-Zabit Magomedsharipov: Kattar is 31 years old. 20-3 pro record. 4-1 in the UFC. He is really good. He’s knocked out Shane Burgos, Chris Fishgold, and Ricardo Lamas. He also beat Andre Fili. The 1 loss was getting out struck by Moicano. After knocking out Lamas in the 1st round, I’ve upgraded Kattar’s striking to plus. He also has above average wrestling. Meanwhile, Zabit looks to be a special talent. 28 years old. 17-1 pro record. 5-0 UFC record. He’s got wins over Sheymon Moraes, Kyle Bochniak, Brandon Davis and most impressively Jeremy Stephens. Zabit’s striking is an easy plus with the ceiling of plus plus being a possibility. But his lack of elite power is the only hole I see in his game. I’d grade the power as being just above average. Zabit’s grappling is also an easy plus and that part of his game also has the upside of getting better. Kattar is going to be a solid challenge for Zabit because Kattar might have enough wrestling skill to keep this fight on the feet. The striking skills between these two could be close and it is possible to say Kattar has more knockout power. But I’m picking Zabit because I do think he’s a special talent, I think he takes another step here. I think Zabit ultimately gets Kattar on the ground and submits him by the 2nd round.
-Greg Hardy: Hardy is 31 years old. 5-1 pro record. 4-1 in the UFC, although the 1 loss was a DQ loss to Allen Crowder. I still think Hardy knocking out Juan Adams in the 1st round is his most impressive win. Hardy’s last fight was over turned to a no contest due to the inhaler, but in the actual fight, Hardy was never in any danger against 7-2 Ben Sosoli. Hardy has plus striking and the potential ceiling of plus plus power. And I also think Hardy has improved his wrestling to where it’s now average. Alexander Volkov is obviously a big step up. 31 years old. 4-1 UFC record. Volkov’s 1st UFC win wasn’t that impressive. He barely beat Tim Johnson by split decision. But since then, beat Roy Nelson, then knocked out Stefan Struve and Fabricio Werdum. And in Volkov’s last fight, he was knocked out with 11 seconds left in the Derrick Lewis fight. Volkov’s striking is plus paired with above average power. He also has above average wrestling. The odds aren’t out yet. I expect Volkov to be favored to win. But I’m picking Hardy because I think his power will make the difference. Same as the Lewis fight where Volkov might land more, but if they trade the whole fight, I think Hardy will land one of those power shots that ends the fight. And although Volkov has solid above average wrestling, I don’t think he’s that much better at it to take Hardy down and keep him there. I’m picking Hardy by 2nd round knockout.
-Zelim Imadaev: If this fight was taking place a couple years ago, I probably would pick Danny Roberts. Roberts is 32 years old. 5-4 UFC record. 4 of the 5 guys he’s beat in the UFC have been released. Then he also beat David Zawada by split decision. The losses have come against quality guys. Mike Perry. Nordine Taleb. Claudio da Silva. And most recently Michel Pereira. Roberts has striking that’s slightly above average and also has average grappling. Imadaev is 24 years old. 8-1 pro record. Lost to Max Griffin by majority decision in his UFC debut. All wins have been over cans, but also all wins have been knockouts. I grade Imadaev as having above average striking. Part of me wants to pick Roberts because of the experience advantage he’ll have, but there’s a big red flag where 3 of Roberts’ 4 UFC losses have come by knockout. And I also think Roberts’ confidence has to be at an all time low with how upset he was getting submitted against da Silva, and then getting knocked out the way he did to Pereira. Imadaev is one of those guys that will blitz you early and go for the knockout. I think that’s what he does here and is successful. Imadaev by 1st round knockout.
-Khadis Ibragimov: Ed Herman is coming off his biggest win in 3 years, a knockout over Patrick Cummins in his return to 205 lbs. Now 39 years old. Herman has been a successful lower tier gate keeper with an 11-11 UFC record. Herman has above average grappling and average striking. Ibragimov is 24 years old. 8-1 pro record. Got submitted in his UFC debut to Da Un Jung. Ibragimov also has a submission win over a well rounded 15-3 fighter. A submission win over a 9-3 striker and a knockout over a 7-0 striker. Ibragimov has above average wrestling and submissions. And also has average striking. This is an interesting fight because of how similar both are skills wise. I expect this fight to be close, but I’m picking Ibragimov based on projection. I’m projecting that Herman regresses a little bit here and that Ibragimov takes a step forward. Ibragimov by decision.
-Anthony Rocco Martin: Martin has really been making some strides at 170 lbs. 29 years old. 4-1 UFC record at welterweight. He’s knocked out Ryan LaFlare, submitted Jake Matthews, and out struck the greatly under rated Sergio Moraes. Then he barely lost to Demian Maia by majority decision. Martin’s wrestling is plus. Submission game is above average. And he’s improved his striking to where I’d now grade as above average and paired with average power. This is the first big test for Ramazan Emeev. 32 years old. 18-3 pro record. 3-0 in the UFC so far. Out wrestling Sam Alvey at 185 lbs was impressive. The other 2 prospects Emeev beat, he again relied on his wrestling. I’d grade his wrestling as plus and it’s paired with an average submission game. The wrestling is going to cancel itself out here and the fight will play out on the feet. I expect Martin to have a big advantage and will out point Emeev to win by decision.
-Klidson Abreu: I’m really looking forward to this fight. Abreu is 26 years old. 1-1 in the UFC so far. But Abreu’s got a prolific resume outside the UFC submitting a 20-5 striker, knocked out a well rounded 7-0 fighter, submitted a well rounded 6-0 fighter, submitted an 11-2 striker. And. Abreu also has a submission win over Johnny Walker, who, at the time was 7-1. Abreu’s grappling is plus. Shamil Gamzatov is 29 years old. 13-0 pro record. But 12 of his 13 wins are over cans. His best win was a knockout over a 9-2 striker. I grade Gamzatov as having average striking and average wrestling. Abreu by far has the best tool in the fight. I predict he’s able to take Gamzatov down and will submit him in the 1st round.
-Magomed Ankalaev: Ankalaev is 27 years old. 2-1 in the UFC so far, but he should be 3-0. He got submitted by Paul Craig with 1 second left. Outside the UFC, he has 4 wins over quality prospects. Ankalaev has plus striking and above average wrestling. Dalcha Lumgiambula had an exciting debut. 34 years old. 10-1 pro record. But the fighter he beat in his UFC debut was a 19-7 journeyman fighting on short notice. Lumgiambula definitely has loud tools, but most of his wins are over cans. The biggest win Lumgiambula has is over a well rounded 6-1 fighter. The other tough opponent he’s gone against, Andrew van Zyl, he barely won by split decision. And Lumgiambula’s 1 loss was getting submitted by a well rounded 6-2 fighter. Most surprisingly, out of Lumgiambula’s 10 wins, only 5 have been knockouts. I grade Lumgiambula as having above average striking with average power. I think the difference in this fight could be Ankalaev’s wrestling. On the feet it could be close, but I see Ankalaev mixing the strikes with take downs and doing it enough to win by decision.
-Rustam Khabilov: In Sergei Khandozhko’s last 10 fights, he lost to a 6-3 grappler, a well rounded 15-8 fighter, a well rounded 17-7 fighter, and a well rounded 8-3 fighter. So Khanozhko has only won 6 of his last 10 fights. 27 years old and still developing, I suppose. 26-5-1 pro record. Beat Rostem Akman in his UFC debut. Khandozhko also recently knocked out a 10-2 striker. All his other wins are over cans. Khandozhko has average striking. Khabilov is 32 years old. 9-3 UFC record. Lost his last fight to Diego Ferreira. Also lost to Ben Henderson. And lost a controversial split decision to Adriano Martins. Khabilov has wins over Vinc Pichel, Jorge Masvidal, Desmond Green, and Kajan Johnson. Khabilov has plus wrestling, above average striking paired with below average power. Decent chance Khabilov wins this fight easy with his wrestling. But if he’s unable to take Khandozhko down, I’m also confident Khabilov wins the striking. Either way, Khabilov will cruise to a decision.
-Roman Kopylov: Karl Roberson is 29 years old. 4-2 UFC record. Roberson got off to a hot start knocking out Ryan Spann in 15 seconds and submitted Darren Stewart. But since then he got submitted by Cezar Ferreira, beat Jack Marshman but only by decision. Got submitted by Glover Teixeira. Then won a split decision over Wellington Turman. Was the Spann knockout a fluke? Roberson has 8 career wins and only 2 knockouts. I don’t feel I have a handle yet on exactly how good Roberson is. For now, I’d grade him as having above average striking paired with power that is close to average. Roberson also has average grappling. Kopylov is an elite prospect. 28 years old. 8-0 pro record. Knocked out a 7-1 striker in only his 2nd pro fight. In Kopylov’s 3rd pro fight, he knocked out a well rounded 8-2 fighter. He’s also knocked out a 6-2 wrestler and knocked out a 9-2 wrestler. That’s an impressive resume. I grade Kopylov as having plus striking and average wrestling. I don’t see any pathway to win for Roberson. His striking technique compared to Kopylov’s is close to equal but Kopylov will have a big power advantage. I’m going Kopylov by 2nd round knockout.
-David Zawada: Nurmagomedov is 29 years old. 15-2 pro record. He knocked out a 7-1 striker and beat a well rounded 10-3 fighter. All other wins over cans. Lost to a 22-5 grappler. Fought Bojan Velickovic to a draw. Nurmagomedov has average striking and average wrestling. David Zawada is also 29 years old. 16-5 pro record. 0-2 in the UFC so far. Lost a split decision to Danny Roberts. Got knocked out by Jingliang Li. But despite this, Zawada has improved a lot the past few years. Up until 2016, Zawada had wins only over cans. Then he knocked out a 12-4 grappler. knocked out a 10-3 wrestler, and submitted a well rounded 6-2 fighter. And he almost beat Danny Roberts. Zawada has above average striking and average wrestling. Based on Zawada’s win over Andreas Stahl, the wrestler, I think he’s got enough wrestling skill to stuff any of Nurmagomedov’s take downs. That said, I see Zawada knocking Nurmagomedov out by the 2nd round.
-Roosevelt Roberts: Alexander Yakovlev is 35 years old. 3-4 in the UFC. 2 of the 4 losses were to Kamaru Usman and Demian Maia. He knocked out George Sullivan, submitted Alex da Silva. I’d grade Yakovlev as having above average striking and above average grappling. Roosevelt Roberts is 25 years old. 3-1 UFC record. He lost to Vinc Pichel, getting out struck. Roberts best win was a decision win over Thomas Gifford. He also submitted Darrell Horcher and submitted an 11-7 journeyman striker. Roberts has above average striking and above average grappling. Really hard fight to pick. Skillset wise, Yakovlev and Roberts are pretty close to equal. But Yakovlev is 10 years older, while Roberts is taking this fight on 2 weeks notice, while Yakovlev will have the advantage of fighting near home. I’m going to pick Roberts based on projection, based on me thinking his striking takes a step forward. I’ll say Roberts speed is the difference maker and he wins a via split decision.
-Jessica-Rose Clark: Clark fights at 135 lbs for the first time in the UFC and it’s a rematch between Clark and Pannie Kianzad, in which Kianzad won the first fight back in 2015. Clark is 31 years old. 9-5 pro record. 2-1 in the UFC. Clark has a win over Paige Vanzant. And a close decision loss to title contender Jessica Eye. Clark has plus striking paired with below average power. Kianzad is 27 years old. 0-2 in the UFC so far, losing to Macy Chiasson and Julia Avila. Kianzad has above average striking with below average power. Normally, in a rematch, I’ll pick whoever won the first fight. But both Clark and Kianzad’s career trajectories are going in different directions. Clark has improved a lot in the past couple years. Meanwhile, Kianzad has lost 5 of her last 8 fights. This will be a stand up fight and Clark has the better skills there. Clark by decision.
-Grigory Popov: Popov is 35 years old. 13-2 pro record. He got knocked out by Eddie Wineland in his UFC debut. All of his wins are over cans. Popov has average striking. Davey Grant is 33 years old. He hasn’t been that active. He’s had only 4 fights in the last 6 years. 1-3 UFC record. He beat Marlon Vera back in 2016. That was Vera’s 3rd UFC fight when he was more green. I grade Grant as having average grappling. So this fight comes down to where the fight plays out. I think Popov’s wrestling will be good enough to stuff the take downs. On the feet, Popov will easily pick Grant apart and will cruise to a decision win.