UFC Fight Night Predictions: Bloody Battles at APEX (Oct 19)

Even though MMA fans aren’t too crazy about APEX events, our UFC Fight Night prediction is for this event to be a real banger.

This event is headlined by a clash between two Top 15 middleweights, Anthony Hernandez and Michel Pereira. We think this is going to be a real war inside the Octagon as both fighters are famous for their fighting spirit.

We also predict the co-main event – Rob Font vs. Kyler Phillips – will be a fun fight to watch as well. We also think that the fight card opener, Austen Lane vs. Robelis Despaigne is going to be a hell of a fight.

For all these reasons, we decided to do a preview including all UFC Fight Night predictions, in which we’ll share our top picks for the October 19 event.

Austen Lane vs. Robelis Despaigne

This Saturday is going to be a big day in the heavyweight division. The Ngannou vs. Ferreira fight starts at 12:30 p.m., and a few hours later, the UFC Fight Night will kick off with a heavyweight clash between Austen Lane and Robelis Despaigne.

Just a few months ago, Despaigne was thought of as the next big thing in the heavyweight division, after going 5-0. But then, Waldo Cortes-Acosta beat him. Still, it wasn’t a spectacular win – he won by a decision.

Fast-forward to October 19, and Despaigne has a chance to get back onto Dana White’s radar. For that, he needs to beat Austen Lane, who’s a very similar type of fighter.

Despaigne is 6’7, while Lane is one inch shorter. Despaigne has a win-to-knockout ratio of 100%, while Lane’s KO percentage is 91.66%.

The only difference is that Lane has five losses in his portfolio, each of which happened by KO/TKO. We think his sixth loss by this method will happen on Saturday.

Rob Font vs. Kyler Phillips

Rob Font is 37 years of age, and he’s lost four of his last five fights. Does this mean the end is near for his UFC career? Not if he beats Kyler Phillips at UFC Fight Night.

So, can he pull it off? We think he can. The thing is that those four losses each happened by decision. Plus, in each of those fights, he fought against real elite fighters of the UFC Bantamweight division, namely:

• Jose Aldo – Font lost this fight despite lading 149 significant strikes.
• Marlon Vera – In this fight, Font landed 271 significant strikes, his career high.
• Cory Sandhagen – Font couldn’t handle The Sandman’s superior wrestling, suffering seven takedowns in 25 minutes.
• Deiveson Figueredo – Despite lading one strike more than Figgy, he lost the fight after getting taken down four times.

It’s been almost a year since his last fight, so Font has probably worked hard on improving his TD defense. Even though he’s locking horns against a prolific judoka, we think he’ll be able to deal with him.

Anthony Hernandez vs. Michel Pereira

Anthony Hernandez has made himself famous for his incredible grappling. Eight of his 12 wins happened by submission, including the one against Rodolfo Vieira, which won him the Submission of the Year award by Combat Press, Jitsmagazine, and Cageside Press.

He’s a dangerous grappler, but this doesn’t mean he’s a one-trick pony. He’s a great wrestler with 6.62 TDs on average. On top of everything, he’s great striking-wise, landing 4.30 significant strikes, while absorbing 3.46.

Michel Pereira lands a bit more (5.16), but he also absorbs slightly more (3.70). He doesn’t land too many takedowns, as he prefers fighting upright. Another proof is that he’s got a takedown defense of 94%.

He’s coming to APEX after winning his previous eight fights, but we think his superb run will end on October 19. We think Fluffy has the set of skills that Demolidor won’t be able to deal with. The two have similar striking skills, but Hernandez is a much better grappler.

Remaining UFC Fight Night Predictions

• Charles Johnson (-210) vs. Su Mudaerji (+180) – Johnson
• Brady Hiestand (-150) vs. Jake Hadley (+130) – Hiestand
• Darren Elkins (+105) vs. Daniel Pineda (-125) – Pineda
• Matheus Nicolau (+160) vs. Asu Almabayev (-185) – Nicolau
• Brad Katona (+200) vs. Jean Matsumoto (-235) – Katona
• Joselyne Edwards (-240) vs. Tamires Vidal (+205) – Edwards
• Jessica Penne (+140) vs. Elise Reed (-160) – Reed
• Melissa Martinez (-135) vs. Alice Ardelean (+115) – Martinez

There you have it, our top UFC Fight Night predictions. As you can see, most of our predictions are for favorites winning.

However, there are a couple of underdogs we expect to triumph on Saturday. Among those are Matheus Nicolau and Brad Katona. Still, the biggest longshot bet is Font, but we feel he’s going to upset the odds.

Still, if you wanna play it safe, stick to UFC Fight Night favorites such as Charles Johnson, Joselyne Edwards, and Robelis Despaigne. On top of everything, we also predict Anthony Hernandez will win, which is a scenario for which the odds are -132 at BetOnline.

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