Preview: UFC Fight Night 246 ‘Moreno vs. Albazi’

Light Heavyweights

Caio Machado (8-3-1, 0-2 UFC) vs. Brendson Ribeiro (15-7, 0-2 UFC)

ODDS: Machado (-162), Ribeiro (+136)

Machado looks for a fresh start at light heavyweight in this assignment. A Brazilian training out of Canada, Machado was a fine enough flier for the UFC to take coming off Dana White’s Contender Series in 2023. His win there wasn’t particularly impressive, but he was a heavyweight on the right side of 30 who had shown a knack for racking up wins. Two fights into his UFC career, Machado hasn’t really turned a corner. He has been OK as a low-powered but durable heavyweight but struggled to separate himself in clear decision losses to Mick Parkin and Don’Tale Mayes. It’s easy to see why Machado would cut down to 205 pounds, as he’s on the smaller side for heavyweights on the UFC roster, but it’s always a tough proposition to change between the two divisions. Heavyweight favors that power and durability, but light heavyweight is a division much more built around speed and athleticism. To that end, Ribeiro provides the right first test to see if Machado can sink or swim in his new weight class.

Ribeiro has been at this for nearly a decade and has followed the same game plan for most of that time: Swing hard, early and often, while hoping he can knock out his opponents before they find his chin first. That approach failed in Ribeiro’s UFC debut in February, and he surprisingly changed things up a bit in his sophomore effort in June, adding a bit of wrestling in what still turned out to be an ugly decision loss. Machado could grind this out, but given how things typically go for converted heavyweights down at 205 pounds, it seems likelier that he will be caught unawares by Ribeiro’s hot start. The pick is Ribeiro via first-round knockout.

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Moreno vs. Albazi
Blanchfield vs. Namajunas
Diniz vs. Lewis
Machado vs. Ribeiro
Barriault vs. Stoltzfus
Malott vs. Giles
The Prelims