
-Junior dos Santos: Heavyweight is such a thin division that sometimes it’s easy to forget how big the chasm is between the elite heavyweights in the UFC and the rest of the prospects. Blagoy Ivanov is a well known prospect. 31 years old. 16-1 pro record. But there’s levels in MMA and Ivanov hasn’t fought anyone anywhere close to as good as dos Santos. Ivanov has fought such a lower tier of fighter during his whole career that this fight with dos Santos won’t be close and won’t last long. We’re looking at a 1st round knockout folks.
-Sage Northcutt: This is a projection pick mostly because of how Northcutt barely squeaked out a win in his last fight against Thibault Gouti. Grappling and wrestling remain the two biggest areas Northcutt needs to improve on. He has the athleticism and the striking. But he’s really weak in those other areas. Zak Ottow is a great opponent for the 22 year old, developing Northcutt. Ottow is mostly a grappler, but maybe has more confidence in his hands as he’s coming off a knockout win. On paper, it might be smart to pick Ottow. But I’m picking Northcutt because I think he’s going to be a much better version of himself. Northcutt by decision.
-Rick Glenn: UPSET SPECIAL 1: We’re now getting to a point where Dennis Bermudez is losing his place as upper tier gate keeper. He’s lost 5 of his last 7 fights. And for some unknown reason seems to have lost a step. He wasn’t able to take Andre Fili down. I don’t think he can take Glenn down either. I think Glenn keeps the fight on the feet and uses his length to outpoint Bermudez for a decision win.
-Niko Price: I see Price as a future title contender due to the recent development of his submission game. The best fighters in the world are elite everywhere. Price has an 11-1 pro record. 3 wins by submission. And 2 of the 3 submission wins have come in 2 out Price’s last 3 wins, in the UFC no less. Not too many fighters get into the UFC based on their striking per se, and then have 2 of the 3 wins come by skills you’re not known for. Randy Brown is also well rounded. Striking is probably his best skill but he usually wins by exposing his opponents weakness. Now that Price is excelling in grappling and submissions, I just don’t see how Brown wins. So I’ll go with Price winning by 1st round knockout.
-Chad Mendes: Just a couple years ago, Mendes was the consensus #2 145 featherweight in the world. Mendes is coming off a long lay off. Who knows what he looks like. But however he looks, I think it’ll be good enough to beat Myles Jury. Now, Jury is a pretty good prospect. But he’s a stand up fighter and Mendes will probably have no problem with much more knockout power than Jury. I like Mendes by 2nd round knockout.
-Marion Reneau: Reneau could be the female Randy Couture as she’s 41 years old, but has been on a roll heading towards a 135 lb. title shot. She takes on a former title challenger Cat Zingano who’s lost 3 in a row and is also older at 36 years old. Reneau’s well rounded but her wrestling could be considered a near elite tool. Zingano is mostly a striker and I can see Reneau taking Zingano down and getting a ground and pound knockout in the 2nd round.
-Alejandro Perez: Eddie Wineland is at the end of his career. He’s lost 3 of his last 5 fights. The only reason he picked up 2 wins is because Frankie Saenz and Takeya Mizugaki were even more over the hill. Perez is pretty well rounded. Decent stand up. More volume than power. Although power might be developing based on how great he looked in his last fight. Can you believe Perez is 6-1 in the UFC?? Crazy. Perez will be faster, will have more technical striking but will win by decision because of how durable Wineland is.
-Alexander Volkanovski: Toughest fight to pick on the card. I’m tempted to pick Darren Elkins because his wrestling and durability is more than the vast majority of younger, developing fighters can handle. But Volkanovski already has 2 UFC wins over decent wrestlers. Granted Elkins wrestling is way better than Jeremy Kennedy and Mizuto Hirota. But I think Volkanovski has probably spent all camp working on his wrestling even more. He’s super strong, young, confident. I think this fight will play out similar to Elkins vs. Mirsad Bektic, but the main difference is Volkanovski will be smart of not gassing out trying to finish Elkins. So I’ll go with Volkanovski picking up the decision win.
-Said Nurmagomedov: Justin Scoggins is one of the most inconsistent fighters in the UFC. He looks to ultimately have a role as a mid tier gate keeper who’s best skill is striking, has decent wrestling, but can be beat with submissions. Nurmagomedov is the brother of superstar Khabib Nurmagomedov and of course Said has elite wrestling. I think Said takes no chances, goes with what’s comfortable. Takes Scoggins down early and often to cruise to a decision win.
-Raoni Barcelos: UPSET SPECIAL 2: Kurt Holobaugh hasn’t really done enough since being released by the UFC the first time around for me to think the second time would be any different. Holobaugh is well rounded. No real standout tool. Barcelos is a striker and I think he’s going to be strong enough to keep the fight on the feet where he’ll have a big time striking advantage and will knock Holobaugh out in the 2nd round.
-Liz Carmouche: Horrible matchup for Jennifer Maia’s UFC debut. Jitters are hard enough to deal with. Maia is a grappler who has better submission skills than wrestling. Carmouche has way better wrestling. Will be able to take Maia down and have top control. And I actually think Carmouche finishes with a ground and pound knockout in the 1st round.
-Mark de la Rosa: Solid fight between two pretty good prospects. Elias Garcia is 25 years old. de la Rosa 23 years old. Big difference though in experience. de la Rosa has a 9-1 pro record. Garcia is 4-0, but has only fought once in the last 4 years. de la Rosa is a grappler who has pretty good ground game. I think de la Rosa learned a lot from the Tim Elliott loss and will figure out a way to take Garcia down and do enough to win by decision.
-Jessica Aguilar: UPSET SPECIAL 3: Even though Aguilar is in the twilight of her career, past her prime, she’s still going to have enough wrestling in her to be able to take down Jodie Esquibel. Esquibel is well rounded. Decent wrestling. Decent grappling. Average striking. No elite tools. But her wrestling is nowhere near Aguilar’s which will allow Aguilar to score frequent take downs and win via decision.