UFC Fight Night 172: Eye vs. Calvillo - Predictions and Picks

#6 The Prelims: ESPN+ card

Longtime veteran Charles Rosa headlines this weekend's prelims

This weekend’s prelims will all be shown on ESPN+. At the top of the card is a Featherweight clash between Boston’s Charles Rosa and ‘The Angel of Death’, Kevin Aguilar. Both men have seen largely mixed results across their UFC careers, going 3-4 and 2-2 respectively, but there can be little doubt that Rosa – who has fought Yair Rodriguez and Shane Burgos – has seen the better opponents.

This one could go either way; Aguilar is probably the more concussive striker, but he lacks the grappling chops of Rosa and I’d also give ‘Boston Strong’ an advantage in the cardio department. I like Rosa to edge a decision in this one, or find a submission in the later rounds.

At Bantamweight, strong prospect Julia Avila faces off with the returning Gina Mazany, who is taking this fight on relatively late notice. I feel like Avila is probably the clear favourite in this one; Mazany went 1-3 in her initial UFC run, never truly impressed, and was also beaten violently in her last fight. Avila meanwhile is a powerful striker with experience against excellent opponents, and she most recently outpointed solid contender Pannie Kianzad, albeit almost a year ago. Despite that layoff, I’m taking Avila by TKO here.

At Flyweight, it’s a battle of veterans as Ryan Benoit takes on Tyson Nam. Nam rose to fame back in 2012 with his KO of then-Bellator Bantamweight champ Eduardo Dantas, but some contract issues prevented him from joining the UFC and 8 years down the line, he’s become more of a journeyman. Benoit meanwhile has shown some flashes of potential since his UFC debut in 2013, but has always struggled for consistency. I feel like he’s closer to his fighting prime than Nam at this stage though, and should have the overall skills to defeat the 36-year old, probably by outworking him for a decision.

In the Featherweight division, Jordan Griffin faces Darrick Minner. Minner showed nothing in his UFC debut earlier this year – a one-sided loss to Grant Dawson – but in reality he’s a solid veteran with decent skills in all areas. Griffin meanwhile picked up his first UFC win this February, choking out TJ Brown in impressive fashion. This could go either way as both men are battle-tested – but interestingly, they’ve already fought once on the regional scene, with Griffin winning via armbar. With that in mind, I’m taking him to repeat the feat and win by tapout.

At Flyweight, Ariane Lipski takes on Luana Carolina in a showdown of Brazilian strikers. Both women are coming off their first UFC victory, but Lipski has by far the more impressive reputation and is far more experienced, too. I’ll take ‘The Violence Queen’ to pick up her second Octagon win, probably by decision.

Finally, at Welterweight, Anthony Ivy faces Christian Aguilera, who could probably cause some pretty comical Google typos in the build up to the show. This is a late-notice fight for both men, largely thrown together after Ivy initially agreed to replace Ian Heinisch at UFC 250 due to a Covid-19 scare before Heinisch was eventually cleared to fight.

As such, it’s a little tricky to choose a winner, particularly as both men are largely unproven at the UFC level. Judging by the few clips I have seen, as well as their records, I think Ivy can edge out a decision here.