App Trigger
Fansided

UFC 4 predicts winners of UFC 252: Miocic-Cormier, O’Malley-Vera

By Matthew Liebl

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - AUGUST 14: In this handout image provided by UFC, (L-R) Opponents Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier face off during the UFC 252 weigh-in at UFC APEX on August 14, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - AUGUST 14: In this handout image provided by UFC, (L-R) Opponents Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier face off during the UFC 252 weigh-in at UFC APEX on August 14, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

We use EA Sports UFC 4 to predict the winners of the UFC 252 pay per view event.

Tonight’s UFC 252 pay per view marks the first event to be held since the release of EA Sports UFC 4. The card features some very exciting matchups, including a trilogy bout between Daniel Cormier, the former heavyweight champion, and Stipe Miocic, the current heavyweight champion. The co-main event also stars up-and-coming bantamweight Sean O’Malley against Marlon Vera.

Ahead of the big event, we decided to simulate the matches in UFC 4 to see who the game predicts will come out on top.

Daniel Cormier def. Stipe Miocic by KO/TKO at 3:52 of Round 4

In what is likely Daniel Cormier’s final fight, EA Sports UFC 4 predicts the double champ will go out with a win and reclaim the UFC heavyweight title. In the simulation, Cormier absolutely dominated Miocic in all aspects of the fight, scoring multiple takedowns and using the ground-and-pound to whittle away at the champion.

Cormier would mix in submission attempts but it was the heavy shots that seemed to cause the most damage. Miocic was stunned and knocked down multiple times throughout the fight, but showed tremendous heart in getting back up. However, it was an elbow in the clinch in round four that finally ended it all, sending Miocic to the canvas for good.

Final stats for the fight included a total of five knockdowns for Cormier and four “stunned/wobbled” moments. He landed 46/80 significant strikes versus Mioci’s 15/34. The biggest difference was the 5 takedowns to Miocic’s zero, which resulted in Cormier have control for 6:54 of the fight.

Sean O’Malley def. Song Yadong (fill in for Marlon Vera) by unanimous decision

Unfortunately, Marlon Vera isn’t featured in EA Sports UFC 4, so I had to get a little creative here. I’m a huge fan of Sean O’Malley so I wanted to do some sort of simulation involving him for tonight’s fight. So I made his opponent Song Yadong, who actually fought and beat Marlon Vera back in May of this year.

Vera figures to be O’Malley’s first real test in the UFC. O’Malley is known as a knockout specialist and Vera has never been knocked out in his career. Yadong is also 5-0-1 in the UFC. I figured if Yadong could beat Vera in real life, he’s probably a good opponent to use as a sim for O’Malley’s fight tonight. Plus they are similarly rated in the game.

More from App and Gaming News

I’m going to be honest, watching this fight unfold, it looked like Song Yadong was going to win. At the very least, it seemed he took the first two rounds. He scored a takedown in each round and had more total strikes than O’Malley in each round (26 to 20 and 34 to 31). He also had more control in each round, although less than a minute total so perhaps that’s why it didn’t factor into the decision. The third round I could see going to O’Malley as he stunned/wobbled his opponent twice.

The final results were a shocking unanimous decision for O’Malley so it appears the judges in EA Sports UFC 4 are just as blind as the ones in real life. O’Malley landed 41/64 significant strikes and 83/135 total strikes compared to Yadong’s 34/62 significant strikes and 85/160 total strikes. Yadong totaled three takedowns in the fight for a total of 1:27 control time.

In all honesty, this is probably a good representation of how O’Malley’s fight against Vera will go tonight. I don’t see him knocking out Vera and he’ll have to dig deep for three rounds to come away with the win. This will be his most grueling match to date.

Home/App and Gaming News