-Doo Ho Choi: Jeremy Stephens might be only 31 years old, but he’s had 40 pro fights. That’s a lot of mileage on his body. And he’s lost the last 5 out of 8 fights. The UFC booked this fight for Choi to get a big win over a recognizable name. Both Choi and Stephens are stand up fighters, but Choi is going to be a lot faster and I expect Choi to have the same gameplan that Renato Carneiro and Max Holloway used to beat Stephens. It’ll be an exciting fight, but Choi is going to take the clear cut decision win.
-Uriah Hall: Vitor Belfort hasn’t looked the same since he hasn’t been losing to Robert Whittaker in 2015. He’s 40 years old and this is his retirement fight. Hall has actually gotten better the past couple years, despite losing to 3 title contenders in a row. And he proved it by knocking out rising contender Krzysztof Jotko. I expect Hall to have no problem knocking Belfort out in the 2nd round.
-Paige van Zant: UPSET SPECIAL 1: The UFC has done some smart match making here to protect van Zant. Jessica-Rose Clark is coming off a win in the co-main event of a Fight Night against Bec Rawlings, so Clark’s name is out there a bit. But she doesn’t have much chance of beating van Zant. Biggest thing a lot of people forget with van Zant is that she’s only 23 years old. That’s super young for MMA and it’s a big reason why she’s seen as a possible future champion. She already has a 4-2 record in the UFC, including a win over Felice Herrig. Probably the biggest thing to look at is compare how van Zant did against Bec Rawlings to how well Clark did. van Zant beat Rawlings with a head kick knockout a year and a half ago. Clark beat Rawlings via split decision. Clark is pretty durable, so we’re likely looking at a decision win for van Zant.
-Kamaru Usman: You know, it’s possible that Emil Meek goes on to have a successful UFC career. He did stomp out Rousimar Palhares in the 1st round outside the UFC. He’s got a decent 9-2 record. 29 years old. But he failed to finish a below average fighter in Jordan Mein in his debut. And I’ve seen Meek lose to Albert Odzimkowski just a couple years ago. And Odzimkowski is nowhere near Usman’s level. In Usman, we’re looking at a fighter who has a decent chance of becoming champion at 170 lbs. He’s 6-0 in the UFC. 4 of the 6 wins have been against fighters with winning UFC records. And in his last win, he finally showed knockout power. The dude is scary and will easily beat Meek. Probably will even knock him out in the 1st round.
-Darren Elkins: UPSET SPECIAL 2: Terrible matchup for Michael Johnson. He’s lost 4 out of his last 5 fights. He’s cutting down to 145 lbs for the first time. It’s probably going to be rough on him. Elkins is going to do what he does best here which is take his opponent down. Do enough to keep the fight there. And pick up the decision win.
-James Krause: Perfect style matchup for Krause here. Krause has technical striking. Will stay on the outside against Alex White. Will keep good distance. And will outpoint White for the decision win. Krause should continue his UFC career as a gatekeeper.
-Matt Frevola: Hard fight to pick. Marco Polo Reyes has been on a pretty good roll in the UFC, going 3-1 in the octagon. But Frevola is a very good prospect who’s knocked off 2 other fellow top prospects before getting a UFC contract. I think Frevola’s wrestling is going to give Reyes problems and I like Frevola to pick up the decision win.
-Zak Cummings: Easy fight to pick as Thiago Alves’ career is winding down. And Cummings has been quietly effective at 170 lbs with a 6-2 UFC record with 4 finishes. That’s a solid gate keeper right there. Cummings is going to be much bigger and will be able to take Alves down if need be. Should be an easy decision win for Cummings.
-Jessica Eye: It’s really hard for a fighter to come back in the UFC from losing 4 in a row. And it’s hard to pick that fighter to win. But Eye’s opponent Kalindra Faria was matched up with Eye as a bounce back fight. Faria’s only quality win in her career was against a 6-1 fighter. Every other top fighter Faria has gone against, she’s lost. And I can’t get that beatdown loss against Mara Borello out of my mind. Because Borella isn’t that great. But Faria made her look great. Eye has lost 4 in a row, but to the very best in a weight class too heavy for her. Eye is going to look phenomenal in knocking Faria out in the 1st.
-Irene Aldana: Talita Bernardo. Below average prospect. Lost in her UFC debut to Marion Reneau. No shame in that. Reneau is good. But prior to signing with the UFC Bernardo lost to a 1-0 fighter. And Bernardo’s biggest career win was over a 4-2 fighter. Via decision. In other words, she’s shown no track record of hanging with very good fighters. Aldana on the other hand, might have a 7-4 record, but she has hung in with very good fighters. Most recently losing a close split decision to top prospect Katlyn Chookagian. Aldana looks like she has the upside of a lower tier gatekeeper, but Bernardo has done nothing to show that she’s going to stick in the UFC. Thus, the gatekeeper Aldana should take the decision win here.
-Danielle Taylor: UPSET SPECIAL 3: Both fighters are wrestlers, but I believe Taylor’s wrestling is on another level as evidenced by her most impressive win of her career over Jessica Penne. JJ Aldrich is still young at 25 years old, but she doesn’t have too many above average skills outside of her wrestling. I just don’t see anyway for Aldrich to win and like Taylor by decision.
-Mike Santiago: Tough fight to pick because Mads Burnell is tough to get a read on. Leading up to the end of 2016, I would’ve said Burnell is a mediocre prospect. He too often isn’t able to finish poor competition. But then he upsets 20-3 Fernando Guerra with a 1st round submission. So it’s possible at 23 years of age that Burnell is starting to break out. Although that momentum slowed a bit when he lost to top lightweight Michel Prazeres in his UFC debut. I’m going to pick Santiago for a couple reasons. Both fighters are submission specialists, but Santiago has much better stand up, so stylistically, it’s a better matchup for Santiago. Plus, sometimes flukes happen in MMA. I think Burnell’s win over top prospect Guerra was more of an abberation than a breakout moment due to how Burnell has looked in all his other fights. So I like Santiago by 1st round knockout.
-Guido Cannetti: UPSET SPECIAL 4: Toughest fight to pick on the card. Cannetti is coming off a 2 year layoff. Hyung Ho Kang coming off a 3 year layoff. I’m going to pick Cannetti due to me thinking Cannetti has sharper skills. And even though
he’s 38 years old, he’s only had 9 pro fights, so there’s not much fight mileage on his body. Look for a Cannetti decision win.