UFC on ESPN 9 - APEX Breakdown & Predictions
When is UFC on ESPN 9? Sunday 31st May, 2020 - 00:00 start (UK)
Where is UFC on ESPN 9? UFC APEX Facility, Las Vegas, Nevada
What channel is UFC on ESPN 9? BT Sport 1
Where can I stream UFC on ESPN 9? BT Sport subscribers can stream the fight online via the BT Sport website
For viewers in the United States, the event will be shown live on ESPN+ which can you sign up to here!
Are tickets still available for UFC on ESPN 9? https://www.ufc.com/tickets
Tyron Woodley vs Gilbert Burns
The show goes on as the UFC APEX facility hosts UFC on ESPN 9 and it is headlined with a corker – Tyron Woodley vs Gilbert Burns.
Woodley’s stock fell dramatically in his last fight after getting dominated and mauled by Kamaru Usman who snatched the belt off the welterweight champion. Woodley was hunting down Gerorges St Pierre’s ‘GOAT’ status with a very impressive unbeaten streak and four title defences. He snapped the huge winning streaks of Robbie Lawler, Stephen Thompson, Demian Maia and Darren Till but met Usman who shocked the masses. Not by becoming he champion but dominating with his wrestling, a champion who had a takedown defence of 97.6% at the time. Maybe it was a blip or just a terrible stylistic match-up for Woodley, either way, Burns will provide that answer.
Burns arrived to the UFC as a decorated Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion and went 6-3 in his first nine UFC fights. His ninth fight was a loss and devastating knockout courtesy of Dan Hooker, but it looks like he has put everything together now, particularly his striking, which has become his preferred method of destruction. He is now riding a very impressive five-fight winning streak including decisions over Olivier Aubin-Mercier, Alexey Kunchenko and Gunnar Nelson with a submission over Mike Davis and he is coming off his most impressive performance and knockout of fellow jiu-jitsu ace and veteran Maia.
THE PREDICTION
Burns is a bad match-up for anybody right now and he looks great everywhere. Nobody is submitting him, he showed immense wrestling to subdue Nelson for three rounds and his knockout power was on full display in his last fight.
However, Woodley reached champion status with similar attributes. He is a better wrestler and an even better striker with unrivalled explosiveness in the division. He is a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu but not in the same league as Burns. So, Burns’ best chance is on the ground, but he does not have the wrestling of Usman to get Woodley to the mat and is likely to back his striking anyway to find the knockout.
Usman’s dethroning may have led to people to forget Woodley’s skill set and a stand-up battle here could remind everyone again, especially if he unleashes that patented explosion of combinations.
Winner: Woodley via KO/TKO
Blagoy Ivanov vs Augusto Sakai
Blagoy Ivanov and Augusto Sakai look to poke their head out of a shallow heavyweight division as they co-main the first event at the UFC APEX facility.
Ivanov is coming off his third career loss which was a split decision against Derrick Lewis, but he was unlucky not to get the nod himself. This broke up two unanimous decision wins against Ben Rothwell and Tai Tuivasa after his loss to former champion Junior dos Santos.
Sakai is beginning to make a name for himself after a perfect start to his UFC career. After an impressive knockout of Marcos Conrado on Dana White’s Brazilian Contender Series, he earnt a debut fight against Chase Sherman and pulled off another late finish. He was then handed legend Andrei Arlovski and earnt a split decision but got back to ruthless ways with a first knockout over Marcin Tybura in his last fight.
PREDICTION
Sakai is a knockout artist, but Ivanov possibly has the best chin in the UFC. He has eaten everything the likes of dos Santos, Tuivasa and Lewis have thrown at him. He is one hard Bulgarian and should be able to weather the Brazilian storm and wear Sakai down with a lot of clinch work to earn another decision.
Winner: Ivanov via Decision
Kevin Holland vs Daniel Rodriguez
Fresh off his stunning win at UFC on ESPN 8, Kevin Holland is straight back in the mix and takes on another tough opponent in Daniel Rodriguez.
Holland fights twice in two weeks and successive UFC events but it makes sense as it only took him 39 seconds to put Hernandez away. This was the perfect response to his last fight which was a submission loss to Brendan Allen which snapped a three-fight win streak including a submission over John Phillips and two questionable decisions over Gerald Meerschaert and Alessio Di Chirico.
Rodriguez has stormed into the UFC off the back of six straight wins and only one loss to his name. He extended his streak to seven on his UFC debut with a huge win and submission over UFC veteran Tim Means.
PREDICTION
Holland has amassed some valuable experience in his short UFC career and his experience last week going through all of the protocols for the coronavirus pandemic must also be helpful.
Take Rodriguez’s fight stats with a pinch of salt as they are only based off that one fight but what we do know is that he is extremely dangerous with various types of finishes in the locker and is well worth a bet as the underdog. If the weight cut down to welterweight goes smoothly, Holland will have a significant size and power advantage over Rodriguez who has fought as a lightweight. Combining his experience, he should be able to pull off his second win in two weeks.
Winner: Holland via Decision
Roosevelt Roberts vs Brok Weaver
Two very exciting prospects in the lightweight division in the form of Roosevelt Roberts and Brok Weaver provide a tear-up in the UFC APEX facility.
Roberts has bags of potential and responded to his first career loss with a brilliant unanimous decision win over Alexander Yakovlev in Russia. His loss was a lob-sided decision to Vinc Pichel but Pichel is a beast and a terrific grappler and these kinds of losses can be very valuable in the long run.
Like Roberts, Weaver is also a graduate of Dana White’s Contender Series and earned his debut in February this year. It did not go as planned as Rodrigo Vargas was disqualified due to an illegal knee. However, he pocketed another win to make it eight in a row.
PREDICTION
This should be a barnburner as they are both aggressive with an array of skills. Weaver’s fight stats are only based off that one fight with Vargas, but we can expect a bit of everything in this fight with the output being the deciding factor.
Winner: Roberts via Decision
Mackenzie Dern vs Hannah Cifers
The main card for UFC on ESPN 9 kicks off in style as Mackenzie Dern and Hannah Cifers square-off at the UFC APEX facility.
Dern is back in action after her first MMA loss. Dern is one of the most accomplished female Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners and continued her success into MMA with her only struggles being the weight cut down to 115 lbs. That was until she met Amanda Ribas who put on a clinic in taking her down at will and picking her apart on the feet.
Cifers is a little warrior and had four extremely tough assignments in the UFC. She received a baptism of fire on her debut as she was dominated by the bigger Maycee Barer but responded with two fantastic decision wins over Polyana Viana and Jodie Esquibel. However, she is coming off another TKO loss which was to UFC vet Angela Hill back in January.
PREDICTION
It takes a lot to put Cifers away but when it comes to Dern’s ground skills it can only take a matter of seconds. So, Cifers will try and keep the fight standing and offload her power to piece Dern up.
This will all come down to Dern’s takedown accuracy. She will have the weight advantage over Cifers and if the fight goes to the ground, Cifers will be in serious trouble and Dern only needs one mistake to set up a quick finish.