It’s an early afternoon card from the brand new UBS Arena as UFC Long Island is headlined by top-tier featherweights. Cageside Press has its picks set.
| Staff Writers | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Prawdzik (84-42) |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Gabriel Gonzalez (77-42) | | | | |  |  |
| Alex Behunin (72-43) | | | |  | | |
| Jay Anderson (76-50) | | | | | | |
| Dan Doherty (65-45) | | |  | | | |
| Eddie Law (67-55) | |  | | | | |
| Jamie Theodosi (15-5) | | | | | | |
| Mike McClory (3-2) | | | | | | |
The main event of UFC Long Island is between two featherweights who know how to deliver entertainment as Brian Ortega faces Yair Rodriguez. Ortega is coming off a title shot against Alexander Volkanovski in which he came dangerously close to submitting the champion. Rodriguez has earned a Fight of the Night bonus in his last three appearances and is looking to rebound from a loss against the most recent title challenger, Max Holloway. Ortega was picked by five of eight writers.
The co-main event features Amanda Lemos, who has quickly established herself as one of the best strawweights in the world, against Michelle Waterson. Lemos was on a five-fight win streak with three stoppages before running into former champion Jessica Andrade, who submitted her in the first round. Waterson is returning to strawweight after an unsuccessful attempt to move to flyweight as she was defeated by Marina Rodriguez. All but one writer picked Lemos.
The always entertaining Li Jingliang faces Muslim Salikhov on the main card. Jingliang has won four of his last six fights but ran into the buzzsaw that is Khamzat Chimaev in his last appearance. Salikhov, a Russian fighter known as The King of Kung Fu, is on a tear with five straight wins in the UFC. Salikhov was picked by five of eight writers.
Talented flyweights square off as Matt Schnell takes on Sumudaerji. After a two-fight losing streak, Sumudaerji has won three straight, including a 44 second knockout. Schnell has struggled after a four-fight win streak, losing in three of his last four appearances (one loss was overturned to a no contest). All but one writer picked Sumudaerji.
An early pick for Fight of the Night is in the featherweight division as Shane Burgos battles Charles Jourdain. Burgos got back in the win column after two Fight of the Night losses with a win over Billy Quarantillo last time out. Jourdain has won three of his last four with a submission over Lando Vannata most recently.
Opening the UFC Long Island main card will be former champion Miesha Tate and former title challenger Lauren Murphy. Murphy won five straight fights to earn a flyweight title shot, where she was shut down by Valentina Shevchenko in her most recent appearance. Tate returned from four-year retirement last year and has gone 1-1 since then. Tate was unanimously picked.
