Jamahal Hill vs Khalil Rountree Jr
- Jamahal Hill
- Age: 34
- UFC Record: 7-3
- Key Wins: Knocked out Johnny Walker, Jimmy Crute, and Ovince St Preux. Beat Glover Teixeira, Thiago Santos, and Darko Stosic.
- Striking: near plus plus (75)
- Power: near plus plus (75)
- Wrestling: plus (70)
- Khalil Rountree
- Age: 35
- UFC Record: 10-7
- Key Losses: Submitted by Tyson Pedro.
- Key Wins: Knocked out Anthony Smith, Chris Daukaus, Karl Roberson, Modestas Bukauskas, Paul Craig, and Gokhan Saki. Beat Eryk Anders. Split decision over Dustin Jacoby.
- Striking: plus (70)
- Power: plus (70)
- Wrestling: near plus (65)
Chris’ Pick: Hill by decision.
Rafael Fiziev vs Ignacio Bahamondes
- Rafael Fiziev
- Age: 32
- UFC Record: 6-4
- Key Losses: Majority decision loss to Justin Gaethje.
- Key Wins: Knocked out Rafael dos Anjos, Brad Riddell, and Renato Moicano. Beat Bobby Green and Marc Diakiese.
- Striking: plus (70)
- Power (70)
- Wrestling: plus (70)
- Ignacio Bahamondes
- Age: 27
- UFC Record: 7-2
- Key Losses: Split decision loss to John Makdessi.
- Key Wins: Submitted Jalin Turner and Zhu Rong. Knocked out Manuel Torres, Cristos Giagos, Roosevelt Roberts, and a 6-1 striker. Beat Trey Ogden and a well rounded 5-1 fighter. Split decision over a well rounded 5-2 fighter.
- Striking: plus (70)
- Power: plus: (70)
- Wrestling: grappling (65)
Chris’ Pick: Fiziev by decision.
Muhammad Naimov vs Bogdan Grad
- Muhammad Naimov
- Age: 30
- UFC Record: 4-2
- Key Wins: Knocked out Jamie Mullarkey and a 4-1 striker. Beat Kaan Ofli and Nathaniel Wood. Split decision win over a 2-0-1 fighter.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Wrestling: near plus (65)
- Grappling: above average (60)
- Bogdan Grad
- Age: 29
- Pro Record: 15-2
- UFC Record: 2-1
- Key Wins: Knocked out Lucas Alexander and a 4-0 grappler. Submitted a well rounded 6-2 fighter. Beat a well rounded 17-6 fighter. Split decision over a 9-1 striker.
- Striking: a little above average (55)
- Power: a little above average (55)
- Wrestling: above average (60)
Chris’ Pick: Naimov by decision.
Nazim Sadykhov vs Nikolas Motta
- Nazim Sadykhov
- Age: 30
- Pro Record: 10-1
- UFC Record: 4-0
- Key Wins: Submitted Terrence McKinney. Knocked out Ismael Bonfim and a well rounded 8-1 fighter.
- Striking: above average (60)
- Power: above average (60)
- Wrestling: plus (70)
- Grappling: near plus (65)
- Nikolas Motta
- Age: 32
- UFC Record: 4-2
- Key Wins: Knocked out Tom Nolan, Cameron VanCamp, Joe Solecki, and a 6-1 wrestler. Beat Maheshate, a 9-1 striker, and a well rounded 6-1 fighter.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Wrestling: above average (60)
Chris’ Pick: Sadykhov by decision.
Curtis Blaydes vs Rizvan Kuniev
- Curtis Blaydes
- Age: 34
- UFC Record: 13-5
- Key Wins: Knocked out Jailton Almeida, Alexey Oleinik, Alistair Overeem, Shamil Abdurakhimov, and Junior dos Santos. Beat Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Alexander Volkov, Mark Hunt, and Justin Willis.
- Striking: plus (70)
- Power: plus (70)
- Wrestling: plus (70)
- Rizvan Kuniev
- Age: 32
- Pro Record: 12-2-1
- UFC Record: 2-0
- Key Wins: Knocked out a well rounded 8-1 fighter, a 12-2 striker, a 5-0 wrestler and an 11-4 striker.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Wrestling: above average (60)
Chris’ Pick: Blaydes by 1st round knockout.
What odds I think the favorite should be at: Blaydes -325
Oban Elliott vs Seok Hyun Ko
- Oban Elliott
- Age: 27
- Pro Record: 12-2
- UFC Record: 4-0
- Key Wins: Knocked out Bassil Hafez. Beat Preston Parsons, Valentine Woodburn and a well rounded 6-2 fighter. Majority decision over a 17-4 striker.
- Striking: above average (60)
- Power: average (50)
- Wrestling: near plus (65)
- Seok Hyun Ko
- Age: 31
- Pro Record: 11-2
- UFC Record: 1-0
- Key Wins: Beat a 9-0 striker and well rounded 6-1 fighter.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: a little above average (55)
- Wrestling: above average (60)
Ko ended up being a lot better than I thought he was when he made his debut on the Contender. But then again, his opponent Igor Cavalcanti, who closed as a -485 favorite, did gas out. But then again, striking in the 1st round with Cavalcanti was close to equal, so not a lot of data for me to go off on but where I have Ko graded I think is most plausible.
Chris’ Pick: Elliott by split decision.
Tagir Ulanbekov vs Azat Maksum
- Tagir Ulanbekov
- Age: 33
- UFC Record: 5-1
- Key Wins: Submitted Cody Durden, Nathan Maness, a 15-2 wrestler and a 13-2 grappler. Knocked out a 4-0 grappler. Beat Clayton Carpenter, Bruno Silva, an 8-1 grappler, and a 9-2 wrestler. Split decision over Allan Nascimento.
- Striking: plus (70)
- Power: above average (60)
- Grappling: near plus plus (75)
- Azat Maksum
- Age: 30
- Pro Record: 17-1
- UFC Record: 1-1
- Key Wins: Submitted a 8-0 striker, a well rounded 4-0 fighter and a 5-0 grappler. Knocked out a well rounded 7-2 fighter and a 12-3 striker. Beat a 5-1 grappler. Split decision over Tyson Nam.
- Striking: above average (60)
- Power: above average (60)
- Grappling: above average (60)
Chris’ Pick: Ulanbekov by 1st round submission.
Irina Alekseeva vs Klaudia Sygula
- Irina Alekseeva
- Age: 34
- Pro Record: 5-2
- UFC Record: 1-1
- Key Losses: Lost to a well rounded 8-6 fighter.
- Key Wins: Submitted Stephanie Egger. Beat a 5-2 striker.
- Striking: above average (60)
- Power: above average (60)
- Grappling: near plus (65)
- Klaudia Sygula
- Age: 26
- Pro Record: 6-2
- UFC Record: 0-1
- Key Wins: Beat a well rounded 3-0 fighter and a 5-2 striker.
- Striking: above average (60)
- Power: average (50)
- Wrestling: above average (60)
Chris’ Pick: Alekseeva by 2nd round knockout.
Melissa Mullins vs Darya Zheleznyakova
- Melissa Mullins
- Age: 33
- Pro Record: 6-1
- UFC Record: 1-1
- Key Wins: Knocked out Klaudia Sygula, a 7-0 striker. Beat Irina Alekseeva and a 3-1 striker.
- Striking: above average (60)
- Power: above average (60)
- Wrestling: near plus (65)
- Dariya Zheleznyakova
- Age: 29
- Pro Record: 9-2
- UFC Record: 1-1
- Key Wins: Knocked out a 9-0 striker and a well rounded 3-0 fighter. Beat Montserrat Rendon.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Wrestling: above average (60)
Chris’ Pick: Zheleznyakova by decision.
Hamdy Abdelwahab vs Mohammed Usman
- Hamdy Abdelwahab
- Age: 32
- Pro Record: 7-0
- UFC Record: 2-0
- Key Wins: Split decision over Jamal Pogues.
- Striking: above average (60)
- Power: above average (60)
- Wrestling: near plus (65)
- Mohammed Usman
- Age: 36
- UFC Record: 3-2
- Key Wins: Knocked out Zac Pauga and a well rounded 5-1 fighter. Submitted a 4-1 striker. Beat Jake Collier, Junior Tafa, and a 5-2 striker.
- Striking: above average (60)
- Power: above average (60)
- Wrestling: above average (60)
- Grappling: average (50)
Chris’ Pick: Abdelwahab by split decision.
Jun Yong Park vs Ismail Naurdiev
- Jun Yong Park
- Age: 34
- UFC Record: 8-3
- 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 wins over Brad Tavares and Eryk Anders.
- Striking: plus (70)
- Power: above average (60)
- Wrestling: plus (70)
- Ismail Naurdiev
- Age: 28
- Pro Record: 23-7
- UFC Record: 2-2
- Key Wins: Beat Siyar Bahadurzada and Michel Prazeres.
- Striking: above average (60)
- Power: above average (60)
- Grappling: above average (60)
Chris’ Pick: Park by decision.