UFC Predictions: UFC 257: McGregor vs. Poirier 2 predictions and picks

#3 UFC 257: The Main Card

Former UFC title challenger Jessica Eye stars on UFC 257's main card.

As is expected on a UFC pay-per-view, there are three more fights on the main card on Saturday.

One may well act as a pseudo-top contenders’ fight, as Jessica Eye and Joanne Calderwood do battle in the UFC Flyweight division. Eye is unlikely to gain a fight with UFC champ Valentina Shevchenko with a win, but Calderwood may well, given the UFC pegged her as a challenger in 2019.

This is likely to be a striking match. Both women are competent grapplers, but neither prefers to fight on the ground. Eye is more of a straight-ahead boxer than Calderwood’s Muay Thai-based style – a lot of kicks and clinch work.

I’m slightly favoring Calderwood here. Jo-Jo is varied enough to work Eye over from the outside. And while she’s been hurt by strikes before, power isn’t Eye’s strong point, as she hasn’t knocked an opponent out since 2011. I’m going with Calderwood by decision.

At Lightweight, Matt Frevola faces Ottman Azaitar. This is a baffling main card pick as there are better fights on the prelims, but the hope may be a showcase for Azaitar. The Bulldozer is an absolutely ruthless finisher, with 13 wins and 12 finishes to his name.

He’s also 2-0 in the UFC and knocked both Teemu Packalen and Khama Worthy silly in under a round combined.

Frevola has been a solid fighter thus far into his UFC career, but a knockout loss to Polo Reyes is a red flag here. If The Steamrolla can get Azaitar into the later rounds, then all bets are off. But I feel like The Bulldozer will pick up another KO in this one.

Finally, Strawweights Marina Rodriguez and Amanda Ribas face off. This is a genuinely great fight, as the two women have a combined UFC record of 6-1-2.

Overall though, I’m favoring Ribas. Rodriguez is a fantastic striker, but her draws with Cynthia Calvillo and Randa Markos – as well as her loss to Carla Esparza – exposed a definite weakness in her ground game.

Meanwhile, Ribas has proven to be an excellent grappler thus far into her career, but she also showed off a very solid striking game in her win over Mackenzie Dern. With that in mind, Ribas via decision is my pick.

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#4 UFC 257: The Prelims

Picks in bold

UFC Lightweight division: Nasrat Haqparast vs. Arman Tsarukyan

UFC Middleweight division: Brad Tavares vs. Antonio Carlos Junior

UFC Bantamweight division: Julianna Pena vs. Sara McMann

UFC Light Heavyweight division: Khalil Rountree Jr. vs. Marcin Prachnio

UFC Middleweight division: Andrew Sanchez vs. Makhmud Muradov

Catchweight (150lbs): Movsar Evloev vs. Nik Lentz

UFC Flyweight division: Amir Albazi vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov