UFC Predictions: UFC Fight Night: Amanda Lemos vs. Virna Jandiroba

The UFC returns to the Las Vegas APEX this weekend for another Fight Night event. Even by the APEX standards, this isn't a loaded card.

UFC Fight Night: Amanda Lemos vs. Virna Jandiroba looks like a lesser event on paper, but with any luck, it'll still produce some fun fights.

Here are the predicted outcomes for UFC Fight Night: Amanda Lemos vs. Virna Jandiroba.

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#1. UFC strawweight bout: Amanda Lemos vs. Virna Jandiroba

While neither Amanda Lemos nor Virna Jandiroba has the biggest name, they are two of the best strawweight in the world. Moreover, both women are highly ranked enough that an impressive win could net either a title shot.

So, who will come out on top in this intriguing battle of Brazilians?

Of the two, it's safe to say that Lemos has had more exposure. 'Amandinha' moved down to 115 pounds in 2019, and has put together a record of 8-2 since. Her only losses have come to the maurauding Jessica Andrade, and to Weili Zhang in a title fight last August.

Along the way, she's beaten the likes of Mackenzie Dern, Michelle Waterson, and Marina Rodriguez and has finished five of her eight wins.

Lemos essentially has no glaring weaknesses, but it's probably fair to say that her striking has impressed more than her grappling. She pieced Dern up on the feet, and dispatched Rodriguez with serious violence, too.

Jandiroba, on the other hand, has had more success with her grappling in her octagon career. Arriving in the UFC in 2019 in a loss to Carla Esparza, she's since beaten the likes of Rodriguez, Felice Herrig, and Angela Hill.

While it's hard to call her a lethal finisher, it's clear that her top game, in particular, is very effective. She grounded Rodriguez for almost the entirety of their fight and basically did the same to Loopy Godinez in her most recent win.

Essentially, then, this should be a classic striker vs. grappler bout, with the result coming down to whether Jandiroba can get Lemos down and keep her there. Given Lemos survived on the ground with Dern, a finish seems doubtful, therefore it'll be whether 'Carcara' can grind out five rounds.

The concern for her, though, is that Lemos has fought better opponents and knows what it takes to get through a five-round fight. Sure, she was dominated by Zhang, but she survived, and Jandiroba is nowhere near as dynamic and powerful as the champ.

Given Lemos' strong finishing rate and the fact that this is Jandiroba's first headline bout, then, the pick is the former title challenger, probably by late stoppage.

The Pick: Lemos via fourth-round TKO

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#2. UFC middleweight bout: Brad Tavares vs. Jun Yong Park

Quite how Brad Tavares is still in the UFC after 14 years, let alone co-headlining a Fight Night card is anyone's guess. Such is the nature of this event, though.

At any rate, the Hawaiian has always been a solid hand despite never really ascending into title contention at middleweight.

The Hawaiian is a classic jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none. He's a solid boxer, a decent grappler, and has excellent cardio, but he doesn't outright excel in any of those areas.

That's why he's never cracked the top ten, despite putting together numerous good runs. Tavares has beaten the likes of Elias Theodorou and Chris Weidman but has also lost to Robert Whittaker, Israel Adesanya, and Edmen Shahbazyan.

At the age of 36, though, how much does he have left to offer? That's a fair question. The Hawaiian has now lost three of his last four bouts, and while he did go the distance with current champ Dricus du Plessis, his other two defeats came via stoppage.

However, even if he is slowing down, Tavares should still probably be favored here. While he's been in with many of the best middleweights the UFC has had to offer in his 14-year career there, opponent Jun Yong Park hasn't come close to that.

More to the point, while 'The Iron Turtle' is a solid 7-3 in the octagon, he's tended to outgrapple his foes, scoring four of his seven wins via submission.

The likelihood of him doing that to Tavares, though, seems low. Not only has the Hawaiian never been submitted, but he's also never really been outgrappled. Basically all of his losses have come against strikers, and his takedown defense has always held up, even against hardened wrestlers like Aaron Simpson - although that fight did happen way back in 2011.

Essentially, styles make fights, and while Park might have a brighter future than Tavares, this is a horrible match for him overall. He's unlikely to be finished, but he is likely to lose a grinding decision.

The Pick: Tavares via decision

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#3. UFC Fight Night: The Main Card

In a featherweight clash, Steve Garcia takes on Seung Woo Choi. While neither of these men are in contention at 145 pounds, they are at least both coming off wins.

It's Garcia, though, who has been more impressive as of late. 'Mean Machine' has dispatched his last three foes via KO or TKO, including a rare foray up to 155 pounds for a win over Melquizael Costa last December.

Garcia isn't the most skilled fighter on the ground, but he does have heavy strikes and uses a hard-nosed style that makes him difficult to grind down.

Choi, meanwhile, has been highly inconsistent in his octagon career. More to the point, he's struggled with hard hitters before. The pick, then, is Garcia via knockout.

At lightweight, Kurt Holobaugh takes on newcomer Kaynan Kruschewsky. To say Kruschewsky's UFC career got off to a bad start would be an understatement. The Brazilian was violently knocked out by Elves Brener last November inside a round.

However, prior to that, 'Bahia' was riding a seven-fight unbeaten streak, including a win on Dana White's Contender Series. Judging by clips, like many Brazilian prospects, Kruschewsky is offensively excellent in all areas but doesn't have the best wrestling defense and isn't all that durable.

Holobaugh is now on his third octagon stint, and unfortunately, it could be his last. Despite some decent skills, he's always struggled against more technical and explosive opponents. This means that if Kruschewsky is as good as his highlight reel makes out, this should be his fight to lose. The pick is Kruschewsky via knockout.

Finally, in a featherweight clash, Doo Ho Choi returns to take on Bill Algeo.

Once considered one of the best 145-pound prospects in the world, Choi has spent so much time on the shelf in recent years that even his nickname, 'The Korean Superboy, ' no longer fits. He's somehow 33 years old now and may be past his athletic prime.

He still hits hard, has fast hands, and is an underrated grappler. More to the point, he still looked good against Kyle Nelson in his last fight and only missed a win due to an errant headbutt, causing a point deduction.

That fight was well over a year ago, though, so who knows what he has left? We know what we should get from Algeo, a stifling wrestler who likes to wear down his foes.

A workmanlike fighter, Algeo isn't that exciting to watch, but for the most part, he's effective. However, a loss to Nelson via KO in March could be a red flag of sorts.

Despite this, Choi has been out so long that it's very hard to trust him to be at his best. He could well surprise people by pulling out a huge knockout, but the logical pick has to be Algeo via decision.

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#4. UFC Fight Night: The Prelims

Picks in bold

UFC flyweight bout: Cody Durden vs. Bruno Gustavo da Silva

UFC featherweight bout: Lee Jeong-Yeong vs. Hyder Amil

UFC bantamweight bout: Brian Kelleher vs. Cody Gibson

UFC flyweight bout: Miranda Maverick vs. Dione Barbosa

UFC lightweight bout: Loik Radzhabov vs. Trey Ogden

UFC flyweight bout: Luana Carolina vs. Lucie Pudilova

UFC heavyweight bout: Mohammed Usman vs. Thomas Petersen