Brian Stann had an unexpected career resurgence after a drop down to middleweight, and a big knockout over Chris Leben in the beginning of 2011. He emerged a serious contender with another big knockout over Jorge Santiago, leading to a contender eliminator with Chael Sonnen. Unfortunately for Stann, he was no match for the elite wrestler that is Sonnen, as his opponent easily took Stann to the ground en route to a second round submission loss. Now, Stann is making his return and is hoping to rebound with another impressive victory.
Brian Stann vs Alessio Sakara Odds;
Stann – (-400) @ Bovada.Lv [Favourite]
Sakara – (+300) @ Bovada.Lv
Like Stann, Alessio Sakara has also seen an improved career with a drop to middleweight, although his career in the last few years has been plagued with injuries. Multiple fights with Jorge Rivera fell through, and he’s only fought once a year since 2009. Most recently he was dominated by Chris Weidman on the ground for three rounds, however Weidman has emerged as a top contender, and given the stylistic differences between Stann and Weidman, it’s really hard to hold this against Sakara.
Stystlically, it’s tough to imagine this fight going any other way than the two engaging in a boxing match. Neither has ever really looked to score takedowns, and it’s hard to imagine that either will have improved their wrestling sufficiently to score takedowns.
In terms of striking, Stann has arguably looked a lot better. He hasn’t shown any chin issues since being knocked out by Steve Cantwell ages ago, and has fairly easily outstruck his opponents. Further, against Leben and Santiago he’s shown a ton of power. Again, the big hole for Stann is his ground game which was evident against Mike Massenzio and Chael Sonnen, however given Stann has likely improved and the fact that Sakara has never looked to bring things to the ground, this shouldn’t be an issue.
Sakara put together three straight wins before losing to Weidman, although none were truly impressive. James Irvin had an awful weight cut, Joe Vedepo has never been a top fighter, and most considered his uneventful fight with Thales Leites to be wrongly decided. Regardless, he has shown a decent amount of power in his fights, and despite his reputation as being an accomplished boxer, it’s questionably about how high his technical ability is.
The Brian Stann vs Alessio Sakara betting prediction is that the two engage in a boxing contest with Stann getting the better of it, eventually knocking Sakara out. Whether you’re willing to play Stann at the -400 price is a separate matter. Stann did outstrike Santiago who would probably be favored over Sakara, and so one has to think Stann takes this, but you should never be happy with playing a -400 line. Regardless, one has to think Stann comes through, and I’ll play Stann tiny at -400, as him winning just seems like a formality.
Brian Stann vs Alessio Sakara Betting Odds Conclusion: One has to think Stann wins a boxing match, but at -400, you can only play it tiny.
Latest Brian Stann vs Alessio Sakara Betting Odds;
