UFC Predictions: UFC Fight Night: Vicente Luque vs. Belal Muhammad 2

This weekend sees the UFC return to the Las Vegas Apex facility for its latest Fight Night show. To say this is a step down from last weekend’s spectacular pay-per-view is an understatement.

UFC Fight Night: Vicente Luque vs. Belal Muhammad 2 features an excellent headline bout, but the rest of the card leaves a lot to be desired and the bout order is yet to be fully determined.

So with little on the line, the best that fans can probably hope for this weekend is a bunch of exciting fights, even if they’re not likely to be all that memorable.

Here are the predicted outcomes for UFC Fight Night: Vicente Luque vs. Belal Muhammad 2.

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#1. UFC welterweight division: Vicente Luque vs. Belal Muhammad

Can Vicente Luque pull off another knockout of Belal Muhammad this weekend?

This bout is not only a rematch of an earlier clash, but it could also produce an under-the-radar title contender at welterweight. Given that champion Kamaru Usman looks unstoppable right now, any potential contenders being thrown up for him is a good thing, meaning this fight will definitely be worth watching.

Firstly, it’s worth looking at what happened in the first battle between Vicente Luque and Belal Muhammad, which took place at UFC 205 back in 2016. Unsurprisingly, given that the show was one of the most loaded in the promotion’s history, the fight took place on the preliminary card.

It also didn’t last long at all. Essentially, the two men swung heavy punches at one another, with Luque producing cleaner and more effective strikes. Eventually, a left hook landed on Muhammad’s jaw and turned his lights out in just over a minute.

Since then, ‘Remember the Name’ has been on quite the run. He’s won 10 of the 12 fights that have followed, with his only loss coming to Geoff Neal. The other fight he didn’t win, of course, saw an errant eye poke turn his bout with Leon Edwards into a No Contest.

Muhammad isn’t a great finisher, as he’s only put one opponent away, Takashi Sato, during his current run, but he’s definitely effective. A powerful wrestler first and foremost, he also possesses a strong boxing game that has allowed him to keep his opponents largely at bay, meaning he can outpoint them.

In contrast, Luque is one of the most renowned finishers in the entire UFC right now. Of his 14 victories in the octagon, just one has gone the distance and he’s used his strikes and submissions to take out the likes of Tyron Woodley, Michael Chiesa and of course, Muhammad himself.

It’s safe to say that if this fight ends in a stoppage, it’ll probably be ‘The Silent Assassin’ who gets his hand raised. However, he has shown weaknesses against more patient opponents before, with Stephen Thompson and Leon Edwards, who didn’t look to get too wild or brawl with him, being responsible for his two losses.

With that said, Muhammad’s two big wins over Thompson and Demian Maia were against fighters who were both aging and were good stylistic matches for him. The same can’t be said for Luque, who should be confident given what he did to ‘Remember the Name’ in their previous fight.

Given that, the pick is Luque via knockout.

The Pick: Luque via first-round TKO

#2. UFC welterweight division: Miguel Baeza vs. Andre Fialho

Can Miguel Baeza regain some momentum this weekend against Andre Fialho?

Quite whether this fight turns out to be the co-headline bout on this weekend’s UFC event remains to be seen, but it has been confirmed as a main card fight and given the potential of Miguel Baeza, it’d probably make sense for it to be placed in that spot.

Baeza is coming off two straight losses here, suffering a knockout against Khaos Williams after dropping a decision to Santiago Ponzinibbio. However, both fights were absolutely fantastic and saw ‘Caramel Thunder’ have plenty of high points en route to his eventual defeats.

Initially, he was set to fight Dhiego Lima here in what would definitely have been a winnable fight for him given Lima’s questionable chin. However, the TUF veteran decided to hang up his gloves in February, leaving Baeza to face Andre Fialho.

So will Baeza be able to defeat the native of Portugal, or is he heading for a third straight defeat – one that would destroy his reputation as a prospect to watch entirely?

Fialho’s 14-4 record is solid enough, but it’s probably safe to say that those four losses came against his best opponents, including a defeat to Michel Pereira in his octagon debut in January.

However, that fight was a crazy one that saw Fialho give as good as he was getting for the most part. Really, the only difference was that the newcomer gassed out, allowing Pereira to take command in the later rounds.

With that considered, then, this one is likely to be a total barnburner, with both men throwing heavy shots with bad intentions from the off. Sure, one of the two could decide to play things more technically, but based on what we’ve seen before, that feels highly unlikely.

This means that the clash will essentially be a coin flip and given that Baeza was hurt by strikes in his last two bouts, falling by knockout in November, it could be fair to suggest that Fialho might have the advantage.

However, ‘Caramel Thunder’ is the more proven fighter and his win over the ultra-tough Matt Brown is better than anything Fialho’s produced thus far into his career. Therefore, Baeza is the pick here.

The Pick: Baeza via second-round TKO

#3. UFC Fight Night: The Main Card

New prospect Pat Sabatini is in action on this weekend's main card

In a middleweight bout, Caio Borralho takes on Gadzhi Omargadzhiev. Both of these men are making their octagon debuts off the back of wins on Dana White’s Contender Series. So, given that they also lack experience against high-level opposition, it’s a very tricky bout to pick.

With that said, Omargadzhiev appears to have a slightly more dangerous style, largely based around a nasty grappling game. He also appears to have a slight size advantage. Therefore, the pick is Omargadzhiev via submission.

At bantamweight, Mayra Bueno Silva faces Wu Yanan. Both of these women are likely clinging onto their roster spots with the UFC given they’re coming off losses, but overall, it’s probably fair to say that Silva is the more proven fighter.

The native of Brazil has picked up two wins in the octagon, including an impressive submission over the formidable Gillian Robertson, while Yanan has shown very little in her last two bouts, decision losses to Mizuki Inoue and Joselyne Edwards. Therefore, the pick is Silva via decision.

Finally, in a featherweight bout, Pat Sabatini squares off with TJ Laramie. Thus far into his UFC career, Sabatini has looked excellent, winning three fights in a row, including a slick heel hook of Jamall Emmers last summer.

Laramie, on the other hand, has a similar record, but fell to Darrick Minner in less than a minute in his UFC debut, submitting to a guillotine choke.

Overall, both men are relatively unproven, but Sabatini has the better experience, stronger record and looks like a prospect to watch. Given how Laramie fell right into a submission last time around, the pick is Sabatini via tapout.

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#4. UFC Fight Night: The Prelims

Picks in bold

Lightweight division: Rafa Garcia vs. Jesse Ronson

Heavyweight division: Chris Barnett vs. Martin Buday

Women's strawweight division: Istela Nunes vs. Sam Hughes

Bantamweight division: Heili Alateng vs. Kevin Croom

Lightweight division: Drakkar Klose vs. Brandon Jenkins

Women's bantamweight division: Lina Lansberg vs. Pannie Kianzad

Lightweight division: Jordan Leavitt vs. Trey Ogden

Light heavyweight division: William Knight vs. Devin Clark