UFC Predictions: UFC Fight Night: Max Holloway vs. Korean Zombie

The UFC hits Singapore this weekend for a Fight Night event, and surprisingly, the card is quite strong.

UFC Fight Night: Max Holloway vs. Korean Zombie features a mismatch in the headliner, but elsewhere, there are definitely some intriguing bouts.

Here are the predicted outcomes for UFC Fight Night: Max Holloway vs. Korean Zombie.

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#1. UFC featherweight bout: Max Holloway vs. Chan Sung Jung

Max Holloway returns to action this weekend against Chan Sung Jung [Image Credit: @blessedmma on Instagram]

The UFC’s matchmaking is usually remarkably consistent, pitting top-level fighters against one another and rarely producing the kind of mismatches we see in boxing.

Sure, the promotion will look to protect its top prospects, but even those fighters eventually have to face the music and make the step up.

Every now and then, though, they’ll produce a bout that seems to confuse everyone, and unfortunately, this is one of them.

Right now it’s arguable that were it not for the existence of Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway would not only be holding the featherweight title but he’d widely be considered the GOAT at 145 lbs.

‘Blessed’ has basically destroyed every other top featherweight from Arnold Allen and Yair Rodriguez to Calvin Kattar and Brian Ortega. He’s literally lost three times at 145lbs in the past decade, and all three of those losses came to ‘Alexander the Great’.

Seven or eight years ago, this fight with Chan Sung Jung would’ve been fantastic. Back then, Holloway was still great, but he hadn’t quite developed into the monstrous volume striker he is today.

‘The Korean Zombie’, on the other hand, was in great physical shape, he hit hard, had tricky ground skills and was remarkably durable.

Now, though, Jung is 36 years old and is way past his prime. No longer as durable as he once was, he’s won once since 2019 and took a brutal beating from Volkanovski in his last bout. That fight took place over a year ago, and he considered retirement afterward.

No fighter can truly be counted out of a big clash like this, and as we know, anything can happen in the octagon.

However, it’s just hard to see where Jung can win this fight. He’s not going to take Holloway down, he doesn’t have the striking power to hurt ‘Blessed’, and he’s no longer going to be able to walk through the buzzsaw that is the Hawaiian’s boxing assault.

If this one goes deep, then it probably won’t be all that much fun to watch. However, Holloway hasn’t finished an opponent since Ortega in 2018, so he’s highly likely to want to send a message.

With that in mind, expect him to overwhelm Jung in violent fashion midway through this bout, sealing the deal with a TKO.

The Pick: Holloway via third-round TKO

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#2. UFC light-heavyweight bout: Anthony Smith vs. Ryan Spann

Can Ryan Spann avenge his loss to Anthony Smith this weekend? [Image Credit: @Superman_Spann on Twitter]

Usually, rematches in the UFC are put together because the first fight was great and fans are desperate to see them since there’s a bitter rivalry or a mix of all three.

In this case, none of those reasons really stand out, making this a piece of curious matchmaking.

To be fair, it isn’t like Anthony Smith vs. Ryan Spann is a bad fight per se on paper. Both men are ranked in the top 10 at 205lbs, with Spann at No.10 and Smith two spots above him at No.8.

More to the point, both men are coming off losses, meaning that a clash here probably does make sense. The winner will probably climb up to face a higher-level contender, while the loser will slip toward gatekeeper status.

However, it’s also hard to shake off the memory of how one-sided their first fight, back in 2021, was. It lasted just under four minutes and saw ‘Lionheart’ dominate Spann on the ground, finishing him with a rear naked choke.

Has all that much changed since then? Not really. Spann is still a highly explosive, dangerous striker with the power to take out most opponents at 205 lbs. However, ‘Superman’ is still worryingly brittle on the feet, and judging by his loss to Nikita Krylov, he also still has major holes in his ground game.

Smith is perhaps a worse version of the fighter he was in 2021. He suffered a bad injury in his loss to Magomed Ankalaev and looked a bit listless in his last bout against Johnny Walker. He’s still very tough, though, can take a beating, and remains very dangerous on the ground.

Overall, then, the result should remain the same here. Smith is still far better than ‘Superman’ on the ground and he’s still probably tough enough to survive whatever Spann can throw at him on the feet.

Spann has a puncher’s chance here, particularly if he can rock Smith early on. It wouldn’t be a huge shock to see him take ‘Lionheart’ out in a rush, in fact. If he fails to do that, though, and the bout hits the mat, it’s probably going to be over.

The Pick: Smith via first-round submission

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#3. UFC Fight Night: The Main Card

Erin Blanchfield could claim a title shot with a win this weekend [Image Credit: @blanchfield_mma on Instagram]

In a featherweight fight, Giga Chikadze faces Alex Caceres. A vicious striker, Chikadze carries a lot of power in his shots and loves to throw with volume. However, quite how ‘The Ninja’ will look here is a mystery, as he hasn’t fought since taking a beating from Calvin Kattar in January 2022.

Caceres, meanwhile, just keeps on ticking. ‘Bruce Leeroy’ has lost just once in his last eight bouts, and although he hasn’t been facing the best competition, it’s the best run of his octagon career. Overall, Caceres doesn’t excel in any single area, but he doesn’t really have many weaknesses, either.

This should be a tough one to pick, but expect Chikadze – assuming the Kattar bout didn’t totally ruin him – to use his striking volume to overwhelm Caceres for a decision.

In a bantamweight bout, Rinya Nakamura takes on Fernando Garcia. The unbeaten Nakamura looked excellent in his octagon debut earlier this year, knocking out his foe in just 33 seconds. He looks like a vicious finisher, although his level of competition hasn’t been the best.

Garcia on the other hand hasn’t won a fight in the octagon yet, losing both of his bouts there, and with six of his ten wins coming via decision, he doesn’t look the most explosive. With that considered, this looks like a lay-up for Nakamura. The pick is ‘The Hybrid’ via KO.

In arguably the best fight on this card, Erin Blanchfield takes on Taila Santos in the flyweight division. The winner of this one could easily fight for the title next, so it’s a must-watch, really.

Blanchfield remains unbeaten in the octagon at 5-0 and has largely overwhelmed every opponent she’s faced, mainly on the ground. She’s big, powerful, has a brutal top game, and knows how to finish, too.

Santos, on the other hand, had a striker’s reputation in her early days. However, she almost upset Valentina Shevchenko on the ground and doesn’t have too many weaknesses. She’s also a big 125lber, making her an interesting test for Blanchfield.

The big difference here could be the fact, though, that Santos has not fought since that title fight loss over a year ago. Blanchfield on the other hand looked at her very best in her most recent bout. It won’t be easy, then, but the pick is Blanchfield via decision.

Finally, in a heavyweight fight, Justin Tafa faces Parker Porter. If we’re honest, this probably shouldn’t be on the main card. Tafa is a hard hitter but hasn’t shown anything other than that, while Porter is an undersized heavyweight who hasn’t really demonstrated that he belongs in the UFC.

Based on the experience differential, the pick is Porter via decision, but this could go either way.

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#4. UFC Fight Night: The Prelims

Picks in bold

UFC heavyweight bout: Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Lukasz Brzeski

UFC bantamweight bout: Toshiomi Kazama vs. Garrett Armfield

UFC middleweight bout: Chidi Njokuani vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk

UFC welterweight bout: Kenan Song vs. Rolando Bedoya

UFC welterweight bout: Billy Goff vs. Yusaku Kinoshita

UFC flyweight bout: Na Liang vs. JJ Aldrich

UFC featherweight bout: Seung Woo Choi vs. Jarno Errens