Saturday’s UFC Vegas 58 features not only two of the best lightweights in the world — “RDA” is No. 7 in the MMA Fighting world rankings, Fiziev No. 10 — but two contenders who could be knocking on the door of a title with a memorable performance. Dos Anjos, a former UFC champion, has long maintained that even as he approaches his 38th birthday, he hasn’t given up on once again challenging for a belt. After a streak at 170 pounds that saw him fight for interim gold, the Brazilian veteran has gone 2-0 since dropping back down. If he fends off Fiziev, he’ll be lining up for an even higher-ranked challenge in the near future. The stakes for Fiziev are obvious. His spectacular knockout of Brad Riddell last December gave him a win over a top-15 opponent, and quality names like Bobby Green and Renato Moicano were also part of his five-fight winning streak, but he hit a fighter who actually had a title in MMA’s deepest division? You can almost mark him for a top 5 opponent down the stretch. In other main card action, promising middleweights Caio Borralho and Armen Petrosyan meet in a clash of styles, blue chipper Said Nurmagomedov takes on his biggest challenge yet in Douglas Silva de Andrade, heavyweights Jared Vanderaa and Chase Sherman trying to stop their slide. Cynthia Calvillo welcomes Nina Nunes to the flyweight division and Michael Johnson makes his 26th UFC appearance when he takes on Jamie Mullarkey in a lightweight bout. What: UFC Vegas 58 Where: UFC APEX in Las Vegas When: Saturday, July 9. The six-fight preliminary card begins at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN+, followed by a six-fight main card at 9 p.m. on ESPN and ESPN+.
Rafael dos Anjos vs. Raphael Fizieff
Few fighters in the game are more well-rounded than Rafael dos Anjos, but will that be enough to unseat the dangerous Rafael Fiziev? “RDA” won’t shy away from a scrap in standup, even considering Fiziev’s reputation as an endlessly creative striker. The former lightweight champion has excellent boxing himself and is not out of the realm of possibility to beat Fiziev on the feet. That said, as most have assumed, dos Anjos is best served mixing in his top shelf to prevent Fiziev from getting into his comfort zone. From what we’ve seen, Fiziev has the takedown defense to keep this fight where he wants it, though he has yet to face an opponent with dos Anjos’ mix of jiu-jitsu expertise and experience. Not only does he have to prove that he can stay up, but that he can fight and get back up should dos Anjos take him down. There’s an eight-year age difference here, which also translates into an athleticism gap in Fiziev’s favor, and that’s why I like his chances. He’s yet to be tested in five, but the early damage he does in this fight should make up for any cardio advantage dos Anjos may have in the later rounds. It will be a close — and possibly controversial — set of scorecards, but I have Fiziev winning a decision. Option: Fiziev
Caio Borralho vs. Armen Petrosyan
Let’s not overthink it: This is a classic grappler vs. striker match. Caio Borralho is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt tested by Demian Maia with a ground game that emphasizes damage and position equally. Armen Petrosyan is a slick striker (as his name suggests, though confusingly unrelated to kickboxing fame Petrosyan brothers Giorgio and Armen) and showed great poise in his UFC debut against Gregory Rodrigues, which was just the eighth fight of MMA. If this stays on his feet, it will be an entertaining affair as Borralho has a penchant for breaking flashy shots, even if it means deviating from his core discipline. However, you have to lean towards the more technical Petrosyan in this scenario. Petrosyan’s absorption defense didn’t look great against Rodrigues and he was probably lucky to walk away from this encounter with a broken nod. If Rodrigues had mixed up the martial arts more, Petrosyan might not have ended up in the judges’ decision. Don’t expect Borralho to make the same mistake. Borralho by submission. Option: Borralho
Douglas Silva de Andrade vs. Said Nurmagomedov
Said Nurmagomedov hasn’t shown many major weaknesses in his UFC career thus far, but he has had difficulty fighting off the back foot. This is something that the typically aggressive Douglas Silva de Andrade can take advantage of. On defense, Nurmagomedov is capable of landing damaging counters, but once the distance is completely closed he can be dragged inside. Fortunately for him, he’s also got strong wrestling, so he could change the tone of the fight that way if Silva de Andrade makes this fight. And if Nurmagomedov can keep Silva de Andrade at bay, he’ll get a decision. Silva de Andrade only lost to quality 135ers, a list that only includes Petr Yan and Rob Font. Nurmagomedov’s talent is on par with those names, but he needs to show extra gear to take on the aggressive Silva de Andrade. My prediction for this exciting bantamweight fight is that Nurmagomedov shows off more of his wrestling to keep Silva de Andrade in check and wear him down, setting him up for a late submission. Choice: Nurmagomedov
Jared Vanderaa vs. Chase Sherman
Jared Vanderaa and Chase Sherman have their backs against the walls. Vanderaa is 1-4 in his last five outings. On the other hand, Sherman has lost four straight fights and was actually recently released before immediately returning to serve as an opponent for the truly terrifying Alexandr Romanov last April. In short, these guys need a win. Conventional wisdom would suggest that the more well-rounded Vanderaa could win the decision by establishing his jab and threatening Sherman with a takedown. But conventional wisdom is boring, so I choose chaos. I’m picking Sherman to throw caution to the wind and let his hands go to make this fight more of a grind. At that point, being a heavyweight, it’s a toss-up, but Sherman is the more proven knockout artist and I expect that narrative to be amplified on Saturday. It could happen 30 seconds into Round 1 or or with 10 seconds left in Round 3, all I know is I have a feeling Sherman surprises the challengers with a big KO. Choice: Sherman
Cynthia Calvillo vs. Nina Nunes
This is essentially a straw fight where the fighters haven’t put themselves through the rigors of an extreme weight cut and more power for it. Cynthia Calvillo was a legitimate contender at 115 pounds, but repeatedly stumbled off the scale and made the wise decision to jump to 125. Nina Nunes makes her UFC debut at 125 pounds after a strong strawweight streak that included wins over of Claudia Gadelha and Angela Hill, plus a competitive loss to Tatiana Suarez (who hasn’t fought since) in June 2019. I always believed in Calvillo’s potential. She brings an aggressive wrestling style to the cage and has decent pop in her hands, even if her impressive technique isn’t quite good enough in any of the divisions she’s fought. That includes Nunes, who has always been sharp on the feet and hard to put away. He will frustrate Calvillo with his distance control and increase the intensity in the second half of the fight. Still, I don’t see Nunes stopping Calvillo’s takedowns for three rounds. Calvillo is also a busy fighter on the ground, so she’ll rack up plenty of points on the scorecards en route to the decision victory she needs. Option: Calvillo
Michael Johnson vs. Jamie Mullarkey
Michael Johnson has fought and beaten the best of the best. On Saturday, he has a burgeoning brawler standing in front of him, the kind of challenge he hasn’t faced since lining up as Justin Gaethje’s first UFC opponent. Jamie Mullarkey is known for his constant pressure and will look to crush Johnson. The more experienced Johnson has always had quick hands and good knockout power, but I’m curious to see how he’ll react if his better shots don’t put Mullarkey away early. Mullarkey makes excellent use of head movement to move the bullseye as he moves forward and then knows when to charge if he smells blood. The longer this fight goes on, the more I expect Mullarkey to gain confidence and pull away. Look for Mullarkey to overcome a solid start from Johnson and find the finish in Round 3. Choice: Mullarkey Ricky Turcios def. Aiemann Zahabi Courtney Casey def. Antonina Shevchenko Tresean Gore def. Cody Brundage David Onama def. Garrett Armfield Kennedy Nzechukwu def. Carl Roberson Ronnie Lawrence or. Saidyokub Kakhramonov
