UFC on ESPN: Overeem vs. Rozenstruik - Predictions and Picks

#7 The Prelims: ESPN+ card

Matt Wiman has been fighting for fifteen years

Saturday’s early prelims will take place on ESPN+. At the top of that portion of the card is a Lightweight fight between longtime veteran Matt Wiman and newcomer Joe Solecki, a graduate of Dana White’s Contender Series. A few years ago I’d have picked Wiman here, but the reality is that he’s 26 years old, has 15 years of fights under his belt and was TKO’d in his only fight since 2014. I’ll take Solecki here via TKO despite him being unproven.

At Middleweight Trevor Smith faces late replacement Makhmud Muradov. A tough grinder with a solid grappling game, Smith has been around for a decade but has never truly impressed in the UFC, while Uzbekistan’s Muradov looked impressive in his recent win over Alessio Di Chirico. Despite the late notice I like Muradov by TKO in this one; he’s the younger, hungrier fighter and he looks extremely dangerous to me.

At Strawweight, Virna Jandiroba faces late replacement Mallory Martin. Martin, a training partner of former title challenger Cat Zingano, has a solid record and looks decent enough but I think she’s overmatched here; Jandiroba is a former Invicta champion and while she lost to Carla Esparza in her UFC debut, there’s no shame in that. I like Jandiroba by decision in this one.

Finally at Featherweight, Billy Quarantillo takes on Jacob Kilburn. Kilburn is taking this fight on super-late notice to replace Chris Fishgold, but the hard-hitting striker might be in trouble here, as Quarantillo is more experienced and is strong in all areas. I’m taking Quarantillo here by decision.