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Another week, another value meal from the McDonald’s of prime time sports. This Saturday the UFC APEX hosts Jack Hermansson vs. Dana White’s favourite couch surfer Joseph Pyfer. Pyfer gets the main event slot after just three UFC appearances outside of the Contender Series. Our co-main event is Dan Ige vs. Andre Fili.
If that’s not scintillating enough for you, there’s also Ihor Potieria vs. Robert Bryczek and Trevin Giles vs. Carlos Prates.
There’s RoboCop, too. Gregory Rodrigues meets Brad Tavares in what could possibly, maybe, hopefully be a good scrap.
We assume some of you are watching this and are interested in seeing our picks for it. In the main event our staff mostly believe ‘The Joker’ will get beaten down by ‘Pyface’ (which is as good a nickname as ‘Bodybagz’).
To check out the rest of our picks for this [something] card, keep on scrollin’. And don’t forget to hit us with your picks in the comments.
UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs. Pyfer staff picks and predictions
Jack Hermansson vs. Joe Pyfer
Chris: Jack Hermansson’s record is ageing poorly and Pyfer, for all his questionable marketing, is a younger man with a kind of momentum, power, and dynamism.
Dayne: I know I’m in the minority, but I’m not sold on Pyfer being a major player, at least not yet. Let’s look at his UFC wins. Alen Amedovski is one of the worst fighters to populate the UFC roster the last decade. Gerald Meerschaert is crafty, but slow and chinny, which plays right into what Pyfer does well. Abdul Razak Alhassan is an overgrown welterweight who still hits hard, but isn’t the athlete he was a few years ago. And Pyfer is now ready to tackle the top ten of the division? Well, just outside the top ten?
I get that Hermansson is showing durability issues, but Jared Cannonier and Thiago Santos are the only ones to put him down from a striking battle. Roman Dolidze finished him, but that was after twisting him into a pretzel. And it wasn’t that long ago that Hermansson outclassed Chris Curtis on the feet by a wide margin. Plus, Hermansson has extensive experience in five round fights. I know that won’t matter if Pyfer ends the contest early – a distinct possibility – but I think a lot of people are discounting how big of a step up this is for Pyfer whereas Pyfer won’t offer anything Hermansson hasn’t seen before. Hermansson via decision
Zane: I wanted to pick Hermansson here, really and truly. I think if he gets this fight past the first two rounds, there’s a great chance that he starts to really take over late. But, I can’t get this image of Hermansson facing other big, athletic punchers in his career out of my head. Or get rid of the feeling that he often gets hurt and overwhelmed early in fights. Pyfer is too raw for this fight right now, but I think he’s also too dangerous for me not to feel like he could end it early. Joe Pyfer via TKO, round 1.
Staff picking Hermansson: Dayne, Victor, Tim
Staff picking Pyfer: Chris, Ben, Stephie, Kristen, Evan, Jack, Zane, Anton
Dan Ige vs. Andre Fili
Dayne: I don’t believe this contest requires too much analysis. Both Ige and Fili have been around for a while and have hit their ceilings. Ige’s ceiling is around the top ten while Fili’s is just outside the official rankings, probably closer to top 20 or so. Don’t get me wrong, I think this is going to be a hell of a fun fight, but we know what these guys are and Ige is a smidge better at everything than Fili and tends to avoid the mental miscues that have kept Fili from having a career breakthrough. Ige via decision
Zane: Feels like this could be the perfect moment for Fili to get this fight. He’s looking more confident and controlled than ever lately with his striking skills. But, I’m not ready to say he’s entirely turned over a new leaf just because he shellacked Lucas Almeida. If he can slow drip pressure with range strikes at the edge of the pocket, Ige is a fighter that leaves plenty of opportunities on the table. But, if he’s going to try and pressure more firmly and look to work in the pocket, Ige has the power and counter-punching form to light him up. I’ll lean Dan Ige by decision, but it should be a scrap.
Staff picking Ige: Dayne, Ben, Kristen, Evan, Victor, Jack, Zane, Anton
Staff picking Fili: Stephie, Tim
Ihor Potieria vs. Robert Bryczek
Dayne: So in just over two months, Potieria is getting KO’d at 205 to dropping down to middleweight for the first time in a short notice contest against an opponent known for putting his opponents to sleep? I don’t see how being further dehydrated is going to help Potieria’s chin issues. I’m not convinced Bryczek is UFC material, but I don’t believe Poteiria is at all. Bryczek via KO of RD1
To read the rest of our UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs. Pyfer predictions, head on over to Substack. Now that Bloody Elbow is a fully independent site the best way to support us, so that we can continue fearless coverage of combat sports, is to pick up a paid subscription. Paid subscribers help fund other exclusive content like editorials from Karim Zidan and Jonathan Snowden and investigations by John S. Nash.
Leaderboard
As a collective, we did much better last week, with most of us sporting high records, including our leader Dayne (who went 9-3). That solidified his spot at the top of the leaderboard, but that man Zane is keeping pace. Behind them Anton and Even round out the top four. Still early days, so this whole leaderboard could get complete shuffled up after UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs. Pyfer.
| Position | Staffer | Correct Fight Picks | Incorrect Fight Picks | Correct Pick % | Correct Lock Picks | Lock Pick % | Points | Last week’s record (fights only) |
| 1 (▬) | Dayne 🇺🇸 | 24 | 11 | 0.686 | 3 | 1.00 | 54 | 9-3 |
| 2 (▲1) | Zane 🇺🇸 | 21 | 14 | 0.600 | 3 | 1.00 | 51 | 7-5 |
| 3 (▲3) | Anton 🇵🇭 | 19 | 16 | 0.543 | 3 | 1.00 | 49 | 8-4 |
| 4 (▲1) | Evan 🇺🇸 | 16 | 19 | 0.457 | 3 | 1.00 | 49 | 4-8 |
| 5 (▼1) | Kristen 🇺🇸 | 19 | 16 | 0.543 | 3 | 1.00 | 46 | 7-5 |
| 6 (▲2) | Steph 🇫🇯 | 23 | 12 | 0.657 | 2 | 0.67 | 43 | 9-3 |
| 7 (▲2) | Jack 🇨🇦 | 21 | 14 | 0.600 | 2 | 1.00 | 41 | 9-3 |
| 8 (▼6) | Tim 🇬🇧/🇨🇦 | 20 | 15 | 0.571 | 2 | 0.67 | 40 | 6-6 |
| 9 (▲1) | Victor 🇺🇸 | 18 | 17 | 0.514 | 2 | 1.00 | 38 | 9-3 |
| 10 (▼3) | Eddie 🏴☠️ | 18 | 17 | 0.514 | 2 | 0.67 | 38 | 7-5 |
| 11 (▲1) | Chris 🇺🇸/🇩🇰 | 7 | 5 | 0.583 | 2 | 1.00 | 27 | 4-2 |
| 12 (▼1) | Blaine 🇺🇸 | 6 | 5 | 0.545 | 1 | 1.00 | 16 | 0-0 |
| 13 (▬) | Ben 🇺🇸 | 4 | 8 | 0.333 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 0-0 |
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