Ladies and gentlemen we are less than 24 hours from one of the most action-packed UFC events this year. UFC 276, which is headlined by Israel Adesanya defending his Middleweight championship for a fifth time, facing off against Jared Cannonier. The Co-Main event is the highly contested rematch between Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski, who’s last fight ended in a very close decision. From start to finish this card, and I don’t want to jinx it, should produce some excellent fights.
The Early Prelims is where we get our first exciting matchup of the night, with UFC veteran Uriah Hall facing off against Andre Muniz. Uriah Hall (17-10 13KO) is an elder statesman at this point in his career, he is one of the longer tenured fighters in the middleweight division still on the hunt for a shot at UFC gold. The 37 year old is a ridiculous kickboxer with a lot of power in his hands, however he has been known to fight tentatively in his more recent outings. Andre Muniz (22-4 15 SUBS) on the other hand is a stalwart grappler, with multiple submission wins already in his UFC career. Perhaps his most impressive came against Jacare Souza, a world renowned jiu jitsu specialist who Muniz came in and absolutely dominated. So much so that he actually broke Souza’s arm in a tight Kimura. This fight headlines the early prelims of the card and gives us another look at the prototypical striker vs grappler matchup. I predict Muniz will be able to impose himself in this fight, and he adds Hall to his list of UFC veterans he’s finished with a round 2 submission.
The prelims of this card also boast some fun matchups, starting with the welterweight showdown between Ian “the Future” Garry and Gabriel Green. Garry is currently undefeated (9-0 5 KO) and he has shown a lot of promise with his kickboxing ability. He drew comparisons to Mcgregor early on because of the Irish connection and the affinity for knockouts, but on Saturday night on the biggest card of the year with most eyes on him Garry has the opportunity to blaze his own path. His opponent Gabriel Green (11-3 4 KO 6 SUBS) is another dynamic finisher who will be able to test Garry if he’s able to bring this fight to the mat. This should be a good scrap, but I have to go with the more popular prospect, I predict Ian Garry by round 3 KO.
Jim Miller (34-16 18 SUBS) vs Donald Cerrone (36-16 10 KO 17 SUB) is a fun fight for the longtime UFC fans. Both of these guys are tenured veterans with the organization, with almost 25 years combined inside the Octagon. Both of these veterans are skilled in all areas of MMA, with a great submission pedigree and the ability to strike on a technical level. Jim Miller has been experiencing more success as of recent in his career, currently on a 2 fight win streak with 2 knockouts (giving him 6 in his 15 year MMA career). The 39 year Cerrone on the other hand is on a pretty significant skid, currently on a 6 fight losing streak. Now to be fair he was facing murderers row in those most recent fights, but this fight against Miller is a very winnable matchup against two guys who simply love to be in the cage. Win lose or draw, you have to respect two warriors who put themselves on the line for the love of combat.
The last free fight on the prelims is a lightweight matchup between Brad Riddel (10-2 5 knockouts) and Jalin Turner (12-5 9 KO, 3 SUBS). Riddel is coming off a massive bout with his former training partner Rafael Fizev, in which he lost by brutal TKO. Riddel is an ultra skilled kickboxer with an iron will and a lot of heart to match. Turner on the other hand is an anomaly, standing 6’3 with a 77” reach even though he fights down at 155 pounds. Turner definitely pushes the term weight bully to the limits and it should be interesting to see how he fares as he moves up in the rankings in this division. I expect a masterclass striking performance by Riddel who’s coming off a very tough loss but still has that hunger to reach the top of the division.
The main card starts off with one of the most entertaining personalities in the UFC. “Sugar” Sean O’Malley (15-1 11KOs) facing off with his most dangerous test to date, Pedro Munhoz (19-7 8 SUBS). Sean O’Malley is easily one of the most polarizing fighters in the UFC. The crazy colored hair, the hard hitting knockouts,, add in an affinity for braggadocious trash talk and you have a fan favorite. O’Malley has all the personality to make it at the top of the division, and coming off of his first round TKO finish of the number 15th ranked Raulian Paiva last December, he’s looking to make a splash in the division and earn a spot in the top 10. Pedro Munhoz on the other hand is at a crossroads in his career. He’s been around for a long time, and has shared the cage with multiple champions throughout his UFC career, finishing former Bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt in one round. Munhoz has never been finished. He has gone 1-4 in his last 5, with all of them going to decision. To be fair, he lost to current UFC champion Aljamain Sterling, former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, Former UFC Bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz, and former UFC Featherweight champion Jose Aldo. With that being said, this is both a big step up in competition for O’Malley and a step down for Munhoz. I predict Munhoz will come up with the upset, showing O’Malley all of his experience and wearing him down for a unanimous decision win.
The last main card bout on this card is a middleweight fight with big implications for the division going forward, Sean Strickland (25-3 10 KO 11 DEC) vs Alex “Poatan” Periera (5-1 4 KO). Sean Strickland is finally getting his shot, riding a 6 fight win streak Strickland finally finds himself in that elusive contender spot. The middleweight division has mostly been cleared out by the dominant technical kickboxing of Israel Adesanya, but he has to go through one of the most imposing figures the division has seen in years. Periera is a former Glory Kickboxer with a (33-7 21 KO) record, but his biggest claim to fame is the fact that he has flatlined the reigning ufc Champion, and the UFC seems to be fast tracking him towards a title shot. This bout is going to be a boxer vs kickboxer style match, and while Strickland isn’t the best finisher in the UFC, he can strike with anyone in the division. This fight is a toss up for me but I am absolutely looking forward to it.
The co-main event of the evening gives us a 3rd look at one of the greatest UFC fights of all time, “”Blessed” Max Holloway (23-6 10 KO 10 DEC) facing off against the reigning UFC Featherweight champion Alexander Volkankovski (24-1 12 KO). These guys are by far the top 2 at 145 pounds in the world, and they have already produced two back and forth classics, with Volkanovski able to claim victory in both showdowns. They are both two bouts removed from their last shadow, and Max Holloway, although not holding the belt, has arguably faced tougher competition in both Calvin Kattar and Yair Rodriguez. Volk in that time has defended the title against Brian Ortega in a great back and forth bout and a thorough domination of the Korean Zombie, Chan Sung Jung. This third fight has classic written all over it, especially given many people (including myself) had Holloway winning their last fight which was a narrow split decision victory for Volkanovski. This third fight is a toss up if I’ve ever seen one, I just hope Blessed pulls it out. Looking forward to this one.
Last but not least we have the main event. And I’m going to come clean, I think it’s fair to say most UFC fans are more excited for our co-main event than this one, but this will still be a top notch fight. In the main event we have the middleweight , “The last Stylebender” Israel Adesanya (22-1 15 KO) facing off against “The Killa Gorilla” Jared Cannonier (15-5 10 KO 2 SUBS). This fight will be a very interesting matchup stylistically because I would argue Cannonier is one of the better combinations of heavy hitting along with technique that Adesanya has faced to date. He’s shown his ability against the technical patient kickboxing of Robert Whittaker, and has shown he can maneuver against the power punching of a YoelRomero or a Paulo Costa. The question becomes, does Cannonier have anything new to show Izzy? I always think styles make fights, and like I said Cannonier has the technical ability he has the power in his hands, but Izzy has looked practically unbeatable at this weight class. Put me down for Izzy by Unanimous Decision in a frustrating bout for Cannonier.