It’s another big-time light heavyweight debut in the main event of UFC Sao Paulo as Jacare Souza faces Jan Blachowicz. Here are Cageside Press’ picks.
| Staff Writers | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jason Payne (171-97) |  |  |  |  |  |
| Joe McDonagh (165-95) | | | | | |
| Ryan Fortune (126-78) | | | | | |
| Keith Shillan (129-80) | | | | | |
| Heath Harshman (161-107) | | | | | |
| Gabriel Gonzalez (160-108) | | | | | |
| Josh Evanoff (156-107) | | | | | |
| Jay Anderson (158-110) | | | | | |
| Dan Doherty (153-115) |  | | |  | |
| Mike McClory (111-84) | | | | | |
| Paarth Pande (112-85) | | | | | |
| Michael Lynch (0-0) | | |  | | |
Jacare Souza will try his hand at light heavyweight after 34 fights at middleweight. The Brazilian is 2-3 in his last five, falling to top-tier opponents Robert Whittaker, Kelvin Gastelum, and Chris Weidman. Greeting him at 205 in the main event of UFC Sao Paulo will be Jan Blachowicz. After years of not quite living up to his potential, Blachowicz is putting it all together, winning five of his last six fights. Blachowicz was unanimously picked.
The co-main event features the legendary Shogun Rua taking on Paul Craig. Shogun may have a lot of mileage, but he’s won four of his last five fights. Craig is coming off the finest performance of his UFC career, a first-round decimation of Vinicius Moreira. All but one writer picked Shogun.
Finishing machine Charles Oliveira battles Jared Gordon. Oliveira is on a five-fight win streak with four submissions and one knockout. Gordon snapped a two-fight losing streak in his last bout, defeating Dan Moret by decision. All but one writer picked Oliveira.
Contender Series alumni Antonio Arroyo and Andre Muniz will face off on the main card. Arroyo was set to face Kevin Holland and Alessio Di Chirico on this card, but both pulled out. Arroyo earned his spot on the roster with a second-round arm-triangle choke on DWCS. Muniz is coming off a first-round submission on the Contender Series that got him a contract. Muniz was unanimously picked.
Opening up the main card will be Markus Perez and Wellington Turman. Perez is an even 2-2 in the UFC with a pair of submissions, while Turman is coming off a loss in his Octagon debut by split decision to Karl Roberson. All but one writer picked Perez.
