It’s the first mid-week fight card in a while for the UFC as Calvin Kattar and Dan Ige square off in the main event of UFC Fight Island 1 tonight. Cageside Press has its picks set.
| Staff Writers | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Fortune (67-23) |  |  |  |  |  |
| Keith Shillan (64-26) | | |  | | |
| Joe McDonagh (57-33) | | | | | |
| Ryan Jarrell (21-13) | | | | | |
| Jay Anderson (55-35) |  | | |  | |
| Josh Evanoff (53-37) | | | | | |
| Gabriel Gonzalez (52-38) | | | | |  |
| Justin Gibbons (31-23) | | | | | |
| Dan Doherty (48-37) | | | | | |
| Dylan Bowker (42-34) | | | | | |
| Eddie Law (32-26) | | | | | |
UFC Fight Island 1 is headlined by one of the best possible matchups in the featherweight divisions as fearsome strikers Calvin Kattar and Dan Ige meet on their collision course. Kattar has knocked out three of his last four opponents, only losing to Zabit Magomedsharipov in a three-round main event (many fans thought Kattar would have won if it was the standard five rounds). After losing in his promotional debut, Ige has rattled off six straight wins, with the most recent one being a controversial split decision against Edson Barboza. All but one writer picked Kattar.
The co-main event is a flyweight scrap between Tim Elliott and Ryan Benoit. Elliott been struggling recently, losing four of his last five and three in a row. Benoit, on the other hand, can’t get anything going, positive or negative. He’s alternated wins and losses in his last 10 fights. If you’re a fan of patterns, Benoit is due for a win. Benoit was picked by eight of 11 writers.
Cody Stamann is looking for his second win in just over a month as he takes on Jimmie Rivera. Stamann is 2-0-1 in his last three and recently returned to the featherweight division after a run at bantamweight. After starting his career 21-1, Rivera has lost three of his last four fights. Granted, they’re against the three best bantamweights in the world, Petr Yan, Aljamain Sterling, and Marlon Moraes. Stamann was picked by seven of 11 writers.
Fan-favorite Molly “Meatball” McCann takes on Taila Santos on the main card. McCann is on a three-fight win streak and is guaranteed entertainment whenever she steps in the cage. Santos is 0-1 in the Octagon and has since had two fights fall through. McCann was unanimously picked.
Opening up the UFC Fight Island 1 main card is Abdul Razak Alhassan welcoming Mounir Lazzez to the promotion. Alhassan is 4-1 in the Octagon with four knockouts but hasn’t fought since 2018 due to a legal battle in a sexual assault case in which he was later found not guilty. Lazzez is 9-1 and has knocked out his last two opponents in the first round.
