UFC 270: Ngannou vs Gane- Rodolfo Vieira vs Wellington Turman: Prediction and Analysis

UFC will host its first pay-per-view event of 2022 at the Honda Center, Anaheim, California on January 22. While the night will see Ciryl Gane and Francis Ngannou fight to unify the UFC heavyweight titles, a middleweight bout between Wellington Turman and Rodolfo Vieira will kick off the main card.

Both middleweights are coming off a 1-1 record in 2021. Hence, the Brazilians will look to begin the new year with a bang and make the most of their maiden main card PPV appearance to get noticed.

UFC 270: Wellington Turman stats

Wellington Turman (17-5) is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu specialist who made his UFC debut back in 2019. The 25-year-old was on a two-fight losing skid since his first UFC win back in 2019. However, he returned to the win column in his last outing against Sam Alvey in 2021.

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA – JULY 12: Wellington Turman poses on the scale during the UFC Fight Night weigh-ins at Golden 1 Center on July 12, 2019 in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

The Brazilian lands 3.04 significant strikes per minute with a 47% striking accuracy. The orthodox fighter with a reach of 72″ stands tall at 6’0″. Turman will need to up his defense as he absorbs 3.96 significant strikes with a striking defense of 43%.

UFC 270: Rodolfo Vieira stats

Vieira, 32, is a former four-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion, who drifted to Mixed Martial Arts in 2018. The UFC signed the Brazilian back in 2019. Vieira started his UFC innings by submitting Oskar Piechota in the second round of their bout. The Brazilian will walk into the octagon with an 8-1-0 record.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – FEBRUARY 13: (R-L) Anthony Hernandez punches Rodolfo Vieira of Brazil in their middleweight fight during the UFC 258 event at UFC APEX on February 13, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

Notably, all of his UFC wins have come by the means of submissions and similarly, his only registered loss also came by submission. The Brazilian got his two-fight winning streak snapped by Anthony Hernandez via guillotine choke at UFC 258.

READ MORE- UFC 270: Ngannou vs Gane- Francis Ngannou vs Ciryl Gane: Prediction and Analysis

The 32-year-old orthodox fighter has a reach of 73″ and stands at a height of  6’0″. Rodolfo Vieira connects 2.60 per minute with a 49% significant strike rate. Vieira absorbs 4.04 strikes per minute whereas he deflects 57% of strikes his opponents try to land on him.

UFC 270- Rodolfo Vieira vs Wellington Turman: Analysis

Turman will walk into the octagon with a 1″ reach disadvantage against a foe who is a submission specialist. ‘The Black Belt Hunter’ has claimed 7/8 wins via submission and will look to do the same at UFC 270. However, ‘The Prodigy’ has a 100% takedown defense in the UFC and has never tapped. Moreover, the UFC striking stats are in his favor.

Hence, it appears Vieira will look to get this fight to the ground fast and use his takedown volume (averages 5.77 takedowns per 15 minutes) to test Turman’s defense and let his superior grappling skills come to the fore.

PREDICTION- Rodolfo Vieira wins by submission in the first round.

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