UFC Fight Night 271 takes place tomorrow night in Seattle, Washington and we’ve got our predictions for all the fights below.
Main Card
Israel Adesanya vs. Joe Pyfer
Ex-UFC 185lb champ Israel Adesanya returns after a year on the sidelines looking to shake off a three-fight losing skid when he fights Joe Pyfer, who comes in off three wins.
Some of the mystique around Adesanya has dwindled due to his slump in form, but he does still remain an elite kickboxer technician with his clinical striking (aided by a 3″ height and 5″ reach advantage here), excellent distance management and footwork, together with intelligent use of traps and counters. So at 36-years-old there’s still time to prove he’s still got it, but at the same time he does have a lot of tread on the tires after not only a 29-fight MMA career, but also a 17-year kickboxing career too. There was a sense that he’d become a bit jaded after all he’d accomplished in both sports, but his durability is also know more questionable after being KO’d by Alex Pereira, rocked by Sean Strickland’s jab and TKO’d by Nassourdine Imavov, while Dricus du Plessis was also able to submit him.
The 29-year-old Pyfer has steadily built a 6–1 UFC run since emerging from the Contender Series. He’s a long way from being as polished and nuanced of a striker as Adesanya, but he has a competent set of striking fundamentals and is a rugged, powerful competitor, whose heavy hands are a big threat. Meanwhile his offensive wrestling gives him a second potential path to victory, and he can work for submissions too.
I’m more hesitant to pick Adesanya here than I would have been in his prime years, but aside from the genuine risk of being caught by a Pyfer power punch I still feel there’s a big enough of a technical striking gap between them here that the former champ will be able to remain evasive while landing the cleaner strikes to earn a decision victory.
Pick: Israel Adesanya wins by decision.
Alexa Grasso vs. Maycee Barber
Alexa Grasso heads into this rematch on a two‑fight losing streak, while Maycee Barber has put together seven straight wins since losing their first clash in 2021.
A former strawweight, Grasso was still proving what she wasn’t too small to compete at flyweight when she first fought Barber. The fact that she was able to cope with her to win by decision was a significant moment, before eventually going on to shock Valentina Shevchenko to win the title. However, Shevchenko dominated the rematch with her wrestling, and Natalia Silva managed to outstrike Grasso to win by decision last time out. Grasso remains a sharp boxer though, with fast hands and footwork, while she’s also a crafty grappler who does a good job hunting for submissions even when on her back. It does still feel like Grasso is a bit of a disadvantage in terms of her size and power in this weight class though.
Barber was only 22-years-old and coming off an ACL injury when she went up against Grasso five years ago. Barber has got a lot more experience under her belt now, but she’s also faced some real adversity in the past couple of years due to some serious health issues that led to a long layoff and a seizure scare 15 minutes before a fight last year. Thankfully she has since managed to recover and get a win under her belt in order to head into this year on a more positive footing. While Barber has shown some improvements over the years the reality is that she is still a fighter who leans a lot on her natural physicality and toughness rather than clean technique. She looks to apply pressure while firing off punches a close quarters and being a bully in the clinch, while she can also wrestle and has mauling ground‑and‑pound.
On paper it feels like Barber should be able to overpower Grasso. However, that’s not how it played out the first time they fought, and Grasso still has the skill advantage on the feet and on the mat, while also having more experience now of fighting big opponents at 125lbs. As such I’m leaning towards Grasso to be too slick and fast on the feet and too tricky on the mat for Barber to control, leading the former champ to edge out a decision win.
Pick: Alexa Grasso wins by decision.
Michael Chiesa vs. Niko Price
Michael Chiesa rides a three‑fight win streak into what he says will be his retirement bout. Initially set to face Carlston Harris, he now meets short‑notice replacement Niko Price, who has lost five of his last six fights.
The 38-year-old Chiesa fell out of the rankings a few years ago after a few defeats, and though he’s put together a nice run since then the reality is that’s it been against other aging veterans heading towards retirement. Still, while his striking game has always been quite limited due to his lack of athleticism and power, it’s a different story in other aspects of his game. He picks his openings well to get the fight to the mat, and from their he has strong top control, slick back takes, and a proven submission game that’s racked up 12 wins. His defensive grappling has led to a few submission losses in the past though.
The 36-year-old has been an unwavering action fighter throughout his time in the UFC, implementing a high-volume, hard-hitting striking style with good power, but little in the way of defense. Early on, that chaos delivered highlight‑reel knockouts, both for and against him, but in the present day as his chin and cardio have started to fade, so has his win-rate. Even so, he still remains a tenacious competitor, though he doesn’t have the same energy levels he used to.
This change in opponent works in Chiesa’s favor as while there’s risk here on the feet, Price’s weak takedown defense is likely to be exploited here and I think Chiesa will manage to close out his career with one last submission win in the 2nd round.
Pick: Michael Chiesa wins by submission in Rd2.
Julian Erosa vs. Lerryan Douglas
Julian Erosa returns after a decision loss ended a three‑fight streak, and now faces UFC newcomer Lerryan Douglas, who comes in on a five‑fight unbeaten run.
After emerging from two initial runs in the UFC without a win, Erosa has revived his career since re-joining the UFC in 2020, going 8–4. A tall and lanky fighter, Erosa aggressively tries to seek out a finish wherever the fight goes. Despite having a height and reach advantage here, Erosa typically likes to swarm in with high-volume striking at closer range, while he’s got a good submission game too. Both have proven to be effective as he has 12 wins via strikes and 14 via submission. However, the problem for Erosa is that despite the fact he’s mentally tough and brave, his doesn’t always have the chin to back him up in a brawl, and so seven of his losses have come by strikes.
Douglas earned a UFC contract with a 36‑second KO on the Contender Series and had been on a strong finishing streak in LFA before that. The 30-year-old Douglas is an experienced fighter, but he hasn’t always been so consistent as earlier in his career he only had an 8-5 record, including a few losses via both strikes and submission. In recent years he’s shown good technique and real knockout power on the feet though, while he can also wrestle and grapple too.
This is a match-up that could go either way, but though Erosa’s higher volume striking is an asset, his defensive lapses and weaker chin make him vulnerable early to Douglas hard-hitting single power punches, and I think that’ll lead him to a 1st round TKO finish.
Pick: Lerryan Douglas wins by TKO in Rd1.
Mansur Abdul-Malik vs. Yousri Belgaroui
Mansur Abdul‑Malik has won his last four UFC fights as he now prepares to take on Yousri Belgaroui, who returns after a TKO win in his debut last year.
The 28-year-old Abdul-Malik is a powerful, athletic middleweight whose background is in wrestling, but enjoys the stand-up game, demonstrating good speed and power with his punches and kicks, while his knees and elbows also play their part. Meanwhile he can take the fight to the mat if he chooses to and has hard-hitting ground-and-pound. So far he’s been able to win all his fights before the final bell, and usually sooner than later, but that does mean he lacks experience beyond the 2nd round, and has shown signs of potentially suspect cardio.
The 33-year-old Belgaroui is a former kickboxer who once beat Alex Pereira, though he also lost twice to him, and was also beaten on a couple of occasions by Israel Adesanya too. He followed in their footsteps over to MMA in 2021 and has since gone 9-3. At 6’5″, he’s a big middleweight with a versatile striking arsenal at his disposal that he uses to good effect, racking up seven finishes so far. On the other hand though, due to his late move into the sport his ground game remains underdeveloped.
Begaroui should have the striking advantage here, but I think Abdul-Malik’s superior wrestling and grappling will lead him to a submission finish by the 2nd round.
Pick: Mansur Abdul-Malik wins by submission in Rd2.
Terrance McKinney vs. Kyle Nelson
Terrance McKinney looks to rebound from a submission loss in December, while Kyle Nelson enters after winning his only fight in 2025.
McKinney has put together a 7–5 run in the UFC that incredibly is compromised almost entirely of fights that he either won or lost inside the first round. His explosive style is built on all‑out offense, coming out gate fast with big punches and head kicks, while also having the option to go for a takedown and equally aggressively hunt for a submission. This shock-and-awe approach has found some success, but the evidence across his entire career is overwhelming that if he doesn’t get the finish he seeks in the first few minuts then he fades fast and becomes vulnerable to being stopped by strikes or submission.
Nelson, 34, had a rough start in the UFC, losing four of his first five fights, but they stuck with him and he has turned things around with a 4‑1‑1 run since 2023. Like McKinney he’s tall for the division and will apply an aggressive mix of boxing and wrestling, and has respectable power. However, he’s more measured in his approach and so is able to go the distance when required. He can be hit, though, and a few of his UFC losses came via strikes.
McKinney could land something big here, but I favor Nelson to survive the early offensive swarm and then be well placed to take over the fight from their on, fighting his way to a second‑round TKO stoppage.
Pick: Kyle Nelson wins by TKO in Rd2.
Prelims (Predicted winners in bold)
Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Tofiq Musayev
Chase Hooper vs. Lance Gibson Jr.
Marcin Tybura vs. Tyrell Fortune
Casey O’Neill vs. Gabriella Fernandes
Navajo Stirling vs. Bruno Lopes
Ricky Simón vs. Adrian Yañez
Alexia Thainara vs. Bruna Brasil
