The MMA Daily

It’s been almost a month since the last UFC event, which understandable considering Zuffa spent the month of August promoting Conor McGregor against Floyd Mayweather. A fight in which was entertaining and worth every penny of the $100 charge for the PPV. Anyways, the UFC is back and they continue there oversea’s dominance, as they play host to Rotterdam, Netherlands. 

Headlining the card is a pair of towering Heavyweights in Dutch mixed martial artist Stefan Struve and Alexander Volkov. Riding a two-fight win streak, Struve will look to continue his resurgence and add his name to a shortlist of Heavyweight contenders. As for Volkov, it’s been nothing but success since he stepped foot into the Octagon. With two UFC victories under his belt, including one over Roy Nelson, Volkov is a victory over Struve from cracking the top five. Imagine that, three UFC victories and instantly you’re in the top five.

Anyways, let’s just get to the Predictions!

UFC Fight Night 115 Main Card (3 p.m. ET):

265 lbs.: Alexander Volkov vs. Stefan Struve – Normally I’d break this main event down the longest of any of my predictions, but I have a relatively brief hunch here. I believe that Volkov is too good of a striker for Struve to hang. I also don’t think that Struve can get this to the mat, where he’d have a substantial advantage and legitimate chance to win via submission. I mean, Volkov is no spring chicken, as he’s already had 34 fights at only 28 years of age. He’s very well rounded and is going to make Struve pay on the feet, eventually finishing him via KO!

135 lbs.: Marion Reneau vs. Talita de Oliveira – No clue who Oliveira is, but Reneau is a good enough striker to control this fight on the feet and win via decision.

185 lbs.: Siyar Bahadurzada vs. Rob Wilkinson – Never heard of Wilkinson, but Bahadurzada is a bazooka. If not for injuries, I truly believe Bahadurzada’s would have a highlight reel of UFC knockouts by now. Well, I guess it’s never too late though… Bahadurzada via KO!

170 lbs.: Bryan Barberena vs. Leon Edwards – Fun fight, but I have Edwards here. I believe that his improvements in each fight have legitimately swayed to believe that he will crack the top ten of the welterweight division in 2018. He’s a striker, but his grappling abilities have vastly improved to the point where he’s gaining the ability to control the fight wherever it goes. Now, I love Barberena’s will to fill and the pace/cardio he has, but he’s not superior in any aspects of his game. So with that, Edwards takes this via dominant decision. 

UFC Fight Night 115 Prelims (11:30 a.m. ET):

205 lbs.: Darren Till vs. Bojan Velickovic – Never heard of Velickovic, but I’ve seen Till a handful of times and his striking abilities make for fun fights. He’s got to shore up his defense, but this fight should help him craft that. So with that, I have Till via late knockout.

155 lbs.: Felipe Silva vs. Mairbek Taisumov – Silva is a sacrificial lamb here, as the UFC continues to build up the dynamic striker Taisumov. So with that, I got Taisumov via KO!

155 lbs.: Mads Burnell vs. Michel Prazeres – I bet Burnell hasn’t faced anyone with the grappling abilities of Prazeres. So with that, expect a lesson in grappling here, as Prazeres eventually win this via submission.

155 lbs.: Desmond Green vs. Rustam Khabilov – This is a really tough fight to call. On one hand, I was overly impressed by Desmond Green in UFC debut. I had seen him before in Bellator and I didn’t see anything more than a serviceable fighter. However, in his UFC debut against Josh Emmett, his striking and more so counter attacks were beautiful. As for Khabilov, I used to believe he would be a world champion. His superior grappling proved to be effective and it still has, but his striking hasn’t developed like I had hoped. Anyways, despite Khabilov strolling into this fight with a four-fight win streak, I think Green is going to fend him off and tag him on the feet en route to a decision victory.

205 lbs.: Francimar Barroso vs. Aleksandar Rakic – Never heard of Rakic, but Barroso has been had his fair share of success in the UFC. His striking is nothing to write home about, but his grappling is good enough to get him victories. So with that, I got Barroso via decision.

145 lbs.: Mike Santiago vs. Zabit Magomedsharipov – This card is going to be a tad rough, but I’ll go with the Russian here who’s been starching his competition in the first round. So with that, I got Magomedsharipov via KO!

205 lbs.: Abdul-Kerim Edilov vs. Bojan Mihajlovic – Who and Who? Umm…Edilov via KO!

155 lbs.: Thibault Gouti vs. Andrew Holbrook – I’m really surprised Gouti is getting another chance here, as he’s 0-3 in the UFC and has been finished in all three defeats. So with that, I have Holbrook winning this, but I’ll go via decision.