Jim Miller vs Vinc Pichel Prediction and Odds, UFC 252 Main Card
While everyone is focused on the other fight between two MMA veterans, there is another fight between two old-timers in the undercard finale for Saturday as Jim Miller will be taking on Vinc Pichel in this three round fight.
Miller is one of the most underappreciated fighters in the organization as he has been with the UFC since 2008 and he possesses a career 32-14 record so he has been very successful. Miller is now 36 yearsold anhe is still going strong as he enters this fight following an upset victory against Roosevelt Roberts in his last fight. In that fight, Miller was able to get Roberts into an armbar in the first round which caused his opponent to tap. Although the victory was a bit surprising, Miller’s method of victory was not as he has been a submission master over his entire career. More than half of his 32 career victories have come via submission so he is always a threat to put his opponent to sleep if he has the opportunity. Interestingly, each of Miller’s last four victories have come via first-round submission so he has not taken much time to take care of business in the octagon.
Miller’s opponent in this fight will be Vinc Pichel who has been quietly successful over the course of his career as he has won 12 of his first 14 fights. Pichel suffered his first career loss on the Ultimate Fighter 16 finale back in 2012 and he has looked sharp ever since. Pichel went undefeated for the next five years before losing to Gregor Gillespie via submission back in 2018. However, he managed to rally from that defeat by defeating Roosevelt Roberts back in June 2019. Now, Pichel will be looking to get himself another victory as a slight favorite in this matchup.
The main issue with Vinc Pichel is the fact that he is now 37 years old and he has not fought with the organization for over a full year so one cannot be sure just how sharp he is going to look in this fight. Pichel is a bit of a knockout specialist as 66% of his victories have come via knockout so the layoff and age are a bit concerning as his speed and timing might be a little bit off for this fight. However, he is also two inches taller than Miller so perhaps he can use that added length to connect early on in this fight to notch his ninth career knockout victory. If not, then he will at least need to use the height advantage to create some distance between his opponent on the feet because one can be certain that Miller will be looking to take this fight to the ground as quickly as possible.
As for my prediction on the fight, I am actually going to side with the underdog because I am concerned by Pichel’s layoff. Miller is a submission expert and he also fought this past June so I know that he will be sharp in this fight while I cannot say the same about the favorite. Plus, one of Pichel’s two losses have come via submission so his submission defense is not elite by any means. As a result, I think that Miller will be able to take this fight to the ground at some point before making Pichel tap out before the final bell.
Winner: Jim Miller by Submission