Ashkan Mokhtarian will be making his debut in Fight Night Auckland on June 10th. For his very first fight, he is really going to have an uphill battle when he comes up against John Moraga. Moraga was once a title challenger, and has plenty of experience in the octagon unlike Ashkan Mokhtarian.
Even though he is a newcomer who is completely unproven, Ashkan Mokhtarian does have a lot of potential. This might be his very first UFC bout, but he has been fighting competitively for a while now and is coming off the back of a pretty impressive six-fight win streak which includes three knockouts and two submissions. Ashkan Mokhtarian has a background in both Brazilian Jiu Jiutsu and conventional kick boxing. However, his wrestling game certainly needs a lot of work and it will be his weakness when he comes up face to face against John Moraga on June 10th.
Moraga has a pretty strong advantage being well trained in wrestling. He was very successful in collegiate wrestling in his home state of Arizona. Needless to say, his grappling game is in a different league when compared to Ashkan Mokhtarian and this might be where he will excel this weekend in Auckland.
Moraga will be undoubtedly trying to hit Ashkan Mokhtarian with a takedown and get the fight to the floor. If the fight does hit the mat, then it may not be long before we see Ashkan Mokhtarian tapping out from an inescapable submission.
In conclusion, unless Ashkan Mokhtarian has some real good tricks up his sleeve, the experience, power and skill of Moraga should suffice to secure the victory in this fight.
Prediction – fight to go to judges, John Moraga to win by unanimous decision.
Author : Rory McGregor
