UFC 231: Holloway vs. Ortega - Predictions and Picks

#7 The Prelims: Fight Pass card

Aleksandar Rakic could be a man to watch at 205lbs

Headlining the Fight Pass prelim card we’ve got a battle of 205lbers that sees Devin Clark face off with Aleksandar Rakic. Hailing from Austria, Rakic burst onto the scene earlier this year by surprisingly outpointing former Heavyweight Justin Ledet with relative ease, largely by mixing up his striking with a strong wrestling game. Clark is a strong wrestler himself, but doesn’t appear to be as well-rounded as Rakic and I think he could be in trouble if Rakic can really push the action. I’m taking Rakic by decision in this one.

At Bantamweight, TUF 27 winner Brad Katona takes on Matthew Lopez, who was surprisingly knocked out by Alejandro Perez in April. Prior to that he’d looked like a prospect to watch, as he defeated Mitch Gagnon and then knocked out notable striker Jonny Eduardo in 2017. A Canadian based out of Ireland, Katona largely used his grappling to win TUF – particularly in the final against Jay Cucciniello – but I just don’t think he can hold Lopez down like that as I’d suspect Lopez is the better grappler and he’s faced much tougher opposition. Lopez by decision is my pick.

Finally, a clash of Welterweights opens the card as Canadian favourite Chad Laprise takes on former TUF finalist Dhiego Lima. In purely offensive terms Lima is an awesome fighter, as he combines knockout power standing with a super-dangerous grappling game, but his chin simply can’t back up such a reckless style, and Laprise is a clean and technical striker even if he looks undersized at 170lbs. I’ll take Laprise via first-round knockout.