Lightweights
Jamie Mullarkey (14-5, 2-3 UFC) vs. Michael Johnson (20-17, 12-13 UFC)We are long past the point of expecting Johnson to coalesce his considerable talent into a championship-level fighter, but his May win over Alan Patrick should at least buy him some more time to provide some entertaining moments in the UFC. A veteran of “The Ultimate Fighter” back in 2010, Johnson was a solid middle-of-the-road competitor for a few years until a breakout win over Joe Lauzon in 2013, which started “The Menace” on a path to the fringes of title contention. By 2015, Johnson was firmly in the mix for some big fights, though things often did not go his way. A 95-second knockout of Dustin Poirier stands out as the highlight of his career, but fighters like Nate Diaz and Justin Gaethje were able to lure Johnson into losing brawls, and some early success against Khabib Nurmagomedov also turned into a crushing loss. On the back end of his career, Johnson’s complete distaste for grappling has undone him often. He is still as sharp a striking threat as ever and a solid wrestler, but Johnson has also consistently folded once opponents can find some modicum of wrestling success, no matter how good he has looked up to that point. Johnson was firmly on the cut line with four straight losses heading into the Patrick fight, but after finally scoring one of his blistering knockout wins, he is riding his first momentum in a while heading into this bout with Mullarkey. Australia’s Mullarkey looked like the type of hard-nosed but unathletic prospect that would struggle to find headway in the UFC, but it has worked to a solid degree. Being both large and durable for the division, he has been able to march through some danger and score wins over Khama Worthy and Devonte Smith. Even Mullarkey’s losses have aged well. His debut against Brad Riddell was an all-out war, and his second-round knockout at the hands of Jalin Turner in March looks better after Turner’s absolute domination of Riddell on July 2. Even though Mullarkey can eat a shot, his ability to get hit does make for a worrying issue against someone with as much power as Johnson. However, in general, the Aussie looks very much like the type of persistent grinder who can survive some early trouble and start getting some takedowns, at which point he should roll to a clear victory. The pick is Mullarkey via second-round stoppage.
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Dos Anjos vs. Fiziev
Borralho vs. Petrosyan
Nurmagomedov vs. Silva de Andrade
Vanderaa vs. Sherman
Mullarkey vs. Johnson
The Prelims