DWCS – Season 9, Week 6: Iwo Baraniewski vs Mahamed Aly Preview & Prediction
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Light-heavyweights collide in a 205 pound contest with high potential to end in a brutal finish, as Iwo Baraniewski squares off with Mahamed Aly.
Iwo Baraniewski vs Mahamed Aly facts
What time are Iwo Baraniewski and Mahamed Aly expected to walk out?
Where is DWCS – Season 9, Week 6 taking place? UFC Apex, Las Vegas, USA
What TV channel is DWCS – Season 9, Week 6 on? UK – Not televised / USA – ESPN+
Where can I stream DWCS – Season 9, Week 6? UK – UFC Fight Pass / USA – ESPN+ & UFC Fight Pass
DWCS – Season 9, Week 6 card
Hecher Sosa vs Mackson Lee (Bantamweight)
Hwang In-su vs Paddy McCorry (Middleweight)
Iwo Baraniewski vs Mahamed Aly (Light Heavyweight)
Cody Chovancek vs Raphael Uchegbu (Bantamweight)
Adam Livingston vs Thomas Gantt (Lightweight)
Iwo Baraniewski: Can the Polish bruiser maintain his 100% finishing rate as a slight underdog?
With three wins by knockout, and two by submission, Iwo Baraniewski (5-0) has yet to have a fight that has required the judges' scorecards. The 26 year old Pole has been perfect in his career since turning professional in 2023 after a lengthy amateur career, earning his spot on DWCS with a brutal TKO over Kamil Stachura in March. An accomplished and highly decorated judoka, Baraniewski has parlayed his judo skills into MMA with impressive results. Boasting suffocating top control with heavy ground and pound, Baraniewski even has two wins by arm bar to highlight the danger he poses on the ground.
Mahamed Aly: The towering Brazilian looking to earn a statement victory in just his fifth fight
Fighting out of Team Lloyd Irvin, Mahamed Aly (4-0) blends lights out striking on the feet with impressive grappling acumen as a BJJ black belt. Standing at 6'3, the Brazilian is an enormous light heavyweight with exceedingly powerful kicks. At 31, he's arguably entering his athletic prime for the weight class, a scary proposition given his imposing stature. Underlining this state of affairs, Aly scored successive first round wins by head-kick KO in his first two professional fights. He was most recently seen earning a unanimous decision victory over UFC veteran, Jared Gooden, in his most recent appearance.
Iwo Baraniewski vs Mahamed Aly prediction
This one would appear to be a case of who can land clean first. With just nine professional fights between the two men, it's difficult to currently establish a ceiling for the level of talent that is on display here.
It's easy to get excited about the fact that Aly is a light-heavyweight with two head-kick KOs already on his record, but it's worth noting that they came against opponents with records of 9-8 and 1-6. Even with a win over the aforementioned Jared Gooden last time out, it's not like his strength of schedule outside of those fights is anything to write home about either.
However, the same could be said of Baraniewski. The Pole has battered everybody he's faced in his career to date, but nobody is breaking out the champagne for a victory over the 9-5 Sylwester Borys; easily Baraniewski's best win to date. Aly has a slight edge in height, reach, and overall power; while the two men's grappling skills could cancel each other out, it's hard to escape the feeling that the Brazilian has more ways to win this fight than his opponent.
A win for the Polish bruiser would not come as a seismic shock, but the Brazilian remains the marginally safer bet here. He has proven capable of finishing fights early or grinding out a decision when things get tough. In these circumstances, it usually pays to favor the fighter with more routes to victory.
Prediction: Mahamed Aly to win
