UFC 120: John Hathaway vs Mike Pyle
While it’s been a lean year for fans of British mixed martial artists, on Saturday at the Ultimate Fighting Championships’ UFC 120 event in London, welterweight (170 lb) John Hathaway will get a chance to
give his compatriots something to cheer about and carry the Union Jack on his back.
In his way will be the always gritty and outspoken Mike Pyle, who’s replacing Hathaway’s original opponent, Hyun-Kim Dong.
Recent form
Hathaway’s recent form? Pretty darn good. He’s a rare 14-0 in his MMA career, and hasn’t wasted much time shooting straight to the top. He started his career just four years ago, and already boasts four wins
in the UFC despite being born in 1987.
He stopped local fighter Thomas Egan at UFC 93 in Dublin, Ireland, and moved on to beat three respected opponents in a row. He beat Rick Story next in June 2009, dismantled fellow Brit Paul Taylor in November
of that year, then took on the biggest test of his career at UFC 114 against Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez at May 2010. Sanchez was fresh off a title shot to B.J Penn at the time.
Pyle is 35 and a tough veteran of the fight world. He’s 20-7-1, and has fought a long list of solid welterweight fighters both in and out of the UFC, including wins over Dan Hornbuckle and Shonie Carter and
losses to Jake Shields and Jake Ellenberger. In his UFC career he’s gone 2-2, with a debut knock-out loss to Brock Larson, a submission win over Chris Wilson and a loss to Ellenberger. With his UFC career on the line in his last fight he controlled Jesse Lennox
impressively before scoring a late triangle choke finish, which saw Lennox pass out unconscious.
Style
Pyle is going to want to make this a grappling match, and quickly. Impressively 17 of his 20 career wins have come by way of submission. He is a fan of guillotine, rear naked and arm triangle chokes to win.
Hathaway is a very well-rounded mixed martial artist and improves every fight. He possesses good stand-up, having battered Sanchez in his last fight before crippling him with a powerful knee in the first
round. He is also a rare commodity in the MMA world: a British fighter with quality wrestling, which he’ll use to avoid Pyle’s ground game.
Betting odds and prediction
There’s no question about the way this is being set up: give a hot young prospect like Hathaway a chance to earn a victory against a tough veteran competitor like Pyle. To that end the Brit is a 5/21 favourite
in this one, while Pyle pays out big bucks at 7/2.
Will Hathaway win? Probably. But that doesn’t mean he should be this heavy a favourite. He’s slowed down a bit in some respects, with just two decisions in his first 11 fights and three decisions in his
last three.
Also he might be somewhat overhyped after his Sanchez win, because while Sanchez is a big name, he looked awful in that fight.
In other words it isn’t necessarily likely Hathaway will lose, but with the proven submission skills of Pyle at 7/2 odds the underdog could be worth a small punt.
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