Prediction: Sumudaerji via TKO<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sumudaerji is one of the better long-range strikers in the division. He uses his reach with purpose, keeping opponents at the end of his punches and kicks while constantly circling and switching angles. His movement isn\u2019t just lateral\u2014it\u2019s unpredictable, which makes it hard to time him with counters or close the distance consistently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Raposo\u2019s main attribute is his speed. He\u2019s fast\u2014no doubt about it\u2014and he has the kind of burst that can catch people by surprise. But outside of that, his approach doesn\u2019t bring the kind of pressure or movement required to neutralize someone like Sumudaerji. He doesn\u2019t cut off the cage effectively and doesn\u2019t layer his entries with feints or level changes to hide his intentions. That\u2019s a problem against a fighter who lives off keeping opponents at the end of his strikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sumudaerji\u2019s footwork and timing make it hard for opponents to even land clean when they do close in, and unless Raposo drastically changes his rhythm and forces more urgency early, he\u2019s likely going to be picked apart round by round. Another thing to note is that Sumudaerji has shown real improvement in the area that\u2019s been his biggest weakness\u2014takedown defense. Earlier in his career, fighters who could pressure and wrestle had a clear path to success against him, but he\u2019s tightened up his hips and his scrambling is far more urgent now. That removes a big potential edge for Raposo, who would ideally want to mix things up if he gets frustrated on the feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unless Raposo can time a perfect counter or catch Sumudaerji stepping in with something clean, it\u2019s hard to see him winning this one. Sumudaerji\u2019s ability to move, strike in combination, and make opponents miss is just a terrible matchup for someone like Raposo, who relies on speed but doesn\u2019t apply it with the type of pressure that breaks this style. Expect Sumudaerji to stay a step ahead, touch him up from range, and likely find a finish once Raposo starts getting desperate and opens himself up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Prediction: Sumudaerji via TKO Sumudaerji is one of the better long-range strikers in the division. He uses his reach with purpose, keeping opponents at the end of his punches and kicks while constantly circling and switching angles. His movement isn\u2019t just lateral\u2014it\u2019s unpredictable, which makes it hard to time him…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capmma.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capmma.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capmma.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capmma.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capmma.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/capmma.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capmma.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capmma.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capmma.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}