UFC Vegas 8 MMA Action: Are predictions easy to make?
UFC Vegas 8 took place on Saturday, the 29th of August, 2020 at UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada and was headlined by the light heavyweight fight between Anthony Smith and Aleksander Rakic. The event carried a total of 11 fights with the fighters being classified into two fight cards; Main Card and Preliminary card. Fighters in the main card are:
Anthony Smith (205 pounds) vs. Aleksandar Rakic (205.5 pounds)
- Neil Magny (171 pounds) vs. Robbie Lawler (171 Pounds)
- Alexa Grasso (126 pounds) vs. Ji Yeon Kim (126 pounds)
- Ricardo Lamas (145 pounds) vs. Bill Algeo (146 pounds)
- Magomed Ankalaev (205 pounds) vs. Ion Cutelaba (205.5 pounds)
Fighters in the preliminary card are:
- Maki Pitolo (184.5 pounds) vs. Impa Kasanganay (185.5 pounds),
- Mallory Martin (115.5 pounds) vs. Hannah Cifers (117 pounds),
- Zak Cummings (185 pounds) vs. Alessio Di Chirico (184 pounds)
- Alex Caceres (145 pounds) vs. Austin Springer (151 pounds)
- Emily Whitmire (115.5 pounds) vs. Polyana Viana (116 pounds)
- Sean Brady (170.5 pounds) vs. Christian Aguilera (170 pounds)
The Main Card was on at 9 p.m. ET and drew in most of the MMA sport bettors. The Preliminary Card was on at 6 p.m. ET, broadcasted on ESPN and ESPN+.
With great expectation, fans all over the world were watching as professional fighters closed down another month of supreme MMA action. The headline match between Smith and Rakic was soaring based on the weight division and the athleticism of both fighters. Predictions for this match were made out of the hopes that one of the players will use these features to their full potential as this seemed to be a very close fight.
But, the most hyped about in the Main Card was the fight between Ion Cuteleba and Magomed Ankalaev. Its hype was fueled by the supposed premature stoppage made by UFC referee, Kevin MacDonald’s. With the current score of 1 favoring Magomed, fans hoped to see a turn around in victories. They were expecting to see how Cuteleba uses his aggression and how Ankalaev uses his methodological approach in their match. However, due to a positive COVID-19 the fight was pulled from the event. This announcement came just a few hours before the event, leaving fans disappointed. The fight is yet to be rescheduled.
Battle for Supremacy
The fight between Alexa Grasso and Ji Yeon Kim with Alexa debuting at flyweight after missing out on being in Strawweight. Now, there is a controversy slated on whether Alexa’s pro skills from training for Strawweight will give her a lot more opportunities to tackle her opponent in the cage. Ji Yeon Kim has also shown the absolute skills of a counter striker. The fight is interesting because Ji Yeon has a higher reach but Alexa has a higher record of 11-3-0 to 9-2-2. The two fighters have their different ways of fighting especially Ji Yeon Kim who does not do wrestling but more of boxing. Predictions on this game were uncertain and tricky, but at the end Alexa came out on top and won the match by a unanimous decision. The fight was scored 30-27.
Alex Caceres vs. Austin Springer: Will the lucky streak continue for Alex?
At the UFC Vegas 8, Alex Caceres and Austin Springer took it out in the cage. A lot of attention was being focused on this particular match from the preliminary card seeing that the replacement fighter is a newcomer to the UFC. Alex Caceres was scheduled to fight Giga Chikade but this opponent had to be removed from the UFC Vegas 8 fight card and replaced due to testing positive to Covid-19. This led to Giga Chikade being replaced by Kevin Croom. However, earlier that week, Kevin Croom was also removed from the fight card though the reason was undisclosed. Austin Springer replaced Kevin Croom at a very short notice and the question that was on everyones minds was if the fighter has got enough up his sleeves to bring forward a worthy match. Considering that his weigh-in is 5 pounds higher than the limit while his opponent, Alex Caceres weigh-in reads the perfect 145 pounds required. Springer missed weight and his bout with Caceres proceeded as a catchweight with Springer forfeiting 30% of his purse. Caceres proceeded to bear Springer via Submission after just 3:38 minutes of the first round.
MMA has been one of the most cherished sports in the world since its inception. With UFC Vegas 8 MMA action, history will be made again to demonstrate why the collection of audiences for this great sport has thrived more and more.
