Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is bringing a bevy of “Prelims” fights to ESPN this weekend (Sat., May 4, 2019) when UFC Fight Night 151: “Iaquinta vs. Cowboy” storms Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. MMAmania.com’s Patrick Stumberg continues the UFC Fight Night 151 “Prelims” party with the second (and final) installment of a two-part undercard preview series below.
The insanely deep Lightweight division offers yet another great matchup this Saturday when Al Iaquinta looks to build off of his upset of Kevin Lee against a resurgent Donald Cerrone in Ottawa. Other ESPN+ highlights include Cub Swanson brawling it out with Shane Burgos and Ultimate Fighter winner Brad Katona looking to keep his undefeated record intact against Georgian takedown machine Merab Dvalishvili.
We’ve got three more UFC Fight Night 151 “Prelims” undercard bouts to preview and predict (check out the first batch here). Let’s not waste time!
135 lbs.: Macy Chiasson vs. Sarah Moras
Macy Chiasson (4-0) ran the table on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 28 as part of Team Gastelum, scoring a pair of (technical) knockout finishes in the house before choking out Pannie Kianzad at the Finale. Her drop to Bantamweight proved fruitful, as she violently knocked out Gina Mazany in less than two minutes at UFC 235.
She steps in for castmate Leah Letson on one month’s notice.
Sarah Moras (5-4) grappled her way to the semifinals of TUF 18 before running into eventual winner Julianna Peña, who finished her with a second-round guillotine. She’s gone 2-4 in the Octagon itself, most recently suffering decision losses to Lucie Pudilova and Talita Bernardo.
“Cheesecake” will give up two inches of height and five inches of reach to Chiasson.
Moras is yet another example of what happens when you have quality jiu-jitsu without the wrestling to back it up. “Cheesecake” is 2-3 in UFC and could easily be 1-4, all because she can’t regularly secure takedowns and top control.
Chiasson, meanwhile, just smashed someone in Mazany who has pretty much the same problems. Up against a bigger, stronger opponent with stout grappling of her own, Moras’ chances are slim. Chiasson mauls her in the opening minutes.
Prediction: Chiasson via first-round technical knockout
135 lbs.: Aiemann Zahabi vs. Vince Morales
Aiemann Zahabi — brother of coaching legend Firas — stopped his first six professional opponents in less than one round apiece, but had to settle for a judges’ decision in his UFC debut against Reginaldo Vieira. His next fight saw him face top prospect Ricardo Ramos in a competitive bout that ended abruptly thanks to a Ramos spinning elbow.
This will be his first fight since that defeat in Nov. 2017.
Vince Morales (8-3) came up short on the Contender Series, badly hurting Domingo Pilarte but ultimately succumbing to the taller man’s venomous grappling. After a victory in Bellator, Morales answered the call when Frankie Saenz suffered an injury, facing and falling to Song Yadong on short notice in Beijing.
He has knocked out five pro opponents and submitted another two.
Zahabi is still a solid fighter and his grappling skill makes him a threat to the striking-focused Morales. The question is how good he’ll look after the huge layoff. Though I have my concerns on that front, the stylistic matchup is far enough in his favor that I’m comfortable picking him.
Zahabi failed to impress against other strong grapplers in Vieira and Ramos. Against a striking specialist with a limited ground game, I expect him to look a lot better. He wears Morales down for a round and a half or so before locking up a decision.
Prediction: Zahabi via second-round submission
170 lbs.: Nordine Taleb vs. Kyle Prepolec
Despite two unsuccessful TUF bids, Nordine Taleb (14-6) opened his Octagon career 6-2, capped off by a bonus-winning knockout of Danny Roberts. He has suffered stoppage losses in his last two, however, tapping to Claudio Silva and falling to ground-and-pound from Sean Strickland.
He stands four inches taller than Kyle Prepolec (12-5) at 6’1.”
Prepolec hit a 2-3 skid early in his career, including a submission loss to Kevin Lee, before embarking on his current run. He claimed the BTC 165-pound title last June, then defeated late replacement Cody Pfister this past March at a 160-pound catchweight. He replaces the injured Siyar Bahadurzada on a week’s notice.
Prepolec is a decent fighter, maybe not UFC-caliber, but respectable. Unfortunately, he’s a decent Lightweight going up against a colossal Welterweight. Taleb can hold his own on both the feet and mat, and combined with his sheer physicality, he looks to have a massive edge.
Pfister — a fairly terribly wrestler all things considered — managed to get in on Prepolec’s hips multiple times and would have taken him down with a little better craft. Taleb, a much larger and more technical grappler, should have a field day if he doesn’t just elect to dominate on the feet. Taleb’s size, power and wrestling ability allow him to dominate everywhere, taking home either a late finish or a wide decision.
Prediction: Taleb via unanimous decision
“Ragin’ Al” vs. “Cowboy” looks like five rounds of mayhem and you don’t want to miss Cub Swanson vs. Shane Burgos, either. See you Saturday, Maniacs!
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Fight Night 151 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 stream on ESPN+ (7-day free trial here) at 8 p.m. ET.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC Fight Night 151: “Cerrone vs. Iaquinta” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.