UFC comes to Kansas City with a huge Welterweight contest to headline the highly-anticipated event.
The main event sees a heated clash between Ian Machado Garry and Carlos Prates. It comes less than a month after Machado Garry vs. Prates was taken off UFC 314 and given the headline spot at UFC Kansas City.
Meanwhile, the co-main event sees Anthony Smith competing in his final ever fight. The UFC veteran retires after his 60th MMA fight, hoping to go out with a victory against Zhang Mingyang in a fight nobody expected.
Elsewhere on the card, Giga Chikadze and David Onama face off in a Featherweight division clash. After losses to Calvin Kattar and Arnold Allen, Chikadze will be hoping to build up some more momentum as he faces off against a man with a three-fight win streak in UFC.
Ahead of UFC Kansas City, the experts at Bloody Elbow have picked their winners for the two main event fights, as well as the Performance of the Night and their Fight of the Night.
Ian Machado Garry vs Carlos Prates prediction
- Jordan Ellis – Ian Machado Garry via KO
- Donagh Corby – Ian Machado Garry via submission
- Kyle Dimond – Ian Machado Garry via decision
- Jamie Theodosi – Ian Machado Garry via decision
The Bloody Elbow experts all agreed that Machado Garry will walk out of Kansas City with the victory, although the manner of his victory is disputed.
Kyle and Jamie see him going the distance against Prates. The Brazilian is known for getting his wins via knockout, with nobody sure how he’ll do in a full 5 round fight. The fight going as long as possible should work in Machado Garry’s favor, as “The Future” won via judges decision in 6 of his 9 wins in the UFC.
Prates has accused Machado Garry of being boring, which Jordan and Donagh don’t see him taking that lying down. The Irishman has been criticized for not being able to finish fights, so he could take that doubt and turn it into a dominant victory to hand Prates his first UFC loss.
Anthony Smith vs. Zhang Mingyang prediction
- Jordan Ellis – Zhang Mingyang via KO
- Donagh Corby – Anthony Smith via KO
- Kyle Dimond – Anthony Smith via submission
- Jamie Theodosi – Anthony Smith via KO
The other main event of the night gives fans the chance to say goodbye to a legend of the octagon in Smith’s final fight of his career. Three of the four experts think his 60th fight will end in a victory, unable to see Mingyang as anything other than another victim of “Lionheart”.
Smith is known for his grit and resilience throughout his career and will want to go out the same way. Our experts have him winning by KO or submission, which he will need all his cunning and heart to make a reality against Mingyang.
However, Jordan thinks this is a fight too far for Smith. Mingyang is undefeated in his first two UFC fights, winning both with first-round knockouts. With Smith losing 3 of his last 4 fights, he is in bad form going into the first, and the man 10 years his junior can take advantage of it in Kansas City.
Fight of the Night
- Jordan Ellis – Randy Brown vs Nicolas Dalby
- Donagh Corby – Matt Schnell vs Jimmy Flick
- Kyle Dimond – Giga Chikadze vs David Onama
- Jamie Theodosi – Michel Pereira vs Abus Magomedov
Four different choices for the Fight of the Night show the incredible depth of the card for UFC Kansas City. Jordan is backing the Welterweight clash between Randy Brown and Nicolas Dalby to impress. Both men are coming off submission losses in their last fight and will be fighting hard not to make it two defeats in a row.
Meanwhile, Donagh thinks Matt Schnell vs Jimmy Flick will bring the most excitement to Kansas City. This undercard Flyweight bout features two veteran fighters who haven’t fought since last year and seemingly retired from the octagon. Their is no telling what this bout could bring.
Elsewhere, Kyle is looking forward to seeing Chikadze and Onama battle it out in the octagon. Onama could rise into the top 15 rankings by beating 12th-ranked fighter, and will hope that Chikadze recent struggles will help him pick up one of the biggest wins of his career so far.
Finally, Jamie has voted for Michel Pereira vs Abus Magomedov to be the Fight of the Night at UFC Kansas City. While both men may lack stamina, that could make for a sprint finish in this fight that will bring great excitement for the fans.
Performance of the Night
- Jordan Ellis – Ikram Aliskerov
- Donagh Corby – Ian Machado Garry
- Kyle Dimond – Ikram Aliskerov
- Jamie Theodosi – David Onama
Another mixed bag of picks from the Bloody Elbow experts for the Performance of the night, although both Jordan and Kyle have chosen Ikram Aliskerov as their pick. The Russian’s fights have been full of excitement since joining the UFC, as he has either won or lost by knockout in those dramatic outings.
Elsewhere, Donagh can’t see past Machado Garry after predicting an impressive submission victory for the Irishman. He only has one submission win in his career so far, so a victory in that manner would certainly make for a Performance of the Night.
Finally, Jamie thinks that Onama will put on a fine performance at UFC Kansas City, adding to his 3-fight win streak as he looks to break into the Featherweight rankings at Chikadze expense.