Preview: UFC Fight Night 165 ‘Edgar vs. The Korean Zombie’

Heavyweights

NR | Ciryl Gane (5-0, -800) vs. NR | Tanner Boser (17-5-1, +550): Gane has quickly made a name for himself as the top heavyweight prospect to watch. The Frenchman has earned some comparisons to training partner Francis Ngannou, though he is a much different fighter. Gane is not quite a one-shot knockout artist, but the former kickboxing prospect is amazingly fluid for a man his size and has been able to pick apart each of his five professional opponents to date. He has even flashed some solid submission skills, earning the tap for each of his UFC wins to date, including a heel hook on Don'Tale Mayes in October. In his latest assignment, “Bon Gamin” draws Canada’s Boser, who is coming off a successful UFC debut two months ago. Boser put together a strong resume fighting across the world for years before getting the UFC call, and he should be a solid enough gatekeeper. He is not much of an athlete and he is not much of a finisher, but he is surprisingly quick in his own right, adopting a strange movement-heavy style that is often focused around leg kicks. If Gane has an obvious weakness thus far, it is his occasional disregard for what his opponent is throwing back, but Boser is not a hard-enough hitter to make that matter. The Canadian should be cautious enough to stay out of particularly deep trouble, but this should all be one-way traffic for Gane whenever he can catch Boser. The pick is Gane via decision.

Featherweights

NR | Sung Woo Choi (7-3, -275) vs. NR | Suman Mokhtarian (8-1, +235): Choi gets a third chance for his first win in what has been a disappointing UFC run thus far. Choi’s massive frame for a featherweight makes him a tantalizing prospect, but his two fights in the Octagon have been marked by some obvious flaws. Choi is much too patient for his own good on the feet while he waits to counter his opponent, but the massive issue is his complete lack of takedown defense, as he had little answer when Movsar Evloev and Gavin Tucker looked to take him to the mat. Choi gets a step down in competition against Mokhtarian, who is somewhat surprisingly still with the promotion, even after losing to Sodiq Yusuff in his lone UFC bout of 2018. Mokhtarian is an aggressive pressure fighter, but going from a weak slate of opponents in his native Australia to facing stronger fighters has proven to be a rude awakening. Mokhtarian has a decent chance here. He is willing to take things into the clinch, and with Choi being so patient, it is easy to envision the Aussie getting inside on Choi and taking him down before things truly get going. However, Mokhtarian’s aggression comes at the expense of his defense, so Choi may simply be able to hit him with the perfect shot. The pick is Choi via first-round knockout.

Lightweights

NR | Omar Antonio Morales Ferrer (8-0, -175) vs. NR | Dong Hyun Ma (16-10-3, +155): Before changing his ring name, Ma seemed destined to be “the other Dong Hyun Kim,” though “Maestro” did make a name for himself with his absolute war against Marco Polo Reyes at UFC 199. In one of the more underrated great fights in recent memory, Ma and Reyes put on an absolute barnburner until the Korean eventually went down in the third round. Ma had been a bit of a madman inside the cage up to that point, but the abuse he took in the Reyes fight seemed to trigger a change in approach, as he has adopted a more cautious style ever since. The UFC has continued to slot him into an action fighter role, booking him against banger after banger. However, after he successfully neutralized a few opponents, that seems to be finally taking its toll, as Ma has been stopped by Devonte Smith and Scott Holtzman in his last two fights. Ma will attempt to stop his slide against a Dana White’s Contender Series alum in Morales, who will make his UFC debut. The Venezuelan has a strange resume, spreading eight fights over eight years, but he looked good in his lone real test to date and knocked out Harvey Park to earn a UFC contract. Given Morales’ unproven state, Ma is probably the safer pick to control this fight and grind out a win. Nevertheless, Morales can crack and things are trending downward for Ma, so the newcomer is worth the flier. The pick is Morales via second-round knockout.

Flyweights

#4 FLW | Alexandre Pantoja (21-4, -210) vs. #9 FLW | Matt Schnell (14-4, +175): “The Ultimate Fighter 24” alums battle in this compelling flyweight clash. Coming into the UFC, there was a lot to like about Louisiana’s Schnell on paper, as he showed both knockout power and some venomous submission ability. Unfortunately for him, once he actually hit the Octagon, he also showed a terrible chin. Losing to Rob Font at bantamweight was understandable, but a loss via hammerfists to Hector Sandoval sounded some alarms about Schnell’s ability to succeed going forward. Thankfully, Schnell has reinvented his striking approach and finally began to take advantage of his long frame, and it has worked wonders. After picking apart Marco Beltran and Naoki Inoue, Schnell has been able to fall back on his grappling chops to tap Louis Smolka and Jordan Espinosa. That has earned him this shot against Pantoja, who was the top seed on that all-flyweight season of “The Ultimate Fighter” and has been a fringe contender ever since. “The Cannibal” can do a little bit of everything with a ton of violence behind him, though he has had some issues against stronger wrestlers who can control him and wear him out. That may not describe Schnell, but some of the dynamics associated with this bout still favor the American. Schnell can probably go scramble for scramble with Pantoja when the Brazilian tries to initiate things on the mat, and Pantoja’s wild striking may have some issues against Schnell’s considerable reach. Pantoja could easily end this fight with one big punch, but the pick is for Schnell to score a decision win.

Bantamweights

NR | Raoni Barcelos (14-1, -145) vs. NR | Said Nurmagomedov (13-1, +125): Barcelos may be the most underrated fighter in the UFC’s deep bantamweight division. In his three UFC appearances, the Brazilian has taken a while to get going, but once he picks up steam, things tend to end in impressive fashion, as he can combine an effective power striking game with some excellent submission skills. Already 34 years old, the hope is that Barcelos can quickly start moving up the ladder, and a win here against Nurmagomedov should set him up for bigger and better things. Nurmagomedov, who despite his last name is not a blood relative of lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov, goes against the typical Dagestan stereotype, as he is a tall and sometimes wild striker who only rarely supplements things with his wrestling. Despite scoring a brutal body kick knockout of Ricardo Ramos his last time out, Nurmagomedov is not much of a finisher, so while the Russian’s length may frustrate Barcelos for a bit, the Brazilian should be able to take this over with speed and horsepower. The pick is Barcelos via decision.

Women’s Strawweights

NR | Miranda Granger (7-0, -175) vs. NR | Amanda Lemos (6-1-1, +155): It has been a good while since Lemos set foot inside the Octagon. The Brazilian looked like a solid prospect as a bantamweight on the regional scene, but things went sideways soon after her 2017 signing, as she was outgunned by Leslie Smith in her debut and then got suspended for a failed drug test. Lemos was undersized at bantamweight, so it is only mildly surprising that she cuts all the way down to 115 for her return bout, which comes against Granger. A career strawweight, Granger made her late-notice debut at flyweight in August with an impressive win over Hannah Goldy. Up until that point, Granger’s most obvious skill had been her ability to hunt for submissions, which made it a pleasant surprise when she used her long reach and some solid boxing to keep Goldy at bay. This fight is a complete question mark, mostly since so much of it depends on how Lemos looks down two weight classes after a long layoff. If she looks solid and her power carries down to strawweight, she should be able to put some damage on Granger; anything less, and she will walk a fine line due to her willingness to crash into the clinch and Granger’s ability to find her opponents’ necks. The pick is Granger via first-round submission.

Bantamweights

NR | Ryan Benoit (10-5, -130) vs. NR | Heili Alateng (13-7-1, +110): Alateng had a successful UFC debut, but it is close to impossible to say much more than that at the moment, as it resulted in a decision win over fellow newcomer Batgerel Danaa in a fight where neither man particularly stood out. Here, he will get a second chance to make a first impression against Benoit, who returns from a two-year layoff to make the move up to bantamweight. Benoit is a decent kickboxer and not much else, which means both fighters should get the fight exactly where they want it. Alateng might be the harder hitter, but he is also often much too patient for his own good, so it is a coinflip as to whether he can score the knockout or simply coast to a decision loss. The pick is Benoit via decision.