Junior Dos Santos vs Gilbert Yvel Fight Prediction – UFC 108
JUNIOR DOS SANTOS vs. GILBERT YVEL
Fight Overview: Up and coming contender “Cigano” dos Santos squares off with Gilbert Yvel, a solid striker with a 36-13-1 professional record and a 4-0 record against referees, with all four wins coming by way of knockout. Both men do their best work on the feet, but dos Santos’ career is just kicking into gear while Yvel has years and years of experience. Can the young gun beat the old cheater at his own game?
Yvel’s Strengths: Yvel’s standup is technical and accurate, with fight-ending power in both hands and very dangerous kicks as well. He also has a wealth of experience, with 50 professional fights to his name.
Yvel’s Weaknesses: Yvel’s ground game consists of lying on the ground after he loses a fight. He has no takedowns, no submissions, and no way to defend against either. He is also a notorious cheater and has a reputation for assaulting referees, traits that could cost him a win even if he manages to outfight dos Santos.
Dos Santos’ Strengths: Much like Yvel, dos Santos thrives in the striking exchanges. He has a lot of knockout power, explosive speed and athleticism, and good technique in his punches. He also comes from a very good camp and has a ground game that, while not good at all, is more than enough to match Yvel’s anemic skills.
Dos Santos’ Weaknesses: Compared to Yvel, dos Santos is an extremely green rookie. He has three meaningful wins in his career, one against a young fighter, one against a journeyman, and one against a star well past his prime. Yvel is the most complete and dangerous striker dos Santos will ever have faced.
The Verdict: There is no way Yvel wins this fight. The only real question is whether dos Santos can finish Yvel fast enough to earn the KO before Yvel is DQed for biting, eye gouging, or punching a referee, all things he has done before in his career. Yvel is too one-dimensional, and dos Santos is better at that one dimension. I expect this to be a fairly short fight, with dos Santos putting Yvel to sleep relatively quickly with his superior striking.
Prediction: Junior Dos Santos by First Round T/KO.
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