MMA Preview – Tony Gravely vs Saimon Oliveira at UFC 270
TONY GRAVELY VS SAIMON OLIVEIRA FACTS
When is UFC 270? Sunday 23rd December, 2021 - 01:00 start (UK)
Where is UFC 270? Honda Center, Anaheim, California (US)
Where can I get tickets for UFC 270? Click here to buy tickets for UFC 270
What channel is UFC 270 on? BT Sport 2
Where can I stream UFC 270? 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!
TONY GRAVELY VS SAIMON OLIVEIRA LOWDOWN
Tony Gravely (21-7) is coming off a devastating loss back in September. He was picking up some steam after getting submitted on his debut by Brett Johns (2020). He earnt a split decision over Geraldo de Freitas (2020) and sealed a ‘performance of the night’ with a knockout over Anthony Birchak (2021). However, Nate Maness inflicted the first knockout loss of his career. That made it seven losses now, but they have all come against good competition even in his earlier career including the likes of Pat Sabatini (2015), Merab Dvalishvili (2016) and Manny Bermudez (2017).
Saimon Oliveira (18-3) makes his UFC debut having only lost once in his last 11 fights. That was a unanimous decision to Ary Farias (2018) for ACB however, he has bounced back in style. He submitted Edezio da Hora Santana (2018), Wesley Bull (2018) for Sicario MMA, Jeferson Bastos (2019) for MTK and then Wataru Mimura (2019) for Pancrase. Those wins got him a slot on the Contender Series and he squeaked through into the UFC with a split decision over Jose Alday.
TONY GRAVELY VS SAIMON OLIVEIRA PREDICTION
Oliveira is a quality fighter, but this is a tough debut. He is a brilliant striker with a powerful jab which sets up a nasty check left hook.
Gravely is also experienced and has some important UFC fights under the belt. He can strike, but he is going to rely on his wrestling here and try and chain takedowns together to drain the energy of Oliveira and subdue his weapons.
The Brazilian has the ability to knock Gravely out, and it will be a comfortable debut if the fight stays on the feet. However, we do not expect gravely to let that happen and we feel his wrestling will shut Oliveira down.
Oliveira is the underdog, and we can certainly see him rocking Gravely early and either knocking him out or submitting him, so he makes all the sense if you are betting. However, if Gravely takes him down early, the writing will be on the wall.
Prediction: Gravely via Decision - CLICK HERE FOR PARIMATCH'S WELCOME OFFER (BET £5, GET £30 IN BONUSES!)
Value Bet: Oliveira via KO/TKO or Submission
