The Octagon heads south of the border for UFC Mexico City and Cageside Press has its picks set for the five-fight main card.
| Staff Writers | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keith Shillan (100-54) |  |  |  |  |  |
| Heath Harshman (137-76) |  | | |  | |
| Jay Anderson (133-80) | | |  | | |
| Josh Evanoff (126-82) | | | | |  |
| Dan Doherty (129-84) | | | | | |
| Gabriel Gonzalez (128-85) | | | | | |
| Mike McClory (83-57) | | | | | |
| Paarth Pande (103-74) | | | | | |
The UFC Mexico City main event should be a great one as dynamic striker Yair Rodriguez faces the always-dangerous Jeremy Stephens. Rodriguez has not fought since his spectacular buzzer-beating KO against Chan Sung Jung. Stephens is coming off of losses against Jose Aldo and Zabit Magomedsharipov. Cageside Press is split at four picks apiece for the headliner.
The co-main event features former champion Carla Esparza taking on rising contender Alexa Grasso. Esparza bounced back from a two-fight losing streak with a win over Virna Jandiroba. Grasso has won two of three, including her finest UFC performance, a dominant win over Karolina Kowalkiewicz. Five of eight writers believe Grasso will win with home field advantage.
Flyweights are happening as Brandon Moreno returns against debuting Russian Askar Askarov. Moreno was cut by the UFC last year, then won the LFA flyweight title and will now return to the Octagon in his home country. Askarov is 10-0 with 10 finishes, including seven submissions. All but one writer chose Askarov.
Irene Aldana will welcome short notice opponent Vanessa Melo to the UFC. Aldana had her three-fight win streak snapped by Raquel Pennington most recently. Melo comes into her promotional debut at 10-5 but has won five-straight fights. Aldana was unanimously picked.
Martin Bravo looks to snap his two-fight losing streak against Steven Peterson. Bravo looked brilliant in his debut, but has lost two fights since then. Peterson is just 1-3 in the Octagon, falling to Luis Pena and Alex Caceres most recently. Cageside Press is split down the middle at four picks apiece.
