UFC Heavyweight bout: Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Jason Brilz
Odds: (-120 Matyushenko /-110 Brilz )
Betting Pick: Matyushenko
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In the opening bout of the evening, tough wrestler Jason Brilz faces a stiff challenge in the form of experienced veteran Vladimir “The Janitor” Matyushenko. Brilz is coming off an extremely controversial split decision loss to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in a fight that almost everyone feels he won. Brilz is a tough young fighter with a versatile skill set, but Matyushenko has had a very long and accomplished career and doesn’t have many holes in his game for opponents to exploit. If Brilz wants to avoid dropping two in a row, he is going to need a near-flawless performance and an excellent game plan.
Jason Brilz is a very tough and skilled wrestler with a well-rounded overall game. His wrestling is his best weapon, but he has solid boxing, relatively heavy hands, and an effective submission game from top position to complement it. He is also notoriously difficult to finish, having only been stopped once in a fight more than ten years ago. While he has great wrestling and a very versatile skill set, Brilz’s problem isn’t that he can’t completely overwhelm guys in any one area. Against Matyushenko that could be especially troubling, since Matyushenko is also very good at everything and has a considerable advantage in the experience department.
Vladimir “The Janitor” Matyushenko, a veteran of almost 15 years in the sport, has fought some of the best fighters in the world at both Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight. In many ways, he is stylistically similar to Brilz in that he has solid wrestling, decent boxing, and effective submissions from top position. The big difference between the two is that Matyushenko has consistently fought a higher level of competition and spent a large portion of his career fighting opponents substantially larger than himself. As solid a wrestler as Matyushenko is, Jon Jones showed that a truly dominant wrestler can still physically overpower him, so he is going to have to mix it up well and try to keep Brilz at bay if he wants another win.
I think this is a tough fight for Brilz. In many ways, Matyushenko is a more experienced version of him. Both have solid striking, effective submissions, and good wrestling, but Matyushenko has fought better competition for many years and is a little better at putting all his weapons together. Both of these guys are known for their durability so it seems almost guaranteed that this one will go the distance, but I think Matyushenko has the crisper and more effective striking, and that should make the difference. Their wrestling and grappling skills should largely cancel each other out, and so Matyushenko’s more effective punching will earn him the advantage on the judges’ cards and the decision victory.
Prediction: Vladimir “The Janitor” Matyushenko via Decision.
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