The MMA Daily

We have an intriguing fight in the Light Heavyweight division, as Nicolae “Nicu” Negumereanu takes on Kennedy “African Savage” Nzechukwu. Since dropping his UFC debut, which also happened to be his first professional loss, Negumereanu has righted the ship. A winner of two straight, the most recent being a knockout victory over Ike Villanueva, Negumereanu is closing in on cracking the divisions top fifteen. Meanwhile, Nzechukwu steps into this fight on short notice, looking to bounce back from his recent knockout defeat to Da Un Jung. Previous to the loss, Nzechukwu had won three fights in a row.

As for a prediction, I have Nzechukwu winning. Despite being stopped in his last fight, Nzechukwu has the tangibles to make this a tough night for Negumereanu. For one, Nzechukwu has excellent takedown defense. In five fights, he has stuffed 31 of the 38 takedown attempts. Second and perhaps the most important, Nzechukwu is the better striker. Landing nearly two more significant strikes per minute, at a slightly higher accuracy and with a five inch height and reach advantage, Nzechukwu should have his way on the feet. Throw in Nzechukwu’s power edge and the fact that Negumereanu is not only absorbing 5.72 significant strikes per minute, but has a striking defense of 29%, and I don’t see this going well for “Nicu”. So with that said, I predict that Nzechukwu wins via knockout.