Breakdown: UFC: Covington v Woodley

 Breakdown: UFC: Covington v Woodley

Covington v Woodley:

Covington(-325), MMA Record: 15-2, UFC Record: 10-2, Current Streak: One Loss: Colby has had one of the biggest 180 turns in MMA when it comes to how many eye balls are on him. Early in his UFC career, you couldn't pay someone to watch one of his lay and pray decision wins. After his win over Maia, where he called all Brazilians filthy animals, it completely flipped and now he is must see TV for better or for worse. That being said, he is coming off the first KO loss of his career and will be looking to get back into the title picture with a win. He has a high pace/pressure style where he does not let his opponents breath for a second. He is in the top ten all time at 170 in control time, control time percentage, and top position time. He is also third all time at welterweight in total takedowns with 58. A statement win here puts a prime Colby in good shape for a rematch with Usman. 

*IMPORTANT STATS: 51% Takedown Accuracy, 78% Takedown Defense, 4.91 Takedown per 15 Minutes, 4.17 Sig. Strikes Land per Minute

NOTABLE WINS: Lawler(UD), Dos Anjos(UD), Maia(UD), Hyun Kim(UD), Barberena(UD), Griffin(TKO), Pyle(UD)

Woodley(+270), MMA Record: 19-5-1, UFC Record: 9-4-1, Current Streak: Two Losses: During his title run, there were quiet conversations about if Woodley was as great as the welterweight king GSP. He is still a great fighter but we can pump the brakes with the GOAT talk for now. Since losing his title, Woodley has honestly looked like a shell of his previous self. The Woodley we all remember that shut Lawler's lights out with one punch seems further away now more than ever. He has lost his the last ten rounds he has fought in and looked super gun shy. That being said, he has a great resume. Tied for third all time at 170 in total knockdowns with 10. He has the highest takedown defense in 170lbs history at 91%. At 38 years old, Woodley is not getting younger and one has to wonder if his best years are behind him for good.     

IMPORTANT STATS: 91% Takedown Defense, 39% Takedown Accuracy, 56% Striking Defense, 49% Striking Accuracy

NOTABLE WINS: Till(SUB), Maia(UD), Thompson(MD), Lawler(KO), Gastelum(SD), Hyun Kim(TKO), Condit(TKO), Koscheck(TKO), Hieron(TKO), Daley(UD)

Cerrone v Price:

Cerrone(+130), MMA Record: 36-15 1NC, UFC Record: 23-12, Current Streak: Four Losses: A true warrior and future hall of famer, Cerrone will be competing in his UFC record 36th fight. His resume speaks for itself. Most wins all time with 23. Most finishes with 16. Most total fight of the night bonuses with 18. Most total knockdown landed with 20. Finally, he is forth all time in total significant strikes landed with 1,597. He has split time between 170 and 155 for his whole career and has had success in both weight classes. He is currently on a four fight losing streak, which is the longest of his career but they all come to top quality fighters. Cowboy always comes ready to fight and he sparred for the first time in years for this training camp so we should see him ready to go. 

IMPORTANT STATS: 4.33 Sig. Strikes Laned per Minute, 46% Striking Accuracy, 53% Striking Defense, 1.23 Takedown per 15 Minutes

NOTABLE WINS: Iaquinat(UD), Hernandez(TKO), Perry(SUB), Mederios(TKO), Brown(KO), Cote(TKO), A. Oliveria(SUB), Henderson(UD), Jurt(UD), Alvarez(UD), Miller(TKO), Barboza(SUB), Story(TKO), Noons(UD), Guillard(TKO), Stephens(UD), Siver(SUB), C. Oliveria(TKO), Kelly(SUB), Castillo(SUB)

Price(-150), MMA Record: 14-4 1NC, UFC Record: 6-4 1NC, Current Streak: One Loss: Price is never completely out of fight. Don't just think you will be safe if you take him down. He has one of only two upkick knockouts in UFC history. He also knocked out Randy Brown with hammerfists from bottom position which I have never seen in MMA before. A long striker, Price has good power in his hands and can touch his opponents from what seems like the other side of the cage. He does get a little sloppy at times in striking exchanges and that has lead to him getting hit with hard shots. His toughness is world class though and don't think you can put him away with one punch. Getting a win on Saturday would be the biggest of his career and should put him near the top 15 rankings at 170lbs.

IMPORTANT STATS: 38% Striking Accuracy, 5.46 Sig. Strikes Absorbed per Minute, 49% Striking Defense, 61% Takedown Defense

NOTABLE WINS: Vick(KO), Means(TKO), Brown(KO), Jouban(TKO), Thatch(SUB)

Chimaev v Meerschert: 

Chimaev(-365), MMA Record: 8-0, UFC Record: 2-0, Current Streak: Eight Wins: The hype is REAL folks. Chimaev looks to be on a path right to superstardom. As he says "I'm here to smesh everyone" and to be fair, that is all he has done in his two UFC fights. He has absorbed a total of three strikes total in his two fights combined. His grappling is world class and he makes every opponent feel like they are drowning in punches. We have not seen to much of his stand up game in the UFC yet, but based on fights he had in other promotions, he is good there too. He has never been to a decision in his career so it will be interesting to see if this fight goes long, how he will look later in the fight. At 26 years old, we are only just scratching the surface with Chimaev.  

IMPORTANT STATS: 8.88 Sig. Strikes Landed per Minute, 72% Striking Accuracy, 0.11 Sig. Strikes Absorbed per Minute, 75% Takedown Accuracy

NOTABLE WINS: McKee(TKO), Phillips(SUB)

Meerschert(+315), MMA Record: 31-13, UFC Record: 6-5, Current Streak: One Loss: Fighting experience will be Meerschert's biggest advantage in this fight. 44 total fights, he has more losses than his opponent has total fight. He has sneaky good striking and is fairly long with a 77.5 inch reach. His real bread and butter is on the ground where he can use one of his many submission to finish the fight. He is one of those fighter I would say is good at everything but not elite at anything either. He is going to have to take this fight into deep waters if he wants derail the massive hype train of Chimaev.

IMPORTANT STATS: 46% Takedown Defense, 1.7 Submission Attempts per 15 Minutes, 3.31 Sig. Strikes Landed per Minutes, 51% Striking Defense

NOTABLE WINS: Winn(SUB), Giles(SUB), Spicley(TKO)

*All stats are from http://ufcstats.com/statistics/events/completed