Predictions! UFC Vegas 90 ‘Prelims’ Preview – Pt. 2

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is bringing more “Prelims” fights to ESPN+ this weekend (Sat., April 6, 2024) when UFC Vegas 90: “Allen vs. Curtis 2” returns to UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada. MMAmania.com’s Patrick Stumberg continues the UFC Vegas 90 “Prelims” party with the second (and final) installment of a two-part undercard preview series below.

Middleweight finishers, Brendan Allen vs. Chris Curtis, headline UFC’s final pre-UFC 300 show inside its APEX venue in Las Vegas, Nevada, this weekend (Sat., April 6, 2024) in a rematch more than two years in the making. UFC Vegas 90 will also feature a Featherweight bout pitting Alexander Hernandez vs. Damon Jackson and Lightweight prospect Ignacio Bahamondes’ attempted comeback opposite Christos Giagos.

Three UFC Vegas 90 “Prelims” undercard bouts remain to preview and predict before then (checkout the first batch here). Shall we have a look?

170 lbs.: Court McGee vs. Alex Morono

Court McGee (22-12) parlayed his successful The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 11 run into a 5-2 UFC start, notably defeating Robert Whittaker along the way. He’s 5-9 since, including first-round knockout losses to Jeremiah Wells and Matt Brown in his last two bouts.

“The Crusher” will enjoy a five-inch reach advantage over “Great White.”

Alex Morono (23-9) quietly worked his way up the Welterweight ranks with a four-year, 8-2 run that saw him beat the likes of Max Griffin, Donald Cerrone and Matthew Semelsberger, among others. He now finds himself 1-2 in his last three, a submission over Tim Means sandwiched between losses to Santiago Ponzinibbio and Joaquin Buckley.

Seven of his 13 professional finishes have come via submission.

McGee really needs to hang ‘em up at this point. All he has left is his cardio — that vaunted durability of his is almost certainly gone after four knockdowns in six fights and his wrestling rarely poses a threat against competent opposition. Limited though Morono may be, he hits hard enough to crack McGee’s jaw and boasts too deep a gas tank for McGee to beat him through attrition.

McGee’s only hope is to turn it into a slog, which is admittedly feasible thanks to Morono’s shaky takedown defense. I just don’t trust McGee to survive long enough to make that happen at this point. In short, Morono decks him with a haymaker sometime in the first frame.

Prediction: Morono via first round technical knockout

135 lbs.: Norma Dumont vs. Germaine de Randamie

The 3-2 UFC start for Norma Dumont (10-2) saw her score multiple upsets, but miss weight three times in the process. She now finds herself in the midst of a three-fight, blemish-free win streak that most recently saw her out-class Chelsea Chandler in July 2023.

She gives up two inches of height and four inches of reach to Germaine de Randamie (10-4).

A five-fight win streak saw de Randamie win the Featherweight belt, ditch it to pick up two more wins at 135 pounds, then fall to Amanda Nunes in their rematch at UFC 245. She returned to action eight months later against Julianna Pena, struggling with “The Venezuelan Vixen’s” wrestling before ultimately snatching a last-minute guillotine choke for her second post-fight bonus (watch it).

This marks her first bout in 3.5 years.

The $1 million question here is how much de Randamie has left in the tank at 39. The version of her from 2020 beats Dumont without too much issue. That’s because the best win for “The Immortal” came over the undersized Karol Rosa, who managed to drop her and win the third round after a tepid start. That’s not going to cut it against a striker of de Randamie’s caliber, at least if both women make the weight cut with similar ease.

While the layoff does give me pause, de Randamie’s skillset and superior strength of schedule have me leaning her way. In the end, heavier shots carry her to a narrow victory.

Prediction: de Randamie via split decision

135 lbs.: Alatengheili vs. Victor Hugo

Alatengheili (16-9-2) kicked off his Octagon tenure with a 4-1-1 start, the lone blemishes a decision loss to Casey Kenney and a draw with Gustavo Lopez in which “The Mongolian Knight” won two rounds before losing a point. Then came Chris Guteirrez, who out-classed Alatengheili for 15 minutes to claim a unanimous decision win.

He is the shorter man by two inches and gives up 5.5 inches of reach to Victor Hugo (24-4).

“Striker” rode a 12-fight win streak into Contender Series, where he dispatched Eduardo Matias Torres Caut with a contract-winning kneebar midway through the second round. This set up a Nov. 2023 UFC debut against Daniel Marcos, which fell apart when Hugo missed the Bantamweight limit by 2.5 pounds.

His professional finishes are split 9:8 between submissions and knockouts.

Alatengheili has very clear weaknesses: low output, no answer to low kicks and poor cage-cutting. Luckily for him, Hugo doesn’t figure to exploit any of them. “Striker’s” standup is more style than substance and he ostensibly lacks the wrestling to drag Alatengheili to the mat, leaving him at the mercy of “The Mongolian Knight’s” heavy right hand.

Though Hugo’s leglocks do pose a threat, Alatengheili hasn’t been submitted in nearly a decade, making it unlikely that Hugo can catch him out of nowhere. More likely, Alatengheili avoids the worst of Hugo’s flashy strikes, shuts down his wrestling, and lands enough power punches to claim victory.

Prediction: Alatengheili via unanimous decision

Yeah, I’m not even going to try and defend this one. See you Saturday, Maniacs.

Current Prediction Record for 2024: 53-23

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Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 90 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” matches, which are scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. ET, then the remaining main card balance (also on ESPN+) at 10 p.m. ET.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC Vegas 90: “Allen vs. Curtis 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.