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VICTORY FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIPS 49 PREVIEW & PREDICTIONS

By David Tees on 3/31/2016 7:46 PM

The third effort for the Victory Fighting Championships on UFC Fight Pass will be taking place this Friday Night with a loaded card. The event will be headlined by a welterweight division fight as Dakota Cochrane faces Valdir Araujo. Also, Rob Emerson faces Alonzo Martinez and several other top MMA prospects will be stepping into the cage.

Main Event

VFC Welterweight Division Fight

Dakota Cochrane (23-9-0) vs. Valdir “BB Monstro” Araujo (15-6-0)

Cochrane will enter the fight riding a five fight winning streak, which includes a win over UFC veteran Jake Lindsey at Victory FC 47. Araujo has only won just one of his last three fights, with that lone win coming over Victor Moreno at a Gladiator MMA event. Cochrane did compete a total of six times in 2015, winning four of six fights during the course of that year. Araujo is a veteran of many top MMA promotions like Bellator MMA, World Series Of Fighting and the Championship Fighting Alliance. These are two fighters who are good wherever the fight goes, but Cochrane is on a great roll right now and he earns a narrow decision over Araujo.

Co-Main Event

VFC Lightweight Division Fight

Robert “The Saint” Emerson (16-11-0-1NC) vs. Alonzo “Zo Diddy” Martinez (39-19-1)

Emerson will be returning to the action for the first time in nearly two years and he is a veteran of UFC competition. Martinez has won three of four fights under the Victory FC banner, but he does enter this fight on a two fight losing streak. Emerson did win two of three fights while competing in Bellator MMA, most notably defeating Joe Taimanglo at Bellator 116. This will be Martinez’s second fight in less than three month’s time, his last bout came in January at Victory FC 47. Emerson will be looking to turn the fight into a brawl, but Martinez has an amazing ground game and he submits the UFC veteran in the second.

VFC Middleweight Division Fight

Rakim Cleveland (12-7-1) vs. Brian “B-Hue” Houston (4-5-0)

Cleveland will enter the fight riding a three fight winning streak and he once challenged for the Midwest Cage Championships Middleweight Title. Houston will enter the fight riding a five fight losing streak and he has not earned a victory in nearly three years. Houston is far from the fighter he once was a few years back, Cleveland finishes him with strikes in the first.

VFC Welterweight Division Fight

Andrews Nakahara (4-2-2) vs. Maki Pitolo (5-2-0)

Nakahara will be competing for the first time in three years and he has not earned a victory himself in nearly four years. Pitolo will enter the fight riding a four fight winning streak and he will be returning to action after a one year absence. Nakahara’s MMA game is very suspect in his long absence, but Pitolo’s is not nothing to write home about, Pitolo wins a boring contest by decision.

VFC Bantamweight Division Fight

William “The Armadillo” Joplin (13-11-0) vs. Raufeon Stots (4-0-0)

Joplin has won four of his last five fights and this fight will be marking his Victory Fighting Championships debut. Stots is the only fighter competing at this event to fight as both an amateur and as a professional fighter in Victory FC. Joplin has a huge experience advantage when compared to Stots, he uses that experience too grind out a decision win over Stots.

VFC Welterweight Division Fight

Jeremiah Denson (1-1-0) vs. Duane Johnson (0-0-0)

Denson will be returning to action for the first time in nearly two years and this fight will mark his Victory FC debut. Johnson will be making his professional MMA debut in this fight and he did win five fights as an amateur. Johnson has had an amazing run during his time as an amateur, he will start of his pro career with a win as he finishes Denson in the first.

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