The MMA Daily

Preview

The opening fight of the main card comes in the Bantamweight division, as Adrian Yanez takes on Davey ‘Dangerous’ Grant. This is an excellent fight to open the card, as both men come to finish their opponents. Yanez has reeled off seven consecutive victories, three of which have come inside the octagon. Of those seven wins, six have come via stoppage. Meanwhile, Grant has switched up his style. Once a grappler with dangerous submissions, Grant has seemingly fallen in love with striking. With back-to-back knockouts in his two fights prior to last, perhaps Grant is onto something. 

Prediction

I’m excited for this fight. At one point, Davey Grant barely ever struck with his opponents. Since working on his standup, he doesn’t seem to mind going toe-to-toe with anyone. That could be problematic however, as Adrian Yanez is not only a rising star, but an excellent striker. With legitimate power, Yanez has already recorded four knockdowns in three UFC fights. While Yanez was met with adversity in his last fight against Randy Costa, he turned it up in the second round and put down Costa for his third straight knockout victory in the UFC. If I’m Grant, I’m using my grappling in this fight. Not because he can’t win on the feet, but Yanez lives there while Grant is renting it out. 

As for a prediction, I have Yanez winning. He’s just a clean and technical striker, with a good chin and legitimate power. While Grant has seen improvements in his striking, he has fallen in love with it just a little too much for my liking. Having never been knocked out, Grant boasts an excellent chin. However, Grant has never faced a striker like Yanez. And for that reason, as well as Grant believing in his striking abilities a little too much, I foresee Yanez winning via knockout.