A stacked Saturday double-header has arrived for MMASucka staff picks.
UFC Vegas 80, also titled as UFC Fight Night 229, begins tonight, October 7th from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. Early preliminaries kick off at 4:00pm ET (1:00pm PT) followed by the main card at 7:00pm ET (4:00pm PT) with all fights available to ESPN+ subscribers.
Stay tuned here at MMASucka for live results from UFC Vegas 80: Dawson vs. Green.
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Take a look at our picks from Friday’s ONE Fight Night 15 event from Bangkok, Thailand. Also, keep an eye out for the continuation of today’s double-header with Bellator 300: Nurmagomedov vs. Primus from San Diego, California, as well as this upcoming Tuesday, October 10th for Dana White’s Contender Series: Season 7, Week 10.
The Fights
A rising contender meets a longtime favorite as Grant Dawson and Bobby Green square off in the night’s featured five-round headliner in the lightweight division.
All looked to be lost for 29-year-old Dawson after struggles with USADA following his UFC release after securing a contract following an August of 2017 appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series in Season 1. Despite the controversy and missing weight twice, the American Top Team talent has won eleven in-a-row with eight solely under the promotional banner as he prepares for his first career main event. Dawson’s opponent, Green, aims to secure his second win of the year following a third-round “Performance of the Night” submission over Tony Ferguson in July. An octagon veteran of 22 fights, the former two-divisional King of the Cage Champion remains a dangerous threat to everyone at 155 pounds bringing a well-versed arsenal of ten mixed martial arts wins by knockout and nine by way of submission.
Middleweight hitters Joe Pyfer and Abdul Razak Alhassan hope to steal the show in the co-main event. Former Ring of Combat Champion and 2022 Contender Series victor Pyfer has finished both of his UFC opponents with first-round knockouts over Alen Amedovski in September of last year and Gerald Meerschaert in May. Fortis MMA’s Razak Alhassan brings his 100% knockout finishing rate with eleven of his twelve victories coming inside the first round.
Another exciting pairing comes at 170 pounds at welterweight between Alex Morono and Joaquin Buckley. The two both rebounded in May following defeat(s) in prior bouts with Morono securing a second-round submission over Tim Means and Buckley’s divisional return knockout in the second over Andre Fialho.
See our UFC Vegas 80: Dawson vs. Green staff picks further below.
Tensions are high heading into tomorrow’s main event!
4pmET/1pmPT | #UFCVegas80 | Live on ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/laUdc2qBdi
— UFC (@ufc) October 6, 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/or 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.
Find out below who the MMASucka staff has picked to win at UFC Vegas 80: Dawson vs. Green.
Staff Records after Dana White’s Contender Series – Season 7, Week 9:
1. Ben Jamieson: 248-124
2. Michael DeSantis: 240-128
3. Jeremy Brand: 238-134
4. Wesley Riddle: 235-137
5. Nate Freeman: 233-139
6. Frazer Krohn: 223-149
7. Julio Monteros Jr.: 203-114
8. Andrew Benjamin: 174-148
9. Jack Goodwillie: 148-83
10. Brian Knight: 140-84
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 – ONE Fight Night 15 picks will be added to the above records NEXT weekend*
Alexander Hernandez (14-6), -118
vs.
Bill Algeo (17-7), -102
Featherweight Division
– 145 LBS. ~ 65.8 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Algeo via Unanimous Decision
Wesley Riddle: Algeo via Unanimous Decision
Michael DeSantis: Algeo via Split Decision
Andrew Benjamin: Hernandez via Unanimous Decision
Frazer Krohn: Algeo via Unanimous Decision
Nate Freeman: Algeo via Unanimous Decision
Ben Jamieson: Hernandez via Unanimous Decision
Staff picking Hernandez: 2
Staff picking Algeo: 5
Drew Dober (26-12, 1 NC), -395
vs.
Ricky Glenn (22-7-2), +310
Lightweight Division
– 155 LBS. ~ 70.3 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Dober via Round 2 TKO
Wesley Riddle: Dober via Round 1 TKO
Michael DeSantis: Dober via Round 1 TKO
Andrew Benjamin: Dober via Round 1 TKO
Frazer Krohn: Dober via Round 1 TKO
Nate Freeman: Dober via Round 1 TKO
Ben Jamieson: Dober via Round 1 TKO
Staff picking Dober: 7
Staff picking Glenn: 0
Alex Morono (23-8, 1 NC), +150
vs.
Joaquin Buckley (16-6), -180
Welterweight Division
– 170 LBS. ~ 77.1 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Buckley via Unanimous Decision
Wesley Riddle: Morono via Split Decision
Michael DeSantis: Buckley via Round 1 TKO
Andrew Benjamin: Buckley via Round 1 TKO
Frazer Krohn: Buckley via Unanimous Decision
Nate Freeman: Buckley via Split Decision
Ben Jamieson: Buckley via Unanimous Decision
Staff picking Morono: 1
Staff picking Buckley: 6
Joe Pyfer (11-2), -375
vs.
Abdul Razak Alhassan (12-5), +295
Middleweight Division
– Co-Main Event –
– 185 LBS. ~ 83.9 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Pyfer via Round 1 TKO
Wesley Riddle: Pyfer via Unanimous Decision
Michael DeSantis: Pyfer via Round 2 TKO
Andrew Benjamin: Pyfer via Unanimous Decision
Frazer Krohn: Pyfer via Unanimous Decision
Nate Freeman: Pyfer via Round 2 TKO
Ben Jamieson: Pyfer via Round 2 SUB
Staff picking Pyfer: 7
Staff picking Razak Alhassan: 0
Grant Dawson (20-1-1), -500
vs.
Bobby Green (30-14-1), +380
Lightweight Division
– Main Event –
– 155 LBS. ~ 70.3 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Dawson via Round 2 SUB
Wesley Riddle: Dawson via Round 3 SUB
Michael DeSantis: Dawson via Unanimous Decision
Andrew Benjamin: Green via Unanimous Decision
Frazer Krohn: Dawson via Round 4 SUB
Nate Freeman: Dawson via Unanimous Decision
Ben Jamieson: Dawson via Unanimous Decision
Staff picking Dawson: 6
Staff picking Green: 1
