Preview: UFC London Prelims – Rock vs. Al-Selwady
Lightweights
BETTING ODDS: Al-Selwady (-125); Rock (+105) “Shem Rock” (11-2-1; 0-1 UFC) welcomes Al-Selwady (15-4; 0-1 UFC) again to the cage from a two-12 months absence in a battle of lightweights on the lookout for their first UFC win. Rock got here up brief in his debut in opposition to Nurullo Aliev in November, however Aliev is an undefeated prospect and a probable future contender, to not point out a depressing model matchup. The primary scouting report on Rock stays the identical: a lanky, lengthy-limbed grappler with surprisingly stable, composed placing. The intangibles that may not have an effect on his probabilities of profitable, however actually have an effect on what number of probabilities he will get, embrace an enormous persona that might place him to be the following Paddy Pimblett or Michael Bisping if he can stick round lengthy sufficient to get a while on the mic. As a fighter, very like Pimblett, Rock is most profitable when he can preserve issues on the skin till he chooses to shut the gap and produce the combat to the ground. And a bit like Pimblett, when he both chooses a telephone-sales space slugfest or has it pressured upon him, the outcomes are thrilling to look at however do not all the time work out in his favor.
Al-Selwady is getting back from a loss adopted by an extended layoff, however he’s nonetheless simply 30 years previous and, regardless of being stopped by
Loik Radzhabov In his final outing, he’s an intriguing expertise in his personal proper. He is a compact, highly effective athlete who would not hunt for the large shot, preferring as a substitute to push the tempo on his opponents and bury them beneath an avalanche of offense, whether or not on the toes or along with his wrestling. In this, he’s served by his cardio, good lateral motion and pure energy—his punches and kicks are stinging with out his having to load up or overswing. Even his current loss, which ended up with a nasty spotlight for Radzhabov’s reel, was a stable efficiency, for Al-Selwady and gave the impression to be anybody’s combat till Al-Selwady acquired clocked by an enormous shot early within the third spherical.
It’s by no means simple or enjoyable to scout a combat that includes somebody who’s been on the shelf for 2 years. It would already be value questioning whether or not Al-Selwady’s knockout loss was a one-off factor or a sign of a severe flaw, however now we should additionally speculate on whether or not Al-Selwady’s recreation, which has all the time run at tempo and velocity, shall be affected by his accidents. If this combat have been three months from the Radzhabov combat, with no damage layoff in between, it might be a simple choose, as Al-Selwady is strictly the form of faster striker and higher technical wrestler who will all the time be a troublesome problem for Rock. However, I’m going with the slight upset. Rock was surprisingly aggressive in opposition to Aliev regardless of the depressing model matchup, and the choose right here is for the Brit to win a nip-tuck determination, in all probability by defending just a few takedowns, then scoring one or two of his personal, to punctuate a enjoyable again-and-forth placing battle on the toes.
I paint vs. Franc
Rock vs. Al-Selwady
Mullins vs. Carolina
