UFC 273: Vinc Pichel vs. Mark Madsen Picks and Predictions

Vinc Pichel and Mark Madsen face off on Saturday in the main card of UFC 273 in a lightweight bout at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. Both of these guys are unranked but there is a ton of buzz around this matchup. 

Vinc Pichel comes into this fight with a 14-2 record overall and he has won three straight fights and each of those were by unanimous decision. Pichel’s last fight came against Austin Hubbard in August of 2021 and he got the job done. Pichel outstruck Hubbard 71-56 and that was enough to win by unanimous decision. Pichel is averaging 3.42 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 2.49 significant strikes per minute. Pichel wants to get the fight to the ground and is averaging 3.29 takedowns every 15 minutes. He is successful on 54 percent of his takedown attempts but only stops 25 percent of his opponents takedown attempts. He is also averaging 0.3 submission attempts every 15 minutes. 

On the other side of this matchup is Mark Madsen who won the Olympic silver medal in the 2016 olympics. Madsen has a perfect 11-0 record and since coming into the UFC he has a perfect 3-0 record. Madsen’s last fight came against Clay Guida and that entire fight actually stayed on the feet and he won by split decision. Madsen outstruck Guida 98-72. Madsen is averaging 4.33 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 3.62 significant strikes per minute. Madsen wants to get the fight to the ground, averaging 4.33 takedowns every 15 minutes. He is successful on 60 percent of his takedown attempts. In this fight, I look for Madsen to try and get the fight to the ground, even against a good wrestler.