Another weekend means another UFC event! This time, the Ultimate Fighting Championships is coming to us live, from London, England for Fight Night 37. If you want to know more about the fighters, check out the UFC’s official Fight Night 37 page, and if you want less information but an extra half-joke, you can take a peep at my Event Primer. My esteemed colleague, Burnsy, joins me as always to make picks on these fights, and hey, don’t be shy and throw out your own predictions.
Considering I went 1-8 on that Macau card last week, you literally cannot do worse than me (Unless you are a pile of damp socks).
Flyweight – Louis “Goodnight” Gaudinot vs Phil “Billy” Harris
Jessica: I’m really torn here. On one hand, Gaudinot has pretty dumb hair, and I try to pick against that as much as possible, but I just don't think Harris is all that good. Gaudinot wins by troll doll impression.
Burnsy: Gaudinot is a confusing guy. I remember watching his first UFC fight (loss, TKO) at the TUF 14 finale and thinking, “This guy needs some work.” Then he looked great in his win against John Lineker back in 2012, and then he looked uninspired in his loss at UFC 164. I guess if I go with his pattern, he’ll beat Harris easily.
Welterweight – Danny “The Cheesecake Assassin” Mitchell vs Igor Araujo
Jessica: Again, I’m torn on my pick. Araujo is from that terrible TUF 16 season, and I want all evidence of that gone from the UFC. On the other hand, Mitchell’s best win is maybe Nico Musoke four years ago, which is terrifying (BUT WHAT ABOUT THAT NICKNAME, THOUGH?!). Araujo wins by decision.
Burnsy: It doesn’t matter how many times I see it, I can’t get past the nickname. He should weight 400 pounds and show up at eating competitions. Igor, I guess.
Bantamweight – “Stunning” Roland Delorme vs “Dangerous” Davey Grant
Jessica: Delorme is usually pretty fun to watch on the ground, and Grant is pretty skilled on the mat, too. Delorme has better striking though, and that should set up his grappling attacks. Delorme wins by submission.
Burnsy: I’m giving Grant the benefit of the doubt here with my “bounce-back” rule about a guy fighting after he lost in his UFC debut.
Middleweight – Bradley “Bear” Scott vs Claudio Henrique “Mineiro” Da Silva
Jessica: Da Silva has basically just beat up his fellow Brazilians and fun-named Xavier Foupa-Pokam, while Scott at least choked Michael Kuiper out of the UFC. Scott wins by punchies.
Burnsy: I’m going to take Da Silva to win another underwhelming fight. This card is hardly impressing me at this point. However, I would like to say happy birthday to UFC ring girl Carly Baker.
Middleweight – Luke “The Big Slow” Barnatt vs Mats Nilsson
Jessica: Barnatt has been looking pretty good recently. He can use his length to pretty good effect. I don’t know what Mats Nilsson is good, but he isn’t tall, so I’m picking Barnatt to win this one.
Burnsy: Barnatt is 7-0 overall and 2-0 since joining the UFC. I’ll continue to pretend like I always said he was going to be awesome as long as he keeps winning.
Light Heavyweight – Ilir “The Sledgehammer” Latifi vs Cyrille “The Snake” Diabate
Jessica: I never ended up watching that Latifi/Mousasi match, but I don’t see this going much better for the pudgy Swede. Diabate is another tall, rangy guy that’s pretty great at boxing people up at range, and that’s what I see going down, until Latifi goes down. Diabate wins by third round TKO.
Burnsy: Diabate is retiring after this fight, so I’m pulling for him. It’s always nice to see a guy go out on top.
Welterweight – Gunnar “Gunni” Nelson vs Omari “Lakec” Akhmedov
Jessica: Nelson is an outstanding grappler, because apparently Iceland is big into that? Part of me wants him to get a submission because it feels like it’s been a million fights since the last sub (Other than the one I’m predicting earlier in the card, of course), but I cannot pick against a Dagestani fighter. Akhmedov got rocked a few times in his debut fight, but used his wrestling very well to slow things down until his brain finished rebooting, then he punched the heck out of his opponent. I don’t see Nelson rocking Akhmedov, but I’m pretty sure Omari is gonna punch the heck out of Gunnar. Akhmedov wins by third round TKO.
Burnsy: I’ve been singing Gunnar Nelson’s praises since day one, as he’s another one of the many exciting young welterweights that I love talking about. But this fight is a huge test. One of these guys is going to take his next step forward as a contender. I think Akhmedov has the potential to be more explosive, but they’re both guys who can finish a fight quick and painfully. I’m sticking by my guy Nelson, because…
Flyweight – Brad “One Punch” Pickett vs Neil “2Tap” Seery
Jessica: This is a joke, right? Pickett is a pretty solid dude and Seery is just A Dude (With a dumb as hell nickname). It might take more than one punch, but Pickett is going to knock out this guy.
Burnsy: Pickett without question.
Lightweight – Michael “The Menace” Johnson vs Melvin “The Young Assassin” Guillard
Jessica: Maybe it’s because I lived for a good chunk of my life close to New Orleans, but despite his flaws as a fighter, I really like Melvin. Unfortunately, Johnson has turned into a bit of a wrecking machine lately. I’m pretty sure Guillard will do something entirely mind-boggling (Because THAT’S WHAT HE DO!), and Johnson will take advantage and punch him a lot, To Victory!
Burnsy: I don’t even know with these guys. There have been times that I thought either fighter could have been on the verge of stardom and then they lose back-to-back fights. But I’ll take Johnson since he’s riding the hot streak.
Light Heavyweight – Alexander “The Mauler” Gustafsson vs Jimi “Poster Boy” Manuwa
Jessica: Is Jimi Manuwa any good, or is he just good at using his MIND POWERS to cause catastrophic knee destruction in his opponents? I know Gustafsson is good, considering he SHOULD BE THE LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION, GOSH! Plus, he has The Best Doggies in MMA. With those powers combined, he is an unstoppable murder-machine. Swede-Man Swedersson wins by KO.
Burnsy: I’m still more irrationally bitter about the unanimous decision from UFC 165 than any fan should be, and Jon Jones is my favorite fighter. Gustafsson’s the real deal and I don’t think he’ll have much of a problem with this fight.
