Before Dustin Poirier and Dan Hooker (view prediction) put on a show for the main event of this coming Saturday’s UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas, welterweights Mike Perry and Mickey Gall will go at it to add spice to the evening. Perry is known for his striking, while Gall prefers fighting on the ground. In this clash of styles, who gets the win? The sportsbook favors Perry. The fighter opened with -290 odds to win, with early money moving the line to -300 on Monday.
Last year was downtime for Perry, who went 1-2 in 2019. This time around, Perry is aiming to have a better year, as he sets to face Gall for his first fight of 2020. Perry defeated Alex Oliveira in August 2019 via unanimous decision but got foiled in his last two fights of the year against Vicente Luque (split decision) and Geoff Neal (TKO). Nevertheless, Perry is an exciting fighter to watch regardless of who he’s fighting or how he fared in a previous fight. Perry has 11 wins via knockout or technical knockout, including nine in his first nine professional fights. Perry is not much of a fighter on the ground. For one, he’s got a great takedown defense, avoiding 70 percent of his opponents’ takedown attempts. If anything, Perry is going to try a unique corner setup, ditching tradition by having his girlfriend as his only backup inside the octagon during breaks.
After losing to Diego Sanchez in March 2019, Gall rebounded strongly by scoring a unanimous decision win over Salim Touhari a few months later. Gall is hoping that Perry underestimates him, especially his ability to take over a fight on the mat. Gall is at his best when he’s on the ground. He has earned five wins via submissions, and he’s never been submitted in his MMA career, so far. In his win over Touhari, Gall launched 100 significant strikes and had two takedowns, while not allowing himself to be brought to be mat by his opponent. But if the fight against Perry turns into a stand-up battle, Gall has the reach advantage to keep Perry at bay. Gall’s reach is over three inches longer than Perry’s. The 28-year-old Gall also averages 1.5 takedowns per 15 minutes.
