Predictions! UFC 300 Late ‘Prelims’ Preview – Pt. 2

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is bringing more “Prelims” fights to ESPN+/ESPN this weekend (Sat., April 13, 2024) when UFC 300: “Pereira vs. Hill” storms T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. MMAmania.com’s Patrick Stumberg continues the UFC 300 “Prelims” party with the second (and final) installment of a two-part undercard preview series below.

After weeks of underwhelming fight nights, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) looks to show mixed martial arts (MMA) fans the reason(s) they fell in love with the sport in the first place this weekend (Sat., April 13, 2024) with UFC 300, which will take place inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The evening’s two world title fights see Light Heavyweight kingpin, Alex Pereira, and Strawweight queen, Zhang Weili, defend their respective belts against Jamahal Hill and Yan Xiaonan, while Justin Gaethje puts his “BMF” belt on the line against Featherweight legend-turned Lightweight hopeful, Max Holloway.

We’ve got four more UFC 300 “Prelims” undercard bouts to dissect (checkout the first batch here). Shall we?

205 lbs.: Jiri Prochazka vs. Aleksandar Rakic

Jiri Prochazka (29-4-1) brought a 10-fight win streak into the Octagon, where he dispatched Volkan Oezdemir and Dominick Reyes before tapping Glover Teixeira for UFC gold (watch highlights). A devastating shoulder injury kept him out of action for the next 17 months, after which he suffered a knockout loss to Alex Pereira at UFC 295 (see it here).

Almost all (25) of his 28 professional finishes have come via knockout.

Aleksandar Rakic (14-3) put a split decision loss to Volkan Oezdemir behind him to win two straight over Anthony Smith and Thiago Santos, improving his UFC record to 6-1. His efforts earned him a main event against Jan Blachowicz, which saw Rakic’s knee give out after two competitive rounds.

This marks his first bout in nearly 23 months.

Even before the knee injury, it had been years since Rakic dazzled in the cage. Obliterating Jimi Manuwa seemingly used up all the excitement he had to offer, leaving behind a deeply underwhelming point fighter.

Deeply underwhelming point fighters don’t beat Prochazka. A perfectly healthy Rakic would struggle to handle Prochazka’s pace and power, much less one whose leg exploded less than two years ago. Rakic’s wrestling is too poor to exploit Prochazka’s shaky takedown defense and it’s hard to see him standing up to “Denisa” in a fire fight, so expect Prochazka to wear him down with sheer aggression before putting him away down the stretch.

Prediction: Prochazka via third round technical knockout

145 lbs.: Calvin Kattar vs. Aljamain Sterling

After cutting his teeth on the New Englland circuit, Calvin Kattar (23-7) battled his way to a 6-2 UFC start, notably beating Andre Fili and Shane Burgos along the way. He’s 1-3 since, most recently suffering a severe knee injury in his Oct. 2022 main event against Arnold Allen.

He stands four inches taller than Sterling and will enjoy a one-inch reach advantage.

Once reeling from a 2-3 skid — capped by a devastating knockout loss to Marlon Moraes — Aljamain Sterling (23-4) returned to form with a nine-fight win streak that saw him win and thrice defend UFC’s Bantamweight belt. Then came Sean O’Malley, who stopped “The Funkmaster” with a pull counter early in the second (watch it).

He’s submitted eight foes and knocked out three others.

Height, reach, boxing skills and rock-solid takedown defense make Kattar a difficult matchup for Sterling on paper. Though it’s not discussed nearly as much as his grappling, Sterling’s wonky standup has tripped up very capable strikers before. On top of that, Kattar has had significant issues with elusive strikers in the past, so I don’t trust him to successfully chase down Sterling.

I may be overestimating Sterling a bit and brushing off the difficulties of a new weight class, but the style matchup and Kattar’s potentially compromised mobility are enough to earn “Funkmaster” the nod. Indeed, he leans on his footwork and kicks to frustrate Kattar and claim a decision win.

Prediction: Sterling via unanimous decision

135 lbs.: Holly Holm vs. Kayla Harrison

Holly Holm (15-6) went from knocking out Ronda Rousey to claim UFC gold to losing five of her next seven, including three unsuccessful title shots. She got back on track by beating Raquel Pennington and Irene Aldana, but now finds herself with just one win in the last 3.5 years.

She’ll enjoy a three-inch reach advantage over Kayla Harrison (16-1).

Harrison’s first 15 fights with Professional Fighters League (PFL) saw her win two $1 million tournaments and fight her way to the finals of a third. Though she fell to long-time rival, Larissa Pacheco, in a grueling finale fight, she returned to the win column a year later by out-classing UFC veteran, Aspen Ladd.

She’s knocked out and submitted six foes apiece.

The Holm of 2020 or earlier would have a very real shot of pulling off the upset. Though Harrison’s striking has improved considerably since falling to Pacheco and she’d be nowhere near as helpless as Rousey was, she’d have quite a bit of trouble hunting down Holm.

The same can’t be said about the current Holm, who relies almost entirely on clinches and takedowns at this point. The fact that she didn’t stick and move against Mayra Bueno Silva — a notoriously poor cage-cutter — is pretty damning evidence that her legs aren’t there anymore. In the end, Harrison ties up early, drags her to the mat and pours on the hurt for her first UFC win.

Prediction: Harrison via first round technical knockout

145 lbs.: Sodiq Yusuff vs. Diego Lopes

Sodiq Yusuff (13-3) followed his contract-winning Contender Series upset of Mike Davis with four consecutive UFC wins, including a bonus-winning knockout of undefeated Suman Mokhtarian in his debut. “Super” has since dropped two of four, most recently suffering a “Fight of the Night” bonus-winning decision loss to Edson Barboza in their Oct. 2023 main event.

He gives up two inches of height and 1.5 inches of reach to Diego Lopes (23-6).

Lopes — who fell short in the 2021 season of Contender Series — announced his UFC arrival by battling Movsar Evloev to a narrow decision loss in his short-notice UFC debut. He’d fight twice more over the next six months, dispatching Gavin Tucker and Pat Sabatini in little more than three minutes combined to claim back-to-back “Performance of the Night” bonuses.

All but one of his professional wins have come inside the distance, 12 of them via submission.

Yusuff has so much unfulfilled potential that it’s maddening. He’s coming up on his tenth UFC fight and he’s still the same headhunting slugger who shocked Davis. He’s added a wrinkle or two — such as the Yoza kicks he utilized against Barboza — but he remains overly reliant on power and speed.

While it wouldn’t be overly shocking to see him stop Lopes, Yusuff’s questionable takedown defense and recent string of shaky performances make it hard to have much faith in him. In short, Lopes hits a quick takedown, finds Yusuff’s back, and makes it three straight in the Octagon.

Prediction: Lopes via first round submission

UFC 300’s main event shenanigans aside, it’s hard to imagine this evening being anything short of enthralling. See you Saturday, Maniacs.

Current Prediction Record for 2024: 56-25

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Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 300 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET (simulcast on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET), before the pay-per-view (PPV) main card start time at 10 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 300: “Pereira vs. Hill” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.