey Grant

Yanez is a prospect I've been keeping my eyes on. Great footwork, vision, and counters. He also moves his head. Grant is old for the division and tends to tire as the fight progresses. He also swings wide, whereas Yanez is tight with his shots; however, Grant makes up for that with volume and unorthodox kicks. For those types of unorthodox strikes to work, it needs Yanez to lean forward, but Yanez is good about keeping his feet underneath him.

Bantamweight: Rani Yahya beats Kyung Ho Kang

Whenever Yahya fights, the chances for a submission victory are always so high. Kang is aggressive and likes to fight on the ground, which could play into Yahya's strengths. Yahya is also comfortable with going to his back to get back on top.

Women's Flyweight: Taila Santos beats Joanne Calderwood

This is less about confidence in Santos and more about my lack of confidence in Calderwood. She tends to make mistakes every fight. Santos is also an excellent striker and competent at takedowns. I don't know if you need more than that to beat Calderwood.

Featherweight: Pat Sabatini beats Tucker Lutz

Sabatini boxes into his takedowns well and has a good mix of modern BJJ with wrestling. He also has more octagon experience than Lutz. Early prelims are a lot like regional MMA, where having good grappling and takedowns can be enough.

Women's strawweight: Luana Pinheiro beats Sam Hughes

Pinheiro has more experience and looked really good against Randa Markos. Sam Hughes has fought twice in the UFC and has mostly served as a punching bag.

Women's strawweight: Loma Lookboonmee beats Lupita Godinez

Lookboonmee is one of the best strikers in all of women's MMA. Unfortunately for her, she's fighting 10 pounds above her natural fighting weight. She's tiny and gets muscled around but can still beat her opponents on points. Lookboonmee has been submitted before, and Godinez can take her to the ground and submit her. Lookboonmee has also been grounded by Angela Hill, who's not known for her wrestling. However, takedown defense and submission defense might be all that she works on right now.

Crawford vs. Porter | Saturday 11.20.2021

WBO boxing welterweight title fight: Terence Crawford beats Shawn Porter

Crawford is too fast, too durable, and too smart. He might get the KO.