Aaron Simpson entered the UFC with a bit of hype owing to his wrestling credentials and WEC success, and made good on his debut with a dominant win over Ed Herman. His next fight however would see Simpson see big trouble against Tom Lawlor in a fight he narrowly won, and Simpson would follow that up with two losses, including a bit upset loss to Chris Leben. Since then however, Simpson has gone a flawless 3-0, and he really has fought flawlessly. He won very conservative decisions against Brad Tavares and Mario Miranda using his wrestling, and he most recently easily outstruck Eric Schafer.
Current Aaron Simpson vs Ronny Markes Odds;
Simpson – (Evens) @ Bovada.Lv
Markes – (-120) @ Bovada.Lv
Ronny Markes entered the UFC with a tiny bit of hype owing primarily to his win over MMA enigma Paulo Filho. His debut however would see him take on the super hyped Karlos Vemola, which saw Markes stop the Vemola train dead in its tracks. In the fight, Markes easily negated, and outwrestled Vemola for three rounds en route to a clear decision. Surprisingly, after the fight Markes would announce he was dropping down to middleweight, and this will be his divisional debut.
In attempting to cap this fight the primary difficulty has been to gauge Markes’ striking. In virtually all of his MMA fights, he has relied on his wrestling to control his opponents, and his wrestling is unquestionably very good. However, against Simpson, he will unquestionably be going up against the best wrestler and athlete that he has faced so far in his MMA career.
Really, this fight can go several ways. Either Markes will look to impose his wrestling and be successful, Simpson will look to impose his wrestling and be successful, or the two will engage in a standing battle. In terms of boxing, Simpson has looked good, but not great. He dominated Eric Schafer, however that’s not saying a lot. Markes on the other hand trains with Nova Uniao which is known for several great strikers including Jose Aldo, and so one has to think he’s competent.
The Aaron Simpson vs Ronny Markes prediction is that the two engage in an absolute war, with Simpson narrowly defeating the Brazilian. Markes is likely going to hold a cardio edge, and his youth won’t hurt him either. However, Simpson was very competitive against Mark Munoz, the loss to Leben was a result of poor gameplanning, and he’s since looked fantastic in his last three bouts. Personally, I agree with the initial line that Simpson should probably get the nod, and so at the new Evens price, I think a tiny play is warranted.
Conclusion: This should be a war, but Simpson’s just fought flawlessly in his last three fights, and his opponent hasn’t yet faced someone of his calibur. At Evens, you can play Simpson tiny. Bet 1 Unit on Simpson to win 1 Unit.
