Preview: UFC Fight Night ‘Whittaker vs. Brunson’

The Ultimate Fighting Championship will further flesh out its middleweight division, as Robert Whittaker meets Derek Brunson in the UFC Fight Night 101 main event on Saturday at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. They will fill the hole left by the original headliner: a rematch between Luke Rockhold and Ronaldo Souza that was called off when the former suffered an injury while training. The rest of the 13-fight card features a lightweight clash pitting Jake Matthews against Andrew Holbrook, a middleweight tilt pairing Daniel Kelly with Chris Camozzi, a welterweight affair slotting Kyle Noke opposite Omari Akhmedov and a featherweight encounter matching Yusuke Kasuya with Alex Volkanovski.Let us take a closer look at each UFC Fight Night “Whittaker vs. Brunson” matchup, with analysis and picks:Middleweights Robert Whittaker (16-4) vs. Derek Brunson (16-3)THE MATCHUP: Brunson is something like lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov, in that he is a powerhouse grappler with seriously powerful ground-and-pound. The key differences: Brunson, while he is still most vulnerable on the feet, has a more varied striking style than the Dagestani brute, with a full complement of kicks and unpredictable southpaw strikes. Of course, he is nowhere near the takedown artist Nurmagomedov is, but he possesses …

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