UFC on ESPN 16: Nassourdine Imavov vs. Jordan Williams – Picks and Predictions

Jordan Williams and Nassourdine Imavov fight Saturday night during UFC on ESPN 16 at the Flash Forum.

Jordan Williams enters this fight with a 9-3 record and has won 78 percent of his fights by knockout. Williams has won four of his last six fights and is coming off a February win over Gregory Rodrigues. Williams is averaging 8.05 significant strikes per minute with an accuracy percentage of 55 percent. Williams is averaging 1.45 takedowns with an accuracy percentage of 100 percent. Williams will make his UFC debut after winning Dana White’s Contender Series in Week 7 with a first round knockout. It was an impressive victory for Williams who started off a bit slow but eventually put together a vicious combination that rocked and eventually dropped his opponent. Williams looks like a fighter who is willing to trade standing up, as nine of his 12 career fights have ended in knockouts, and he took some shots in his last bout before returning the fire. Williams has some length with a 76.5-inch reach and is an accurate striker. It’s just about letting those hands go and dictating the pace of the fight for Williams.

Nassourdine Imavov enters this fight with a 8-2 record and has won 50 percent of his fights by submission. Imavov has won each of his last five fights and is coming off a December win over Jonathan Meunier. Imavov will make his UFC debut here, as we last saw him in the Ares Fighting Championship putting together a first round knockout. Imavov has finished each of his last three fights and seven of his eight victories overall, and all seven of his finishes have taken place in the first round. Imavov seems most comfortable on the canvas where he can scramble a bit, control position and eventually lock in a submission. Imavov won his third professional MMA fight with a brabo choke. Imavov also isn’t afraid to let his hands go standing up and he’ll thitem some powerful knees to the body in the clinch as well.

Imavov is a sneaky underdog in this spot because of his wrestling and submission ability, and he’d have a decent edge on the ground. However, it’s tough to bet against Williams after what we just saw from him in the contenders series, as he destroyed a massive fighter with a strong combination. The raw power is there with Williams, and he’s a hungry fighter who screamed to Dana after the bout to give him his contract. If this fight ends up on the feet for a decent period of time, Williams is going to feast in this fight.

I’ll lay the cheap price with Williams.