UFC Predictions: UFC Fight Night: Holly Holm vs. Mayra Bueno Silva
After the thriller that was UFC 290 last weekend, the world’s biggest MMA promotion is back this weekend, albeit with a much lesser event.
UFC Fight Night: Holly Holm vs. Mayra Bueno Silva is hardly a star-studded event, meaning that many fans will probably give this one a miss. Realistically, the best we can hope for here is some solid action fights, but as always with MMA, you never know.
Here are the predicted outcomes for UFC Fight Night: Holly Holm vs. Mayra Bueno Silva.
#1: UFC bantamweight bout: Holly Holm vs. Mayra Bueno Silva
Initially, this fight was not supposed to be the headline bout here. This event was set to be main evented by a clash between Rafael dos Anjos and Vicente Luque, but when that bout was moved to a different card, the UFC put this one together instead.
Holly Holm is obviously a fighter with plenty of name value, but whether she’s a good choice to be a headliner at this point is another thing entirely.
It’s now nearly eight years since her famous win over Ronda Rousey. And while she has won a further five fights since, she’s also lost six, and has only finished one foe. Even that was back in 2017, when she knocked out Bethe Correia with a head kick.
"HOLM IS BACK!" @HollyHolm with the KO!! | #UFCSingapore https://t.co/ksPyAFG0bR
At 41 years old, Holm is slower than she once was, but technically, she’s still a fine, proficient striker who is content to jab and low kick her opponents across five rounds for a decision win. She’s also somewhat underrated on the ground, and is capable of taking her foes down, even if she doesn’t tend to fight like that.
Is No.10-ranked Mayra Bueno Silva capable of beating her, then? In all honesty, it seems doubtful.
The Brazilian is on a three-fight win streak, and has only lost twice in eight visits to the octagon. She’s also a pretty slick and dangerous grappler, holding four tap-out wins since her arrival in the promotion, including a nice kneebar of Lina Lansberg last time out.
Bueno Silva gets the sub!!
@MayraSheetara with her 3rd straight win, 2nd straight submission tonight at #UFCVegas69! https://t.co/rc0KAaQsjv
However, her issue here is going to be getting inside Holm’s range to take her down, something that very few fighters have been able to do throughout her career.
Even if she can get her down, whether she’s got enough to be able to find a submission is another major question mark. After all, she’ll be the smaller fighter here, having competed at 125 pounds before.
Overall, if ‘Sheetara’ can win this fight, then she’d become an instant star and title contender. However, that seems highly unlikely given the styles, Holm’s experience, and the fact that she’s more than capable of fighting over five rounds.
The pick, therefore, is ‘The Preacher’s Daughter’ via decision.
The Pick: Holm via decision
#2. UFC middleweight bout: Albert Duraev vs. Park Jun Yong
The co-headliner here is a bit of an indictment on this card overall. Neither Albert Duraev nor Park Jun Yong are really stars, nor are they true prospects per say. Quite how they’re in this position is anyone’s guess.
Of the two, Park has more experience in the UFC. ‘The Iron Turtle’ is riding a three-fight win streak, including two submission wins, and has only lost twice in nine visits to the octagon.
The Iron Turtle gets it done in ONE 🐢💪
Junyong Park with the sub over Denis Tiuliulin on the #UFCVegas68 prelims!
[ Live now on @ESPNPlus ] https://t.co/i8d1EIJJ1v
However, those two losses both came via finish, and none of his wins have truly stood out. The Korean is a well-rounded fighter, but he doesn’t really excel in any one area.
Duraev, meanwhile, outpointed Roman Kopylov in his debut, and most recently edged out the dangerous and explosive Chidi Njokuani.
Sandwiched between those fights, though, ‘Machete’ suffered a loss to Joaquin Buckley and didn’t exactly look durable in that fight. More to the point, he also looked wide open for strikes, and clearly struggled in defense.
How will this fight go, then? It’s probably fair to argue that Duraev is the more dangerous fighter of the two, as he seems to be quicker, has a very good grappling game, and holds 12 wins via finish.
Despite this, he doesn’t appear to be the most durable fighter, and Park can dish out punishment as well as taking it. That should give the Korean a slight edge here.
‘The Iron Turtle’ won’t make it pretty, but it’d be a surprise if he came away without his hand raised in this bout.
The Pick: Park via decision
#3. UFC Fight Night: The Main Card
In a heavyweight bout, Walt Harris takes on Josh Parisian. Once considered a prospect of sorts, Harris possesses explosive striking and he’s huge, even for a heavyweight. Despite this, he’s 40 years old now, and hasn’t won a bout since 2019.
Parisian is the younger fighter here, but he’s also not that quick, doesn’t weather punishment so well, and hasn’t got the experience that Harris has. ‘The Big Ticket’ has only lost to high-level fighters in recent years, therefore the pick is Harris via KO.
In a rare women's featherweight bout, Norma Dumont takes on Chelsea Chandler. Quite why the UFC haven’t cut this division yet is anyone’s guess, but both of these fighters are solid enough so hopefully it’ll be a watchable affair.
Dumont has more experience overall, with wins over the likes of Aspen Ladd and Ashlee Evans-Smith. However, Chandler looks like the better prospect, and shone in her win last year over Julija Stoliarenko. The pick, therefore, is Chandler via decision.
In a lightweight clash, Ottman Azaitar faces Francisco Prado. At one point, Azaitar showed serious potential, sparking out the likes of Khama Worthy and Teemu Packalen. However, at 33 he’s a little old to be a prospect, and his last fight saw him knocked out.
Prado, meanwhile, made his octagon debut earlier this year, but didn’t look great and was picked apart by Jamie Mullarkey.
Azaitar might not be as good as some figured him to be, but stylistically at least, this looks like a good match for him. The pick is ‘The Bulldozer’ via KO.
Finally, in a lightweight bout, Terrance McKinney squares up to Nazim Sadykhov. The book is essentially written on ‘T. Wrecks’ at this point. McKinney is fast, explosive and has the ability to take out his opponents in any area.
HOW'S THAT FOR AN OCTAGON DEBUT!!!!!! 🤯
TERRANCE MCKINNEY JUST WENT FULL T.WRECKS! 🦖 #UFC263 https://t.co/sWpSWmbYJK
However, he’s also reckless and not that durable, meaning he’s not likely to climb all the way to the top of this loaded division.
Sadykhov is 1-0 in the octagon in his own right, but on paper at least, he just doesn’t match up well with McKinney. He’ll be the slower man, and while he eventually stopped Evan Elder, he took a serious amount of damage in doing so – something that won’t work against ‘T-Wrecks’. The pick therefore is McKinney via KO.
#4. UFC Fight Night: The Prelims
Picks in bold
UFC featherweight bout: Tucker Lutz vs. Melsik Baghdasaryan
UFC strawweight bout: Viktoriia Dudakova vs. Istela Nunes
UFC featherweight bout: Austin Lingo vs. Melquizael Costa
UFC lightweight bout: Evan Elder vs. Genaro Valdez
UFC flyweight bout: Tyson Nam vs. Azat Maksum
UFC lightweight bout: Alexander Munoz vs. Carl Deaton III
UFC bantamweight bout: Ashlee Evans-Smith vs. Ailin Perez