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00:00Light heavyweight, Thursday, May 1st.
00:03Now you're gonna have a matchup there between Phil,
00:05Mr. Wonderful Davis, and Razor Rob Wilkinson.
00:08We talked to Phil Davis a couple weeks ago
00:09when it was announced that he was part of this tournament
00:11before we found out who he was fighting.
00:12I mean, this is a tough fight for him,
00:14right out of the gates.
00:14One of the biggest names, obviously, in the tournament
00:16is Phil Davis.
00:17You've known him from all his time,
00:18the UFC and Bellator, the former Division I wrestler
00:20back at Penn State, 24 and seven, at 40 years old.
00:23The American has wins over Yoel Romero,
00:26Lyoto Machida, Lynn Vasso, Clover Teixeira,
00:29Little Noguera, Alexander Gustafson,
00:31and Glover Teixeira.
00:31I mean, pretty much everybody that you have heard about
00:35in the light heavyweight division
00:36over the last 15 years or so in the UFC
00:39or in MMA in general,
00:40this guy's fought them and beaten a lot of them.
00:42So, you know, he has a wealth of experience,
00:44but also, of course, all the miles
00:46of having those different fights.
00:48Most of his fights go the distance.
00:4913 wins, all seven losses also go in the distance.
00:53So, out of 24 wins, 13 have gone all the way.
00:56Seven of his losses, of his seven losses,
00:58have gone all the way.
00:59So, expect it to go into deep waters for him
01:01anytime he's in the cage,
01:02not looking to take the big swings to get the finish.
01:05He's looking to survive and win.
01:06He's gonna go against Wilkinson,
01:07the 33-year-old Australian who has experience
01:09in the UFC and PFL, 19 and three,
01:11with no, no, won no contests in his career.
01:14He was a 2022 light heavyweight tournament champion
01:17for the PFL with losses to guys like Israel Adesanya
01:19early in his career,
01:20and Yak Shemirodov last year in the semis.
01:23He's got 10 wins by KO, seven by submission.
01:25So, he's well-rounded.
01:26He can finish his fight any which way.
01:28It's gonna be really who controls their style,
01:30who imposes their will.
01:31Will it be a guy like Wilkinson getting on the top
01:33and raining down shots and trying to get the finish,
01:35or will it be a guy like Phil Davis getting the takedowns
01:39and being able to control from the top
01:40and negate his opponent's advantage
01:43where he has in striking and submissions?
01:45That will remain to be seen.
01:46I mean, I love Phil Davis.
01:47He's been around for a long time,
01:48but I would have to lean towards Wilkinson
01:50probably with the youth.
01:52I know, obviously, more experience
01:54on the other side of that fight,
01:55but still a guy who is a good champion,
01:58a guy who has different ways to finish you.
02:00Wilkinson might be the play on that one.
02:02We also have Sullivan Cauley versus Marcelo Nunez.
02:05Cauley, the 28-year-old from America,
02:06six and one so far in his career,
02:08five by KO, TKO of his wins.
02:10All his pro fights have been with Bellator.
02:12He last fought August 2023.
02:14Nunez, a 36-year-old Brazilian, 11 and two,
02:17eight wins by submission of those 11,
02:19former World Series of Fighting and PFL fighter,
02:21won his last two fights and six of his last seven.
02:24They got a young guy coming in here,
02:26trying to make a name for himself
02:27against an aging veteran here in Nunez, 36.
02:31I think that, again, this is all about how this fight goes.
02:35What style is it fought in?
02:36If it ends up on the ground,
02:37Nunez is going to destroy his opponent.
02:40If Cauley is able to stop the takedowns,
02:42keep it on the feet, and pick his opponent apart,
02:44then it's his game plan, it's his world,
02:46and we'll see if he can get the finish.
02:48I gotta lean towards Nunez right now
02:49because of the experience factor,
02:51but we'll see if Cauley can pull an upset
02:53and start to make a name for himself early in this tournament.
02:56You also have Antonio Carlos Jr. versus Carl Moore.
02:59Carlos Jr., the 35-year-old Brazilian, 16 and six,
03:01two no contests, a world champion grappler
03:04with 12 of his 16 wins by submission.
03:07Former UFC fighter, won the 2021 PFL Light Heavyweight
03:09tournament, six and no, and one no contest in three years
03:12before a loss in last June's fight against Alex Pelessy.
03:17He has wins over guys like Tom Lawler, Tim Bosh,
03:18Jack Marshman, Marvin Vittori,
03:20so he's got some big names on his record,
03:22been around for a while.
03:23Moore, the 33-year-old from Ireland, is 12 and three,
03:26a former Bellator fighter, was on a four-fight win streak
03:28before he lost to Corey Anderson last March
03:30by decision trying to fight for that title,
03:32so both these guys have championship experience.
03:35Which one are you gonna go with?
03:37Not much of an age difference here
03:38as you had in the last fight,
03:39so I'm gonna go with Carlos Jr.,
03:40probably taking it to the mat and submitting his opponent.
03:43Carl Obrekson versus Simeon Powell.
03:45Obrekson, the 31-year-old from Sweden, 14 and six,
03:49in his MMA career, seven wins by KO,
03:50a former Rizin and Bellator fighter,
03:52lost three of his last four.
03:54Got wins over guys like Yakshamiradov and Vadim Nemkov,
03:56Nemkov was nine years ago,
03:58but lost to Tim Moldavsky, Yuri Prozhokha,
04:02Phil Davis, and Carl Moore,
04:03so lost to a couple guys in this tournament,
04:05lost to a couple guys when he was fighting
04:06in heavier weight classes.
04:08Going against the younger Powell,
04:09a 26-year-old from England who's 10 and one,
04:11four KOs, three submissions, three decisions,
04:13former PFL fighter can beat you any which way,
04:16but can he do it here against his older opponent,
04:19more experienced opponent?
04:21He won his first fight before he lost in December of 2023,
04:24so 10 fights in a row,
04:25now coming off his first loss a couple years ago,
04:26his first loss, how does he rebound with that
04:29against an experienced opponent?
04:30Heavyweight, May 1st, also on that card.
04:33Valentin Moldavsky, we just talked about,
04:34versus Sergei Vyolostyany.
04:37Moldavsky, the 33-year-old Russian, 13 and four,
04:39with one no contest, eight wins by decision.
04:41He's going for the long haul.
04:42Former intern Bellator heavyweight champion,
04:44started his career 11 and one,
04:46then lost two of his last four to Linton Vassil.
04:49His opponent is 29-year-old Russian, 13 and three,
04:51eight by KO of his victories,
04:53two fights each with the PFL and Bellator,
04:55so a lot more experience for Moldavsky.
04:58I'd probably lean a little bit that way,
04:59even though he has not fared as well
05:01as he would like to recently.
05:02Alexander Romanov versus Tim Johnson
05:05is another matchup.
05:05Romanov, the 34-year-old from Moldovia, 18 and three.
05:09Ten wins by submission, former UFC fighter.
05:11Johnson, also a former UFC fighter,
05:13the 40-year-old American, has fought in UFC,
05:16Bellator, and the PFL, 18 and 11 for his career,
05:20but not a stellar record.
05:21Ten wins, six losses, all by KO, TKO,
05:23so a lot of feasts or famine for this heavyweight,
05:25as you tend to have with a lot of heavyweights.
05:27A lot of the big boys swing for the fences at times.
05:29Coming off a loss to Vadim Nemkov,
05:31a rear naked choke back in January.
05:33They jumped in on a late nose replacement.
05:36Lost to Dennis Foltzall by first round,
05:38ground and pound last August,
05:39in the playoffs for the PFL,
05:40so on a two-fight loss streak.
05:43Been around for a while, very experienced,
05:44but now I have to go with Romanov,
05:46because we've seen Tim Johnson,
05:48as we saw in the Nemkov fight,
05:49if he gets taken down, it's gonna be a big problem for him,
05:52despite having some wins there himself.
05:55Just not an area that he is deemed
05:57to be strong at against his opponents,
06:00so I'm gonna go with the Moldovian.
06:02You also have Payor Romani versus Abraham Babley.
06:05Romani, 32-year-old from Iran,
06:07now living in the UAE, three and O,
06:09making his major promotion debut
06:10as a big social media presence.
06:12This is a big step up for him against a guy like Babley.
06:1429-year-old from England, who's five and one.
06:16Three wins by KO, two by decision,
06:17fought for the PFL and Bellator.
06:19Just had his first loss, full decision loss, last November.
06:22How does he rebound?
06:23Can he take out the rising star
06:25and the guy looking to make a name
06:26even bigger for himself in Romani?
06:28And then Lin Vassil versus Oleg Popov.
06:30Vassil, 41-year-old from England,
06:3224 and 10 in his career, the former Bellator fighter.
06:34Popov, the 33-year-old Russian, 19 and two.
06:372024 heavyweight title runner-up for the PFL.
06:40Yelling towards Popov,
06:41Vassil, does he have one more run in him?
06:43Late in his career, we'll see,
06:44but Popov showing how tough he is
06:46when he went through that tournament last year,
06:48beating Lin Vassil in the semis.