Preview: UFC Fight Night 149 ‘Overeem vs. Oleynik’

Middleweights

Krzysztof Jotko (19-4) vs. Alen Amedovski (8-0)

ODDS: Jotko (-185), Amedovski (+155)

Jotko’s UFC career sure has been a rollercoaster. The Pole looked to slot comfortably into the UFC’s ranks of anonymous European middleweights, but a five-fight winning streak that included a victory over Thales Leites put Jotko on the map as a person of interest. However, as soon as the UFC started putting Jotko in prominent spots, his luck started to turn. First came a boring grind of a fight against David Branch that could have gone either way but went to the American, followed by Uriah Hall’s staging one of the better comebacks of 2017 at Jotko’s expense. After a third loss to Brad Tavares, Jotko could badly use a win to regain his lost momentum, particularly since he is still talented enough to make a run up the division.

Jotko will take on a late replacement in Amedovski, a Macedonian currently fighting out of Italy. Amedovski has the type of finish-heavy record for which the UFC usually looks, and his two Bellator MMA fights both ended via quick knockout. However, Amedovski’s knockout power seems to be his lone skill, at least at this level. He is not a terrible grappler, but he basically knows just enough to be dangerous, as opponents typically put Amedovski in trouble before he is forced to fight his way out of it. There should be some fun fights in the UFC for Amedovski, but success is far from a sure thing.

This should be entertaining enought for as long as it lasts, even if this looks like a one-sided affair in Jotko’s favor. Amedovski has power, but Jotko is more than comfortable in a brawl, so the newcomer will probably get as good as he gives. Add to that Jotko’s a solid wrestler and the fact that Amedovski’s opponents can usually get him to the mat, and the American Top Team rep should be able to take this to the ground and pound out a finish sooner rather than later. The pick is Jotko via first-round stoppage.

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