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UFC 242 is this Saturday at The Arena, Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates and will be headlined by the UFC Lightweight Championship title unification bout between current champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and interim champion Dustin Poirier.
The event will mark the promotion’s third visit to Abu Dhabi, and first since UFC Fight Night: Nogueira vs. Nelson in April of 2014. It is also right in the middle of the afternoon, so there is a good chance, you may just miss it!
We see four fights that standout to us, and let’s go ahead and give you our quick predicts for them.
Joanne Calderwood vs Andrea Lee
Prediction – With 13 wins on her record, not many, if any are against notable names, Calderwood could change that with a big KO of Lee. Will she get it? We think not! Lee is 3-0 in her brief UFC stint, but all wins have been by decision. That will change on Saturday with a massive and brutal knockout of Calderwood.
Curtis Blaydes vs Shamil Abdurakhimov
Prediction – Shamil is 5-2 in the UFC, with all 7 of those fights coming on Fight Night Cards, this is his first shot at PPV. Will he make it count against heavyweight contender Blaydes? We do not believe so, as Blaydes is inching closer to a title shot with every big win. He is 6-2-1 in his UFC stint, with the only two losses coming too Francis Ngannou via brutal knockout each time.
He will we eventually have to solve that Nightmare, if he wants to taste gold. He will start with another win this Saturday by decision.
Edson Barboza vs Paul Felder
Prediction – These are two UFC gatekeepers with plenty of fight of the night potential. While you may not see them contend for gold anytime soon, they both can fight and fight well.
For Barboza, this will be his 22nd fight in the UFC cage, he is 14-7 in the UFC thus far. He has had some good spurts, winning 3 or 4 in a row a couple of times, but never been in line for a shot. He has also lost 3 of his last 4 fights.
Meanwhile Felder has been on the uptick as of late, going 4 of 5 victorious, with the sole loss been a highly disputed decision to Mike Perry. Felder will remain hot and in the good graces of the UFC brass with a narrow decision win.
Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Dustin Poirier
Prediction – Up until his win over Max Holloway, Dustin Poirier was labeled as a talented fighter who could never win the big one. That all changed with his dominant performance over the UFC featherweight champion.
Even before that impressive decision win, he had knockout wins in his last three fights against Eddie Alvarez, Justin Gaethje and Anthony Pettis.
He has looked great since early 2017 and will need to have the night of his life, to have any chance at shocking Khabib Nurmagomedov.
I firmly believe that Nurmagomedov is the best pound for pound fighter in the world and proved that last October by making Conor McGregor look like a child. Outclassing the Irishman at every turn.
The real champ is 27-0, and yes, I will admit that 20 of those wins came against subpar competition. But when you look at how bad he dominated names like McGregor, Al Iaquinta, Michael Johnson, Rafeal dos Anjos and Edson Barboza, there is no denying his incredible talent.
Poirier will give him a challenge early, but look for Nurmagomedov to grind out the 5 round war by unanimous decision.
