Robert Whittaker vs Reinier de Ridder
- Robert Whittaker
- Age: 34
- UFC Record: 14-4 at 185 lbs.
- Key Wins: Knocked out Ikram Aliskerov, Derek Brunson, Jacare Souza. Beat Paulo Costa, Yoel Romero (twice), MarvinJared Cannonier, and Uriah Hall.
- Striking: near plus plus (75)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Wrestling: plus (70)
- Reinier de Ridder
- Age: 34
- Pro Record: 20-2
- UFC Record: 3-0
- Key Wins: Submitted Kevin Holland, Gerald Meerschaert, a well rounded 12-2 fighter, a 17-1 grappler, and a well rounded 23-4 fighter. Knocked out Bo Nickal, a 6-1 striker, and a well rounded 30-6 fighter. Beat an 11-3 striker.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Grappling: plus (70)
Chris’ Pick: Whittaker by decision.
Movsar Evloev vs Aaron Pico
- Movsar Evloev
- Age: 31
- UFC Record: 9-0
- Key Wins: Knocked out a well rounded 12-2 fighter and a 15-5 wrestler. Submitted an 11-3 striker. Beat Aljamain Sterling, Arnold Allen, Diego Lopes, Dan Ige, Hakeem Dawodu, Mike Grundy, Enrique Barzola, a 7-1 striker, a well rounded 6-2 fighter, and a 14-2 wrestler. Split decision win over Nik Lentz.
- Striking: plus (70)
- Power: above average (60)
- Wrestling: near plus plus (75)
- Aaron Pico
- Age: 28
- Pro Record: 13-4
- Key Wins: Knocked out a well rounded 9-1 fighter, a well rounded 12-3 fighter and an 18-4 grappler. Beat a 12-0 wrestler.
- Striking: above average (60)
- Power: above average (60)
- Wrestling: near plus (65)
Chris’ Pick: Evloev by 2nd round submission.
Petr Yan vs Marcus McGhee
- Petr Yan
- Age: 32
- UFC Record: 10-4
- Key Losses: Split decision losses to Sean O’Malley and Aljamain Sterling.
- Key Wins: Knocked out Douglas Silva de Andrade and Urijah Faber. Beat Deiveson Figueiredo, Song Yadong, Cory Sandhagen, Jimmie Rivera, and John Dodson.
- Striking: plus (70)
- Power: above average (60)
- Wrestling: near plus plus (75)
- Marcus McGhee
- Age: 35
- Pro Record: 10-1
- UFC Record: 4-0
- Key Wins: Submitted Journey Newson. Knocked out Gaston Bolanos, JP Buys, and a 4-1 grappler. Beat Jonathan Martinez.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Wrestling: above average (60)
Chris’ Pick: Yan by decision.
Bryce Mitchell vs Said Nurmagomedov
- Bryce Mitchell
- Age: 30
- UFC Record: 9-3
- 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: plus (70)
- Said Nurmagomedov
- Age: 33
- UFC Record: 6-3
- Key Wins: Knocked out Cody Stamann, Ricardo Ramos, and Mark Striegl. Submitted Muin Gafurov and Saidyokub Kahkramonov. Beat a well rounded 9-2 fighter, a well rounded 11-2 fighter, and a 16-3 grappler. Split decision over Justin Scoggins.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Wrestling: near plus (65)
Chris’ Pick: Mitchell by decision.
Shara Magomedov vs Marc Andre Barriault
- Shara Magomedov
- Age: 31
- UFC Record: 4-1
- Key Wins: Knocked out Armen Petrosyan, Antonio Trocolli, a 16-4 striker, a 4-1 striker, and a well rounded 9-2 fighter. Beat Bruno Silva and a 21-5 wrestler.
- Striking: plus (70)
- Power: plus (70)
- Wrestling: above average (60)
- Marc-Andre Barriault
- Age: 35
- UFC Record: 6-8
- Key Losses: Split decision loss to Chris Curtis.
- Key Wins: Knocked out Bruno Silva, Julian Marquez, Abu Azaitar, a 9-3 striker, and a 7-1 striker. Submitted Jordan Wright. Beat Eryk Anders and Dalcha Lungiambula.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Wrestling: above average (60)
Chris’ Pick: Magomedov by decision.
Nikita Krylov vs Bogdan Guskov
- Nikita Krylov
- Age: 33
- UFC Record: 10-7
- 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)
- Bogdan Guskov
- Age: 32
- Pro Record: 17-3
- UFC Record: 3-1
- Key Wins: Knocked out Ryan Spann, a well rounded 13-3 fighter and a 4-1 grappler. Submitted Billy Elekana.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Wrestling: above average (60)
Chris’ Pick: Krylov by decision.
Amanda Ribas vs Tabatha Ricci
- Amanda Ribas
- Age: 31
- UFC Record: 7-5
- Key Losses: Knocked out by Polyana Viana. Beat Viviane Araujo. Split decision loss to Katlyn Chookagian.
- Key Wins: Knocked out Luana Pinheiro. Submitted Paige VanZant and Emily Whitmire. Beat Virna Jandiroba, Randa Markos, and MacKenzie Dern.
- Striking: near plus plus (75)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Grappling: plus (70)
- Tabatha Ricci
- Age: 30
- UFC Record: 6-3
- Key Losses: Split decision loss to Loopy Godinez.
- Key Wins: Submitted Jessica Penne. Beat Angela Hill, Gillian Robertson, Polyana Viana, and a 12-4 striker. Split decision over Tecia Pennington.
- Striking: plus (70)
- Power: above average (60)
- Wrestling: plus (70)
Chris’ Pick: Ribas by decision.
Ibo Aslan vs Billy Elekana
- Ibo Aslan
- Age: 29
- Pro Record: 14-2
- UFC Record: 3-1
- Key Wins: Knocked out Raffael Cerqueira, Anton Turkalj, a 12-2 striker, and a 4-0 grappler.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Wrestling: above average (60)
- Billy Elekana
- Age: 30
- Pro Record: 7-2
- UFC Record: 0-1
- Key Wins: Knocked out a 4-0 striker and another 4-0 striker. Beat a well rounded 5-1 fighter. Split decision over a 5-2 wrestler.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Wrestling: near plus (65)
Chris’ Pick: Elekana by decision.
What odds I think the favorite should be at: Elekana -175
Asu Almabayev vs Jose Ochoa
- Asu Almabayev
- Age: 31
- UFC Record: 4-1
- Key Wins: Knocked out a 10-1 striker. Submitted Ode Osbourne, a well rounded 6-0 fighter, a well rounded 5-0 fighter and a well rounded 10-2 fighter. Beat Jose Johnson, CJ Vergara, a 4-0 grappler, and a 14-4 wrestler.
- Striking: plus (70)
- Power: above average (60)
- Wrestling: plus (70)
- Grappling: plus (65)
- Jose Ochoa
- Age: 24
- Pro Record: 8-1
- UFC Record: 1-1
- Key Wins: Knocked out Cody Durden. Submitted a well rounded 5-0 fighter.
- Striking: plus (70)
- Power: plus (70)
- Grappling: near plus (65)
Almabayev is very similar to Ochoa’s last opponent Durdan and we all saw how that ended up.
Chris’ Pick: Ochoa by 2nd round knockout.
What odds I think the favorite should be at: Ochoa -175
Marcus Buchecha vs Martin Buday
- Marcus Buchecha
- Age: 35
- Pro Record: 5-1
- Key Wins: Submitted a 14-3 striker, a 5-0 striker, and a 5-1 striker.
- Striking: above average (60)
- Power: average (50)
- Grappling: near plus (65)
- Martin Buday
- Age: 33
- UFC Record: 7-1
- Key Wins: Submitted Josh Parisian. Knocked out a 7-1 striker. Beat Uran Satybaldiev, Jake Collier, and Chris Barnett. Split decision wins over Andrei Arlovski and Lukas Brzeski.
- Striking: above average (60)
- Power: average (50)
- Wrestling: above average (60)
Chris’ Pick: Buchecha by 1st round submission.
What odds I think the favorite should be at: Bucheca -175
Mohammad Yahya vs Steve Nguyen
- Mohammad Yahya
- Age: 31
- Pro Record: 12-5
- UFC Record: 0-2
- Key Wins: Knocked out a 7-2 wrestler. Beat a well rounded 5-2 fighter.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Wrestling: a little above average (55)
- Steve Nguyen
- Age: 32
- Pro Record: 9-2
- UFC Record: 2-2
- Key Wins: Knocked out a well rounded 11-2 fighter and a 5-2 grappler. Beat a 5-0 striker.
- Striking: a little above average (55)
- Power: a little above average (55)
- Grappling: a little above average (55)
Chris’ Pick: Yahya by decision.
What odds I think the favorite should be at: Yahya -300
Da’Mon Blackshear vs Davey Grant
- Da’Mon Blackshear
- Age: 30
- UFC Record: 5-3-1
- Key Draws: Fought to majority draw with Youssef Zalal.
- Key Wins: Knocked out Luan Lacerda. Submitted Cody Gibson, Cody Stamann, Jose Johnson, Aalon Cruz, a well rounded 5-0 fighter, and a 5-2 wrestler. Beat Heili Alateng, a well rounded 5-1 fighter and a 5-1 grappler.
- Striking: plus (70)
- Power: plus (70)
- Grappling: plus (70)
- Davey Grant
- Age: 39
- UFC Record: 9-6
- Key Losses: Submitted by Damian Stasiak and Manny Bermudez. Split decision loss to Daniel Marcos.
- Key Wins: Submitted Raphael Assuncao. Knocked out Louis Smolka and Jonathan Martinez. Beat Ramon Taveras and Marlon Vera in 2016.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Wrestling: near plus (65)
Chris’ Pick: Blackshear by decision.
What odds I think the favorite should be at: Blackshear -300
Carlos Leal vs Muslim Salikhov
- Carlos Leal
- Age: 31
- Pro Record: 22-6
- UFC Record: 2-0
- Key Losses: Split decision loss to a 15-6 wrestler.
- Key Wins: Knocked out Alex Morono, a 12-3 wrestler, a well rounded 13-3 fighter, and a well rounded 21-6 fighter. Submitted an 8-3 striker. Beat a well rounded 9-0 fighter. Split decision over a 8-3 wrestler.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Wrestling: near plus (65)
- Muslim Salikhov
- Age: 41
- UFC Record: 8-4
- Key Losses: Submitted by Alex Garcia.
- Key Wins: Knocked out Kenan Song, Andre Fialho, Nordine Taleb, a 5-1 striker, and a well rounded 6-2 fighter. Beat Francisco Trinaldo, Laureano Staropoli, and an 8-1 wrestler. Split decision wins over Santiago Ponzinibbio and Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Wrestling: near plus (65)
Chris’ Pick: Leal by 2nd round knockout.