No. 8 featherweight Josh Emmett (15-2, 6 KOs, 2 SUBs) will meet No. 10 Shane Burgos (13-1, 5 KOs, 5 SUBs) will meet at UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Volkov on Saturday, June 20, 2020 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The card airs live on ESPN+ starting 9pm ET.
UFC Odds at BookMaker.eu
Josh Emmett (15-2, 6 KOs, 2 SUBs)
Josh Emmett’s move to featherweight has done wonders for his career. Since dropping to 145, Emmett has reeled off a 4-1 record, with notable wins over Ricardo Lamas, Michael Johnson and Mirsad Bektic. To put that in context: Lamas was the No. 2 featherweight for years, Johnson has fought the biggest names in the sport and Bektic was tabbed as a future champion. He scored knockouts over all those dudes.
That the 35-year old is ranked No. 8 speaks to how loaded the weight class is. While Emmett has been fighting well-known names, he has yet to step up into the premier tier and face off against the Yairs, Zabits and Korean Zombies of the division. He could very well get there soon if he keeps flatlining his opponents.
The fight with Burgos is a dangerous one. Not only is Emmett scrapping a guy ranked below him, Burgos isn’t a relatively well-known fighter. A loss here would take a few fights to recover from, and a ugly win could actually hurt his standing.
Shane Burgos (13-1, 5 KOs, 5 SUBs)
Since signing with the UFC in 2017, Burgos has compiled an impressive 6-1 record. We can forgive his lone loss to Kattar, who has since emerged as a dark horse title contender. The rest of his resume is solid, but he hasn’t gotten his signature victory yet. A split decision win over Cub Swanson was nice, and most recently he TKO’d Makwan Amirkhani to bring his current win streak to three. Beating Emmett would certainly be the biggest statement of his career, and a stepping stone to meet one of the bigger names in the weight class.
Burgos isn’t much of a killshot hitter, but he is an excellent boxer that has managed to outstrike all his opponents with the exception of Calvin Kattar. A quick, aggressive combination puncher, Burgos proved that he could hang with advanced hitters against Swanson, and the matchup with Holobaugh showed that he could fight patiently. Against Amirkhani, he fought off takedown spams and ended the fight with body shots. Anybody that body shots opponents into submission is a good striker in our books.
Striking Stats
Strikes landed per minute: Emmett 3.63 / Burgos 7.09
Striking accuracy: Emmett 36% / Burgos 50%
Strikes absorbed per minute: Emmett 3.26 / Burgos 5.34
Defense: Emmett 67% / Burgos 62%
Grappling Stats
Takedown average: Emmett 1.5 / Burgos 0.36
Takedown accuracy: Emmett 45% / Burgos 100%
Takedowns defended: Emmett 50% / Burgos 90%
Submission average: Emmett 0.2 / Burgos 0.2
UFC Picks
This comes down to whether you pick Emmett’s power or Burgos’ volume. The online sportsbook set competitive odds, with Burgos as a slight favorite - and it’s a line that we agree with. Emmett tends to rely a little too heavily on his KO ability and can start falling behind on points. We saw him suffer heavy damage in a trench war with Jeremy Stephens, and we Burgos’ aggressive nature affecting this fight in the same way. At this price, we feel good enough Burgos to lay a solid bet.
Card (Subject to Change) - ESPN+
Heavyweight - Curtis Blaydes -431 vs. Alexander Volkov +310
Women’s bantamweight - Marion Renau +124 vs. Raquel Pennington -155
Featherweight - Josh Emmett +115 vs. Shane Burgos -145
Women’s flyweight - Roxanne Modafferi -124 vs. Lauren Murphy +106
Welterweight - Lyman Good +100 vs. Belal Muhammaad -130
Women’s flyweight - Gillian Robertson -125 vs. Cortney Casey -105
Women’s strawweight - Brianna Van Buren -218 vs. Tecia Torres +170
Middleweight - Marc-Andre Barriualt +103 vs. Oskar Piechota -133
Lightweight - Frank Camacho -104 vs. Matt Frevola -126
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