While the card as a whole isn’t quite up to the standards of a typical traveling fight night card, its hard to blame the UFC after 5 fighters withdrew from the card. What we’re left with is an exciting main event between two former champions, and a card full of prospects and UFC debutants looking to make a name for themselves on the biggest stage in mixed martial arts.

Prelims

Featherweight: Damien Anderson (-150) vs Ezra Elliott (+125)

A matchup of two undefeated American newcomers. Damien Anderson is 5-0, competing most recently at Bantamweight. He’s also competed in grappling competitions. He has 1 TKO and 4 submissions, with every fight ending in the first 2 rounds. Ezra Elliott is 7-0 with 2 TKOs and 5 submissions. His longest fight as a professional is just 3:41, with all other fights ending within the first 2:01. He did reach the judges scorecards once as an amateur. Both fighters have very similar profiles. Damien Anderson is the betting favorite, but 73% of people picked Ezra Elliott on Tapology, so there’s a clear gap between Vegas and the Community. I don’t have much confidence, but I’m taking Elliott by Submission.

Prediction: Ezra Elliott def. Damien Anderson by Submission in first round.

Women’s Flyweight: Dione Barbosa (-400) vs Anna Melisano (+330)

Dione Barbosa is one of the better unranked fighters at Flyweight. The Brazilian is 3-2 in the UFC, with both losses coming against ranked opponents. She is dominant on the ground with 4 submission victories but has never won via knockout, being knocked out once herself. Anna Melisano was Michael Bisping’s #1 pick in this season of the Ultimate Fighter that is currently airing. I had her ranked much lower than that in my rankings, but she evidently impressed in tryouts. She lost in the first round to 6th pick Melissa Amaya but is now being given a UFC contract on short notice after Veronica Hardy withdrew. It should also be noted that Melisano is traditionally a strawweight, but is moving up for this short notice fight. Despite this, the fighters are the same height and Melisano actually has the reach advantage. I’m glad Melisano is in the UFC, but this is a tough matchup for her UFC debut and I expect Barbosa to get it done.

Prediction: Dione Barbosa def. Anna Melisano by Unanimous Decision (30-27).

Heavyweight: Alvin Hines (-140) vs RJ Harris (+120)

Alvin Hines is a 34 year old American fighter who is 7-1 as a professional. He entered the UFC at 7-0, with an impressive 5-0 record in LFA, but lost his debut to Jhonata Diniz. He is surprisingly well balanced with 3 TKO and 3 Submission victories, although two of his knockouts came via ground & pound. Unlike most Heavyweights, Hines seems to do more of his damage in the later rounds, and even won round 3 of his decision loss to Diniz, so gas tank shouldn’t be a problem. Originally, he was supposed to fight Allen Frye Jr., but Frye’s withdrawal has led the way for promotional newcomer RJ “The Hammer” Harris. Harris will have a 4 inch height advantage, as well as a 6 inch reach advantage, but both fighters typically weigh near the heavyweight limit. Harris is a 27-year old American fighter who is 5-0 in his professional career. He has 1 knockout, 3 submissions, and a decision win in his career. Harris also isn’t an early knockout or bust type fighter like some heavyweights, but he may not have the experience deep into fights that Hines has. The odds, and predictions are surprisingly close, but I’m going to go with the more known quantity in Alvin Hines. I think he could lose the first round, but if Harris can’t end the fight I think Hines takes over. Hines gets him to mat in the 2nd and unleashes the ground & pound.

Prediction: Alvin Hines def. RJ Harris by TKO in the second round.

Flyweight: Alden Coria (-1000) vs Stewart Nicoll (+650)

Alden Coria is one of the top rising prospects at Flyweight at the moment. The 28 year old American is just 12-3, but 2-0 in the UFC. He went 5-2 in LFA fighting the rest of his pre-UFC career in FURY. The biggest win of his career, a knockout of Paris Moran as a +600 underdog, was later overturned due to a positive drug test (marijuana), but it put Coria on the map. He debuted against Alessandro Costa (now the #15 ranked Flyweight in the meta rankings) and knocked him out in round 3. He has since beaten Luis Gurule and now will face another low ranked flyweight in Nicoll. Stewart Nicoll is a 31 year old Australian with an 8-3 professional record. Unfortunately, all 3 of those losses came in his only 3 UFC fights, he’s the lowest ranked Flyweight in my rankings and is probably 1 loss away from being removed from the roster. There’s a reason Coria is the biggest favorite on the card. I think Coria dominates this fight, but he’s more of a volume striker than a knockout artist. In fact, he’s never gotten a first round knockout in his career. I thought about predicting that to change, but ultimately decided to predict Coria in the second.

Prediction: Alden Coria def. Stewart Nicoll by TKO in the second round.

Light Heavyweight: Felipe Franco (+160) vs Levi Rodrigues Jr. (-185)

Felipe Franco is a 25 year old Brazilian fighter with a 10-2 professional record. His first loss came on the contender series against Freddy Vidal, who missed weight in the fight. His next loss came in his UFC debut a few fights later, a heavyweight bout with Mario Pinto. Franco trains with Jailton Almeida and fights with a similar style as a primary grappler, without a huge submission threat. It should be noted though, that Franco has finished every one of his wins, never reaching the scorecards until his decision loss to Pinto. Levi Rodrigues Jr. is a Brazilian fighter with a 5-0 professional record. He earned his contract on the contender series, ironically with a win over Freddy Vidal, the fighter who beat Franco earlier in the season. This fight has since been overturned to a no contest, due to a failed drug test that led to Rodrigues getting suspended and delaying his UFC debut until now. Rodrigues has a cage boxing and kickboxing background and is undefeated, but popping for steroids puts a lot of that into question and makes him quite a difficult fighter to gauge. Taking his resume at face value, he’s an undefeated fighter who has knocked out everyone he’s faced. Maybe he’s a fraud when he’s off of steroids, but I’m going to trust the body of work and go with Rodrigues, although I do think he could be in some trouble in the ground game.

Prediction: Levi Rodrigues Jr. def. Felipe Franco by KO in the first round.

Welterweight: Seok Hyeon Ko (-200) vs Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani (+165)

A battle between two prospects at Welterweight. Seok Hyeon Ko is a South Korean fighter with a 13-2 professional record. The 32 year old is nicknamed the Korean Tyson, but the former Judoka is actually been more of a control wrestler since joining the UFC. He beat Oban Elliott in his debut and has since notched a win over Phil Rowe. Both wins as well as his contender series victory came via unanimous decision. Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani is a 27 year old American fighter with a 10-2 professional record. He had a big 7-1 run in LFA before earning his contract with a contender series knockout. He has fought just once in the UFC, beating Phil Rowe by split decision. MMA math doesn’t work like this, but it’s interesting that both fighters had the same last opponent, and Ko’s win was much more dominant. Ko is the favorite in this matchup, for good reason, but fighters have seemingly began to figure out this control wrestling style. Lebosnoyani is a submission threat with 5 submissions in his 10 victories and I think he finds a way to flip the script on the ground and pulls off the upset.

Prediction: Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani def. Seok Hyeon Ko by Submission in the second round.

Featherweight: #15 Jose Delgado (-120) vs Austin Bashi (+100)

Next we have the prelim headliner, Delgado vs Bashi, another battle between two prospects, this time at Featherweight. Delgado is a 28 year old American fighter with an 11-2 professional record. He’s 3-1 in the UFC, with the lone loss coming against Nathaniel Wood, who is now ranked 9th in the meta rankings. Delgado himself is ranked 15th in the meta rankings, but is unranked by the media. He has wins over Connor Matthews, Hyder Amil, and Andre Fili. He has 6 knockout wins, 4 submissions, with his only decision win coming in his last fight, a split decision with over Andre Fili. His gas tank is questionable, he likes to finish the fight early and judges scorecards haven’t been too kind to him in his career thus far. Austin Bashi is a 24-year old American prospect with a 14-1 professional record. He has 6 submissions and 3 knockouts in his career. He entered the UFC 12-0 fresh off a round 2 submission victory on the contender series, but lost his debut to Christian Rodriguez as a -270 favorite. He bounced back by beating John Yannis in his last fight, but Delgado is quite the step up for Bashi. I like Bashi as a prospect despite the set back, but this is a tough matchup against a very dangerous striker. I’m actually surprised the odds are as close as they are, Tapology has 79% of fans picking Delgado, despite the near even odds; and I am too.

Prediction: Jose Delgado def. Austin Bashi by TKO in the second round.

Main Card

Featherweight: Tommy McMillen (-115) vs Alberto Montes (-110)

Tommy “Gun” McMillen, teammate of “Suga” Sean O’Malley is a 28 year old American fighter with a 10-0 record. He started as a big underdog in this fight but the odds have flipped in his favor as of late. He won on the contender series by majority decision and beat Manolo Zecchini by KO in his UFC debut. He has 5 submission wins and 4 knockouts, with his contender series win as his lone decision. Alberto Montes is a 32 year old Venezuelan fighter with an 11-1 record. He earned his contract via submission on the contender series. In his UFC debut, he defeated Ricky Turcios, also by submission. He has 7 career submissions and 1 knockout, with his sole loss coming via knockout. Both fighters seem skilled on the ground, but I think McMillen has the advantage with the striking and I think he gets it done. I thought I was picking a nice upset when I made the pick, but I’m sticking with McMillen, even as the favorite.

Prediction: Tommy McMillen def. Alberto Montes by TKO in the first round.

Women’s Strawweight: #8 Tabatha Ricci (+275) vs #11 Fatima Kline (-360)

After Amanda Ribas withdrew from the fight, Tabatha Ricci stepped in to take on rising prospect Fatima Kline. #8 Tabatha Ricci, who is ranked 7th by the meta rankings, is a 31 year old Brazilian fighter with a 12-4 professional record. She’s a top 5-10 gatekeeper, with wins over Gillian Robertson, Tecia Pennington, Angela Hill, and Amanda Ribas. Her losses have came against Loopy Godinez, Yan Xiaonan, and Virna Jandiroba. In total, she’s gone 7-4 in the UFC. She primarily goes to decision but has 5 career finishes, securing 1 of each in the UFC. Fatima Kline is a 26 year old American fighter who is 9-1. While the media has her at #11, the meta rankings have Kline at just #14 at the moment. Her sole loss came in her UFC debut against #7 ranked flyweight Jasmine Jasudavicius, where she lost by decision. She’s since won 3 straight fights, knocking out Victoria Dudakova and Melissa Martinez, and most recently beating Angela Hill by decision. Kline is one of the few strawweights with knockout power, making her a big prospect despite the fact that she hasn’t faced very stiff competition yet in her UFC career. Kline also competed in grappling well before her switch to MMA. She’s well rounded fighter, even if she only has 1 career win by submission. This is a step up for Kline, but I think Kline is the better fighter, but may not be able to land the knockout this time.

Prediction: #11 Fatima Kline def. #8 Tabatha Ricci by Unanimous Decision (30-27).

Lightweight: Chase Hooper (-375) vs Mitch Ramirez (+280)

Chase Hooper, once one of the top prospects in the entire UFC and one of the most feared grapplers in the division, has met some hard times as of late. The 26 year old American holds a 16-5-1 record, but is just 8-5 in the UFC. He’s been a betting favorite in all 5 of his losses, with the last 3 coming in fights where he was at least a -300 favorite. He had a rough start in the UFC going 3-3, but rattled off 6 straight wins and re-emerging as a prospect at 155. He suffered a setback when he was knocked out by Alexander Hernandez, but everything really fell off the rails when he was knocked out by Lance Gibson Jr. in his very next fight. Gibson was 0-1 in the UFC with a loss to King Green and landed the knock out as a big underdog. While Hooper’s overall level is in question, his ground game is not. He has 8 career submissions and has never been submitted himself and is consistently dominant on the ground. The problems arise with his weak chin in striking exchanges. Mitch Ramirez is a 33 year old American fighter with a 10-3 record. He lost on the contender series, albeit to future top contender Carlos Prates. After eventually getting the call from the UFC, he’s gone 0-2, losing to Thiago Moisés and Mike Davis, both by knockout. He seems to fade as the fight goes, 6 of his 7 career finishes have come in the first round, with all 3 losses being knockouts after the first round. Ramirez has got some power, but he seems to be a pretty low level fighter. I thought I had learned my lesson from picking Chase Hooper as a big favorite, but I’m doing it again.

Prediction: Chase Hooper def. Mitch Ramirez by Submission in the second round.

Co-Main Event

Middleweight: #10 Jared Cannonier (+260) vs #12 Christian Leroy Duncan (-330)

Jared “The Killa Gorilla” Cannonier is a UFC veteran. The 42 year old American is 11-9 in the UFC, 18-9 overall. He’s lost 3 out of his last 4 fights, but those losses came against Nassourdine Imavov, Caio Borralho, and Michael Page. He also beat Gregory Rodrigues in that stretch which is a solid win. Cannonier would have won that fight 29-28 had it not been a 5-round main event, but ended up getting the finish for good measure. He also holds wins over Marvin Vettori, current champion Sean Strickland, and Anderson Silva earlier in his career. Christian Leroy Duncan is an English fighter with a 14-2 professional record. The 30 year old has recently climbed into the rankings with 4 straight victories, the best of which coming against Roman Dolidze. A 2024 loss to Gregory Rodrigues does bring CLD’s fighting level into question though. He’s got 10 career knockouts and is a very exciting fighter. Duncan would likely be the worst loss on Cannonier’s resume, and Cannonier the best win on Duncan’s. It’s just hard to pick a 42 year old veteran coming off a loss to a similar level fighter to beat a surging prospect. Nothing against Cannonier’s career or anything, but at 42 I just don’t think he has it anymore. I do think he’s able to survive the onslaught though.

Prediction: #12 Christian Leroy Duncan def. #10 Jared Cannonier by Unanimous decision (30-27).

Main Event

Middleweight: #2 Dricus Du Plessis (-280) vs #9WW Kamaru Usman (+225)

Finally, we have the main event, two former champions in the battle for Africa. South Africa’s Dricus Du Plessis is 23-3 for his career, but stands 9-1 in the UFC. He made a quick run to the throne, winning the belt off Sean Strickland, defending against Israel Adesanya and again against Strickland before being dominated by Khamzat Chimaev in his last fight. For as good as Dricus’ resume is, he primarily faced strikers in his run to the top, and Chimaev showed major weaknesses in his takedown defense and ground game. Kamaru Usman came to the UFC through the Ultimate Fighter. He won his first 15 UFC fights, defeating the likes of Leon Edwards, Sean Strickland, and Rafael dos Anjos en route to a Welterweight title fight. He beat Tyron Woodley to win the belt in 2019, and defended the belt against Colby Covington twice, Jorge Masvidal twice and Gilbert Burns, before losing the belt to Leon Edwards. Usman was up 39-37 in the fight but was knocked out in round 5, losing the belt. In the immediate rematch, Edwards won a majority decision despite a point deduction and defended his belt. Usman then lost to Khamzat Chimaev for his 3rd straight loss after starting his career 20-1. He has since beaten Joaquin Buckley, with 2 judges scoring it 49-46 and the other 48-47. It seems like the best days of Kamaru Usman are well behind him, but none of his losses stand out as awful, even though Leon Edwards is now on a 3 loss streak of his own. Usman is now moving up from Welterweight, but has just a 1 inch height disadvantage and equal reach with DDP. It’s a hard fight to predict, as Usman has some strength as a wrestler, but it’s hard to predict Usman beating a contender in 2026. Usman fights typically go to decision, in fact he may even be winning on the scorecards, but I think DDP eventually finishes the fight.

Prediction: #2 Dricus Du Plessis def. Kamaru Usman by TKO in the third round.