Ian Machado Garry vs Carlos Prates
- Ian Machado Garry
- Age: 27
- UFC Record: 8-1
- Key Wins: Knocked out Daniel Rodriguez, Kenan Song, Jordan Williams, a 4-0 grappler, and a 6-2 striker. Beat Michael Page, Neil Magny, Gabe Green, Darian Weeks, and a well rounded 17-6 fighter. Split decision over Geoff Neal.
- Striking: near plus plus (75)
- Power: near plus plus (75)
- Wrestling: plus (70)
- 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)
Chris’ Pick: Garry by decision.
Anthony Smith vs Zhang Mingyang
- Anthony Smith
- Age: 36
- UFC Record: 7-8 at 205 lbs. 11-11 overall.
- Key Wins: Submitted Vitor Petrino, Devin Clark, Alexander Gustafsson, and Volkan Oezdemir. Knocked out Jimmy Crute and Shogun Rua. Split decision over Ryan Spann.
- Striking: plus (70)
- Power: plus (70)
- Grappling: near plus (65)
- Zhang Mingyang
- Age: 26
- Pro Record: 17-6
- UFC Record: 2-0
- Key Wins: Knocked out Brendson Ribeiro, a well rounded 7-2 fighter. Submitted a 4-0 grappler.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Grappling: above average (60)
Chris’ Pick: Smith by decision.
Giga Chikadze vs David Onama
- Giga Chikadze
- Age: 36
- UFC Record: 8-3
- Key Wins: Knocked out Edson Barboza and Cub Swanson. Beat Alex Caceres, Omar Morales. Split decision wins over Jamall Emmers and Brandon Davis.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Wrestling: near plus (65)
- David Onama
- Age: 30
- UFC Record: 5-2
- Key Losses: Majority decision loss to Nate Landwehr.
- Key Wins: Submitted Garrett Armfield. Knocked out Gabriel Santos, a well rounded 3-0 fighter. Beat Roberto Romero, Jonathan Pearce, and Gabriel Benitez.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Wrestling: plus (70)
Chris’ Pick: Onama by split decision.
Michel Pereira vs Abus Magomedov
- Michel Pereira
- Age: 31
- UFC Record: 3-1 at 185 lbs. 10-3 overall.
- Key Losses: DQ loss to Diego Sanchez. Lost to Tristan Connelly.
- Key Wins: Knocked out Andre Petroski, Danny Roberts. Submitted Ihor Potieria, Michel Oleksiejczuk and an 8-2 striker. Beat Andre Fialho, Niko Price, and Khaos Williams. Split decision over Santiago Ponzinibbio.
- Striking: plus (70)
- Power: plus (70)
- Wrestling: near plus (65)
- Abus Magomedov
- Age: 34
- UFC Record: 3-2
- Key Wins: Knocked out Dustin Stolztfus, Jessin Ayari, an 11-2 striker, a well rounded 15-5 fighter, and a 10-3 grappler. Submitted Brunno Ferreira and a 12-0 striker. Beat Warlley Alves.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Wrestling: plus (70)
Chris’ Pick: Pereira by decision.
Ikram Aliskerov vs Andre Muniz
- Ikram Aliskerov
- Age: 32
- Pro Record: 15-2
- UFC Record: 3-1
- Key Wins: Knocked out Warlley Alves, Phil Hawes, and a well rounded 13-2 fighter. Submitted Mario Sousa, Dennis Tiuliulin, and an 11-3 wrestler. Beat a well rounded 4-0 fighter.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Grappling: near plus (65)
- Andre Muniz
- Age: 35
- UFC Record: 8-2
- Key Wins: Submitted Eryk Anders, Jacare Souza, Bartosz Fabinski, a 5-0 striker, and a 6-0 striker. Beat Uriah Hall and an 8-2 grappler. Split decision over Jun Yong Park
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: a little above average (55)
- Grappling: plus (70)
Chris’ Pick: Aliskerov by 1st round knockout.
Randy Brown vs Nicolas Dalby
- Randy Brown
- Age: 34
- UFC Record: 13-6
- Key Losses: Split decision loss to Bryan Battle.
- Key Wins: Submitted Alex Oliveira and Warlley Alves. Knocked out Muslim Salikhov and Bryan Barbarena. Beat Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos, Wellington Turman, Francisco Trinaldo, and Mickey Gall. Split decision over Khaos Williams.
- Striking: plus (70)
- Power: near plus (70)
- Wrestling: near plus (65)
- Grappling: above average (60)
- Nicolas Dalby
- Age: 38
- UFC Record: 6-3-1
- Key Draws: Fought Darren Till to a majority draw.
- Key Wins: Beat Muslim Salikhov, Claudio Silva, Daniel Rodriguez, and Alex Oliveira. Split decisions over Warlley Alves and Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: a little above average (55)
- Wrestling: near plus (65)
Chris’ Pick: Brown by decision.
Matt Schnell vs Jimmy Flick
- Matt Schnell
- Age: 35
- UFC Record: 7-8 at 125 lbs.
- Key Losses: Knocked out by Hector Sandoval.
- Key Wins: Submitted Su Mudaerji, Louis Smolka, and Jordan Espinosa. Split decision win over Tyson Nam.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: a little above average (55)
- Grappling: near plus (65)
- Jimmy Flick
- Age: 34
- UFC Record: 3-3
- Key Losses: Knocked out by a well rounded 4-2 fighter and a 12-5 grappler. Lost to a 4-3 wrestler.
- Key Wins: Submitted Malcolm Gordon, Cody Durden, a 6-0 grappler, a 10-1 grappler and a 5-2 grappler. Beat a 6-2 grappler.
- Striking: average (50)
- Power: below average (40)
- Grappling: above average (60)
Chris’ Pick: Schnell by decision.
Evan Elder vs Ahmad Hassanzada
- Evan Elder
- Age: 27
- Pro Record: 9-2
- UFC Record: 2-2
- Key Wins: Submitted Darrius Flowers. Beat Genaro Valdez.
- Striking: above average (60)
- Power: above average (60)
- Grappling: near plus (65)
- Ahmad Hassanzada
- Age: 28
- Pro Record: 11-3
- UFC Record: 1-1
- Key Wins: Submitted a well rounded 8-3 fighter. Beat a well rounded 4-0 fighter.
- Striking: above average (60)
- Power: above average (60)
- Wrestling: above average (60)
Chris’ Pick: Elder by split decision.
Jaqueline Amorim vs Polyana Viana
- Jaqueline Amorim
- Age: 29
- Pro Record: 9-1
- UFC Record: 3-1
- Key Wins: Submitted Vanessa Demopoulos, Cory McKenna. Knocked out Montserrat Conejo.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Grappling: plus (70)
- 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: Amorim by 1st round submission.
Malcolm Wellmaker vs Cameron Saaiman
- Malcolm Wellmaker
- Age: 30
- Pro Record: 8-0
- UFC Record: 1-0
- Key Wins: Knocked out a 13-2 striker and a 5-2 grappler.
- Striking: a little above average (55)
- Power: a little above average (55)
- Grappling: a little above average (55)
- Cameron Saaiman
- Age: 24
- UFC Record: 4-2
- Key Wins: Knocked out Terrence Mitchell, a 6-0 grappler, and well rounded 5-1 fighter. Majority decision over Mana Martinez.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Wrestling: above average (60)
Chris’ Pick: Saaiman by 2nd round knockout.
Chelsea Chandler vs Joselyne Edwards
- Chelsea Chandler
- Age: 31
- Pro Record: 6-3
- UFC Record: 2-2
- Key Wins: Knocked out Julija Stoliarenko and a 3-0 striker. Submitted a well rounded 4-0 fighter. Beat Josiane Nunes.
- Striking: above average (60)
- Power: above average (60)
- Wrestling: near plus (65)
- Joselyne Edwards
- Age: 29
- UFC Record: 5-4
- Key Losses: Split decision loss to Sarah Alpar.
- Key Wins: Submitted Tamires Vidal, an 8-3 striker. Beat Ramona Pascual and Yanan Wu. Split decision wins over Lucie Pudilova and Ji Yeon Kim.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Wrestling: above average (60)
- Grappling: a little above average (55)
Chris’ Pick: Edwards by decision.
Chris Gutierrez vs John Castaneda
- Chris Gutierrez
- Age: 33
- UFC Record: 9-2-1
- Key Draws: Fought Cody Durden to a draw.
- Key Wins: Knocked out Batgerel Danaa and Vince Morales. Beat Quang Le, Alateng Heili, and Andre Ewell. Split decision wins over Felipe Dias Colares and Geraldo de Freitas.
- Striking: near plus plus (75)
- Power: near plus plus (75)
- Wrestling: plus (70)
- John Castaneda
- Age: 33
- UFC Record: 4-3
- Key Wins: Knocked out Eddie Wineland, a well rounded 6-1 fighter. Submitted Miles Johns. Beat Kyung Ho Kang, Muin Gafurov, and a 6-0 grappler.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: near plus (65)
- Wrestling: above average (60)
Chris’ Pick: Gutierrez by decision.
What odds I think the favorite should be at: Gutierrez -500
Timmy Cuamba vs Roberto Romero
- Timmy Cuamba
- Age: 26
- Pro Record: 8-3
- UFC Record: 1-2
- Key Wins: Knocked out a well rounded 7-2 fighter. Beat a well rounded 8-2 fighter.
- Striking: above average (60)
- Power: above average (60)
- Wrestling: above average (60)
- Roberto Romero
- Age: 25
- Pro Record: 8-4-1
- UFC Record: 0-1
- Key Wins: Beat a 10-2 grappler. Split decision over a well rounded 4-0 fighter.
- Striking: near plus (65)
- Power: a little above average (55)
- Wrestling: near plus (65)
David Onama closed as a -1300 favorite over Romero, who was fighting on short notice. But Romero vastly outperformed the market as the striking was close to equal. Really impressive.
Chris’ Pick: Romero by decision.
Da’Mon Blackshear vs Heili Alateng
- Da’Mon Blackshear
- Age: 30
- UFC Record: 4-3-1
- 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 a well rounded 5-1 fighter and a 5-1 grappler.
- Striking: plus (70)
- Power: plus (70)
- Grappling: plus (70)
- Heili Alateng
- Age: 33
- UFC Record: 5-2-1
- Key Draws: Fought Gustavo Lopez to a draw.
- Key Wins: Knocked out Kevin Croom and a 5-1 striker. Beat Kleydson Rodrigues, Chad Anheliger, and Danaa Batgerel. Split decision over Ryan Benoit.
- Striking: above average (60)
- Power: above average (60)
- Wrestling: above average (60)
Chris’ Pick: Blackshear by 2nd round submission.