Edgar Chairez v Tatsuro Taira <\/strong><\/p>\nGood to see Taira feet rebooked quickly after his last fight got cancelled, and he\u2019s got a great stylistic matchup here.<\/p>\n
Chairez is a striker, and was involved in one of the more strange and dangerous ends to a fight when Chairez put a triangle on his opponent and the ref didn\u2019t realize that the opponent was unconscious for quite some time resulting in serious injury.<\/p>\n
Chairez\u2019s striking defense isn\u2019t very good, and that will be the start of many problems for him as the strikes will inevitably lead to Taira going for, and most likely getting the takedown.<\/p>\n
Once it\u2019s on the ground, it\u2019s Taira\u2019s world, and he should work towards a finish<\/strong>. Taira\u2019s striking has improved every fight so while he\u2019s not the best on the feet, he should be plenty good enough to implement his game plan en route to victory. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Cameron Saaiman v Terrence Mitchell<\/strong><\/p>\nSaaiman is 8-0 and soon he won\u2019t be known as a promising prospect, he\u2019ll just be known as a successful UFC fighter as he is only 22 years old, but has skills in all parts of his game.<\/p>\n
He has great cardio solid striking and a good ground game, he really just need more experience and to grow into his man body.<\/p>\n
He\u2019ll fight Terrence Mitchell who is coming from the Alaskan Combat Experience which is a fairly low level league.<\/p>\n
Mitchell has a lot of finishes, but he took a four year break from 2018-2022, and he\u2019s finished his last two fights, but it\u2019s such low level competition it\u2019s really hard to see how good he is.<\/p>\n
He gets his finishes on the ground, and I think his biggest advantage is just that he\u2019s got a bigger body, and he\u2019s 33 so I expect him to have the strength advantage, and we\u2019ve seen crazy things happen this year with no-name guys coming from smaller leagues pulling off the upsets. I\u2019ll be staying away from this one<\/strong>. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Jimmy Cute v Alonzo Menifield<\/strong><\/p>\nThese two fought to a draw last time out, and I thought it was pretty clear that Menifield was winning the standup game while Crute was winning the wrestling game.<\/p>\n
Minefield got a point taken away for a fence grab which caused the draw, and I think this fight will look the same. Crute will look to shoot and wrestle and get the fight on the ground, Menifield will want it to stay on the feet and be a striking battle.<\/p>\n
Both guys are very tough and good enough cardio to go the distance, I think taking overs in this fight is the only way to go<\/strong> as they are so evenly matched I don\u2019t see either of them finishing the other. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Vitor Petrino v Marcin Prachnio<\/strong><\/p>\nPetrino \u00ees undefeated, and is a muscular strong guy and I always worry about guys carrying that much muscle on their frame gassing out, but Petrino has been able to handle it over his short career.<\/p>\n
He beat Turalj in his last fight, and even though I\u2019m way down on Turkalj, Petrino was able to land really good strikes, and look decent in the third round managing his cardio.<\/p>\n
Prachnio should have the cardio advantage, but Prachnio lost his fight to Philipe Lins where Lins won the fight with takedowns, and at times was winning the striking battle.<\/p>\n
Both guys will stand and bang, and I lean Petrino to get the win<\/strong> because I believe he\u2019ll score enough takedowns and control to win rounds, but the odds are way to juicy. I won\u2019t be betting this fight. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Kamuela Kirk v Esteban Robotics<\/strong><\/p>\nI really don\u2019t have an opinion on this fight except for it to go over as I didn\u2019t really learn much from Ribovic\u2019s UFC debut against Loik Radzhabov. Loik was able to get takedowns, but that\u2019s not Kirk\u2019s game, and Kirk got finished on the ground against Damon Jackson.<\/p>\n
Both guys have quick finishes in their careers against lower competition, but I believe this fight will be very close on the feet.<\/p>\n
I like both of their standup games, but I think it will cancel each other out, and I don\u2019t see either of them winning on the ground outside of Kirk who has decent submission game so I\u2019ll stay away from picking a winner her and just pick this fight to go over 2.5<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Yazmin Jauregi v Denise Gomes<\/p>\n
If this card wasn\u2019t as stacked, this could be fight of the night and it still has an outside shot. Both women are incredible fighters as they both push forward, are super aggressive and throw strikes with intentions to finish.<\/p>\n
Jauregi is the rightful favorite here, and she should end up landing the more devastating blows, but Gomes will not be shy to fire back, I just don\u2019t think she is as polished in the striking game as Jauregi. Jauregi could get the finish, but to be safe I would just take Jauregi ML in a parlay<\/strong>. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Shannon Ross v Jesus Aguilar<\/strong><\/p>\nThis is a low level fight that I want nothing to do with<\/strong>. Aguilar is an undersized fighter with a good gas tank, but he pushes forward and looks for the takedowns, but against UFC caliber competition he\u2019s in over his head I believe as Taira made quick work of him last fight.<\/p>\nRoss isn\u2019t good and got finished in Contender Series, and then in the UFC when they gave him a fight because the event was in Australia, and he\u2019s Australian. Neither of these guys are impressive, but I\u2019m lower on Ross so I\u2019ll take Aguilar to get takedowns and come out with the win, but save your money and look elsewhere to wager. <\/p>\n
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Robbie Lawler v Niko Price<\/strong><\/p>\nPrice all day in this one as this could be our last chance to bet against Robbie Lawler. Lawler is way past his prime and has absorbed too much damage to compete in the UFC anymore.<\/p>\n
He has two wins in the last five years, one against the declining Donald Corrine, and the other against Nick Diaz who literally just quit in the middle of the fight.<\/p>\n
Lawler got finished by Bryan Barberena and Niko Price should do the same here. Price is 1-3 in his last four, but his three losses are to really good fighters (Vicente Luque, Michel Pereira, Phil Rowe). If Lawler gets starched again on the feet, he probably retires, I\u2019ll be on Niko Price to win, probably by KO<\/strong>. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Jalin Turner v Dan Hooker<\/strong><\/p>\nThis fight feels like it may be a bit of the changing of the guard as Turner has been running through the competition, and even though he lost to Gamrot, it was a split decision against an elite opponent and probably his most impressive performance in the UFC even though it was a loss.<\/p>\n
He proved he has the cardio to last, he showed his defense when Gamrot was able to get takedowns that he can avoid submissions and he can get back up, and he shows levels of maturity in that he didn\u2019t try and go all in on a quick finish and tire himself out.<\/p>\n
Dan Hooker had been on a 1-4 streak before beating Claudio Puelles when he exposed Puelle\u2019s complete lack of striking game, but he gets beat when he faces elite talent which I believe Turner is.<\/p>\n
Michael Chandler, Makhachev and Arnold Allen all finished him, and I don\u2019t know if Turner will be able to get the finish, but I wouldn\u2019t be surprised. Even if goes to decision, I expect Turner to dominate the scorecards<\/strong>. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Robert Whittaker v Driscus Du Plessis<\/strong><\/p>\nDu Plessis is undefeated in the UFC, but it\u2019s a bit of smoke in mirrors. He\u2019s finished his last two fights, but one was against Darren Till who tore is ACL in that fight, and the next was Derek Brunson who could get finished by a gust of wind these days.<\/p>\n
This will be Du Plessis\u2019s biggest test and his biggest weakness is his cardio and I think that\u2019s where Whittaker wins this fight.<\/p>\n
Du Plessis looks great in round 1, but then fades quick and with Whittakers striking, I don\u2019t think Driscus can count on winning round 1.<\/p>\n
Whittaker has two losses, both to Israel Adesanya so no shame in that obviously. I think Whittaker handles Du Plessis pretty easily<\/strong>, but Whittaker doesn\u2019t finish his opponents so I don\u2019t think this ends in a KO, but I think this is Du Plessis\u2019s first loss in the UFC. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Brandon Moreno v Alexandre Pantoja<\/strong><\/p>\nIf you\u2019re betting on Pantoja here, you\u2019re betting on more improvement from him in this fight. He lost in 2019 and 2020 to Deiveson Figueiredo and Askar Askarov, but since then has beaten Kape, Royval and Alex Perez, and his finishes to Royal and Perez early in round 1 were shockingly impressive, but can he do that against Moreno and if he doesn\u2019t get the early finish can he win over three rounds?<\/p>\n
These two fought in 2018, but I don\u2019t take a ton away from that fight five years ago. I have to give the edge in big fight experience and rangy striking to Moreno, but I give Pantoja the aggression advantage.<\/p>\n
Moreno can use those effective leg and body kicks to slow down Pantoja, and the longer the fight goes on the more I like Moreno.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t have a strong opinion either way on this fight, but if you\u2019re a live bettor I would hope to get a quick start from Pantoja and if Moreno survives, take Moreno live towards the end of round 1<\/strong>.<\/p>\nBo Nickel v Tresean Gore<\/strong><\/p>\nPretty easy prediction in this one as this will be another showcase fight for Bo Nickel. Gore isn\u2019t a great UFC fighters, and Nickal should get Gore on the ground pretty quick and get the back of Gore and work ground and pound or a submission<\/strong>.<\/p>\nTaking Gore would be the ultimate contrarian play, but if you\u2019re betting on Gore you\u2019re betting on something bizarre to happen. <\/p>\n
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