A fight that could have huge ramifications at 170 lbs, as Irishman Ian Machado Garry faces off against ‘Fighting Nerds’ member Carlos Prates.

Garry comes into this one of his first professional loss, but he can’t be too dismayed by his performance. He took the Kazakhstan monster Shavkhat Rakhmanov to a decision loss with all three judges scoring it 48-47. Considering Rakhmanov is one of the most feared fighters in the company, and that Garry successfully broke his 100% finish rate, that is some going.

Prates is a fighter the UFC are strapping the rocket too. As soon as the Brazilian came out admitting he smokes 10-12 cigarettes daily, the UFC PR machine saw another character in the making. Prates is 4-0 with four finishes at 170 lbs, too, so it’s not without reason that he’s made himself a fan favourite.

This is certainly a risky fight for Garry. Should he lose, he pretty much falls out of the welterweight title picture for the time being, with a long road back. That’s why we’re backing the fight to go the distance at generous odds of 2.63.

Garry will be looking to weather the inevitable early onslaught of Prates and bring him into uncharted waters. The Brazilian is yet to go past the second round in his UFC run, but Garry showed in his last fight that he can ride out early aggression and make it a gritty encounter.

Garry to win via points looks generous at 3.50, but we’ll air on the side of caution with the flight to go the distance at 2.63.

Georgian kickboxer Giga Chikadze looks to get back on track following his decision loss to Arnold Allen at UFC 304. Ugandan David Onama is his next opponent here in Kansas City, Missouri, and it’s a bit of a surprise to see the bookmakers rank Chikadze this much of an underdog at 2.50.

Onama is currently riding a three-fight win streak, and it should be noted that his two UFC losses have come once, taking a fight on short notice.

That being said, this is his first bout against a ranked opponent, and Chikadze has been floating around the top ten at 145 lbs for some time now. His kickboxing credentials allow him to keep the fight at a distance with a combination of strikes.

Onama is not to be taken lightly, but this is by far the biggest fight of his career, against the toughest opponent he has faced. Chikadze’s two UFC losses have come against the best in Arnold Allen and Calvin Kattar, so it’s been a case of the Georgian struggling to break that top five bracket.

Odds of 2.50 for Chikadze to win on the nose look too good for this to pass up.

Another Brazilian fan favourite here, as Michel Pereira looks to dance his way to the ring for yet another win, this time against Russian-born German native Abus Magomedov.

Despite a fifth-round loss to Anthony Hernandez last time out, it’s hard to believe this is the same Michel Pereira who fell to shock losses to journeyman Tristen Connelly and the ageing Diego Sanchez back in 2019 and 2020. Since then, the charismatic striker has gone on an 8-1 run, which, as mentioned before, was halted by Anthony Hernandez back in October.

Abus Magomedov has bounced back from his two losses to Sean Strickland and Caio Barralho with back-to-back wins over the now-released Warlley Alves and Brunno Ferreira. 

This is a bit of a ‘pick ‘em’ according to the bookmakers. Magomedov was fed to tough opponents too soon and was picked apart with ease, while Pereira has turned his career from a comedic-novelty act to a legitimate player at 185.

Sean Strickland proved that unorthodox striking can break Magomedov down, and given Pereira is known to literally backflip on top of opponents, it’s a stylistic matchup that plays in the Brazilian's favour.

Back Pereira to bounce back following his loss to Hernandez at odds of 1.73 here.