The MMA Daily

In the main event, we have a Light Heavyweight showdown between a pair of ranked fighters in Johnny Walker and Jamahal Hill. Fighting in his second straight main event, Walker will look to put aside his recent struggles and get back on track. With losses in three of his last four, the time is now for Walker to prove that he belongs. Meanwhile, Hill most recently bounced back from his first professional defeat with an impressive 48 second knockout victory over Jimmy Crute. The victory was his third inside the octagon, fourth if you count the result that got flipped to a no contest after Hill tested positive for marijuana. Which less than eight months later, USADA essentially eliminated marijuana use as a violation.

As for a prediction, I’m going with Walker. While I believe that Hill is in better form, is a better striker and obviously by the indication of the odds, has a better chance at winning, there is an inkling of me that see’s Walker pulling off this upset. Having faced tough competition during his last four fights, one could say that the former title challenger Thiago Santos, the #1 ranked Light Heavyweight in Bellator Corey Anderson and two top fifteen ranked Light Heavyweights in Ryan Spann and Nikita Krylov are stiffer competition than Hill’s faced thus far. Another component is that Walker, has grappling abilities in his back pocket. In a fight against a pure striker like Hill, who is more susceptible on the mat, I could see Walker working in a gameplan to get this fight to the ground. If he doesn’t, even with power, I’m not in the belief that he can out-strike Hill. In five UFC fights, Hill is averaging an astonishing 6.65 significant strikes per minute. Over three more than Walker. Hill has also knocked out three opponents in that span. The only two opponents that didn’t get slept, were those who sought to get the fight to the mat. Again, this isn’t the most confident play, but I predict that Walker wins this fight via submission.