Akhmedov +185
Akhmedov is from Dagestan, I like betting on fighters from Dagestan, proven winners.
Akhmedov's two biggest flaws are his chin and his cardio. The move to 185 makes me think that both of these issues could be improved, he was huge at 170 and must have been depleting himself significantly.
I bet Akhmedov is his last fight, +220 dog vs Razak, who was still unproven and green. People underestimated Akhmedov, even though he has a suspect chin and cardio, both held up in that fight, one of his best performances.
Vettori is a decent euro prospect, I like that he's at Kings MMA, well rounded fighter, decent athlete. Vettori has also shown a suspect gas tank, he's dangerous early but he slows down significantly and becomes much less dangerous after the 1st round.
In Akmedov's recent losses, his opponents were better conditioned and were able to come from behind to get late stoppages in the 3rd round. I don't see Vettori doing this, if anything I expect Akhmedov to have the better cardio.
Akhmedov will have a clear wrestling advantage and I think he's going to get TD's on Vettori. Akhmedov's striking is mostly made up of him throwing looping hooks at his opponents, he's a power puncher, it's not pretty but it's been effective. Vettori is the much more technical striker and he's also a southpaw, Akhmedov has only faced one southpaw in the UFC, Brian Ebersole.
Akhmedov is doing is camp at ATT again, this is nothing but positive, I like guys moving up in weight and the results are successful more often than not. He's on a nice little run and I'm looking forward to seeing him at 185.
The line is wide, I like Akhmedov to win this fight, he's a grown man in his prime, Vettori is still a kid, gonna show him that Dagestan wrestling.
We got that hand game too, bout to beat the brakes of somebody