Alexander Volkanovski vs Diego Lopes
- Alexander Volkanovski
- Age: 36
- UFC Record: 12-1 at 145 lbs. 12-3 overall.
- Key Wins: Knocked out The Korean Zombie and Chad Mendes. Beat Brian Ortega, Max Holloway thrice, and Jose Aldo.
- Striking: near plus plus (75)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Wrestling: near plus plus (75)
- Diego Lopes
- Age: 30
- UFC Record: 4-2
- Key Wins: Knocked out Sodiq Yusuff and Pat Sabatini. Submitted Gavin Tucker, Marcos Beltran, and a 14-3 grappler. Beat Brian Ortega.
- Striking: plus (70)
- Power: plus (70)
- Grappling: plus (70)
Chris’ Pick: Volkanovski by decision.
Michael Chandler vs Paddy Pimblett
- Michael Chandler
- Age: 38
- UFC Record: 2-4
- Key Losses: Split decision loss to Eddie Alvarez. Knock out loss and split decision loss to Will Brooks.
- Key Wins: Submitted Eddie Alvarez and a 14-1 wrestler. Knocked out Tony Ferguson, Dan Hooker, a well rounded 14-1 fighter, and a 14-3 grappler.
- Striking: plus (70)
- Power: plus (70)
- Wrestling: plus (70)
- Paddy Pimblett
- Age: 30
- UFC Record: 5-0
- Key Wins: Submitted King Green, Jordan Leavitt, Kazula Vargas, a 7-0 grappler, a well rounded 8-3 fighter, a 10-2 grappler, and an 8-2 wrestler. Knocked out Luigi Vendramini and a well rounded 11-4 fighter. Beat Tony Ferguson and Julian Erosa.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Grappling: near plus (65)
Chris’ Pick: Chandler by 2nd round knockout.
Bryce Mitchell vs Jean Silva
- Bryce Mitchell
- Age: 30
- UFC Record: 9-2
- Key Wins: Submitted Matt Sayles. Knocked out Kron Gracie. Beat Dan Ige, Edson Barboza, Andre Fili, Charles Rosa, and Bobby Moffett.
- Striking: plus (70)
- Power: above average (60)
- Grappling: near plus plus (75)
- Jean Silva
- Age: 28
- UFC Record: 5-0
- Key Wins: Knocked out Melsyk Baghdasaryan, Drew Dober, Charles Jourdain, a well rounded 4-0 fighter, a well rounded 7-2 fighter, and a 5-2 striker. Submitted a 5-2 striker. Beat an 11-0 striker.
- Striking: plus (70)
- Power: plus (70)
- Wrestling: plus (70)
Chris’ Pick: Mitchell by 2nd round submission.
Carlos Prates vs Geoff Neal
- Carlos Prates
- Age: 31
- UFC Record: 5-0
- Key Wins: Knocked out Neil Magny, Jingliang Li, Charlie Radtke, Trevin Giles, an 8-0 striker, a 5-0 striker, and an 8-3 striker, and a well rounded 21-7 fighter.
- Striking: plus (70)
- Power: plus (70)
- Wrestling: near plus (65)
- Geoff Neal
- Age: 34
- UFC Record: 9-4
- Key Losses: Split decision loss to Ian Garry.
- Key Wins: Knocked out Rafael dos Anjos, Vicente Luque, Mike Perry, and Niko Price. Beat Belal Muhammaed. Split decision over Santiago Ponzinibbio.
- Striking: plus (70)
- Power: plus (70)
- Wrestling: plus (70)
Chris’ Pick: Neal by split decision.
Yair Rodriguez vs Patricio Freire
- Yair Rodriguez
- Age: 32
- UFC Record: 12-4
- Key Wins: Knocked out The Korean Zombie and Andre Fili. Submitted Josh Emmett. Beat Jeremy Stephens. Split decision over Alex Caceres.
- Striking: near plus plus (75)
- Power: near plus plus (75)
- Wrestling: plus (70)
- Patricio Freire
- Age: 37
- Pro Record: 36-7
- Key Wins: Knocked out Michael Chandler, Jeremy Kennedy, Diego Nunes, and Justin Wilcox. Submitted Emmanuel Sanchez and Daniel Straus. Beat Juan Archuleta and Pat Curran.
- Striking: plus (70)
- Power: plus (70)
- Grappling: Plus (70)
Chris’ Pick: Rodriguez by decision.
Dominick Reyes vs Nikita Krylov
- Dominick Reyes
- Age: 35
- UFC Record: 8-4
- Key Wins: Knocked out Anthony Smith, Dustin Jacoby, Jared Cannonier, Ovince St. Preux, and Chris Weidman. Split decision over Volkan Oezdemir.
- Striking: near plus plus (75)
- Power: near plus plus (75)
- Wrestling: plus (70)
- Nikita Krylov
- Age: 33
- UFC Record: 10-6
- Key Wins: Knocked out Alexander Gustafsson, Ed Herman, and Walt Harris. Submitted Ryan Spann, Marcos Rogerio de Lima, Francimar Barroso, and Ovince St. Preux. Beat Volkan Oezdemir.
- Striking: plus (70)
- Power: plus (70)
- Wrestling: near plus plus (75)
- Grappling: near plus (65)
Chris’ Pick: Reyes by 2nd round knockout.
Dan Ige vs Sean Woodson
- Dan Ige
- Age: 33
- UFC Record: 11-8
- Key Wins: Knocked out Andre Fili, Damon Jackson, and Gavin Tucker. Knocked down Danny Henry and submitted him. Beat Nate Landwehr and Kevin Aguilar. Split decision wins over Mirsad Bektic and Edson Barboza.
- Striking: plus (70)
- Power: above average (60)
- Grappling: near plus (65)
- Sean Woodson
- Age: 32
- UFC Record: 8-1-1
- Key Losses: Submitted by Julian Erosa.
- Key Draws: Fought Luis Saldana to a draw.
- Key Wins: Knocked out Fernando Padilla, Collin Anglin, and a 6-1 grappler. Beat Alex Caceres, Charles Jourdain, Dennis Buzukja, and Kyle Bochniak. Split decision over Youssef Zalal.
- Striking: plus (70)
- Power: plus (70)
- Wrestling: near plus (65)
Chris’ Pick: Woodson by split decision.
Xiaonan Yan vs Virna Jandiroba
- Yan Xiaonan
- Age: 35
- UFC Record: 9-3
- Key Losses: Split decision loss to Marina Rodriguez.
- Key Wins: Knocked out Jessica Andrade. Beat Tabatha Ricci, Claudia Gadelha, Karolina Kowalkiewicz and Angela Hill. Majority decision over MacKenzie Dern.
- Striking: near plus plus (75)
- Power: near plus plus (75)
- Wrestling: plus (70)
- Virna Jandiroba
- Age: 36
- UFC Record: 7-3
- Key Wins: Submitted Amanda Lemos, Felice Herrig, a 6-2 wrestler, a well rounded 8-2 fighter and a 10-2 striker. Beat Loopy Godinez, Marina Rodriguez, and Angela Hill. Split decision wins over Mizuki Inoue and a 7-2 grappler.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: a little above average (55)
- Grappling: near plus plus (75)
Chris’ Pick: Yan by decision.
Chase Hooper vs Jim Miller
- Chase Hooper
- Age: 25
- UFC Record: 4-0 at 155 lbs. 8-3 overall.
- Key Draws: Fought a 7-8 striker to a draw.
- Key Losses: Lost to Alex Caceres.
- Key Wins: Submitted Clay Guida, Slava Borshchev and Jordan Leavitt. Knocked out Felipe Colares and Daniel Teymur. Beat Nick Fiore and a 4-0 grappler.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: a little above average (55)
- Grappling: plus (70)
- Jim Miller
- Age: 41
- UFC Record: 27-17
- Key Wins: Knocked out Nik Motta. Submitted Damon Jackson, Gabriel Benitez, Donald Cerrone, Roosevelt Roberts, and Clay Guida.
- Striking: above average (60)
- Power: above average (60)
- Grappling: above average (60)
Chris’ Pick: Hooper by 2nd round submission.
Michal Oleksiejczuk vs Sedriques Dumas
- Michal Oleksiejczuk
- Age: 30
- UFC Record: 3-4 at 185 lbs. 7-7 overall.
- Key Losses: Submitted by Ovince St. Preux.
- Key Wins: Knocked out Chidi Njokuani, Cody Brundage, Shamil Gamzatov, Gian Villante, Gadzhimurad Antigulov, and a 5-0 striker. Beat a well rounded 4-1 fighter. Split decision over Modestas Bukauskas.
- Striking: plus (70)
- Power: plus (65)
- Wrestling: near plus (65)
- Sedriques Dumas
- Age: 29
- UFC Record: 4-2
- Key Wins: Submitted a 7-0 striker. Beat Denis Tiuliulin, Abu Azaitar, and Cody Brundage.
- Striking: above average (60)
- Power: above average (60)
- Wrestling: above average (60)
Dumas definitely has the potential for a 65 wrestling tool, but his cardio isn’t good enough. Despite losing to Shara Magomedov, Olekciejczuk’s striking improved to a 70.
Chris’ Pick: Oleksiejczuk by decision.
Julian Erosa vs Darren Elkins
- Julian Erosa
- Age: 35
- UFC Record: 12-8
- Key Losses: Knocked out by Artem Lobov and Teruto Ishihara.
- Key Wins: Knocked out Nate Landwehr and Jamall Emmers. Submitted Christian Rodriguez, Ricardo Ramos, Charles Jourdain, and Sean Woodson. Beat Hakeem Dawodu. Split decision over Steven Peterson.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Grappling: near plus (65)
- Darren Elkins
- Age: 40
- UFC Record: 19-10
- Key Wins: Knocked out Darrick Minner and Mirsad Bektic. Submitted TJ Brown, Luiz Garagorri. Beat Daniel Pineda, Chas Skelly, and Godofredo Pepey. Split decision over Dennis Bermudez.
- Striking: above average (60)
- Power: average (50)
- Wrestling: near plus (65)
Chris’ Pick: Erosa by decision.
What odds I think the favorite should be at: Erosa -250
Sumudaerji vs Mitch Raposo
- Sumudaerji
- Age: 29
- UFC Record: 3-4
- Key Losses: Submitted by Louis Smolka and a 10-4 grappler.
- Key Wins: Knocked out Malcolm Gordon, a well rounded 5-0-1 fighter, and a 4-0 grappler. Beat Zarrukh Adashev.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: plus (65)
- Wrestling: above average (60)
- Mitch Raposo
- Age: 26
- Pro Record: 9-2
- UFC Record: 0-2
- Key Losses: Split decision loss to Andre Lima.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Wrestling: plus (70)
- Grappling: near plus (65)
Raposo was super impressive in his short notice debut against Andre Lima. Cardio held up for the whole 15 minutes.
Chris’ Pick: Raposo by decision.
What odds I think the favorite should be at: Raposo -250
Marco Tulio vs Tresean Gore
- Marco Tulio
- Age: 30
- Pro Record: 12-1
- UFC Record: 2-0
- Key Wins: Knocked out Ihor Potieria, a 6-2 striker, a well rounded 22-7 fighter, and a 6-1 striker. Beat a 5-2 striker and a 6-1 wrestler.
- Striking: plus (70)
- Power: plus (70)
- Wrestling: near plus (65)
- Tresean Gore
- Age: 30
- Pro Record: 5-2
- UFC Record: 2-2
- Key Wins: Submitted Antonio Trocoli and Josh Fremd.
- Striking: above average (60)
- Power: above average (60)
- Grappling: near plus (65)
I might be over rating Tulio a tad, but I really think Potieria’s striking is a 65 and Tulio out struck him 17 to 6, albeit in a small sample.
Chris’ Pick: Tulio by 2nd round knockout.
What odds I think the favorite should be at: Tulio -225
Nora Cornolle vs Hailey Cowan
- Nora Cornolle
- Age: 35
- Pro Record: 8-2
- UFC Record: 2-1
- Key Losses: Split decision loss to Jacqueline Cavalcanti.
- Key Wins: Knocked out Melissa Mullins. Beat Joselyne Edwards.
- Striking: plus (70)
- Power: plus (70)
- Wrestling: plus (70)
- Hailey Cowan
- Age: 33
- Pro Record: 7-3
- UFC Record: 1-1
- Key Losses: Submitted by a 1-2 fighter.
- Key Wins: Split decision over an 8-2 striker.
- Striking: above average (60)
- Power: above average (60)
- Wrestling: near plus (65)
Despite the loss to Jacqueline Cavalcanti, Cornolle showed a lot of improvement.
Chris’ Pick: Cornolle by 2nd round knockout.
What odds I think the favorite should be at: Cornolle -400