The Octagon heads back to Abu Dhabi for UFC Fight Island 4 headlined by top bantamweight contenders Holly Holm and Irene Aldana. Cageside Press has its picks set.
| Staff Writers | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Fortune (108-57) |  |  |  |  |  |
| Jay Anderson (107-58 | | | |  |  |
| Joe McDonagh (96-69) | | | | | |
| Josh Evanoff (88-65) | | |  | | |
| Gabriel Gonzalez (91-74) | | | | | |
| Dan Doherty (88-72) | | | | | |
| Justin Gibbons (70-59) | | | | | |
| Dylan Bowker (79-68) | | | | | |
| Eddie Law (63-60) | | | | | |
The headlining fight of UFC Fight Island 4 is between rising bantamweight Irene Aldana and longtime contender Holly Holm. The fight was supposed to happen two months ago, but a positive COVID-19 test for Aldana pushed things back. After an 0-2 start to her UFC career, Aldana has gone 5-1 with the lone loss being a split decision to Raquel Pennington. Holm is 2-1 in her last three, falling to dominant champion Amanda Nunes and defeating Pennington last time out. Holm was picked by six of nine writers.
The co-main event is a heavyweight showcase between Yorgan De Castro and Carlos Felipe. De Castro started his career with a 6-0 run, but is 1-1 in the UFC with the loss coming to Greg Hardy. Felipe was recently handed his first career loss, falling to Sergey Spivak in his promotional debut. Of his eight wins, six are by knockout. All but two writers picked De Castro.
Germaine De Randamie takes on fellow bantamweight contender Julianna Pena. This will be Pena’s second fight since the birth of her child, which caused her to miss 2018. In her return fight, Pena defeated Nicco Montano last year. De Randamie recently saw her five-fight win streak snapped by Amanda Nunes. All but one writer picked De Randamie.
Promotional newcomer Cameron Else will make a short-notice debut against Kyler Phillips. Phillips is 7-1 in his career and is coming off a victory in his promotional debut. Else comes in on a six-fight win streak with all of his wins coming by stoppage, but those opponents have a combined record of 8-16. Phillips was picked unanimously.
Opening up the main card will be Dequan Townsend and Serbian prospect Dusko Todorovic. The debuting Todorovic has a 9-0 record and a win over Michel Pereira. Since reaching the UFC, Townsend is 0-3. Todorovic was unanimously picked.
