This weekend’s installment of UFC will take place Saturday night, as UFC on ESPN 23 is set for the UFC APEX facility in Las Vegas. Dominick Reyes will square off against Jiri Prochazka in a light heavyweight fight as the main event. The co-headliner pits Cub Swanson against Giga Chikadze in a featherweight fight. You can catch the main and preliminary cards on ESPN2.
We have the full card, along with some thoughts for your UFC betting consideration on the two top tilts.
UFC on ESPN 23: Reyes vs Prochazka Preview
Main Card (ESPN2 / ESPN+)
Dominick Reyes vs Jiri Prochazka (Light Heavyweight)
Giga Chikadze vs Cub Swanson (Featherweight)
Ion Cutelaba vs Dustin Jacoby (Light Heavyweight)
Sean Strickland vs Krzysztof Jotko (Middleweight)
Merab Dvalishvili vs Cody Stamann (Bantamweight)
Poliana Botelho vs Luana Carolina (Women’s Catchweight – 128.5 lbs)
Preliminary Card (ESPN2 / ESPN+)
Randa Markos vs Luana Pinheiro (Women’s Strawweight)
Kai Kamaka III vs T.J. Brown (Featherweight)
Loma Lookboonmee vs Sam Hughes (Women’s Strawweight)
Andreas Michailidis vs K.B. Bhullar
Luke Sanders vs Felipe Colares (Featherweight)
Dominick Reyes (12-2, 6-2 UFC, +110) vs Jiri Prochazka (27-3-1, 1-0 UFC, -130) features a fighter looking to rebound in 2021. In 2020, he lost to Jon Jones in a title fight, but then when Jones moved up to heavyweight, Reyes got what looked like an easy fight against Jan Blachowicz for the belt. However, Reyes came out flat and couldn’t hang with Blachowicz’s power, and he ended up getting knocked out.
Next up is a test against Prochazka, who needs to fight in one of the heavier classes to succeed. His reach and fluidity are unusual in the light heavyweight division, giving him an edge. He is a fighter who tends to lag on the cards before delivering some big bombs at the end to deliver a finish. In his UFC debut against Volkan Oezdemir, the pace was intense, as was the striking, and Prochazka delivered an emphatic knockout. His emphasis on power over process will eventually cost him, but will it hurt him against Reyes? Reyes did not respond to power well against Blachowicz. Reyes did have that recent struggle, but he also has more experience in UFC. I’m going to take the slight edge in value here.
Final Prediction:
Reyes wins via knockout
Giga Chikadze (12-2, 5-0 UFC, -185) vs Cub Swanson (27-11, 12-7 UFC, +160) is the latest adventure in Cub Swanson’s journey. There was a time (2012-2014, to be precise) when he was moving toward title contender, before he lost to Frankie Edgar and Max Holloway. After that, he won four in a row, including a barnburner against Doo Ho Choi. After that, though, he took four losses, all against tough competition. His last loss came against Shane Burgos and was close on the cards. Since then, though, he has beaten Kron Gracie on the cards and finished Daniel Pineda. His next task is to give prospect Giga Chikadze a test.
Chikadze picked up some big wins against a series of tomato cans in his early MMA days, but his UFC run has been impressive. His grappling skills were solid in his debut against Brandon Davis, and when he beat Omar Morales on the cards, he showed skills in all areas of his game. He finished James Krause-Simmons in his last fight. Swanson will be Chikadze’s first major test in UFC, and unless Chikadze can deliver a big bomb early, Swanson should be able to ride this out.
Final Prediction:
Swanson wins via decision
UFC Betting Odds
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