UFC 234: Whittaker vs. Gastelum - Predictions and Picks

#6 The Prelims (ESPN card)

Dong Hyun Ma has become one of the UFC's most exciting brawlers

UFC 234’s prelims will be broadcast on the ESPN network and the headliner – a Lightweight tilt between Devonte Smith and Dong Hyun Ma should be exciting, to say the least. Smith, who debuted via Dana White’s Contender Series last year, viciously knocked out Julian Erosa in his Octagon debut proper and has a bunch of early TKO’s or KO’s on his 9-1 record. Dong meanwhile has established himself as a pretty wild brawler since his 2015 UFC debut – putting on a forgotten classic with Polo Reyes in 2016. I’m taking Smith here as he seems to have thunderous power in his strikes and while Dong can take a shot, he’s all too willing to engage in brawls and may be outgunned in this one.

At Featherweight, New Zealand’s Shane Young returns to face Austin Arnett, who picked up his first UFC win at the third attempt in November. Arnett is slightly more experienced than Young, but didn’t look good in his early UFC days, losing comfortably to Cory Sandhagen and Hakeem Dawodu. Young meanwhile was unfortunate enough to debut against Alexander Volkanovski, but actually acquitted himself well in that fight. I’m leaning towards Young here, as I think he’s got enough skill to outwork Arnett in all areas and likely take a decision.

Flyweight prospect Kai-Kara France is up next against newcomer Raulian Paiva – another odd signing if the UFC are indeed folding the men’s 125lbs division. Kara-France looked pretty fantastic in an exciting Octagon debut win over Elias Garcia, and has a ton of experience – even in losses he’s always looked competitive. Paiva has a lot of experience on the Brazilian circuit at 18-1, but I believe this will be his first time fighting out of Brazil and that could affect him. I’ll take Kara-France via decision here.

Finally, Teruto Ishihara takes on Kyung Ho Kang in a Bantamweight clash. Kang – who returned in late 2017 from his mandatory service in the Korean military – was last seen in a losing effort to Ricardo Ramos in what was an extremely close fight. Ishihara meanwhile is 1-4 in his last 5 fights, and might only be around now due to his flashy fighting style and personality. Ishihara has shown glimpses of greatness but to me, he’s too inconsistent and so I like Kang to outwork him for a decision.