UFC Fight Night 251 takes place tomorrow night in Las Vegas and we’ve got our predictions for all the fights below.
Main Card
Jared Cannonier vs. Gregory Rodrigues
After going winless in his two fights last year, Jared Cannonier will hope to get his 2025 campaign off to a better start when he takes on Gregory Rodrigues, who is currently riding a three-fight winning streak.
Cannonier turns 41 next month, so he’ll be under pressure this weekend to fend off retirement talk, although it’s worth remembering that his last two defeats were against potential title hopefuls in Nassourdine Imavov and Caio Borralho. Cannonier is a good athlete for his age and tends to stick to the fundamentals, while fighting at a measured pace, which helps prevent him from gassing out. He still moves fluidly enough to deliver punches with good power in addition to possessing very damaging leg kicks, although he doesn’t use them as much as he used to. Cannonier won’t look to take the fight to the mat often, and if he does he’s more likely to look for ground-and-pound as he doesn’t have much of a submission game.
The 32-year-old Rodrigues is a fighter who loves to stand and trade strikes even though he’s actually a talented grappler who can also wrestle. And for the most part that’s worked out for him as he has solid boxing and is naturally heavy-handed, leading to 5 finishes via strikes from 7 UFC victories. He does tend to get tagged more than you’d like to see though, and while he’s generally quite durable he has suffered a couple of tough KO losses. That seems to have brought more of a balance to his game though as he is now looking to his ground game more than he did at the start of his UFC run.
Rodrigues would be wise to lean heavily on his grappling advantage here as it’s the path of least resistance, but I think with his pressure and higher activity level on the feet he can enjoy some success on the feet at times too, leading him to a decision victory.
Pick: Gregory Rodrigues wins by decision.
Calvin Kattar vs. Youssef Zalal
Calvin Kattar will attempt to battle back from three defeats in a row for the first time in his career when he fights Youssef Zalal, who has been in fine form since returning to the UFC last year with three submission victories in a row.
The soon-to-be 37-year-old Kattar could point to the level of competition he’s faced in Josh Emmett, Arnold Allen and Aljamain Sterling to explain his current slump in form, but nevertheless his spot in the top 10 rankings is now in jeopardy. Kattar is an experienced veteran though who relies on robust boxing, solid power and the cardio to be able to push a good pace even in a five-round atmosphere. Generally Kattar has capable takedown defense, although Sterling was able to take him down without much fuss and he struggled to get back up – though it’s worth noting he’s only ever been submitted once. And Kattar is hard to finish on the feet too, but he’s taken a lot of damage over the years, including an infamously brutal one-sided 25-minute beatdown against Max Holloway a few years ago. He also suffered an ACL Injury against Arnold Allen in 2023 that kept him out for 18 months, so he’s got a lot of miles on the clock at this point.
The 28-year-old Zalal first appearance in the UFC in 2020 and got off to a good start with a trio of decision wins, but then ran out of steam with three losses and a draw leading to him being released. It’s worth pointing out that during that slump he actually took future 145lb champ Ilia Topuria to the scorecards though, which is no mean feat. He managed to regroup during his time away from the Octagon and has performed well since returning in 2024. Zalal is a capable kickboxer who relies more on his kicks than punches, and has respectable technique, but lacks stopping power. Zalal’s wrestling is pretty solid though and his grappling has become a real plus point in recent times, offering him a solid pathway to finishing fights. He also has good durability, having never been stopped inside the distance in his 22-fight career.
Kattar is a tough veteran whose beaten some good fighters over the years, but he’s no longer at his best and with Zalal’s age and current momentum, together with having a significant advantage on the mat I see him emerging with a win on the scorecards here.
Pick: Youssef Zalal wins by decision.
Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Dylan Budka
Edmen Shahbazyan has lost five of his last seven fights heading into his fight against Dylan Budka, who is winless in his two UFC outings so far.
Shahbazyan has been fighting in the UFC since a young age, and at 27-years-old it’s disappointing that he never seems to have overcome the inherent flaws in his game. He still continues to be a dangerous opponent in the first half of his fights with his impactful striking, good combination work and ability to quickly ramp up the aggression and intensity when hunting for a finish. However, he’s always been liable to run out of steam if he doesn’t find that fight-ending blow, and that invariably leads to him getting finished himself in the later rounds, mostly via strikes, but also by submission last time out. Shahbazyan has changed up his fight camp and tried to compete with more patience, but he still struggles to maintain his energy levels from start to finish, and his defensive wrestling remains suspect too when he’s tired.
Holding a 7-4 career record, the 25-years-old Budka still has a ways to go to prove that he’s worth a spot on the UFC roster. Known as ‘The Mindless Hulk’, Budka’s game is largely built around looking to strike his way into close quarters to work from frequent takedowns. He sticks to his task and can use his wrestling to grind his way to victory. However, though he can occasionally find a submission, he’s typically not known as a finisher either on the feet or the mat, and he can also be outwrestled by better technicians.
Shahbazyan may be flawed, but he’s better than BUdka, and while he’s still fresh he should be able to keep this one standing and punish his opponent for his inferior striking ability, leading him to a 1st round TKO stoppage win.
Pick: Edmen Shahbazyan wins by TKO in Rd1.
Ismael Bonfim vs. Nazim Sadykhov
Ismael Bonfim has put together a 2-1 run since joining the UFC and will next take on Nazim Sadykhov, who has two wins and a draw in the Octagon.
Bonfim began his pro-career when he was just 16-years-old, so the now 29-year-old has a lot of experience under his belt. He possesses sharp technical boxing ability and likes to strike in volume, utilizing his quick hands and solid power to his advantage, while also being savvy enough to say protected defensively. He’s not as dynamic as his brother Gabriel, but that being said he did actually KO Terrence McKinney with a flying knee strike in his UFC debut. Bonfim is also able to wrestle and offensively he’s a capable grappler, though he was tapped out a few times earlier in his career. That being said, these days Bonfim has the confidence that comes from only having lost once in the past 10 decade.
The 30-year-old Sadykhov is a competent striker in his own right with solid technique and good footwork. He’s become accustomed to finishing fights, with many of his wins coming from strikes, but he does also have two submission victories too. However, in his last fight with Viacheslav Borschev he went the distance for only the second time in his career and had to settle for a draw. That was 15 months ago, so he’ll need to get back up to speed quickly on Saturday night.
This should be somewhat competitive, but I think Bonfim has more quality overall and will be able to emerge with a decision victory.
Pick: Ismael Bonfim wins by decision.
Rodolfo Vieira vs. Andre Petroski
Rodolfo Vieira and Andre Petroski are in a similar spot ahead of this main card middleweight match-up as they have both won their last two fights.
The 35-year-old Vieira is an excellent grappler with a decorated background in BJJ who has made that work for him in MMA, racking up 9 submission finishes from 10 career wins so far. He’s not had to dig too far into his bag of tricks so far though with every one of those stoppages coming via either rear-naked choke or arm-triangle. Vieira benefits from having enough wrestling to help him get opponents down into his world, but his striking is far more questionable. Vieira’s biggest flaw though has been his cardio, which infamously left him so exhausted in a fight with Anthony Hernandez in 2021 that he succumbed to a shock submission defeat. That was a lesson learned for him, but it does still feel like his gas tank has the potential to be compromised if he’s made to work hard.
The 33-year-old Petroski built upon a solid wrestling foundation with a capable grappling game that’s helped him notch up a few submission wins over the years. Meanwhile he’s also worked on his comfort level engaging on the feet too, though his confidence took a dent a while back when he was TKO’d twice in a row. He has since got back on track though, making use of his wrestling to go 7-2 for his UFC run up to this point.
Petroski’s strongest suits lead him into harms way in this match-up given Vieira’s submission prowess, and I think ‘The Black Belt Hunter’ will ultimately add another tap-out victory to his collection.
Pick: Rodolfo Vieira wins by submission in Rd2.
Connor Matthews vs. Jose Delgado
A clash of Contender Series recruits opens up the main card, with Conor Matthews looking to rebound from a TKO loss in his UFC debut, while Jose Delgado will be making his first appearance in the Octagon off a KO win on the show last year.
The 32-year-old Matthews faces an immediate physical disadvantage here as he’ll be giving up 3″ in height and reach to his opponent. Matthews likes to press the action, but his kickboxing lacks a cutting edge and he’s very suspect defensively, being far too easy to hit. Thankfully Matthews can switch things up by going for takedowns and he has shown an ability to utilize his grappling to pick up submission fins on the regional scene, but it remains to be seen if that translates to a UFC-quality level of competition.
The 26-year-old Delgado is a fairly solid all-rounder, though he’s still rough around the edges. He has fast-paced, high-volume striking and puts together his punches, kicks and knees together well. He’s not the most technical wrestler, but he can get opponents to the mat and is a capable grappler too. And up to this point he’s managed to win all 8 of his career victories inside the distance, with a nice even split between strikes and submissions.
Delgado is a work-in-progress but seems more likely to be able to stick around in the UFC than Matthews, and with his busier offense and better power I think he delivers a 2nd round TKO finish here.
Pick: Jose Delgado wins by TKO in Rd2.
Prelims
Angela Hill vs. Ketlen Souza
Jared Gordon vs. Kauê Fernandes
Rafael Estevam vs. Jesús Santos Aguilar
Gabriel Bonfim vs. Khaos Williams
Vince Morales vs. Elijah Smith
Valter Walker vs. Don’Tale Mayes
Julia Avila vs. Jacqueline Cavalcanti
