UFC on ESPN: Dos Anjos vs. Edwards - Predictions and Picks

#7 The Prelims: ESPN card

The talented - but inconsistent - Alex Caceres headlines Saturday's prelim card

Saturday’s show appears to be broadcast completely on the ESPN network, meaning fans won’t need to change channel at all to watch the whole thing start to finish – if they’re brave enough that is!

At the top of the pile is a Featherweight clash between Alex Caceres and Steven Peterson. Caceres – AKA Bruce Leeroy – is horribly inconsistent and has a tendency to fight to the level of his opponent, but Peterson hasn’t shown much more than a rock-hard chin in his UFC run, and he was comfortably beaten by a rangy fighter similar to Caceres in Luis Pena a few months ago. Caceres via decision is my pick here.

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At Bantamweight, former title challenger Raquel Pennington returns to face Irene Aldana, who recently submitted Bethe Correia and will be looking to break into the upper echelon of the division.

This should come down I think to whether Pennington can impose herself on the Mexican physically – we saw Aldana bullied by Katlyn Chookagian and Leslie Smith, for instance – but I worry about the amount of damage Pennington has taken in her career now so I’m going with the mild upset and taking Aldana to strike her way to a decision.

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Light-Heavyweights Sam Alvey and Klidson Abreu clash with the Brazilian looking for his first UFC win. Basically, it depends on whether Abreu can avoid Alvey’s one big punch – the counter right hook – as ‘Smilin Sam’ is one of the most one-dimensional fighters in the UFC, but he’s also highly effective with that technique.

I may well be underrating Abreu in this fight, but he came forward a lot swinging in his debut fight and that usually isn’t the way to beat Alvey. Alvey by KO is my pick.

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At Flyweight, Roxanne Modafferi faces Jennifer Maia, and the idea that the winner could be in line to challenge Valentina Shevchenko isn’t very far-fetched.

Modafferi did excellently to ground and defeat Antonina Shevchenko in her last fight, but she’s still a lower-level athlete and I worry for her here as Maia is not only an excellent striker, but also a venomous grappler. Modafferi will put up a good fight but I think Maia TKO’s her before this one is out.

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Bantamweights Ray Borg and Gabriel Silva clash here, with the unbeaten Silva – who fights out of the vaunted Team Nogueira – making his UFC debut. A striker by trade, Silva is at least bigger than the former Flyweight Borg, but he lacks the experience that ‘The Tazmexican Devil’ brings to the table.

If Silva can stop the takedown then he could win this fight, but I think Borg probably has enough wrestling in his pocket to ground him for a decision, as his ground game is somewhat untested.

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Also at Bantamweight, Mario Bautista faces Jin Soo Son – a protégé of the Korean Zombie who showed some ludicrous toughness to survive a beatdown from Petr Yan in the Russian’s second UFC outing.

Based on that sheer toughness I’m taking him here – it’s a bit of a guess but Bautista didn’t show a lot in his UFC debut and has less experience, too. I’ll take Son by decision.

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Finally, it’s another Bantamweight fight, as Domingo Pilarte takes on Felipe Colares. Pilarte looked excellent on the Contender Series, choking out the always-tough Vince Morales, and that alone is enough to make me pick him here – Colares showed very little in his UFC debut against Geraldo de Freitas and he’s also giving up some serious range to the 6’0” Pilarte, something he isn’t used to. I’ll take Pilarte via decision.