UFC 242 Predictions

There was a point in time when Curtis Blaydes looked like a shoe-in for a heavyweight title shot. Impressive wins over Alistair Overeem, Mark Hunt and Aleksei Oleinik made him a top contender, but a knockout loss in his rematch with Francis Ngannou put a halt to his momentum.

However, after beating Justin Willis in March, Blaydes will be hoping to begin another run towards the belt. He'll have a tough test against veteran heavyweight Shamil Abdurakhimov, who has also had some impressive showings inside the Octagon. The 37-year old is on a three-fight win streak, where he's beaten Chase Sherman, Marcin Tybura and former UFC heavyweight champion, Andrei Arlovski.

While this is certainly impressive, Blaydes is a much better fighter overall. His wrestling allows him to not only get the fight to the ground when it's needed, but should allow him to control Abdurakhimov for large portions of their bout.

Blaydes striking has also improved significantly. He isn't just throwing wild overhand rights and praying that they land on his opponent's chin. He's actually using it to set-up his wrestling, and vice-versa, which makes him a far more dangerous and unpredictable opponent than he was when he first arrived in the UFC. His ability to wrestle will be a major part of his success and should earn him a unanimous decision victory.