Light heavyweights prospect Darko Stosic (13-2, 8 KOs, 1 SUB) and Kennedy Nzechukwu (6-1, 4 KOs) will meet at UFC on ESPN 5 on Saturday, August 3, 2019 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The card airs live on ESPN starting 3pm ET.
Darko Stosic and Kennedy Nzechukwu are two young, hard-hitting light heavyweights coming off losses. This Saturday, they’ll be fighting each other in hopes of avoiding the first losing streak of either man’s career.
Nzechukwu fights out of Fortis MMA, a camp that has increasingly brought a number of Nigerian-born fighters into the UFC. As a prospect, the 27-year old definitely passes the eye test - a shredded 6’5” with lanky limbs and excellent athleticism. Time will tell whether he turns into a good MMA fighter, especially given his late start in the sport. But like Francis Ngannou, he benefits from fighting in a thin division.
Stosic is also 27 and a mildly interesting fighter at 205 pounds. While he fought at heavyweight overseas, he moved down a division when he was brought to the UFC. The Serbian found immediate success with a TKO win over Jeremy Kimball, but lost a tepid unanimous decision to Devin Clark in his last fight.
A loss for either would be a huge setback so early on in their UFC careers - particularly for Stosic, who seems to have a much lower ceiling than his opponent. In contrast, an impressive win a shallow division could fast track either fighter: look what happened with Volkan Oezdemir and Johny Walker.
The UFC odds at BookMaker.eu opened with competitive odds, with Stosic as a moderate -132 favorite and Nzechukwu at +118 on the comeback. Let’s break down the matchup and make some picks. Live UFC betting at the online sportsbook lets you hedge your bets on fight night as needed.
UFC Odds at BookMaker.eu
Darko Stosic -133
Kennedy Nzechukwu +103
Fight goes/doesn’t go to decision: +184 / -265
Significant Striking Stats
Landed per minute: Stosic 2.8 / Nzechukwu 2.79
Accuracy: Stosic 56% / Nzechukwu 55%
Absorbed per minute: Stosic 1.24 / Nzechukwu 7.67
Defense: Stosic 75% / Nzechukwu 56%
Grappling Stats
Takedown average: Stosic 0 / Nzechukwu 0
Takedown accuracy: Stosic N/A / Nzechukwu N/A
Takedown defense: Stosic 100% / Nzechukwu 86%
Submission average: Stosic 0 / Nzechukwu 0
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Nzechukwu did not draw an easy fight in his UFC debut. Matched up against an underrated Paul Craig, “The African Savage” looked impressive for the first 14 minutes of the fight. He used his height and length to batter Craig on the feet, fought off submissions and takedown attempts, then pounded on him with hard GNP. A hail mary submission from Craig in the final minute resulted in Nzechukwu’s first loss, but he was ahead on all scorecards up to that point.
Stosic’s move to light heavyweight made sense on paper, as the 6’0” Serbian probably wouldn’t have fared well against the giants in the UFC. But even has a heavyweight he was something of a plodder - his lack of athleticism will be even more of an issue against the faster 205-pounders. Still, there is a reason he’s a favorite here: Stosic has the power to knock out heavies, and he is easily the more experienced fighter.
This is a difficult fight to predict given how little octagon time we’ve seen from them. Nzechukwu has the speed, range and athleticism, but is still capable of making huge rookie mistakes. Stosic will struggle against the more physically blessed fighter, but he does have the toughness to wade through a minefield to land power shots.
UFC Odds Pick: Nzechukwu to win at +103
This is purely a talent over experience pick - a 50/50 tossup to be honest. But we think that Nzechuwku’s raw potential is the way to go here, and his performance against Craig shows he’s ready for middle class light heavyweights. Stosic will try to even the score by pressing the Nigerian into the cage, but he will ultimately lose a very close battle on points.
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