Bantamweights
Rinya Nakamura (7-0, 1-0 UFC) vs. Fernie Garcia (10-3, 0-2 UFC)The UFC has started to pursue top Japanese talent once again, and Nakamura might be the brightest prospect from that bunch in terms of sheer upside. A former world champion wrestler who decided to pivot to mixed martial arts prior to the most recent Olympics, Nakamura has proven to be a quick study in his new sport. His wrestling has obviously looked sharp, but Nakamura has also shown plenty of effectiveness as an aggressive and powerful striker. His victory over countryman Toshiomi Kazama in February to win the Road to UFC tournament was 33 seconds of madness that showed Nakamura could eventually brawl his way into suffering a knockout loss. Garcia steps up here to try and make that happen.
Garcia showed some new wrinkles in his last fight, a November loss to Brady Hiestand, but has typically been a fairly pedestrian striker with a boxing-heavy focus, never standing out much as an athlete but more than capable of knocking out an opponent who dashes in without the proper defenses in place. While Garcia has the literal puncher’s chance, Nakamura figures to be the harder shot-for-shot hitter if this is an outright brawl; beyond that, it is likely he turns this into a rout after a single takedown. The pick is Nakamura via first-round submission.
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Holloway vs. Jung
Spann vs. Smith
Chikadze vs. Caceres
Nakamura vs. Garcia
Blanchfield vs. Santos
Tafa vs. Porter
The Prelims