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About Matt Bricker - RotoBaller
I've been involved in and a fan of martial arts from a very early age. Since May 2018 I've been writing for MMA outlets as well as on boxing. I also train in boxing with an amateur debut soon to come! Follow me on Twitter @LAknockoutMMA
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Matt Bricker - RotoBaller has written 2247 articles so far, you can find them below.
Kelvin Gastelum Looking To Get On Track
Kelvin Gastelum (16-5) is suffering from the first losing streak of his UFC career, coming off of two straight decision losses. Since joining the UFC in 2013 after winning The Ultimate Fighter 17, Gastelum has earned a record of 9-5. The No. 7 ranked middleweight averages 3.86 significant strikes per minute along with averaging 11:47... Read More
Jack Hermansson Looking To Get Back On Track Saturday
Jack Hermansson (20-5) is currently the No. 6 ranked middleweight in the UFC with a chance to continue that climb. Sixteen of Hermansson's 20 victories have come by finish. Since his UFC debut in 2016, he has a strong UFC record of 7-3. The Swedish fighter will look to rebound from his TKO loss to... Read More
Marc Diakiese Looking For Another Winning Streak
Things seem to come in three's for Marc Diakiese (14-3) in the UFC. Diakiese won his first three UFC bouts, then lost the next three. Diakiese has recently won his last two bouts. A win here against the investigating striker Rafael Fiziev would give him another three-fight winning streak. The English striker is a dangerous... Read More
Rafael Fiziev Ready For Breakout Performance
Rafael Fiziev (7-1) looks to be over the hump and ready to return to his vicious striking ways. A veteran of over 230 Muay Thai bouts, Fiziev is a dynamic striker and has amazing reflexes. The Tiger Muay Thai fighter told Matt Bricker of MyMMANews, "He wants the knockout; I want the knockout." He also... Read More
Luana Carolina Looking To Build Off Impressive Debut
Luana Carolina (6-1) had a very impressive UFC debut back in May of 2019, defeating Priscila Cachoeira by unanimous decision. Carolina reeled off an impressive 111 significant strikes in that bout. She also attempted three submissions, showing her versatility. Carolina scored 109 points at DraftKings for that bout. Her salary for Saturday's card is $7,900.... Read More
Ariane Lipski Ready To Showcase Her Talents
Ariane Lipski (12-5) rebounded in her last UFC bout after starting 0-2 in the organization. The former KSW champion defeated Brazilian prospect Isabela de Padua in November of 2019 for the unanimous decision. Six of the Violence Queen's 12 victories have come by knockout. Facing another young, tough Brazilian prospect in Luana Carolina, Lipski is... Read More
Heavy-Handed Roman Dolidze Makes UFC Debut
Roman Dolidze (6-0) will make his UFC debut looking to continue his string of knockout performances. His last three victories have come by knockout, but his first three victories came by submission, showing his versatility. The light heavyweight fought twice in 2018 and defeated two veterans with a combined record of 28-7. Both opponents were... Read More
Khadis Ibragimov In Need Of A Victory Saturday Night
Khadis Ibragimov (8-2) has had a rough go of it in the UFC, losing his only two professional fights in the organization. He does have a high strike rate in the UFC, averaging 5.23 significant strikes per minute. The problem is he's absorbing 6.00 significant strikes per minute. The Russian's price tag of $7,300 is... Read More
Nad Narimani Looks To Get Back To Winning Ways
Nad Narimani (12-3) is 2-1 in the UFC and will do whatever he can to avoid going to .500. After two decision wins, Narimani was knocked out in the second round of his bout with Mike Grundy in March of 2019. The Team Alpha Male product is more of a grinding fighter, with five of... Read More
Grant Dawson Looks To Remain Undefeated In UFC
Grant Dawson (15-1) is an absolute ground monster, with 11 of his 15 victories coming by submission. Through his three UFC bouts, he's averaging six takedowns per contest. Two of those three contests have also ended by second-round, rear-naked choke submissions. Thus far, Grant has not scored under 100 points at DraftKings, averaging 106.5 points.... Read More
Joe Duffy Looking For First Win Since 2017
Joe Duffy (16-4) is a dangerous all-around fighter, with 10 finishes by submission and four by knockout. Originally known entering the UFC as being the man who defeated Conor McGregor, Duffy has gone on to earn a 4-3 record, dropping his last two bouts in a row. Duffy is DraftKings' highest-priced fighter at $9,300. He... Read More
Joel Alvarez Facing Tough Opponent Saturday Night
Joel Alvarez (16-2) will face the toughest opponent of his career in the Irish veteran Joe Duffy on Saturday. Alvarez has finished every one of his victories, with 14 by submission and two by knockout. The Spanish fighter showed his heart, coming back in the second round against Danilo Belluardo. Behind in the contest, Alvarez... Read More
Montel Jackson Looking To Make It Four In A Row
Montel Jackson (9-1) has won five of his 10 bouts by knockout. In the UFC, he has shown some impressive ground work, defeating Brian Kelleher by D'Arce choke in the first round back in December of 2018. The 28-year-old will have a four-inch reach advantage over his opponent, Brett Johns. Jackson enters Saturday's contest with... Read More
Brett Johns Set For Tough Test Saturday
Brett Johns (16-2) has a decent submission game, with six of his 16 career victories coming by way of submission. Johns has been in the UFC since 2016 and has a record of 4-2. Throughout his six bouts, Johns has a striking accuracy of 46% and has 3.41 significant strikes per minute. The Wales-based fighter... Read More
Dan Ige Has Six-Fight Winning Streak Snapped
No. 10 ranked featherweight Dan Ige ran into a huge roadblock to the title in the form of No. 6 ranked Calvin Kattar. Though he walked away with the loss, Ige landed 84 significant strikes. More than likely Ige's next opponent won't be at quite the level of competitor as Kattar. The 28-year-old has plenty... Read More
Calvin Kattar Claims Second Victory Of 2020
Calvin Kattar continues to roll along, defeating the dangerous Dan Ige by unanimous decision in Wednesday's main event. With an impressive 105 significant strikes, Kattar walked away with 87.5 DraftKings points. The biggest round, statistically, was the fifth round, where he landed 28 significant strikes compared to Ige's 17. Keeping the bout on his feet,... Read More
Ryan Benoit Unable To Pull Out Victory Wednesday
After flip-flopping wins and losses since 2012, Ryan Benoit lost his second bout in a row, this time by unanimous decision to Tim Elliott on Wednesday night. Benoit landed a few less significant strikes than his opponent with 55, but Benoit connected at a better rate of 45%. His takedown defense was amazing, stuffing 12... Read More
Tim Elliott Ends Skid With Co-Main Event Victory
Tim Elliott ended his three-fight skid, defeating Ryan Benoit by unanimous decision Wednesday night in the co-main event. Elliot scored 76.5 points at DraftKings along with landing 67 significant strikes. The wrestling game wasn't working for him, though, only landing one of his 13 attempted takedowns. Hopefully this has reignited the flame inside one of... Read More
Cody Stamann Drops Decision In Quick Turnaround Bout
After defeating Brian Kelleher by unanimous decision last month, Cody Stamann was on the wrong side of the unanimous decision this time, losing to Jimmie Rivera. Stamann reeled off 26 significant strikes, which only breaks down to 1.7 significant strikes per minute. The wrestling game was not that successful either for Stamann, as he only... Read More
Jimmie Rivera Gets The Win Jumping Up To Featherweight
Jimmie Rivera, along with opponent Cody Stamann, both jumped up to featherweight for this bout. The regular bantamweight landed 48 significant strikes and was 2-for-3 on takedowns to win the bout via unanimous decision. Rivera did a great job mixing up his strikes with 16 to the head, 13 to the body and 19 to... Read More
Molly McCann Drops Decision After Winning Three In A Row
After winning three decisions in a row in the UFC, Molly McCann suffered a tough loss Wednesday night, dropping a unanimous decision to Taila Santos. Known for her toughness, McCann just couldn't get a step ahead of Santos. In the first round, McCann's striking looked solid, but as the bout went on, Santos ran away... Read More
Taila Santos Dominates In Decision Victory Wednesday Night
Taila Santos, coming off of her first professional loss in her UFC debut, put on quite the show against the very tough Molly McCann. Prior to this bout, 10 of Santos' 15 victories had come by knockout, showing her ability to strike at a high level. Santos displayed that in the first round, mixing up... Read More
Abdul Razak Alhassan Drops Hard-Fought Battle
Abdul Razak Alhassan came to fight after a 22-month layoff. Alhassan landed 67 significant strikes and also showed he can take a solid shot. There were several times in the bout where it looked like Alhassan had landed the perfect shot to knock out his opponent. In this bout, Alhassan only racked up 38.5 points... Read More
Mounir Lazzez Steals The Show Wednesday Night
Mounir Lazzez stole the show with his amazing performance against a very tough Abdul Razak Alhassan on Wednesday night. Lazzez landed 98 significant strikes, with many consisting of big elbows and head kicks. He was also successful on his takedowns, landing all four attempts. The Dubai-based fighter showed his solid chin, eating the best shots... Read More
John Phillips Dominated On The Ground In Prelim Headliner
John Phillips is known for his devastating knockout ability. The only issue was that Phillips spent most of his time on the mat on Wednesday being dominated by the ground game of Sweden's Khamzat Chimaev. Phillips was only about to reel off two successful strikes on the dominant Chimaev. Phillips has now moved to 1-4... Read More
Khabib 2.0? Meet Khamzat Chimaev
Khamzat Chimaev continued his undefeated ways by absolutely dominating a veteran in John Phillips. In close to nine minutes of action, Chimaev landed 124 total strikes, with 43 being significant strikes. The Allstars Training Center prospect landed the takedown at will. He landed a takedown very early in the first round and dominated Phillips with... Read More
Ricardo Ramos Unable To Make It Out Of The First Round
Ricardo Ramos, after winning two in a row, was unable to get to the second round on Wednesday against his opponent, Lerone Murphy. Ramos really struggled against the talented striker in Murphy. The Brazilian could only reel off 10 significant strikes in a bit over four minutes of action. Now 5-2 in the UFC, Ramos... Read More
Lerone Murphy Continues Unbeaten Streak Wednesday
Coming into the contest against a seasoned veteran like Ricardo Ramos, Lerone Murphy came out with guns blazing, landing 22 significant strikes in just a touch over four minutes of action. About half way through the round, the contest was brought to the ground, where Murphy continued to dominate the striking. The English fighter scored... Read More
Andreas Michailidis Has Unfortunate Night In UFC Debut
Andreas Michailidis was having a decent first round in his UFC debut, landing 23 significant strikes in the one-round battle. Modestas Bukauskas rained down elbows as the round concluded. Michailidis was unable to get back to his feet after the round, claiming the elbows were illegal. The referee stated the elbows were fine. As Michailidis... Read More
Modestas Bukauskas Victorious In UFC Debut
Modestas Bukauskas got the result he wanted in his UFC debut, a first-round TKO, but probably not by the path he expected to travel. As the round was closing, Bukauskas landed a series of elbows to the side of Andreas Michailidis' head. After the round ended, Michailidis claimed the elbows were illegal. He also fell... Read More
