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We got some fights again next weekend and the main event Smith vs Rakic should be a banger. I haven’t seen many threads about this fight yet so I made one. Let’s get hyyyyped!
Aleksandar Rakic lost his last fight (split dec) against Oezdemir, but was on a roll before that. The win streak was topped off with a brutal head kick KO victory against Jimi Manuwa. Rakic made sure that MMA fans knew who he was after that one! Let’s look at it one more time... Or six more times, because why not.
I’ll type out some stuff I see in these two fighters and how I think they stack up. Let’s go!
Rakic is a promising LHW, standing 6’4” tall and is 28 years old, but that’s something anyone could see in his wiki. He’s a explosive striker with good reach, has power in both his hands and feet. He has powerful leg kicks and he likes to explode forward with powerful punches. He fights in a wide orthodox stance and is dangerous from either side.
He doesn’t set up his low kicks with punches too much, he just gauges distance, uses feints and then blasts them. He can strike in combos, but rarely ends one with a leg kick. He ended Manuwa’s lif.. night with a combo ending in a headkick.
Rakic has shown a good chin so far and can take damage without crumbling or even showing it too much. He keeps his right hand high and left hand forward to measure distance. You can see him being more offensive minded in how he strikes. In other words, he leaves himself open a fair bit when blitzing forward, but his opponents haven’t been able to capitalize in a major way.
He doesn’t look to grapple too often and has been able to stop majority of the takedowns against him with sprawling, getting the underhooks, turning angles, pushing his opponent away and obviously some footwork. He took Oezdemir down a couple of times, though, and mixed it up.
Smith is the more familiar fighter to many and has had some great performances in the last couple of years. First he KO’d Rashad Evans and Shogun (that was sad), then tapped Oezdemir before losing to Jon Jones via UD in a lackluster performance. Then he came back and tapped Alexander Gustafsson. Big names. In his last fight he was doing very well against a veteran LHW Glover Teixeira. Teixeira however took the early barrage and started to get the upper hand before finishing Smith in the 5th round.
Smith is a very good, technical and quick striker. If anyone has doubts about that they clearly haven’t watched Anthony fight much. His straight punches are so fast and accurate that it’s a treat to watch. Very good jab and excellent right straight, hooks come after if needed. Also good kicks and strike selection, he finds the right tools from his toolbox and goes after it. Leg kicks, front kicks, head kicks plus he’s very dangerous with elbows and knees too!
Unlike Rakic, Smith is a BJJ black belt. He has shown that he’s a crafty guy on the ground and has a lot of subs on his record.
”Lionheart” has a gooood chin and can take a ton of damage, he won’t break. Unless it’s a title fight against Jones, then he shells up. Damn it! Well, anyway..
How do they stack up?
It will be a very interesting striking battle. Rakic is the more powerful guy, but I’d say Smith is the better overall striker. I expect the fight to mostly stay standing, but would like to see Smith try some trips if they clinch up.
I think Smith is targeting Rakic’s lead leg early as he (Rakic) has a very wide stance and Oezdemir had success with it in the last fight. He’ll need to be careful with Rakic blitz forward attacks as he moves in fast and has a lot of power. Chew up the leg and put his quick jab out there. The ol’ 1-2 should work! Rakic will try to find success with his blitzes while staying out of punching range. He’s not afraid to throw down, but after moving in and throwing heavy he leans back while taking a couple of steps and resets.
”Lionheart” has the edge on the ground and a very dangerous clinch, so I think Rakic will try to keep his feet moving and have him just outside striking range. There he can feint to see how Anthony reacts and either blitz in with big strikes or throw a power kick with his long legs. Seriously, for a muscular guy he has some seriously long limbs!
Both guys have good cardio, but Rakic has never gone 5 rounds with anyone. So we’ll see if he tries to slow the pace down a bit or if he keeps fighting at his usual pace. How much did that Teixeira beating take out of Smith? He was spitting his teeth out mid fight and took a ton of punishment. That remains to be seen!
I give Anthony Smith the edge in this one and expect him to take the W, probably in rounds 2 or 3, via sharper striking and possibly taking it to the ground when clinching. I don’t see either guy blasting double legs in this one.
Odds
To my surprise, Rakic is a sizeable favourite betting odds wise and I’ll be placing some money on this one for sure. I think the odds should be a lot closer than this - Rakic 1,33 or -300 (I guess?) and Smith 3,40 or +240 (I guess?). I’m not too familiar with your ”freedom units”
money to be made here!
Aleksandar Rakic lost his last fight (split dec) against Oezdemir, but was on a roll before that. The win streak was topped off with a brutal head kick KO victory against Jimi Manuwa. Rakic made sure that MMA fans knew who he was after that one! Let’s look at it one more time... Or six more times, because why not.
I’ll type out some stuff I see in these two fighters and how I think they stack up. Let’s go!
Rakic is a promising LHW, standing 6’4” tall and is 28 years old, but that’s something anyone could see in his wiki. He’s a explosive striker with good reach, has power in both his hands and feet. He has powerful leg kicks and he likes to explode forward with powerful punches. He fights in a wide orthodox stance and is dangerous from either side.
He doesn’t set up his low kicks with punches too much, he just gauges distance, uses feints and then blasts them. He can strike in combos, but rarely ends one with a leg kick. He ended Manuwa’s lif.. night with a combo ending in a headkick.
Rakic has shown a good chin so far and can take damage without crumbling or even showing it too much. He keeps his right hand high and left hand forward to measure distance. You can see him being more offensive minded in how he strikes. In other words, he leaves himself open a fair bit when blitzing forward, but his opponents haven’t been able to capitalize in a major way.
He doesn’t look to grapple too often and has been able to stop majority of the takedowns against him with sprawling, getting the underhooks, turning angles, pushing his opponent away and obviously some footwork. He took Oezdemir down a couple of times, though, and mixed it up.
Smith is the more familiar fighter to many and has had some great performances in the last couple of years. First he KO’d Rashad Evans and Shogun (that was sad), then tapped Oezdemir before losing to Jon Jones via UD in a lackluster performance. Then he came back and tapped Alexander Gustafsson. Big names. In his last fight he was doing very well against a veteran LHW Glover Teixeira. Teixeira however took the early barrage and started to get the upper hand before finishing Smith in the 5th round.
Smith is a very good, technical and quick striker. If anyone has doubts about that they clearly haven’t watched Anthony fight much. His straight punches are so fast and accurate that it’s a treat to watch. Very good jab and excellent right straight, hooks come after if needed. Also good kicks and strike selection, he finds the right tools from his toolbox and goes after it. Leg kicks, front kicks, head kicks plus he’s very dangerous with elbows and knees too!
Unlike Rakic, Smith is a BJJ black belt. He has shown that he’s a crafty guy on the ground and has a lot of subs on his record.
”Lionheart” has a gooood chin and can take a ton of damage, he won’t break. Unless it’s a title fight against Jones, then he shells up. Damn it! Well, anyway..
How do they stack up?
It will be a very interesting striking battle. Rakic is the more powerful guy, but I’d say Smith is the better overall striker. I expect the fight to mostly stay standing, but would like to see Smith try some trips if they clinch up.
I think Smith is targeting Rakic’s lead leg early as he (Rakic) has a very wide stance and Oezdemir had success with it in the last fight. He’ll need to be careful with Rakic blitz forward attacks as he moves in fast and has a lot of power. Chew up the leg and put his quick jab out there. The ol’ 1-2 should work! Rakic will try to find success with his blitzes while staying out of punching range. He’s not afraid to throw down, but after moving in and throwing heavy he leans back while taking a couple of steps and resets.
”Lionheart” has the edge on the ground and a very dangerous clinch, so I think Rakic will try to keep his feet moving and have him just outside striking range. There he can feint to see how Anthony reacts and either blitz in with big strikes or throw a power kick with his long legs. Seriously, for a muscular guy he has some seriously long limbs!
Both guys have good cardio, but Rakic has never gone 5 rounds with anyone. So we’ll see if he tries to slow the pace down a bit or if he keeps fighting at his usual pace. How much did that Teixeira beating take out of Smith? He was spitting his teeth out mid fight and took a ton of punishment. That remains to be seen!
I give Anthony Smith the edge in this one and expect him to take the W, probably in rounds 2 or 3, via sharper striking and possibly taking it to the ground when clinching. I don’t see either guy blasting double legs in this one.
Odds
To my surprise, Rakic is a sizeable favourite betting odds wise and I’ll be placing some money on this one for sure. I think the odds should be a lot closer than this - Rakic 1,33 or -300 (I guess?) and Smith 3,40 or +240 (I guess?). I’m not too familiar with your ”freedom units”
money to be made here!
