-Leon Edwards: Cowboy Donald Cerrone might not be done yet. He looked great in an upset win over Yancy Medeiros. Problem Cerrone will run into in this fight is that Edwards is way more technical and patient than the more aggressive and wild Medeiros. It’s actually why Edwards doesn’t have more knockouts. Because he prefers to stay on the outside and limit damage to himself. It’s possible Cerrone might try and take Edwards down. But Edwards is decently well rounded. Not an elite wrestler or grappler, but he’s adequate. With Edwards being bigger and stronger, I think the fight stays on the feet and Edwards cruises outpoint Cerrone in a decision win.
-Ovince St. Preux: UPSET SPECIAL 1: Tyson Pedro is one of the better 205 lbs prospects in the world. His standout tool is his submission game. Decent wrestler. Decent grappler. But St. Preux is a nightmare matchup for Pedro. St. Preux is one of the better wrestler’s in the division and will usually use it to keep the fight on the feet. I see Pedro trying to grapple to take St. Preux down, but failing. St. Preux will have a giant advantage on the feet and although Pedro is 26 years old and always getting better, the skill gap on the feet is too wide. So St. Preux is going to knock him out. 2nd round.
-Jessica Eye: UPSET SPECIAL 2: Very close fight that could go either way. Jessica-Rose Clark is coming off a big win over Paige Vanzant, but I’m not sure Clark would have won if Vanzant didn’t get hurt. I think Eye will be a lot more loose after ending her 4 fight losing streak and will get the best of the stand up to win by decision.
-Li Jingliang: Luke Jumeau is not good at all. Like he might have a 2-1 record in the UFC but his wins were against Dom Steele who the UFC released and Daichi Abe. Clearly, the UFC is booking Li to fight Abe because Li is a potential headliner and draw in China and they wanted to give Li an easy bounce back fight after his loss to Jake Matthews. Expect this one to be a quick 1st round knock out for Li.
-Petr Yan: Yan is a very good prospect. 25 years old. 8-1. Striking is decent. His best tool is his wrestling. And Yan will be able to use his wrestling to take Teruto Ishihara down whenever he wants and will do enough on the ground to get the decision win.
-Felipe Arantes: I know Song Yadong has 14 pro fights, but he signed way too soon with the UFC. He’s only 20 years old and I don’t think his body has developed enough to win against full grown men. Arantes is a solid gate keeper with a 5-5 UFC record who has only lost to upper tier fighters. Arantes is well rounded, but in this fight, I think he’ll use his wrestling and size to overwhelm Yadong and submit him in the 1st round.
-Shane Young: Young’s 11-4 pro record doesn’t look that great, but 3 of the 4 losses have come against UFC fighters. Plus Young is only 24 years old and still developing. Plus he takes on Rolando Dy who has an even worse 9-6 pro record. And he’s 1-2 in the UFC. Dy is 26 years old and still developing too, but Young is way ahead of where Dy is at pretty much everywhere. But I predict Young takes the path of least resistance which is taking Dy down and submitting him in the 2nd round.
-Song Kenan: Kenan isn’t the best prospect. But he’s going to win this fight because he’s been gifted a matchup with Hector Aldana who’s extremely green with only a 4-0 pro record. And the 4 wins have come against pure tomato cans. Aldana looks like to be mainly a striker, which plays well for Kenan who will be more than happy to have this fight play out on the feet and will win by decision.
-Jake Matthews: Matthews really broke out in his last fight against Jingliang Li. And if it wasn’t for Li being so durable, Matthews would’ve had a spectacular 1st round knockout. Shinsho Anzai will pose no challenge here. Anzai has decent striking and wrestling. But almost all his fights have been against poor competition, including who he’s fought against in the UFC so far. I expect Matthews to keep the fight on the feet and knock Anzai out in the 1st.
-Viviane Perreira: Super, super easy fight to pick. Xiaonan Yan is a striker. Has feasted on tomato cans her whole career. Beat a 1-5 fighter in her UFC debut. Perreira is a near elite wrestler in the division. Will have no problem taking Yan down and will take a decisive decision win.
-Matt Schnell: UPSET SPECIAL 3: Marco Beltran is a pretty good fighter. At the time Beltran fought Schnell, Beltran had a 3-2 UFC record. And I picked Beltran to win that fight. But to my surprise, Schnell looked much improved. His grappling was better and even his standup, previously a weakness, looked OK too. Naoki Inoue is a top prospect. 20 years old. 11-0. 1-0 in the UFC. But he’s faced horrible competition. Even his UFC opponent Carls Tomas is pretty bad. Inoue is going to get better and his body will develop a lot more in the next few years, but he’s not ready for a bigger fighter in Schnell who’s in his prime at 28 years old. Schnell is going to use his size to out grapple and out strike Inoue to cruise to a decision win.
-Ulka Sasaki: Sasaki is extremely under rated. He’s 2-2 in the UFC at 125 lbs, only losing to title contenders Wilson Reis and Jussier Formiga. And the submission win over Justin Scoggins was especially impressive. Jenel Lausa is a below average prospect and has already lost twice to fighters that are nowhere close to as good as Sasaki. I”ll go with Sasaki by 1st round submission.