Kennedy Nzechukwu OVER 22.5 Significant Strikes
Coming off a loss, Kennedy Nzechukwu will be taking on the former UFC LHW contender, Ovince Saint Preux. Kennedy has the tools to KO OSP. Kennedy has an 83 inch reach and finished 8/12 of his wins by KO. On the other side, OSP is approaching 41 years old and clearly at the tail end of his career. The question in this fight is if Kennedy will get the finish before landing 22.5 SS.
Kennedy’s statistics are interesting. He averages 4.86 SS/Min which implies that he should top 22.5 SS if the fight gets past R1, but its not the typical number you see with a “high-output” fighter. The reason his SS average is low is because he gets controlled on the ground by power wrestlers like Ion Cutelaba and Darko Stosic. OSP is not this type of fighter. He doesn’t wrestle at a high pace, nor does he have the strength to hold Kennedy down.
Also, Kennedy’s KOs tend to come from weathering an early storm, wearing out his opponents with pressure, then finding the finish in R2. To add, OSP has a 46% striking defense and seems to have a decent enough chin to be aware to absorb 23+ SS before getting finished.
Gerald Meerschaert UNDER 10 Min of Fight Time
In a tale of two finishers, Gerald “GM3” Meerschaert, will be taking on Bryan Barberena in an exciting matchup for however long it lasts. Both fighters are coming off consecutive losses and will be looking to add another finish on their record.
GM3 is a BJJ Black Belt with 27 submissions on his record; however, he is very slow and gets hit a lot. On the other side, Barberena is a high-pressure, durable fighter who has 11 KOs and several Fight of the Night honors. Being said, Barberena has struggled to defend TDs and tends to get submitted by high-level grapplers. The question is which fighter will be able to implement their gameplan.
On a card with a lot of variance, this prop makes the most logical sense to me. GM3 gets hit more times than he lands and Barberena can crack. And while Barberena can crack, he gets taken down by fighters who aren’t even known to wrestle. If GM3’s gameplan is to strike, I see him getting KO’d within 2 rounds given Barberena’s pressure. If GM3 chooses to wrestle, he has 10 minutes to get Barberena to the ground and submit him. Either way, 10 minutes is plenty of time for one of these fighters to find a finish in this clash of styles.
