-Robert Whittaker: Whittaker reminds me a ton of Max Holloway. Take down defense is plus plus. And the cardio is a real weapon. I really thought Yoel Romero would be able to beat Whittaker, but Whittaker was able to stay fresher and hit Romero way more. And had a good enough chin to stay in the fight. To me, Kelvin Gastelum is a big step down from Yoel Romero. There’s a big gap. Yes, Gastelum is 27 years old, so he’ll probably be a better version in this fight, but he barely out struck Jacare Souza. And with Whittaker’s elite take down defense, this fight is going to be won and lost on the feet. And I just see no way Gastelum out strikes Whittaker. I see Gastelum getting tired around the middle of the fight and Whittaker pour the punches on him. So I’m picking Whittaker by knockout in the 3rd round.
-Israel Adesanya: Anderson Silva isn’t the same anymore. He’s 43 years old and lost 4 of his last 5 fights. He barely beat Derek Brunson by decision last time out. And we all saw what Adesanya did to Brunson. I’d say this is a changing of the guard fight, but Silva hasn’t been the same for awhile. But he’s still a big name and that’s why the UFC is feeding him to Adesanya. And it won’t be pretty. 1st round knockout for Adesanya.
-Rani Yahya: UPSET SPECIAL 1: Since 2012, Yahya has only lost twice. Both have been against wrestlers who Yahya couldn’t take down. Since 2012, Yahya has gone 10-2 in the UFC. He’s really one of the most under rated fighters in the UFC. Ricky Simon is a decent prospect, but his weakness is take down defense and the ground game. Journeyman Anderson dos Santos beat Simon outside the UFC by taking him down and submitting him. Simon barely squeaked by grappler Donavan Frelow with a split decision win, who had a 6-2 pro record. And in making his UFC debut, Simon was about to lose to Merab Dvalishvili by decision until Simon choked out Dvalishvali as the fight ended. Simon is going to get better only being 26 years old, but I don’t think it’s enough time to be able to stop Yahya’s take downs. Yahya is going to take Simon down and submit him in the 1st round.
-Devonte Smith: Dong Hyun Ma might have a 3-2 UFC record, but it’s of the weakest variety. He has 2 knockout losses, one of which was against Dominique Steele. And his 3 wins were over Brendan O’Reilly, Takanori Gomi, and Damien Brown. I haven’t seen too much of Smith’s grappling, wrestling, ground game, etc because he knocks his opponents out so fast, so it’s hard to say what exactly his potential is, but for this fight, he’s going to have another quick knockout win. 1st round for Smith.
-Jim Crute: Crute has champion level upside and you can’t say that about too many prospects. Way too early to know if he would have a chance against Jon Jones, but he might. He’s that good. 22 years old. Very well rounded. He takes on mid tier gate keeper Sam Alvey on 2 weeks notice. I don’t think Crute is going to have the power to knock Alvey out, so I see Crute taking Alvey down and winning the fight on the ground. And because Alvey is pretty tough to finish, Crute is going to win by decision.
-Austin Arnett: UPSET SPECIAL 2: Close fight. Both fighters are pretty similar. Arnett 27 years old. Shane Young 25 years old. Both are pretty well rounded. Like this fight could play out anywhere. I’m going to pick Arnett mostly in how improved he was in his last fight. Humberto Bandenay is pretty good and I thought he’d beat Arnett, but Arnett won that fight really convincingly. Because of the experience advantage, I’m going with Arnett by decision.
-Montana de la Rosa: Nadia Kassem has potential. 23 years old. But she’s really green. Only has 5 pro fights. And she did okay against a retiring Alex Chambers in her UFC debut, but didn’t exactly blow Chambers out of the water. De la Rosa is a submission specialist who’s also 23 years. She has contender upside if she can improve her stand up game. But Kassem has never fought anyone like de la Rosa and de la Rosa will have no problem taking her down and submitting her in the 1st round.
-Raulian Paiva: UPSET SPECIAL 3: I’m not sure what Paiva’s upside is. He’s 23 years old. 18-1 pro record. But it’s super padded. He’s only fought two decent prospects and squeaked by with split decisions in both. Paiva is also currently one dimensional. He’s got plus wrestling, but the rest of his skills are average to below average. I know Kai Kara-France is coming off a win in his UFC debut, but he beat a fighter with a 6-1 pro record fighting him on one week’s notice. I’m still convinced Kara-France is no more than a journeyman despite him being only 25 years old. Paiva will have no problem taking Kara-France down early and often and will cruise to a decision win.
-Kyung Ho Kang: A lot of times, styles make fights. In this case it’s striker vs grappler. But Ho Kang’s grappling skills are way better Teruto Ishihara’s striking. I see Ho Kang having no problem in taking Ishihara down and submitting him in the 1st round.
-Lando Vannata: Vannata was originally going to face Charles Rosa, but with Rosa not ready to return from injury yet, Vannata takes on Marcos Rosa Mariano. Which is pretty underwhelming. But makes for a nice bounce back, cupcake type fight for Vannata, who’s had some bad luck in the UFC with 1 win, 3 losses and 2 draws. Why is Mariano underwhelming? 32 years old. 6-4 pro record. Vannata is 26 years old. And has some great tools. I think this win will do a lot for his confidence going forward. Vannata will starch Mariano in the 1st round by whatever he wants.
-Jalin Turner: Turner has a lot of tools and a lot of potential. But he’s got a 7-4 pro record. And he hasn’t lost because he’s been out wrestled or out grappled. All 4 losses were him losing the stand up battle. But 2 losses came when he was 20 years old. Another loss at 21 years old. Made his UFC debut at 23 years old and no shame in getting knocked out by emerging contender Vicente Luque. Turner takes on Callan Potter on less than 2 weeks notice. Potter is a journeyman fighter. 16-7 pro record. Every single win has come via finish. 6 knockouts. 10 submissions. So he’s well rounded, but has no defense. There’s no way Potter takes Turner down. Fight stays on the feet and Turner lights him. 1st round knockout.
-Jonathan Martinez: It’s hard to know what Martinez’s upside is because before his UFC debut, all he fought was tomato cans. He’s 24 years old. 9-1 pro record. 7 of his 9 wins are finishes. And his loss to Andre Soukhamthath in his UFC debut isn’t that bad as Soukhamthath has been getting a lot better. But I’m confident in picking Martinez due to what I know about his opponent Wuliji Buren. Grappler. 0-2 in the UFC so far. Most glaring is that he lost to Rolando Dy and wasn’t able to take him down. So if Buren couldn’t take Dy down, I doubt he’s able to take Martinez down. Plus, Martinez has been improving his ground game lately. Martinez has 5 knockouts, 2 submissions. But his last 2 wins have come by submission. That improved grappling will keep the fight on the feet for sure and will help Martinez win by decision.