Off the bat, I’ll just call it out and say that I think Riley dominates this fight with experience, strength and a better overall game.

Just from the analytical stand-point, unless McKenzie can somehow outsmart Aaron, grab his neck and slap on one of his infamous guillotine chokes, he has little chance of taking out the crafty MMA veteran.

Riley is a journey man at best, but he has a wealth of experience in the sport and that experience will carry him a long way in this fight. He is durable and strong and even though he is coming off of a loss to Tony Ferguson (doctor stoppage via broken Jaw) he is still a guy who can make it a fight against anyone in the game today. Additionally, he hasn’t dropped two consecutive contests since 2007 so you can look for him to come into this fight hungry for a win.

McKenzie started out his career with an incredible 12-fight unbeaten streak, eleven of which he won with that “infamous guillotine” choke I was talking about earlier. He took to the Ultimate Fighter house to earn his way into the UFC, made it to the quarterfinals but hit a road block in the form of featherweight fighter Nam Phan and was stopped with punches.

While he may have won his UFC debut over “one and done” UFC fighter Aaron Wilkinson, his unbeaten pro-record was stopped by his next UFC opponent and he followed that up with a second loss in the promotion as well. (Both by submission)

The submission artist has now dropped his last two-fights by none other than RNC’s (chokes) and has proven that being a one-trick pony doesn’t always pay off when fighting the world’s best.

Again, this is Riley’s fight to lose, he knows he has to stay out of the choke of McKenzie and I am sure he will be working on that and drilling the defense until he steps in the cage.

Read More: UFC on FUEL TV, Brad Tavares (News), Dongi Yang (News), Cody McKenzie (News), Aaron Riley (News)

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