Top Picks for UFC 265: Derrick Lewis vs. Ciryl Gane

We have yet again another spectacular PPV card in UFC 265: Derrick Lewis vs. Ciryl Gane. There are many fights with close calls, but there is one bout in particular that stands out to me the most on the preliminary cards. Read below to get my breakdown and pick for Alonzo Menifield vs. Ed Herman. 

Alonzo Menifield vs. Ed Herman

UFC Light Heavyweight Bout

Saturday, August 07, 2021 - 10:05 PM EDT at the Toyota Center in Houston, TX

Alonzo Menifield

Alonzo “Atomic” Menifield is an American mixed martial artist fighting out of Dallas, Texas. Menifield’s professional career began in 2015 at Bellator 146; he fought against Zach Rosol at his debut and won via TKO in the first round. 

Menifield then appeared on Dana White’s Contender Series in July 2017. He competed against Daniel Jolly and won via TKO in the first round. Fast forward to January 2019, Menifield then made his UFC debut against Vinicius Moreira and won via TKO in the first round. Of all his professional accomplishments, Menifield has achieved UFC Performance of the Night (one time) vs. Paul Craig.

Ed Herman

Ed “Short Fuse” Herman is an American mixed martial artist fighting out of Portland, Oregon. Having been a professional competitor since 2003, Herman made his promotional UFC debut in 2006 at the Ultimate Fighter 3 Finale and lost to Kendall Grove by unanimous decision. 

Herman fought under a few promotions throughout his entire professional career. He currently holds the longest uninterrupted tenure on the active UFC roster. Of all his professional MMA accomplishments, Herman has achieved: SportFight Light HEavyweight Championship (one time), the Ultimate Fighter 3 Middleweight Runner Up, UFC Fight of the Night (two times), UFC Knockout of the Night (one time), UFC Submission of the Night (two times), and UFC Performance of the Night (one time). 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J5EDkt01II&t=1s

Prediction

This is going to be a quick and exciting fight for sure. We have the long-time UFC veteran Ed Herman appearing in his last UFC bout, and we have a hot and rising Alonzo Menifield. The current for this matchup are: Alonzo Menifield -240 and Ed Herman +205 via BetOnline (Visit our Sportsbook Review). 

This is indeed Herman’s last UFC bout at 40 years old, and he is currently running his longest winning streak since 2012 at 3 fights. On paper, you can tell he is a submission artist since he has 14 out of 26 wins by submission. 

Menifield, on the other hand, is incredibly aggressive, powerful, and well-rounded. 8 out of his 10 wins have been by T/KO in the first round; all of his wins have been inside the distance. In his last fight against Fabio Cherant, Menifield submitted his opponent with 71 seconds in the first round. To top that off, he even knocked out the legendary Paul Craig in the first round. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFvDCD-f4Hk

Of Menifield’s recent losses, he lost to Devin Clark by unanimous decision and Ovince St. Preux by KO. I do not believe that Herman will have the same technicality as Clark or the same knockout power as OSP. 

Herman’s path to victory would be on the ground, or in the clinch to wear down Menifield with his knees. However, Menifield has great takedown defense and I don’t think Herman will be able to beat his aggression. Menifield is hungry and is going to come out hot to finish Herman, just like the rest of all his wins. Since Menifield has juiced odds at -240, I’m taking the value in the MMA Props. UFC Pick: (Visit our Sportsbook Review)