We are just one day away from the highly anticipated inaugural 971 FC event, and we have taken the time to give you a full fighter profile with predictions of who we think will win in the main and 2 co-main events. Have a read below!
MAIN EVENT – Mohammed Fahkreddine Vs Gianni Mellio
Mohammed Fahkreddine, the star of the show, boasts an impressive record of 15-5 and with 80% of his wins coming by way of TKO/KO, a fight with the 39-year-old Lebanese fighter involved, is always bound to produce fireworks!
Expect Mohammed to be the aggressor in this bout, he loves to utilize heavy calf kicks with a lot of power, displays phenomenal power in both hands, has solid body kicks from both stances and in short; he is an aggressive striking machine, who is able to keep a great pace deep into the bout. This was evident by his performance against Daniel Pereira at Brave CF 41.
Gianni has a record of 14-9 and also aged 39 as well. A tough veteran of the sport, he boasts 9 KO wins and 2 submission wins. Mellio does have a tendency to keep his hands low, which i believe is a very ill-advised tendency to display against a hard hitter like Fakhreddine.
A great example of this is when he fought Mazek Mazuch at Oktagon 43 and ended up losing by brutal KO in the 2nd round.
I believe Fahkreddine will be too quick, and too aggressive and will manage to hurt Mellio early. With a lot of animosity on the line, I expect the Lebanese fighter to be stalking Mellio from the opening bell.
I am predicting a first-round finish for Fahkreddine, at 971 FC.
Prediction: Round 1 KO for Fakhreddine.
971 FC Co-main event – John Mitchell vs Mohammad Adham
John Mitchell is very much a forward-pressure fighter but extremely well-rounded.
He has one facet of his game where he implements a strong wrestling attack in order to impose his will on his opponents, get top position lay on vicious ground and pound to dominate as witnessed in his 2nd bout against Geysim Deroiche.
This is not to say that Mitchell hasn’t got crisp striking either!
In his PFL European Title fight, he lost, but he was putting on a striking masterclass against his opponent, Jakub Kaszuba, kept the distance, landing straight punches, and leg kicks and maintaining the pace of the fight before Kaszuba would get the comeback TKO win. Before he lost, Mitchell looked very much like a world champion in his first-ever title fight.
Adham Mohammad has a solid record of 7-2 and has displayed great promise in his early MMA Career. He fights out of Cairo, Egypt and trains from the Saracens team.
The Egyptian has displayed a very good well-rounded game, and shown extremely well-honed submission skills. He has also won by decision a number of times, so he clearly has a solid gas tank to go the full 3 rounds at a high pace.
He has 3 variations of submission wins too. Arm triangle choke, a guillotine choke And also a rear naked choke.
As good as Adham is, I do feel like the experience of John Mitchell coming off a title-losing effort in the PFL and fighting a higher level of quality opponents would be the key difference. John Mitchell’s method of attack would probably be to stay on the outside and keep the fight standing to avoid the grappling threat of Adham.
Prediction: Split decision win for John Mitchell.
Eslam Syaha vs Dan Vinni
Eslam Syaha is very much a patient counterstriker who likes to control the centre of the ring and has been known to use his striking to set up takedowns.
When he is in top control, this is where he is at his most dangerous. He has excellent technique to maintain control and also has vicious ground and pound as well as a solid submission game, aiding him to finish fights quickly. A great example of this is his bout against Mohamad Ghorabi at BRAVE CF 48.
He is very physically strong too, and I believe he will be the stronger, more grappling-heavy opponent leading into his bout against veteran Dan Vinni.
Dan Vinni is a veteran, fighting in organizations such as Oktagon and UAE Warriors in the past, he has a well-rounded style. He is an excellent striker who implements distance management and is also fantastic at submissions too, even winning by heel hook in a previous bout.
His record of 24-18, makes him one of Eslam’s most experienced opponents.
As tough as Dan Vinni is, I feel like the youth of Eslam would shine through In this bout. Eslam has extremely explosive power in his hands, and good distance control and he for sure has a speed advantage too.
I also believe Dan Vinni coming off a TKO loss in his last fight, as well as the accumulation of damage in his 42-fight career makes for a bad combination against the sheer power of Eslam.
Prediction: Round 2 TKO for Eslam Syaha.
Make sure to stay tuned on May 4th for all the action straight out of Dubai with 971 FC.
HOW TO WATCH 971 FC
The event will be streamed LIVE on TRILLERTV.com
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