UFC Predictions: UFC Vegas 21: Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad Predictions & Picks

#3 UFC Vegas 21: The Main Card

Longtime UFC veteran Ben Rothwell stars on the main card this weekend

In a Heavyweight clash, Ben Rothwell faces Philipe Lins. Expect a plodding affair here between two of the UFC’s slower Heavyweights, but Rothwell may have a slight hand speed advantage and he’s still very tough. Rothwell via decision is the likely outcome.

In the Featherweight division, Dan Ige takes on Gavin Tucker in what should be a fun fight to watch. Ige hasn’t fought since his loss to Calvin Kattar, but he’s incredibly tough, can take a tremendous shot and has excellent skills in all areas.

Tucker is more unheralded, but he’s looked excellent recently and he is on a three-fight win streak. With that said, it’s hard to imagine him having the all-round skills to match Ige here, and so the Hawaiian should win via decision.

In a Strawweight bout, Angela Hill faces Ashley Yoder. This should be a classic striker vs. grappler affair, but that may be unfair to Hill, who has improved on the ground dramatically.

Despite Hill coming off a pair of losses, she should be the favourite here. She’s more proven at the higher level, hits far harder, and should be able to deal with Yoder on the ground if the fight hits the mat. Hill via decision is the pick.

In a Flyweight fight, Matheus Nicolau faces late replacement Manel Kape. Kape only fought a month ago in a losing effort against Alexandre Pantoja, and despite being largely outclassed, he did show some flashes of excellence.

Nicolau is a hard fighter to get a handle on. A powerful grappler, he looked excellent in his initial UFC run from 2015 to 2018, but was strangely released after going 3-1. Seeing him return is also odd because he’s not fought now for well over a year.

Nicolau should win this by either decision or submission based on his grappling and Kape taking the fight on such late notice. But it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Kape pull it off either.

Finally, at Middleweight, Eryk Anders faces Darren Stewart. Both of these men are powerful but somewhat limited fighters, and have the ability to stop an opponent at any time.

Of the two, though, it’s probably Anders who has the best chance of winning by perhaps capitalising on Stewart’s leaky takedown defense. It’s not likely to be pretty, but Anders via decision is the pick.

---

#4 UFC Vegas 21: The Prelims

Picks in bold

UFC Flyweight division: Cortney Casey vs. JJ Aldrich

UFC Bantamweight division: Rani Yahya vs. Ray Rodriguez

UFC Featherweight division: Charles Jourdain vs. Marcelo Rojo

UFC Bantamweight division: Jonathan Martinez vs. Davey Grant

UFC Strawweight division: Jinh Yu Frey vs. Gloria de Paula

UFC Welterweight division: Matthew Semelsberger vs. Jason Witt