Former WEC bantamweight champion, Eddie Wineland, (24-15 professionally; 6-9 in the UFC), is looking to re-enter the win column since going on a 1-4 skid. Similarly, Cody Stamann (19-5 professionally; 5-4-1 in the UFC) is on a 3-fight losing streak, so he too is in dire need of a win.
Although both fighters are likely fighting to stay in the UFC, both have shown to have high-end skills within portions of their career. So, the fight for one’s career development accompanied by having legitimate skills able to be displayed in the octagon results in this fight being a high-stakes affair you do not want to miss!
Betting Odds
The younger, more “in-their-prime” fighter, Cody Stamann, is a massive -550 favorite over the veteran, Eddie Wineland.
Stamann is a heavy favorite and that means a $100 bet would return just $118 for winners. If Wineland manages to defeat Stamann this weekend, bettors would see $475 paid out for every $100 bet.
Breakdown
Eddie Wineland, supporting a stellar mustache, is a fan-friendly fighter who has 15 of his 24 wins coming by TKO/KO. His strong divisional power, impressive takedown defense, and overall toughness allowed Wineland to win the WEC belt and later contend for an interim title in the UFC.
With the historical credence given, it is now time to throw that out and look at the recent performances of note. This is important to do because, often, individuals can fall in love with what a fighter did in their prime contrary to the skills they have in the later stages of their career. For Wineland, the recent performances he put forth justifies the belief that he either should have been let go from the promotion after his last KO loss to John Castaneda or being blunt, that this fight will be the final nail needed for his metaphorical coffin. This statement is indeed harsh, but the skills Wineland once possessed are simply lacking in the current form of him as a fighter, which is not surprising given he has fought professionally since dating back to 2003.
In a more technical sense, Wineland utilizes in-and-out movement, throwing intended power shots from unorthodox angles. The issue with doing so is that he no longer has to speed to land said power shots nor evade counterattacks once in striking range. So, given a lack of speed, he is able to be countered quite cleanly given his hands are in a poor defensive position. Having poor striking defense with lacking dangerous speed has resulted in Wineland being KO’d in his last two fights, and I see no evidence to suggest the chosen stylistic approach to his fight-game changing.
Luckily, for Wineland, is that Cody Stamann is far more of a wrestler than an elite, fluid striker, which should allow Wineland to avoid the early KO, and given he has a strong track record of keeping the fight standing, he may be able to prevent Stamann from implementing his go-to tactic. With that said, Stamann is a very strong wrestler in the octagon and he does an impeccable job using tight boxing to surprise his opponent given he is touted as a being solely a wrestler. Knowing he has underrated boxing coupled with knowing Wineland has the ability to keep the fight standing warrants further discussion on Stamann’s stand-up game.
When kept standing, Stamann, having tight boxing, uses explosive, burst-like movements to get in the pocket and land by far and away his most devasting punch, his left hook. I suspect the punch is as strong as it is due to the culmination of him having a naturally heavy left hook coupled with his opponent’s believing when in a tight pocket, Stamann will look to lower levels and shoot a takedown contrary to continuing a boxing exchange. The result of the latter allows his hook to unsuspectedly land which is a recipe for damage.
Prediction
Cody Stamann is a borderline ranked fighter in both the bantamweight and featherweight division – I say this knowing his recent stumbles of late. His powerful left hook accompanied by strong wrestling rationalizes my belief. Even if you, the reader, believe I may be too high on Stamann, do note that this matchup is one of the largest disparities in present talent in recent memory – shown by the steep betting price. In total, I fully expect Stamann to dominate every position and every minute of the fight, leading to a clear-cut decisive victory. To cut the betting price, I believe the talent disparity will be too much to have the fight last the scheduled 15-minutes, as such, I like Stamann ITD.
Bet: Cody Stamann to win inside the distance