Mads Burnell will make his UFC debut at UFC Fight Night 115 on September 2 in Rotterdam, Netherlands, as he takes on Michel Prazeres. It was supposed to be Islam Makhachev taking on Prazeres, but Makhachev pulled out and was been replaced by Burnell. Prazeres is 22-2 in his career, including 6-2 in the UFC, while Burnell is 8-1 and making his UFC debut. This fight is expected to be placed on the undercard on FS1, leading up to the main event which features Alexander Volkov taking on Stefan Struve. Let’s look at Burnell vs. Prazeres and UFC picks.
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Mads Burnell (8-1, UFC debut)
Burnell will be making his UFC debut at 23-years old. He has won his last three fights but he has been out of action for almost a year, as he is coming off a win against Fernando Duarte at SOMMA 2, but that was in November of last year.
Burnell is from Denmark and trains out of Arte Suave. He has five submission wins in his career. Burnell has a lot of wrestling skill, so he will be looking to get this fight to the mat. He has good control and he has done really well going for submissions. The problem for Burnell could be in his standup game, as he doesn’t have a lot of power. He also has had a tendency to get tired late in fights and that is a major concern against Prazeres, especially taking this fight on short notice.
Michel Prazeres (22-2, 6-2 UFC)
There is a lot to like about Prazeres who has won his last four bouts. His only loss in the last four years came to Kevin Lee. Since that loss, Prazeres has beaten Valmir Lazaro by split decision, J.C. Cottrell by unanimous decision, Gilbert Burns by unanimous decision and Josh Burkman by submission. Prazeres has nine first round finishes in his career.
Seven of the last eight Prazeres fights have gone the distance. Prazeres would like to move up in the lightweight rankings but he realizes the situation in the division with so many talented fighters. “I’m not too concerned with (rankings); I’m concerned with fighting,” Prazeres said after his win over Burkman. “I think from the first to the 50th, there are no favorites (in the lightweight division). Everyone is at the same level. If you put the last one with the first, he’ll put up a fight, so whatever the UFC wants, I’ll accept any athlete. It’s my job. I’m ready for whatever.”
UFC Picks
We really don’t know how good Burnell is, as he hasn’t faced top competition, fighting in Denmark. We do know that Prazeres is on his way up, as he has four straight wins. He is an excellent striker and he has a lot of talent on the mat. Burnell is going to be listed as an underdog in this fight, probably a substantial underdog. Prazeres has the edge in striking and on the mat and he has the added advantage of Burnell taking this fight on short notice. It is hard to see anything other than a win for Prazeres in this fight.
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UFC Fight Night 115 takes place on Saturday, September 2 at Ahoy Rotterdam in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The feature fight is a matchup between Stefan Struve and former Bellator heavyweight champion Alexander Vokov. There should be five or six fights on the main card on FS1 and four on the preliminary card, also on FS1, plus two on UFC Fight Pass.
Fight Card
Stefan Struve vs. Alexander Volkov
Germaine de Randamie vs. Marion Reneau
Rustam Khabilov vs. Desmond Green
TBA vs. Saparbek Safarov
Bojan Mihajlovic vs. Abdul-Kerim Edilov
Francimar Barroso vs. Aleksandar Rakic
Bryan Barberena vs. Leon Edwards
Nick Hein vs. Zabit Magomedsharipov
Mairbek Taisumov vs. Felipe Silva
Darren Till vs. Bojan Velickovic
Siyar Bahadurzada vs. Rob Wilkinson
Mads Burnell vs. Michel Prazeres
Andrew Holbrook vs. Thibault Gouti
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