UFC Fight Night, Smith vs Spann features an exciting middleweight bout between Joaquin Buckley and Antonio Arroyo. It’s a great fight to open the card.
Despite the loss in his last fight, Joaquin Buckley is still a fan favorite. And it is because of his insane knock-out win over Impa Kasanganay. Buckley is an exciting talent who likes to strike and has serious power in his hands.
The pressure will certainly be on Buckley who will look to bounce back from a knock-out loss. However, he will certainly fight an opponent who is an easier matchup compared to his last few opponents such as Kevin Holland, Jordan Wright, and Alessio Di Chirico.
Antonio Arroyo will be looking to get back on the winning column after two consecutive losses in the middleweight division. However, his losses were against Derron Winn and Andre Muniz who are tough opponents. So there is a possibility that Arroyo will cause an upset on UFC Fight Night, Smith vs Span.
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Joaquin Buckley vs Antonio Arroyo Prediction
Joaquin Buckley has currently 2 wins and 2 losses in UFC so far. His first fight against Kevin Holland was an exciting bout and he did have success against Holland until the knockout.
However, that’s not a bad loss considering how good Kevin Holland is when it comes to striking.
Buckley’s knock-out win over Impa Kasanganay is what put the fans on notice. On his second UFC fight, Buckley secured an insane spinning back kick knock out over Impa Kasanganay and made the fans believe that he is a star in the making in the talent-stacked middleweight division.
However, his loss against Alessio Chricho has put a halt to the hype train behind him as he suffered his second KO loss in UFC. Buckley is not a huge guy for the middleweight division. And he did struggle against Alessio Chricho who had a big reach advantage over Buckley.
Joaquin Buckley relies heavily on his boxing, explosiveness, and movements to close the distance and land power shots on his opponents. In a pure striking battle, Buckley will be a legit threat to a lot of the UFC middleweights.
On the other hand, Antonio Arroyo is not as technically sound as Joaquin Buckely when it comes to striking. Arroyo does not possess any threat in the grappling department as well.
Though he has shown a good chin in his previous fights he does not have impressive cardio. And Buckley will put the pressure on Arroyo early in the fight.
So it’s safe to say that Joaquin Buckley should be able to get an early finish over Antonio Arroyo at UFC Vegas 37.
Joaquin Buckley vs Antonio Arroyo prediction: Joaquin Buckley via finish
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