I love helping my Premium Members win money and that’s why I’ve put a ton of research into my 3 Premium Betting Tips for UFC Fight Night 55. 2 of my picks are for fighters featuring in match ups which most people perceive to be close, but my research has indicated that they won’t be close at all. This means that we’ve got a really good opportunity to win some cash at decent odds.
My third pick is for an absolute lock and I really don’t see any way that it can lose. I’m actually feeling more confident in that betting tip, than my tip on Luke Rockhold to beat Michael Bisping…
Don’t forget to stop by my
MMA Betting forum and let me know what you think of my betting tips for UFC Fight Night 55…
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AL IAQUINTA vs ROSS PEARSON
Al Iaquinta has told Ross Pearson that he plans on using good old fashioned wrestling to beat him. Whilst I admire Iaquinta’s efforts at trash talking, I don’t agree with his assessment on how this fight will play out…
Ross Pearson trains at Alliance MMA, which is one of the best MMA gyms in the world. Since training there, he has fixed many of the issues that made it so easy for his opponents to take him down earlier in his career. Few fighters from the UK have made such significant improvements in grappling and Pearson has developed excellent defensive wrestling, which enables him to keep fights standing up.
One of the most effective ways to neutralize the threat of being taken down, is to deter your opponent from wanting to shoot in on you in the first place. Ross Pearson does an excellent job of deterring his opponents from wanting to try and take him down, because he feints a power left upper cut and knee strikes, every time it appears that someone might be trying to tie him up. The best part about Pearson’s feints, is that he’s very good at turning feints into real strikes. This deters his opponents from trying to tie him up or take him down.
Ross also does a really good job of using footwork to circle away from take down attempts. Most people try to stuff takedowns by sprawling or moving backwards, but moving backwards in a straight line enables your opponents to find their feet and drive through you. By circling away, you do not give your opponents a chance to get a clean grip on you and drag you down.
If Ross doesn’t manage to circle away from a takedown attempt or prevent it with a counter strike, he does a really good job of moving back in a straight line until his back is up against the cage. This then enables him to use his strength and explosiveness to either stuff the takedown, secure underhooks, wall walk or use his strength to power out of his opponent’s grasp.
Ross also does a really great job of punishing people who try to take him down. You will frequently see him land a 3 or 4 strike combo just seconds after stuffing a takedown attempt and this is a highly effective way to make people think twice before trying to tie him up or take him down.
We’ve seen such huge improvements from Pearson since he started training at Alliance MMA, that it’s tough to see any scenario where Al Iaquinta could win this fight. I understand that a good number of people are betting on Iaquinta to win, but I feel that they are judging Pearson on his early career performances, as opposed to his performances since he started training at Alliance.
Ross Pearson has evolved so much that he now uses crisp boxing, good footwork and a wide range of jabs and feints to pick his opponents apart. Iaquinta’s striking technique is sloppy and relatively easy to time and Pearson should have no problem winning the striking exchanges. Iaquinta’s poor technique also leaves him wide open to being countered and Ross Pearson has become an extremely good counter puncher since he started training with the likes of Myles Jury and Dominick Cruz.
I also don’t feel like Al Iaquinta is a very smart fighter because he often makes rookie mistakes. In his last fight against Rodrigo Damm, he had a clear advantage in grappling, but he still chose to stand and trade punches with Damm. In the fight before that, he had a clear advantage in striking over Mitch Clarke, but still decided to take Clarke down, which then led to him getting caught in a submission and losing the fight. Ross Pearson is the complete opposite, because he is a smart veteran who understands the importance of fighting to your strengths and winning rounds.
This is a really big step up in competition for Al Iaquinta and Ross Pearson will be the toughest guy that he has ever faced. Fighting in the Co-Main event of a big UFC card in Sydney is going to put a lot of pressure on Iaquinta and I believe that the added pressure will have a negative impact on his performance.
Ross Pearson has a wealth of experience, having fought in several high profile fights throughout his career. He also has experience of fighting in big fights in Australia, having beaten hometown fighter George Sotiropoulous in the main event of the The Ultimate Fighter Smashes Finale. He also spent 6 weeks living and training in Sydney when he coached the Ultimate Fighter: Smashes. This experience, will give Pearson an edge over Iaquinta, because this will be just another fight for Pearson, whereas it will be the biggest fight of Al Iaquinta’s career.
Al Iaquinta’s only hope of winning this fight is to lay and pray or wall and stall and whilst he may have had a chance of beating Pearson in the past, the Brit has now evolved into a solid, well rounded fighter. Pearson’s superior striking and rock solid take down defence should enable him to win this fight comfortably…
OUR BETTING TIP: 10.00 Units [5% of your bankroll] on Ross Pearson to win at odds of 1.60 | -167 | 3/5
The best odds on Ross Pearson to win can be found at: [adrotate group=”74″]
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CLINT HESTER vs ROBERT WHITTAKER
When Robert Whittaker competed on the Ultimate Fighter he showed a devastating aggression that was exciting to watch. Unfortunately, he has since lost this aggression and he now struggles to pull the trigger. He went from the kind of fighter who would look to put his opponents away, to a fighter that looks too nervous to string a basic combination together. He frequently throws punches in 1’s and 2’s and this makes him very predictable.
Clint Hester is a huge Middleweight and he holds a 4 inch reach advantage over Robert Whittaker. This will be Whittaker’s first fight at Middleweight and the size difference between these two fighters will be significant. Hester does a really good job of using his power, athleticism and range and his physicality will be really difficult for Whittaker to deal with.
Clint Hester is also a lot more well rounded than the Aussie. He utilizes decent footwork with powerful leg kicks and strikes and he’s also capable of shooting in for powerful takedowns and controlling his opponents on the ground.
Robert Whittaker went from being an exciting up and coming prospect, to a pretty ordinary one dimensional fighter in just a few years. Whittaker’s skills in the Octagon don’t stretch much further than him being a tight boxer and Hester’s athletism and well roundedness will be the difference in this fight…
OUR BETTING TIP: 10.00 Units [5% of your bankroll] on Clint Hester to win at odds of 1.60 | -167 | 3/5
The best odds on Clint Hester to win can be found at: [adrotate group=”104″]
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DAN KELLY vs LUKE ZACHRICH
I don’t want to sound disrespectul, but Dan Kelly does not belong in the UFC. The only reason why he is competing at UFC Fight Night 55, is because Dana White offered everyone that competed on the Ultimate Fighter: Australia vs Canada a 2 fight contract.
Dan Kelly is the guy who got absolutely mauled by Sheldon Westcott in his first fight on the show. It was one of the most brutal beat downs that I’ve ever seen in all my years of watching MMA. If you haven’t seen the fight, just imagine what it would look like if your Dad fought Cain Velasquez… That’s how bad Dan Kelly got beat up.
Luke Zachrich is nothing special, but he’s reasonably well rounded and more than capable of beating a guy like Dan Kelly…
OUR BETTING TIP: 10.00 Units [5% of your bankroll] on Luke Zachrich to win at odds of 1.40 | -250 | 2/5
The best odds on Luke Zachrich to win can be found at: [adrotate group=”113″]
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