-Anthony Smith: This is a projection pick. Because on paper, Alexander Gustafsson should win this fight. That even though Gustafsson got dominated by Jon Jones in his last fight, he still had a razor close split decision loss to Daniel Cormier. He beat Jan Blachowicz. He knocked out Glover Teixeira. And you could look at Smith and say, he doesn’t have the same type of resume. Volkan Oezdemir is really the best guy he’s beaten. But I don’t think Gustafsson will ever be the same. He lost his first fight to Jones, but lost a close decision and that gave him confidence in knowing he’d eventually get a rematch and that he was definitely in the top of the division. But that rematch has come and gone now and he had no answer for Jones’ take downs and ground and pound. Gustafsson can absolutely still be a successful upper tier gate keeper in the UFC and stick around. Smith, on the other hand, is on an upward trajectory. He’s looked way better at 205 lbs vs 185 lbs. And his title fight with Jones, he made Jones not look that great in winning. Jones out pointing Smith in the striking to win, but it wasn’t dominant. I think Smith is still improving and getting better and I think opposite is happening with Gustafsson. Fight is likely to play out on the feet. And I’m predicting Smith finds a way to knock Gustafsson out in the 2nd round.
-Volkan Oezdemir: Oezdemir’s UFC career can show you how quickly things can change. 29 years old. Started his career 3-0 in the UFC. Got a title shot. Lost to Daniel Cormier. Then lost 2 more in a row to fellow contenders Anthony Smith and Dominick Reyes. Oezdemir features plus striking and power. He takes on Ilir Latifi who’s a very solid upper tier gate keeper. 35 years old. 7-4 in the UFC, although 1 of the losses was to Gegard Mousasi who Latifi fought on 24 hours notice. Latifi is more well rounded. His path to win here would be to some how take Oezdemir down. But I think after losing on the ground against Cormier and Smith, Oezdemir’s take down defense should be even more improved here in this fight. I predict Oezdemir is able to stuff the take downs and will have better technical striking and will be faster, which will set up a 2nd round knockout.
-Aleksandar Rakic: How high am I on Rakic? After a 3-0 start to his UFC career, I’m already convinced this is a guy who’s going to become a contender and get a title shot sometime in the next two years. And I’ll even go as far to say he just might have the skill set to possibly upset Jon Jones. Rakic has plus striking, above average power. The thing that separates him though is his plus wrestling and take down defense. Jimi Manuwa is now 39 years old and I’ll forever remember him for making the mistake of taking too long to accept an invite to the UFC. He’s now 6-5 in the UFC and he doesn’t have the same chin he used to have years ago. Manuwa has no path to win against Rakic and we’re looking at a 1st round knockout for Rakic.
-Chris Fishgold: Grappler vs grappler. On paper, you’d think this would be a kick boxing fight, with both Fishgold’s and Makwan Amirkhani’s grappling canceling each other out. Except I think Fishgold’s grappling is plus and better than Amirkhani’s above average grappling. Fishgold is 26 years old. Lost his UFC debut to rising contender Calvin Kattar in a horrible match up. Not able to take Kattar down due to Kattar’s wrestling. And then Fishgold bounced back to Daniel Teymur. Amirkhani is 30 years old. 4-1 in the UFC, but I think Fishgold has more ways to win. Likely taking Amirkhani down or if the fight plays out on the feet, I think Fishgold will have better stand up. Fishgold by decision.
-Damir Hadzovic: Hadzovic has grown a lot since making his UFC debut. He’s 3-2 in the UFC. 32 years old. Has plus striking with above average power. But he’s improved the most on his wrestling and take down defense. Before, that was his biggest weakness. He got outwrestled by Alan Patrick, but then the very next fight against another wrestler in Nick Hein, Hadzovic was able to resist enough to win by split decision. Not that he’ll need the take down defense against Christos Giagos. He won’t. But it shows Hadzovic could now have the upside as a mid tier gate keeper. Giagos is 2-3 in the UFC. 29 years old. His skills are similar to Hadzovic, but his striking and power is average. Giagos will be knocked out in the 1st round.
-Daniel Teymur: The UFC must think highly of the younger Teymur, brother of David Teymur, because it’s not often a fighter starts his UFC career 0-3 in the UFC and gets another fight. Especially at 145 lbs where it’s pretty crowded. Teymur is 26 years old. 6-3 pro record. All 3 losses were against gate keepers and a possible contender in Chris Fishgold. Teymur’s got above average striking and average grappling. And his opponent Sung Bin Jo has fought some of the worst competition I’ve ever seen lol. Yes, he’s undefeated. 9-0. 26 years old. But he’s fought no one remotely close to the level Teymur is on. I think Teymur breaks out and maybe regains his confidence. 1st round knockout for Teymur.
-Tonya Evinger: Easy fight to pick. Lina Lansberg is 37 years old. 2-3 in the UFC, although 1 loss was to Cyborg at 145 lbs. She has above average striking, but has below average grappling and wrestling. Evinger is also 37 years old, but she’s interesting because of the run she went on. She lost to Raquel Pennington on The Ultimate Fighter back in 2013. No shame there. Then won 6 in a row against opponents where 4 of the 6 made it to the UFC. 5 of the 6 wins were finishes. And she lost to Cyborg at 145 lbs, but gave Cyborg a little bit of trouble before being finished in the 3rd round. And Evinger is coming off a 1st round knockout from Aspen Ladd, who’s a monster and possible future champion. Now looking at this fight, Lansberg will have no defense for Evinger’s grappling. Quick 1st round submission win for Evinger.
-Leonardo Santos: My main question when it comes to this fight is, what condition is Santos in? He’s a big mystery. He’s 39 years. Hasn’t fought in 2 and a half years. but he has a 5-0-1 UFC record, including wins over contender Kevin Lee and rising contender Anthony Rocco Martin. From his last few fights, he’s shown to have plus grappling and submissions and he improved his striking enough to where it’s a little bit above average. But we know what we’re getting with Stevie Ray. 29 years old. In his prime. 6-3 in the UFC. But he hasn’t been the same since getting outwrestled by Alan Patrick. He squeaked out wins over Ross Pearson and Joe Lauzon by split and majority decisions. Then lost the next 2 out of 3. Ray is supposed to be well rounded, but we haven’t seen much grappling from him. He’s mostly focused on his above average striking, win or lose. This pick is based on projection because I really don’t know how Santos is going to look but I think Santos will be able to take Ray down and do enough on the ground to win by decision.
-Nick Hein: I like Luigi Vendramini as a prospect. He’s 23 years old. And he’s got a great foundation of skills to build on in that he has above average striking and average grappling. He’s got a 8-1 pro record. Lost his UFC debut to Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos. No shame there. But all 8 of Vendramini’s wins have been against tomato cans. And for a lot of prospects, they can get away with not having any take down defense outside the UFC but then find out real quick that it’s something they have to have in the octagon. Hein is 35 years old. Has a 4-3 record. And he’s a decent lower tier gate keeper because of his plus wrestling. I don’t think Vendramini will be able to stop Hein’s takedowns and because of that we’re looking at a dull decision win for Hein.
-Bea Malecki: Both fighters are very green, but it looks like the UFC is trying to build up the women’s 145 lb division and there’s not much talent out there. Malecki has a 2-0 pro record. And lost to Leah Letson on The Ultimate Fighter. She might be well rounded due to having 1 of her wins being a knockout and the other being a submission. 2 pro fights and 1 exhibition is not a big sample size to go off of. Duda Santana has a 3-0 pro record. 1 knockout. This pick is based off projection as neither fighter has much of a track record here, but I’d like to think that Malecki has an edge in being more experienced in being on The Ultimate Fighter, learning there. I think she’s got the better striking and will out point Santana to win by decision.
-Darko Stosic: Devin Clark can be an effective lower tier gate keeper in the UFC. He can expose fighters with zero wrestling, no skills in the clinch. And that’s really what it’s going to come down to in this fight. Clark is 30 years old. 3-3 in the UFC so far. Used his above average wrestling and clinch game to pick up his 3 wins. But 2 of his 3 losses were knockout losses. 1 of the knockout losses came against Alex Nicholson who didn’t last long in the UFC. Stosic is 27 years old. 13-1 pro record. And I was pretty skeptical of him when he made his UFC debut against Jeremy Kimball, being that Stosic had only won against poor competition. But Stosic surprised me in knocking out Kimball in the 1st round. And that’s convinced me that his striking could be a plus grade, could have plus knockout power. We’ll see where his skills really are against Clark. But more than likely in Nicholson could knock Clark out, I see Stosic being able to too. 1st round knockout Darko Stosic.
-Joel Alvarez: Danilo Belluardo is only 24 years old, but he has some development to do. 12-3 pro record. He’s only gone against 3 opponents that are any good and lost to all 3. All 12 wins were over poor competition. Belluardo looks to have average striking and near average grappling. Joel Alvarez is an actual prospect. 15-2 pro record. Has 3 wins over quality prospects outside the UFC. 26 years old. Lost his UFC debut to Damir Ismagulov and there’s no shame in that. Alvarez is a submission specialist with plus grappling and he lost to Ismagulov due to Ismagulov having the wrestling to keep the fight on the feet. Belluardo is a different story. I see Alvarez taking Belluardo down quickly and will submit him in the 1st round.
-Rostem Akman: This is a risky pick in that I’m basing it off projection. I don’t think Sergey Khandozhko is a UFC caliber fighter. He’s 27 years old. Pretty well rounded. 25-5 pro record. Which isn’t bad. But he’s only won 5 out of his last 9 fights and the guys he lost to aren’t that good. Akman is 5-0. Also 27 years old. Has above average striking, but also picked up a heel hook submission. My lack of confidence in picking Akman is because all 5 of his wins were over tomato cans and Khandozhko is a step up in competition. But I think Akman has the best tool in the fight, his striking, and will out point Khandozhko on the feet to win by decision.