MMA Preview – Ricky Turcios vs Brady Hiestand at UFC Vegas 35
RICKY TURCIOS VS BRADY HIESTAND FACTS
When is UFC Vegas 35? Sunday 29th August, 2021 - 01:00 start (UK)
Where is UFC Vegas 35? UFC APEX, Enterprise, Nevada (US)
Where can I get tickets for UFC Vegas 35? Click here for the latest ticket information for UFC events
What channel is UFC Vegas 35 on? BT Sport 1
Where can I stream UFC Vegas 35? BT Sport subscribers can stream the fight online via the BT Sport website
For viewers in the United States, the event will be shown live on ESPN+ and you can sign up for access as part of a Disney Bundle here!
RICKY TURCIOS VS BRADY HIESTAND LOWDOWN
After a worrying start, team Volkanovski rallied to get two of their bantamweights in the final of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF). Ricky Turcious (10-2) is the first half of the match-up after earning action-packed unanimous decisions over Daniel Argueta and Liudvik Sholinian. He is brimming with confidence now after some much-needed activity. He was coming off a brilliant submission win over Kaleb Petereit, but that was in February last year and prior to that he lost a unanimous decision to Boston Salmon (2017), earnt one back over Josh Paiva (2018) and a knockout loss to Leomana Martinez (2018).
Brady Hiestand (5-1) was also not as active as he would have liked leading into TUF. He got two fights in 2019, notching his second professional TKO over Jeff Coleman but then suffered his first loss and TKO courtesy of Chad Anheliger and then only fought once last year submitting Shane Sargent in February. This tournament has also served him well earning a hard-fought split decision over the most experienced fighter in the house, Josh Rettinghouse and following it up with an epic TKO over Vince Murdock.
RICKY TURCIOS VS BRADY HIESTAND PREDICTION
Judging by their fights in the house, this should be a fun, gritty war. We have a clash of styles here as Turcious is more comfortable on the feet and is a very dynamic striker whereas Hiestand is a wrestler. Turcious likes to grapple but he needs to keep the fight on the feet and build up the volume with his striking advantage.
As we saw in the Rettinghouse and Murdoch fight, Hiestand’s wrestling and ground-and-pound is a force, but his cardio is an issue. He needs to pace himself but still rely on his strengths and smother Turcious when he can.
This will be a very scrappy fight and we expect Hiestand to win the first round, but Turcious should grow into it. If he can make Hiestand work hard for each takedown, he can wear him out, steal the second round and finish strong in the third.
If Hiestand’s cardio has improved, he can overwhelm Turcios by taking him down with ease and keep up a pace into the second round at least. Hiestand was the last pick but caused the upset in both of his fights in the house and he is the underdog again here, so he is the smart bet.
However, there is only so much your cardio can improve in a short amount of time and despite Turcious’ suspect takedown defence, we expect him to steal two rounds and earn a tight decision.
Prediction: Turcious via Decision - CLICK HERE FOR PARIMATCH'S WELCOME OFFER (BET £5, GET £30 IN BONUSES!)
Value Bet: Hiestand via Decision
