UFC 177: Castillo vs. Ferguson

Danny Castillo (17-6) vs. Tony Ferguson (16-3)

Danny Castillo represents Team Alpha Male in a big night for the fight camp, as he goes up against Tony Ferguson at UFC 177 on Saturday.

Castillo is coming off a victory at UFC 172 against Charlie Brenneman. In that fight, he was able to get a victory by way of knockout, finishing the match in the first round. The 35-year-old from Sacramento will have the home crowd behind him, which definitely could play a role in this fight. Castillo has shown throughout his career that he has the ability to win a match in many different ways, allowing him to be able to compete against any style of opponent. His terrific cardio could play a huge role in this fight, as his opponent Ferguson has not been in very many matches that have gone the distance. However, a lot of them have not needed to because he has elite knockout power. In his last match against Katsunori Kikuno, he showed that vicious knockout power by ending the match in the first round. He has the ability to end a match in a hurry, something that Castillo has not seen often in his career. Castillo is a tough fighter, but in the end, FERGUSON will get the win in convincing style.

Hailing from Oxnard, "El Cucuy" Ferguson has quite an impressive resume with 16 victories. Of those wins, 10 have come by way of knockout. The 30-year-old also has four wins by submission and two by decision. His biggest advantage in this fight will absolutely be his striking ability. Ferguson enters this match averaging 4.48 significant strikes per minute, which is much greater than Castillo (2.25). If there is one negative in his striking, it is that Ferguson can get a little sporadic with his punches, landing only 32 percent of his attempts, compared to Castillo, who lands 44 percent. If Ferguson is able to keep the fight on his feet, he will be in great position to get the win. However, if Castillo can control the pace of the fight, he will have the opportunity to score the upset.

"Last Call" Castillo enters this match with 17 victories in his career, with seven wins by both knockout and decision. He also has three wins by submission. If Ferguson’s biggest advantage is in his striking, Castillo has an equally big advantage in grappling. For his career, he has a takedown average of 3.45, compared to 1.34 for Ferguson. He does not have a lot of wins on his resume by way of submission, but he does a great job of wearing down his opponent to score some points later in the round. Ferguson has a perfect takedown defense of 100 percent, but he has never faced anyone who is as tenacious on the takedown attempts as his Saturday opponent. This fight is going to be determined by which fighter is able to control the flow of action.