YerMaw Posted February 3, 2016 Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 EPL Season 9 Week 2 Preview http://i.imgur.com/NwBd2ts.png Edward McLauglin vs Akamai Hoi McLauglin was unable to cause an upset in his week 1 matchup but nonetheless gave the more experienced Newmark an excellent run for his money outworking him in the clinch and holding his own on the outside. Ultimately Newmark was able to put the lights out on McLauglin thanks to a massive lead left hook, but make no mistake; McLauglin looked the part and up until that final punch was most likely winning the bout on the judges scorecards. He will be looking for retribution here as he prepares to take on versatile standup fighter Akamai Hoi. As predicted Hoi was able to record an early finish in week 1 as he exploited Ricardo Griezmann's tendency to cut, however this was not a close fought bout brought to a premature halt; Hoi was thoroughly dominant, connecting time and time again with his punches and sapping away at Griezmann's cardio and mobility with a series of leg and body kicks. Hoi will undoubtedly be looking to record a repeat performance here and may well like his chances considering Newmark was able to finally test that much vaunted chin of McLauglin's. Hoi will come into this bout in better shape and that factor could be huge for a variety of reasons. While McLauglin's injuries appear to be minor he did sustain several cuts over the course of the previous fight. Given McLauglin has previously lost matchups on the basis of doctor stoppage, Hoi will again be eager to engineer another early finish with some pinpoint accuracy strikes to the head. In addition this facet may well have an impact on McLauglin's gameplan; one of his greatest strengths is his work in the clinch, however he appeared reluctant to remain on the inside for any extended period of time against Newmark. Arguably he might have won that bout had he remained in the clinch, but against Hoi he will be even less inclined to get up close; Hoi is not only a more accomplished clinch fighter than Newmark but McLauglin will almost certainly be concerned about putting himself in another potentially vulnerable situation given the amount of cuts he has already sustained. I strongly like Hoi's chances here; McLauglin is in the awkward situation of either having to make adjustments that go against his natural modus operandii or rolling the dice and risking the possibility of Hoi finishing him on the inside. In addition Hoi can count on his height advantage to get the better of the standup exchanges; while I had anticipated McLauglin would be in with a decent chance of causing an upset against Newmark I don't see that being the case here. Prediction: Hoi by KO. James Bomb vs Mike Tyson Tyson proved that sometimes weight does make a difference as he smashed Dennis Page with a left-right combination to put an end to that matchup in just under three minutes. Truth be told that result doesn't really tell us much more about Tyson's chances in this competition; as intriguing as it was to see a possible resolution to the age old 'what happens when you put a heavyweight up against a lightweight' question there a still a lot of unknowns surrounding Tyson's prospects in the EPL although he will be glad to record a quick two points to start the season. He also happens to be running into another one of the potentially easier matchups in the competition; Bomb is a living legend but the forty year old looked out of place as he came up against Ashley Harrington. Although he connected with a few shots from within the clinch it looked like it would take a miracle for Bomb to turn round the beating he was receiving from Harrington. Suffice to say miracles don't happen on a regular basis and sure enough Harrington was able to put the veteran out with a big uppercut followed by a flurry of strikes which quickly forced the referee to step in. Admittedly Harrington looks to be one of the stronger contenders this season but that performance was hardly an endorsement of Bomb's chances to mark his return to the EPL with another trip to the playoffs. Fortunately for Bomb he emerged relatively unscathed from that matchup and in terms of injuries he is carrying a clean bill of health into this fight. Stylistically this isn't a bad fight for him either; Bomb has always liked to throw that inside leg kick mixed in with the lead kick to the body – strikes that Tyson has appeared vulnerable to in the past; and of the two it is Bomb who appears to be the more proficient in the clinch. But all that said the questions over Bomb's physical fitness remain; he looked out of breath by the end of the Harrington matchup and Tyson, the shorter fighter, will naturally be inclined to target the body to compensate for Bomb's five and half inch height advantage. Tyson will have a much harder job of finding Bomb's chin but given the veteran appears to have lost a step it may only be a matter of slowing him down further with those body shots. Until Bomb proves otherwise those questions about his physical shape are only going to remain and as such I anticipate Tyson will be recording another two points to maintain his strong start to the season. Prediction: Tyson by KO. Kyle Carlton vs Ricardo Griezmann Two fighters who suffered defeat in week 1 will seek to remedy their poor starts with a return to winning ways in this matchup. Carlton, the former P4P No. 1, was on the receiving end of a textbook “getting knocked the f**k out” (technical definitions only please – ed.) due to a single (albeit particularly brutal) high kick which wrapped things up in just fifty nine seconds. Griezmann didn't fare much better: good use of leg kicks wasn't enough to cover up a very one-sided performance by Akamai Hoi and arguably Griezmann can consider himself lucky that the doctor decided to step in when he did. Not a great start to the season by either fighter but both will be eager to set the record straight here; as far as matchups go this offers excellent opportunities for both Carlton and Griezmann to get two points on the books. Griezmann will seek to follow in Curry's footsteps and try to test Carlton's chin. However, he comes into this fight having sustained numerous cuts to his face and many of those will still be visible when he steps into the cage. This could spell serious problems for him as the season continues due to the fast paced nature of the competition and Carlton may well smell blood in the water. Chances are Griezmann is going to go for broke here; Carlton's chin has looked suspect and the best possible outcome for him here would be a quick finish to allow him to properly recover from the cuts sustained in week 1. As it stands Griezmann is not projected to fully heal up until at least week 4, so the last thing he wants to see here is a drawn out contest which potentially worsens existing injuries. Carlton has an interesting choice to make here; he can again try to follow the blueprint set out by Hoi and opt for accuracy over damage to get the early stoppage via doctor intervention or he can go with his natural tendencies and look for the big knockout blow (and rest assured, knockout power is the one thing Carlton most emphatically still possesses). However, Carlton is naturally a shorter fighter for his weight class and, given he struggled to find Curry's chin, he is going to have to work even harder here to set up the head shots against an even taller opponent. Griezmann needs to find the KO and he needs to find it quickly, both for the purposes of this matchup and his own wellbeing over the duration of this tournament, but going out on a limb I predict he will get it here. Either way this is going to be one brutal fight. Prediction: Griezmann by KO. Vladislav Maslow vs Dennis Page Maslow actually did better than I had anticipated in his week 1 matchup against Grigori Rasputin although, for reasons that escape me, opted to test the Mad Monk in the clinch which suffice to say didn't play out quite the way Maslow had intended. The Russian will look to bounce back here with a win over Ireland's Dennis Page. Page is a talented lightweight with a very respectable record; however, key word – lightweight. Page found out first hand what it means to go up against a heavyweight with knockout power and, although I had perhaps foolishly predicted he would be able to outmanoeuvre Tyson, his prospects in this tournament are suddenly not looking so hot. Maslow is a natural finisher and an accomplished ground fighter; although I suspect he will struggle to take the speedier Page down he should be looking at a win here. The one thing that offers Page some respite for this matchup is that Maslow did sustain injuries over the course of his last fight and he still isn't 100% for week 2. That could well have implications for Maslow's ability to cut off ring space against the smaller fighter. Again Page is most likely looking to maintain distance and, above all else, avoid getting hit at all costs. If the Tyson matchup showed us anything it's that no matter how good your chin is at 155 and 170lbs it's a different question altogether rolling with the heavyweights. Page will most likely adopt a counter strategy both to avoid Maslow's takedown attempts and also to minimise the (very distinct) possibility that Maslow finishes him with a single knockout punch. By contrast I would anticipate the Russian will step it up a gear here; he will like his chances regardless but it will be pressure, pressure and more pressure that secure him the victory. Leaving Page to circle on the outside only increases the likelihood that Irishman pulls off an upset and why play into your opponents hands when you have obvious assets in both the clinch and ground game to take advantage of. Maslow to emerge with the two points here. Prediction: Maslow by KO. Grigori Rasputin vs Bobby Newmark One of the tougher matchups this week – both opponents are coming off the back of week 1 victories and look to be strong contenders to earn themselves a playoff berth come the end of the regular season. Newmark was on the receiving end of a fair amount of strikes in his fight with McLauglin but showed the intangibles to come through and win the bout, and often at heavyweight it is these qualities which make the difference. Newmark's chin looked solid and he produced a highlight-reel knockout to end the fight at the midway mark. These are precisely the sort of traits which he will need to count on here as he prepares to face Russia's Grigori Rasputin. The Mad Monk is deadly in the clinch and possesses ample knockout power of his own, as Maslow found out much to his dismay in week 1. With a field predominantly consisting of stand-up artists, Rasputin could well be a dark horse to go all the way – his abilities in the clinch often presents problems to fighters more used to working on the outside and in this instance he may well have found another matchup which favours him stylistically in Newmark. We mentioned in the week 1 preview that Newmark has appeared vulnerable to clinch fighters in the past (see: Newmark vs. Reznick; 2015-11-27) and, given McLauglin perhaps let him off the hook by allowing Newmark to return to striking distance, that may be all the invitation Rasputin needs to follow his favoured strategy. In addition Newmark has some injury concerns, albeit minor, that could impact on his physical performance for this fight, and on top of that Newmark is much closer to Rasputin in terms of height than the Mad Monk's previous opponent, Vladislav Maslow. All of this implies that Rasputin is going to have an even easier time getting inside and when he does so I predict he will be able to inflict some serious damage. Newmark does appear to have the superior striking defence on the outside but whether that is enough remains to be seen. McLauglin was able to trade with Newmark for a period and I anticipate the Mad Monk will also be able to hold his own even if the American can keep him at arms length. The knockout power of Newmark is something Rasputin will need to be wary of but I'm anticipating that come the end of the night it will be the Russian who has his hand raised in what should be another exciting fight for the books. Prediction: Rasputin by KO. Arthur Curry vs Ashley Harrington It's still early in the season but this fight could have serious playoff implications; both of these opponents are coming off the back of impressive week 1 victories and are strong candidates to make it through to the post-season. Curry impressed in his fight against Carlton, emerging without a scratch; while Harrington produced a dominant performance from start to finish against James Bomb. However, both of these matchups featured ageing veterans and how they will fare against fresher opposition remains to be seen. Chances are we should be in for another standup-war; both of these fighters prefer to work on the outside and while they can be effective operators within the clinch they tend to utilise this more as a weapon against specific opposition. It's difficult to see who has the edge here: Harrington is the more experienced of the two and is the more accurate striker but Curry possesses knockout power in abundance. In addition both fighters will be coming into this bout without any injury concerns thanks to their domineering performances in week 1 which saw both competitors emerge relatively unscathed. Curry does posses a three and a half inch height advantage but whether that is substantial enough to be a significant factor in this bout is unclear. Harrington has consistently been able to connect with strikes to the head throughout his career (statistically 81% of punches to the head landed, an impressive feat given the quality of opposition) and can use his kicks both to discourage lateral movement and to set up his boxing. In addition Harrington would appear to have the edge defensively; he rarely gets hit by shots and, as we saw against Bomb, often opponents are left striking at thin air. However, it would be naïve to discount the immense power behind Curry's shots: he stopped Carlton with a single head kick and while he will find that harder to do here he can seek to play the role of counter puncher and, with his combination of timing and strength, potentially rock Harrington with a power punch or even a combination if an opening emerges. Extremely difficult fight to call and a momentous occasion for both opponents; a win here would send a big message to the rest of the division and as impressive as their respective victories over Carlton and Bomb may look, this is the real test here. Prediction: Harrington by KO. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YerMaw Posted February 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 Also if someone can tell me how to post tables that would great I'll go back and re-edit the screenshot in the meantime to get rid of the red lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madbob Posted February 3, 2016 Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 great write up again. Hope i can deliver on the prediction 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stpierrecanada Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 Don't pick against Carlton, he's gonna get back on track and teach you not to doubt him! Great write up!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjornmma1 Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 Sucks that an alliance fighter might turn out to be the one that stops me from achieving my big goal, getting into the top 10. Hope your guy gets murdered Jug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mario.Jay Posted February 5, 2016 Report Share Posted February 5, 2016 Another win for me \o/\o/\o/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madbob Posted February 5, 2016 Report Share Posted February 5, 2016 What a bad roll again omg! lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mario.Jay Posted February 6, 2016 Report Share Posted February 6, 2016 But this time one of the fight not finished before round end Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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