Wednesday night sees the UFC Fight Island event carry on with a highly rated fight night card that has ranked contenders plastered all over the main card. I’ve already previewed three of the prelim fights for the card, so it’s time for me to look at the other three prelim fights, so shall we begin?
Modestas Bukauskas vs Andreas Michailidis – Light Heavyweight Bout
Following on from the Gordon vs Fishgold fight is a light heavyweight fight between two UFC debutants. Modestas Bukauskas made his name through the Cage Warriors brand and found himself pretty successful there, ending with an undefeated record and managing to finish all of his opponents. Modestas is definitely more of a striker in terms of style, but he does have 3 wins coming via submission so you can’t rule him out on the ground.
Andreas Michailidis is a bit of a journeyman in terms of never settling down for one single promotion. Andreas is usually a middleweight, so it’s interesting to see him move up a weight division given he has a 12-3 record at middleweight. Andreas is also more of a striker in terms of style but he has 4 submission wins to his name, so both guys wouldn’t be too mad if the fight ended up on the ground.
In terms of picking who I think will win, I’ll go with Modestas Bukauskas given he’s used to fighting at light heavyweight and he is the younger man with just as good as a record as his opponent. If I’m being honest, I don’t know much about either of these guys going into the fight, so I’m definitely interested to see if the UFC have found a diamond in the rough.
Ricardo Ramos vs Lerone Murphy – Featherweight Bout
The second featherweight fight of the prelims and this time its Ricardo Ramos against Lerone Murphy. Ramos has enjoyed a good start to his UFC career, starting with a 2-1 record and enters the fight on a 2-win streak after wins against Newson and Garagorri. Ramos has definitely taken a more wrestling approach to his fights throughout his career, with 6 submission wins and will look to go down that route in this fight.
Lerone Murphy has been pretty impressive throughout his career and is still undefeated with his record standing at 8-0-1. That draw came in his UFC debut at UFC 242 and was a decision that only happened due to his lack of takedown defense, as his striking ability was pretty good on that night. Murphy is much more of a striker, with 5 of his career wins coming via KO and will need to keep the fight on the feet if he stands a chance against Ramos.
This fight is a tough one to call due to the clash of styles. Murphy is pretty sound on his feet and when he’s throwing strikes, however, his UFC debut showed us how bad his takedown defense is and Ramos has a fair few submission wins to his name. I’m going to go with Murphy here, but this could be a fight that I get completely wrong.
John Phillips vs Khamzat Chimaev – Middleweight Bout
The first middleweight bout of the card is the featured prelim fight and sees John Phillips taking on Khamzat Chimaev. John Phillips is an experience middleweight who just loves to get into wars with his opponents. 19 of his career wins have come via KO, however, he’s really suffered during his UFC career losing his first 3 fights before bouncing back with a win back in December 2019 via a first round KO. Phillips is an established striker but struggles if he’s against a wrestler.
Khamzat Chimaev is making his UFC debut after only having 6 professional fights to his name. To be fair to Khamzat, he’s won all 6 fight, all before the 3rd round with 3 submission wins and 3 KO wins. Khamzat is definitely a well-rounded fighter, but he’s an unknown prospect so it’s difficult to predict what his strategy will be.
This fight is a tough one to call because no one knows what Khamzat will bring to the fight, in terms of what his strengths and weaknesses are. 3 submission wins out of 6 career fights would tell me that he enjoys the fight on the ground, and if that’s the case, Phillips is in trouble. I’m going to go with Khamzat here, not sure why but I have a feeling he could be a prospect on the rise and Phillips has struggled at the UFC level so far.
Mandatory Credit: Jason Da Silva-USA TODAY Sportsh
