Islam Makhachev vs Dustin Poirier When in doubt, zoom out. And after Poirier’s last fight with St Denis, not only did he show he’s not regressing yet, his 75 striking showed up again too. It’s on the low end of a 75, but Poirier’s durability and cardio is what...
Edson Barboza vs Lerone Murphy Very possible Murphy shows up improved. And if he does, then it could be a close fight. But with the skills I’ve seen from Murphy up to this point, I don’t see how he out strikes Barboza. Chris’ Pick: Barboza by decision. What odds...
Derrick Lewis vs Rodrigo Nascimento The only way Nascimento wins this is if he shows up improved. Lewis has lost 5 out of his last 7 fights, but this is a winnable fight for Lewis. Nascimento was knocked out by Chris Daukaus in 45 seconds. I don’t see this...
Alexandre Pantoja vs Steve Erceg Pantoja’s grappling is on the lower end of the 75 grade. It’s borderish of a 70. And I don’t think he has the cardio to be able to take Erceg down the whole fight. It’ll be close on the feet, but I think Erceg...
Alex Perez vs Mateus Nicolau The market clearly thinks Nicolau has 70 tools. He closed as a -380 favorite over Schnell. Knocked him out. As expected. But. Striking between the two was close to equal. Then Nicolau closes as a 2 to 1 favorite over Brandon Royval and gets...
Alex Pereira vs Jamahal Hill After watching Pereira vs Prochazka, it’s apparent that Pereira has 65 wrestling and Prochazka’s wrestling is a 70. Which begs a question. Did Prochazka’s wrestling improve? Or did he already have 70 wrestling in the Teixeira fight? Is it possible Teixeira’s grappling is a...
Brendan Allen vs Chris Curtis 2 Allen’s grappling is getting ridiculous with how he handled Craig on the ground. Could be approaching a top of the scale 80 grade. Curtis still has a quality 6-2 UFC record, but his skills seem to have plateaued. I just think if Allen...
Erin Blanchfield vs Manon Fiorot Chris’ Pick: Blanchfield by 4th round submission. What I think the odds should be: Blanchfield -175 Vicente Luque vs Joaquin Buckley There have been times when I’ve thought Buckley’s striking is a 70. But there’s zero chance Andre Fialho has 70 striking and the...
Rose Namajunas vs Amanda Ribas It was easy to write Namajunas off after her loss to Carla Esparza. Ex champion. Moving up to a heavier weight class. Market closed with Fiorot as a -200 favorite. But amazingly, the old Namajunas showed up. Tools translated at 125 lbs just fine....
Tai Tuivasa vs Marcin Tybura Chris’ Pick: Tuivasa by 2nd round knockout. What I think the odds should be: Tuivasa -200 Bryan Battle vs Ange Loosa Chris’ Pick: Battle by decision. What I think the odds should be: Battle -250 Kennedy Nzechukwu vs Ovince St Preux Chris’ Pick: Nzechukwu by 2nd...