CLEARVIEW SPORTS

By Ben Thomas

Kevin Lee looks to kickstart his 2020 as he squares up against Charles Oliveira in an empty in Brasilia, Brazil. The two meet on Saturday night when the UFC returns to Brazil for UFC Fight Night 170 on BT Sport 2.

Due to the coronavirus taking over the majority of the world, UFC Fight Night 170 will still go ahead despite every other major sporting event being cancelled. However, on the night there will not be any fans in the attendance.

Covid-19 will not stop this Lightweight meeting from being an explosion as two highly talented, yet almost polar opposites go head to head in the main event.

Last time out, Kevin Lee earnt the 18^th win of his career and a £50,000 bonus for a ‘Performance of the night’ victory when he viciously knocked out top challenger Gregor Gillespie with a high kick to the head early in the first round. 

The performance of the night victory was a very important success as he was coming off back to back defeats to Al laquinta and Rafael Dos Anjos.

Kevin Lee is quickly becoming one of the most well-rounded fighters in the division. His grappling and wrestling are his bread and butter but could very effortlessly knockout anyone who challenges his stand up.

However, in Lee’s way and with 6 straight wins over the likes of Clay Guida, Jim Miller and Nik Lentz, Charles Oliveira is on one of the best win streaks in his UFC career. 

‘From Bronx’ Oliveira is a very highly skilled veteran who can finish the fight no matter where it goes. His submission abilities have been heavily used in the big time by finishing fights via anaconda chokes, Guillotines and even became the first UFC fighter with a calf slicer to his name. 

Recently however, the Brazilian born fighter has shown a vast improvement in his striking by finishing Nik Lentz and Jared Gordon early on.

Lee’s biggest weakness in past fights has been his conditioning as he has a tendency to gas out in the later rounds. In this fight however, I don’t believe it will be a problem as Oliveira doesn’t seem to have the best cardio that the world has ever seen either. 

In Saturday night’s fight, I believe that Oliveira will try and close the show early by throwing some flashy strikes. But if he does shoot for a take down, his problem will be getting Lee down on the mat as Kevin Lee is far more superior physically and in that department the Phenom has the potential to close the fight at any moment. 

If the fight does go to the ground, which I think it will, Lee will have to watch out for the deadly submissions while Oliveira will have to try to sustain the viscous ground and pound that Lee can throw. Lee will have the physical advantage which will bare too much for the Brazilian to handle.

I believe that Kevin Lee will get the job done and climb up the rankings by knocking out Charles Oliveira in the second-round via TKO.

My pick: Kevin Lee via TKO in the second round.