Two belts will be on the line on Saturday night at UFC 269 which will be held at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In the main event, UFC lightweight king Charles Oliveira defends the belt against top contender Dustin Poirier in a five-round contest expected to deliver fireworks. Meanwhile, UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes defends her belt against Julianna Pena in a fight that could be heated considering how these two have gone at it in mainstream and social media.
But before those two title bouts happen, an exciting prelims undercard will open the show. Former bantamweight king Dominick Cruz leads the prelims cast which includes several fighters who could easily be fighting on the main card of a Fight Night event.
Pedro Munhoz is the no. 8 bantamweight in the UFC. The 35-year old from Torrance, California is a former bantamweight champion at the Resurrection Fighting Alliance. He joined the UFC in 2014 and has since won six post-fight bonuses. Munhoz has lost three out of his last four bouts and is coming off a loss against Jose Aldo at UFC 265.
He is 5-6 tall with a reach of 65 inches while fighting out of the orthodox stance. He has a record of 19-6 with five knockouts and eight submission victories.
Dominick Cruz is the no. 9 ranked bantamweight in the UFC. The 36-year old from San Diego, California is a former two-time UFC bantamweight champion and the last WEC bantamweight champion before the merger. Dom is the winningest fighter in the bantamweight division with 13 wins. Cruz is regarded as one of the greatest fighters in the lower-weight classes.
Dom has a record of 23-3 with seven knockouts and one submission loss. He is 5-8 tall with a reach of 68 inches and fights out of the orthodox stance.
Munhoz low kicks can immobilize opponents and they could compromise Cruz if they land clean a couple of times. However, Munhoz lacks the footwork to match the movement of the Dominator. His inability to cut off the ring could lead him to chase ghosts here.
For as long as Cruz’s legs are still there, there’s no way Munhoz can land clean punches or kicks on Dom. The Dominator is going to run circles around Munhoz and potshot his way to victory.
Unless Cruz gets lured in a brawl, which is unlikely, there’s little Munhoz can do in this fight.
Prediction: Dominick Cruz -110
Josh Emmett is the no. 7 ranked featherweight in the UFC. The 36-year old from Phoenix, Arizona is a former West Coast Fighting Championship lightweight champion who joined the UFC in 2016. Emmett is 7-2 inside the UFC Octagon and has won his last three fights, beating Shane Burgos on points in his most recent appearance at UFC Vegas 3 last June 20, 2020.
Emmett has a record of 16-2 with six knockouts and two submission victories. He is an orthodox fighter who stands 5-6 tall and has a reach of 70 inches.
Dan Ige is the no. 9 ranked featherweight in the UFC. The 30-year old from Haleiwa, Hawaii, fought for promotions like Legacy Fighting Championship, Pancrase, RFA, and Titan FC before joining the UFC in 2018, via the Contender Series. Ige opened his UFC career with a 6-1 record but is just 1-2 in his last three bouts and is coming off a loss to the Korean Zombie last June 19th.
50K is 15-4 with four knockouts and five submission wins. He stands 5-7 tall with a reach of 71 inches and is an orthodox fighter.
Emmett punches harder than Ige and he is also the better-skilled fighter between the two. The big question here is how will a 36-year old perform after taking the second-longest layoff of his MMA career. If he shows ring rust, then Ige may have a chance here.
Ige has a solid top game but in his recent fights, he has struggled to land his takedowns, especially against the top and mid-level opposition. Emmett may not be elite right now but he’s still good enough to be mid-level.
I think Emmett shakes off the rust after the first round and even if Ige wins the opening round, Emmett should find his groove after that and blast away with his big bombs which the judges will notice.
Prediction: Josh Emmett
Augusto Sakai is the no. 11 ranked heavyweight in the UFC. The 30-year old from Curitiba, Brazil fought for Bellator before he appeared the Contender Series Brazil show where he knocked out Marcos Conrado. Sakai won his first four UFC bouts but has lost his last two, both by knockout. In his last bout, he was stopped by Jairzinho Rozenstruik in the first round at UFC Vegas 28.
Sakai has a record of 15-3 with 11 knockouts. He is an orthodox fighter who stands 6-3 tall and has a reach of 77 inches.
Tai Tuivasa is a former Australian Fighting Championship heavyweight champion. The 28-year old from Sydney, Australia joined the UFC in 2017. After starting his UFC career with a modest 3-3 record, Tuivasa has won three straight bouts, all by way of knockout. In his last bout, Tuivasa knocked out Greg Hardy in 67 seconds at UFC 264.
Tuivasa is 12-3 with 11 knockouts and is a southpaw who stands 6-2 tall and has a reach of 75 inches.
One of Sakai’s biggest assets is his granite chin but recently, it failed him against Overeem and Rozenstruik. Meanwhile, his wins over Arlovski and Ivanov have been close and even disputable.
Tuivasa looks to be the stronger man and is quicker on the feet. He should be able to bully Sakai against the fence and do damage up close.
I think this will be a competitive fight early but once Tuivasa starts pushing Sakia to the side of the cage, he will be able to land enough shots to win this fight on points, if not stoppage.
Prediction: Tai Tuivasa
Jordan Wright is a veteran of XFS, Gladiator Challenge, Alaska FC, and LFA. The 30-year old from San Antonio, Texas also appeared in the Contender Series where he lost to Anthony Hernandez in a defeat that was later overturned to a no-contest after Hernandez failed a drug test. Wright joined the UFC last year and is 2-1 inside the Octagon, knocking out Jamie Pickett at UFC 262 last May 15th.
Wright is an orthodox fighter who stands 6-2 tall and has a reach of 77 inches. He has a record of 12-1 with seven knockouts and five wins via submission.
Bruno Silva won 10 straight fights in Brazil before heading to the United States in 2016. After a failed attempt at Phoenix FC, he went to Russia and competed for M-1 Challenge where he became middleweight champion. Silva joined the UFC earlies this year and has picked up back-to-back KO wins over Wellington Turman and Andrew Sanchez.
Silva is 21-6 with 18 knockouts. He is an orthodox fighter who is six feet tall and has a reach of 74 inches.
Wright has the better striking technique here but he does not have the wrestling game to take advantage of Silva’s grappling deficiencies which were obvious against Andrew Sanchez.
Silva won’t have to worry about grappling here because Wright likes to fight on the feet. In the stand-up, Silva has the edge in punching power and he is the more durable fighter between these two.
I don’t think Wright can take this fight to the ground because he doesn’t have offense when on the mat. On the feet, Silva lands clean head and body punches that will slow Wright down. Once Wright loses his mobility, he becomes a sitting target and Silva is going to bruise him with big shots.
Prediction: Bruno Silva
Andre Muniz is a former Bitetti Combat middleweight champion in Brazil who also fought for promotions like X-Fight MMA, Watch Out Combat Show, and Face to Face. He joined the UFC via the Contender Series Brazil show where he defeated Bruno Assis via unanimous decision to earn his UFC contract. Muniz is 3-0 in the UFC and is coming off a submission win over Jacare Souza at UFC 262 last May.
Muniz is 21-4 with four knockouts and 14 wins via submission. He is a southpaw who is 6-1 tall and has a reach of 78 inches.
Eryk Anders is a former football player who fought under Bellator and Legacy Fighting Alliance before joining the UFC in 2017, shortly after becoming the inaugural LFA middleweight champion. Anders started his UFC career with a 3-4 record but is 3-1 with one no-contest in his last five bouts. Anders defeated Darren Stewart via unanimous decision in his most recent bout at UFC 263 last June 12.
Anders has a record of 14-5 with eight knockouts and one submission win. He is also a southpaw who is 6-1 tall and has a 75-inch reach.
Anders is extremely athletic but he hasn’t been able to utilize it and build a solid striking attack. What he still is is an underdeveloped wrestler who doesn’t have sound submission defense.
Muniz’s boxing hasn’t improved a bit but while Anders’ striking is superior, there’s no guarantee he can keep the fight on the feet. Nor does Anders have that big shot that can catch Muniz’s attention.
Anders will prefer to fight on his feet but his takedown defense is going to fail him here. Once Muniz gets the fight on the mat, he will either dominate from the top position or finish Anders with a submission.
Prediction: Andre Muniz
Alex Perez is the no. 4 ranked flyweight in the UFC. The 29-year old from Hanford, California is a former Tachi Palace flyweight champion who joined the UFC in 2017 after appearing in the Contender Series where he submitted Kevin Gray. He is 6-2 inside the UFC Octagon but is coming off a submission loss to Deiveson Figueiredo when he challenged for the UFC flyweight title at UFC 255 in November of last year.
Perez has a record of 24-6 with five knockouts and seven submission wins. He is 5-6 tall with a reach of 65 inches and fights out of the orthodox stance.
Matt Schnell is the no. 9 ranked flyweight in the UFC. The 31-year old from Amory, Mississippi is a former Legacy FC flyweight champion who joined the UFC via TUF: Tournament of Champions where he lost to Rob Font in the finale. Schnell lost his UFC debut to Hector Sandoval but is since 5-2 but coming off a loss to Rogerio Bontorin at UFC 262 last May 15th.
Schnell has a record of 15-6 with two knockouts and eight submission wins. He is 5-8 tall with a reach of 70 inches and fights out of the orthodox stance.
Schnell has an excellent submission game but does not have the elite wrestling to set it up. He does, however, get the job done against most opponents. However, Perez may not be just one of those opponents as he looks to be Schnell’s equal on the ground.
Perez has strong low kicks and solid boxing but he has been caught or submitted before. With Schnell though, submission is more likely than a knockout, especially if he can get Perez’s back.
But what I picture happening here is Perez keeping the fight on the feet while wearing down Schnell with his strikes. Once Schnell gets tired, he becomes an easy target to hit. That’s when I think Perez lands that one big punch that ends this fight.
Prediction: Alex Perez
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