This Saturday Alex Morono (20-7, 9-4-1 UFC) will square off against Mickey Gall (7-3, 6-3 UFC). This welterweight dance will take place on the preliminary card of UFC Fight Night: Font vs. Aldo. Check out the latest MMASucka podcast where the guys breakdown the main event in more detail here:
Under the Radar: Morono vs. Gall
In an incredibly deep welterweight division, Alex Morono will enter the Octagon for the third time this year. Hot off a TKO victory of Donald Cerrone in May and a unanimous decision nod in September over David Zawada, 2021’s Morono may be the best we have ever seen. Mickey Gall, who bounced back into the win column with an incredibly impressive first-round submission victory over Jordan Williams in July, will look to make it two in a row at 170—something he has not done since 2016.
An In-Depth Look
Statistically, Morono is a headhunter. In 2021, nearly 80% of his landing strikes were upstairs and from a distance. Hypothetically, if Morono can keep the distance, this fight will resemble much of what Mickey Gall has struggled with in his fights that he has lost-striking.
Obviously, Gall is going to work to get to the ground. In all but one of his seven career wins, Gall has implemented his jiu-jitsu to secure rear-naked choke submissions. This means this is a classic striker vs. grappler matchup. This is not to say Morono is a fish out of water on the mat, as the 31-year old Texan has six submission victories to his name, but Gall is a multiple time NAGA World Champion and Grapplers Quest World Champion having a black belt in BJJ under David Adiv.
Keys to Victory-Alex Morono
For Alex Morono to get his hand raised Saturday night, “The Great White” will need to put Gall on his back foot. This will force Gall to shoot takedowns from a pressured position and potentially absorb punishment for his efforts. Morono will also need to mix it up. Headhunting will make him one dimensional and with Gall already thinking about the takedown, this will make his reads easier.
Keys to Victory-Mickey Gall
To earn a second straight victory inside the Octagon, Mickey Gall will need to earn some sort of respect on the feet. As every fight does, this fight will start standing up. Unless he immediately shoots a takedown (like Chimaev did against Jingliang), Gall will have to strike with Morono for at least some portion of time. Gall has never been particularly powerful but putting together something against Morono will be critical to gain some respect and make it easier for himself to work to secure a takedown.
Gall will also want to utilize lateral movement, like he did against Mike Perry, to thwart the forward aggression of Alex Morono.
Prediction
This will be a gritty fight and could be (call me crazy) one of the better fights of the night. Going the distance, Mickey Gall will earn an incredibly hard-fought unanimous decision victory.
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