All UFC combat nights are not created equally. After a stellar return to Seattle last week, the UFC stops in the Apex installation for the UFC Vegas 103.
These are cards like these where a sales argument will probably not even attract the hardcore MMA fan. The UFC Vegas 103 is legitimately the most glorified regional event of all time. It has been said about many of these programs now, but unfortunately, it sounds each time.
That said, the main event is convincing, because Manel Kape finally aims to guarantee an UFC fly weight always elusive against ASU Almabayev. It’s … but however. Let’s make our weekly choices, okay?
The ratings of Paris graceful of Betmgm.
125 pounds: Manel Kape (-220) against Asu Almabayev (+180)
After a dull unanimous decision to compete with Muhammad Mokaev last July, Kape did “the thing”. What is “the thing”, ask yourself? Well, “The Thing” is different for each fighter. For Kape, he performs like a world matrix champion against an opponent who had nothing to do in the cage with him.
Kape presented a show, styling Bruno Silva before a third round TKO victory. Almabayev will receive a step similar to Silva with this match. However, he is more well equipped for that as claimed throughout his sequence of 17 victories (4-0 in UFC, 21-2 in total).
The two additional rounds that a main event provides adds an element of intrigue to this fight. Kape is the upper attacker, using his movements and combinations wonderfully when he is on. Almabayez will seek to make the fight ugly and Outwrestle Kape on the way to a decision or a submission – the latter only occurred twice.
There is more overall danger in Kape’s game, especially on the feet. It is essential in a match like this, where he has no clear disadvantages. If there is a skills gap, it is in the department of struggle. But even there, he should be able to hang and find success.
Almabayev can be a pillar around the top of the division, but all the paths seem more open than ever for Kape to obtain his first UFC title shot.
Pick: Kape
185 pounds: Cody Brundage (+100) against Julian Marquez (-120)
Does the UFC hate Cody Brundage? Because it does not obtain any favor of the perception of the public with a co-event niche on this card after a defeat against Bo Nickal on the main map of the UFC 300. (Yes, it is a real sentence.)
Brundage against Julian Marquez is much more a reversal of parts than you think. It was a tough blow for Marquez, losing his last three by blows. Therefore, he desperately needed this victory to keep his place.
Marquez became too much braking and his chin deteriorated because of this. Brundage is not known to be a very talented Knockout artist, but he does not need to be to injure Marquez in a wild exchange. Even if Brundage does not store marks, doing it will make it easier to withdraw inevitable, which leads to a finish on the ground.
I like the burning in it as long as it avoids the big strokes of “the Cuban missile crisis”.
Pick: Brundage
155 pounds: Nasrat Haqparas (+200) vs. Esteban Ribovich (-250)
Thus, the rules of Esteban Ribovics. After winning the fight which was later named the fight of the year in 2024, you did not manage to miss a fight involving Argentinian.
The chances of this confrontation are a surprise, given that Nasrat Haqparast was on a tear with four consecutive victories on notable veterans names like Jared Gordon and John Makdesssi. This just shows the beaten media accumulated by Ribovics for its recent performance.
So much damage that Ribovics inflicted and delivered in his Daniel Zellhuber Classic, Haqparast has more cardboard on tires despite a year more than Ribovics, at 29 years old. I forget that the guy is still as young after eight years in the promotion.
This match should be an absolute banger on the feet and closer than the ratings indicate it. Haqparast has been suffocated by a solid work of melee or threats struggling in the past. The Ribovics will be wise, mixing withdrawals or links on the cage if necessary. It is unless he was attracted to another war like his last fight, who has not seen any attempt to take action at the carpet – and we love him for that.
Pick: Ribovich
145 pounds: Hyder Amil (+165) against William Gomis (-200)
Hyder Amil against William Gomis should be another striker.
Both roll up on large sequences of victories. Amil is undefeated in his career of 10 fights. Gomis was the cleanest and more technical between the two, cutting and deducing his way to the victories in the four appearances of Octagon.
The defense of the dismantling of Gomis – or his absence – was the reason why he almost lost fights against Joanderson Brito and Francis Marshall. Look for Amil to exploit this, but finally finds a step behind while he is separated by the crazy French.
Pick: Gomis
170 pounds: Danny Barlow (-300) against Sam Patterson (+240)
Danny Barlow and Sam Patterson are large Welters weights, respectively at 6 feet 2 inches and 6 feet 3 inches.
During his last outing, Patterson was impressive, subjecting Kiefer Crosbia with a triangle of the first round arm. He continued to show that he is finishing finish, fighting only two times in 14 fights (12-2-1).
Barlow, 29, has been tested so far in his pair of UFC fights, scraping by Nikolay Veretnikov and finishing Josh Quinlan with a late TKO. Barlow has a more polished shot than his opponent Patterson, but the Game on the ground and the submission of the British Arsenal will be too much.
A finish is a daring choice. Anyway, I will upset this one.
Pick: Patterson
Preliminary notes
Andrea Lee loses five games in a row and maintaining a list place is confusing to say the least. Not that I want to see someone unemployed, of course. The UFC is generally so happy to remove fighters like it when losses accumulate. This is the bad type of story to do.
The Rosa Montana has nothing to do to be the oppressed against Luana Carolina. Stylistically, that should Be a victory as infallible as possible. Fight, fight, fight and fight a little more, “MDLR”.
Returning to the Division of Mouche Weights, Charles Johnson is always buried on the prelime of the Apex event despite an absurd resurgence in 2024, during which he won four in a row. Talk about lack of respect – on which I will stack while I take against him.
Quick choice:
Mario Pinto (-600) def. Austen Lane (+425)
Mariscal chepe (-450) def. Ricardo Ramos (+350)
Douglas Silva de Andrade (+260) def. John Castaneda (-325)
JJ Aldrich (-210) def. Andrea Lee (+170)
Danny Silva (-220) def. Lucas Almeida (+180)
Rose mountain (+105) def. Luana Carolina (-125)
Ramadazan TEMIROV (+110) def. Charles Johnson (-135)
(Tagstotranslate) Manel Kape (T) Bruno Silva (T) USA TODAY HAQPARAST (T) Arsenal