UFC on ESPN: Blaydes vs. Lewis Picks

The UFC gave us the perfect match up following a Thanksgiving feast: heavyweights! This card should be fun, have title implications, and more importantly, give us an opportunity to make some money. Let's get to it.

Curtis Blaydes vs. Derrick Lewis

For the headlining fight there’s a heavyweight fight between two top contenders. This one is very much in the vein of the classic wrestler versus striker with Blaydes being the wrestler and Lewis being the striker. I see this as being a very clean win for Curtis Blaydes. People could point to his somewhat suspect cardio and Lewis’s fight ending punching power as reasons for Lewis to get the upset. People could also point to Lewis's ability to just stand up when taken down as a foil to Blaydes’s wrestling. I totally understand this line of thinking, but Curtis Blaydes is far and away the best wrestler in the heavyweight division aside from Stipe Miocic. The most comparable fight to this is when Derrick Lewis fought Daniel Cormier for the heavyweight title. Cormier had his way with Lewis and did whatever he damn pleased to him on the ground. Expect Blaydes to take Lewis down at will and eventually pound him out for a late TKO finish.

Blaydes: -380

Anthony Smith vs. Devin Clark

Another fight featuring a heavy grappler! Anthony Smith is taking this fight on semi-short notice against Devin Clark. Anthony Smith is comfortable in all areas in a fight and Clark is a hardcore wrestler. Smith has looked bad against the more elite fighters in the division but I don’t see Clark’s lay-and-pray tactics working against the well rounded Smith. I see Anthony taking this one to snap his losing skid.

Smith: -135