News Ikram Aliskerov vs Andre Muniz set for UFC Saudi Arabia on Feb 1st
- Thread starter svmr_db
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Don't telegraph those kicks this time Aliskerov. Hands up. Chin down. Watch out for those pesky uppercuts too.
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Even with a glass jaw he'd still get the better of Muniz standing, Andre can't do anything on the feet to save his life.
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Feels like a lay-up for Ikram. It's hard to visualize a path to victory for Muniz.
Ikram has elite TDD as seen in his fight against Chimaev in BRAVE. Conversely I don't think Ikram will chance taking Andre down considering he's gone through entire fights against the likes of Alves & Hawes without shooting a single TD. In fact, the last time he attempted a TD was on Contender Series. If the fight does end up on the ground I guess Muniz is always live to sweep and end up on top or snatch up an opportunistic submission, but I feel like Ikram's superior wrestling chops and positional grappling will keep him safe on the mat. Considering his Sambo pedigree and the fact that he has multiple wins/no losses via sub, I don't see Aliskerov being a fish out of water in any groundfighting exchanges.
In the standup, I expect a bit of a janky, sloppy kickboxing match. Muniz has developed striking that's... serviceable as a means to an end, I suppose. He shows a very basic level of fundamental boxing, complemented by the occasional kick to the body or legs. He was actually getting the better of Craig in Rd 1 and had legitimate moments on the feet against Brendan Allen, too. However, other than that, he's fairly pillow-fisted and has never scored a KO/TKO win over any high-level opponent.
Ikram on the other hand is... weird. He seems very stiff and hittable and is herky-jerky in the way he moves and throws -- which is particularly noticeable in the fights against Phil Hawes and Robert Whittaker. He also doesn't have a ton of output. However, for what it's worth I think he hits very hard, has deceptively good timing/accuracy, and solid shot selection. While the level of opponent was low, he looked career-best against Warlley Alves in terms of how he was checking kicks, flowing in out of range, and effortlessly landing pretty much everything he threw whilst putting together combinations.
Both dudes are chinny for the record. Muniz hasn't really been exposed for it yet inside the UFC other than if you count the Craig fight, but he was getting finished/hurt by strikes pretty regularly in the regionals before making it to DWCS. The guy had four losses by KO/TKO prior to being signed by the UFC. Yeah we've seen Ikram get slept too, but he's getting done in by uppercuts against some of the best Middleweights in the world.
So yeah, gotta go with Ikram by KO/TKO here. In a fight between two soft-chinned grapplers, he's the one who seems more comfortable going out there and scrapping and has way more firepower on his side. Conversely, Muniz's striking is largely something he does as a means to an end to set up his grappling. Even in the Craig & Allen bouts where he was having moments of success in the standup, Muniz inevitably ended up getting uncomfortable and shooting on both men... to his doom. Besides, it's not like Ikram can't implement his wrestling & top game in the event he gets clipped or whatever. Craig pounded Muniz out from top position, Allen dominated & submitted him, and Park reversed him and spent most of the third round laying on top of him landing ground strikes with absolutely zero fear of his guard.
Ikram has elite TDD as seen in his fight against Chimaev in BRAVE. Conversely I don't think Ikram will chance taking Andre down considering he's gone through entire fights against the likes of Alves & Hawes without shooting a single TD. In fact, the last time he attempted a TD was on Contender Series. If the fight does end up on the ground I guess Muniz is always live to sweep and end up on top or snatch up an opportunistic submission, but I feel like Ikram's superior wrestling chops and positional grappling will keep him safe on the mat. Considering his Sambo pedigree and the fact that he has multiple wins/no losses via sub, I don't see Aliskerov being a fish out of water in any groundfighting exchanges.
In the standup, I expect a bit of a janky, sloppy kickboxing match. Muniz has developed striking that's... serviceable as a means to an end, I suppose. He shows a very basic level of fundamental boxing, complemented by the occasional kick to the body or legs. He was actually getting the better of Craig in Rd 1 and had legitimate moments on the feet against Brendan Allen, too. However, other than that, he's fairly pillow-fisted and has never scored a KO/TKO win over any high-level opponent.
Ikram on the other hand is... weird. He seems very stiff and hittable and is herky-jerky in the way he moves and throws -- which is particularly noticeable in the fights against Phil Hawes and Robert Whittaker. He also doesn't have a ton of output. However, for what it's worth I think he hits very hard, has deceptively good timing/accuracy, and solid shot selection. While the level of opponent was low, he looked career-best against Warlley Alves in terms of how he was checking kicks, flowing in out of range, and effortlessly landing pretty much everything he threw whilst putting together combinations.
Both dudes are chinny for the record. Muniz hasn't really been exposed for it yet inside the UFC other than if you count the Craig fight, but he was getting finished/hurt by strikes pretty regularly in the regionals before making it to DWCS. The guy had four losses by KO/TKO prior to being signed by the UFC. Yeah we've seen Ikram get slept too, but he's getting done in by uppercuts against some of the best Middleweights in the world.
So yeah, gotta go with Ikram by KO/TKO here. In a fight between two soft-chinned grapplers, he's the one who seems more comfortable going out there and scrapping and has way more firepower on his side. Conversely, Muniz's striking is largely something he does as a means to an end to set up his grappling. Even in the Craig & Allen bouts where he was having moments of success in the standup, Muniz inevitably ended up getting uncomfortable and shooting on both men... to his doom. Besides, it's not like Ikram can't implement his wrestling & top game in the event he gets clipped or whatever. Craig pounded Muniz out from top position, Allen dominated & submitted him, and Park reversed him and spent most of the third round laying on top of him landing ground strikes with absolutely zero fear of his guard.
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It's a test from the UFC to see if 1) Muniz could get enticed to throw fast uppercuts, and 2) if Aliskerov could evade/take those shots knowing that they're likely to come
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Ikram should get back to winning ways here, TKO.
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Uppercuts are the new meta against this guy.
All jokes aside in the Brazil v Dagestan matchup Dagestan almost always wins.
All jokes aside in the Brazil v Dagestan matchup Dagestan almost always wins.
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Winnable fight for both.was going to say municipal at first then thought about how bad he looked against craig
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True, I would go with county or state level or, if you are more of the adventurous type, even federal based on past results.
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Looks like Ikram still hasnt combed his hair after getting blasted by Whittaker
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Ikram is extremely talented, but is China-chinned and extremely vulnerable to the uppercut.
Thought the Chimaev fight was a fluke, but Whittaker decimated Aliskerov worse than Chimaev did.
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