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Contender Series Week 3: Andrey Pulyaev vs. Liam Anderson continues with a fight in the middleweight division between Marco Tulio and Matthieu Duclos. Tulio comes into his second appearance on the Contender Series with a blistering knockout in his last fight while winning each of his last seven fights meanwhile, Duclos is currently riding a four-fight winning streak as he makes his Contender Series debut. With that said, check out our UFC odds series for our Tulio-Duclos prediction and pick.
Marco Tulio (11-1) got his chance on last season of the Contender Series against kickboxing standout Yousri Belgaroui where he outworked him in the grappling to a dominant decision but ultimately didn't get a contract. After a brutal second-round knockout in his next fight, he got the call to fight on the Contender Series for a second time this season. Tulio will be looking to make a good second impression when he takes on Matthieu Duclos this Tuesday night.
Matthieu Duclos (13-2) is now riding a four-fight winning streak with all four wins coming by KO/TKO which ultimately got him the call to fight on the Contender Series this season. Duclos will be looking to continue his knockout streak alive when he takes on Contender Series alumni Marco Tulio this Tuesday night.
Here are the Contender Series UFC Odds, courtesy of DraftKings.
UFC Contender Series Odds: Marco Tulio-Matthieu Duclos Odds
Marco Tulio: -475
Matthieu Duclos: +325
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Why Marco Tulio Will Win
Marco Tulio got his first shot on the Contender Series last season when he went up against highly decorated kickboxer Yousri Belgaroui who he outworked to a unanimous decision victory but ultimately didn't get the contract. After going back to the regional scene and getting a one-hit knockout in round two, the UFC gave him a second chance on this season of the Contender Series. He hopes the second time is the charm when he takes on France's Matthieu Duclos this Tuesday night to secure his UFC contract.
Tulio did what he had to do against a dangerous kickboxer who had a massive height and reach advantage over him and that was to use his grappling to control him throughout the fight and get the win on the judge's scorecards. We can expect a much more aggressive Tulio in this fight as we saw in his most recent fight for LFA where he is going to come out aggressive looking to push the pace and land some heavy kicks and punches on Duclos. However, Duclos is a seasoned striker and that will be a lot easier said than done. Tulio will have to refrain from being reckless on the feet and be cautious about just having an all-out brawl in this one. If Tulio can use his feints to get in on the inside to land his strikes and then use his grappling where he has a sizable advantage over Duclos he can extend his winning streak to eight wins in a row with the hope of getting the illustrious UFC contract.
Why Matthieu Duclos Will Win
Mattheiu Duclos is the winner of four straight fights all of which did not see the judge's scorecards in the end. His last fight was quite bizarre even though it resulted in a TKO win for Duclos. There were grappling exchanges early in his fight against Alexis Fontes where Duclos was fending off a leg lock attempt and as he was making his way back to his feet it might have looked like he got poked in the eye. Fontes called stop due to the eye poke and the referee took that as if the fight is over so the fight ended and instead of it ending in a No Contest it resulted in a TKO victory for Duclos via eye injury. Nonetheless, Duclos is 6-2 in his professional career with 5 of those 6 wins coming by KO/TKO and he will be looking to add to his resume when he takes on Marco Tulio on Tuesday night to secure his contract in the UFC.
Duclos does a great job at distance landing his devastating leg kicks and punches which have a ton of power behind them. His distance management will serve him well against a pressure fighter like Tulio who will be looking to bring the fight to Duclos right from the opening bell. Duclos is definitely the more technical striker and he will need to make this a technical kickboxing affair and by doing that it will throw Tulio off of his game. As long as Duclos can utilize his movement and keep this fight standing he has a chance to land another devastating knockout to get the win and the UFC contract.
Final Marco Tulio-Matthieu Duclos Prediction & Pick
This should be an absolute barnburner between these two middleweights for however long it lasts. Ultimately, Marco Tulio should be the one who gets the better of the exchanges on the feet and with his grappling edge he also should be the one who lands takedowns and dominates Duclos until he lands something flush getting him out of there and securing his win and his spot on the UFC roster.
Final Marco Tulio-Matthieu Duclos Prediction & Pick: Marco Tulio (-475)
