UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. Gastelum – Tony Gravely vs Anthony Birchak: Prelims Prediction and Analysis

Published 04/16/2021, 2:26 PM EDT

UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs Gastelum will see an important clash in the bantamweight division go down as Tony Gravely fights Anthony Birchak in the preliminary card. Both fighters will look to get a win and catapult themselves to the higher echelon of the division.

29-year-old Gravely has a professional record of 20-6. He has 11 finishes under his belt with 8 of them coming by T/KO and 3 by submission. This will be Gravely’s third appearance in the UFC. He won a split decision against Geraldo de Freitas Jr. in his last contest. Brett Johns submitted him in his UFC debut.

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Birchak on the other hand will make his second appearance inside the Octagon this weekend. He was submitted by Gustavo Lopez in his promotional debut. His professional record stands at 16-7. He has 13 finishes in his belt with 5 of them coming by T/KO and 8 by submission.

Tony Gravely vs Anthony Birchak: stats and analysis

Gravely is a very promising yet underrated contender in the bantamweight division. The 6 losses in his record might fool people into underestimating him. However, those have come against the likes of Ricky Bandejas, Merab Dvalishvili, Brett John, all of whom are high-level fighters. It only shows the confidence he possesses to take on those fighters earlier in his career.

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He has good grappling which he should look to use against Birchak. ‘El Toro‘ was submitted in his last fight but he has good awareness. So, it might be a tough task for Gravely to trap into a submission. But he should be able to overwhelm him with his solid all-round game and make him tired.

Eventually, he should be able to take advantage of a tired Birchak in the third round and finish him off with ground-and-pound registering a T/KO finishes to his name. Gravely deserves to be talked in the same breath as rising stars like Sean O’Malley. However, as mentioned prior his record disguises his prowess as a fighter. A win will certainly help his case prominent to the fans and the promotion.

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Final Prediction: Tony Gravely by third-round T/KO finish

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Written by:

Apratim Banerjee is an MMA author for EssentiallySports and has been writing professionally for almost a year. Before his current gig, Apratim worked as a UFC writer for Sportskeeda. A long-time MMA fan, Apratim has developed a critical eye for the sport that has helped him transfer his vast knowledge to his copies and give hardcore and casual readers a detailed insight into the fights and fighters.

UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. Gastelum – Tony Gravely vs Anthony Birchak: Prelims Prediction and Analysis

Tony Gravely vs Anthony Birchak: stats and analysis

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