Fight Night 85
UFC FN85 Mir vs. Hunt: Bitzers* barking in Brisbane
All fight analysis provided by GambLou
Welcome fight Enthusiasts to UFC 185. This week’s fight card is taking place down under in Australia and the international flavor of these fights has us hankering for hounds. Our early release for UFC FN85 is a “styles make fights’ confrontation that will be featured on the Fox Sports 1 segment of the preliminary bouts.
Smith -160 vs. Nakai +140
Leslie Smith is a journeyman fighter at best. She beat up on a mannequin in Jessamyn Duke before getting her ear blown off in her last bout against Jessica Eye which was over a year ago. Smith is limited in every fighting factor except for the fact that she will own a more complete stand up arsenal than her opponent in this bout. She faces an anvil in Nakai that is a full 8” shorter that she as well Nakai’s first name is not Jess. Smith will do all she can to stick and move, feint and pepper the shorter Nakai with tapping strikes in order to allow the accumulation of persistent pops and fifteen minutes of fighting wear down the grappler and eventually send her to stupid street. Smith will own advantage as long as this fight stays standing.
If Nakai was 2” taller she’d be a square. The Japanese fighter must utilize her sawed-off physique to allow her to work her way in close, smother Smith and take this fight to the floor. Limiting Smith’s length, striking advantage and space is mandatory for Nakai. Crowding the longer thinner Smith is certain to be the plan for Nakai for she and her corner understand that they must effectively forge their way inside the taller opponent, force her to the floor and put the fight in the most ideal situation for Nakai’s skillset…..a groping, grappling, grind on the mat. Nakai must not allow Smith to fight in space. We feel Nakai’s last fight which was a decent showing against Meisha Tate (although a loss) sets her up well for an opponent less versatile and surely less talented on the feet. Nakai must make this a maul on the mat if she is to be successful and if she can weather the first round of this fight we feel confident that Nakai has the grit to grind Smith down from top position in order to get her hand raised.
Nakai opened -140 in this fight and now the lines have reversed themselves. We’ll gladly grab the gaming value and play this for a half unit until we can watch the weigh-ins. Any press on this position (if we move this to a full unit) will be reflected in tomorrow’s post.
Nakai +140 (half)
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*Bitzer is a mongrel dog in Aussie slang
