Now then degenerinos its Tuesday night and that can only mean one thing. Uncle Dana’s Contender Series is back in full swing as we get into week twos card from The Apex in Las Vegas. If this weeks card is anything like last Tuesdays, we are in for a wild one! So, lets get into it.

Opening the card this week we head to the Bantamweight division.

BILLY BRAND V CODY HADDON.

Shoutout to my boy Cody @BloodMoneyBets for taking the words right out of my mouth on this one. This fight should be the Main Event of the evening. But hell, ill take it right off the back as a banger of an opener.

Billy Brand is 5-1 and hails from California, USA. Cody Haddon from Australia, also only has 1-0 loss on his record and sits at 6-1. Both these guys are riding 4 fight win streaks. Billy Brand’s only loss was at the hands of the much talked about prospect Payton Talbott via 3rd round KO. Not to be outdone, Cody Haddon’s only loss was at the hands of the UFC’s No7 ranked FW Steve Erceg via decision. So both no what its like to be in with top level competition.

Both these guys can grapple, so eventually I see this coming down to who is better on the feet. Billy Brand has some slick kicks from a Muay Tai background, whilst Cody Haddon’s fists are no joke. Cody comes in with a fair amount of boxing training under his belt, and has the faster hands. Cody also has a lethal rear naked choke that he uses to great effect going all the way back to his amateur days. This is definitely the most well matched fight of the night. This writer will be rolling with the Aussie, and I won’t even be surprised if we see a split decision.

PREDICTION – CODY HADDON WINS VIA DECISION.

Lets keep it rolling with Fight 2 of the card, as we head to the Middleweight division.

CAM ROWSTON V TORREZ FINNEY

Remember the story of David and Goliath? Well if you saw these two guys side by side you’d know what I mean. Cam Rowston stands 6’2, whilst Torrez Finney is 5’8! Luckily for what Finney lacks in height, he almost certainly makes up for by looking like a TANK! I mean this man is a unit!

Rowston is 8-2 with Finney having a undefeated record at 8-0. Plus we get another Australia V USA clash.

Cam Rowston is a kickboxer fighting out of Sydney, Australia. Torrez Finney is a grappler fighting out of Chattanooga, USA.

Now no disrespect to Cam Rowston here but I cannot find a legit way for him to win this fight. Even with his kickboxing he is not going to be able to keep Finney at range for three rounds. No chance in hell. Torrez Finney likes to come out and look to wrestle and take you down right from the off. If he does not get you down the first time, chances are he will do on the second or third attempt. When he does this is not the sort of fighter you want on top of you. Finney has good ground and pound, along with some nice submissions. So once he has you down, chances are you aren’t getting up. In fact the more I look at this contest, I will be surprised if Rawston makes it out the first round. 2nd times a charm for Torrez Finney, as he secures the win and a contract to the big show!

PREDICTION – TORREZ FINNEY WINS VIA KO.

You want some more? Don’t worry. We still have 3 fights to go and our 2nd Bantamweight fight of the night coming up.

CORTAVIOUS ROMIOUS V MICHAEL IMPERATO.

Who doesn’t love a good USA v Canada match up. Romious is 8-2 and fights out of Milwaukee. Imperato is a Ontario boy with a 12-6 record.

Romious is getting his second chance with Dana White’s show, after losing his first effort against Ramon Taveres via 1st round KO. However with a nickname of “Are you not entertained” you kind of expect Romious to just be in a fire fight. So do not sleep on this guy, if he hits you he hits hard. Plus he has a wicked submission game so if the power doesn’t get you, the BJJ will. Imperato is no slouch on the ground and tends to do his best work on the ground, with 9 of his 12 wins coming via submission. Sadly for Imperato he is going to be at a real disadvantage when it comes to the fight been on the feet. From what I have seen he just doesn’t have the same speed, power and skills as Romious does, if he cant get this fight to the mat. Couple that with Imperato been 34 years old, with a suspect chin, I can’t really see how he gets the win here. Romious could make a mistake somewhere and fall into a submission. But thats really it. So I will be rolling with “Are you not entertained” to get it done and I think it could well be in spectacular fashion.

PREDICTION – ROMIOUS TO WIN VIA KO.

Fight 4, who wants Heavyweights? If you say no to that question you suck. I mean who doesn’t love to see the big guys go at it!

RIZVAN KUNIEV V HUGO CUNHA.

Fighting out of Dagestan, Russia. That’s normally enough to think “Oh shit, bet the house on this dude”. Well its just the same with this fight. Rizvan Kuniev is a problem for Hugo Cunha and the heavyweight division. I have no idea how he wasn’t awarded a contract the 1st time he was on Dana White’s show. When he knocked out Edivan Santos. This dude is good everywhere. He can punch, he can kick, and of course been from Dagestan he can grapple. Kuniev also holds a win in PFL over Renan Ferreira, but saw it overturned to a no contest after a failed drugs test.

Hugo Cunha comes over from Brazil and holds a record of 8-1, winning his last 2 fights in LFA following a loss on the cards to Dustin Joynson in ONE Championship. Hugo is no slouch, he’s a big guy and matches up well in that department with Kuniev. Again he is pretty talented all round possessing good striking with a solid submission game to boot. But he isn’t on the same level as Kuniev in this writers humble opinion. I don’t think Kuniev dominates him per say. I just don’t think he Cunha can beat the talented Russian. I aren’t expecting a high paced fight that’s over in a round. Kuniev tends to measure his opponent’s. Sizing them up and seeing where he can do the most damage from as the fight progresses.  I still think it will be a fun fight. Dagestan, take my money.

PREDICTION – RIZVAN KUNIEV TO WIN VIA DECISION.

Its now about that time. Its the MAIN EVENT of the evening. But don’t let the surname of one of the fighters fool you. As far as I can tell he is no relation to a certain blonde former UFC title challenger.

PAT PYTLIK V ANDREAS GUSTAFSSON.

Pat Pytlik is another Canadian boy fighting on this card and boasts a 9-1 record with all 9 of his wins coming by knockout. So you don’t need me to tell you this guy can bang for a welterweight.

Andreas Gustafsson fights out of Gavle, Sweden and has a similar record to Pytlik at 10-2. With 9 of his 10 wins coming by finish.

Gustafsson comes into the fight as quite a big betting favourite. I can only put this down to the fact he has the far better ground game of the two fighters. Perhaps so. I just like this spot for Pat Pytlik if he can keep it standing. So I think ill certainly throw a dart at Pytlik to win via KO at +450. Other than that I wont be throwing any money on this fight. It simply comes down to can Gustafsson get him down. If he can he wins. If he can’t then the betting favourite is going to sleep at some point. So lets have some fun and back the guy with the more exciting fan friendly style to get the job done and make Dana leap out of his seat.

PREDICTION – PAT PYTLIK TO WIN VIA KO.

Enjoy the violence.

Phil