John Dodson vs. Merab Dvalishvili - 8/15/20 UFC 252 Pick and Prediction

Merab Dvalishvili vs. John Dodson

Saturday, August 15, 2020 at 10:15 PM (UFC APEX)

The Line: -- John Dodson +225 / Merab Dvalishvili -245 Click Here for the Latest Odds

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John Dodson and Merab Dvalishvili face off in a bantamweight showdown at UFC 252 at the UFX Apex in Las Vegas.There will be no fans in attendance for this game. Dodson is currently ranked 12th in the division while Dvalishvili is currently ranked 15th.

John “The Magician” Dodson comes into this fight with a 22-11 record but coming into this fight he has lost two of his last three fights. The one win for Dodson during that stretch was in his last fight against Nathaniel Wood. In that fight, Dodson was being outstruck heading into the third round, but early in the third round he was able to finish the fight by knockout. The previous two losses for Dodson he was competitive, but he lost both fights by unanimous decision.

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Dodson comes into this fight averaging 3.30 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 3.59 significant strikes per minute. Dodson is also averaging 0.76 successful takedowns every 15 minutes, but he only completes them on 28 percent of his attempts. Dodson is also strong against the takedown stopping 80 percent of his opponents' attempts.

Merab “The Machine” Dvalishvili comes into this fight with an 11-4 record overall and after losing his first two fights in the UFC, he has won four straight fights. It’s impressive to win four fights in a row, and each of those fights by Dvalishvili were won by unanimous decision. Dvalishvili is a wrestler first, and in his last fight he has 13 takedowns.

Dvalishvili is averaging 4,01 significant strikes every 15 minutes while absorbing 2.12 significant strikes per minute. He also is averaging 8.67 successful takedowns every 15 minutes because successful on 50 percent of the attempts. Dvalishvili is also good against the takedown stopping 80 percent of his opponent takedown attempts.

Dvalishvili is the better fighter and he is going to have no issue getting the job done in this one. Look for him to get the fight to the ground, make life tough on Dodson, Look for Dvalishvili to win this fight by decision. If you are comfortable betting on the money line you can, but our play is with Dvalishvili to win by decision.

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