Elijah Smith vs Aaron Tau
I expected Tau to be much more aggressive given his aesthetic, but I guess that’s completely unfair. That does unfortunately mean this one might be pretty patient because I get the feeling Elijah will wait for his openings on the feet, both have the option to mix it up a little, but we might not get too much head on engagement for a while.
Generally when Tau’s fights have been high pace, it’s been because nutcases have been charging him down, that’s probably not happening here, so what do I like, probably a couple of big Tau takedowns once he’s timed Smith a little, and I think Tau could potentially finish this one on the ground, but I’ve got to be honest, tape doesn’t infer a particularly exciting fight despite the two having good records in terms of finishes and level of opposition. Hope I’m completely wrong, as DWCS does tend to bring the chaos.
Result: Aaron Tau by Decision
Tallison Teixeira vs Arthur Lopes
Tallison is that 6’8 heavyweight LFA have been promoting, you can see why really. Big kicks, long punches, he’s aggressive, good ability to cut off the cage, he looks good. They’re putting him against a guy who has fought once in 6 years which is not a great look, Tallison has fought low level competition and this isn’t much different.
What I don’t like about Tallison is he looks like he will be open to counters when he starts trading.
From what little I saw of Lopes, his striking is rudimentary and he’s going to look for takedowns, but against such a massive guy I’m not convinced about all that. The Arthur Lopes I saw was fighting at middleweight all those years ago, this just looks like a gimme for Tallison, I don’t see any reason to look too hard at this one, the guy he’s fighting shouldn’t be there for the simple reason he isn’t a heavyweight. Maybe he’s improved tons though, but I doubt it.
Result: Tallison Teixeira by TKO R1
Benjamin Bennett vs Joey Hart
Bennett’s only pro loss was against another tall boy in Trey Waters, and it’s not a dissimilar dynamic here despite Hart being a little shorter than Trey (who isn’t?). Hart showed a great Thai clinch in his last fight, but also got dropped and looked a bit lost at punching range. I think this is fairly straight forward, Hart has a chance to score a KO against a better rounded, far more experienced, and ultimately more dogged opponent, but I’m not sure I like his chances. Bennett by Decision using all his tools, particularly pressure.
RESULT: Benjamin Bennett by Decision
Ateba Gautier vs Yura Naito
Young Cameroonian Ateba Gautier is a big boy, a strong athlete, and has experience fighting in Africa, the UK, and USA. He’s been finishing guys early, impressively, and I’ve seen some good body work and a good chin as well as his fight-ending KO shots. Gautier doesn’t look particularly comfortable defending takedowns or grappling, he looks like a pretty pure striker and not a counter-wrestler like I sort of expected.
Yura Naito has been wrecking guys in Pancrase and looks a good finisher as well, but I didn’t have time to view his fights properly, so this is a bit of guesswork.
I noticed Naito wasn’t taking guys down, but knocking them down, and that’s a bit of a concern to me as Ateba looks pretty good on the feet. I’m going to pick Ateba for another R1TKO but this is very, very tenuous.
RESULT: Ateba Gautier by TKO R1
Dylan Mantello vs Ahmad Hassanzada
These boys will be happy to strike, but Hassanzada will probably be the one to try to initiate grappling sooner or later, probably once he gets cracked throwing a lazy kick – which he does a lot from what I’ve seen. In the scrambling stakes Hassanzada is gonna be better, it’s just a question of whether it gets there or not.
I’m going to say no and say Hassanzada gets sparked. I can’t overstate how lazy Ahmad’s kicking game is, and how poor he can look early in fights. Only once he’s woken up and engaged opponents in a multi-levelled fight does he seem to excel, at which point the tables could turn. Mantello needs to fight smart because it’s not even like Hassanzada is a strong wrestler – but he does have a submission threat.
RESULT: Dylan Mantello by TKO R1
