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Contender Series Week 10: Ramon Tavares vs. Cortavious Romious continues with a fight in the lightweight division when Marquel Medereos and Issa Isakov square off. Mederos is coming off five consecutive victories with three of them coming by knockout meanwhile, Issakov is riding a four-fight win streak with three of those four coming inside the distance. With that said, check out our UFC odds series for our Mederos-Isakov prediction and pick.
Marquel Mederos (7-1) is a lightweight prospect who trains out of Colorado at Factor X Muay Thai with a plethora of UFC talent like Anthony Smith, Dustin Jacoby, and Brandon Royval just to name a few. His most recent win was a 53-second knockout in the very first round at Fury Fighting Championship 80 back in June. Mederos will be looking for his sixth knockout victory as he takes on Issa Isakov at this week's episode of the Contender Series.
Issa Isakov (10-2) is a former Brave CF lightweight and welterweight contender who has won 10 of his 12 professional bouts with six of them coming by way of knockout or TKO. Isakov is a very good grappler with brutal ground-and-pound abilities which should be his gameplan coming into this fight against a striking-oriented fighter in Marquel Mederos this week on the Contender Series.
Here are the Contender Series UFC Odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
UFC Contender Series Odds: Marquel Mederos-Issa Isakov Odds
Marquel Mederos: +148
Issa Isakov: -190
How to Watch Marquel Mederos vs. Issa Isakov
TV: ESPN+
Stream: ESPN+
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET/ 5:00 p.m. PT
*Watch sports LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
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Why Marquel Mederos Will Win
Marquel Mederos is a lightweight prospect that trains out of Factor X Muay Thai in Englewood, Colorado with a great caste of training partners. He is a 7-1 professional fighter with five of his seven wins coming by knockout. He is very fast and technical on the feet and has quite an advantage on the feet at range. It's apparent when you watch the tape that Mederos is the far more advanced striker.
His opponent on the other hand, Issa Isakov, is a powerful lightweight who has heavy hands so when he connects his opponents feel it. He utilizes those heavy hands to close the distance and take the fight to the mat where he has dominated numerous opponents with his vicious ground and pound and submission game. This just comes down to whether or not he can survive the early onslaught of Isakov and make him work for those takedowns. Being that he hasn't fought at 155 lbs since 2020, if he goes to grapple early and doesn't get the finish he may gas out in the later rounds and that's when Mederos can take over and add another knockout win to his resume.
Why Issa Isakov Will Win
Issa Isakov is a former Brave CF welterweight competitor who is currently riding a four-fight win streak where three of those four wins have come inside the distance. Isakov is quite built for 155 lbs and has quite a bit of a size advantage against Marquel Mederos in this fight. That strength advantage will be imperative in his takedown attempts where he should be able to muscle Mederos to the mat.
Mederos while is a skilled fighter everywhere if there was a weakness to his game it certainly would be his grappling. That is where Isakov will have the biggest advantage and anytime this fight stays on the feet and at range, Mederos will be landing at will. If Isakov can navigate the fast movement and quick attacks of Mederos and get to his legs he can take him down and dominate him on the mat to get a potential UFC contract.
Final Marquel Mederos-Issa Isakov Prediction & Pick
This should be a classic grappler vs. striker matchup in the lightweight division. While both can do it all we know that was glaringly better than the other in each discipline. Issa Isakov has a massive advantage in grappling that he could potentially find the finish early if he lands the takedown with little to no effort at all. On the flip side, if Mederos is able to fend off the takedowns or just make Isakov work as he gets back to his feet then Mederos can really put it on Isakov on the feet down the stretch. There just seems to be more to offer for Mederos in this matchup. While he probably will get taken down but he is good enough in his scrambles to get back to his feet and seeing it that Isakov hasn't even remotely attempted to make 155 in three years there is a good chance it could be a detriment to his cardio the later this fight goes. Ultimately, Isakov comes out and dominates round one with his grappling but then he slows down mightily in round two and then Mederos slowly takes over and finishes Isakov late with strikes.
Final Marquel Mederos-Issa Isakov Prediction & Pick: Marquel Mederos (+148)
