UFC 264: Poirier vs. McGregor III will air on July 10, 2021, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Early Preliminary Card (Fight Pass/ESPN+)
HU “BAD BOY” YAOZONG (3-2-0) vs ALEN AMEDOVSKI (8-2-0)
This is a three-round fight in the middleweight division. Yaozong brings striking, jiu-jitsu, and wrestling. Amedovski brings striking and grappling. Yaozong looks to use his jiu-jitsu and wrestling to take control of Amedovski. Amedovski will keep the fight standing and force Yaozong to strike with him. Yaozong will try to find an opening, but Amedovski will be too fast for him. My prediction: Amedovski wins via unanimous decision.
ZHALGAS “ZHAKO” ZHUMAGULOV (13-5-0) vs JEROME “THE RENAGADE” RIVERA (10-5-0)
This is a three-round fight in the flyweight division. Zhumagulov brings striking and grappling. Rivera brings kickboxing, jiu-jitsu, and wrestling. Rivera looks to use his wrestling to take advantage of the fight in the first round. Zhumagulov will keep the fight standing and throw heavy strikes at Rivera. Rivera will try to defend, but he won’t be able to withstand the power of Zhumagulov. My prediction: Zhumagulov wins via unanimous decision.
#13 OMARI “WOLVERINE” AKHMEDOV (21-5-1) vs #15 BRAD TAVARES (18-6-0)
This is a three-round fight in the middleweight division. Akhmedov brings striking, sambo, jiu-jitsu, and wrestling. Tavares brings striking, jiu-jitsu, and wrestling. Both are great with grappling; Akhmedov is much better. His sambo will overpower all of Tavares’ grappling abilities. Tavares will try to get back to his feet, but Akhmedov will make it impossible to do so. My prediction: Akhmedov wins via submission in Round 1.
#4 JENNIFER MAIA (18-7-1) vs #7 JESSICA “EVIL” EYE (15-9-0, 1 NC)
This is a three-round fight in the women’s flyweight division. Maia brings boxing, Muay Thai, and jiu-jitsu. Eye brings boxing, Muay Thai, jiu-jitsu, and wrestling. Eye is tough and looks to give Maia a challenge. However, Maia is tougher and brings more aggression to fights. She will throw much harder strikes and withstand all of Eye’s attacks. Eye will try for a takedown, but Maia will catch her with more strikes. My prediction: Maia wins via knockout in Round 2.
Preliminary Card (ESPN/+)
TREVIN “THE PROBLEM” GILES (14-2-0) vs DRICUS “STILLKNOCKS” DU PLESSIS (15-2-0)
This is a three-round fight in the middleweight division. Giles brings striking and jiu-jitsu. Du Plessis brings kickboxing and jiu-jitsu. Both can grapple; Du Plessis holds better striking. His kickboxing will give Giles trouble right away. Giles will try to avoid his strikes, but he won’t be fast enough. Du Plessis will keep attacking him until Giles runs out of room to hide and it will be game over. My prediction: Du Plessis wins via TKO in Round 2.
RYAN “THE WIZARD” HALL (8-1-0) vs ILIA TOPURIA (10-0-0)
This is a three-round fight in the featherweight division. Hall brings striking and jiu-jitsu. Topuria brings striking and jiu-jitsu. Topuria will try to keep the fight standing and take Hall out with strikes. Hall will avoid Topuria’s strikes and bring him to the ground. Topuria will fight desperately to get back to his feet, but Hall will make it impossible to do so. Hall will place him in a submission hold with ease and force Topuria to quit. My prediction: Hall wins via submission in Round 1.
NIKO “THE HYBRID” PRICE (14-4-0, 2 NC) vs MICHEL “DEMOLIDOR” PEREIRA (25-11-0, 2 NC)
This is a three-round fight in the welterweight division. Price brings kickboxing and jiu-jitsu. Pereira brings karate and jiu-jitsu. Price’s kickboxing seems to be enough to take Pereira out. Pereira will use his karate to defend against his kickboxing. He will then bring Price to the ground and wear him down with his jiu-jitsu. Price will get back to his feet, but he will have lost too much energy to cause any damage to Pereira. My prediction: Pereira wins via unanimous decision.
CARLOS “THE NATURAL BORN KILLER” CONDIT (32-13-0) vs MAX “PAIN” GRIFFIN (17-8-0)
This is a three-round co-main event in the welterweight division. Condit brings boxing, kickboxing, jiu-jitsu, and wrestling. He is a former WEC Welterweight champion. Griffin brings kickboxing, Kempo, taekwondo, kung fu, Muay Thai, and jiu-jitsu. Both are well-rounded in every way one can be. Griffin is tough and looks to give Condit a nightmare of a fight. Condit will be cautious but will be throwing heavy and fast strikes at Griffin. Griffin will look to take Condit to the ground only to walk right into more strikes from Condit. My prediction: Condit wins via unanimous decision.
Main Card (Pay-Per-View – ESPN+)
SEAN “SUGAR” O’MALLEY (13-1-0) vs KRIS MOUTINHO (9-4-0)
This is a three-round fight in the bantamweight division. O’Malley brings boxing, kickboxing, and jiu-jitsu. Moutinho brings striking and jiu-jitsu. Moutinho will try to bring O’Malley to the ground and keep him there. O’Malley will avoid the ground and throw fast strikes at Moutinho. Moutinho will try to run away from O’Malley, but O’Malley will continue to attack him until he goes down for the count. My prediction: O’Malley wins via knockout in Round 1.
#4 IRENE “ROBLES” ALDANA (12-6-0) vs #5 YANA “FOXY” KUNITSKAYA (14-5-0, 1 NC)
This is a three-round fight in the women’s bantamweight division. Aldana brings boxing, Muay Thai, jiu-jitsu, and wrestling. Kunitskaya brings boxing, Muay Thai, Gaidojutsu, and taekwondo. She is a former Invicta FC Bantamweight Champion. Kunitskaya is tough and is filled with loads of experience in the sport. His striking and grappling are legit and look to give Aldana a challenge. Aldana knows this and she will keep her distance all while landing perfect strikes on Kunitskaya. Kunitskaya will try to charge Aldana, but Aldana will dodge her and attack her with full force. My prediction: Aldana wins via unanimous decision.
TAI “BAM BAM” TUIVASA (11-3-0) vs GREG “THE PRINCE OF WAR” HARDY (7-3-0, 1 NC)
This is a three-round fight in the heavyweight division. Tuivasa brings boxing and kickboxing. Hardy brings boxing, kickboxing, and jiu-jitsu. Hardy always brings knockout power to every fight and will be throwing heavy hands at Tuivasa. Tuivasa knows the power Hardy possesses and he will be avoiding him at all cost. He will be throwing his strikes thus causing great damage to Hardy. Hardy will then grow frustrated and try charging Tuivasa. Once he does Tuivasa will catch him with a clean hit and send him falling to the ground. My prediction: Tuivasa wins via knockout in Round 2.
#2 GILBERT “DURINHO” BURNS (19-4-0) vs #4 STEPHEN “WONDERBOY” THOMPSON (16-4-1)
This is a three-round co-main event in the welterweight division. Burns brings Muay Thai, jiu-jitsu, and wrestling. Thompson brings kickboxing, karate, and jiu-jitsu. Burns is tough and always packs a punch when he steps inside the octagon. Thompson will be cautious of Burns’ striking power and aggression but will be throwing plenty of his strikes. Thompson will attack Burns and be too fast for Burns to react in time. Burns will then try to find an opening in Thompson but will end up walking right into a trap set by Thompson. My prediction: Thompson wins via knockout in Round 2.
#1 DUSTIN “THE DIAMOND” POIRIER (27-6-0, 1 NC) vs #5 CONOR “THE NOTORIOUS” MCGREGOR (22-5-0)
This is a five-round main event in the lightweight division. Poirier brings boxing and jiu-jitsu. McGregor brings striking, taekwondo, jiu-jitsu, and wrestling. He is the former featherweight and lightweight champion. McGregor looks to use his striking power and aggression to put Poirier down for good this time. Poirier knows McGregor is furious about being defeated the last time they fought so he will be highly cautious in this fight. Poirier will throw good strikes against McGregor, but they won’t take McGregor down. McGregor will withstand his attacks and return his own. McGregor will hold nothing back and keep unloading on Poirier until Poirier goes down. My prediction: McGregor wins via knockout in Round 2.
