UFC Fight Night 144: Assuncao vs. Moraes 2 - Predictions and Picks

The Prelims (ESPN+ card)

Brazil's Markus Perez (right) headlines the prelim card on Saturday

We’ll be treated to 7 prelims on this card, and strangely enough, they’re all scheduled to take place on the ESPN+ streaming service, with no fights featured on the UFC’s own Fight Pass service.

Headlining the prelims is a Middleweight fight between Markus Perez and the curiously nicknamed Anthony ‘Fluffy’ Hernandez. Perez is coming off a loss to Andrew Sanchez, while Hernandez is making his UFC debut after finishing an opponent on the Contender Series in just 40 seconds. Hernandez is more experienced than his 7-0 record suggests due to an extensive amateur career, but it does appear that most of his opponents were wildly overmatched. Hernandez is a chubbier 185lber, but I think his aggressive striking style might be enough to get him past Perez here. Hernandez via TKO is my pick.

At Welterweight, former UFC title challenger Thiago Alves faces Max Griffin in what should be a striking-based battle. Alves showed flashes of his past greatness in his September loss to Alexey Kunchenko, but generally looks far slower and more vulnerable than he did in his prime. I wouldn’t call Griffin a contender as he’s too inconsistent, but based on Alves’ decline I think ‘Max Pain’ has enough to take a decision here.

At Women’s Flyweight, Mara Romero Borella takes on Talia Santos, another fighter debuting following a win on Dana White’s Contender Series. Both women are similarly experienced, although Santos’s 15-0 record is more impressive on paper. Judging on the sparse footage I’ve seen, Santos looks quite the nasty striker, but I’m more inclined to take the UFC experience here so I’m going with Borella via submission.

Junior Albini returns at Heavyweight to take on newcomer Jairzinho Rozenstruik, rather than Dmitry Sosnovskiy as was initially planned. This might be a nastier fight for him actually as while Rozenstruik lacks MMA experience, he fights out of the famed Cor Hemmers gym in the Netherlands and has a scary kickboxing record of 76-6. Albini might be best to take this to the ground – and he could definitely grapple his way to a decision – but I’m hoping Rozenstruik turns out to be a decent prospect to watch and so I’ll take him to win by TKO.

At Bantamweight, Said Nurmagomedov returns to take on Ricardo Ramos in what could be a fascinating fight to watch. Both men have pretty solid records, but it’s Ramos with his 3 UFC wins – including a sick spinning backfist over Aiemann Zahabi – who has impressed more thus far. Nurmagomedov is obviously a fantastic grappler but I’m going with the semi-upset in this one, as Ramos has looked fantastic in his UFC career thus far against some tricky opponents. Ramos via decision is the pick.

Finally, at Flyweight, Magomed Bibulatov faces newcomer Rogerio Bontorin – a curious signing if the UFC indeed plan to trim the 125lbs class. Bibulatov is coming off his shocking loss to John Moraga, but prior to that he was considered the top prospect in the world at 125lbs – and with that in mind I can’t really take Bontorin in good conscience; he looked solid on DWTNCS, but he has a prior loss to Michinori Tanaka, a fighter who struggled hugely in his own UFC run. I think Bibulatov finishes this in violent fashion by TKO.