UFC on ESPN: Kattar vs. Ige - Predictions and Picks

#5 The Prelims: ESPN card

Liverpool's Molly McCann headlines this show's prelims

All of the preliminary fights on Wednesday’s UFC card will likely be shown on both ESPN and the ESPN+ streaming service.

Headlining this portion of the card is a Flyweight clash between Liverpool’s Molly McCann and Brazil’s Taila Santos. This could be another exciting fight – Santos is 15-1, and while she didn’t show a lot in her UFC debut, she’s got 10 stoppages by strikes on her ledger. McCann though has much more UFC experience – she’s 3-1 – and while she’s not as dangerous a finisher, she’s unbelievably tough and scrappy. Santos might do well early on here, but I like McCann to break her down over the distance and take a decision.

At Featherweight, Ricardo Ramos faces Lerone Murphy. A highly dangerous fighter in all areas, Ramos’ only loss thus far in his UFC career has come to Said Nurmagomedov. He’s 5-1 in the UFC and his most famous win was his spinning elbow KO of Aiemann Zahabi back in 2017.

Manchester’s Murphy, meanwhile, is 8-0-1 and is coming off a somewhat impressive UFC debut - a draw with the highly-rated Zubaira Tukhugov. This should be an exciting fight, but I think Ramos’ grappling might bring him through as the fight will likely be a wash standing. Ramos by submission is my pick.

In an intriguing-sounding Flyweight battle, Tim Elliott does battle with fellow veteran Ryan Benoit. This may well be a loser-leaves-town deal as well, due to Elliott losing three in a row while Benoit last won a fight in 2017.

In his prime, I feel like Elliott’s dangerous grappling game would’ve pulled him through here, but it’s hard not to feel like he’s at the end of the road now at the age of 33. This could go either way but I think Benoit will probably outwork Elliott for a decision.

In another Flyweight fight, Diana Belbita faces Liana Jojua. Based on what I’ve seen of these two – which is honestly very little – it’s a tricky fight to call. Jojua arguably showed a little more in her UFC debut though, going three rounds with the much larger Sarah Moras. I’m leaning towards her to pick up a decision win here.

At 205lbs, Lithuania’s Modestas Bukauskas takes on Andreas Michailidis, who stepped up on late notice following the withdrawal of Vinicius Moreira. This one is tricky to pick too – both men have a lot of knockouts to their name and have impressed on the regional circuit. Expect a pretty heavy striking battle here, but I suspect Bukauskas will have enough to earn a win given the Greek fighter’s lack of preparation time.

In what should be a brawl in the Middleweight division, Welsh slugger John Phillips faces late replacement Khamzat Chimaev. Phillips clearly has a big experience advantage here. He’s 22-9 and thus has over 5 times the amount of fights that his opponent does. But he also hasn’t shown all that much aside from power punches in the UFC.

Will that be enough for him to defeat Chimaev? It’s hard to say, as the Russian fights out of a top gym – Sweden’s AllStars Training Centre, and likely wouldn’t have gotten this opportunity with no skills. It’s probably smarter to pick Phillips given the experience and late notice, but don’t be surprised to see Chimaev pull it out.

In the Light Heavyweight division, it's a battle of newcomers as Germany's Timo Feucht faces Norway's Kenneth Bergh. This looks like a pretty solid fight between two strong European prospects, as Feucht is 8-1, Bergh 7-0.

Judging on the footage of the two, it appears that Bergh is a powerful grappler who's snacked largely on overmatched, less athletic foes on the regional circuit. 'Ymir' has never gone the distance, and actually had a fight on Dana White's Contender Series in 2019. He lost that one by submission but saw the result overturned when his opponent tested positive for anabolic steroids.

Feucht looks like a well-rounded fighter himself, but judging on what I've seen, he appears to lack Bergh's power and athleticism. It's always tricky to pick a fight between two newcomers, but I'm going with Bergh via submission.

Finally, in another late-notice fight, Aaron Phillips returns to the UFC to take on Welshman Jack Shore. A slick grappler, Shore is 12-0, while Phillips has put together a run of 5 wins following his 2014 release from the UFC. I like Shore here, as he seems on the upswing of his career while Phillips didn’t quite look like he was a UFC-level fighter last time out. Shore via submission is my pick.