UFC Fight Night 54 takes place in Canada tomorrow night and we’ve got our predictions for all the fights for you below.
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Main Card:
Rory MacDonald vs. Tarec Saffiedine
The outcome of this fight largely depends on what MacDonald decides to do. If he opts to stand and trade as he seems to prefer to do these days then it should be a close, competitive fight with Saffiedine’s kickboxing skills matching up well with his own.
However, one of MacDonald’s strengths has always been that there’s few holes in his game and he’s well versed wherever the fight goes, so mixing things up and taking this fight to the mat regularly would be a smart strategy and should give him a solid route to victory here. A finish is possible, but a decision win seems like the most likely option here.
Rory MacDonald to win by decision.
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Raphael Assuncao vs. Bryan Caraway
Caraway is a solid fighter, particularly with his wrestling and submissions, but Assuncao is even better in that regard while also offering significantly more firepower on the feet. Caraway will make it somewhat competitive, but by the end of three rounds Assuncao should comfortably be claiming his seventh UFC win in a row.
Raphael Assuncao to win by decision.
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Yosdenis Cedeno vs. Chad Laprise
Two guys who like to keep the fight on the feet mixing it up here and I like TUF Nations winner Laprise to emerge the victor here as though he’s not as heavy a hitter as Cedeno he’s the more refined striker and should come on strong in the later rounds as his opponent starts to tire giving him a chance to earn a stoppage victory.
Chad Laprise to win by TKO in Rd3.
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Bruno Santos vs. Elias Theodorou
The other TUF Nations winner Theodorou is also in action and I believe he too can come out on top in his fight with Santos who’s quite content to win ‘ugly’ with his smothering and somewhat limited style. Theodorou will be the more active and better conditioned of the two, offering more of an offensive threat on the feet and the mat to claim a win on the scorecards.
Elias Theodorou to win by decision.
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Ramon Salazar vs. Mitch Gagnon
Gagnon has had a few opponent changes for this fight and on just a few days notice he’s now facing UFC newcomer Salazar. These kind of fights are always unfair on the debuting fighter and it’s hard to imagine Salazar coming in and producing an upset against a dependable fighter like Gagnon.
Mitch Gagnon to win by submission in Rd1.
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Patrick Holohan vs. Chris Kelades
The relatively unknown Kelades is also coming in on just a few days notice to face Holohan. This one isn’t perhaps as clear cut as the fight above given that Holohan has barely got started in his own UFC run, but he looked confident and capable on the mat in his debut back in his native Ireland earlier in the year and given his penchant for submissions that’s the likely route to a finish here.
Patrick Holohan to win by submission in Rd2.
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Prelims: (Predicted winners in bold)
Daron Cruickshank vs. Anthony Njokuani
Jingliang Li vs. Nordine Taleb
Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. Jake Lindsey
Paul Felder vs. Jason Saggo
Matt Dwyer vs. Albert Tumenov
Pedro Munhoz vs. Jerrod Sanders
