UFC Vegas 78 Preview: ‘Luque vs Dos Anjos’ Prediction

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is just one day away from the UFC Vegas 78 (MMA) mixed martial arts tournament taking place tomorrow night (Saturday, August 12, 2023) on ESPN and ESPN+’s APEX Center. The promotion in Las Vegas, Nevada features a welterweight main event between 170-pound veteran Vicente Luque and former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos. This is a significant five-rounder for the end of 2023 and beyond.

Before we dive into the main and co-main event. This includes the featherweight between Cub Swanson and Hakeem Dawodu. Check out Patrick Stumberg’s profile for the UFC Vegas 78 preliminary card, which he wrote while sitting in the front row of the Oppenheimer movie — by clicking here and here. For the latest “Luque vs. Dos Anjos” odds and betting lines, courtesy of our financial friends at Draft Kings, go here.

For the rest of the main UFC Vegas 78 card predictions, click here.

£170: Vicente Luque vs. Rafael dos Anjos

Vicente “The Silent Killer” Luque

record: 21-9-1 | age: 31 | betting line: -105
win: 11 Jul./Aug. 8 Sat. 2 Dec. | loss: 1 July/Aug. 2 Sat. 6 Dec.
height: 5’11“ | reach: 76” | attitude: Orthodox
Critical strikes per minute: 5.49 | outstanding precision: 52%
Absorbed strikes per minute: 5.51 | outstanding protection: 52%
Capture Mean: 0.51 (accuracy 50%) | Arrest Prevention: 61%
current rank: No. 10 | last fight: Knockout: Jeff Neil

Rafael Dos Anjos

record: 32-14 | age: 38 | betting line: -120
win: 5 Aug./Aug. 11 Sat. 16 Dec. | loss: 4 July/Aug., 0 Sat., 10 Dec.
height: 5’8“ | reach: 70” | attitude: Southpaw
Critical strikes per minute: 3.56 | outstanding precision: 47%
Absorbed strikes per minute: 3.21 | outstanding protection: 61%
Capture Mean: 2.05 (accuracy 35%) | Arrest Prevention: 59%
current rank: Issue 9 | last fight: lost to Bryan Barberena

Welterweight boxer Vicente Luque returns to the cage after an absence of more than a year and earns top billing because he is in the welterweight rankings. Anjos wasn’t there, although “RDA” held a top-10 spot in the 155-pound class. Luque hasn’t missed that much time away from the sport since his regional playing days more than a decade ago, but his doctor UFC ordered to take a break due to a brain hemorrhage received in a knockout loss to Geoff Neal at UFC Vegas 59. That loss left him second consecutive He previously knocked out welterweight contender Bellal Muhammad at UFC Vegas 51 in April. those losses Coupled with his shocking medical issues, Luque from a dark horse challenger is a question mark at welterweight. “The Silent Assassin” is only 31 years old and is competing in his most important fight. But I have to keep track of how much of those Brazilian tires have tread left. As much as we praise his fan-friendly fighting style, it’s important to note that Luque takes just as much damage. with which he destroyed By consuming 5 critical hits for every 5 times he lands on the ground. That makes a nice highlight. But it’s not a sustainable strategy for a painful business. Lessons (hopefully) learned from O’Neill’s loss.

Dos Anjos is 7 years older, 38 years old and captained. Although he doesn’t like dropping to 155 pounds for the race weekend. The former lightweight champion will sacrifice 3 inches of height and 6 inches of reach, which are important factors when you consider the volume of your opponent. And we have to take wrestling elements into account as well. In his last 5 wins, Dos Andos has beaten his opponents 21-7. In his last 5 losses, the Brazilian wrestler has gone 28-5, indicating his ability to wrestle. Control wrestling will greatly influence the outcome of this bout. It certainly helped that Luque went 20-6 over the course of his UFC career. I would expect the coaches on Team Dos Anjos to prepare for the Luque we’ve become accustomed to over the years. who earns eight performance bonuses, including four “Fight of the Night” awards, so look for early and frequent takedowns. Keep in mind that Dos Anjos only won 5 out of 32 by knockout, and Haven’t won a single since the warlock Donald Cerrone almost 8 years ago. Don’t expect conditioning to be an issue for either veteran. But at the same time, it might not be what fireworks fans were expecting. The more likely outcome is a tight decision by Dos Anjos via a well-timed takedown and total control time, unless Luque does something stupid and pays for it.

Prediction: Dos Angos def. Luque by decision.

£145: Cub Swanson vs. Hakeem Dawodu

“Killer” Swanson

record: 28-13 | age: 39 | betting line: +190
win: 13 Jul./Aug. 4 Sat. 11 Dec. | loss: 3 July/Aug., 7 Sat., 3 Dec.
height: 5’8“ | reach: 70” | attitude: Orthodox
Critical strikes per minute: 4.68 | outstanding precision: 50%
Absorbed strikes per minute: 3.73 | outstanding protection: 60%
Capture Mean: 1.09 (accuracy 52%) | Arrest Prevention: 61%
current rank: Not ranked | last fight: Lost by technical knockout to Jonathan Martinez.

“Meanhearted” Hakeem Davoudu

record: 13-3-1 | age: 32 | betting line: -230
win: 7 Jul./Aug. 0 Sat. 6 Dec. | loss: 0 KO/TKO, 1 Sat., 2 Dec.
height: 5’8“| reach: 73” | attitude: Orthodox
Critical strikes per minute: 5.33 | outstanding precision: 50%
Absorbed strikes per minute: 3.15 | outstanding protection: 57%
Capture Mean: 0.00 (0% accuracy) | Arrest Prevention: 65%
current rank: Not ranked | last fight: Unanimous Defeat Julian Erosa

Cub Swanson has embodied a long career path. But didn’t do anything with it. That leaves no championship in UFC’s 12-year history. As mentioned, the former WEC superstar has proven to be a fan favourite, thanks to nine performance bonuses in the UFC and four in the WEC, along with the “Fight of the Year” award. Night” with a total of 10 titles, “Killer” also boasted victories over Dustin Poirier and Charles Oliveira, two well-known boxers. He is the most dangerous (and deadliest) in the lightweight division. Swanson is primarily a striker and ranks third on the division leaderboard for critical strikeouts (1319), total strikeouts to the ground (1517), and knockdowns (9). His passing is ridiculously bad. Causing 7 losers in 13 losses. Even more worrying is his lack of consistency, going 3-3 in the last six and 6-6 in the last 12. I think Svenson. On the brink of his career rising after recent knockout victories over Daniel Pineda and Darren Elkins, “Killer” is inexplicably relegated to the bantamweight division. for which he was sent off by Jonathan Martinez I think Swanson needs to make a statement this weekend on “Sin City” to prove he’s still going strong at £145 and not cashing checks pending his retirement.

Hakeem Dawodu jumped to a 7-0-1 score in his MMA career and is widely considered one of the top prospects in the World Series of Fighting (WSOF), which later became Professional Fighters. League (PFL) His hot 145 streak made him highly sought after and the UFC wasted little time chasing him when he was available. Unfortunately, Dawodu stumbled out of the gate. succumbed to first-round guillotine in his UFC debut. What followed was a five-fight win streak, and it seemed the Canadian finally realized his potential… only for Dawodu to lose. his next two thirds On top of that, “Mean” only managed one point to finish the nine-place trip at the octagon. And three of his victories have come by split decisions. His most recent appearance resulted in a unanimous decision loss to featherweight mainstay Julian Erosa at UFC 279 about a year back. from his works This includes the fact that he never scored a takedown or won a fight by submission. making it difficult for him to choose against Swanson You could argue that Cub has his own problems. But he’s a better boxer. more experienced Unless Swanson completely wets the bed at 39, he should cruise to sweep the judges.

Prediction: Swanson defender Dawodu by decision.

Be sure to check out the rest of the main UFC Vegas 78 card predictions here.

MMAmania.com will feature round-by-round broadcasts. Live coverage of all UFC Vegas 78 fighting cards. hereStart with ESPN/ESPN+ Preliminary Card Game at 7 p.m. ET, followed by ESPN/ESPN+ The main card starts at 10 p.m. ET.

To see the latest and greatest UFC Vegas 78 news and records. Be sure to check out our comprehensive event archive here and here. For updated and finalized “Luque vs. Dos Anjos” fight cards and ESPN/ESPN+ listings, click here.