It’s a fact that UFC 166 is the most stacked card of the year on paper, as it features five incredible main-card bouts as well as eight fantastic preliminary fights that are sure to make all MMA fans watching the event go crazy.
Basically, it’s a must-watch event, and you’d be really missing out if you didn’t check out all the fights, especially the free preliminary fights.
PROGRAMMING ALERT: Watch four UFC 166 prelims Saturday starting at 6:00 p.m. ET on sportsnet.ca then four more fights on Sportsnet 360 at 8:00 p.m. ET
Middleweight bout: Tim Boetsch vs. CB Dollaway
Boetsch returns to the Octagon to take on Dollaway in a battle of middleweights looking to stay relevant in the division. It’s a close fight between two guys who are solid wrestlers, but ultimately I give Boetsch the edge in toughness and in KO power, and combined with Dollaway’s fading chin, I see Boetsch getting the win by TKO at some point.
Prediction: Boetsch via TKO
Welterweight bout: Hector Lombard vs. Nate Marquardt
This is my favourite prelim out of the eight, as I’m super excited to see Lombard make his welterweight debut. And it’s against Marquardt, one of the most exciting fighters in the entire division. This is a tremendous matchup on paper and I expect a finish either way, but I think it’s more likely to come at the hands of Lombard, who will put Marquardt away with a nice KO.
Prediction: Lombard by KO
Women’s bantamweight bout: Sarah Kaufman vs. Jessica Eye
In a women’s bantamweight bout, Victoria, B.C.’s Kaufman makes her UFC debut against Eye, who is also making her big-show debut. This is going to be a fun, exciting fight between two of the best female fighters in the world but I think Eye is going to be able to edge out the later rounds and win a close, competitive decision.
Prediction: Eye by decision
Lightweight bout: KJ Noons vs. George Sotiropoulos
Noons vs. Sotiropoulos is a fight that will most likely send the loser packing from the UFC, so I expect both men to be extremely motivated to get the win here. That being said, Sotiropoulos is aging and he doesn’t have a good chin, so even though I think Noons is overrated, he’ll be able to get the KO here.
Prediction: Noons by TKO
Welterweight bout: Adlan Amagov vs. TJ Waldburger
Waldburger is one of my favorite fighters to watch with his incredible ability to string together submission attempts. You don’t see that that much in mixed martial arts, and I doubt Adlan Amagov has ever fought someone like him yet, so I’m going with the upset and picking the Texan Waldburger to win the fight by submission, and maybe even win the bonus award in the process.
Prediction: Waldburger by submission
Lightweight bout: Tony Ferguson vs. Mike Rio
Ferguson hasn’t fought in over a year and I tend to generally pick against fighters who have been out that long, but he matches up very well with Rio. Look for Ferguson to outstrike Rio on the feet and eventually get the TKO stoppage.
Predictions: Ferguson by TKO
Featherweight bout: Jeremy Larsen vs. Andre Fili
Fili is a good prospect out of the solid Team Alpha Male camp but he took this fight against Larsen on only 12 day’s notice. I don’t like betting on short-notice fighters to win their fights, so I’m going with the upset here and picking Larsen to come through with a decision victory.
Prediction: Larsen by decision
Bantamweight bout: Dustin Pague vs. Kyogi Horiguchi
The opening sportsnet.ca prelim is a bantamweight bout between Pague and UFC newcomer Horiguchi. Pague has an awful record in the UFC at 1-4 and although I do believe he has talent, I don’t think he’ll be able to do enough against the young Japanese fighter here, and I see Horiguchi edging out a decision.
Prediction: Horiguchi by decision
