UFC Fight Night 167: Anderson vs. Blachowicz II - Predictions and Picks

#6 Lando Vannata vs. Yancy Medeiros

Yancy Medeiros is one of the UFC's toughest fighters

If nothing else, this sounds like a wildly exciting fight at 155lbs. Vannata hasn’t really lived up to the potential he showed back in that insane UFC debut against Tony Ferguson in 2016, going a bizarre 2-3-2 since then, and while his overall game is good, he’s shown that he can be beaten by more polished fighters in both grappling and striking.

I’m not sure that I’d call Medeiros ‘polished’ per say; instead the Hawaiian is a truly wild brawler, the kind of fighter who is capable of winning from all areas, largely through sheer toughness and grit more than clean, technical skills. One of the most durable fighters on the UFC roster, it’s hard to count his last two losses against him; one came in a wild brawl with Donald Cerrone, while the other saw him succumb to the incredible wrestling and ground-and-pound of the dangerous Gregor Gillespie.

Outside of that, his granite chin got him past dangerous fighters like Alex Oliveira and Erick Silva – both of whom were defeated by TKO – while the punishment he endured in a loss to Francisco Trinaldo was absolutely inhuman.

Throw Vannata’s ‘Groovy’ striking style in there with Medeiros’ meat-and-potatoes brawling and iron chin, and we should definitely be in for a treat come the weekend. But who’s going to take this one? Personally, I’m leaning towards the Hawaiian.

Vannata is a creative and explosive striker – witness his wheel kick KO of John Makdessi – but he’s only truly effective if he’s given the room to operate in, which isn’t likely to happen against a hard-nosed swarmer like Medeiros. The Hawaiian is also a venomous grappler when he needs to be, and while nobody is going to mistake him for say, Demian Maia, he’s more than capable of styling on a tired opponent later in the fight.

Medeiros might get himself into trouble in this one as he’s naturally slower than Vannata and is almost always hittable, but I don’t think ‘Groovy Lando’ has enough to put such a tough opponent away in one blow, and eventually he’ll tire and find himself being worn down by the Hawaiian’s gutsy style.

The Pick: Medeiros via third round TKO