UFC Fight Night 212: Misha Cirkunov vs Alonzo Menifield Game Analysis, Picks and Odds (Saturday, October 15th, 2022)

Misha Cirkunov and Alonzo Menifield will battle in a light heavyweight bout that is part of the UFC Fight Night preliminary card on Saturday, October 15, at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. The preliminary fights will begin at 4:00 PM ET and will be broadcast live in ESPN+ and UFC Fight Pass will stream the matches for Internet subscribers. Cirkunov hopes to break his three-match slide as he comes back to the 205-pound division. However, he will have his hands full against Menifield, who has won three of his four matches after losing two straight to Devin Clark and Ovince Saint Preux. MMA fight picks expect an action-packed slugfest between the two heavy hitters and it would be no surprise if the clash ends in a stoppage.

Misha Cirkunov

The Riga-born Cirkunov (15-8, 6-6 UFC) started his UFC career in a bang, winning four straight fights. However, he bumped into solid brick walls in his next two fights, succumbing to back-to-back, first-round knockout losses to Volkan Oezdemir and Glover Teixeira. He would win his next two of three bouts against Patrick Cummins and Jimmy Crute, but he would again drop three consecutive losses to Ryan Spann, Krzystof Jotko and Wellington Turman. In his last bout, the submission expert fell prey to Turman and lost via armbar submission in the second round. Cirkunov has won 13 of his 15 bouts via stoppage, with eight of these victories ending in submission. He hopes to end his losing skid and remain relevant in the UFC scene.

Alonzo Menifield

Known in the UFC circles as “Atomic,” Menifield (12-3, 5-3 UFC) packs a punch in the MMA arena as he started his career with nine straight wins (eight by knockout). He would then lose two straight to Devin Clark and Ovince Saint Preux, but bounced back by winning three of his four matches. In his last bout against Azkar Mozharov, Menifield beat up his foe en route to a one-round technical knockout win. The victory was the American fighter’s ninth KO win. His hands will be a factor again in his fight against Cirkunov as he hopes to climb up the light heavyweight rankings with a convincing win.

Misha Cirkunov vs Alonzo Menifield Betting Numbers

	Cirkunov	Menifield
Record	15-8-0	12-3-0
Last Fight	Loss	Win
Country	Latvia	United States
Height	6′ 3″	6′ 0″
Weight	205 lbs.	205 lbs.
Reach	77″	76″
Win by KO/TKO	33%	75%
Submissions	53%	17%
Decisions	13%	8%
Strikes Landed Per Minute	3.87	3.88
Striking Accuracy	51%	56%
Striking Absorbed Per Minute	3.00	3.23
Striking Defense	57%	53%
Takedown Average	4.25	0.82
Takedown Accuracy	43%	30%
Takedown Defense	76%	83%
Submission Average	1.8	0.2

Cirkunov vs Menifield

Pressure will be on Cirkunov as he looks to end his three-game slide against the power-punching Menifield, who seeks to continue his winning ways and climb up the ladder. Another loss for the Canadian would mean the end for him in the UFC as he could get cut if he fails to win again. Sports odds and parlays expect a fast-paced bout as both fighters will look for an early finish. Menifield will be favored in this three-round slugfest not unless Cirkunov finds a way to evade the American’s power punches and carve out a convincing finish either by submission or knockout as he has the skills to do so.