The protagonists of Noche UFC , Diego Lopes and Jean Silva, generate great curiosity among fans and experts when it comes to who will be the winner of the anticipated confrontation scheduled for this Saturday (13). Despite being considered a big underdog by bookmakers, the man from Manaus is not ruled out in many opinions.
Invited to give an exclusive interview to SUPER LUTAS , Bruno Souza , who has already simulated two of Jean's opponents and helped the nerd prepare for fights in the past, set aside any bias and guaranteed that the duel is much more balanced than the odds suggest. Currently, Diego is the underdog by a margin of 3 to 1.
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“It’s difficult to pick a favorite because there are many factors: Diego has the best grappling, theoretically. I’ve never trained with Diego, but from what we see of his fights – and when I say grappling, I don’t mean control and submission, but his game as a whole, takedowns, control, positioning, and submissions. Jean is very good, but he never needed to prove it. He defended Bryce Mitchell ’s takedowns and submitted him, but on paper, Diego has the best grappling.”
“But on the other hand, Jean has a better stand-up game, better movement, better timing to get in and out, he knows how to play more on his feet, while Diego likes to fight, for the guy to stand up to him and exchange blows (…) you saw Diego hunting (Alexander) Volkanovski a lot and not cutting him off, following him, going after him and that's all we want, because if the guy is following me, it's because I'm in front, I'm leading”, he stated.
Bruno Souza (left) helped Jean Silva prepare for UFC Seattle . Photo: Reproduction/Instagram @brunosouzamma
'Jean Volkanovski' x 'Diego Ankalaev'
Following his statement, Bruno indicated that a possible successful strategy for Jean could be to imitate what the reigning champion did against the Manaus native. And that Lopes should take inspiration from Ankalaev to try to confuse his compatriot.
"I believe the path for Jean is very similar to the one for Volkanovksi. Only, I think Jean has a bit more knockout power. For Diego, it would be not necessarily using grappling, because I think Jean has good takedown defense, a very low center of gravity, he's a shorter guy, and he's harder to take down. But perhaps mixing up more moves, going for takedowns, making him think about the takedown, exchanging a bit. Very similar to what (Magomed) Ankalaev did with Poatan. Ankalaev wasn't necessarily trying to take him down; if he had the takedown, he would have gotten it, but he didn't need the takedown to win."
"So I think that, since Diego theoretically has the best grappling, he can use that to his advantage. Jean, on the other hand, would ideally do what Volka did with Diego," he concluded.
Jean Silva (left) and Diego Lopes (right) face off at Noche UFC . Photo: Reproduction/Montage SUPER LUTAS
Scheduled to face each other this Saturday (13), Diego and Jean could settle their differences in the main fight of Noche UFC . Determined to leave with his arm raised, Lord promises to knock out his rival and become the next champion of the featherweight division.
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