-Stephen Thompson: I know the UFC is hoping that Darren Till is the next young star to possibly become a draw for them, but I’m not seeing the evidence that says he can beat the #2 welterweight in the world. Contrary to popular opinion, Till is not a knockout artist. 5 UFC fights. Only 2 knockouts. He took on Jessin Ayari. Who’s pretty good. No knockout. Bojan Velickovic, decent but the UFC just released him. No knockout. And Nicolas Darby, who the UFC also recently, Till fought him to a draw. The Donald Cerrone knockout was nice, but Cerrone isn’t elite at 170 lbs. Thompson has beaten a who’s who at 170 lbs, except for champion Tyron Woodley. This fight will play out on the feet and I think Thompson’s striking, at this current moment, is better. And I think Thompson knocks Till out on the 1st round.
-Neil Magny: Craig White has 0% chance to win this fight. Not just because he’s fighting a top 10 ranked guy in Magny on short notice, but because it’s a style nightmare for him. White has no wrestling and Magny will be able to take him down whenever he wants. And will submit White in the 1st round.
-Mads Burnell: UPSET SPECIAL: Great matchup between two of the better 145 lb prospects in the UFC. Burnell I think has a bit of an edge in wrestling and because of that, will be able to take Arnold Allen down, the same way Marcin Wrzosek took Allen down. Burnell is really good on the ground and I’m picking him to submit Allen in the 2nd round.
-Jason Knight: Good chance for Knight to bounce back from two losses in a row against Makwan Amirkhani. Both are pretty good in wrestling. For both the submission game is the standout tool. But Knight is going to have a big advantage on the feet. Better cardio. Amirkhani is 3-1 in the UFC, but he’s beat below average competition. Knight should cruise here to a decision win.
-Bradley Scott: Scott and Carlos Pedersoli are two similar fighters. Both the wrestling, grinding type that have capable submission skills. I think this fight takes place on the feet, but with Pedersoli taking this fight on short notice, his cardio will be shot and Scott will at the very least be able to take over in the 2nd half of the fight to win the decision.
-Manny Bermudez: Usually when two submission fighters face off, the fight plays out on the feet. But I don’t think that’s the case here. Davey Grant is 1-2 in the UFC and both his losses have been via submission. I think Bermudez, who’s 23 years old and undefeated at 11-0, is going to see that and think he can submit Grant too. And I don’t doubt him. Bermudez has better wrestling than Damian Stasiak, who submitted Grant in their last fight. So I’m predicting a 2nd round submission win for Bermudez.
-Nordine Taleb: Claudio Silva is an interesting case. He’s coming off a split decision win over rising contender Leon Edwards. But that was almost 4 years ago. He’s now 35 years old. And I think that win is a little misleading because that fight was Edwards UFC debut and Edwards has improved a ton since then. But this is a bad match up for Silva. Even though Taleb and Silva are close to the same age, Silva being 35 years old, Taleb 36, Taleb is on a real roll right now. 6-2 in the UFC. No signs of slowing down. Great striker. Pretty good wrestling. Silva’s wrestling is average. His best tool is his Brazilian ju-jitsu. But I just don’t see Silva being able to take Taleb down. And he’s definitely not going to out strike Taleb. Therefore, I’m picking Taleb by decision.
-Tom Breese: Daniel Kelly has been a very serviceable gate keeper with a 6-3 UFC record. But he’s 40 years old and now coming off 2 losses in a row. I do think Kelly can still compete with his clinch game, but he’s taking on a very good prospect in Breese who’s 3-1 in the UFC so far and is making his 185 lb debut. I think Breese was cutting too much weight and recently he’s learned how to unlock his knockout power the past few years. With not cutting as much weight, he’s going to have even more power and will follow the blue print Derek Brunson used to blitz Kelly and knock him out in the 1st round.
-David Teymur: A lot of times, you can identify fighters likely to become top contenders based on how difficult it is to find them a fight. Teymur is one of those guys. His original opponent dropped out of the fight. And the best the UFC could do on a short notice replacement is Don Madge who has a 7-3 pro record. Teymur really impressed me with his take down defense in his last fight against fellow elite prospect Drakkar Klose. If Teymur can improve his wrestling defense to keep the fight on the feet, it’s likely he’ll be fighting for the title at some point in the next 1-2 years. His striking is that good.1st round knockout for Teymur here.
-Elias Theodorou: When the UFC booked this fight between Theodorou and Trevor Smith, I thought to myself, why would they book such a lopsided fight? Most fights the UFC books are competitive, but in some cases, they’ll book fights that are a mismatch because they want a particular fighter to look good. In Theodorou’s case, I think the UFC is ready to push him because they need a new star in the Canadian market and it’s possible they have a title contender with him. He’s 6-2 in the UFC and he will have zero problems dispatching 37 year old Trevor Smith. Look for a 1st round knockout.
-Lina Lansberg: I don’t usually put much weight in MMA math, but in this case I will to illustrate why I’m picking Lansberg. Lansberg’s 2 biggest wins are over top prospect Lucie Pudilova. And Pudilova is legit based off of her coming off a big win over Sarah Moras. And Moras is legit herself. My main point is that Lansberg’s 2 wins off of Pudilova mean something. But besides Pudilova, Lansberg also has 2 very good knock out wins over Laura Howarth and Alex Buch. Lansberg is a borderline elite striker. She takes on Gina Mazany who is very green and I think signed with the UFC way too early. Mazany takes 3 wins over tomato cans. Loses to title contender Julianna Pena on The Ultimate Fighter. Takes 3 years off. Comes back. Knocks out a 2-1 fighter. And makes her UFC debut over former title contender Sara McMann. Loses. Then won her next and last fight against Chinese striker Yanan Wu. Mazany has shown to be well rounded so far. No stand out tool. She was able to use grappling and wrestling to beat Wu who had a real weakness there. But it’s not like Mazany is this amazing grappler. Mazany has only had 6 pro fights. She’s going to develop more. But in the current moment, her wrestling is not good enough to be able to take Lansberg down. The fight will stay on the feet and Lansberg is going to outstrike and outpoint Mazany for the decision win.
-Eric Spicely: Pretty cut and dry. Darren Stewart is a striker. Doesn’t have much takedown defense. Spicely, in his 2-3 UFC career, has shown that he can have success if he can get his opponent on the ground. He’ll take Stewart down with no problem and will submit him in the 1st round.
-Gillian Robertson: Pretty close fight. Striker vs grappler. Both fighters are at a similar point in their career. Both have collected wins mostly off of tomato cans, but both are coming off the biggest wins of their careers. There is a difference in age. McCann is in her prime at 28 years old. Robertson is 22 years old. This fight is really going to boil down to whether or not Robertson can take McCann to the ground. That’s it. If McCann keeps the fight on the feet, she’ll win. But styles make fights and I’m not convinced McCann has the take down defense to keep it on the feet. Robertson was an underdog in her UFC debut against Emily Whitmire and showed real development since being on the Ultimate Fighter, showing improved wrestling. I think Robertson can get the fight to the ground and because of that, we’re looking at a 1st round submission win for Robertson.