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The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight logjam receives a fresh batch of lumber in San Antonio this Saturday night (July 20, 2019) when former Lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos faces surging contender Leon Edwards in the main event of UFC on ESPN 4.

Greg Hardy’s controversial mixed martial arts (MMA) career continues earlier in the evening against massive “Contender Series” veteran Juan Adams, while two more Heavyweight bouts and a pair of divisionally relevant Lightweight tussles round out the main card

Our usual main card guy is off hunting the fabled Bullet That Can Kill The Past in order to right ancient wrongs, so you’ll have to settle for me once again. Y’all know the drill; “Prelims” here and here, odds here.

Off we go.

170 lbs.: Rafael Dos Anjos (29-11) vs. Leon “Rocky” Edwards (17-3)

Finally, finally, we get to see Rafael Dos Anjos against someone other than a powerhouse wrestler again. As much as I love “RDA,” I’ve spent enough time watching him defend takedowns against the fence for one lifetime.

The pivotal question here is how well Dos Anjos can corral a rangy Welterweight. Edwards is the faster of the two, moves extremely well, and generally gameplans to perfection; Dos Anjos’ success hinges entirely on his ability to cut off the cage and force Edwards into close-range exchanges that nullify the Brit’s height and reach advantages.

As fond as I am of Dos Anjos, Edwards’ monumental improvements in recent years have me leaning his way. He’s faced and handily defeated come-forward fighters before, albeit none with the scientific pressure of Dos Anjos, and he has the wrestling to keep it standing. He’s not going to sit on the fence like Robbie Lawler and let Dos Anjos tee off on him, and he’s shown the gas tank to execute a clever, efficient game plan for 25 minutes. Edwards uses his length and movement to frustrate the former Lightweight champ’s relentless advance.

Prediction: Edwards by unanimous decision

265 lbs.: Aleksei “The Boa Constrictor” Oleinik (57-12-1) vs. Walt “The Big Ticket” Harris (12-7)

This fight can really only end in one of two ways: either Oleinik chokes Harris out or Harris knocks Oleinik into next week. If it hits the ground, Oleinik wins. If it stays on the feet, Harris wins.

Sometimes, it really is that simple.

Harris’ speed and striking technique eclipse Oleinik’s by a hilarious margin. If he fights smart, he has the strength and takedown defense to force Oleinik into the plodding, slugging style that failed him against Alistair Overeem. That’s a massive “if,” though; Harris threw away a fight he was dominating by illegally kicking Mark Godbeer in the head and nearly sleepwalked his way to a loss against Andrei Arlovski.

After seeing how ineffective Oleinik was against superior physical specimens in Overeem and Curtis Blaydes, though, I have to favor Harris. He shrugs off some early takedowns to spark Oleinik as soon as the latter starts trading.

Prediction: Harris by first-round knockout

265 lbs.: Greg Hardy (4-1) vs. Juan “The Kraken” Adams (5-1)

Nobody can deny that Greg Hardy packs a hell of a wallop, and his fight with Dmitry Smolyakov shows what happens when people are scared of him. When they aren’t, well, things don’t work out so well. Hardy failed to dent Allen Crowder, who recently suffered the second-fastest knockout loss in UFC Heavyweight history, and has little in the way of setups for his power shots.

That’s not to say this isn’t winnable for him; Adams tends to push his punches and will have an uncharacteristically small half-inch reach advantage, meaning he’ll struggle to keep Hardy off of him in the early going. “The Kraken’s” huge wrestling edge more than makes up for that, though, and his cardio is significantly more proven than Hardy’s.

This is a tossup for the first three minutes, after which Adams’ ground game and gas tank will take over. I say Adams is durable enough to survive the early artillery and ultimately polish his man off with ground-and-pound.

Prediction: Adams by second-round TKO

155 lbs.: James “The Texecutioner” Vick (13-3) vs. Dan “The Hangman” Hooker (17-8)

Man, these guys’ runs lost momentum with all the finality of Wile E. Coyote sprinting headlong into a painted-on train tunnel. Vick was 9-1 in the UFC when Justin Gaethje pasted him in 87 seconds, after which Paul Felder comprehensively took him apart last February. Hooker was 4-0 as a Lightweight with four dominant finishes, then took a beating from Edson Barboza that was genuinely difficult to watch.

They’re still good fighters; they just happen to be in a frankly ludicrous division.

I’ve made my disdain for Vick clear, but I favor him in this one. Hooker is at his best when opponents consistently come forward and swing for his head, allowing the Kiwi’s punching power and insane chin to dictate the outcome. When Barboza took a measured approach and started pummeling him from the neck down, Hooker couldn’t get his pressure going despite Barboza’s historical issues with fighting off the back foot. The 6’3” Vick is generally happy to potshot at range and I’m not sure Hooker has the tools to make him stop.

This fight’s entertainment factor will depend entirely on who controls the pace, and unfortunately for the viewers, that’s Vick. He uses his freakish size to pick the ever-advancing Hooker off for 15 tedious minutes.

Prediction: Vick by unanimous decision

155 lbs.: Alexander “The Great” Hernandez (10-2) vs. Francisco “Massaranduba” Trinaldo (23-6)

Fights between two guys who only move forward generally wind up being either wild firefights or frustrating, clinch-heavy affairs. Which one this is will determine the winner.

At range, Trinaldo’s vicious left hand and thudding knees give him the edge. In close, Hernandez’s constant takedown onslaught looks to be a problem for the hulking “Massaranduba,” who sometimes has to pace himself to stay effective for 15 minutes. The question, then, is whether Trinaldo’s prodigious strength, wrestling chops, and ability to do damage in close are enough to deter Hernandez and force the fight into a favorable speed.

He’s got the tools, but 40 years old, I’m not sure Trinaldo can keep up.

Though it’s closer than the oddsmakers have it, I do think Hernandez takes it through sheer activity. He puts the pace on Trinaldo, constantly fighting for takedowns and dominant clinch positions to secure the win.

Prediction: Hernandez by unanimous decision

265 lbs.: Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski (27-18) vs. “Big” Ben Rothwell (36-11)

These two first fought 11 years ago, very nearly to the day. In a sport like this, that first bout is practically ancient history; when Arlovski put an unholy beating on “Big Ben”, Fedor was the baddest man on the planet, Randy Couture and Minotauro Nogueira each had a piece of the UFC Heavyweight title, the WEC was still in full swing, and Forrest Griffin was a world champion.

This isn’t a fight, this is a time capsule.

Arlovski’s unquestionably experienced the greater decline; he had a brief resurgence that saw him flatline “Bigfoot” Silva and Travis Browne, but he’s 2-8 (1 NC) since a split decision over Frank Mir. He’s admittedly been competitive in his recent fights, though, making up for his lost athleticism by turning his bouts into slow-paced sparring matches.

That’s the concern for Rothwell. Despite being functionally indestructible and packing serious power in his hands, he can be strangely reticent to let his hands go, and we’ve seen big punchers like Junior Albini, Tai Tuivasa, and Augusto Sakai go into cruise control against “The Pitbull.”

Still, it’s hard to pick Arlovski now that the once-absurd speed disparity has narrowed, especially since Arlovski’s recent willingness to wrestle puts him in danger of Rothwell’s “Gogo Choke.” Rothwell clips him late in the first.

Prediction: Rothwell by first-round TKO

Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC on ESPN 4 fight card this weekend (click here), starting with the ESPN “Prelims” scheduled for 6 p.m. ET and continuing on with the main card at 9:00 p.m. ET.

To stay up-to-date on all things UFC on ESPN 4: “Dos Anjos vs. Edwards,” stop by our comprehensive event archive right here.