UFC Calgary Picks
One of the better free cards we'll ever get, so don't miss it. There is a caveat though; For some reason, there are five fights on Fight Pass, and eight the rest of the night. Doesn't really make much sense to me, but whatever. Great card nonetheless.
Eddie Alvarez vs Dustin Poirier 2: I don't think people are giving Eddie as much credit as he deserves. Yeah, he hit Dustin with some pretty brutal illegal knees, but how did the fight get in that position in the first place? How did Eddie get Dustin against the cage, almost on all fours, going for the finish? Huh? People act like Dustin was dominating the fight until Eddie hit him with some miracle knees out of nowhere. The truth is, both guys had their moments, and the fight was really close, which is what I expect this one to be as well. I'd favor Poirier, but you just can't count Eddie out. Alvarez via TKO, Round 3
Jose Aldo vs Jeremy Stephens: If we get the old Aldo, the one who doesn't think he's some kinda pro boxer in there, the one who uses brutal knees and leg-kicks from the outside, then I don't see how Stephens can win. However, if Aldo chooses to stand and trade like he has against Holloway, Stephens will knock his block off eventually. Aldo's coach has said that we're gonna see the old Aldo, so I'll believe him. I believe we may get a boring-ish fight where Aldo fights Stephens similar to how Renato Moicano did. Hopefully not though. Aldo via Decision
Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs Tecia Torres: There has been a changing of the guard at 115, and JJ is no longer the best 115er in the world. I don't see how she isn't a strong #2 though. She's got good takedown defense and is hard to actually keep down, in case Torres wants to grapple. I feel this one will be largely contested on the feet though, where JJ has much more experience and five inches of reach on Torres. Jedrzejczyk via Decision
Alexander Hernandez vs Olivier Aubin-Mercier: Hernandez is largely unknown, with only one UFC fight under his belt. He iced Beneil Dariush in like 40 seconds. Impressive, but I've always thought Dariush was pretty overrated. Other than that, there's not much more elite level experience on his resume. It might not matter, but for this reason I'm gonna have to with the Canadian Gangster on this one. The fannypack man himself, OAM. He's got the experience I like to see, he's coming off his best performance yet, and this is a home game for him. Again, Hernandez might be a world beater, I just have no way to feel confident in that just yet. Aubin-Mercier via Submission (RNC), Round 3
Picks for the rest of the card, in descending order: Morono-Dawodu-Makhachev-Antigulov-Makdessi-Davis-Nicolau-Ansaroff-Powell