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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Saturday's UFC Fight Night 48 event in Macau is the second for the organization in the city this year, and serves as the first of two UFC events coming to fans on Saturday.
The card as a whole isn't going to be garnering much attention, but the top two fights certainly sit as relevant and important fights for the four fighters involved. Here are some quick thoughts and predictions for the morning's main card.
Michael Bisping vs. Cung Le (Middleweight): This is a much more important fight for Bisping than it is for Le. As Le's a part-time fighter with a movie career to potentially fall back on, he's not looking to make a run up the middleweight division. Bisping is.
Now, as Le hasn't fought in the last two years, and given the fact that he's not getting any younger, this should be Bisping's fight. The Brit has a very good chin, good striking, and really has just been felled by fighters who happen to be better than him.
I don't think Le fits in that category. He's got serious cardio issues, and if he doesn't land his knockout blow in the first round, Bisping becomes an increasing favorite. This seems like the matchup which could allow Bisping to score his first stoppage win since the end of 2011. I think if he avoids that finish in the first round, he'll be poised to wear Le down and finish it with an accumulation of strikes late. Bisping by TKO in the fourth round.
Dong Hyun Kim vs. Tyron Woodley (Welterweight): Woodley enters as a replacement for Hector Lombard, which works out as a really good thing for Kim.
It's not that Woodley is incapable of winning this fight. He has ways to slow things down, and he's also got power in his hands if Kim gets too reckless. However, Kim's got an edge everywhere in this fight.
The Korean fighter has an excellent judo game, he's very strong, and he's not someone Woodley's going to be able to bully around the cage. As such, it comes down to their striking games, and though again Woodley could catch an overly reckless Kim, it's Kim who has a more dynamic and devastating striking attack. I think Woodley gets in trouble on the feet here, and Kim picks up another decisive win. Kim by TKO in the second round.
Lipeng Zhang vs. Brendan O'Reilly (Lightweight): Alright, I won't pretend to have some vast knowledge on these two. Zhang picked up a win in his UFC debut by split decision in a fight against equal talent, which isn't saying much, while O'Reilly makes his UFC debut with an undefeated record and a few stoppages to his credit. Zhang's lost five times by submission in his career, and it wouldn't surprise me in the least if it happened again. O'Reilly by submission in the second round.
Guangyou Ning vs. Jianping Yang (Featherweight): Really nothing to add here. Two unknown fighters in their respective UFC debuts with rather pedestrian records. Yang by submission in the second round.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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