UFC Fight Night 56 takes place in Brazil this Saturday night and we’ve got our quick picks for all the fights below.
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Main Card:
Mauricio Rua vs. Ovince Saint Preux
Shogun’s definitely past his best at this stage and showing the effects of the wars he’s been in over the years, while OSP is still relatively fresh despite just being a year younger.
However, Shogun is still the more dangerous of the two men and has the killer instinct, and the fact that OSP is coming in on short notice helps his cause. If OSP can use his range and weather the early storm he’s certainly got a chance here, but there may just be some life left in the old dog yet and I’m going for Rua’s aggression to produce a TKO win inside of 10 minutes.
Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua to win by TKO in Rd2.
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John Lineker vs. Ian McCall
Definitely two of the flyweight division’s best on show here and I favor McCall to use his speed and movement from range on the feet together with takedowns and top control on the mat to frustrate the heavy-handed Lineker and earn a decision victory.
Ian McCall to win by decision.
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Warlley Alves vs. Alan Jouban
Jouban is a good striker, but he should be completely outclassed on the mat by the talented Alves who I’m tipping to win by second round submission.
Warlley Alves to win by submission in Rd2.
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Leon Edwards vs. Claudio Silva
A classic striker (Edwards) vs grappler (Silva) match-up here, and with the crowd behind him I favor Silva to stifle his opponents offensive arsenal and grind out a decision victory.
Claudio Silva to win by decision.
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Nina Ansaroff vs. Juliana Lima
Lima blew a gasket in her UFC debut earlier in the year, but I’d expect she’ll have learned from that experience. Still, she faces a challenging match-up here against another newcomer Ansaroff who’s all-round game is a little more polished which will help her edge out a win on the scorecards.
Nina Ansaroff to win by decision.
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Prelims: (Predicted winners in bold)
Diego Rivas vs. Rodolfo Rubio
Caio Magalhaes vs. Trevor Smith
Dhiego Lima vs. Jorge Oliveira
Charlie Brenneman vs. Leandro Silva
Thomas Almeida vs. Tim Gorman
Colby Covington vs. Wagner Silva
