UFC 295: Jiri Prochazka vs. Alex Pereira continues on the prelims with a fight in a catchweight bout between John Castaneda and Kyung Ho Kang. Castaneda is coming off his third win inside the octagon with a dominant performance against Muin Gafurov meanwhile, Kang coming off back-to-back victories with his most recent victory being a first-round submission over Cristian Quinonez. With that said, check out our UFC odds series for our Castaneda-Kang prediction and pick.
John Castaneda (20-6) got back on track after suffering his second defeat inside the octagon when he dominated Muin Gafurov over the course of 15 minutes to win a unanimous decision. His ability to mix in the takedowns with his striking kept Gafurov guessing throughout the fight and that same type of gameplan will serve him well as he comes into his highest-profile matchup this weekend at UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden.
Kyung Ho Kang (19-9) is coming into his 13th fight inside the octagon winning five out of his last six fights. He most recently dominated up-and-coming prospect Cristian Quinonez submitting him with relative ease in round one. Now, Kang gets another up-and-coming prospect who’s looking to make a name off of him when he takes on John Castaneda this weekend at UFC 295.
Here are the UFC Odds, courtesy of DraftKings.
UFC 295 Odds: John Castaneda-Kyung Ho Kang Odds
John Castaneda: -135
Kyung Ho Kang: +114
Over 2.5 Rounds: -210
Under 2.5 Rounds: +160
How to Watch John Castaneda vs. Kyung Ho Kang
TV: ESPN+
Stream: ESPN+
Time: 6:00 p.m. ET/ 3:00 p.m. PT (Prelims)
Why John Castaneda Will Win
John Castaneda is starting to come into his own winning three out of his last four fights inside the octagon. He has showcased his well-rounded skillset during his last three wins with two of his last three wins coming by way of finish with one knockout and one submission a piece.
Castaneda has power in his hands for bantamweight having a knockdown recorded in each of his last four fights. His opponent Kyung Ho Kang is a grappler by trade and will be looking to take this fight to the mat early and often to get his hand raised. If Castaneda can use his defensive grappling to keep this fight standing, he should have the power advantage to land another knockdown and potentially put him away to get his second win in a row.
Why Kyung Ho Kang Will Win
Kyung Ho Kang is now 36 years old and has been in the UFC since 2013 but it seems like this man never gets old. He has amassed an 8-3-1 UFC record over those 10 years with his last two losses only coming against ranked opposition. Kang is an exceptional grappler who has 12 submission victories on his resume as he comes into this matchup against the well-rounded John Castaneda.
A lot of people count out Kang because of his age and his inability to really wow everyone when he is in the octagon. However, he goes out there and gets the win many more times than not when people count him out. His grappling has been the equalizer to most who have been better strikers and just better fighters than he is. That is what could ultimately be the equalizer yet again in this matchup. If he is able to stifle Castaneda’s forward pressure and heavy-handed strikes with his wrestling and ground game, he can keep his winning ways going this weekend at UFC 295.
Final John Castaneda-Kyung Ho Kang Prediction & Pick
This fight was supposed to be contested at 135 pounds but it has been reported that this fight will now be at a catchweight of 138 pounds. It’s not certain which party requested this but nonetheless, here we are. This should indeed help Castaneda who seems to be the one who cuts more weight to make the bantamweight limit. That would conserve his energy not draining his body to make the weight and should also serve as an advantahe when needing to keep the fight on the feet. As long as Castaneda isn’t coming into this fight with a pre-existing injury he could run away with this feet barring he can keep this fight on his feet.
Ultimately, Castaneda goes in there and tries to replicate the same success he had against Muin Gafurov where he was able to stay on his front foot applying the pressure and hammering Kang with heavy shots and defending the takedown attempts of Kang to outstrike him at distance for another unanimous decision victory.
Final John Castaneda-Kyung Ho Kang Prediction & Pick: John Castaneda (-135), Over 2.5 Rounds (-210)
Follow Us
Subscribe