UFC Fight Night 153: Gustafsson vs. Smith - Predictions and Picks

#5 Damir Hadzovic vs. Christos Giagos

Damir Hadzovic will be looking to knock Christos Giagos out

Lightweight is such a packed division that plenty of solid prospects and veterans tend to fly under the radar, and it honestly becomes hard to separate the wheat from the chaff. Right now – with UFC records of 3-2 and 2-3 respectively, it’s hard to say where Hadzovic and Giagos fall in the bigger picture.

Giagos debuted in the UFC back in 2014 and sandwiched a win over Jorge de Oliveira between losses to Gilbert Burns and Chris Wade. A grappler by trade, it appeared that Giagos had simply come to the UFC too soon in his career; he clearly had skills but didn’t really have the athleticism or strength to use them properly in the UFC.

A run of 4-2 was put together on the regional circuit, and Giagos returned to the UFC last year – but didn’t really appear to have improved a lot in a one-sided loss to Charles Oliveira. He did defeat Mizuto Hirota last December, but unfortunately Hirota was miles past his prime at that point and has always lacked some athleticism himself.

Hadzovic on the other hand certainly doesn’t lack athleticism and explosive power, as we saw when he KO’d Marcin Held with a vicious knee back in 2017. Realistically, in the UFC at least, the only issue we’ve seen him have has been with the stifling grappling game of Alan Patrick. Sure, he was KO’d by Mairbek Taisumov, but there’s simply no way that Giagos pulls that type of finish out.

The fact that Hadzovic survived Patrick – a genuine BJJ black belt – on the ground for three rounds despite giving up some horrendous positions bodes well for him in my opinion. If he could stop Patrick from choking him out, then I just don’t see what Giagos – a much lesser, slower athlete – can really do to catch him out.

On the feet on the other hand, this should be no contest as the Bosnian fighter is just a far harder hitter than Giagos and seems to be more of a natural striker, too. I’m not sure that Giagos can take him down and I don’t trust him to be able to work his way to a decision, so I think Hadzovic is going to deal with him pretty early and violently too.

The Pick: Hadzovic via first round KO