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#3. UFC Fight Night: The Main Card
In the flyweight division, Askar Askarov takes on Kai Kara-France in what could easily be a title eliminator. Askarov is still unbeaten in the UFC at 3-0-1 and holds a draw with former champ Brandon Moreno. Kara-France, meanwhile, is coming off his epic KO of former bantamweight king Cody Garbrandt.
Theoretically, at least, this should come down to a simple question: Can Kara-France stop Askarov’s takedowns? If he can do that, then he should be able to outstrike the Dagestani to win.
However, thus far, nobody has prevented ‘The Bullet’ from taking them down. Given that ‘Don’t Blink’ has given up takedowns in some of his previous bouts, it doesn’t feel like he’ll be the first to do so. The pick is Askarov via decision.
In the welterweight division, veterans Matt Brown and Bryan Barberena should produce a true barnburner. Both men are quite happy brawling and will likely exchange until one man goes down.
It’s a hard one to pick, too. Brown is more offensively dangerous but Barberena is probably the more durable of the two. With that said, Barberena has never beaten anyone on Brown’s level, even though ‘The Immortal’ is past his prime. Therefore, Brown via TKO is the pick.
Finally, at heavyweight, Ilir Latifi faces Alexei Oleinik. This one is a battle of bulls and should come down to whether Latifi can prevent Oleinik from latching onto one of his submissions should the fight hit the ground.
‘The Sledgehammer’ is not the biggest heavyweight, but he hits very hard and is probably substantially faster than the older ‘Boa Constrictor’. If Oleinik can get the right position, then he can submit anyone in this division. However, overall, Latifi might be too powerful. The pick is Latifi via TKO.
#4. UFC Fight Night: The Prelims
Picks in bold
Women's flyweight: Jennifer Maia vs. Manon Fiorot
Welterweight: Neil Magny vs. Max Griffin
Lightweight: Marc Diakiese vs. Viacheslav Borschev
Women's bantamweight: Sara McMann vs. Karol Rosa
Bantamweight: Chris Gutierrez vs. Danaa Batgerel
Flyweight: Matheus Nicolau vs. David Dvorak
Featherweight: Luis Saldana vs. Bruno Souza
Middleweight: Aliaskhab Khizriev vs. Denis Tiuliulin
