UFC Fight Night 154: Moicano vs. Korean Zombie - Predictions and Picks

#3 Bryan Barbarena vs. Randy Brown

Bryan Barbarena has become known for his hard-nosed style

A workmanlike fighter who’s been in the UFC since 2014, Barbarena was one of those guys who just floated around on prelim cards and didn’t stand out at all until he upset the then-hyped Sage Northcutt in 2016.

A big win over hot prospect Warlley Alves followed, and for a moment it looked like ‘Bam Bam’ could be an unlikely title contender. That wasn’t the case though as he has since lost to Colby Covington and Leon Edwards, fights which pushed him into the realm of a tough gatekeeper.

That toughness was on full display in his wild February fight with Vicente Luque, a fight that saw Barbarena somehow take an inhuman amount of punishment and even give some back before finally giving up the ghost in the third round. Quite how he’s back so soon I don’t know, but he is, once again showing his toughness.

This fight pits him against Brown, one of the earliest graduates of the now irrelevant Lookin’ For A Fight show.

A lanky 6’3” 170lber, ‘Rude Boy’ made a good start to his UFC career, going 4-2 with his only losses coming to tough wrestlers Michael Graves and Belal Muhammad.

Essentially, Brown fights exactly how you’d expect a lanky guy to fight – a lot of striking from the outside and a tricky ground game thanks to his long limbs.

Unfortunately, he just isn’t the best striker, as he has a tendency to hold his chin high while he’s putting combinations together, and as we saw in his last loss to Niko Price – which came almost a year ago – his chin isn’t that strong either. For those who’ve forgotten, Price somehow managed to knock the Jamaican out with hammer fists.....from the bottom.

In terms of how these two match up, for me it’s a pretty clean sweep for Barbarena. Sure, Brown is the far superior athlete and he’s the much more dynamic fighter when it comes to offense, but Barbarena is one of those hard-nosed wrestlers who’s just super-tough to actually hurt and put away.

Outside of Luque – who is one of the most ruthless finishers in MMA right now – the only guys to really beat Barbarena were those capable of beating him at his own game.

I just don’t see Brown being one of those guys – he’s too easy to take down and I’m just not confident that he can wear the punishment that a fight with Barbarena inevitably involves.

Sure, Barbarena’s chin might’ve been cracked by Luque, but even then I’m not sure Brown has the kind of one-shot offense to put him away. I can see this being classic Barbarena fare; he’ll wear down the more explosive fighter and get him out of there down the stretch.

The Pick: Barbarena via second round TKO