Sports Reporter | Capper
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It's almost time for Noche UFC this weekend and what a treat the UFC has for the fight fans come Saturday night live from the Las Vegas Sphere.
On the main card, we have a fight in the lightweight division between Mexico's Daniel Zellhuber and Argentina's Esteban Ribovics.
These two surging lightweights will be looking to steal the show at Noche UFC when they get locked in the Octagon on Saturday night and with that said, let's take a look at our Zellhuber-Ribovics prediction and pick.
Daniel Zellhuber (15-1) secured his contract in 2021 with a dominant performance against Lucas Almeida on the Contender Series. Unfortunately, that wasn't long-lived as he dropped his UFC debut against Trey Ogden. However, since that loss, Zellhuber has won three straight and is on the brink of a ranking next to his name.
Zellhuber is tall and long for the lightweight division standing in at 6'1" with a 77" reach which would give him 3" of height and 8" of reach on Esteban Ribovics.
He utilizes his length very well with a piston of a jab-straight combination and his leg kicks to keep his opponents at the end of his strikes.
Going up against a boxer-type brawler like Ribovics will put it to good use. He will be able to counter Ribovics as he attempts to be the aggressor in this fight.
Zellhuber also has a very underrated grappling game that he has been working on ever since he moved to Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. Expect him to mix it up on the feet and on the mat in this one just outworking Ribovics to get his hand raised and his 4th win in a row.
Esteban Ribvoics came into his fight on the Contender Series undefeated at 10-0 with all 10 wins coming by finish. He was able to secure his contract after a brutal beatdown of Thomas Paull on the Contender Series that lasted just 90 seconds.
Unfortunately, Ribovics dropped a hard-fought decision against in his UFC debut to Loik Radzhabov but has since won each of his next two fights coming off a brutal head-kick knockout of Terrance McKinney.
Ribovics is a brawler at heart and loves to throw down whoever is willing to stand and trade with him in the center of the Octagon.
He has crisp combinations that he mixes up from the head to the body and the legs, always giving his opponent something to worry about.
In this matchup against Zellhuber, he is going to be the smaller fighter so he will need to do a good job at chopping the lead leg of Zellhuber which will make him a stationary target.
From there he can use his feints to get on the inside of the 8" reach advantage Zellhuber has and once he gets into boxing range he has to let his hands go.
We have seen Zellhuber get hit in the past and if Ribovics lands clean he puts his opponents down. Expect this fight to be a barnburner where if Ribovics lands flush he can come away with the big knockout victory this weekend at Noche UFC.
This fight should be an absolute barnburner between these two lightweight prospects. Expect this fight to be an absolute brawl but it will be the technical striking and the length of Zellhuber that is going to cause problems for Ribovics much like it did for Francisco Prado as Zellhuber utilizes his range to pick Ribovics apart and come away with the unanimous decision at Noche UFC.
FINAL ZELLHUBER-RIBOVICS PICK & PREDICTION: DANIEL ZELLHUBER (-225)
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