UFC 321 Full Preview: Aspinall vs Gane – Full Card Breakdown, Analsysis & Predictions

UFC 321 Full Preview: Aspinall vs Gane – Full Card Breakdown, Analsysis & Predictions

This battle is about to explode. Live and let die. It’s the full preview podcast USD 321. What’s up guys and welcome to a new episode of the full preview. We have UFC 321 going on. Um, this is going down in the Eddihad Arena in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. We have 13 fights here and this is obviously headlined by Tom Aspino finally making making his octagon return against Siran and as the come event we have a fight for the vacant straw title between Bernandi Roba rightful number one contender I’ve been saying against Mckenzie Durn in which is a rematch after their fight ago. Uh we’ll get into this one. You know the drill, guys. We’re co we’re going from the very first prelim to the main event. For the prelims, we’re doing profiles of the fighters for the for the main card. As I assume you guys are familiar with the fighters, we’re just going straight into the breakdowns and predictions. So, why don’t we get into our first fight of the night? We have a strawway bout between Jacqueline Amorim and Misuk Inoe. So, let’s begin with Amarim, a decorated BJJ player. Amarim stays tight behind a high guard. She’s a bit awkward, but she’s athletic and powerful. She likes filling space with kicks and jabs, but she likes to use the overhand right, which plays straight into the fear of the takedown fighters already have for her. She will throw back counters in exchanges and is very good at grabbing reactive clinches to stay safe. But her defense so far hasn’t showed many layers and she’s stationary against longer combinations. Other than the right hand, there’s not a lot of the way of setups, but she has good timing and finishes her entries well when it comes to her takedowns with footwork or trips if not immediately successful with them. Dangerous with leg locks from the bottom and during scrambles. She has incredibly heavy top pressure. crushing knee passes allow her to get to mount from where she can attack the arms with kimuras and arm bars or take the back. And while her grandma pound can be a bit wild, uh her excellent posture allows her to maintain control while using it to create opportunities. All in all, Amarim has impressive so far, but we don’t know if she has fixed her issues with conditioning and lack of ideas on the feet during longer fights. Against her, we have Mizuki. 10 years ago, Mizuki was one of the hottest prospects in women’s MMA. In a career sadly plagued with injuries and associated inactivity, Misuki is now 31 and a veteran of 21 fights. A well-rounded threat, Mizuki is a sleek boxer in open space with good footwork, an active lead hand, and constant side to side hip movement. She’s good at using her jab to open up her left hook or draw counter opportunities for her straight right. and she’s good at going to the body, too. Despite her boxing oriented stance, she’s a solid kicker, too. Usually attacking with his snap kicks to the body from longer range. Her defense is overall solid, but she can be vulnerable to stray shots down the middle when she’s looking to set up her attacks. Strong inside the clinch. She’s good at fighting grips and using her footwork and head positioning to defend takedowns or create takedowns opportunities of her own. Her knees are very good inside landing with good technique and power, and she will look for right hands or elbows during breaks. She hasn’t seen prolonged grappling in a while now, but she has shown a strong guard. And what her ability to get back up might be lacking, she’s active with submission attempts, but also good at stalling and minimizing damage. Misuki has a very functional game, but she can lack a wow factor to take over fights, and we don’t know if injuries have taken a toll on her. It is very hard to trust Misuki in this one. The inactivity coupled with her losing to strong grapplers in the past. But Amarim hasn’t faced much adversity since her debut, getting easy takedowns and submitting opponents. If anything, Mizuki is closer to Sam Huge than any other opponent she has faced. Mizuki also has good footwork and strong clinch game to the Nayamore before taking over with her striking. It is a very risky pick, but I think Mizuki rallies back from a bad first round to win a decision here. Our next bout is at flyweight. We have a fight between Asad Maxum and Mitch Raposo. So let’s begin with Maxum. A dynamic and long wrestle kickboxer. Maxum is all about big actions while he faints at range and can throw half speed shots here and there. It’s all in function of big single strikes or self-contained combinations. Maxum might lack setups and doesn’t fight at a super high pace, but he makes up for it with creativity and variety, targeting all three levels with attacks from both stances. He has good footwork, but he rarely moves his head unless he’s punching. That coupled with big actions make him vulnerable to straight shots. Maxum is very strong inside the clinch as has tremendous balance. Taking him down has been very hard throughout his career. And even when taken down, he’s quick to wrestle up or scramble back to his feet. He’s very aggressive with elbows and uppercuts inside the pocket. And he’s the owner of tremendous body lock takedowns. On the ground, he’s aggressive with ground and pound and likes to create movement and force scramles more than controlling. He has been a submission threat with chokes from the head front headlock, the back take and top position. Maxum is a very impressive athlete, but he really lacks connective tissue and his style is not sustainable despite his decent cardio. Against him, we have Mitch Raposo, a wrestle boxer with good movement and quick hands. Raposo likes to mostly move on the outside, employing his good lateral movement and stand switches to potshot, move people into shots or break rhythm with short combinations. not a consistent jabber. He gathers reactions with faints to win time and space and then attack with combinations be lead hand fades into overhands or mixing the two and the three. A solid calf kick uh help with disrupting his opponents and piling up damage from open space. He looks to move his head on the outside and can sleep the first shot to come back with his short combinations pretty well. His movement stand switches and misdirection make him somewhat hard to track down. He has had trouble defending kicks and relies on his counters to keep opponents off during long exchanges. defense inside the pocket is still a work in progress and can struggle with longer opponents trying to counter with short hooks. Not much of a top position grappler, he he times explosive reactive takedowns in open space to break rhythm and has shown good ability to use rights and ground and pound together during finishing sequences, but hasn’t been consistent as a controlling grappler. Takedown defense looks solid, especially in open space where he’s quick to attack grips and angle or use powerful a powerful sprawl to negate shots. He’s also good at attacking grips and moving to open space against defense, but has struggled with leg attacks with his back to the cage. Cardio toughness and shin have all been good so far. Problem with his defending combinations and during transitions are a concern. Raposa has tool to exploit some of the bad habits and tendencies of Maxum here. He might be able to frustrate the kasak with his outside movement and use his faints to attack and get back to space. But on the flip side, we have Maxum with a decent reach and power advantage and being the more comfortable and damaging kicker on top of it. Raposo likes to wrestle for safety, but I don’t think that plays out well here with Maxum being hard to take down and good at reversals inside the clinch. It is a lot closer than I thought before watching tape. Rapos can use his movement and maybe even heard Maxum exploiting his lack of head movement, but I think Maxum will take rounds landing the bigger shots, being stronger in the clinch, and even landing takedowns. Maybe Maxum wins a decision. We go all the way up to heavyweight for our next fight. We have a bout between Chris Barnett and Hamdi Abdel Wah have. So Chris Barnett athletic athletic and very stalky. The now 39 years old taekwondo black belt remains a dynamic threat at heavyweight. Very short for the division. While he still has kicking shots, he has had to rely on his boxing more as he ages. He packs big power and decent instincts inside the pocket with his loopy shots. But he can get strength at long range if he can get his kicks going as he lack good straight punches and most of his faints come in the way of stepping to fake a blitzing entry. Uh that being said, he remains deceptively quick and athletic despite his age and build. The clinch has been a problem against comp competent and taller fighters. And while he can use his strength to push away and he’s good at fighting punches during breaks, he can get stalled and damaged with attrition shots. Bernett is also surprising surprisingly agile scrambler and his flexibility and stocky build has allowed him to escape at positions numerous times. Cardio is decent and he’s incredibly tough, but he has some clear limitations to his style. Against him, we have Hamdi Abdel Wahab, a former international Greco wrestler. Hamdi has been mostly a boxer in his MMA career. He likes to walk people down with faints before opening up with big leg kicks and short boxing combinations. He has a good jab that he can double up to set up his right hand, but sadly he mostly uses it to start combinations. His leaving left hook and his counter right hand are his best punches. His defense is solid. He actively parries shots coming his way and he’s good at rolling with whatever gets past that, but he can be too stationary during exchanges. Despite focusing more on striking, Handy is still a solid wrestler and uh as his background suggest uh his record wrestling shines when he glitches up with opponents. He can take big heavy weights for a ride with drifts or throws, but his control is not great from top position, especially when he tries to open up with ground and pound. Uh Ham is athletic and despite getting tired early in fight, he remains well composed. He fights well tired. Uh there doesn’t seem to be much depth to his game other than was already said though. I feel like Barnett can take advantage of his foot speed here to frustrate Hamdi with in-n-out blitzes. And even if he gets taken down, I think he should be fine here. The problem for him is that I think that’s not a super sustainable style here, especially at his age. Uh, so I think he needs to rely on hurting uh the Egyptian early and it’s just hard to trust the cardio the cardio of a 39 years old who has been taking a lot of damage since joining the UFC. Uh, the lot of the lack of a good jab is especially likely to hurt him here as it won’t allow him to like mimic the performance of Muhammad Usman in his last fight. I think Hamdi might struggle early, but eventually he uses his size and more Polish hands to win a decision. Next is a featherweight fight between Jose Delgado and Nate Wood, Nathaniel Wood. So, let’s begin with Jose Delgado, an MMA lab southpaw. Delgado keeps a very high output and he’s a he’s an allrounder threat. Well burst in transitions like guys from his camp usually are long and big for the division. Delgado loves the body kick in open space and is willing to change states to get to the open side with the rear kick. A long tricky one too in which he can bury the trajectory of his two allows him to snipe from long distance and he loves knees. Be it stepping it from range after his punches or from a variety of grips inside the clinch. If he gets opponents backing up, he will track them with long punches before opening up with long combinations against the cage. punches to the body and his affirmation knees make him dangerous threat against defense. Uh the his defense relies on distance and footwork and he doesn’t move his head much but he’s active he’s an active counter threat particularly with sneaky rear left hook. Clinches and single legs offer defensive options and also allow him to work his transitions. He’s just as active and aggressive inside the clinch as he’s at range. Delgado uses his long frame to land knees and elbows and we look to drop levels or land a trip to get the fight to the ground. On the ground, he has good positioning and base and we open up with nasty random pound. Taking the back is also an specialty owning three pro wins via naked choke. His aggressive and scrambling nature has exposed him to bad positions in the past, but he’s a solid grappler and scrambler from bad positions as well. The gad is well conditioned and dynamic, but he can lack focus during fights and his defense can use some work. Against him, we have Nathaniel Wood, a stocking and athletic striker with skills in every phase. Wood looks to walk people down behind a hard guard from which he can counter with quick hands either with catch and pitch counters or off slips and fates. hard leg kicks that he can throw leading or as a counter to opposing kicks and snappy snap kicks to the body that he can throw long or up close complement his game well and allow him to compete at long distance despite his stature. His defense is good and layered being the owner of good footwork and head movement complemented by his already mentioned high guard. His multi to set people to straight shots hidden behind faints at long range and can be timed by same time counters when forced to close the distance. very good inside the clinch where he mixes his dirty boxing with sleek strip and foot sweeps. Coupled with his good footwork, he’s able to control exchanges there, keeping his opponents in their toe despite his usual size disadvantage. Wood is decently strong from top position, but can struggle to get ground going against longer foes who can use pose to get back up. So far at 145, his takedown defense has looked pretty solid, aided by his stocky build and wide base. Prolonging exchanges against defense and shots during transitions have been the way to take him down. a good scrambler but can be controlled if put flat on his back by bigger guys. His ground pound and back takes are strong suits. Wood is tough, well conditioned and adaptable but being under size for the division he has he has had to rely on big actions to compete and that can be draining and expose him to counterattacks. One of the most interesting fights on the prelims as Delgado is 5 in taller and has a 4 in reach advantage. While Wood already dealt with someone with a similar frame in Andra Philly, Delgado is the younger man this time around and fights at a high pace. On paper, Wood has the tools to deal with him everywhere. But Delgado is himself a solid transition fighter. The MMA Lab product has a dangerous combinations of a dangerous combination of length, aggressiveness, and a higher pace than the British. It is winable for Wood, but I think Delgado takes this decision via volume and big moments. And we’re back at heavyweight. We have a fight between Walter Walker and Louis Sutherland. So, let’s begin with Valter Walker. Uh Johnny Walker’s brother find himself on a threeight win streak all via heel hook. Unprecedented in the UFC. Before his success with leg locks, he had a game that revolved around his big overhand right and level changes. At range, Walker is patient filling the gaps with jabs, low kicks, knees, and a front kick to the body. He wants to find spots to set up his big right hand or to draw the opponents in to look for his big double leg. His defense relies a lot on the high guard, but that can be to his advantage as it allows him to not concede much ground and when he feels he has his timing, he will open up with counters, left hooks, and right hands. He can fall apart against combinations, but his level change is his saving grace. He’s the owner of a very decent double leg takedown. Walker finishes authoratively and is quick to establish half guard be open space or against the fence frontal position. He used to be more conservative chipping away with shots and using a smothering pressure until he got to advanced position or feel his opponent tiring to open up with heavy gar pound. But now he presents the danger of his leg lock game and a willingness to use it in a division that might not be too familiar with it. There’s not much else to uh there’s not much else on tape about Walker. His character seems average to be honest and he’s a good athlete. Against him we have Luis Sutherland, a big and strong heavyweight, a kickboxer. Sutherland likes to stock opponents to the cage with decent pressure and footwork. He likes to show faint and takes him uh and takes his time looking for openings. He carries big power and decent hand speed. For a man his size, he’s at his best when he’s putting combinations together, putting punches together, and punctuating with big leg kicks. Uh he also has a knack for knees. Defensively, he’s good at getting behind his shoulder, can move his feet well for his size, and he’s a present counter threat. Uh but there’s not much depth beyond that. Very physically strong. Uh Soda has struggled with wrestlers in the past, but has shown the ability to be hard to deal with just while staying safe and being super strong. Uh Solaran is only four years into his career. He’s training under a good gym with Tom Aspaspel. Uh, he’s still very raw. He’s still very raw, but has potential to be an above average heavyweight at least, I think. So, can Walker keep getting away with it? Uh, probably. Southerntherland is raw and exactly the kind of guy to fall for this like silly nonsense. That being said, Sutherland is very strong and is training with Aspen as I already said, and those guys have all been looking great lately. Uh, Southerntherland has also shown hard resiliency and surprising cardio so far in his career despite I mean he has like a decent amount of of fights, but he’s just like not very deep into his MMA career. Uh, to be honest, I don’t have many reasons to do this pick, but I’m looking uh I mean I’m taking the risk here and I’m picking Sodia TKO in round two. We go to 155 next as we have a fight between Matos Rambetski and Ludovit Klene. So Rambetski a stalking and powerful Salpa. Ramitki is a pressure fighter who likes to push people to the fence behind the threat of his powerful kicks and his big left hand. To accomplish this, he possesses good pressure in footwork and an active filler jab that he uses to gather reactions and line up his left hand that he usually throws in the way of a wide overhand. Rambetski is constantly attacking all three levels, not afraid to attack with powerful inside leg kicks with his left leg in open spans matchups. And he can also throw his left hand to the body as a straight punch. Against defense, he unloads combinations like his left overcut to the body and a follow-up right hook right hook upstairs all while using his jab to keep his opponents busy and set up his shots. He look to parry shots with his high guard and usually looks to move his head after throwing his combos. and he’s also good at catching kicks and converting these catches into counters and takedowns. On the topic of takedowns, Rambki is a strong wrestler who uses his stocky build both to attack and defend takedowns effectively. Physically very strong, he likes to finish takedowns against defense, sending his shot with his hands, but he also can uh he can also drive from open space in the form of a reactive shot and the aformentioned kick catches from top position. He’s heavy and has good ground and pound and he likes to pass to cross fix to finish fights but he’s also good from back control from the bottom. Romeroki is hard to hold down as he looks to create space attack the legs or wrestle up. Romeki is durable and tough but his gay can be shallow and that can get him in trouble if if forced back or if he’s not successful with his aame. And while his cardio is good, the pace he sets can get out of hand making him fade late into fights. Against him we have Ludovit Klein a fellow stocky southpaw with a karate background here. Klein prefers to operate at open space fighting much longer than his stature indicates. His game used to revolve largely around his left kick with with which he attacks to all three levels with power speed and dexterity. But in later years he has become more of a boxer. Clay has a piston of a right-hand jab that is aided by his quick in and-out movement, a solid right hook, and a very quick left hand that he can throw straight, but also likes to throw wide as an overhand. Punch kick combinations are his best tool when it come when he loosens up. Uh, Klein is also physically strong in the clinch. He’s quick to fight grips and fire fast knees and elbows before disengaging. His f his first line of takedown defense is very strong. He has very quick and strong hips and is fast to disarm entries. He has been taken down by nuance chain wrestling in the past though. From his back, Klein is serviceable grappler that looks to sol waiting for a spot to explode, sweep, or wall walk. Takedowns of his own, but have become more frequent lately. Just like everything else, his level change is fast. He has clean finishes if he gets to the hips, which is helped by his frame and strength. Solid from top position, his control is good. He can let go with good ground and pound, but he can lack activity there. Klein is very athletic and surprisingly well conditioned for the division. He unlike volume at times and his grappling game is on the shallow side despite being well put together. Uh this is somewhat of a physical mirror match between stocky powerful southpaw. Uh this one pits the aggression and pressure from Rambetski against the finesse and speed of Klein. Curiously neither fighter have much experience of note against southpost. In cases like this, I often see who has the more active lead hand and who relies more on like open stance tactics. Klein is the better jabber of the two and I suspect will be more comfortable kicking the legs in a close sense matchup. Rambetsky for his part loves the overhand and has a killer right hook. Both those translate well here. If Rambetsky can get client to the fence, it is probably he wins this fight. I can see him overwhelm him to slow with combinations against the fence. But I think he relies a bit too much on double attacks and sal angles to make his pressure work. Klein has the better footwork as speed advantage, the aforementioned jab and can exploit Rambleski’s defense with his own quick combinations in open space. Rambleski is also likely to depend on the cage for takedowns as Klein is very hard to take down in open space. If Rescue establishes pressure, he wins. If Klein keeps it in the open, he takes it. I think the later is more likely, but I expect fireworks here. Uh, Ludovit Klein takes a decision. Next one is at middleweight. We have a fight between Eram Aliserov and the Iron Turtle Yunyong Park. Let’s begin with Alis Kerov. A pressuring wrestler with a big right hand. Alisov like to score at open space with kicks and will put combinations together if opponents close the distance. His jab from a floating lead hand is stiff and his right hand works as a follow-up or as a counter to what’s coming back. He can throw his right hand as a straight overhand or uppercut. Not very layered defensively, but keeps a right hand uh a high right hand as he manages distance and has a good counter left hook while fading back. Uh he’s good at changing levels and looking for clinches for defensive purposes as well. He’s quick to level change and good timing allow him to look for double leg, knee tap, single leg series. He can be tough in open space and doesn’t change wrestle match there. He shines when he gets his man against the cage though and he can work on finishes there. On top position, he’s very dangerous with fluid transitions and pressure which allow him to look for a variety of submissions and secure mat returns if he gets the rear body lock. Of note is his constant arm attacks from control and submission. Be Half Nelson, chicken wings, Kimuras, Americanas, but also armbars off his back. Alisov has good attributes and has a well-rounded game, but doesn’t have much experience in hard fights, and his stiff defense has gotten him in trouble on the feet. Yungyong Park, a well-rounded fighter. Park is at his best when he can pressure behind his effective jab. He’s aggressive off the bat, looking to establish range with his lead hand and leg kicks. From there, he can counter well, but he’s at his best pining up damage with the jab and using the reaction to set up longer combinations. His defense relies largely on his ability to control the initiative and make the correct wrists while maintaining range. He can move his head on the first layer well, has good footwork, but can keep his shin high and lack nuance. A solid cleaner, Park is effective with strikes, but he’s at his best when he can use strips or drag people down against the fence. frontal opposition. He’s highly effective using rights and constant ground and pound to wear opponents off. And he has uh good control, too. The back take is usually his end game, and he’s the owner of a tight rear naked choke that is perfect to finish his low his low simmer style. Uh takedown defense has been solid, but he has been taken down by insistent wrestlers against defense. From his back, he’s defensively sound, good at avoiding damage and submissions, but his get up game can be lacking. Park is durable and well conditioned, but he’s not an outstanding athlete, and his slow starts can expose his defensive flaws. This is a fight between well-rounded grapplers with opposite approaches. Aliserov is dangerous early and is more of a destroyer as opposed to Park who wears people with his pressure and is a is more of a builder archetype. Park’s jab is going to be valuable tool here, but he needs to be careful with Eram’s counters while staying on his face. Aliserov is likely to have the striking and grappling advantage early here. If Park is able to extend this one, this fight is very winnable for him. But I think his slow start matches up particularly bad with Aliserov’s aggressiveness u especially the counters and the more physical grappling early on. I think that Alisarov gets a TKO on round one. We’re back at lightweight for our feature bout of the prelims. We have a fight between Nazarat Hack Paras and Kan Sal. So let’s begin with Hack Barast, a Salpa boxer. He’s all about the one two both on the lead and on the counter. Nowadays he prefers to move around in open space looking to set up entries with his double jab or set up a footwork trap. He’s comfortable jabbing and fighting hands and is competent in both directions. He has somewhat of a minimalistic tool set, but his hand speed and rhythm allow him to maximize it. And to his credit, he has improved his shot selection, going to the body more, his ability to extend combinations with punches, too. And he’s less picky when it comes to kicking nowadays, having a stiff body kick and inside leg kick. His defense relies on his footwork, both in the form of angles and distance management. But he also has good fer slayer head movement and his quick counters and positioning are good to dissuade entries from opponents. His defensive wrestling has been solid both both in the form of anti- wrestling tactics, but also when it comes to fighting ribs and using his athleticism and strength to remain upright uh with the head start of his good footwork. His ground game hasn’t been tested at a high level in a long time, so it remains somewhat of a question mark and it used to be a weak spot. Akaras is well conditioned, sharp, and athletic. His biggest flaw is depending on controlling the initiative too much and lacking long-d distanceance tools. Killan Salil on the other hand is a long kick boxer. Uh he maintains a high output on the outside with hard kicks to all three levels. He likes to start his combinations behind stoeps and has a penion for kicking off his punches and punishes resets his kicks. His jab is inconsistent, but he makes up for it with an active lead leg that he uses to attack with weak inside leg kicks and body kicks with little tail. The left hook to the body is another valuable weapon for him at range. Sill depends on controlling the initiative for defense using a spacing and counters to keep opponents away, but he does have the ability to hide behind his lead shoulder and slip shots to come back with counters. And he’s excellent at catching kicks and countering with punches or kicks of his own. Saki likes to mix things up constantly and is a solid transitional fighter. He’s good at putting takedown attempts at the end of combinations. He’s big and strong for the weight class. He’s a scrappy wrestler who pummeles well and likes to swim to the back or work trips from overunders and the body lock. Salkit has been put flat on his back and has been controlled, but he’s always looking to create space with butterflies and pushing off the hips. He’s another fighter that shines from the back take with excellent transitions between it and the mount and also good at stretching opponents out. He’s a capable finisher with the rian choke and ran and pound very tough and well conditioned. He has shown some problems with his defense and Kcraft when pushed back and has been controlled on the ground. This is a matchup between the super focus approach of Hack Baras versus the maximalist approach of Salkill. While Sakil has the tool set to play a focus game plan on either longrange kicking, wrestling or a mix of the two. I think it is more likely he tries to take the fight everywhere as he usually does while he’s a decent boxer. I think he if he engages Hakaras too much in his wheelhouse or fails to take him away from his wheelhouse uh the fight is going to get a lot harder for him. Despite looking very impressive in his last outing, Sil did get very tired at a pace he himself set against Ashimus and had to be bailed by his size and wrestling advantage many times. Uh, I think Salty has a good chance of mixing up things and finding success. But Hack Paras is a powerful athlete with speed and a clear win condition. I think that Hak Perez wins a decision. And to open up the main card, we have a light heavyweight bout between Alexander Rakish and Asamat Murakanov. So this is a bout between kickboxers. Uh, a staple of the rankings. Rakkesh faces off against the tricky stockpan. uh once thought to be a short pick to contend for the title, Rakkesh find himself on a three-ight losing streak. To be fair, those losses came to the top of the division in former champions. All three of them, Yan Blakovix, J Brohaska, and Maggomed and Klay. Morsano on the other hand comes undefeated but having faced a lower level of opposition. Rakish is very big for the division and looks to have a staggering 6 in of reach and height on the Russian. And the two hardest fights for the professional came at the hands of dedicated strikers in Dustin Jakovi and Tafon and Shuki. Rakkesh on his part was largely neutralized at range by Anklay who plays somewhat of a similar footwork based counter game to his fellow Russian and both guys are southpost. Uh Rakish has some has shown some good ideas in the open stance matchup kicking high often to neutralize the left hand and counter kicking too. But as mentioned earlier, he has been out angled and his defensive his defense isn’t great at seeing neither right hooks over the lead shoulder or straight left. Or setting up traps with his feet. One of Morsakanov’s strengths is is his variety with the left hand. He can throw it straight looped as an as an overhand or as an uppercut. He has good eye for his shot selection with it. Um he will have to traverse a long road to get to Rakish though and the Servian is a dangerous counter threat himself. He will be on Bakanov to take the initiative and control the entries with his footwork. Rakish has shown a well-rounded game in the past especially with very solid top control. The Russian for his part has been solid defending takedown not only because of his positioning but also because of his stocky frame and good grip fighting. Rakkesh is big, athletic, and sharp, but I also feel like he’s very confident, dependent, and he can lack depth. Mago has a more focused game and is more adaptable and resourceful on defeat. I feel maybe Rakish wins with a big KO or be a grappling and it looks obvious in hindsight. But I think Morsanov is able to outstrike him and is just as likely to get big moments. So I think the Russian gets a decision here. We have our third heavyweight fight of the card here as we have about between Alexander Bolov and Jaultton Almeida. This is an old school striker versus grappler matchup at heavyweight. Uh this really feels like a true true outcome fight. Jaon saw his lone loss at heavyweight at the hands of a fellow wrestler in Cortis Blades while Bolov only losses in recent memory were to fellow strikers at the hands of the men involved in the main event. Seriously, that being said, Aspenol made grappling a big part of his game plan against the Russian and was able to submit him. Molov does have good tools to keep grapplers at bay with his straight punches and front kicks backed by his enormous frame. And other than the aspen submission has looked to be a competent scrambler able to survive and get up against a variety of opponents. He also destroyed the last wrestler he faced in Alexander Romanov. Jayto on his part got finished going for a back takedown uh when Blades sprawled and pounded on him but he has bones back with two impressive finishes against uh the Maldo and wrestlers in Romanov and Spivacon is not a zero when it comes to striking though he’s certainly very agile for the weight class amps power he showed uh Herin’s uh speedback on the feet to begin the finishing sequence in a fight that saw him overcame adversity in the form of being on bottom it It’s still hard to see him have much success if he’s stuck at range against the Russian who is efficient and damaging from long range. Bon was taken off his feet by reactive shots of his stray right by both Gun and Aspenol, but they have a different level of comfort striking that allowed them to find the position to shoot reactively. Jelton’s success relies on achieving an early takedown and that leads to a finish or at least enough damage to put the Russian off his game. I don’t think Bolov is getting insta submitted this time around though. He might have to survive an early scare, but I think he’ll pose the limitations of the Brazilian undefe wins and gets a TKO on round two. We go to bantamweight for our next one. It’s Umar Magomedov against Mario Bautista. This bantamweight bout is very likely to determine the next contender for the 135 strap. Usman is coming off his be his his first professional loss to champion Morav debili in what was all things considered a very close fight scoring wise while Bautista is riding an impressive eightight winning streak hotel the fight notwithstanding with his last being an impressive dominant win over patchy mix seeing this from a wrestling standpoint this is a compelling matchup obviously Umar is the superior wrestler and grappler overall but Bautista a former high school wrestler has consistently improved as a complete MMA wrestler. As most MMA lab fighters, Bautista is excellent at transitions and has a very good scrambling priorities and options and his selection of tactics is very fight oriented. Lapses of a sketchy takedown defense can cost him here as Maggomedov is a very potent takedown artist. That being said, I expect Bautista to have scouted escapes from the rear body lock that were successful successfully employed by Sanhagen and Morav. And he’s also adept at creating escapes during transitions like Almakan was able couple of times against to Umar. Bautista seems like a similar matchup to Sanhagen, but Bautista is more aggressive and scrappy nowadays I feel and less likely to get his striking muted because of the wrestling threat. Bautista is also a more naturally violent striker inside the clinch and during transitions as opposed to Sanhagen who was laser focused on defending. Uh, this might be a double-edged sword for the American though. When it comes to striking, Umar probably has a speed advantage with the hands and is a far more dextrous kicker. Romedov has a hair trigger to counter combination and he pairs his kicks with his punches and takedowns brilliantly. Bautista does have more depth to his striking I feel with a more nuanced jab, more organic shot selection, and very school boxing defense. Both fighters have been fine with taking the back foot in the past, but in this fight, it would be wise to try and pressure. And the one with the front foot will likely control the fight. Again, even if Bautista accepts the pressure, he has shown to be the more sophisticated striker in open stance uh in open space. I mean, especially with the footwork, even in the open stance matchup that you would assume favors the Jian fighter uh knee, excuse me. And finally, there’s the pace and conditioning. Uh when Romedo was able to maintain pace for five rounds against San Hagen, he was firmly in the driver’s seat in his fight against Morav, he started falling apart in the third round before regaining his composure for the fifth. But there was a clear decrease in dynamism and he also seemed to run out of ideas. But this usually only gets better as fights go on, not only finding openings, but also upping the pressure and volume. I understand Umar being the favorite, the wrestling and the speed advantage and the fact that Bautista has been taken down and can be somewhat of a slow starter, but if Mario is able to firmly take the front foot and put on a pace before halfway the halfway point of second round, I think he can actually win this. I’m taking the risk and I’m going Bautista winning a decision here. And with that, it’s time for our co-main event for the vacant strawway title. We have a fight between Benina Jandrova and McKenzie Durn. So a rematch after almost five years. The rightful one number one contender Jandrova faces off against McKenzie D mostly on the strength of her previous wins over her fellow Brazilian. That and the fact that with Way up at flyweight, Berna has beat virtually everyone in the division Bartana Suarez and obviously the martability factor puts D there too. And that includes names like Yan Shaan, Amanda Lemos, Marina Rodriguez, all of whom beat Durn in the past. Some of the dynamics of the first fight still keep relevant to this day though. D is the quicker and more dynamic athlete with more power on the feet and greater ability to explode into submission attempts on the ground. But Beard, despite her limitations and awkward striking, is smart, very physically strong, one of the few fighters in the division who can go toe-to-toe with turn on the ground. The first fight saw a very good first round for D using her hands to put volume on Jendirova. Then Bernina took over the second round once McKenzie started losing some ste on her shots and got more predictable. Sadly, Berna’s momentum got interrupted by an unfortunate eye poke late in round two. The third round was close with Darren being able to regain some of her aggressiveness, especially early. One interesting takeaway was that Jandero looked like the superior wrestler stuffing their takedowns and usually reversing her against the fence. It was a closer fight than it may be remembered by the few who put attention. Now we got to assess how these fighters have changed and improved since then. Both girls have improved when it comes to composure on the feet. feel D is better at maintaining her stance while throwing combinations and Bernina while still janky has looked more confident even when standing across some of the division’s most dangerous strikers. These improvements in composure have made D a bigger takedown threat. Her level chains are still not great, but she’s quick and she’s shooting from better positions now. Jandero on her part has improved tremendously as an offensive wrestler, especially when she gets to a single leg against the fence with numerous finishes that take advantage of her scrambling options and her physical strength. Mina looked like the better condition fighter the first time around and that might still hold true. While McKenzie was able to dominate for five rounds against Hill, we’ve seen her get tired and more importantly lose dynamism as fights goes on even over three rounds. Yandereova hasn’t seen the championship rounds yet as she submitted lemmo in the second round of her only main event, but she has been a consistent third round winner throughout her career. D should look to implement her boxing game, ideally moving forwards and only get a takedown if if it’s presented to her. Her power and speed are likely to make the difference in the scorecards during close kickboxing rounds. be on her part I feel needs to push a pace on the feet early even if it’s dangerous for her. She has been adaptable and her underrated defense might keep her safe to make D spent energy and lose her explosiveness. When it comes to the grappling I feel like whoever is on top is probably winning. Even though both are very good and aggressive off their backs and can use their submission attempts to force scrambles. This is probably not the matchup to try that for both women. There has been Sal from top position in the past. She lost to um Amanda Heas back in the day and despite getting the submission of her back in the rematch in her last fight, she was still uh reverse on a takedown attempt and control for a good portion of a round. Mina was also able to get on top of Darren for a while and stay safe and I suspect she can do so again. One meme factor to consider is that Vienna has been consistently burnable to app kicks when standing over opponents on the on guard. She hasn’t been hit by them yet and it might be irrelevant but you never know. Uh this is a hard match up for Jirov against someone who is just as good even better in some aspects than here when it comes to grappling and someone who also carries speed and punch and punching power advantage on the feet. But I feel like her grappling game has been adapted better to MMA over the years. And her results overcoming opposition back that up. That and her durability and a sneaky defense make me feel like she can survive the early dynamism of Durn to subsequently take over with his strength and grappling. Yandereova takes the later rounds and a decision to become our new champion. And with that, we get to our main event for the undisputed heavyweight title. We have Tom Aspenol defending his championship against Sir Garn. The champion is a rifle favorite on basis of two big factors here. He’s the more immediately dangerous striker. He’s very likely to have a grappling edge here. But there are still a lot of question marks around Aspenol and they might remain there if he gets another quick knockout. Aspenol is not only blazing fast for the division both with his movement and his hands, but his danger is amplified by solid mechanics and good sense of timing and distance. While the bulk of his success has been obtained via his onewol has a solid arsenal of strikes being a capable kicker and dangerous in cleans transitions with elbows and knees. The breed while a bit reckless during exchanges uses his footwork and faints well to control the initiative and has good reflexes being capable of dealing with kicks as well. Aspen level changes are a bit shallow but his speed give him big drive and he has good sense of timing usually shooting under strikes. Gan still brings interesting questions to the table though. And while he’s the more exposed uh product of the two, he has qualities Aspenol haven’t seen in a single package yet. First, Gan is a big heavyweight around the same weight as Aspenol and is shorter, but with a longer reach while being leaner, so basically the same size here. Not only he is big, but he’s one of the few guys in the division that can give Aspenol a run for his money in the speed department. Gan might not be the thunderous sponsor. the champion is, but he’s his in andout movement and reflexes might be just as quick. This coupled with his own good sense of distance and timing and the fact that Gan himself controls initiative with faints, hand fighting and rhythm manipulations, it is not hard to see why Gan is at the very least compelling on the feet. Most importantly, Gan is the owner of a sturdy jab and solid linear kicks that maximize his range and allows him to have extra time to react to incoming strikes. This might be tense and competitive until someone lands something big. When it comes to grappling, Gan is preceded by his bad reputation. He got repeatedly taken down by Inanu and completely fumbled the bag against Jon Jones, but he has some good qualities for the matchup. He was able to minimize damage with Francis on top and show improvement m wrestling his last outing against Balov. Gan is also no stranger to scrambles uh submission attempts of his own and ground and pound. I think the idea of a takedown being an instant win for Aspenol might be a bit overstated here. Aspenol is coming off a 14-month layoff uh when he had a regular day at the offense getting a first round knockout against Curtis Plates. Gan on the other hand is coming off a 10-month uh layoff where he won a controversial decision against the affforementioned Bolov. The Frenchman suffered multiple toe fractures in that fight, but other than some interesting wrestling looks early. He looked flat even before the injury to be honest. To this day, Aspilah has never seen the judges scorecards and despite getting a finish, he did look winded in his only second round in the UFC. And he lost in his only other second career round. Curiously be a hill hook. A move that has gotten Gan in trouble in the past, but also gave him a submission victory. Gan on his part not only has wins by decision but has experience over five rounds and has proved gas tank to go the distance. If Gan is able to extend the fight, it is not hard to see Aspina falling apart or losing his X factor. But the advantages in macro aspects, the momentum and wellroundness all favor the breed. While I think Gan has a better shot than Mo give him credit for, I got a side with the champion retaining. I think that Aspenol gets the knockout on round two. And that’s the pay-per-view, guys. Um, I think this is fairly solid. There are like quite a few fights that I like. Uh, I feel I I think that the main event and the co-ain event are very compelling. Actually, some people might complain that, oh, the straight fight is for a for a fake title, but like Will is moving up. Uh, she’s relinquishing the title. We need a champion, right? And main event is very compelling. And I feel like even if a lot of people feel like Aspenol is going to wash through Gan, I feel like it’s like the the best matchup that you can make right now because he’s like Gan presents challenges that other guys have not to Tom Aspenol. So if Tom Aspel wants to show he’s the real deal, like a win against Syrian can do a lot for that. Actually, let’s get into like the fights that interest me here. Uh on the prelims, if you want like bangers, you got to go Jose Delgado versus Nathaniel Wood and Rambetski versus Klene and Hakaras versus Salil. Those three are like the ones that really like caught my eye. But I’m also very interesting in seeing Mizuki get back here. Namurim is like a very exciting prospect. Maxum versus Rapos is going to be fun. Even the heavyweight fights like Bernett versus like Hamdi it’s going to be silly at least Walter Walker is is he going to get another heel hook? I don’t know. And then this main car is very good man. Like Rakish versus Morsano versus Almeida and Noromedo versus Bautista is like huge. This might be like the most Nagago versus Bautista is probably like the most skilled fight in here. Um but yeah, I mean it’s a solid pay-per-view. It’s good. Um, I I actually like this one. I’m not going to complain a lot. Uh, sorry for being so late with this one, guys. Uh, just life happens sometimes. But remember that I’ll be back tomorrow with the with the live stream. So, fight companion tomorrow. So, watch out for that. Uh, thank you guys as always for supporting me. I appreciate that a lot. It means a lot to me. So, I’ll catch you guys on the next one. Bye.

UFC 321 Full Card Breakdown from the very first prelim to the main event.

0:00 Intro
1:23 Jaqueline Amorim vs Mizuki Inoue
4:27 Azat Maksum vs Mitch Raposo
7:40 Chris Barnett vs Hamdy Abdelwahab
10:41 José Delgado vs Nathaniel Wood
14:24 Valter Walker vs Louie Sutherland
17:32 Mateusz Rebecki vs Ludovit Klein
22:01 Ikram Aliskerov vs Jun Yong Park
25:18 Nasrat Haqparast vs Quillan Salkilld
29:06 Aleksandar Rakic vs Azamat Murzakanov
31:38 Alexander Volkov vs Jailton Almeida
33:39 Umar Nurmagomedov vs Mario Bautista
36:57 Virna Jandiroba vs McKenzie Dern
41:36 Tom Aspinall vs Cyril Gane
45:32 Pod Outro

Full Preview of UFC 321: Aspinall vs. Gane — Complete Breakdown and Predictions

Get the ultimate Full Preview of UFC 321: Aspinall vs. Gane, live from the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on October 25, 2025.

In the main event, heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall defends his title against former interim champ Ciryl Gane — a high-stakes clash that could reshape the heavyweight division.

The co-main event features a battle for the vacant women’s strawweight title between Virna Jandiroba and Mackenzie Dern — a rematch packed with tension and serious implications for the division.

Also on the main card:

Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Mario Bautista (bantamweight bout)

Alexander Volkov vs. Jailton Almeida (heavyweight showdown)

Aleksandar Rakic vs. Azamat Murzakanov (light-heavyweight clash)

Whether you’re a hardcore MMA fan or just tuning in for the big moments, this full preview delivers fight-by-fight analysis, key storylines, and expert predictions. Discover what’s at stake for each fighter, how recent form might influence outcomes, and how this event could redefine multiple divisions.

Don’t miss our comprehensive breakdown and insights ahead of one of the most explosive UFC cards of the year. Tune in for the complete roadmap to UFC 321 — and know exactly what to watch for when the Octagon doors close.

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