Lightweight Bout: Dan Hooker (20-8) vs. Dustin Poirier (25-6)
Luke Irwin: Goddamn, this fight is spicy. These lads have combined for fourteen (!) post-fight bonuses in their UFC careers. They love to strike and this is as slam-dunk of a Fight of the Night pick as you can make. Hooker’s path to victory will be using his kicks and polished kickboxing style to keep Poirier at bay. However, Hooker can be hit by elite strikers, and hit well. Paul Felder, who has more of a muay thai skillset than Poirier, got to Hooker early and often. Hooker won on the cards by split-decision, but it could have easily gone the other way. While Felder is one hell of a striker, and one of the best in the UFC, he’s not the Diamond. Poirier is on a completely different level when it comes to striking. He TKO’d Justin Gaethje, he TKO’d Eddie Alvarez, he beat Max Holloway, he can beat Dan Hooker. Poirier via R4 TKO.
Welterweight Bout: Mickey Gall (6-2) vs. Mike Perry (13-6)
Luke: Gall is all grapple, no hands, and if he can be put down and out by Diego Sanchez, and 2019 Diego Sanchez at that, an actual hard hitter like Perry should put Gall down. Perry via R1 KO.
Middleweight Bout: Brendan Allen (14-3) vs. Kyle Daukaus (9-0)
Luke: I like how Daukaus’s picture makes him look like a boxer from the 1920s. He even has the body for it! Anyway, Allen has been nothing short of phenomenal, and while Daukaus is game, Allen just had more tools in his shed to work with. Allen via UD.
Heavyweight Bout: Gian Villante (17-11) vs. Maurice Greene (8-4)
Luke: For the first time in nearly a decade, Villante is fighting at heavyweight, and he does so going up against an absolute monster of a man in Greene. Greene will have four inches in height and six inches in reach on Villante, along with probably a significant weight advantage, and while he isn’t your stereotypical heavy-handed knockout machine heavyweight, he’s well-rounded enough to control where the fight goes and not let himself get into trouble against a fighter accustomed to fighting light heavies. Greene via UD.
150lb Catchweight Bout: Julian Erosa (22-8) vs. Sean Woodson (7-0)
Luke: Erosa is coming in cold on short notice on a three-fight losing streak, two by T/KO. Woodson via R1 TKO.
2020 Picks Record: 77-40
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