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The UFC returns to its Las Vegas APEX this weekend for its latest Fight Night show. This will also be the final event of May, so with any luck, it'll end the month with a bang.
UFC Fight Night: Edson Barboza vs. Lerone Murphy features a high-end featherweight headliner, but to be fair, the rest of the card lacks depth.
With a number of fun fighters in action, though, hopefully it should still provide some strong finishes.
Here are the predicted outcomes for UFC Fight Night: Edson Barboza vs. Lerone Murphy.
#1 UFC featherweight bout: Edson Barboza vs. Lerone Murphy
While this weekend's UFC card is a weaker one overall, it's safe to say that the matchmakers have produced a real banger in the main event.
Right now, Lerone Murphy is unranked in the featherweight division, but after drawing with Zubaira Tukhugov in his debut, he's reeled off five straight wins, two via knockout.
'The Miracle' is a sharpshooting striker with a lot of power and speed, but this weekend will see him pushed to his absolute limit.
Despite being 38 years old now, Edson Barboza remains one of the most dangerous 145 pound fighters in the world. 'Junior' has been written off on numerous occasions in the past, but he's won his last two, and looked incredible in knocking out Billy Quarantillo last year.
So can Manchester's Murphy find a way past the dangerous Brazilian? In all honesty, it's highly debatable.
Thus far, 'The Miracle' has shown excellent striking skills, but all of his wins have come over fighters who were notably slower than him. That won't be the case with Barboza, who remains remarkably explosive despite his age, particularly when he throws counter strikes.
More to the point, while the likes of Paul Felder and Dan Ige have picked up wins over 'Junior' in striking bouts, he's never really been dominated or picked apart standing. Only Giga Chikadze has stopped him recently, and 'The Ninja' is one of the quickest fighters in the division.
Essentially, the book on how to beat Barboza has been written, but it tends to involve fighters pressuring him into the fence, taking him down and beating him up there.
Nothing Murphy has ever done suggests he's capable of doing that, and so unless 'The Miracle' can consistently beat 'Junior' to the punch, then he's probably going to be in trouble.
Murphy could win this fight, as Barboza isn't unbeatable, has been stopped before, and the British fighter hasn't hit his ceiling yet. However, it feels more likely that he'll crash into that ceiling this weekend, as Barboza closes the gate on another prospect.
The Pick: Barboza via third round TKO
#2 UFC welterweight bout: Khaos Williams vs. Carlston Harris
At their heart, the UFC's Fight Night events aren't necessarily about the best fighting the best - they're often about producing exciting scraps to get the fans going.
That's why this welterweight clash between Khaos Williams and Carlston Harris has been presented as the co-headliner for this weekend's event. Neither man is close to being in title contention, but they both have a number of violent finishes on their record.
The key, of course, is that those finishes have come both for and against both men. The chances of this one going the distance, therefore, are between slim and none.
Of the two, it's arguable that Harris is the more proven. 'Mocambique' has won four of his five octagon bouts, with the lone loss coming to top contender Shavkat Rakhmonov. His last win saw him dispatch the highly-regarded Jeremiah Wells with an anaconda choke.
The native of Guyana is dangerous in all areas, but based on what he's shown at the highest level, his grappling his his best weapon. Harris has dispatched two opponents in the octagon with chokes, and also dominated Jared Gooden on the ground in their 2023 fight.
He'd probably be best to look to take this fight to the mat, too. Williams has shown himself to be a limited fighter, but 'The Ox Fighter' does pack ludicrous, fight-ending power into his punches.
Essentially, every fight he's won in the octagon has seen him hurt his foes on the feet, even the two wins that have gone the distance. There's no doubt that if he can land on Harris this weekend, he can stop him.
The issue for Harris may be that while Williams is a completely unproven grappler, it's proven difficult for any fighter to take him down and keep him there thus far. Both of his losses, in fact, came when his opponents - Randy Brown and Michel Pereira - were able to absorb his power shots and pick him off standing.
Both of those men held a large reach advantage over 'The Ox Fighter', something that won't be the case for 'Mocambique', who is slightly shorter.
Overall, then, the style match here probably favors Williams. If he can avoid leaving his neck open for a sudden fight-ending choke - something Harris is capable of - and draw the Guyanan fighter into a brawl, he should be able to win.
The Pick: Williams via first round KO
#3 UFC Fight Night: The Main Card
In a welterweight bout, Themba Gorimbo takes on Ramiz Brahimaj. Both of these fighters have a similar level of experience, and haven't really made a dent in the 170 pound division just yet. That makes this fight hard to pick.
However, despite Gorimbo's two-fight win streak, it's arguable that Brahimaj is perhaps the slightly better fighter overall. A slick grappler, the New York native has finished all of his wins via submission, including his two in the octagon.
Gorimbo, on the other hand, usually looks to strike, but worryingly, his submission defense looked porous in a loss to AJ Fletcher. The pick, therefore, is Brahimaj via submission.
At bantamweight, the explosive Adrian Yanez looks to rebuild himself against Vinicius Salvador. Yanez was tipped for greatness last year after winning five in a row in the octagon, but two TKO losses slowed his hype train down.
However, there's no shame in losing to Rob Font or Jonathan Martinez, and Yanez still has heavy hands, excellent technical striking and nasty killer instincts.
Salvador is a fellow striker, but he's lost both of his UFC fights, and has never fought anyone on the level of Yanez. This sounds like an excellent chance for the prospect to get his confidence back, then, as 'Fenomeno' is likely to exchange with him and should be outgunned. The pick is Yanez via KO.
In a strawweight bout, Luana Pinheiro faces Angela Hill. This is one of the few fights this weekend to feature a ranked fighter, with Pinheiro currently sitting at No.9 in the division. However, the Brazilian did lose her last bout via KO, and will be looking to bounce back here.
Hill is one of the longest-serving veterans in this division. 'Overkill' debuted way back in 2014, and while still ranked at No.12, she's definitely more of a gatekeeper now.
It's unlikely that we'll get a finish here, therefore, the result should depend on which woman can impose her will on the other. Based on recent fights, Pinheiro appears to be the slightly heavier hitter and more aggressive of the two, so the pick is Pinheiro via decision.
Finally, in a light-heavyweight tilt, Oumar Sy takes on Antonio Trocoli. Trocoli is taking this fight on around a week's notice, replacing Rodolfo Bellato. So can he win?
In all honesty, regardless of his skill level, it seems doubtful. Not only has he stepped in on late notice, he also hasn't fought since November 2021. Quite how rusty and unprepared he'll be is a huge question mark.
Sy, on the other hand, has finished most of his fights in violent fashion. While he also hasn't fought since last July, the fact that four of his wins have come since Trocoli's last bout tells its own story. The pick, therefore, is Sy via TKO.
#4 UFC Fight Night: The Prelims
Picks in bold
UFC bantamweight bout: Heili Alateng vs. Kleydson Rodrigues
UFC middleweight bout: Abus Magomedov vs. Warlley Alves
UFC lightweight bout: Victor Martinez vs. Tom Nolan
UFC bantamweight bout: Tamires Vidal vs. Melissa Gatto
UFC strawweight bout: Piera Rodriguez vs. Ariane Carnelossi
UFC strawweight bout: Vanessa Demopoulos vs. Emily Ducote
