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Light Heavyweights

NR | Alonzo Menifield (11-2, 4-2 UFC) vs. NR | William Knight (10-2, 2-1 UFC)

ODDS: Menifield (-142), Knight (+122)

The UFC has decided to revisit this pairing between physically impressive light heavyweight prospects for the third time. Alonzo Menifield seems to be figuring out things. Through his first few UFC bouts, Menifield seemed to be following the standard path of many powerhouses before him, scoring early knockouts until Devin Clark showed that he would tire badly against any form of resistance. To his credit, “Atomic Alonzo” seemed to have learned some lessons heading into his subsequent fight against Ovince St. Preux, even though his more patient approach eventually led him into a “OSP” knockout. Menifield has regained some of his momentum in 2021 in a way that feels much more sustainable. After a quick submission win over Fabio Cherant, Menifield put on a consistent—if somewhat ugly—performance that led him to a decision win over Ed Herman in August. He will look for his third straight win against Knight—the rare opponent who can match Menifield in terms of sheer horsepower. Knight is essentially a bowling ball of muscle, and most of his success comes via leveraging that powerful frame. “Knightmare” is content to throw huge single strikes, relying on his opponent getting scared into some bad decisions if he does not just score the knockout outright. Knight’s loss to Da Un Jung in exposed the reality that he does not have much depth backing up that physicality. Jung picked him apart easily from range and was able to outwrestle him without much issue despite the strength disadvantage. Still, Knight’s own win over Cherant in August served as a reminder of the outlier power that he brings to the table. He knocked out Cherant with a punch that did not have much setup or technique, but his natural power was still enough to turn out the lights. Knight has the chance at a knockout, but Menifield is the much more well put-together fighter; and Knight figures to be bothered just as much by Menifield’s physicality as the other way around. Knight’s power could scare the Saekson Muay Thai product into a truly dreadful decision, but the pick is that Menifield finds a second-round knockout.

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