We’re off to Long Island for UFC on Fox 25: Weidman vs. Gastelum. Saturday’s card has four exicting yet equally unpredictable matches on tap. That being said, let’s hear it from the web’s experts below on who they expect to come out on top from Nassau Coliseum.
Brian Campbell of CBS Sports focused on the main event of the evening between Chris Weidman (+150) and Kelvin Gastelum (-180). He sees this middleweight clash going to Weidman by unanimous decision, despite the fact that Saturday’s hometown hero is coming off three-consecutive losses.
Campbell strongly believes that Weidman’s desparation for a win will actually work to his advantage, and that a return to his fundamentals of sound wrestling and ground game – complemented with great endurance – will seal the deal for the Baldwin, New York native.
Sherdog
Match
Prediction
Weidman vs. Gastelum
Gastelum by third-round TKO
Bermudez vs. Elkins
Elkins by third-round submission
Cummins vs. Villante
Villante by first-round knockout
Rivera vs. Almeida
Rivera by unanimous decision
Sherdog’s Connor Reubusch, meanwhile, tackled the four fights on the main card and went the other direction for the main event by picking Gastelum as the winner by third-round technical knockout. Reubusch had a contrary opinion to CBS Sports’ Campbell from earlier, stating that Weidman’s really lost a lot of stamina in his tank in each of his last three losses. In turn, he sees the southpaw Gastelum to land more open hits on Weidman with his impressive mixture of striking stance, power an speed.
Elsewhere on the card, Reubusch went with Darren Elkins (+165) over Dennis Bermudez (-210), stating that Elkins’ workmanlike ethic and submission game will expose Bermudez’s weakness in striking. Reubusch then mentioned that Gian Villante (-180) will defeat Patrick Cummins (+150) in the light heavyweight bout of the night, considering that the Long Island native Villante is five years younger and has made more sound decisions from his previous fights despite the up-and-down momentum he’s had of late.
Fansided
Match
Prediction
Weidman vs. Gastelum
Weidman
Bermudez vs. Elkins
Bermudez
Cummins vs. Villante
Cummins
Rivera vs. Almeida
Rivera
Last but not least, Fansided’s Riley Kontek broke our current dead-locked predictions for the main event by going with Weidman, who’s desparation for a victory is highlighted once more and as the former middleweight champ who has the much better striking ability in this showdown.
Kontek also agreed with Sherdog’s Reubusch that the bantamweight bout between Jimmie Rivera (-220) and Thomas Almeida (+170) will go to another New Yorker in Rivera, who boasts great wrestling skills and the smarts to work around the Brazilian Almeida’s one-punch knockout potential.
