I am unlikely to watch this live because since it is taking place in Singapore in their local evening time it will be on at silly o'clock in the morning for me. Perhaps I will end up catching the last couple of fights on the main card but getting up super early on a Saturday to watch a minor event isn't my idea of a good time. We'll see. If I wake up I'll watch it, if not, I'll catch the replay highlights.
I have my own picks for the major events though and I am betting with my head and not my heart in all of them. I am only making picks on the main card because I'll be honest and say that I don't even know who most of the people even are on the undercard.
Parker Porter vs. Junior Tafa
Believe it or not this is in my mind the most difficult one to call on the entire main card. They both have very similar fight styles and both are going to gas quickly. They also both have the ability to completely clobber their opponent if a punch sneaks through. Sadly for both of these guys I don't really see either of them having much of a future at or near the top of the heavyweight division and they will likely always be a side-show. I don't believe either of them will ever see a main card on a pay-per-view. Sorry guys, but neither of you is good enough in the end.
This is more of a tossup than anything else but I believe Tafa has slightly better cardio and tactics so I am picking Junior Tafa
Erin Blanchfield vs. Taila Santos
Next we head over to the women's flyweight and this one was a lot easier to pick. Blanchfield is undefeated in UFC and 11-1 overall and Santos is in a bit of a slump. I believe that Santos was intentionally selected in order to give Blanchfield another "W" so that they can build something around her for a future PPV vs Shevchenko or perhaps just straight to the top to fight for the belt vs Grasso. Definitely picking Erin Blanchfield and I reckon it will be ended by submission before the end of round 2.
Fernie Garcia vs. Rinya Nakamura
Neither of these guys are what I would consider very good but in the case of Nakamura this could be because he hasn't been tested in the UFC fully. It is fairly obvious that he is on this card because he is one of the few Japanese fighters in the entire UFC roster and well, they want to feature some of Asia's own during the few instances that they have these events on that side of the planet. Garcia has never won in UFC despite an overall impressive 10-3 record throughout his career. There is a reason why the bookies have Nakamura as a -700 favorite. It would be very surprising to me if this goes out of the first round and the Japanese fighter will put his 2nd UFC win under his cap.
Nakamura for the win
Alex Caceres vs. Giga Chikadze
This is another "rigged" fight in my mind to favor Chikadze. He has a rather strange past with UFC in that he gives some good performances but so many of his fights had to be cancelled either due to his own health issues or because of Covid reasons. He hasn't fought since January of last year. Cacares is one of those guys that I can't believe he is still around in UFC and he is a grunt that gets put into fights and as mean as it is to say he is a bit of a "jobber" in that I believe he is set up to fail and that is just his job. With a 16-11 record with UFC Cacares seems very unlikely to win this. Some people might say "he has almost entirely wins over the past 3 years!" and you would be correct. But his victories were against nobodies and I can't even easily identify who most of them are. I'm going with Giga Chikadze with this one.
Anthony Smith vs. Ryan Spann
Up to this point I have been betting basically along the Vegas lines and that kind of seems lazy but I assure you my thoughts are based on my own opinions and here is proof of that. Ryan Spann is favored over Anthony Smith but I am going with Smith on this because he is a veteran and his back is against the wall with 2 consecutive losses in the past year. Fearing for his contract I believe he will beat Ryan Spann a second time just like he already did back in 2021. I'm going against the odds on this one and picking Anthony Smith
Max Holloway vs. Chan Sung Jung
This is the main event of the evening and a fight that I believe MMA fans around the world are looking forward to. Max Holloway is a legend of the sport and overall likeable guy. There is nothing to not like about "The Korean Zombie" either. However, I believe that Holloway is simply quite a lot better than Zombie, even though I would like to see Zombie win. I've got Holloway winning this one, and perhaps a rather quick victory at that.
Do you agree with my choices? Disagree? Let's argue in the comments!