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 DFC 43 Brown vs. Karlsson is coming on the 16th featuring a Main Event Heavyweight title fight and the debut of the 25 year old openweight division. The big boys are gathering at Hard Knocks London.
Sirkillem All vs Master Chief - Openweight
Both fighters come in at 265 pounds but All has a significant height advantage over Chief. Chief is an accomplished wrestler while All is more balanced. Look for All to try to slug this one out standing and Chief to go for the takedown right away.
Li vs Barrow - Openweight
All the openweight fighters are making their pro debuts and this one should be an interesting matchup. Li is ten centimeters shorter and 75 pounds heavier than Barrow. Barrow is a Muay Thai specialist who will rely on his wrestling to stay out of trouble as Li is a BJJ brown belt.
Bounds vs Johnson - Openweight
Bounds is a very big tall fighter at 210 cm and 300 pounds, while Johnson comes in at 188 cm and 290 pounds. Both fighters are skilled boxers with some wrestling and if this one stays standing the big height advantage of Bounds could be an advantage.
Paschal vs. Orez - Openweight
Paschal has very good size at 195 cm and 300 pounds while Orez is powerfully built at only 175 cm and 265 pounds. Paschal is a talented wrestler who will likely want this one on the ground early. Orez is a Muay Thai specialist who has some wrestling in his background and may want to clinch.
Stroker vs Electra - Openweight
Both fighters are close in height with Stroker measuring 196 and Electra 195 but Stroker is 25 pounds heavier at 260 lbs. Stroker is also a Muay Thai specialist with some wrestling skills. Electra will likely try to get this to the ground right away to make use of his BJJ brown belt.
Richards vs Weston - Lightweight
One of only two fights on the night that features smaller fighters is this matchup of two young lightweights. Richards is sitting at a respectable 3-3 in DFC competition. His last win was at DFC 36 where he scored an impressive KO of Tommy Diaz. He lost in DFC 40 to Schindler by submission at the end of round 1. Weston is also split in his DFC fights but at 1-1. He won his DFC debut in DFC 33 by submission over Thacker, but was submitted himself in his last fight by Destroyer early in round one.
Weston is a BJJ purple belt who likes to get the fight to the ground early and win the fight by submission but will also mixing in some ground strikes. Richards is a very talented stand up fighter especially in Muay Thai who seems to prefer to keep the fight on the outside with a mix of kicks and punches. Richards is a bit vulnerable on the ground if Weston can get the fight there, but that won't be easy.
Swanson vs De Leon - Heavyweight
Despite going into only his sixth career fight Swanson is 29 years old. His last fight was also his only loss as he dropped a unanimous decision to Karlsson at DFC 37. Swanson is a very talented wrestler who also has some boxing experience. De Leon is an undefeated 21 year old making his DFC debut from the BHFC. All four of his fights ended on the mat by pounding his opponent into dust. Both fighters weighed in at the limit but Swanson is 8 cm shorter.
This is a very interesting matchup of strength vs strength as both are very talented wrestlers and prefer the ground and pound. Swanson does seem to have an advantage if the fight spends any time standing, but on the ground it is power vs power.
Ozawa vs Nero - Featherweight
Nero is 12 cm taller than Ozawa and both fighters are entering their 11th career fight with impressive records. Ozawa at 7-3 lost his first two career fights but then followed that with a five fight win streak. His only recent loss came in DFC 29 when he was KOed early in the second round by Cruz. Of course his last win was over Nero in DFC 39 by a split decision that forced tonights rematch. Nero won his first seven career fights before running into difficulties. He lost in DFC 27 by arm triangle and is looking to avenge the split decision loss in his last fight.
In the last fight Ozawa continued to take the fight in and out of the clinch and he scored many of his points in the clinch by being far more active. Nero was effective from the outside and he was able to take the fight to the ground once, but did not do a lot of damage while there.
Co-Main Event - Troeman vs Khan - Heavyweight
Both fighter are close in height with Troeman having a 3 cm advantage. Troeman is coming in at the 265 pound limit while Khan is 238. Troeman is making his DFC debut and comes in at 6-3. He is 2-2 in his last four fights dropping two of those four by TKO for cuts and also winning one by TKO for cuts and adding a unanimous decision. Khan comes in at 7-3 and is also 2-2 over his last four fights. His last fight was the main event of DFC 35 where he lost by first round KO to Brown. All of his last four fights ended by KO, but Khans two wins came by pounding out his opponent on the ground.
Troeman prefers to keep the fight on the outside and mix kicks and punches to slug it out. Khan prefers to take the fight to the ground and slug it out there. Both fighters have enough all around skill to hold their own standing or on the ground but this one will likely be decided by who can get the fight where they want it.
Main Event - Brown vs Karlsson - Heavyweight Title
Karlsson is the much bigger fighter needing to cut significant weight to make 265 he is also 11 cm taller. Brown comes in at a relatively slim 245. Brown is of course the reigning Heavyweight Champion. He won the title over Bisping at DFC 22 and has defended it successfully five times since. He has not lost a fight since his DFC debut at DFC 19 and all of his DFC fights have ended early by strikes. Karlsson is in his third DFC fight and has only one DFC loss but it is to Brown. Karlsson took Brown into the third round before being KOed in the clinch.
That is the part of the puzzle Karlsson may have to figure out if he wants to unseat Brown. Karlsson has the weapons to score the upset with good boxing, wrestling and BJJ but Brown is much more experienced in Muay Thai and that made the difference last fight.
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