UFC Predictions: UFC Vegas 19: Curtis Blaydes vs. Derrick Lewis predictions and picks

#3 UFC Vegas 19: The Main Card

Former UFC Heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski fights on this weekend's undercard.

Saturday’s main card will see a further four bouts, beginning with a Featherweight clash between Charles Rosa and Darrick Minner.

A UFC fighter since 2014, Rosa’s career has been up-and-down, but overall, Boston Strong is an excellent fighter with skills in all areas. On the other hand, Minner has just two UFC fights to his name and has hardly stood out from the crowd.

With this considered, Rosa via submission is the pick here due to his superior experience and grappling skill.

At Heavyweight, Aleksei Oleinik faces Chris Daukaus in a veteran vs. prospect clash. Now 43 years old, Oleinik still somehow keeps on ticking with his brutal submission game and surprisingly effective clubbing striking.

Daukaus, on the other hand, debuted in the UFC last year with two TKO wins. This should come down to how much Oleinik’s chin has deteriorated, as he’s suffered three KO losses in his last five outings.

Assuming he’s not completely gone, though, I think he’s got enough about him to drag Daukaus to the ground and submit him, probably with a choke.

In the Featherweight division, Rafael Alves takes on Pat Sabatini. Both of these men are making their UFC debuts, with Sabatini taking the fight on a week’s notice. As always, this clash of debutants is tricky to pick.

Alves is wildly experienced, with a UFC debut dating back to 2007, but Sabatini has 16 fights to his name despite starting out in 2014. Both men are primarily grapplers, but Alves looks like the more aggressive of the two. I’ll take him via submission, but this is a coin flip, really.

Finally, Heavyweight veteran Andrei Arlovski faces British up-and-comer Tom Aspinall. Arlovski is now on the real downswing of his career, and while he’s got enough to beat some prospects, he’s clearly compromised in a lot of ways.

Aspinall is just 9-2, but he looks like the kind of opponent to give Arlovski problems. A huge Heavyweight, the teammate of Darren Till is a venomous grappler who also possesses brutal knockout power.

Obviously, Aspinall is wildly unproven, but I suspect, given his hard-hitting ways and youth, he’s got enough to catch Arlovski and take him out early, probably by TKO.

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#4: UFC Vegas 19: Preliminary Card

Picks in bold

UFC Middleweight division: Phil Hawes vs. Nassourdine Imavov

UFC Featherweight division: Danny Chavez vs. Jared Gordon

UFC Lightweight division: Drakkar Klose vs. Luis Pena

UFC Bantamweight division: Eddie Wineland vs. John Castaneda

UFC Featherweight division: Julian Erosa vs. Nate Landwehr

UFC Flyweight division: Shana Dobson vs. Casey O’Neill

UFC Featherweight division: Chas Skelly vs. Jamall Emmers

UFC Bantamweight division: Aiemann Zahabi vs. Drako Rodriguez

UFC Heavyweight division: Sergey Spivak vs. Jared Vanderaa