Jiri Prochazka looks to make the leap into the upper echelon of light heavyweight when he faces Dominick Reyes in the main event of UFC Vegas 25. Cageside Press has its picks set.
| Writer | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Behunin (36-20) |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Ryan Fortune (48-27) | | | |  |  | |
| Justin Gibbons (47-28) | | | | | | |
| Heath Harshman (47-28) | | | | | | |
| Dan Doherty (44-31) | | | | | | |
| Doug Murray (41-29) | | | | | |  |
| Josh Evanoff (30-22) | | | | | | |
| Dylan Bowker (36-30) | |  |  | | | |
| Gabriel Gonzalez (39-36) | | | | | | |
| Joe McDonagh (34-33) | | | | | | |
Light heavyweights headline UFC Vegas 25 as rising contender Jiri Prochazka faces former top contender Dominick Reyes. After a 6-0 run through the division, Reyes has fallen in title fights against Jon Jones and Jan Blachowicz. Prochazka came to the UFC as the RIZIN light heavyweight champion and has since knocked out Volkan Oezdemir. All but two writers picked Prochazka.
The co-main event features kickboxing great Giga Chikadze taking on longtime veteran Cub Swanson. Chikadze is 5-0 since signing with the UFC, getting his first stoppage last time out. Swanson is starting to turn things around, snapping a four-fight losing streak with wins over Daniel Pineda and Kron Gracie. The picks were split at five apiece.
Ion Cutelaba looks to spoil Dustin Jacoby’s second stint in the Octagon. Cutelaba has lost three of his last four, with the last two being against Magomed Ankalaev. Jacoby has refocused on MMA after having a solid kickboxing run from 2015 to 2019, making it back to the Octagon and knocking out Justin Ledet in October. Cutelaba was slightly favored, receiving six of 10 picks.
Middleweights Sean Strickland and Krzysztof Jotko square off. Both men are on three-fight win streaks, with Strickland’s last win coming against Brendan Allen, and Jotko’s coming against Eryk Anders. All but one writer picked Strickland.
Merab Dvalishvili returns to the Octagon against Cody Stamann. Dvalishvili is on a five-fight win streak, defeating John Dodson last time out. Stamann is looking to bounce back from a loss to Jimmie Rivera. All but one writer picked Merab.
Opening up the UFC Vegas 25 main card will be Luana Carolina and Poliana Botelho. Botelho has lost two of her last three fights, dropping her UFC record to 3-2. Carolina is 1-1 since signing with the UFC from the Contender Series. Botelho was unanimously picked.
