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Another card that has revised matchups after the withdrawal of fighters due to injury, noticeably Conor MacGregor in the main event
Tip: Alex Periera
I think former Lightheavyweight champ Jiri Prochazka can beat all fighters in the division, except Alex Periera. Periera knocks out opponents at any opportunity and Prochazka’s unorthodox style although being very effective leaves him open on many occasions which he learnt last time the two met. Has he learnt his lesson ?
Tip: Brian Ortega
The dynamic Diego Lopes has won 5 of his last 6 fights and his last 3 fights have been done in the 1st round. But he has not been up against a fighter with the experience and is as tough as Ortega. Ortega has had wars against the best Including Max Holloway and Volk. Although he lost to them he has beaten most others in the division.
Tip : Michael Page
Although he talks the talk and remains undefeated in his 7 fight UFC career, Ian Garry Machado has not impressed me. I think Michael Page who has the same height and reach advantage can finally halt the hype of Garry.
UFC Fight Night June 23 is in Saudi Arabia for the first time. There is a lot of late changes in the match ups due to fighter injuries and this creates a lot of questions on which fighters will be the best prepared.
Tip Ikram Aliskerov
After a very late change of opponents Whittaker finds himself fighting an unknown newcomer who has had only 2 fights in the UFC with first round finishes, a 7 fight winning streak and is a russian Combat Sambo expert. Hard to bet against the experience and toughness of Whittaker but if your looking for a good priced outsider for an all up. Ikram Aliskerov is the one.
Tip : Kelvin Gasterlum
Heavyweights Sergei Pavlovich vs Alexander Volkov. 2 gaint Russian knock out specialists ranked #3 and #5 in the division. This bout will shake the floor of the kingdom stadium.
Tip: Asu Almabayev
Kelvin Gasterlum vs Daniel Rodriguez.
Gasterlum dropping down in weight and dropping down in class of opponent. He fought the best in the middleweight division and expect him to beat Rodriguez here.
Tip Johnny Walker
Johnny Walker vs Volkan Oezdemir.
A very evenly matched bout between 2 stalwarts of the lightheavy. I’m going for Brazilian Walker to bounce back to the winners list against the tough nut swiss fighter Oezdemir
Tip Tatsuro Taira
The established contender Perez currently ranked #5 in the division against an ascending unbeaten young star #13, japanese fighter Tatsuro Taira. Only 24 years old he has 4 wins by TKO, 7 submission wins and 8 1st round finishes in his 15 fights.
I tipped Perez in his last fight win but don’t think he gets this against the talented Tatsuro.
Tip: Timmy Cuamba
Both fighters coming off a last fight loss. 2 strkers who look well matched. Cuamba lost his only UFC bout via split decision. Before that he has won 5 from 6 and has a 8-2 professional record. Almeida on the other hand has 3 fights in the UFC with 1 win 2 losses. Overall professional record 14-3
Tip: Asu Almabayev
A pro since 2013 Almabayev is on a 15 fight win streak. He has only had 2 fights in the UFC for 2 wins 1 decision and 1 submission. Johnson has won 5 of his last 7 . Only 2 UFC fights for 1 win 1 loss.
Tip: Jared Cannonier
Cannonier at 40 yrs old has fought in 3 weight divisions from heavyweight, light heavy and now seems to have found his ideal fighting weight at middleweight with an impressive 7-2 record with losses only to the big guns Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya. Imavov has been a rising fighter in the division now ranked #7 and is now facing his hardest opponent. I’m betting Canoniers power to get him the win.
Tip: Raul Rosas Jr
Rosas Jr is the youngest fighter on the UFC roster at 19 years old. He has shown tremendous potential to be a future star with 2 first round victories and 1 loss via decision in his 3 UFC fights. Turcios has more experience and been a pro since 2013, but I’ll go with the young hype.
Tip: Brunno Ferreira
In another Middleweight main card bout Brunno Ferreira vs Dustin Stoltzfus .
Brazilian Ferreira 2 round 1 knockout victories and 1 first round knockout loss. He’s in the Octagon to get things done fast and I predict that is what he’ll do to Stoltzfus who has had an up and down career so far I’m the UFC.
Tip: Islam Makhechev
This should be a blaster.
Makhechev is the no.1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world. A champion defending his belt for the third time.
Poirier is a future Hall of Famer who has never had the title. His fights are normally striking wars. Probably 80 % of fighting fans would love to see Dustin get the belt before he retires, but I can’t see him beating the odds on favourite Makhechev, who looks like he has the whole division covered and will possibly move up in weight after the event.
Tip: Kevin Holland
In a Middleweight undercard Kevin Holland vs Michel Oleksiejzuk. Holland has had 4 wins 4 losses in his last 8 fight. He is coming off a 2 loss losing streak but loses to higher-ranked quality opponents. Oleksiejzuk wins most by TKO’s but is he good enough to knock out the seasoned Holland and rise up the rankings? I don’t think so.
Tip: Zaleski dos Santos
The first fight on the main card is welterweight Randy Brown vs Elizeo Zaleski dos Santos. This looks like a very evenly matched bout between 2 UFC veterans who are just outside the rankings. Both are well-rounded fighters, whereas Brown has an advantage with grappling and submission wins. Dos Santos has previously had wins over names such as Sean Strickland and Benoit Saint-Denis. I’m tipping the outsider.
Tip: Edson Barboza
The Main event features a featherweight bout Between Edson Barboza and Lerone Murphy. Barboza ranked #12 in the division and 38 years old, has fought the who’s who of the UFC since 2010. If Murphy, ranked #14 undefeated in 5 bouts with 1 draw, can defeat Barboza, it will give him a big push up the rankings
Tip : Thembo Gorimbo
In another Main Card matchup, Welterweights Thembo Gorimbo vs Ramiz Brahimaj. Gorimbo, originally from Zimbabwe, is a rising talent, and after dropping his first UFC bout, has had two consecutive victories. I’m expecting a 3rd against a fellow grappler.
Tip: Adrian Yanez
Bantamweight fight Adrian Yanez vs Vinicius Salvador Both fighters are coming off two consecutive losses. However, two top-ranked fighters defeated Yanez with a nine from 11 record in the UFC.
Tip: Rodrigo Nascimento
This week’s UFC fight night, May 12, takes us to St Louis, Missouri. Where the Main Event is a heavyweight bout between Derrick (black beast) Lewis and Rodrigo Nascimento.
We know Big Derrick is a knockout guy who once had the most knockouts in the UFC. Nascimento likes to take it to the mat and grapple, and that’s where I can see him getting the better of an aging beast.
Tip: Carlos Ulberg
In a Light Heavyweight bout, Alonzo Menifield vs Carlos Ulberg.
This fight should be action-packed as both like to strike. I’m going for more accuracy here.
Tip: Mateusz Rebecki
In a lightweight bout, Diego Ferreira vs Mateusz Rebecki, Diego has been around a long time and has only lost to the elite in this division. Rebecki has only 3 fights in his UFC career but has been a pro fighter since 2014 and is currently on a 16-fight winning streak.
UFC 301 brings us back to Rio de Janeiro, where the 5 main card fights each feature a Brazilian Warrior. This can be a huge psychological advantage. So I’m selecting 3 from 5.
Tip: Alexandre Pantoja
Event Flyweights Alexandre Pantoja vs Steve Ecerg.
Tip: The champ Pantoja to win.
Tip: Vitor Petrino
Undercard bouts Light heavyweight Anthony Smith vs Vitor Petrino
Tip: Vitor Petrino
Tip: Michael Periera
Middleweight Michel Periera vs Ihor Potieria.
Tip: Michael Periera
Tip: Alex Perez
UFC fight night April 21 Main event Flyweight fight between #5 ranked Matheus Nicolau vs #8 ranked Alex Perez. Nicolau has moved up the ranks with 4 wins from his last 5 fights. Perez has fought the best in the division but come up short He has 24 wins in his career.
Tip: Bogdan Guskov
In a light heavyweight bout between #11 ranked Ryan Spann and Bogdan Guskov. Spann is ranked #11 in the division.
Guskov has only 2 fights in his UFC career but has a 15-3 MMA record with 13 TKO’s.
Tip: Uros Medic
Further down the main card a welterweight bout features Tim Means vs Uros Medic. Uros has won 7 of his 9 wins by knockout and I expect him to do the same to his more experienced 10 years older Means.
Tip: Alex Periera
The Brazilian Pereira is a former kickboxing champion, has knockout punching power and has taken the UFC by storm to win the Middleweight belt then moved to Light heavyweight champion in only 7 appearances. Jamahal Hill claimed the Light heavyweight belt by beating Glover Texiera, then injured in Achilles in July last year and relinquished the belt.
Tip: Justin Gaethje
In another main card event Justin Gaethje vs Max Holloway for the BMF title.
Gaethje is ranked #2 in the lightweight division and one of the UFC’s most violent fighters. Holloway was the former Featherweight champion who seemed invincible before the Volk arrived on the scene. One of the most eagerly anticipated fights on the card.
Tip: Jiri Prochazka
In the last fight of the Prelims, we see Jiri Prochazka vs Aleksandar Rakic.
Prochazcha #2 the former light heavyweight champion relinquished the belt due to a shoulder injury only to return and lose to Alex Periera ( current champion ) Rakic ranked #5 was taking the division by storm before injuring his shoulder and been out since May ’22. This should be an exciting fight.
Tip: Brendan Allen
This week’s UFC main event in Las Vegas features middleweight Brendan Allen vs Chris Curtis.
In 2021 Allen took a short notice fight against Chris Curtis and lost by knockout.
Since then he has been on a 6 fight winning streak and is currently ranked #6 in the middleweight division.
This week he was scheduled to fight Marvin Vettori who pulled out through injury and was replaced by, guess who 31 fight veteran Chris Curtis.
Tip: Erin Blanchfield
This week in the UFC’s main event we have Erin Blanchfield vs Manon Fiorot. 2 undefeated women’s featherweight contenders ranked no. 2 & 3 in the division. Both are very dangerous and accomplished strikers. Blanchfield is also a Brazilian Jui Jitsu black belt and I think her grappling skillset will get her hand raised and closer to a title shot
Tip: Vicente Luque
The Co-Main event features welterweights Vicente Luque V Joaquin Buckley. Luque is ranked 11th in the division and has fought most of the big names above him. Buckley has dropped down a weight division and has had 2 successive victories. Will Buckley get a knockout or will Luque’s experience win it?
Tip: Bill Algeo
A Featherweight bout featuring Bill Algeo vs Kyle Nelson looks on paper evenly matched. But I believe Algeo’s aggression and more accurate striking see him take the honours.
Tip: Amanda Ribas
The main event pits women’s flyweights former strawweight champ Rose ‘Thug’ Namajunes against Brazilian Amanda Rivas.
Rose won everyone’s respect when she beat the Strawweight champ she devil Joanna Redzejczyk twice and also won twice against Welli Zhang the current Strawweight champ.
Since then she has lost 2 consecutive fights the last dislocating her finger in round 1 and continuing to battle. Amanda has been switching between 2 weight divisions and has earned herself a position in the too 10 in both divisions. She went 2 -1 last year in each weight class with a loss in the middle against 4th-ranked Maycee Barber.
This is a tough one to pick.
Tip: Karl Williams
In the undercard, we have Heavyweights Karl Williams 9 -1 vs Justin Tafa 7 -3 Karl Williams is riding a six-fight winning streak and is looking to climb the heavyweight rankings. New Zealand’s ‘Bad Man’ TKO wrecking machine Tafa has had 3 1st round finishes in his last 4 fights.
Tip: Payton Talbott.
In a Bantamweight matchup, we see 2 very exciting fighters, Payton Talbott and Cameron Saaiman. Talbott has an amateur and pro record with knockout and submission wins going 7-0 Saaiman a South African and teammate of middle-weight champ Dricus Du Plessis was 9-0 before a last-fight loss to Christian Rodriguez in a decision.
Tip: Tai Tuivasa.
This week’s UFC main event brings back Tai (Bam Bam ) Tuivasa vs Marcin Tybura.
All Aussies know about Bam Bam and his legendary knockouts followed by his post-fight beer drinking from a stranger’s shoe victory ritual.
Tuivasa likes to knock them out early but has lost his last 3 against higher-ranked opponents. Marcin Tybura can grapple and strike and combats normally longer fights.
Can Bam Bam get an early knock or will Tybura take it the distance? Let’s go for a Shoey.
Tip: Bryan Battle.
2 fights in the undercard we have rising welterweights Bryan Battle 5 wins and 1 loss in the Octagon against Ange Loosa 3 – 1
Tip: Dulgarian.
In a featherweight fixture promising young talents Christian Rodriguez vs Isaac Dulgarian. Rodriguez had 2 victories in 2023 at bantamweight but failed to make weight hence the move to featherweight. Dulgarian has 6 wins and 0 losses in his MMA career and has never seen the 2nd round.
Tip Burns
We see 2 veterans in their respective divisions up against rising contenders.
Burns has fought the best in the welterweight division. Jack is tough, very tough, but can leave himself open to punishment.
With Burn’s experience and all-round skills, he will get his hand raised.
Tip Benoit Saint-Denis
Poirier is a lightweight legend & has had many hard wars against the best.
Saint Denis a former special forces soldier is no stranger to violence and brings it to the Octagon hard and fast.
Poirier’s long history of hard-fought battles will catch up to him.
Tip O'Malley
Sugar Sean the champ has only lost one fight in his career.
You got it back in Aug 2020 to Marlon Vera.
O’Malley badly injured his leg in the first round, Vera smelled blood and got the TKO quickly.
Watch for O’Malley to avenge his loss and retain his belt.
Sunshineinmypocket (1st)
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Mock Fish (1st)
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