Brandon Royval vs Tatsuro Taira
- Brandon Royval
- Age: 32
- UFC Record: 6-3
- Key Wins: Submitted Matt Schnell, Kai Kara France, Tim Elliott, Joby Sanchez and a 5-1 striker. Knocked out Matheus Nicolau a 7-1 grappler. Beat a well rounded 7-1 fighter. Split decision wins over Brandon Moreno and Rogerio Bontorin.
- Striking: plus (70)
- Power: plus (70)
- Grappling: near plus (65)
- Tatsuro Taira
- Age: 24
- UFC Record: 6-0
- Key Wins: Knocked out Alex Perez, Carlos Henrnadez and a 6-1 wrestler. Submitted Jesus Aguilar, CJ Vergara, and a 6-2 striker. Beat Edgar Chairez and Carlos Candelario.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Grappling: plus (70)
Chris’ Pick: Taira by 2nd round submission.
Jun Yong Park vs Brad Tavares
- Jun Yong Park
- Age: 33
- UFC Record: 7-3
- Key Losses: Split decision loss to Andre Muniz.
- Key Wins: Submitted Albert Duraev, Dennis Tiuliulin, and Joseph Holmes. Beat Marc-Andre Barriault and a 18-6 striker. Majority decision over Tafon Nchukwi. Split decision over Eryk Anders.
- Striking: plus (70)
- Power: above average (60)
- Wrestling: plus (70)
- Brad Tavares
- Age: 36
- UFC Record: 15-9
- Key Wins: Knocked out Krzysztof Jotko. Beat Antonio Carlos Jr and Elias Theodorou. Split decision over Omari Akhmedov.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: a little above average (55)
- Wrestling: near plus (65)
Chris’ Pick: Park by decision.
Grant Dawson vs Rafa Garcia
- Grant Dawson
- Age: 30
- UFC Record: 10-1-1
- Key draws: Fought Ricky Glenn to a majority draw.
- Key Wins: Knocked out Leonardo Santos. Submitted Mark O. Madsen, Jared Gordon, and Michael Trizano. Beat Joe Solecki, Damir Ismagulov and Nad Narimani.
- Striking: plus (70)
- Power: above average (60)
- Wrestling: near plus plus (75)
- Grappling: plus (70)
- Rafa Garcia
- Age: 30
- UFC Record: 4-3
- Key Wins: Submitted Jesse Ronson. Knocked out a well rounded 8-3 fighter. Beat Maheshate Hayisaer and a 10-3 striker. Beat Natan Levy. Majority decision win over a well rounded 6-2 fighter.
- Striking: above average (60)
- Power: average (50)
- Grappling: near plus (65)
Chris’ Pick: Dawson by decision.
Cory McKenna vs Polyana Viana
- Cory McKenna
- Age: 25
- UFC Record: 4-2
- Key Losses: Split decision loss to Elise Reed.
- Key Wins: Submitted Miranda Granger. Beat Cheyanne Vlismas, Kay Hansen, and a 5-1 grappler. Split decision over a 3-0 grappler.
- Striking: above average (60)
- Power: average (50)
- Grappling: near plus (65)
- Polyana Viana
- Age: 32
- UFC Record: 4-6
- Key Losses: Submitted by Veronica Macedo. Split decision loss to Hannah Cifers.
- Key Wins: Knocked out Jinh Yu Frey and Amanda Ribas back in 2015. Submitted Mallory Martin and Emily Whitmire.
- Striking: above average (60)
- Power: above average (60)
- Grappling: a little above (55)
Chris’ Pick: McKenna by 2nd round submission.
Daniel Rodriguez vs Alex Morono
- Daniel Rodriguez
- Age: 37
- UFC Record: 7-4
- Key Wins: Submitted Tim Means and a 7-2 grappler. Knocked out Dwight Grant, a well rounded 4-0 fighter. Beat Kevin Lee, Mike Perry and a 7-2 striker. Split decision over Jingliang Li
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Wrestling: above average (60)
- Grappling: a little above average (55)
- Alex Morono
- Age: 34
- UFC Record: 13-7
- Key Losses: Split decision loss to Keita Nakamura.
- Key Wins: Knocked out Donald Cerrone and Zak Ottow. Beat Court McGee, Tim Means, Matthew Semelsberger, Mickey Gall, David Zawada, Kenan Song, and Max Griffin.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: a little above average (55)
- Grappling: above average (60)
Chris’ Pick: Rodriguez by 2nd round knockout.
Josh Fremd vs Abdul Razak Alhassan
- Josh Fremd
- Age: 30
- UFC Record: 2-4
- Key Wins: Knocked out an 8-2 striker and a well rounded 3-0 fighter. Submitted Sedriques Dumas and a 5-1 wrestler. Beat Jamie Pickett. Split decision over a well rounded 6-2 fighter.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Wrestling: near plus (65)
- Grappling: above average (60)
- Abdul Razak Alhassan
- Age: 39
- UFC Record: 6-5
- Key Losses: Split decision losses to Joaquin Buckley and Omari Akhmedov.
- Key Wins: Knocked out Claudio Ribeiro, Alessio di Chirico, and Niko Price.
- Striking: above average (60)
- Power: above average (60)
- Wrestling: above average (60)
Chris’ Pick: Fremd by decision.
Chidi Njokuani vs Jared Gooden
- Chidi Njokuani
- Age: 35
- UFC Record: 4-3
- Key Losses: Split decision loss to Albert Duraev.
- Key Wins: Knocked out Dustin Todorovic, Marc Andre Barriault, a well rounded 12-1 fighter, an 18-4 wrestler, an 8-0 striker, a well rounded 6-1 fighter and an 8-2 striker. Beat a 6-2 wrestler, an 8-2 striker, an 11-3 striker, and a 10-3 grappler. Split decision wins over Rhys McKee and Max Griffin.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Wrestling: above average (60)
- Jared Gooden
- Age: 30
- UFC Record: 2-4
- Key Wins: Submitted Wellington Turman. Knocked out Niklas Stolze. Beat a well rounded 9-0 fighter.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Wrestling: above average (60)
- Grappling: average (50)
Chris’ Pick: Gooden by 1st round knockout.
Ramazonbek Temirov vs CJ Vergara
- Ramazonbek Temirov
- Age: 27
- Pro Record: 15-2-1
- Key Wins: Knocked out a well rounded 10-3 fighter and a 4-1 wrestler. Beat a well rounded 5-1 fighter and a well rounded 10-2 fighter.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Wrestling: above average (60)
- CJ Vergara
- Age: 33
- UFC Record: 4-3
- Key Wins: Knocked out Daniel da Silva, Bruno Korea and Jacob Silva. Beat Vinicius Salvador. Split decision over Kleydson Rodrigues.
- Striking: above average (60)
- Power: above average (60)
- Wrestling: a little above average (55)
Chris’ Pick: Temirov by decision.
Pat Sabatini vs Jonathan Pearce
- Pat Sabatini
- Age: 33
- UFC Record: 5-2
- Key Losses: Split decision loss to a well rounded 6-3 fighter.
- Key Wins: Submitted Lucas Almeida, Jamall Emmers, a 12-4 wrestler and a 10-3 wrestler. Beat TJ Laramie, Tucker Lutz, and a 6-2 grappler.
- Striking: above average (60)
- Power: average (50)
- Grappling: plus (70)
- Jonathan Pearce
- Age: 32
- UFC Record: 6-3
- Key Losses: Knocked out by Joe Lauzon.
- Key Wins: Knocked out Makwan Amirkhani, Kai Kamaka III, and a 5-1 striker. Submitted Omar Morales. Beat Darren Elkins and Christian Rodriguez
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Wrestling: plus (70)
Chris’ Pick: Pearce by 1st round knockout.
Themba Gorimbo vs Niko Price
- Themba Gorimbo
- Age: 33
- Pro Record: 13-4
- UFC Record: 3-1
- Key Losses: Knocked out by a well rounded 14-7 fighter.
- Key Wins: Knocked out Pete Rodriguez. Submitted a 6-0 wrestler. Beat Ramiz Brahimaj, Takashi Sato and a well rounded 3-0 fighter.
- Striking: above average (60)
- Power: above average (60)
- Wrestling: near plus (65)
- Grappling: above average (60)
- Niko Price
- Age: 34
- UFC Record: 8-7
- Key Wins: Knocked out Alan Jouban, Randy Brown, and Tim Means. Beat Alex Morono.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Wrestling: above average (60)
- Grappling: average (50)
Chris’ Pick: Gorimbo by decision.
Waldo Cortes Acosta vs Chris Barnett
- Waldo Cortes-Acosta
- Age: 32
- UFC Record: 6-1
- Key Wins: Knocked out Lukasz Brzeski, a 5-0 striker, and a 9-1 striker. Beat Robelis Despagne, Andre Arlovski, Chase Sherman, and Jared Vanderaa.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Wrestling: above average (60)
- Grappling: average (50)
- Chris Barnett
- Age: 38
- Pro Record: 23-8
- UFC Record: 2-2
- Key Losses: Knocked out by a 3-3 striker. Lost to a 14-8 striker. Split decision loss to an 8-4 wrestler.
- Key Wins: Knocked out Jake Collier and a well rounded 22-5 fighter.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Wrestling: above average (60)
Barnett took a major step forward against Collier in his last fight. Even if I might have been under rating him a tad, he still out performed the market. The thing that was most stunning is that the strikes vs Collier was close to equal.
Chris’ Pick: Cortes Acosta by split decision.
Cody Haddon vs Dan Argueta
- Cody Haddon
- Age: 25
- Pro Record: 6-1
- Key Wins: Knocked out a 5-0 striker.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Wrestling: near plus (65)
- Dan Argueta
- Age: 31
- Pro Record: 9-2
- UFC Record: 1-2
- Key Wins: Knocked out a 12-0 striker. Beat a well rounded 4-1 fighter. Split decision over a 14-6 grappler.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: a little above average (55)
- Wrestling: near plus (65)
- Grappling: above average (60)
Chris’ Pick: Haddon by 2nd round knockout.
Clayton Carpenter vs Lucas Rocha
- Clayton Carpenter
- Age: 28
- Pro Record: 7-0
- UFC Record: 2-0
- Key Wins: Submitted Juancamilo Ronderos, a well rounded 3-1 fighter. Knocked out a 5-2 striker. Beat Edgar Chairez.
- Striking: above average (60)
- Power: above average (60)
- Wrestling: above average (60)
- Grappling: a little above average (55)
- Lucas Rocha
- Age: 24
- Pro Record: 17-1
- UFC Record: 1-0
- Key Wins: Knocked out a well rounded 14-3 fighter, a 7-0 grappler, a 10-3 striker, a well rounded 5-1 fighter, and a 7-2 grappler. Beat an 11-3 wrestler.
- Striking: above average (60)
- Power: above average (60)
- Wrestling: above average (60)
Slight possibility that Rocha’s striking is a 65. Haven’t seen enough of him to know for sure.
Chris’ Pick: Carpenter by decision.