We have been blessed with another incredible card for UFC 251 with essentially three main events for the 12th of July. Unfortunately, Gilbert Burns caught Covid-19 and is out for the main event but last years fighter of the year, Jorge Masvidal has stepped in on a six-day notice to compete for the Welterweight title. Let’s get into the predictions.
Amanda Ribas vs Paige VanZant
Paige is a great kickboxer but I’m not confident in her mentality. She’s said that she’s not sure if she still wants to fight and as Dana White says, if you’re having any doubts on wanting to fight, you shouldn’t fight. Her opponent, Ribas is currently 3-0 in the UFC 9-1 in her career and is highly skilled in jiu-jitsu. Amanda so far in the UFC has been formidable and I think she’s going to continue her winning streak and defeat VanZant by submission in round two.
Jessica Andrade vs Rose Namajunas 2
It’s crazy to think that the first match between these two was over a year ago and for the strawweight title. Andrade won that fight by slamming Rose on the back of her neck. Namajunas is an expert striker, her kickboxing is incredible and if we recall to the first fight Rose was in control in the first round. This is a tough fight to predict. I think Rose won’t go out as fast as she did last fight which is what caused her to become lethargic and get dropped on her neck. I’m going with Thug Rose by decision.
Petr Jan vs Jose Aldo – Bantamweight Championship
It just gets better and better with our first title fight of the night. Jan is currently undefeated in the UFC and only has one career loss. The Russian is a brilliant Muay Thai fighter and has a brilliant standup game. Aldo is one of the greatest of all time. The former king of the featherweights has come down to Bantamweight where he is 0-1 losing to Marlon Moraes in a close fight between the two Brazilians. The question is can Aldo compete with Yan. And for me, the answer is no. I think Yan will come out on top simply due to his superior striking. I think the Aldo of six to ten years ago would’ve come out victorious but Yan is in his prime and is currently looking unstoppable. I would’ve loved to see him face Cejudo. I’ve got Yan with a fourth-round KO.
Alexander Volkanovski (c) vs Max Holloway 2 – Featherweight Championship
Alexander the Great looked excellent in their first matchup back in December and controlled the distance, which is something we rarely see someone do against Holloway. Just like the previous fight, it’s the power of Volkanovski vs the volume of Holloway. We saw in the last fight how the leg kicks of Alex on Max’s lead leg ruined Max’s striking attempts. Will we see that again? If Max can avoid the low leg kicks then he’s got a huge chance in winning this rematch. If not I can only see one winner. Either way, I think these two are going to go five rounds. This could go either way, I’m picking Volkanovski though.
Kamaru Usman vs Jorge Masvidal – Welterweight Championship
With the late replacement of Gilbert Burns, we got the bout that us fans have been waiting for. ‘Gamebred’ is an animal, we’ve seen what he can do over the last year with his incredible knockouts against Darren Till and Ben Askren but on a six-day notice is he ready to fight Usman? I don’t think so. Usman is a different breed. We know about his wrestling, practically unmatched at 170lbs and he’s shown he can stand up and fight as well in his last fight against Colby Covington. I don’t see Jorge defeating Usman on short notice and to be brutally honest in general. I’ve got Usman by TKO in round three.
So we’ve got a brilliant main card a for Saturday night and even the prelims look good with Oezdemir going up against Prochazka. I can’t wait until Saturday!
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