Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is bringing more “Prelims” fights to ESPN/ESPN+ this weekend (Sat., April 8, 2023) when UFC 287: “Pereira vs. Adesanya 2” storms Miami-Dade Arena in Miami, Florida. MMAmania.com’s Patrick Stumberg kicks off the UFC 287 “Prelims” party with the first installment of a two-part undercard preview series below.
After three dramatic meetings across two combat sports, Alex Pereiera and Israel Adesanya will look to finally settle the score this Saturday (April 8, 2023) when they collide atop UFC 287 in Miami, Florida. The pay-per-view (PPV) show will also see Gilbert Burns battle Jorge Masvidal in a massive Welterweight clash and perennial Bantamweight contender, Rob Font, attempt to halt the rise of Adrian Yanez.
UFC 287 features eight “Prelims” undercard bouts this time, split evenly between ESPN+ and ESPN. Let’s check out the first batch …
115 lbs.: Cynthia Calvillo vs. Lupita Godinez
Cynthia Calvillo (9-5-1) went 5-1-1 as a UFC Strawweight before making a successful Flyweight debut at Jessica Eye’s expense. Subsequent efforts proved trickier, resulting in a four-fight losing streak that saw her stopped twice.
Her professional finishes are split 3/2 between submissions and knockouts.
Lupita Godinez’s (8-3) perfect (5-0) professional start saw her defeat Vanessa Demopoulos for LFA’s Strawweight title in her promotional debut. She currently sits at 3-3 in the Octagon, most recently suffering a decision loss to Angela Hill that snapped a two-fight win streak.
She stands two inches shorter than Calvillo and faces a three-inch reach disadvantage.
The gap between Godinez’s skills and her ability to use them properly is incredible. She has this bizarre knack for fighting in the most self-destructive fashion imaginable; she exclusively grappled Jessica Penne and Luana Carolina despite holding a clear boxing edge and almost exclusively boxed Angela Hill despite holding a clear wrestling edge. Luckily for her, she seems to have an edge over the floundering Calvillo in both areas.
This isn’t to say she can’t still find a way to fumble things, just that Calvillo’s looked so damn bad of late that even Godinez’s penchant for self-destruction can’t get me to pick against her. In short, Godinez’s heavier hands and strong takedowns should carry her to victory.
Prediction: Godinez via unanimous decision
155 lbs.: Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Trey Ogden
A front kick finish of Edson Gomez sent Ignacio Bahamondes (13-4) to the Octagon and made him a favorite in his UFC debut, which saw him drop a split decision to John Makdessi. He went on to flatten Roosevelt Roberts with a bonus-winning wheel kick, then nudge his UFC record back over .500 by submitting Rongzhu six months later.
This marks his first fight in more than one year because of visa issues.
Trey Ogden (16-5) fought his way into UFC via Lookin’ for a Fight, only to drop a narrow split decision to Jordan Leavitt in his UFC debut. An upset over hot prospect, Daniel Zellhuber, put him back in the mix, though a March 25, 2023, clash with Manuel Torres fell through after a medical issue bounced “El Loco” from the weigh-ins.
He steps in for Nikolas Motta — who suffered a gnarly cut in training — on less than two weeks’ notice.
Ogden had a very good chance of scoring his second consecutive upset over Torres, who’s yet to prove he can handle someone with Ogden’s ground skills. His outlook’s not quite as rosy against Bahamondes, a much more seasoned veteran with a rangy, kick-heavy approach who figures to give Ogden fits. “La Jaula” also boasts rock-solid takedown defense, and considering the sort of volume he usually throws, Ogden can’t expect him to sleepwalk through the fight like Zellhuber did.
There’s just not much going Ogden’s way in this match, especially since he lacks the power to decisively punish Bahamondes’ shaky defense. Odds are that Bahamondes takes him apart at range for a mid-round accumulation stoppage.
Prediction: Bahamondes via second round technical knockout
145 lbs.: Shayilan Nuerdanbieke vs. Steve Garcia
Shayilan Nuerdanbieke (39-10) entered UFC in the midst of a 7-1 run, but proved unable to topple Joshua Culibao in his promotional debut. “Wolverine” now finds himself on a three-fight winning streak that features two upset decisions and his infamous 70-second finish of Darrick Minner.
His 29 professional finishes include 19 by (technical) knockout.
Steve Garcia (13-5) torched Desmond Torres on Contender Series for his second-straight first-round finish, but walked away empty-handed thanks to missing weight. After missing weight again for a fight with Jose Mariscal, he stepped up on short notice to join UFC, where he’s alternated losses and wins through four appearances.
He’ll enjoy four inches of height and six inches of reach on Nuerdanbieke.
Credit where it’s due: Garcia absolutely demolished Chase Hooper when I’d assumed he’d get torched. This figures to be a trickier assignment, though. While Nuerdanbieke lacks Hooper’s fluidity on the mat, he’s a far stronger offensive wrestler than “The Dream” and has shown off enough striking improvement to at least survive Garcia’s haymakers on the feet.
Though still the more dangerous of the two in the stand up, Garcia figures to have a much tougher time planting his feet and unloading bombs when doing so leaves his hips open to Nuerdanbieke’s takedowns. He hasn’t shown the technique and composure to employ the measured approach Culibao used to defuse “Wolverine,” either, so expect his over-eagerness to get him taken down and controlled for most of the 15 minutes.
Prediction: Nuerdanbieke via unanimous decision
115 lbs.: Jacqueline Amorim vs. Sam Hughes
American Top Team’s Jacqueline Amorim (6-0) collected several accolades in international Brazilian jiu-jitsu — including medals at both the World and World No-Gi Championships — before making her professional mixed martial arts (MMA) debut in 2020. She’s since torn through LFA’s Strawweight division, culminating in a 2022 campaign that saw her win and defend its title with submission finishes.
All of her wins have come in the first round, five of them in less than two minutes apiece.
Sam Hughes (7-5) roared back from a winless (0-2) UFC start by upsetting Istela Nunes and Elise Reed back to back. She couldn’t quite make it three straight against Piera Rodriguez, who racked up five takedowns en route to a unanimous decision win.
Though the taller of the two by two inches, she faces a 3.5-inch reach disadvantage.
I’ve revised my opinion on Hughes more than once and in more than one direction, but if there’s one thing I can definitively say about her, it’s that her takedown defense doesn’t measure up to her takedown offense. That looks like the deciding factor here; while she’s far more seasoned than Amorim and a massively superior striker, she doesn’t have an answer for “Jacque’s” excellent top game.
That said, Amorim isn’t the most overpowering takedown artist out there and has no experience past the first round. It’s very feasible that Hughes either successfully sprawls-and-brawls or survives early danger to take over once Amorim slows down. Between how often Rodriguez got Hughes down and Amorim’s submission skills, though, it seems likelier that Amorim drags her to the mat in the opening minutes and polishes her off before ever seeing deep water.
Prediction: Amorim via first round submission
Four more UFC 287 “Prelims” undercard bouts remain to preview and predict, including the return of Kelvin Gastelum against all-action Chris Curtis. Same time tomorrow, Maniacs.
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 287 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 287: “Pereira vs. Adesanya 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.