UFC Stockholm Predictions

UFC Stockholm Predictions

By Alex Conway

The UFC is headed to Sweden this weekend and taking a light heavyweight main event with it.

Sweden’s own Alexander Gustafsson will take on Anthony Smith. The rest of the card features fighters from that geographic area and is a decent card, even if it doesn’t feature a ton of starpower.

Gustafsson vs. Smith

There are two schools of thought for this fight.

One is that both these guys lost to light heavyweight champion Jon Jones in title fights their last time out. So it makes sense to have them fight each other and guarantee that one of the division’s top players gets back on a winning streak.

The other is that a win does next to nothing for the winner but a loss is devastating for the loser, so why match them up?

I don’t have much of a problem with the booking because the fight is a fun one on paper. Two rangy strikers who are tough as nails and have something to prove. This seems like a recipe for a great fight and quite honestly, neither is in a position where they were going to get a title shot with a win anyway.

I think Gustafsson has all the tools to win this fight if he’s on top of his game. His last fight against Jones, it felt like he could never get out of first gear and he’s had one other performance (in Sweden no less) against Anthony Johnson where it felt like he was a little off.

If he doesn’t bring his A-game, Smith will make him pay. Smith is hittable but will knock you out with knees and elbows if you allow him to enter your space. He doesn’t have awesome takedown defense and Gustafsson is an underrated wrestler.

But the clinch is where this fight is going to be decided. In these exchanges Smith has proven lethal and if the fight goes here this is where he could win it. If Gustafsson can fight at distance and use his boxing I think he wins this one running away. But if it gets dirty and Smith hurts him, that will make this a far more even affair and I could see Smith finishing Gustafsson.

I’m going with the hometown guy in this one.

Rest of the Card

So instead of going fight-by-fight, I decided to highlight some things I’m looking forward to on the rest of the card.

Jimi Manuwa and Aleksandar Rakic feels like a banger waiting to happen. It’s hard to imagine Manuwa has a title run in him at this point, but he definitely has a fun run in him and he’s found a willing dance partner in Rakic.

I’m curious how good Chris Fishgold can be. His wrestling has been impressive but he’s got a tough task in Makwan Amirkhani on Saturday. Amirkhani has good grappling and decent power on the feet. It’s tough to know how good Amirkhani is because he fights so infrequently and thus it’s difficult to know how he’s developed in the gym. But this is a chance for a European fighter to emerge in the featherweight shark tank.

Daniel Teymur is always a treat, Tonya Evinger is looking for her first UFC win after a stellar title run in Invicta and one of the best grapplers on the planet Leonardo Santos returns after not fighting since 2016. Santos has a knockout win over Kevin Lee from 2016 and despite his age, I’m intrigued to see what he can accomplish with the time he has left.