MMA Preview – Gian Villante vs Francimar Barroso at UFC 220

Date: Sunday 20^th January, 3am (UK)

Location: Boston, Massachusetts

Venue: TD Garden

Two UFC veterans shape up as appetisers for the two title fights at UFC 220 and although the light heavyweight title isn’t on their horizon, they are more than content to simply put on a show in front of the Boston crowd. This is a fascinating match-up with both fighters providing a concoction of skills and a willingness to finish every fight they participate in.

Gian Villante makes the short trip from New York on the back of two losses, the first of which was a devastating knockout to Shogun Rua before he lost a razor-thin decision to Patrick Cummins in his last fight. So, the New Yorker is desperate to get back to winning ways but don’t expect him to throw caution to the wind.

Francimar Barroso is also coming off a decision loss which was to Aleksandar Rakic back in September and has the added motivation of featuring on the main card of a Pay-Per-View event for the first time in his career.

With the amount of skill on show, the fight really could go anywhere. Villante builds success from a talented foundation of wrestling and explosiveness from American Football but has found comfort in slugging it out and coaxing his opponents into brawls. With eight knockouts to his name and a black belt in Kickboxing, Barroso won’t be afraid to trade and will also be confident in the grappling exchanges. Villante may back himself to take the fight to the ground when he wants but, being a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Barroso will be happy to oblige.

The fight could end anywhere but will start on the feet where Villante will look to throw a heavy output of strikes. Whether he is successful or not may decide whether the fight takes place on the feet or on the canvas. See below for the statistical breakdown:

Striking and grappling stats sourced via FightMetric.