There are many times where i say “Picks and bets are not the same thing” and for the most part people with fully devloped frontal lobes can understand the difference, ut there are many who do not and for some reason are convinced that despite me sitting here every weekend and breaking down 14 fights, every pick is not only equal they all equate to money. I am bringing that up because this is a very interesting fight and there is a zero percent chance I bet on it. I'll make a pick of course, but zero dollars will leave my account and be spent on this fight. The pick is going to be Izzy. I get that he is old and chinny but damnit, he is still very good. If Joe doesn't land big power early, its over for him. he won't have the cardio to go a real 25 minutes, he won't be the more technically sound striker and based of his takedown attempts in the Abus fight, he won't have the ability to get this to the ground. Before losing to Nassourdine, izzy looked good in that fight. Defended the takedowns, had great kicks. Same with the DDP fight, his striking looked phonenomenal in that fight and he was just bruted. I'm picking Izzy and will be rooting for him, but zero surprises if Joe knocks him out in the first and Izzy retires on the spot.
Israel Adesanya
Israel Adesanya doesn't need much of a breakdown, everyone knows who he is and what he's good at. He is obviously an amazing kickboxer and the long time middleweight champion. He times his strikes really well and is a great counter striker with a fading chin. He will roll his shoulders and bob his head while opponents throw a ton of punches trying to find the target. Very little lands and he quickly fires back with short hooks and straights. His takedown defense is solid at 76% and it held up in his last fight against Nassourdine before he was ultimately dropped.
Joe Pyfer
Joe Pyfer is an incredibly powerful striker who has wrestling and BJJ in his back pocket. He hits like an absolute truck and uses his pressure to break people. He also has nice clean takedowns and as i mentioned, solid BJJ. He does have some cardio issues and doesn't love pressure. He is coming off the submission win over Abus Magomedov where he went 0-4 in takedown attempts and was taken down himself.
