UFC Predictions: UFC Fight Night: Marlon Vera vs. Cory Sandhagen

The UFC heads to San Antonio, Texas this weekend for its latest Fight Night card, and on paper at least, it looks pretty decent.

UFC Fight Night: Marlon Vera vs. Cory Sandhagen features a major bantamweight headliner and other big fights in the male and female flyweight divisions.

With a number of fighters in action hunting for a move into title contention, this event should hopefully be a thriller.

Here are the predicted outcomes for UFC Fight Night: Marlon Vera vs. Cory Sandhagen.

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#1. UFC bantamweight division: Marlon Vera vs. Cory Sandhagen

Marlon Vera is in the hunt for a title shot at 135lbs

Not only is this a huge fight in terms of the bantamweight rankings – pitting #3 against #5 – but it should also be wildly exciting, too.

Essentially, Marlon Vera and Cory Sandhagen are not only amongst the best bantamweights to watch, but they’re also two of the best fighters to watch in the UFC, period.

Given that the winner could be an outside bet to fight for the bantamweight title in the near future, then, who is likely to take it?

Interestingly enough, both men fight with a very similar style. Neither fighter is the best wrestler, but they’re both passable in that area. However, both are more than capable of finishing their foes both standing and on the ground, making them almost uniquely dangerous.

Of the two, it’s undeniable that Vera has been on a better run as of late. ‘Chito’ has lost just one of his past six bouts, falling to the legendary Jose Aldo via decision in late 2020.

Since then, he’s taken out Davey Grant, Frankie Edgar, Rob Font, and Dominick Cruz, and more. He remains the only fighter to defeat the surging Sean O’Malley.

Sandhagen, on the other hand, recovered from back-to-back losses to TJ Dillashaw and Petr Yan by stopping Song Yadong impressively in late 2022. Those two losses, and one to current champ Aljamain Sterling, have kept him largely out of title contention. But he does hold impressive wins over Edgar and Marlon Moraes.

It’s hard to really break this one down because neither man has a true advantage in any single area. It’s not likely that either will be able to stifle the other using takedowns.

More importantly, neither man has really shown any glaring weaknesses. Vera has never been finished and Sandhagen has suffered just one submission loss at the hands of Sterling.

Therefore, it’s easy to imagine this one going the distance. Given that any lengthy control from either man is unlikely, it feels like damage – and who can do the most damage – will be the deciding criteria.

Sandhagen packs power into his strikes, but not quite like ‘Chito’. The latter seemed to be able to break down Cruz and Font in brutal fashion, somehow hurting him with every shot in their fight.

‘The Sandman’ might be able to absorb punishment from the Ecuadorian to last the distance. But it’s hard to imagine him being able to land as many heavy shots in response. Therefore, Vera via decision is the pick.

The Pick: Vera via decision

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#2. UFC bantamweight division: Holly Holm vs. Yana Kunitskaya

Is Yana Kunitskaya a dark horse contender at 135 lbs?

While this co-main event doesn’t sound all that exciting on paper, it could prove to be a pivotal bout in the bantamweight division, which is still ruled by Amanda Nunes.

Nunes’ 2019 win over Holly Holm means that it’d be hard to justify a title shot for ‘The Preacher’s Daughter’, even if she were to win here.

The former titleholder is coming off a loss to Ketlen Vieira, but it was a controversial decision, and had she won, she’d be on a three-fight winning streak. However, it’s hard to erase the vision of her knockout loss to Nunes.

Kunitskaya is also coming off a loss, to the #5 ranked Irene Aldana. However, ‘Foxy’ may not be as far away from a title shot as things may seem.

If Aldana loses her upcoming fight with Raquel Pennington – who, like Holm, has a bad loss to Nunes on her ledger – then if Kunitskaya can win here, she could be next in line.

Can she really beat Holm, though? That’s debatable. ‘Foxy’ is a solid fighter in all areas, has strong takedowns, can hurt opponents from the clinch, and isn’t a bad striker.

However, Holm’s movement, footwork, and striking rhythm make her a difficult opponent for everyone in the division.

It’s telling that outside of her loss to Miesha Tate in 2016, all of her other defeats in the octagon came to more technical kickboxers (Germaine de Randamie, Valentina Shevchenko) and far heavier hitters (Nunes, Cris Cyborg).

Realistically, Kunitskaya doesn’t fall into either category. She’s too plodding to be able to pick Holm apart as Shevchenko did, and she doesn’t hit with the power of Nunes.

Therefore, we can probably expect the standard fare from ‘The Preacher’s Daughter’ here. She’ll pick Kunitskaya apart with long punches and kicks without doing too much damage, and cruise her way to a decision win.

The Pick: Holm via decision

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#3. UFC Fight Night: The Main Card

Hot prospect Maycee Barber features on this weekend's main card

In a flyweight clash, Andrea Lee takes on Maycee Barber. Barber hasn’t quite lived up to her billing as the hottest prospect out there at 125 lbs. But at this stage, she’s arguably flying under the radar as she is on a three-fight win streak.

‘The Future’ isn’t always perfect, as she remains somewhat sloppy and predictable on her feet at times. But she’s a beast from the top position and hits with extreme power.

Lee is perhaps the more technical fighter in all areas. However, she’s also nowhere near as physical as Barber. While ‘KGB’ is definitely dangerous, she’s been outworked by stronger athletes before. With that in mind, the pick is Barber via decision.

In a middleweight tilt, Chidi Njokuani faces Albert Duraev. Despite losing his last bout to Gregory Rodrigues, Njokuani should still have a lot of hype behind him. ‘Chidi Bang Bang’ is ridiculously explosive, hits with brutal power, and has killer instinct if he gets someone hurt.

Duraev has proven himself to be durable and tough throughout his career, and he’s also a finisher. But based on what we’ve seen, he just lacks the explosive nature of Njokuani. Given he’s been knocked out on four occasions before, the pick is ‘Chidi Bang Bang’ via KO.

Finally, in a flyweight clash, Alex Perez faces Manel Kape. This is a genuinely great fight, and with both men ranked in the top 10, the winner should find themselves in title contention.

Perez has, of course, already fought for the flyweight title, losing to Deiveson Figueiredo back in 2020. Worryingly, he hasn’t bounced back from that loss yet, as he was brutally submitted by the underrated Alexandre Pantoja in his last bout in 2022.

Kape, on the other hand, is riding a three-fight win streak. He’s shown explosive, quick striking and a finisher’s instinct in the octagon. But his losses to Pantoja and Matheus Nicolau also showed that he can be stifled, even if he’s tricky to put away.

This one should be hard to pick, but it feels like confidence will be the difference. Kape is flying high right now, while Perez’s head may not be in the game as he hasn’t won since June 2020. The pick, therefore, is Kape via KO.

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#4. UFC Fight Night: The Prelims

Picks in bold

UFC featherweight division: Nate Landwehr vs. Austin Lingo

UFC featherweight division: Daniel Pineda vs. Tucker Lutz

UFC featherweight division: Steven Peterson vs. Lucas Alexander

UFC welterweight division: Trevin Giles vs. Preston Parsons

UFC flyweight division: CJ Vergara vs. Daniel da Silva

UFC lightweight division: Manuel Torres vs. Trey Ogden

UFC flyweight division: Victor Altamirano vs. Vinicius Salvador

UFC bantamweight division: Hailey Cowan vs. Tamires Vidal