Jake Matthews is favored against Rostem Akman at UFC 243 on Sunday, October 6 in Melbourne, Australia, but because of the time difference it will start on Saturday night in the United States. This event is one of four fights on the ESPN portion of the preliminary card. Matthews is 14-4 in his career, while Akman is 6-1 in his career. There are a total of four fights on the main pay-per-view card at UFC 243, with the headliner a bout between Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya. There are also a total of seven fights on the preliminary card with four on ESPN and three on UFC Fight Pass. Let’s look at the bout between Matthews and Akman and UFC picks.
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Jake Matthews (14-4, 7-4 UFC)
Matthews came into the UFC with a record of 7-0 and he has seven wins and four losses in the UFC. In his last five fights, he has three wins and two losses. He defeated Bojan Velickovic by split decision, Li Jingliang by unanimous decision, and Shinsho Anzai by technical submission; while losing to Andrew Holbrook by split decision and Anthony Rocco Martin by technical submission. Matthews has been a pro since 2012 and he has four wins by TKO/KO and seven by submission. He has four first round finishes.
Matthews said this to sportingnews.com about his upcoming fight against Akman, “He’s tough – he’s in the UFC – and you don’t get here by being a slouch. He’s earned his spot. He’s well rounded. Nothing stands out as being strength – he’s happy to stand up, he’s happy to wrestle and he’s got a good gas tank to go into those deeper rounds. I think it’s a good match up for me and if I get him down with strikes, I’ll continue with strikes.”
Rostem Akman (6-1, 0-1 UFC)
Akman came into the UFC with a record of 6-0 and he has no wins and one loss in the UFC. He was defeated by Sergey Khandozhko by unanimous decision on June 1, 2019. Akman’s last win in his career was against Mauricio Reis by TKO on May 11, 2019. Akman has been a pro since 2017 and he has five wins by TKO/KO and one by submission. He has two first round finishes.
Striking Stats
Strikes landed per minute: Matthews 2.96 / Akman 2.60
Striking Accuracy: Matthews 46% / Akman 39%
Strikes absorbed per minute: Matthews 2.16/ Akman 4.00
Defense: Matthews 58% / Akman 59%
Grappling Stats
Takedown average: Matthews 2.26/ Akman 2.00
Takedown Accuracy: Matthews 40% / Akman 40%
Takedowns defended: Matthews 66% / Akman 83%
Submission average: Matthews 0.9 / Akman 0.0
UFC Picks
It is hard to make a case for Akman to get the win in this fight considering he has only fought one time in the UFC and that was a loss. Matthews will be looking for some redemption, as he lost his only previous UFC fight in his home country of Australia. I lean toward Matthews, but I am not thrilled about the price of nearly 3-1. I think the better choice is to take this fight to go under the rounds total.
UFC 243 takes place at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia Sunday, October 6 in Melbourne, Australia, but because of the time difference it will start on Saturday night in the United States, with four fights on the main pay-per-view card headlined by Robert Whittaker vs. Israel Adesanya and seven preliminary bouts with four on ESPN and three on UFC Fight Pass.
Main Card (Pay-Per-View)
Middleweight - Robert Whittaker -115 vs. Israel Adesanya
Lightweight - Dan Hooker -160 vs. Al Iaquinta
Heavyweight - Tai Tuivasa -385 vs. Sergey Spivac
Welterweight - Dhiego Lima -160 vs. Luke Jumeau
Preliminary Card (ESPN)
Welterweight - Jake Matthews -285 vs. Rostem Akman
Heavyweight - Justin Tafa -125 vs. Yorgan De Castro
Welterweight - Maki Pitolo -280 vs. Callan Potter
Women’s Featherweight Megan Anderson -450 vs. Zarah Fairn dos Santos
Early Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Lightweight - Brad Riddell -170 vs. Jamie Mullarkey
Women’s Flyweight - Ji Yeon Kim -180 vs. Nadia Kassem
Bantamweight - Khalid Taha -250 vs. Bruno Silva
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