-Robbie Lawler: If a much smaller fighter in Eddie Alvarez, who fights at 155 lbs, could knock out dos Anjos, I expect the bigger 170 lb fighter in Lawler to have no problem doing the same. And Lawler is a big 170 lbs. Lawler’s shown no signs of slowing down and I expect him to knock out dos Anjos in the 2nd round.
-Ricardo Lamas: I’m just not buying into Josh Emmett as being a possible top guy. Yeah, he looked good in his last fight and 145 lb debut. But it was against Felipe Arantes. Lamas has shown that he’s still a top 5, even top 145 lber. I think Emmett is going to have too much confidence in his striking and that Lamas is going to catch him and knock him out in the 1st round.
-Mike Perry: UPSET SPECIAL 1: Santiago Ponzinibbio is a very good 170 lb fighter and will be a solid upper tier gatekeeper for a long time. But Perry is a possible future champion. All 11 of Perry’s have come via knockout. And that includes Perry’s 4 UFC wins. Alan Jouban has been the only one to beat Perry by keeping the fight at a distance and using more technical striking. But Perry has since learned from that with sharper, crisper strikes. Still only 26 years old. He’s going to knockout Ponzinibbio in the 2nd round.
-Misha Cirkunov: Cirkunov is very legit. Especially when he took out Nikita Krylov in the 1st round who had a 5-1 UFC record at 205 lbs. Glover Teixeira has had a great UFC run, but he’s 38 years old and his chin is giving out. I think Cirkunov is going to catch him with a strike and will submit Glover on the ground. In the 1st round.
-Jared Cannonier: Close fight. Blachowicz looked really good in his last fight but it has more to do with Devin Clark not being that great. Both Cannoier and Blachowicz are gate keepers, but I think Cannonier’s athleticism and skills are on a higher level. I think he’s going to be faster and stronger and will win via decision.
-Julian Marquez: Easy fight to pick. Darren Stewart beat up way below average fighters outside the UFC and faced with tougher competition has wilted. His loss in particular to Francimar Barroso was bad. Marquez doesn’t have the best resume or shiniest top prospect label, but he’s done well enough so far in his career for me to confidently say Marquez wins by 1st round knockout.
-Chad Laprise: Super intriguing fight with Laprise against Galore Bofando. Mostly because Bofando is such a wild card. 35 years old. Getting into the sport pretty late. And I’ve never seen a fighter with 2 DQ losses in only 6 pro fights. Means he fights pretty crazy! And yeah, Bofando looked great in his UFC debut, but it was against Charlie Ward who had a 3-2 pro record at the time. Yeah, pro record, not UFC record. I got to go with Laprise due to being more of a known quantity and him looking so impressive at 170 lbs. And I like Laprise by 2nd round knockout.
-Tim Elliott: This is one of the most interesting fights on the card. Elliott has reestablished himself as an upper tier gatekeeper at 125 lbs. And Pietro Menga is a very good prospect, near elite. Just a few question marks I have with his resume. He’s older than most top prospects at 29 years old. And most of the competition he’s fought against has been very poor. The only top opponent Menga fought against was Sitor Kichukov who had a 12-1 record at the time, but now has a 13-6 record. And now Menga is now taking this fight on short notice. It’s too much for me to pick him to beat Elliott. Elliott is only 1 year older than Menga at 30 years old. I’m not that confident in this pick because who knows how Menga will do with a fighter of Elliott’s caliber. But I have to pick Elliott due to the experience to take the decision.
-Abel Trujillo: Trujillo quieted has put together a 6-3 UFC record, only losing to elite fights in Tony Ferguson, Khabib Nurmagomedov and James Vick. But Trujillo finished 5 of his 6 wins. John Makdessi is much like other fighters Trujillo has knocked out before and I expect Trujillo to get a 2nd round knockout.
-Oluwale Bamgbose: Bamgbose started his MMA career with 5 first round knockouts, but has since gone 1-3 in the UFC. But with a 6-3 pro record, Bamgbose is still green and developing and the UFC clearly booked this fight against Alessio Di Chirico to get Bamgbose back on track. Bamgbose all the way here via violent 1st round knockout.
-Erick Silva: UPSET SPECIAL 2: Jordan Mein is a lost fighter. He came out of retirement. Lost 3 in a row. Silva hasn’t been doing too much better either losing the last 3 out of 4 fights. But the 1 win Silva got over Luan Chagas was impressive. And as far as how this fight goes down, Silva has way more knockout power than Mein. So I expect a Silva 1st round knockout in crazy style.
-Danny Roberts: UPSET SPECIAL 3: Roberts is a pretty good prospect. 3-1 in the UFC. 4-1 if you count Roberts 1st round knockout over current UFC fighter Jim Wallhead. Only loss was to rising contender Mike Perry. Meanwhile Nordine Taleb is 36 years old. 5-2 UFC record. Pretty good fight. Taleb is not terrible. But he’s lost to good, solid, young up and comers like Warlley Alves and Santiago Ponzinibbio. I might not put Roberts in the Ponzinibbio category, but he’s definitely in the Alves category when it comes to skill level. I like Roberts by decision.