UFC 253: Adesanya vs. Costa - Predictions and Picks

#6 The Prelims: UFC on ESPN2 and ESPN+ card

Exciting striker Brad Riddell headlines this weekend's UFC prelims.

UFC 253 will feature six preliminary bouts, all of which will be shown on the ESPN+ streaming service as well as the ESPN2 network.

At the top of that portion sits a Lightweight clash between New Zealand's Brad Riddell and experienced Brazilian Alex Da Silva. A training partner of UFC Middleweight champ Israel Adesanya, Riddell looked fantastic in his most recent bout, a striking battle with Magomed Mustafaev. 'Quake' is clearly a skilled kickboxer, and he appears to be getting better too.

Da Silva is more well-rounded, with plenty of submission wins to his name too. However, he's never beaten anyone close to the level of Mustafaev. With that in mind, and the fact that 'Leko' is probably going to be willing to trade with Riddell, I'm going with 'Quake' to edge out a decision in an exciting bout.

In the Welterweight division, battle-hardened veteran Diego Sanchez faces Jake Matthews. It's hard not to worry for Sanchez here, to be honest. His showing against Michel Pereira was bizarre, to say the least, he's training with the unheralded Joshua Fabia. He's also taken an insane amount of punishment over the years, with this marking his 32nd fight in the UFC.

Australia's Matthews has never quite fulfilled the potential he showed a few years ago. But he's still an excellent fighter in all areas who is also tough as nails and has good cardio. If he attempts to grapple with Sanchez, he might be in trouble, but it's hard not to see him catching 'The Nightmare' with something big and taking him out. Matthews via TKO is my pick.

At Featherweight, New Zealand's Shane Young faces L'udovit Klein, who is taking the fight on short notice. Slovakia's Klein has plenty of experience at 16-2, but footage on him seems rather sparse. Young, meanwhile, has looked solid since dropping his UFC debut to Alexander Volkanovski, and has beaten his two most recent opponents.

Given Klein's unheralded nature and late notice, I'm going with Young via decision here.

At Light Heavyweight, William Knight makes his UFC debut against Aleksa Camur. A training partner of UFC Heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic, Camur looked excellent in his UFC debut earlier this year, clearly outpointing Justin Ledet for a decision.

Knight, meanwhile, came into the UFC by destroying his opponent on Dana White's Contender Series just a couple of weeks ago. This should be an interesting – and potentially – wild fight as both men hit extremely hard and throw everything they've got at their opponent. As Camur is slightly more proven, though, I'm going with him via TKO.

At Heavyweight, Juan Espino takes on Jeff Hughes. A heavy-handed brawler, Hughes has knockout power. But from what I've seen, his grappling game is lacking somewhat. Espino hasn't fought since winning TUF 28 in 2018, but the Spaniard is still excellent in the clinch, has the ability to drag his opponents down, and tends to finish them from there. The pick, then, is Espino via submission.

Finally, Danilo Marques makes his UFC debut at Light Heavyweight against Khadis Ibragimov. This could honestly go either way. Marques is an excellent grappler but isn't the best athlete and has been knocked out before, while Ibragimov hits extremely hard but has a tendency to gas out and is vulnerable on the ground. Given Ibragimov's tendency to get tired, as long as Marques can avoid the big shot, this should be his fight to lose. I'll take him by submission late on.