Lion Fight 10 Fight Breakdown: Kevin Ross vs. Matt Embree

Lion Fight 10 ‘s stacked card featuring some of the best North American fighters in action is a little over two weeks away. The event will be headlined by Yodsanklai vs. Chike Lindsay for the Lion Fight world middleweight title. Leading up to the July 26th event we will be breaking down some of the match ups which we are sure will entertain fans.

The third of the match-ups we are going to break down is Kevin Ross vs. Matt Embree. Be sure to give your feedback on what you think about the fight.

Kevin Ross (19-8) vs. Matt Embree (23-4)
This fight is one of the most anticipated fights in North American Muay Thai history. Ross and Embree will fight to end all speculation as to who is the number one super lightweight in North America.

Ross comes in having won his last two fights. Prior to his fight with Chris Kwiatkowski in January Ross had not competed in over a year due to knee surgery. In his last outing against Bernie Mendieta at Lion Fight 9, Ross took home a controversial split decision. It was noted afterwards that Ross had been sick leading up to the fight which most likely led to his performance in which he looked fatigued after the first round.

Don’t expect Ross to tire out early this time around. He is typically known for his outstanding cardio and rapid pace in the ring. He constantly moves forward pushing the pace from the opening bell until the closing bell. Ross has a well rounded arsenal but what distinguishes him from most of his opponents is his boxing. Ross has good boxing skills that he uses to land some nice combinations in addition to mixing his attacks to the head and body. The key for Ross here will be to use solid foot work to move in and out of Embree’s range and he looks to work him with his boxing.

Embree like Ross is coming into the fight having won his last two bouts. Fighting with a more traditional Thai style, expect Embree to start a bit slower than Ross in this fight.  This fight could resemble Embree’s fight against Nils Widlund in early 2012 in which Widlund used nice boxing combinations in the early rounds of their fight to get the better of their exchanges before Embree was able to slow the pace down with is clinch work in later rounds to take home a decision.

The clinch will be the key for Embree. When Ross moves in on Embree and tries to back him up, Embree needs to secure the clinch and immediately go to work with elbows and knees. Ross is no slouch in the clinch, but you have to give the edge to Embree. The longer Embree can keep Ross tied up with the clinch the more the fight will sway in his favor. If Embree can’t keep Ross tied up in the clinch then he has to fight at a faster pace than normal. Embree has some solid boxing but it is not often showcased because he prefers to fight the traditional Thai style. Fighting that way in this fight will hurt Embree in the judges eyes, because Ross isn’t going to sit back and play that game with him and as it has been the case many times before the more aggressive fighter takes a decision on the judges score cards.

It seems unlikely that this fight will end early unless it is stopped because of a cut. This one will most likely go all five rounds and will be determined by the type of pace the fight is fought at. A faster paced fight favors Ross and a slower paced fight favors Embree.