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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is bringing a bevy of “Prelims” fights to ESPN+ this weekend (Sat., March 14, 2020) when UFC Fight Night 170: “Lee vs. Oliveira” storms Nilson Nelson Gymnasium in Brasilia, Brazil. MMAmania.com’s Patrick Stumberg kicks off the UFC Fight Night 170 “Prelims” party with the first installment of a two-part undercard preview series below.
Two of the Lightweight division’s most prolific finishers lock horns for five rounds of mayhem this Saturday (March 14, 2020) when Kevin Lee takes on local favorite Charles Oliveira inside Nilson Nelson Gymnasium in Brasilia, Brazil. The ESPN+ stream also features a clash of world-class Brazilian jiu-jitsu aces in Demian Maia and Gilbert Burns, the 155-pound debut of Renato Moicano, and a Light Heavyweight war pitting Johnny Walker against Nikita Krylov.
Before that, though, UFC Fight Night 170 features six “Prelims” undercard bouts to set the main stage. Let’s begin!
125 lbs.: Jussier Formiga vs. Brandon Moreno
A four-fight win streak — capped off by a decision over the red-hot Deiveson Figueiredo — brought Jussier Formiga (23-6) perilously close to the No. 1-ranked contender spot he held early in his career. He wound up falling short against Joseph Benavidez in their rematch, succumbing to a head kick and follow-up punches late in the second (watch highlights).
He’s two inches shorter than “The Assassin Baby” and surrenders three inches of reach.
Brandon Moreno (16-5-1) made his UFC name with an upset submission of Louis Smolka and two subsequent victories, only to find himself released after consecutive losses to Sergio Pettis and Alexandre Pantoja. He claimed the LFA Flyweight title in his first post-Octagon appearance, then returned to draw with top prospect Askar Askarov and take a decision over Kai Kara-France.
He has scored 10 submission wins as a professional.
I have a very bad habit of underestimating Brandon Moreno. If my memory’s correct, I’ve picked against him in every single one of his UFC efforts. I clearly haven’t learned my lesson, as I see this fight going very poorly for him. Formiga boasts some of the best back control in the entire sport and enough wrestling prowess to get to that sort of dominant position against “The Assassin Baby,” who gave up four takedowns against Askarov. Though a beastly scrambler, Moreno will find getting out from underneath the Brazilian a mighty tall ask.
That’s not to say that I see this as a wipeout, of course. That’s because Formiga has improved on the feet, but he’s still a bit fragile, and Moreno packs some sneaky power in those heavy swings of his. After watching Formiga successfully navigate the nightmare of power-punches that is Figueiredo, though, I see him avoiding Moreno’s heavy punches and cruising to victory via ironclad top control.
Prediction: Formiga via unanimous decision
125 lbs.: Mayra Bueno Silva vs. Maryna Moroz
Mayra Bueno Silva (6-0) punched her ticket to UFC with a 62-second ninja choke finish of Mayana Souza on “Contender Series: Brazil” then made her Octagon debut less than two months later. There, “Sheetara” handed grappling specialist Gillian Robertson the first submission loss of her career with an armbar off of her back.
This will be her first fight since Sept. 2018.
A 3-1 Octagon start for Maryna Moroz (9-3) — kicked off by a 90-second flying armbar finish of Joanne Calderwood — gave way to a two-fight losing streak at the hands of Carla Esparza and Angela Hill. A broken foot kept her out of action for the next 13 months, after which she returned to the cage with a decision over undefeated Sabina Mazo.
She ends a nearly year-long layoff of her own, as yet another injury scrapped an August date with Poliana Botelho.
I’ll admit to being a little short on data from which to extrapolate — Silva’s short on pre-UFC footage and didn’t get a chance to show much besides her grappling prowess in her debut. Unfortunately, it’s not her jiu-jitsu, but her offensive wrestling that’ll decide the outcome here. Moroz figures to be the stronger striker and is unlikely to throw herself into Silva’s world the way Gillian Robertson did.
Though this prediction lacks concrete evidence behind it, Moroz is the more proven of the two, and her striking skills should be enough to earn her a competitive victory.
Prediction: Moroz via unanimous decision
135 lbs.: Veronica Macedo vs. Bea Malecki
Venezuela’s Veronica Macedo (6-3) stumbled out of the UFC gate, dropping three straight over the span of 2.5 years while struggling with injuries. Undeterred, she finally secured her first Octagon victory last August by tapping jiu-jitsu ace Polyana Viana with a 69-second armbar, which also earned her “Performance of the Night.”
She owns two professional wins by submission and one by (technical) knockout.
Malecki represented Team Kelvin Gastelum on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 28, where she fell to Team Daniel Cormier’s Leah Letson in the opening round. She ultimately joined UFC one year later, choking out Duda Santana in Stockholm.
She is the taller of the two by six inches and has a 10-inch reach advantage.
The big complicating factor here is size. Malecki is defensively lacking on the feet and comprehensively outclassed on the mat. She’s also a natural Bantamweight fighting a natural Flyweight who’s been physically overpowered before. Getting through nearly one foot of reach is no mean feat, even if the person with that reach has no idea how to use it properly.
What Macedo does have going for her, though, is speed. Malecki is painfully slow, giving Macedo plenty of chances to get inside, and the Venezuelan’s offensive wrestling has looked sharp lately. Macedo drags her to the mat and puts on the squeeze before long.
Prediction: Macedo via first-round submission
Three more UFC Fight Night 170 “Prelims” bouts remain to preview and predict, among them a sleeper “Fight of the Night” candidate between Elizeu Zaleski and Aleksei Kunchenko. Same time tomorrow, Maniacs!
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Fight Night 170 fight card this weekend, starting with the ESPN+“Prelims” that are scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. ET, then the main card portion that will also stream on ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC Fight Night 170: “Lee vs. Oliviera” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.