Welterweights
Neil Magny (26-8) vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov (15-0)Odds: Rakhmonov (-390), Magny (+320)
Neil Magny just keeps chugging along. Magny was far from a guaranteed success as a UFC fighter, as he was mostly an afterthought coming off of TUF in 2012, but he managed to round things out and put together a surprisingly successful run from 2014 to 2016, notable for the sheer volume of wins that Magny was able to pack in during such a short time. Magny can be a tricky test, as his long frame and willingness to throw out volume often frustrates his opponent into pursuing the clinch, where "The Haitian Sensation" is often at his best. But that does mean that fighters with elite skills can completely tear apart his game; sharper strikers like Lorenz Larkin and Santiago Ponzinibbio have pressured Magny and taken him apart without much issue, and Michael Chiesa most notably plain out-wrestled Magny in a straight-up grind. That's left Magny occupying a clear niche in the welterweight division, essentially serving as the clear litmus test as to whether someone has contender potential - a role he slides into once again opposite Kazakhstan's Shavkat Rakhmonov. Rakhmonov came up through the ranks against a strong level of competition, but mostly did so by separating himself as a bullying athlete; so the question was how "Nomad" would fare against the better athletes dotting the UFC roster. Well, so far as good. There have been some moments when Rakhmonov has been overpowered in the clinch, but he's proven to be both a knockout artist and a savvy grappler - in his UFC debut, he locked horns with a physical powerhouse in Alex Oliveira and was able to find a fight-ending guillotine choke within a round. There's a decent chance that Rakhmonov can just blow through Magny here and announce himself as a contender, either via his powerful counterstriking or just turning out to be the stronger fighter in the clinch. But a lot of Rakhmonov's approach does wind up with him clinching up with his opponents and he can be controlled; it's not necessarily a guarantee, but that appears to be the opening that Magny needs to turn this into yet another Neil Magny type of fight. This figures to be a narrow win and Rakhmonov will be fine in the long run, but the pick is Magny via decision.
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Tsarukyan vs. Gamrot
Magny vs. Rakhmonov
Parisian vs. Baudot
Moises vs. Giagos
Maness vs. Nurmagomedov
Curtis vs. Vieira
The Prelims