UFC 245: Usman vs. Covington - Predictions and Picks

#6 The Prelims: ESPN+ card

The always-exciting Mike Perry headlines this weekend's prelims

Four prelims will be shown on ESPN+ this weekend, the biggest one being a clash of explosive power punchers at Welterweight, as Geoff Neal takes on Mike Perry. Neal has looked fantastic in his UFC career to date, piecing up all of his opponents with his striking and showing solid grappling when he’s had to. Perry meanwhile appeared to be a latter-day Phil Baroni clone – all power punches and trash talk – but recently he’s shown more wrinkles to his game, and now looks tough and well-rounded. This is a hard fight to pick but I’m not sure how Neal will react to being on the end of some hard shots, so I’m going with the more proven Perry by decision in an exciting brawl.

At Women’s Bantamweight we could also see the next top contender decided, as Brazilian grappler Ketlen Vieira returns to take on rising Mexican star Irene Aldana. An improving fighter, Aldana now looks strong on the ground and is learning to use her strong striking game to pressure her opponents. Vieira meanwhile is almost purely a stifling grappler, with an incredibly dangerous top game. The issue with ‘Fenomeno’ is her layoff; Vieira hasn’t fought since March 2018. I’ll go with Vieira via decision anyway – she’s a tremendous talent – but to see her look rusty and wind up losin wouldn’t shock me.

Middleweight grinders Ian Heinisch and Omari Akhmedov face off in what could be a potentially dull match given Akhmedov’s slow-paced style. I like Heinisch to win this one as his wrestling is better and he’s incredibly gritty and turns up the heat late in the fight, but it could be one to forget. Heinisch via decision is the pick.

Finally veteran Welterweights Matt Brown and Ben Saunders throw down, with Brown returning from a self-imposed layoff of almost two years. Neither man is all that durable any more meaning a fight going the distance isn’t likely, but I think Brown has more in the tank and the layoff will do him well. Brown by TKO is my pick.