After two Saturdays off, UFC Moncton ends a short break for the Octagon, and Cageside Press has their picks ready.
| Staff Writer | Garcia vs. McGee | Villante vs. Herman | Soukhamthath vs. Martinez | Cirkunov vs. Cummins | Johnson vs. Lobov | Oezdemir vs. Smith |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heath Harshman (109-57) |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Dan Doherty (109-63) | | | | | | |
| Paarth Pande (101-62) | | | | | | |
| Eddie Law (95-60) | |  | | | |  |
| Mike Straus (101-71) | | | | | | |
| Gabriel Gonzalez (86-65) | | |  | | | |
| Jay Anderson (96-76) | | | | | | |
| Jesse Gillette (90-72) | | | | | | |
| Josh Evanoff (49-36) | | | | | | |
| Mike McClory (83-76) | | | | | | |
The main event of UFC Moncton pits Volkan Oezdemir against Anthony Smith in a light heavyweight bout. Volkan has had trouble returning to the Octagon after his title shot in January. Oezdemir was scheduled to fight Shogun Rua in a main event, but was pulled due to visa issues stemming from a battery charge. Soon after, the Swiss 205er was scheduled to fight Alexander Gustafsson in a top contender bout, but broke his nose in the build-up. All the while, Anthony Smith has won five of his last six, knocking out Shogun and Rashad Evans in his last two bouts. Volkan is favored by all but two writers.
The co-main event is a short notice bout between Artem Lobov and Michael Johnson. Lobov was originally scheduled to fight Zubaira Tukhugov, who was pulled for his role in the UFC 229 brawl. Michael Johnson stepped up to take the fight, looking for his second straight win at featherweight. Johnson was unanimously picked despite missing weight.
Misha Cirkunov looks to get back on track against Patrick Cummins. Once considered a future top contender at light heavyweight, losses to Glover Teixeira and Volkan Oezdemir have slowed down Cirkunov’s rise. Cummins has won two of his last three, aiming to bounce back from a loss to Corey Anderson. Misha Cirkunov received every pick from the staff.
Andre Soukhamthath welcomes Jonathan Martinez to the UFC. Soukhamthath is trying to recover from his heavily criticized performance against top prospect Sean O’Malley, in which O’Malley injured his foot, and Soukhamthath responded by taking him down instead of capitalizing on the injury, leading to a decision loss. Martinez has been fairly inactive leading to his promotional debut, seeing five of his fights scrapped in the past two years, however, he’s won by armbar the last two times he’s stepped in the cage. Soukhamthath was picked by all but one writer.
A pair of struggling light heavyweights face off in Gian Villante and Ed Herman. Villante has lost three of his last four, two of which were by split decision. Herman has also lost three of four, but has been knocked out twice in that stretch. Just two writers picked Herman.
Opening up the UFC Moncton main card is Alex Garcia vs. Court McGee. Garcia has alternated wins and losses in his last eight, falling to the retired Ryan LaFlare in his most recent appearance. McGee comes in on a two-fight losing streak. Every writer favored Garcia.
