Prochazka vs Stirling, Sterling vs Vallejos, Ortega vs Hooker Fight Picks - November 21, 2026 - MMA Fight Picks By Chris Schweppe

Jiri Prochazka vs Navajo Stirling

Jiri Prochazka
Age: 34
UFC Record: 6-3
Key Draws: Fought a well rounded 6-1 fighter to a draw.
Key Wins: Knocked out Khalil Rountree Jr, Jamahal Hill, Aleksandar Rakic, Dominick Reyes, Volkan Oezdemir, a well rounded 6-0 fighter, a well rounded 13-4 fighter, an 8-2 striker, a 14-4-1 grappler, a 5-0 striker, a well rounded 6-1 fighter, and a 12-4 wrestler. Submitted Glover Teixeira. Beat a 5-1 wrestler.
Striking: plus (70)
Power: plus (70)
Wrestling: plus (70)

Navajo Stirling
Age: 28
UFC Record: 7-0
Key Wins: Knocked out Jan Blachowicz, Ion Cutelaba, Bruno Lopes, and a 6-1 striker. Beat Rodolfo Bellato, Ivan Erslan, and Tuco Tokkos.
Striking: plus (70)
Power: near plus (70)
Wrestling: near plus (65)

Chris’ Pick: Prochazka by 2nd round knockout.

Aljamain Sterling
Age: 37
UFC Record: 18-5
Key Losses: Lost a split decision to Bryan Caraway.
Key Wins: Submitted Cory Sandhagen and Cody Stamann. Beat Youssef Zalal, Calvin Kattar, Pedro Munhoz, Jimmie Rivera, and Brett Johns. Split decision wins over Henry Cejudo and Petr Yan.
Striking: near plus plus (75)
Power: near plus (65)
Grappling: near plus plus (75)

Kevin Vallejos
Age: 24
UFC Record: 5-1
Key Wins: Knocked out Josh Emmett, Giga Chikadze, Seung Woo Choi, Luiz Garagorri, an 8-0 striker, and a well rounded 6-0 fighter. Beat Danny Silva.
Striking: plus (70)
Power: plus (70)
Wrestling: near plus (65)

Chris’ Pick: Sterling by decision.

Brian Ortega
Age: 35
UFC Record: 8-5
Key Wins: Submitted Yair Rodriguez, Renato Moicano, and Cub Swanson. Knocked out Frankie Edgar. Beat The Korean Zombie.
Striking: plus (70)
Power: plus (70)
Grappling: plus (70)

Dan Hooker
Age: 36
UFC Record: 10-7 at 155 lbs. 13-11 overall.
Key Wins: Knocked out Claudio Puelles and James Vick. Beat Al Iaquinta and Nasrat Haqparast. Split decision wins over Mateusz Gamrot, Jalin Turner, and Paul Felder.
Striking: plus (70)
Power: plus (70)
Wrestling: near plus (65)

Chris’ Pick: Ortega by 2nd round submission.

Kyoji Horiguchi
Age: 36
UFC Record: 8-2
Key Wins: Submitted Manel Kape. Knocked out Ian McCall. Beat Amir Albazi, Darrell Montague, Chico Camus, Neil Seery, Ali Bagautinov.
Striking: plus (75)
Power: near plus (65)
Wrestling: plus (70)

Asu Almabayev
Age: 32
UFC Record: 7-1
Key Wins: Knocked out a 10-1 striker. Submitted Charles Johnson, Alex Perez, Ode Osbourne, a well rounded 6-0 fighter, a well rounded 5-0 fighter and a well rounded 10-2 fighter. Beat Jose Ochoa, Jose Johnson, CJ Vergara, a 4-0 grappler, and a 14-4 wrestler.
Striking: plus (70)
Power: above average (60)
Grappling: plus (70)

Chris’ Pick: Horiguchi by decision.

Jared Cannonier
Age: 42
UFC Record: 7-6 at 185 lbs. 10-10 overall.
Key Wins: Knocked out Gregory Rodrigues, Jack Hermansson, Anderson Silva, and David Branch. Beat Marvin Vettori, Sean Strickland, and Kelvin Gastelum.
Striking: plus (70)
Power: plus (70)
Wrestling: plus (70)

Ikram Aliskerov
Age: 33
UFC Record: 6-1
Key Wins: Knocked out Andre Muniz, Warlley Alves, Phil Hawes, and a well rounded 13-2 fighter. Submitted Mario Sousa, Dennis Tiuliulin, and an 11-3 wrestler. Beat Brunno Ferreira, Jun Yong Park, and a well rounded 4-0 fighter.
Striking: plus (70)
Power: plus (70)
Wrestling: plus (70)
Grappling: near plus (65)

Chris’ Pick: Aliskerov by 2nd round knockout.

Chris’ Pick: Topuria by split decision.

Shamil Gaziev
Age: 36
UFC Record: 5-3
Key Wins: Knocked out Kennedy Nzechukwu, Thomas Petersen, Martin Buday, Darko Stosic, and a 4-0 striker. Submitted a well rounded 6-0 fighter. Beat Don’Tale Mayes. Split decision over a 13-0 striker.
Striking: above average (60)
Power: above average (60)
Wrestling: near plus (65)

Chris’ Pick: Teixeira by 1st round knockout.

Amir Albazi
Age: 33
UFC Record: 5-2
Key Wins: Submitted Francisco Figueiredo, Malcolm Gordon, a 6-2 wrestler, and a 6-2 striker. Knocked out Alessandro Costa. Beat Zhalgas Zhumagulov and a well rounded 6-1 fighter. Split decision over Kai Kara-France.
Striking: plus (70)
Power: plus (70)
Grappling: plus (70)

Alessandro Costa
Age: 30
UFC Record: 7-2
Key Losses: Split decision loss to a 10-2 striker.
Key Wins: Knocked out Matt Schnell, Stewart Nicoll, Kevin Borjas, Jimmy Flick and a 9-2 wrestler. Submitted Cody Durden. Beat a 4-1 grappler. Split decision over a 12-0 grappler.
Striking: near plus (65)
Power: near plus (65)
Grappling: near plus (65)

Chris’ Pick: Albazi by decision.

Dom Mar Fan
Age: 26
Pro Record: 9-3
UFC Record: 3-1
Key Wins: Knocked out a well rounded 4-0 fighter. Submitted a 4-1 striker. Beat Sang Wook Kim, Jae Hyun Park and a well rounded 11-0 fighter.
Striking: above average (60)
Power: average (50)
Grappling: near plus (65)

Nikolas Motta
Age: 33
UFC Record: 4-3
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: above average (60)
Power: above average (60)
Wrestling: above average (60)

Chris’ Pick: Fan by decision.

Jake Matthews
Age: 32
UFC Record: 15-7
Key Losses: Split decision loss to Andrew Holbrook.
Key Wins: Submitted Chidi Njokuani and Darrius Flowers. Beat Carlston Harris, Francisco Prado, Phil Rowe, and Jingliang Li.
Striking: near plus (65)
Power: near plus (65)
Grappling: above average (60)

Tahir Abdullaev
Age: 29
Pro Record: 20-3
UFC Record: 1-0
Key Wins: Submitted a 4-0 grappler, a 4-1 striker and a well rounded 8-1 fighter. Knocked out Jefferson Nascimento, a well rounded 8-0 fighter, and a 6-2 striker.
Striking: above average (60)
Power: above average (60)
Grappling: near plus (65)

Chris’ Pick: Abdullaev by decision.

Diyar Nurkozhay
Age: 29
UFC Record: 3-2
Key Wins: Knocked out Bruno Lopes and a well rounded 8-2-1 fighter. Beat Rafael Tobias and a 12-3 grappler.
Striking: above average (60)
Power: above average (60)
Wrestling: above average (60)

Chris’ Pick: Nurgozhay by 1st round knockout.

Jacqueline Cavalcanti
Age: 29
UFC Record: 5-1
Key Wins: Beat Mayra Bueno Silva, Julia Avila, Josiane Nunes, Zarah Fairn, and a 4-1 striker. Split decision over Nora Cornolle.
Striking: plus (70)
Power: plus (70)
Wrestling: near plus (65)

Chris’ Pick: Cavalcanti by split decision.