MMASucka staff picks are in for a stacked day of fights ahead.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to Kallang, Singapore with UFC Fight Night 225 taking place tomorrow morning, August 26th from the Singapore Indoor Stadium. This comes as the promotion’s return to the Asian country for the first time since UFC 275: Teixeira vs. Prochazka in June of last year. The preliminary card kicks off at an early start time of 5:00am ET (2:00am PT) followed by the main card at 8:00pm ET (5:00pm PT). All fights are available to watch on ESPN+ for subscribers.
UFC Fight Night 225: Holloway vs. Korean Zombie results will be available here at MMASucka.
Stay tuned for more MMASucka staff picks and predictions this upcoming Tuesday the 29th with Dana White’s Contender Series: Season 7, Week 4 picks from Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Fights
Featured in the main event sees an important matchup in the featherweight division between fan-favorite veterans of the weight class Max Holloway and Chan Sung Jung.
Former UFC Featherweight Champion, Holloway, enters the cage in appearance number two of 2023 following his five-round unanimous decision over Arnold Allen in April. Despite his last three losses all coming to champion Alexander Volkanovski, the striking phenom and Hawaiian talent remains one of the best fighters on Earth as he prepares for battle in his 10th promotional headliner. Holloway’s opponent, Sung Jung, returns after a near-16 month hiatus from competition where he last faced defeat to the aforementioned Volkanovski for the title. With his last victory coming over Dan Ige in June of 2021, “The Korean Zombie” hopes for a stunning performance having finished all but three of his professional wins (six via (technical) knockout, eight via submission).
205-pounders Anthony Smith and Ryan Spann will faceoff in the co-main event. The fight comes a rematch following their September of 2021 clash where Smith secured the victory by rear-naked choke in the first round. Since, Smith has lost two in-a-row to both Magomed Ankalaev and Johnny Walker while Spann has gone 2-1 with finishes over Ion Cutelaba and Dominick Reyes followed by a first-round submission loss to Nikita Krylov in March.
Looking to steal the show in the midst of the main card sees a must-watch featherweight clash between strikers Giga Chikadze and Alex Caceres as they battle for their ranking placement at 145 pounds.
Former freestyle wrestler and Road to UFC Season 1 tournament winner Rinya Nakamura makes his highly-anticipated UFC debut in the bantamweight division against Dana White’s Contender Series 2021 contract winner Fernie Garcia.
Two additional fights make up the main card as 24-year-old prospect Erin Blanchfield meets last year’s flyweight title challenger Taila Santos in the respected division while knockout specialist Junior Tafa fights New Britain, Connecticut’s Parker Porter at heavyweight.
Find out further below our UFC Fight Night 225: Holloway vs. Korean Zombie staff picks.
CERTIFIED BANGER INCOMING™️
💢 @BlessedMMA and @KoreanZombieMMA throw down tomorrow!#UFCSingapore | Aug 26 | Main Card 8amET | LIVE on @ESPNPlus pic.twitter.com/goKmRBxWO2
— UFC (@ufc) August 25, 2023
2023 Staff Picks
MMASucka staff picks are composed of five promotions: the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Bellator MMA, ONE Championship, the Professional Fighters League (PFL), and Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS). UFC and Bellator events feature picks from only main cards. PFL will feature select fights from the main and preliminary card while DWCS sees all fights counted from the event. ONE Championship returns to picks for the first time since 2020 and will feature only mixed martial arts (MMA) fights selected from cards with a minimum three matchups.
The WINNER of staff picks at the end of 2023, who picked the most victorious fighters, will have a choice between receiving a custom-made championship belt from ProAmBelts or a chain from Championship Chains. Staff picks in 2022 was won by Wesley Riddle with a record of 264-135.
See our picks and predictions for UFC Fight Night 225: Holloway vs. Korean Zombie below.
Staff Records after Dana White’s Contender Series: Season 7, Week 3:
1. Ben Jamieson: 201-104 (3-1)
2. Michael DeSantis: 196-109 (4-0)
3. Jeremy Brand: 192-113 (3-1)
4T. Wesley Riddle: 189-116 (3-1)
4T. Nate Freeman: 189-116 (4-0)
6. Frazer Krohn: 184-121 (3-1)
7. Julio Monteros Jr.: 172-102
8. Jack Goodwillie: 148-83
9. Andrew Benjamin: 142-126 (3-1)
10. Brian Knight: 134-80
11. Tim Wheaton: 105-60
12. Roemello Reyes: 62-34
13. Jonathan Andrade: 31-24
14. Brandon Joint: 12-9
15. Andrew Harbaugh: 10-7
16. Joshua Yule: 7-6
17. Chris De Santiago: 6-6
18. Antwyn Jackson: 5-6
*Note – not all staff pick for every event*
*Note – PFL 9 2023 staff picks results are posted in parenthesis after not being posted this week; will be added to the above records NEXT weekend*
Junior Tafa (4-1), -148
vs.
Parker Porter (14-8), +124
Heavyweight Division
– 265 LBS. ~ 120.2 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Tafa via Round 2 TKO
Wesley Riddle: Tafa via Round 1 TKO
Michael DeSantis: Tafa via Round 2 TKO
Andrew Benjamin: Tafa via Round 1 TKO
Frazer Krohn: Tafa via Round 2 TKO
Nate Freeman: Tafa via Round 2 TKO
Ben Jamieson: Tafa via Round 3 TKO
Staff picking Tafa: 7
Staff picking Porter: 0
Erin Blanchfield (11-1), -148
vs.
Taila Santos (19-2), +124
Women’s Flyweight Division
– 125 LBS. ~ 56.7 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Blanchfield via Unanimous Decision
Wesley Riddle: Blanchfield via Unanimous Decision
Michael DeSantis: Blanchfield via Unanimous Decision
Andrew Benjamin: Blanchfield via Unanimous Decision
Frazer Krohn: Santos via Unanimous Decision
Nate Freeman: Blanchfield via Split Decision
Ben Jamieson: Blanchfield via Unanimous Decision
Staff picking Blanchfield: 6
Staff picking Santos: 1
Rinya Nakamura (7-0), -900
vs.
Fernie Garcia (10-3), +600
Bantamweight Division
– 135 LBS. ~ 61.2 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Nakamura via Unanimous Decision
Wesley Riddle: Nakamura via Round 1 TKO
Michael DeSantis: Nakamura via Round 1 TKO
Andrew Benjamin: Nakamura via Round 1 TKO
Frazer Krohn: Nakamura via Round 3 TKO
Nate Freeman: Nakamura via Round 2 TKO
Ben Jamieson: Nakamura via Round 2 TKO
Staff picking Nakamura: 7
Staff picking Garcia: 0
Giga Chikadze (14-3), -238
vs.
Alex Caceres (21-13), +195
Featherweight Division
– 145 LBS. ~ 65.8 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Chikadze via Unanimous Decision
Wesley Riddle: Chikadze via Unanimous Decision
Michael DeSantis: Chikadze via Unanimous Decision
Andrew Benjamin: Chikadze via Unanimous Decision
Frazer Krohn: Chikadze via Round 2 TKO
Nate Freeman: Chikadze via Split Decision
Ben Jamieson: Chikadze via Unanimous Decision
Staff picking Chikadze: 7
Staff picking Caceres: 0
Anthony Smith (36-18), +105
vs.
Ryan Spann (21-8), -125
Light Heavyweight Division
– Co-Main Event –
– 205 LBS. ~ 93.0 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Spann via Round 2 TKO
Wesley Riddle: Smith via Split Decision
Michael DeSantis: Spann via Round 2 TKO
Andrew Benjamin: Spann via Unanimous Decision
Frazer Krohn: Smith via Unanimous Decision
Nate Freeman: Spann via Round 2 TKO
Ben Jamieson: Spann via Round 1 TKO
Staff picking Smith: 2
Staff picking Spann: 5
Max Holloway (24-7), -750
vs.
Chan Sung Jung (17-7), +525
Featherweight Division
– Main Event –
– 145 LBS. ~ 65.8 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Holloway via Unanimous Decision
Wesley Riddle: Holloway via Round 3 TKO
Michael DeSantis: Holloway via Round 2 TKO
Andrew Benjamin: Holloway via Round 1 TKO
Frazer Krohn: Holloway via Round 4 TKO
Nate Freeman: Holloway via Unanimous Decision
Ben Jamieson: Holloway via Round 4 TKO
Staff picking Holloway: 7
Staff picking Sung Jung: 0
