It’s an odd Wednesday morning fight card as Michael Chiesa takes on Neil Magny in the UFC Fight Island 8 main event and Cageside Press has its picks ready.
| Staff Writer | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jay Anderson (3-2) |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Dan Doherty (3-2) |  |  | | | | |
| Mike McClory (2-3) | | |  | | | |
| Dylan Bowker (2-3) | | | | | | |
| Justin Gibbons (2-3) | | | | | |  |
| Josh Evanoff (2-3) | | | | | | |
| Ryan Fortune (2-3) | | | |  | | |
| Doug Murray (2-3) | | | | | | |
| Gabriel Gonzalez (1-4) | | | | | | |
| Joe McDonagh (1-4) | | | | | | |
| Shawn Bitter (1-4) | | | | | | |
| Heath Harshman (1-4) | | | | | | |
Michael Chiesa returns to the Octagon after just about a year layoff in the main event of UFC Fight Island 8. He’ll take his three-fight win streak to the cage against Neil Magny, who also has a three-fight win streak on the line. Chiesa was picked by nine of 12 writers in this important welterweight scrap.
Warlley Alves has struggled recently, losing two of his last three fights and spending all of 2020 away from the cage. It won’t get any easier for him, as he battles up and comer Mounir Lazzez, who is 10-1 in his career. Lazzez was unanimously picked.
Two fighters looking for their first UFC win square off on the main card as Ike Villanueva takes on Vinicius Moreira. Villanueva is 0-2 in the UFC while Moreira is 0-3 and all those losses for both fighters have been stoppages. All but one writer picked Villanueva.
Roxanne Modafferi keeps on winning despite being 38 and having 42 fights under her belt. The veteran has two wins in her last three appearances, taking down Andrea Lee and Maycee Barber. She’ll be facing the talented Viviane Araujo, who is 3-1 in the Octagon. Seven of 12 writers picked Araujo.
An excellent flyweight matchup between Matt Schnell and Tyson Nam is set to take place. Schnell recently saw a four-fight win streak snapped by Alexandre Pantoja. On the other side, Tyson Nam has rebounded from two consecutive losses with a pair of knockouts. All but two writers picked Nam.
Opening up the UFC Fight Island 8 main card will be undefeated Lerone Murphy and heavy-handed Brazilian Douglas Silva de Andrade. Murphy is coming off a stoppage win over Ricardo Ramos, while Andrade beat Renan Barao last time out. All but one writer picked Murphy.
