Women’s Bantamweights
Aspen Ladd (7-0, -300) vs. Sijara Eubanks (4-2, +250): Eubanks easily could have been the UFC’s flyweight champion by now, but unfortunately, the “flyweight” half of that equation proved difficult. Eubanks made it to the final of the tournament to crown the UFC’s first champion at 125 pounds, but weight-cutting issues pulled her from that fight; and after missing weight in the division once more, “Sarj” moves back up to 135 pounds. In a weird twist, she gets a rematch against the woman who beat her in her last bantamweight fight, as she takes on a fellow prospect in Ladd. The undefeated Ladd has also had her troubles on the scale -- she was pulled from two of her four scheduled UFC bouts due to weight issues -- but she has looked excellent when she has actually made it to the cage, earning wins over Lina Lansberg and Tonya Evinger. This should be an ugly fight, as both women are at their best when trying to overwhelm their opponents physically. One of the differences: Eubanks knows it, as she tries to press her typical wrestling advantage. Meanwhile, Ladd spends a lot of time getting hit on the feet or getting taken down before eventually reversing things into some brutal ground-and-pound. In their first fight, Eubanks had some success pressing her takedowns but eventually lost out in the cardio and physical strength departments. It is difficult not to see the same thing happening in their rematch. The pick is Ladd via decision.Advertisement
Lightweights
Desmond Green (22-8, -550) vs. Charles Jourdain (9-1, +425): Green gets his wish to fight in his hometown, though it seems a bit odd that it comes on the prelims rather than the main card. Green was a bit of a surprising signing a few years ago, as he has the type of neutralizing style from which the UFC has been moving away in recent years. That basically describes Green’s run. He has yet to have a blowout loss, but even at his best, he stays defensive and wins on the margins, save for a March knockout of Ross Pearson that marked the end of Pearson’s MMA career. Green should be able to get the job done against Jourdain. The once-beaten Jourdain has solid tools with which to work, but Green is longer, stronger and should be able to rely on his wrestling should all else fail. The pick is Green via decision.Welterweights
Danny Roberts (16-4, -255) vs. Michel Pereira (21-9, +215): Pereira sums up a lot of the problems with the UFC in 2019. He made a viral name for himself in February when he attempted multiple backflips in the middle of a fight in Korea, which apparently was enough for the UFC to sign him shortly thereafter. In another era, there would have been commercials on Spike TV hyping Pereira as something, but now, he is hidden away on the prelims in Rochester. He will take on Roberts, which should make for a fun fight. Roberts is offensively potent if not physically overwhelming and is willing to consistently fight at a fast pace. Pereira’s wild style is going to run into problems, particularly if the UFC starts matching him against strong wrestlers, but here, Roberts’ willingness to be lured into a brawl should play right into Pereira’s hands. If this goes late, the Brazilian could gas badly, but the pick is Pereira via second-round knockout.Featherweights
Michael Trizano (8-0, -145) vs. Grant Dawson (13-1, +125): The “pulsing” excuse that was used to clear Jon Jones also came as good news for Dawson, as the featherweight prospect won a contract on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series before winding up in limbo thanks to the same issue. After a year and a half on the shelf, “The Prophet” picked up where he left off, using his persistent grappling game to earn a decision win over Julian Erosa in March. Making up for lost time, he has a quick turnaround here to take on Trizano, who is moving down from lightweight. Trizano won the all-undefeated season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” which was a bit of a disappointment from a promotional standpoint in 2018. Trizano is a solid, well-rounded fighter, but nothing about him particularly stands out. The UFC even matched Trizano with season favorite Luis Pena in their first post-“Ultimate Fighter” fight, seemingly in an attempt to retcon that Pena should have been the season’s winner. Trizano managed to beat Pena on the scorecards, and this should be a similar fight. Dawson should have success early with his aggression, but his gas tank is suspect and Trizano has shown the ability to scramble out of danger as needed. The pick is for Trizano to take over in the later stretches of the fight and earn the decision.Light Heavyweights
Patrick Cummins (10-6, -240) vs. Ed Herman (23-14, +200): It would not be an upstate New York card without a mess of a light heavyweight fight, and since Gian Villante was evidently unavailable, the UFC went with the next best thing. Cummins infamously talked his way into a UFC debut against Daniel Cormier in 2014 and has not evolved much since, outside of growing a sweet mustache. He mostly looks to spam takedowns, setting them up with some pressure striking that comes with a complete lack of defense. That is a problem, as Cummins takes a punch about as badly as anyone on the roster. He will take on Herman, who is somehow only a month older than Cummins. Never much of an athlete, Herman has descended into being glacial, but his combination of toughness and veteran craft has allowed him to hang around and look decent in this division, even as he loses more and more. This will probably look a lot like Herman’s fight against C.B. Dollaway, with “Short Fuse” losing a fun scrambling-heavy fight that takes place in slow motion. Herman has a chance at a knockout, but the pick is Cummins via decision.Middleweights
Trevin Giles (11-0, -155) vs. Zak Cummings (22-6, +135): Cummings finds himself in an odd spot. For a few years, the Missouri native was talked about as one of the most underrated welterweights on the roster, but he endured a rough 2018 campaign. After suffering a surprising loss to Michel Prazeres, Cummings decided to move up to 185 pounds, where he managed to beat Trevor Smith but looked uninspiring in doing so. At 34 and after a tough journeyman career, Cummings might be on the downslide, particularly since his welterweight resume has not aged particularly well. Cummings will take on an undefeated prospect in Giles, who remains a bit of a question mark. Giles has shown some solid striking and some vicious ground-and-pound, but his UFC competition has consisted of James Bochnovic and a 2017 version of Antonio Braga Neto, which does not prove a whole bunch. Add in that Giles missed all of 2018 to become a police officer, and it becomes hard to calibrate exactly where he is at as a mixed martial artist. Cummings is going to have a tough time implementing his wrestling at 185 pounds, but Giles is an undersized middleweight who had some difficulty with Neto’s doggedness until the Brazilian ceded to fatigue. In one of the tougher fights to call on the card, the pick is for Cummings to grind out a win and take the decision.Featherweights
Julio Arce (15-3, -570) vs. Julian Erosa (22-7, +435): For the first time in a while, Arce is in need of a bounce-back win. The New Yorker came up as a bantamweight prospect, and after running into Brian Kelleher on the regional scene, he decided to move up to featherweight, where he went undefeated for two and a half years. That included two wins in the UFC over Dan Ige and Daniel Teymur, but 2018 ended with Arce losing a bloody war to Sheymon Moraes. Arce looks to get back into the win column against Erosa, whose second stint in the UFC has not gone much better than the first. Erosa is basically the platonic ideal of a fringe UFC fighter. Against regional competition, Erosa is slick enough with his movement to avoid danger on the feet, but against quicker and stronger competition, he has just gotten cracked; plus, his last loss to Grant Dawson proved he also might be unable to handle stronger grapplers. Arce likes to put on the pressure, and at some point, he should be able to crack Erosa himself. The pick is Arce via second-round stoppage.Related Articles
