UFC 236: Holloway vs. Poirier 2 - Predictions and Picks

#6 The Prelims: ESPN card

Jalin Turner headlines the ESPN prelims against Matt Frevola

The top half of the prelim card for this show will be shown on ESPN – which could bode well for the overall buyrate. Headlining will be a Lightweight tilt between Jalin Turner and Matt Frevola.

Last time we saw Turner – a remarkably lanky 155lber who stands at 6’3” – he was knocking out Callan Potter, while Frevola’s last fight saw him draw with Lando Vannata. I’m going with Turner here I think; from what I know of Frevola he’s more of a grappler and I seriously worry about how he’ll deal with Turner’s range and length. ‘The Tarantula’ via first-round TKO is my pick.

At Flyweight, it’s a battle of grapplers as Wilson Reis takes on Alexandre Pantoja. Quite what this fight will mean in the long run is anyone’s guess given the questions around the future of Flyweight, but I’m taking Pantoja.

Reis has traditionally struggled with opponents he’s been unable to easily outgrapple, and Pantoja is an excellent jiu-jitsu artist who is 4-1 in the UFC and should be able to push the pace on the stockier Reis. I’ll go with Pantoja via close decision.

Max Griffin returns at 170lbs to take on unbeaten newcomer Zelim Imadaev in what could be an interesting fight. Griffin looked excellent in picking apart Mike Perry, but was then picked apart himself by Curtis Millender and even lost to the ageing Thiago Alves.

Imadaev – fighting out of Chechnya – is short on experience, but he looks like he’s a truly vicious striker judging on his highlight reel. Griffin could be in trouble here and I think Imadaev takes him out violently with strikes. Expect some hype on this guy after the weekend.

Finally at Bantamweight, Boston Salmon faces Germany’s Khalid Taha in the latter’s second UFC fight and the former’s official debut. I like Salmon here – he looked excellent in his DWTNCS fight while Taha didn’t show a lot in his UFC debut. Salmon by decision is my pick.