-Anthony Pettis: Very unpredictable fight with Pettis vs Dustin Poirier. Looking at how Pettis has been doing, I’m tempted to go with the younger Poirier who is still chasing a title shot. Because once champions lose their titles, they’re usually never the same and not as effective. But Poirier hasn’t been that great either. Poirier got knocked out by Conor McGregor at 145 lbs. Moved up to 155 lbs, looked great. Reeled off 4 wins in a row, 3 by knockout, and looked like he was getting close to a title shot. Then Michael Johnson knocked Poirier out. After that, Poirier got a bounceback match up with Jim Miller and barely won a majority decision. Meaning that 1 of the 3 judges said Miller won the fight. And last time out, Poirier fought Eddie Alvarez to a no contest due to a accidental knee strike, but Alvarez was winning that fight and was on his way to winning. And Pettis fought Jim Miller just 5 months after Poirier did, and Pettis had no problem cruising to an easy decision win. Pettis’ weakness has mostly been against fighters being able to take him down and keep him there. Not something Pettis has to worry about with Poirier. So the fight will stay on the feet, where I feel Pettis will have the advantage, and I’ll even go out on a limb and pick Pettis by 1st round knockout.
-Diego Sanchez: This is no doubt, the worst co main event the UFC has had this year. Assuncao vs Lopez or Dodson vs Moraes would’ve been better choices. I’m picking Sanchez mostly because of where I think Brown is right now. He’s lost the last 5 out of 6 fights. He even lost to Jake Ellenberger who is on his own skid of losing 4 out of 5 fights (only beating Brown). And Brown also lost to Johny Hendricks, who has lost the last 5 out of 7 fights. This is Brown’s retirement fight, win or lose. Meanwhile, Sanchez hasn’t been that terrible. He’s actually won 3 and lost 3 in his last 6 fights. And has Marcin Held, Jim Miller and Ross Pearson. Sanchez has been knocked out in 2 of his last 3 fights, so there’s a little concern that Brown could do the same. But Brown hasn’t knocked anyone out since 2014. And Sanchez is probably moving up to 170 lbs to become more durable. I like Sanchez to outwork Brown with more aggressive striking and pick up the decision win.
-Junior Albini: Andrei Arlovski is done for real, this time. He’s lost 5 in a row. And the UFC is not giving him an easy fight so he can stick around. Albini is coming off a very impressive debut knocking out Tim Johnson. And Johnson is very good as he has a win over rising contender Marcin Tybura. Albini’s track record before signing with the UFC was suspect. He mostly beat below average fighters. But Albini’s knockout over Johnson proved that Albini’s skills are for real and if Albini is able to knock out Johnson in the 1st round, I’m thinking he can do the same to Arlovski.
-Cezar Ferreira: Ferreira is starting to develop into a lower tier gate keeper. He’s beaten some pretty good fighters lately in Jack Hermansson and Anthony Smith. But overall, Ferreira has a 7-3 record in the UFC at 185 lbs. Which means that Ferreira has flaws in his game he’s yet to fix. His chin is suspect and he’s been knocked out multiple times. And Elias Theodorou just proved in his last fight that Ferreira can be beat with superior wrestling and grappling too. But knockout power and wrestling are two skills his opponent Nate Marquardt no longer posses at age 38. And I can’t see Marquardt posing any threat. Ferreira should cruise easy here and out point Marquardt with faster striking and the occasional take down to take the decision win.
-Raphael Assuncao: Bad style matchup for Mathew Lopez here. Lopez is a pretty good prospect, but just lost to Rani Yahya last year. And Yahya and Assuncao are extremely similar. Plus, even though Assuncao is 35 years old, he’s still performing at a very high level with recent wins over Aljamain Sterling, Bryan Caraway and top prospect Pedro Munhoz. I mean, those are top guys. I just don’t think a year is enough time for Lopez to fix the flaws in his game that led him to getting submitted by Yahya. I see Assuncao grabbing Lopez in the clinch, getting him down and submitting Lopez in the 2nd round.
-Clay Guida: The past few years have shown that Joe Lauzon has had a hard time beating wrestlers, which is bad news for him as that is Guida’s biggest strength. Also, since 2015, the only fighters Lauzon has wins over is twilight fighters Diego Sanchez, Takanori Gomi and a win over Marcin Held, who has a 1-3 UFC record. In Guida’s last fight with Erik Koch, he returned to 155 lbs and it was the best I’ve seen him in years, taking Koch down and controlling him most of the fight. I see this fight playing out similar. Guida getting frequent takedowns to cruise to a decision here.
-John Dodson: When Marlon Moraes fought Raphael Assuncao, it gave us a decent glimpse of how good Moraes is. And Moraes is a good, quality fighter. But I didn’t see an elite, championship caliber fighter. He was outstruck by Assuncao. And if he was outstruck by Assuncao, he’s going to have big problems with Dodson, as Dodson is probably the fastest 135 lb fighter in the division. I just don’t see anywhere Moraes can win. Likely a Dodson decision here as Moraes has proved himself to be a durable fighter.
-Tatiana Suarez: Big time fight here between two likely future contenders at 115 lbs. Both are undefeated. Viviane Pereira is 24 years old. Suarez is 26. For me, this fight comes down to size. Pereira is a really small 115 lb fighter who should be fighting at 105 lbs, but 115 lbs is as low as the UFC goes. So far, Pereira has been able to beat bigger opponents with quickness and elusiveness. But now she’s fighting an elite prospect in Suarez who belongs at 115 lbs, is 5 inches taller and will have a big reach advantage. But Suarez will win using her size and wrestling to take this fight to the ground. Pereira won’t go out easy, so I’m picking Suarez by decision.
-Sage Northcutt: This is a dangerous fight for Northcutt. UFC didn’t give him an easy fight here. Michel Quinones is no joke. Northcutt started out his UFC career 2-0 at 155 lbs, but moved up to 170 lbs and went 1-2. Now he moves back down to 155 lb. for this fight. Quinones is a smaller lightweight, will likely want to keep the fight on the feet which works for Northcutt who I think is going to be much faster and explosive. I see a close fight here, but Northcutt is 21 years old and should be better than when we saw him last. Northcutt wins by decision.
-Angela Hill: Hill’s overall record in the UFC is 1-4, but it’s deceiving because of how green Hill was in her first couple fights. She lost to former champion Carla Esparza in only her 2nd pro fight. And lost to contenders Tecia Torres and Rose Namajunas in her 4th and 5th pro fights. That’s pretty crazy to be fighting opponents on such a high level, so early in Hill’s career. Since then, Hill looked way better in Invicta, especially when she edged out top 115 lb prospect Livia Souza. Hill’s opponent Nina Ansaroff is a below average prospect. 7-3 record before signing with the UFC. And the 3 best fighters Ansaroff took on, she lost to. None of the 7 wins she has is against any quality competition. And she has a 1-2 record in the UFC. Hill will win this fight via a pretty easy decision.
-Sean Strickland: This fight is all about getting Strickland back on track. He’s a top prospect, 18-2 overall record. 5-2 in the UFC. 26 years old. And coming off a loss to future title contender Kamaru Usman. Court McGee is a lower tier gatekeeper who hasn’t finished an opponent since 2010. I don’t see McGee posing a threat anywhere. Easy fight to pick. Big question is whether or not Strickland can finish the fight. I think he can and I like Strickland for a 2nd round knockout.
-Marcel Fortuna: Fortuna will have zero problems in this fight with Jake Collier. Yes, Collier is moving up to 205 lbs for the first time. But he’s going to be a smaller light heavyweight, whereas Fortuna is a big light heavyweight. Collier isn’t going to be able to take Fortuna down. Fight will stay on the feet and I see Fortuna knocking Collier out. Not a hard fight to pick. 1st round knockout.
-Karl Roberson: Darren Stewart has fought no one. As in, all his pro fights outside the UFC were against poor competition. And then when he took on Francimar Barroso, he wasn’t ready and Barroso beat him pretty easy. And Barroso isn’t that great. He’s 37 years old with a 4-3 UFC record. I have more confidence in Roberson, being that he’s fought much better fighters than Stewart, leading up to his UFC career. I see Roberson having no problem here and actually think he’ll knock out Stewart in the 2nd round.