History will be made this Saturday Night as the UFC will be presenting its 100th fight night event and this one is taking place in Brazil. The event will be headlined by a light heavyweight division rematch as Ryan Bader again faces Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. Also, Thomas Almeida takes on Albert Morales and top ranked Claudia Gadelha looks to get back on track.
Main Card
Main Event
UFC Light Heavyweight Division Fight
Ryan “Darth” Bader (21-5-0) vs. Antonio Rogerio “Minotauro” Nogueira (22-7-0)
Bader has won six of his last seven under the UFC banner, with notable wins coming over former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans and current Bellator MMA Light Heavyweight Champion Phil Davis. Nogueira has won just one of his last three in UFC competition, with that lone win coming over Patrik Cummins at UFC 198. Bader did win the first meeting between the two, which came by unanimous decision at UFC 119 in 2010. Nogueira will be headlining his second ever event in the UFC, the first time he headlined was a loss too Phil Davis at UFC Fight Night 24.
Prediction: Bader will want to use his striking to set up his wrestling game, but he also folds when fighters pressure him with their striking game, Nogueira finishes Bader with strikes in the first round.
Co-Main Event
UFC Bantamweight Division Fight
Thomas “Thominhas” Almeida (20-1-0) vs. Albert “The Warrior” Morales (6-0-1)
Almeida will be looking to rebound from his first professional MMA defeat, which came to Cody Garbrandt at UFC Fight Night 88. Morales made his UFC debut earlier this year at UFC Fight Night 94, where he fought Alejandro Perez to a majority draw. Prior to coming to the UFC in 2015, Almeida held the Legacy Fighting Championships Bantamweight Title and the MMA Super Heroes Bantamweight Title. Morales also competed twice under the Bellator MMA banner, where he defeated both Fabian Gonzalez and John Yoo.
Prediction: Morales has a punchers chance and that’s about it in this one, Almeida finishes him with strikes in the first round.
UFC Women’s Strawweight Division Fight
Cortney “Cast Iron” Casey (6-3-0) vs. Claudia “Claudinha” Gadelha (13-2-0)
Casey will enter the fight riding a two fight winning streak, defeating both Rando Markos and Christina Stanciu. Gadelha will be competing for the first time since losing a strawweight title fight to Joanna Jedrzejczyk at the UFC Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale. Casey also competed in the Pacific Xtreme Combat promotion, where she earned three wins by first round stoppage. Gadelha has only suffered two losses in her professional MMA career, both came to current UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
Prediction: Casey does have a decent striking game, but Gadelha is going to wrestle her and hold her on the ground to get the decision victory.
UFC Middleweight Division Fight
Krzysztof Jotko (18-1-0) vs. Thales Leites (26-6-0)
Jotko is going to enter the fight on a four fight winning streak, with notable wins coming over Tamdan McCrory and Bradley Scott. Leites has only won just one of his last three under the UFC banner, with that lone win coming over Chris Camozzi at UFC Fight Night 92. Jotko has only suffered a single defeat in his professional MMA career, which came to Magnus Cedenblad at UFC Fight Night 41. Leites has only suffered a pair of defeats in his second UFC run, with one of them being a split decision loss to current UFC Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping.
Prediction: Jotko has a great striking game that can put any opponent to sleep, but Leites has a high level ground game and he submits Jotko in the third round.
UFC Welterweight Division Fight
Warlley Alves (10-1-0) vs. Kamaru “The Nigerian Nightmare” Usman (8-1-0)
Alves will be looking to rebound from his first professional MMA defeat, which came to Bryan Barberena at UFC 198. Usman is currently undefeated in UFC competition, defeating Hayder Hassan, Leon Edwards and Alexander Yakovlev. Alves won four fights in the UFC prior to that first defeat, with a notable win coming over Alan Jouban at UFC Fight Night 56. Usman will be competing on his first “fight night” card, as his other UFC fights happened at “UFC On Fox” or “TUF Finale” cards.
Prediction: Alves must use his striking game to keep Usman at bay, but Usman will get a hold of Alves and put him on the ground and keep him there on route to a decision win.
UFC Welterweight Division Fight
Sergio “The Panther” Moraes (10-2-1) vs. Zak “The Barbarian” Ottow (14-3-0)
Moraes has won four of his last five in UFC competition, some of those wins have come over Neil Magny and Omar Akhmedov. Ottow is currently undefeated under the UFC banner, having defeated Josh Burkman at UFC Fight Night 96. Moraes did make it to the finals of the UFC Ultimate Fighter Brazil I, but lost to Cezar Ferreira in those finals. Ottow did fight a pair of UFC veterans in Mike Rhodes and Jacob Volkmann before signing with the UFC earlier this year, he lost both of those bouts.
Prediction: Ottow must use his boxing if he wants any chance at getting the win, but Moraes gets him down and down often to earn a decision win.
Preliminary Card Quick Picks
Jack Hermansson over Cezar Ferreira
Marcos Rogerio De Lima over Gadzhimurad Antigulov
Johnny Eduardo over Manny Gamburyan
Luis Henrique Da Silva over Christian Colombo
Pedro Munhoz over Justin Scoggins
Darren Stewart over Francimar Barroso
