Fight fans in Edmonton (not to mention visiting media members) woke up Saturday morning to a solid dusting of snow, setting the stage for Mexico’s Brandon Moreno to take on Iraq’s Amir Albazi in the UFC Edmonton main event.
Well, it might not be their preferred climate, but a packed house of fans, having been announced on Friday as setting a gate record for a UFC Fight Night, would be on hand to take in what was expected to be a thrilling flyweight battle.
Make that two flyweight battles. Along with Moreno vs. Albazi, a five-round co-main event on the women’s side found Rose Namajunas facing off with Erin Blanchfield, with the pair looking to stake their claim to a title shot, or at least to cement their place behind top contender Manon Fiorot.
One fight fans wouldn’t be seeing at UFC Edmonton was Derrick Lewis vs. Jhonata Diniz. Lewis had missed Friday’s ceremonial weigh-in and despite the promotion’s assurance that the fight was still on, later that evening, it was announced that a non-weight cut related medical issue had forced Lewis off the card.
The means our staff are picking just five fights this week (though Jasmine Jasudavicius vs. Ariane Da Silva has been elevated to the main card with Lewis vs. Diniz off). How do we see things unfolding? Read on.
| Writer / Fight | Malott vs. Giles | Barriault vs. Stoltzfus | Ribeiro vs. Machado | Blanchfield vs. Namajunas | Moreno vs. Albazi |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jay Anderson (115-76) |  |  |  |  |  |
| Jamie Theodosi (92-62) | | | |  | |
| Eddie Law (111-79) | | | | | |
| Alex Behunin (107-79) | | | | | |
| Dylan Rush (49-43) | | | | | |
| Chris Prawdzik (91-71) | | | | | |
| Patrick McCorry (85-73) | | | | | |
| Brett Cagle (4-6) | | | | | |
| Mathis Desjardins (3-2) | | | | | |
Not a lot of disparity in our picks this week. Mike Malott, Marc-Andre Barriault, and Caio Machado are all unanimous selections, so basically, it’s team Canada (Machado recently became a Canadian citizen).
Brandon Moreno was also a unanimous pick, with our staff seeing the former two-time UFC flyweight champ as being too much for Amir Albazi, perhaps in part due to Albazi’s extended layoff. The only fight really in question was the co-main event, with a split between Erin Blanchfield and Rose Namajunas favoring Blanchfield.
