UFC Fight Night 158: Cowboy vs. Gaethje - Predictions and Picks

#6 The Prelims: ESPN+ card

Dangerous Heavyweight Marcin Tybura headlines this weekend's prelim card

Not content with filling the main card – aside from the main event – with fights in the heavier weight classes, the big men are also headlining the prelims. Marcin Tybura faces off with Augusto Sakai in a fight that could be pretty good – or it could easily turn into a slopfest. I like Tybura here; he’s the smaller man but I think he’s got a big advantage if he can get Sakai to the ground and he’s also not a bad striker by any means. Tybura by decision is the pick.

At Bantamweight, Cole Smith makes his second UFC appearance, taking on newcomer and fellow unbeaten fighter Miles Johns. This is a tricky fight to pick; both men have similar levels of experience and all-round skills, but I’m tossing a coin and saying that Smith will make the most of his home country advantage to edge a tight decision.

Andrew Sanchez returns at Middleweight to face Marvin Vettori, the steadily-improving Italian who recently took a solid win over Cezar Ferreira. Sanchez is on a two-fight winning streak but he’s just not that well-rounded in my opinion, and I think Vettori is a good enough grappler to fend off his wrestling and take a decision.

At Bantamweight, former TUF winner Brad Katona faces unbeaten newcomer Hunter Azure. Katona disappointed massively in his previous fight against Merab Dvalishvili, but to be fair the Georgian’s wrestling game was always going to be tricky for him to handle, whereas Azure is less experienced and will have ‘Octagon shock’ to deal with. Katona by decision is my pick.

In a Featherweight match, hard-nosed wrestler Chas Skelly faces Jordan Griffin. Griffin didn’t look too great in his UFC debut against Dan Ige, and while Skelly has shown issues defensively in the past, his wrestling and grappling make him a tricky out for anyone in this division. I like Skelly via submission here.

Former Flyweight Louis Smolka returns at Bantamweight to take on Ryan MacDonald. Smolka has a decent game in all areas, but he’s also a bit of a glass cannon as he tends to give up position on the ground relatively easily, which is the cause of the majority of his losses. MacDonald, on the other hand, is a volume striker with little power, which doesn’t make him sound like the guys who’ve tended to beat Smolka. I’ll take Smolka via decision here after outworking MacDonald on the ground.

Finally, at Welterweight, Kyle Prepolec faces off with Austin Hubbard. Hubbard didn’t look great in his UFC debut, a loss to Davi Ramos, but then Prepolec hardly looked like a world-beater against Nordine Taleb in his own UFC debut either. I like Hubbard here – his jack-of-all-trades style will always find him in trouble against specialists like Ramos, but I think he’s slightly better than Prepolec in all areas and I’ll take him by decision.