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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The UFC makes their first trip to Poland on Saturday with UFC Fight Night 64 on UFC Fight Pass. It's one of the least noteworthy cards of the year, but also by design as an early day Fight Pass offering. Regardless, we've got four fights coming to tomorrow's main card, so let's take a look at what's on tap.
Mirko Cro Cop vs. Gabriel Gonzaga (Heavyweight): It has been almost eight years since Gonzaga's famous head kick KO over Cro Cop, and the fight is happening again. For some reason. Look, Cro Cop's exit from the UFC was three and a half years ago, and came after he got knocked out three straight times. Sure he's won a few fights since then, but it's been against lesser competition, and he's returning at age 40 simply because the UFC didn't want Bellator to have him. That's what this fight is about. Gonzaga's chin isn't the greatest at the moment, and his TKO loss to Matt Mitrione isn't encouraging given Cro Cop's striking abilities, but he was on a much better run not that long ago. Gonzaga should simply be the better fighter coming into this one, and it would be a bit surprising if he fails to win this fight. Gonzaga via TKO in the first round.
Jimi Manuwa vs. Jan Blachowicz (Light heavyweight): Manuwa tasted defeat for the first time last year, getting beat handily by one of the division's top contenders in Alexander Gustafsson. Blachowicz is a popular man in his home country, and looked good beating Ilir Latifi in his UFC debut, but he's not Gustafsson. With that said, Manuwa has had a penchant for doing a lot of damage, only to need something fluky to happen to finish a fight, and if he doesn't get that finish, he's had moments where he's given up offense he probably shouldn't have allowed. Still, Manuwa will get his offense in, and it's going to be up to Blachowicz to keep it at a minimum to try to take the other rounds. Could either be violent or drag out into something not all that entertaining. Manuwa by decision.
Pawel Pawlak vs. Sheldon Westcott (Welterweight): Prior to his UFC debut loss to Elias Theodorou, Westcott hadn't lost a fight since his MMA debut. Pawlak, meanwhile, had his undefeated record snapped by decision in his own UFC debut. Both fighters have been out for a significant amount of time, with Pawlak's last fight coming ten and a half months ago, and Westcott's almost exactly a year. Whomever handles the layoff best may have the edge here, but I'm leaning towards Pawlak's finishing ability. Pawlak via TKO in the second round.
Joanne Calderwood vs. Maryna Moroz (Women's Strawweight): Calderwood is an extremely talented fighter, undefeated at 9-0 coming into this one. She's got a very solid boxing game, though as we found out on The Ultimate Fighter, she might have some susceptibility to submissions. Though Moroz has won four of her five fights in that fashion, it's come against much lesser competition than Calderwood, and I don't expect that to be an issue here. Calderwood's a big step up for Moroz here, and it's more clearly a showcase fight for the Scottish contender. Calderwood by decision.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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