-Curtis Blaydes: Back when these two fought, Francis Ngannou was 1-0 in the UFC and Blaydes was making his UFC debut. Ngannou won by TKO when the doctor said Blaydes was too battered to continue the fight. But both are in a way different place now with Ngannou coming off 2 embarassing losses in a row. And Blaydes really discovering who he is, as someone who can take his opponent down and knock them out on the ground. I like Ngannou, but Blaydes is a better wrestler than Stipe Miocic. And I just find it hard to believe Ngannou being able to keep this fight on the feet. I think Blaydes goes for the takedown quickly and finishes Ngannou quickly with ground and pound. 1st round knockout.
-Alistair Overeem: Sergey Pavlovich is an elite prospect. Probably in the top 3 of heavyweight prospects. Striker. 12-0. But there’s such a gap between the top 5 heavyweights in the UFC and everyone else. And just because Overeem is coming off 2 losses in a row, I don’t necessarily see that as him slowing down. He just lost to 2 of the other best heavyweights in the world in Ngannou and Blaydes. It’s possible Pavlovich is better than Overeem and now gets a chance to prove it, but picking Overeem is way safer. Overeem by 1st round knockout.
-Song Yadong: The UFC thinks they have a star in Yadong who’s 2-0 in the UFC with 2 finishes and is only 20 years old. And even more impressive is that Yadong’s 2nd win came over a solid gate keeper in Felipe Arantes. Vince Morales is a decent prospect, but this fight was made to give Yadong the advantage. Morales is a stand up fighter, but Yadong is well rounded and will have a big advantage on the ground. I see Yadong taking Morales down and submitting him in the 2nd round.
-Li Jingliang: I’m not really impressed by David Zawada’s resume outside the UFC. He has a 16-4 pro record. Lost a close decision to Danny Roberts in his UFC debut. Zawada is 28 years old. His biggest wins outside the UFC were against fighters who had been released from the UFC. He’s mainly a striker. I just don’t see any reason to pick him against Jingliang. Jinaliang continues to get better and looked great in his fight with Jake Matthews, even though he lost. I think this fight stays on the feet and Jingliang easily outstrikes Zawada to win by decision.
-Song Kenan: Kenan’s pro record is 13-3. 1 loss came to Israel Adesanya. The other 2 were against one dimensional wrestlers. Other than that, Kenan’s looked great. Knockout power. Decent grappling and submissions. Alex Morono is an okay lower tier gate keeper. 3-2 in the UFC. He’s mostly a grappler but struggles when he isn’t able to take opponents down. I don’t think he’s able to take Kenan down. Fight stays on the feet. And Kenan knocks Morono out in the 2nd round.
-Kevin Holland: Easy fight to pick. John Phillips is 21-7 for a reason. He’s a great striker but he’s not well rounded. Holland is very athletic and probably could out strike Phillips, but he’s a smart fighter and I see him taking the path of least resistance which is taking Phillips down and submitting him in the 2nd round.
-Rashad Coulter: Yes, Coulter is 0-3 in the UFC. But he’s got a very good chin, very durable, and has knockout power. What does Hu Yaozong have? A 3-1 pro record. And the opponents he’s beaten have a combined record of 1-5. Even someone like Coulter is too much, too soon for Yaozong. I just see too much of an experience and power advantage. I think Coulter knocks Yoazong out in the 1st round.
-Lauren Mueller: Wu Yanan is an average prospect. Young, 22 years old. 6 of her 9 wins have come via knockout which is good. But she’s only been able to beat up cans. The only 2 opponents she’s gone up against who are any good is Yana Kunitskaya and Gina Mazany and she lost easily to both. Mueller is an elite prospect at 125 lbs and has some of the best wrestling in the division. She’s going to use that to have a big advantage in this fight and I think will eventually take Yanan down and knock her out on the ground in the 2nd.
-Weili Zhang: The main thing Jessica Aguilar has going for her is her wrestling and experience. But both of those will be neutralized in fighting Zhang. Zhang is one of the top 115 lb prospects and is coming off a win over Danielle Taylor, who I think has better wrestling than Aguilar at this point. Zhang also has experience with a 17-1 record. I think Zhang keeps the fight on the feet and easily out strikes Aguilar to cruise to a decision win.
-Yan Xiaonan: Syuri Kondo and Xiaonan are both strikers. But Xiaonan has a lot more power. Kondo is more of a volume puncher and she’s going to struggle with Xiaonan hitting her much harder. Plus Xiaonan’s win over Viviane Perreira was pretty impressive. I think Xiaonan’s cardio holds up and out points Kondo for the decision win.
-Martin Day: Not really high on either guy here. Day is 30 years old. 7 of his 8 wins are over cans, although, he did breakout in his last fight over 8-0 Brady Huang. Day and Liu Pingyuan are both well rounded. But based off Day’s last fight, I think he has better all around skills than Pingyuan at this point. So I like Day by decision.
-Louis Smolka: Smolka used to be thought of as a contender at 125 lbs in the UFC. He had big wins over Patrick Holohan and Ben Nguyen. But then the wheels came off when he got submitted by Brandon Moreno and proceeded to lose 4 fights in a row and be released from the UFC. Now resigned, I’m not entirely sure what Smolka’s upside is, but I do know what Sumudaerji is. 22 years old. Striker. Pretty one dimensional. Smolka is a lot more well rounded and I see him using his experience to grapple Sumudaerji to the ground and submit him in the 2nd round.