ACB 87 takes place on the 19th of May in Nottingham's Motorpoint Arena. If you live in the Midlands or within drivable distance consider getting yourself down, the tickets are as cheap as (£22.40) which is great value for a card this stacked.
So far we've be given 8 fights but you can expect another 5 or so to be announced as we get closer to the event date. The card order has also not yet been announced so I'm just making presumptions on the order of the fights at this point. I'll provide a quick run down of the first 4 fights.
Kane Mousah vs. Rob Whiteford (Featherweight)
Kane is a well rounded scrapper who shown excellent wrestling in his recent fights, former UFC fighter Whiteford on the other hand is a Judoka who similarly can win this fight anywhere. It's important to note that Mousah has previously fought extensively at Lightweight so it might be reasonable to expect he may be the slightly bigger man going into this bout.
If Mousah can impose a wrestling heavy game and force Whiteford to be concerned with the take down he should be able to take this one with a mixture of strikes and wrestling. Whiteford on the other hand has shown he can win with strikes and also has a very nice submission game, Rob can show Kane that initialising the take down is dangerous with his very nice guillotine.
Prediction: Mousah by Decision.
Scott Askham vs. Ibragim Chuzhigaev (Middleweight)
Fresh off his brilliant KO win over the highly decorated Michal Materla, Askham takes on another respected competitor in Chuzhigaev. Both men enjoy striking and this will be Chuzhigaev's second bout against an Englishman after dispatching Cage Warriors champion Lee Chadwick in impressive fashion back in 2016.
I suspect this fight will primary take place standing as both are more than competent in that area, additionally although Chuzhigaev has a respectable submission game Scott Askham has excellent take down defense so it would not be an easy night if he attempts to take the ground to the floor.
Prediction: Chuzhigaev by decision.
Pietro Menga vs. Takeya Mizugaki (Bantamweight)
Pietro Menga's momentum has been building solidly for a good few years until recent events led to him being signed and then subsequently released by the UFC, a type of hangover from this debacle persisted into his last fight against seasoned Brazilian Raymison Bruno in a match up that saw Menga take his first loss. His opponent Mizugaki should be known to many as the highly ranked UFC fighter who at one point racked up a nice 5 fight win streak in the organisation.
I believe Menga's most recent performance was a blip related to his UFC mishap and although Mizugaki is undoubtedly an Asian pioneer for the sport his recent form suggest he may be at the tail end of his career.
Prediction: Menga by KO/TKO.
Adam Proctor vs. Ashley Reece (Welterweight)
This really is brilliant match making, two of the UK's brightest and best prospects who could both no doubt feature in the UFC at some point in the future. Both fighters are well rounded and capable of winning the fight anywhere. Proctor is an SBG (south shields) graduate who trains closely with his coach and former Cage Warriors champion Alex Enlund. Manchester's Ashley Reece on the other hand picked up his last win against Sam Boult in a tough bout that required him to dig deep to get the win.
Reece may perhaps have a marginal advantage in strength however as Proctor displayed in his last bout he is very slick on the ground, I imagine the most exciting portion of this bout will take place on the ground or in clinch positions.
Prediction: Proctor by submission.
If you'd be interested in a full preview of the event (closer to time) or a look into the four bouts I didn't write about you can let me know in the comments section below! Thanks for reading.