UFC News + Predictions - Joe Fleury

The UFC travels to Salt Lake City, Utah, bringing a high-powered fight card headlined by a bout for the vacant BMF belt between Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje. The card is filled with star power, as fan favorites and top contenders will square off with the hopes of getting themselves closer to gold.  Maverick vs Cachoeira 125 lbs Pick: Miranda Maverick   Confidence Level: Low Semelsberger vs Medic 170 lbs Pick: Matthew Semelsberger Confidence Level: Medium Vergara vs Salvador 125 lbs Pick: CJ Vergara Confidence Level: Low Matthews vs Flowers 170 lbs Pick: Jake Matthews Confidence Level: Medium Kopylov vs Ribeiro 185 lbs Pick: Roman Kopylov Confidence Level: Low Lewis vs Rogerio de Lima 265 lbs Pick: Derrick Lewis Confidence Level: Low Giles vs Bonfim 170 lbs Pick: Gabriel Bonfim Confidence Level: Medium Chiesa vs Holland 170 lbs Pick: Michael Chiesa Confidence Level: Low Ferguson vs Green 155 lbs Pick: Bobby Green Confidence Level: Low Thompson vs Pereira 170 lbs *Canc...

UFC Fight Night: Holm vs Bueno Silva was a rather underwhelming card, headlined by Mayra Bueno Silva's ninja choke submission finish over Holly Holm. As we look ahead to next week's fights, it is worth noting that the card will be taking place at the O2 Arena in London, England, which is the reason the card is scattered with English fighters from top to bottom.  Filho vs Barez 125 lbs Jafel Fliho has the age and strength of competition advantage in this contest.  Pick: Jafel Filho Confidence Level: Low  Brasil vs Bannon 115 lbs Pick: Bruna Brasil Confidence Level: Low  Duncan vs Ashmouz 155 lbs Pick: Yanal Ashmouz Confidence Level: Low Vieira vs Kianzad 135 lbs Pick: Ketlen Vieira Confidence Level: Low Barberena vs Muradov 185 lbs Fun fight! Barbarena has a puncher's chance but Muradov's skills are just at too high of a level at this point in his career.  Pick: Makmud Muradov Confidence Level: Medium Parkin vs Pogues 265 lbs Parkin has fought only one opponent i...

On Friday UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jamahal Hill put out a video on his YouTube channel revealing an injury he had suffered playing a pick-up basketball game. He ruptured his Achilles and will undergo surgery, causing him to have to relinquish his title. With the reveal of this news, many began to wonder who the UFC would grant the opportunity to fight for the belt, so I am going to give you some of their options. The light heavyweight division has revolved around three big names recently, Jiri Prochazka, Jan Blachowicz, and Magomed Ankalaev as two of them have held the belt previously. I think a fight between Jiri Prochazka and Magomed Ankalaev later this year to headline a paper view would be most fair because they are the most deserving fighters, however, there is another option that may lead to a better storyline down the road. At UFC 291 which will be taking place in just two weeks, Jan Blachowicz is scheduled to welcome former middleweight champ Alex Pereira to the light hea...

UFC 290 and IFW lived up to the hype giving us one of the best cards of this calendar year. Volkanovski once again showed that he's the best featherweight in the world while Dricus Du Plessis proved all his doubters wrong by making light work of Rob Whittaker. The card was incredible, giving us four finishes in under a minute, now a UFC record for a single card. This week, the UFC returns to the Apex for a fight night filled with young up-and-coming talent in their respective divisions. Evans-Smith vs Perez 135 lbs The first fight on the card is between inexperienced bantamweights looking to avenge previous losses in Ashlee Evans-Smith and Ailin Perez. Though only having eleven professional fights, Evans-Smith is 36 years old, holding a 3-5 record in the UFC. Ashlee does her best work on the feet striking with her opponent, but has heavily struggled in fights she was taken down in. She is an active striker who pushes the pace on her opponent, however, has only landed 34% of her sig...

Last weekend's UFC Fight Night at the Apex went above and beyond expectations. Six of the twelve fights on the card ended inside the distance with many of them being unexpected upsets in highly entertaining fights. We now look forward to the biggest card of the year, UFC 290, which takes place during International Fight Week at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The card is littered with great talent headlined by two championship fights in both the flyweight and featherweight divisions.   Kirk vs Ribovics 155 lbs Kicking off the card is a lightweight bout between young prospects looking to make a name in the division. This bout was originally scheduled for UFC 285 in March but because Kirk pulled out, it was put off until UFC 290. Kamuela "The Jawaiian" Kirk enters the contest with an 11-5 professional record, going 1-1 in his two UFC fights. Kirk is a switch-stance fighter with good grappling skills but lacks experience, especially against high-level competition. H...

After an abysmal week of picks at UFC Jacksonville, we look to recover this week as the UFC returns to the Apex for UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs Magomedov. The card is filled with UFC debutants, ranked prospects, and up-and-coming stars in the promotion making it can't miss for die-hard MMA fans. Kutateladze vs Brenner 155 lbs We start the night in the lightweight division with a bout between rising contenders in the division. Guram Kutateladze, fighting out of the country Georgia, holds a 12-3 record and will be competing in his third UFC fight. He was been fed killers since entering the UFC, being matched up against both Mateusz Gamrot and Damir Ismagulov without any tune-up fights prior to them. Surprisingly, in his UFC debut against Gamrot, Guram put on an impressive performance, finding success on the feet against the Southpaw, knocking him down in the second round and earning a split decision victory in a razor-close fight between prospects. Both of his two UFC fights have ...