After planning to have the event in Russia and considering it to be held in Manchester, the UFC on ESPN: Covington vs. Lawler has found a home in New Jersey, where a barnburner of a welterweight bout between Colby Covington and former champion Robbie Lawler will take place. Covington and Lawler aren’t the only fighters worth watching in his event, as the likes of Jim Miller, Clay Guida, Joaquim Silva, and Nasrat Haqparast among others will also be entertaining the crowd at Prudential Center with top quality MMA betting action.
Covington will finally fight after a long layoff, as he takes on Lawler in his first fight since winning the interim welterweight title against Rafael Dos Anjos way back in June of 2018. Covington has won all of his last six fights, a span that also includes wins over Demian Maia and Dong Hyun Kim. Covington averages 5.63 takedowns per 15 minutes to just 0.99 by Lawler. Covington, who is 14-1-0, in his MMA career has two knockout wins and five submission victories. Lawler is looking to prevent a three-fight skid, as he lost his last two fights to Ben Askren and Dos Anjos. Lawler has struggled since losing his belt to Tyron Woodley in 2016, but the Ruthless is very determined to regain his footing for a chance to fight for a title again. Lawler is 28-13-0 with 20 knockout wins.
Miller and Guida will square off in an intriguing fight between two grizzled veterans of the UFC. Miller is fresh off a win over Jason Gonzalez via a successful application of the rear-naked choke. Guida, on the other hand, is also coming off a win, defeating MMA legend CJ Penn by way of unanimous decision back in May. Both fighters have a strong wrestling background. Miller (30-13-0) has 16 submission wins, while Guida (35-15-0) has 15.
It’s been a while since Silva last fought. His last fight was way back in December of 2018 in which he scored a knockout victory over Jared Gordon. Silva is a dangerous striker with a 6-0 knockout record and an 11-2-0 overall MMA ledger. Having said that, Silva’s true strength is his jiu-jitsu, which should help him in defending against Haqparast’s quest for a knockout. Haqparast is a mean striker with eight of his 10 wins coming via knockouts. He doesn’t like fighting on the mat, especially since he’s ground game isn’t as polished as most other fighters in his division. Haqparast (10-2-0) has a three-inch reach advantage in this fight.
Giles is raring to go back inside the Octagon after suffering his first career loss back in May, when he got submitted by Zak Cummings. Prior to that, Giles stitched together 11 straight victories. Giles, who is 11-1-0 in his MMA career, is a relentless fighter on his feet. He is averaging 4.13 significant strikes landed per minute and owns an average of 61.74 percent in terms of significant strikes accuracy. Giles has five knockout wins and five submission victories. Meerschaert, however, has the tools to neutralize Giles’ aggression, as the man they call “GM3” is an expert on the mat. Meerschaert (28-11-0) has 20 of his 28 wins coming via submissions.
Nicknamed “Hot Sauce,” Holtzman (12-3-0 wasn’t as spicy in his last bout, falling prey to Nik Lentz via unanimous decision back in February. That stopped Holtzman’s three-fight win streak, but he’ll get a chance to return to his winning ways against Ma (16-9-3). Holtzman likes to mix it up whether by striking or by fighting on the ground. He has four knockout wins and a pair of submission victories, and all his losses were via decisions. Ma is also coming off a loss, as he got knocked out by Devonte Smith last February. He makes for a great matchup with Holtzman, as the South Korean also has solid striking and grappling skills, though, he doesn’t seem to have a strong chin, having been knocked out three times before.
