FIGHT FORECASTER: UGP 53 PREDICTIONS

MAIN EVENT
UNION GP BANTAMWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
© C.C. FLYNN vs #1 EUGENIE BOMBELLES

ISAAC’S PREDICTION: Eugenie Bombelles by T/KO, Round 4 — There’s no questioning the legitimacy of CC Flynn’s meteoric rise in 2023. Her willingness to compete as often as possible yielded a lot of success across companies and continents. Holding two World Championships in two promotions is a feat not many can claim, but I do have to question how long she can keep this pace up. This will be Supa’s third fight in less than two months, that kinda toll can be debilitating on one’s body and mind. I’ve been singing Eugenie Bombelles’ praises since her stint in Everest MMA, and I think this is the perfect time to strike. I think Bombelles wears her down and stops her in Championship rounds.

KAYLA’S PREDICTION: C.C. Flynn by Decision – In a battle of strikers, all the quantifiable factors point to C.C. winning: reach, size, accuracy; but the great equalizer, especially at 135 pounds, is Eugenie’s power. C.C. doesn’t finish fights very often, only 3 out of 13 wins are finishes, where Eugenie rattled off her first 7 wins all by finish, and 4 of those involved cutting down to 115, so clearly the weight cut didn’t affect that power game any. I think this fight ultimately boils down to whether Eugenie can land that big shot on C.C., which so far only Fran Garza early in her career, and Zion Momoa in that…unusual bout at RFC 3, have ever landed. C.C. has found ways to get the job done more often than not, and while I agree with Isaac that this pace she’s on is gonna catch up to her, I don’t see it happening yet.

CO-MAIN EVENT
UNION GP HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
© VIKTOR VOLKOV vs #1 KENNARD ROZIER

ISAAC’S PREDICTION: Viktor Volkov by Decision — It feels great to see Viktor Volkov finally get the recognition he deserves. He’s a Day One Union fighter, but has always played the trope of “second best”. Now that he wears the crown, I don’t see him spoiling the opportunity. This is a different fighter from what we saw in Volkov vs Rozier 1 way back at UGP 24. Since returning from his short lived retirement, Rozier has been up and down in terms of production and output. He has gone 4-1-0 with 1 NC, but only one of his wins is against a currently active fighter. He’s still got that one punch knockout power, which makes this a very volatile fight to confidently put money on.

KAYLA’S PREDICTION: Viktor Volkov by TKO, Round 4 – It’s always hard to bet against Rozier, but I can’t shake the feeling that Volkov has found that next level that he’s been missing for a lot of the early part of his career. Knockout finishes of both Dax Levandrier and Owen Barnes, and doing what Pluggz couldn’t, taking the Heavyweight belt off Gauge Lattimore, there’s something about the Viktor Volkov coming into 2024 that feels…at the risk of sounding pretentious, inevitable. Pluggz puts up a good fight, and he’ll definitely test the new champ’s mettle, but I think Volkov survives and finds the finish in the championship rounds.

LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION
#4 BENJI MEYERS vs #7 REGIS PIERRE PAUL

ISAAC’S PREDICTION: Benji Meyers by Decision — In another position to defend his ranking, I think we continue to see major improvements to the rising youngster Benji Meyers’ game. He’s really starting to hit on all cylinders, bringing everything together and refining his skill set and game plan each time he steps through those caged doors. Regis Pierre Paul is no easy task, though. He’s coming off a tough loss to former Lightweight Champion 2Face Rodríguez and is surely looking to get back on the right track. I expect fireworks for the full fifteen minutes, putting these two fighters’ will and chin to the test.

KAYLA’S PREDICTION: Regis Pierre Paul by Decision – Call this one a gut feeling, there’s so little between these two that anything I could really break down, could be said just the same about the other one. The only thing that really stands out to me is that Benji’s shown a weakness in the past against grapplers, and while he put the hurt on Ray Rogers in his last fight, fights against Cameron Moss, Catherine Harris, and Maddox Moon showed a weak-point, and I think RPP is the right kind of fighter to exploit that. I don’t see a finish coming, though, and it’ll be interesting to see if Benji’s ironed out that wrinkle in his game.

HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION
#6 DAX LEVANDRIER vs #8 BENJAMIN CLARKE

ISAAC’S PREDICTION: Dax Levandrier by T/KO, Round 2 — If the Heavyweight Championship fight wasn’t “big enough” for you in a literal sense, enter Dax Levandrier versus Benjamin Clarke. Pro Wrestler against Pro Rugby Player. These two behemoths could tip the scales at the 265 pound limit at weigh-ins on Saturday, but come Sunday Fight Night after rehydrating, we could see two 300+ pound Silverbacks mauling each other from the bell. I don’t think for a second that this goes the distance. Dax has more experience at the highest level and BC is still raw, so that reason alone is enough to sway my decision in favor of the Everest MMA SZN 1 and 2 Heavyweight Champion that hails from Canada.

KAYLA’S PREDICTION: Dax Levandrier by TKO, Round 2 – Dax hasn’t quite been the same fighter in Union proper that he was in Everest, but he’s still a dangerous, one-punch knockout kinda guy, and isn’t exactly an elite head movement type that can avoid those big punches. I see this one being a phone-booth fight, two guys just throwing bombs, and that almost always goes Dax’s way.

MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION
#3 KIAN DE BEER vs #5 VENUS SAGAPOLUTELE

ISAAC’S PREDICTION: Kian De Beer by T/KO, Round 3 — After suffering his first two professional losses back-to-back, Kian De Beer rebounded with a Knockout of the Year nominated Slam to Reece Parker at the year ending event, Boss Fight XLVIII. De Beer needed that big win to help carry his momentum back to him. Venus Sagapolutele is riding quite a hot streak herself, winning three straight after dropping three straight. Even though all of the motivation is in favor of Sagapolutele, I don’t see this rematch ending much differently from their first encounter. 

KAYLA’S PREDICTION: Kian De Beer by TKO, Round 2 – I’m in the same boat as Isaac, honestly; Venus has a lot of momentum now, including getting a win in her last outing over one of the guys who knocked off Kian in Eagle Mondalvi, but their last fight wasn’t so long ago that I see anything significantly different–if Venus can ride that momentum and get out of the gates hot, she might be able to sway the fight her way, but until I see it happen, I just can’t see it happening. If that makes sense.

BANTAMWEIGHT DIVISION
#5 VICTORIA MARSHALL vs IGNACIO ZAMBRANO
ISAAC’S PREDICTION: Victoria Marshall by T/KO, Round 3
KAYLA’S PREDICTION: Victoria Marshall by TKO, Round 2

LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION
#5 CATHERINE HARRIS vs MASATO ENDO
ISAAC’S PREDICTION: Masato Endo by Decision
KAYLA’S PREDICTION: Catherine Harris by Decision

LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION
#6 DILLON MILLS vs #10 RYO MITSUNARI
ISAAC’S PREDICTION: Dillon Mills by Decision 
KAYLA’S PREDICTION: Ryo Mitsunari by Decision

MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION
KOJI MURAKAMI vs DA’VION WOODARD
ISAAC’S PREDICTION: Koji Murakami by T/KO, Round 2
KAYLA’S PREDICTION: Koji Murakami by TKO, Round 2

BANTAMWEIGHT DIVISION
FRANNY GARZA vs SHUNSUKE FUTAKI
ISAAC’S PREDICTION: Franny Garza by T/KO, Round 2
KAYLA’S PREDICTION: Franny Garza by TKO, Round 1

MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION
HIDEO SASAKI vs ALEXANDER SOKOLOV
ISAAC’S PREDICTION: Hideo Sasaki by T/KO, Round 3
KAYLA’S PREDICTION: Alexander Sokolov by Decision