UFC Predictions: UFC 260: Stipe Miocic vs Francis Ngannou II - Predictions & Picks

#3 UFC 260: The Main Card

Hot prospect Sean O'Malley faces Thomas Almeida on UFC 260's main card.

At the time of writing, UFC 260 has just two more fights scheduled for its main card. It’s likely the UFC will move one of the prelims into the missing slot in the next few days.

In the Bantamweight division, hot prospect Sean O’Malley returns to take on Thomas Almeida. It could be a fascinating fight, especially when you consider that five or six years ago, Almeida was the hottest prospect in the division.

Since then ‘Thominhas’ has fallen on seriously hard times. After suffering his first career loss to Cody Garbrandt, the durability that seemed to allow him to brawl without fear seems completely off. He’s now on a three-fight losing streak.

That should theoretically make him an easy win for O’Malley, who is a hard-hitting striker with wonderful technical skills and a ruthless finishing ability. However, he’s shown before that he can get into trouble due to overconfidence – witness his first career loss at the hands of Marlon Vera.

O’Malley via TKO is the simple and most likely pick here – but to see an upset wouldn’t be a mega shock.

In the Lightweight division, Khama Worthy will return to face Jamie Mullarkey. Worthy came into the UFC with the reputation of a knockout artist and has lived up to it by finishing Devonte Smith. He then proceed to stun everyone in his second fight when he choked out grappler Luis Pena, proving he is a threat from all areas.

However, his most recent UFC outing – a loss to Ottman Azaitar – showed he isn’t invincible. So will Mullarkey be able to take advantage?

The likely answer is no. Australia’s Mullarkey is a solid enough striker, but he isn’t the best athlete around and lacks the explosiveness of Worthy – something that caused his loss to Brad Riddell on his UFC debut.

Considering the same, Worthy via TKO is the pick.

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#4 UFC 260: The Prelims

Picks in bold

UFC Light-Heavyweight division: Alonzo Menifield vs William Knight.

UFC Strawweight division: Jessica Penne vs Hannah Goldy.

UFC Welterweight division: Abubakar Nurmagomedov vs Jared Gooden.

UFC Light-Heavyweight division: Modestas Bukauskas vs Michal Oleksiejczuk.

UFC Flyweight division: Gillian Robertson vs Miranda Maverick.

UFC Featherweight division: Shane Young vs Omar Morales.

UFC Middleweight division: Marc-Andre Barriault vs Abu Azaitar.