Another big weekend for MMA is coming up with UFC Macau taking place in front of a crowd in China. Cage Warriors, LFA, BRAVE CF, and Ares FC also host pretty big events this weekend.

 

Cage Warriors 181

Cage Warriors 181 features three title fights this weekend, and aside from UFC is arguably the biggest MMA event on this weekend. It will be broadcast on UFC Fight Pass Saturday 23rd November at 12:30 PM ET.

HARRY HARDWICK (11-3-1) vs. KEWENY LOPES (11-1-1) – Featherweight Championship

The winner of this fight should get signed to the UFC. Harry Hardwick has made a name for himself recently by getting hurt early and then making huge comebacks. Very fun to watch but not great for longevity. Hardwick is a pretty great boxer like his brother, but he doesn't have the best striking defense which could be a concern here. Lopes is a striker with huge KO power. In most of his KO wins he leaves his opponents unconscious. He is super dangerous early but as the fight goes on he can slow down. In this fight I think Hardwick should look to use his grappling. I wouldn't say Hardwick is the best grappler but he should have the advantage on the ground here and shooting for take downs early to make Lopes work and slow down could be crucial. The way I see this fight going is either Lopes gets a huge KO in the first two rounds, or Hardwick survives the first two rounds and starts to take over. We have seen Lopes go 4 rounds before against Poiron but in that match up both guys were super tired in the third and fourth rounds. Hardwick is going to need to fight a smart fight, but if he does he should be the more well rounded fighter with more options to win. I am going to pick Hardwick to win but with low confidence as he can get hit and he's going to have to deal with a lot of power coming at him early in this fight.

Pick: Harry Hardwick to win by decision or late finish. Low confidence.

SHAJIDUL HAQUE (16-5) vs. NICOLAS LEBLOND (11-4) – Flyweight Championship

Haque is a fighter who has impressed me a lot over the last couple of years. Sam Creasey was on a pretty solid run at 125 lbs (aside from a loss to Luke Shanks) until he ran into Haque in a title defense. Haque knocked him out and then defended the title against the bantamweight champion Martignoni who come down a weight class to challenge him. That fight was over a year ago and unfortunately we haven't seen him since. Haque isn't super dangerous but he does have a great skill set and should be a bit better everywhere. Leblond is a fun fighter and he does have rare levels of power for a flyweight but he simply isn't very technical. He's strong for the weight class but that is about it. Unless Haque has regressed significantly in the last year this should be a pretty good fight for him.

Pick: Shajidul Haque to win by decision. Medium-high confidence.

KENNEDY FREEMAN (5-0) vs. MAFALDA CARMONA (7-2) – Women's Bantamweight Championship

I am surprised I didn't know who Freeman was until looking into this card. She has some crazy power. In both of her last two fights she knocked her opponents out with one punch on the feet, which is not something you see often. She was shorter than both of those opponents so maybe she could fight at 125 lbs, but it's hard to tell. She does have some concerns though as she looks to be quite one dimensional. She has been controlled against the cage before and doesn't look like she deals with pressure very well. Her boxing is pretty good and when she lands she does a lot of damage which is fun to see. This isn't going to an easy fight for Freeman though. Carmona is coming up from flyweight but she was very big for that weight class so the size should be similar. She does attempt take downs and has strong control and some submission ability. Recently she has been having close fights with low level girls so there is something to make of that, but overall she actually looks to be a decent fighter herself. If she can get take downs this fight could be interesting but I think that Freeman's power could be too much. I don't often pick women to find KO's on the feet but Freeman looks to be the real deal and she should be able to land something here. The fact she can be controlled against the cage is concerning though. If she wins I would love to see her fight on the Contender Series as her fights were quite fun to watch.

Pick: Kennedy Freeman to win by KO or decision. Low-medium confidence.

Other Cage Warriors 181 Quick Picks:

Justin Burlinson by submission. Low confidence. Justin Burlinson truly has no chin at all which is a shame as he was once a huge prospect. He was 17-1 as an amateur but has been knocked out twice as pro by fighters who went on to fight in the UFC. He still has great skills but it's always tough to trust him against someone who hits hard. Breggren has dominated so far but he's mostly fighting low level competition. He rushes forward throwing bombs and gives no respect to his opponents. That's fine as it has worked so far but now he is taking a big step up. Burlinson loves to get in a brawl which is dumb, but if he avoids that he should win by being the more talented fighter.

James Power by decision. Low confidence. This fight could be the best fight of the year, or it could be boring. Girlean will be trying to take Power” head off the whole time, while I think Power will look to wrestle. This could go either way if it turns into a brawl.

 

LFA 197: Kuziutina vs. Guimaraes

Another huge event on UFC Fight Pass. This is one of those LFA Brazil cards that is stacked with prospects from top to bottom. Friday 22nd November 10 PM ET. There are 15 fights on this card and most of them are bangers.

NATASHA KUZIUTINA (6-1) vs. YASMIN GUIMARAES (8-1) – Women's Strawweight Championship

Kuziutina has a background in judo where she found a lot of success at the world level. She is an Olympic bronze medalist, multiple time medalist at the world championships, and multiple time European Games champion. She captured the title against top prospect GiGi Canuto and then defended it against former Bellator fighter Bruna Ellen. Her one loss is to Fatima Kline, but Kline is destined to have a successful career herself at strawweight in the UFC. She uses her judo background well and wins most of her fights with control. Her striking isn't great at all but her grappling is so good it hasn't mattered too much. Yasmin will probably be her toughest test so far aside from Kline. Yasmin is a solid striker but I don't think she is going to be able to defend the take downs of Natasha. If she can, this is a fight she can win for sure. But so far Natasha has really impressed me and all she really needs to do is get in strong positions in the clinch to start working her judo.

Pick: Natasha Kuziutina by decision. Low confidence.

SAMUEL DIAS (10-2) vs. SAMUEL SILVA (12-4-1) – Lightweight

I'm not too sure why this is the co-main event as I think there are better fights and prospects on this card. These guys are opposites of each other. Samuel Dias is a ridiculously aggressive striker, whereas Silva is a wrestler who likes to control against the cage. I'm not sure how good Dias' take down defense is, but Silva's wrestling didn't look great in his recent fights. Dias is so aggressive he likely catches Silva with something.

Pick: Samuel Dias by KO. Low-medium confidence.

FELIPE OLIVEIRA (10-3) vs. MARCIO BARBOSA (15-2) – Featherweight

Somewhat similar match up to the co main event. Marcio Barbosa is a brawler who just comes forward throwing bombs. He overwhelms his opponents with pressure and volume and more often than not it works well. 12 of his 15 wins have come by KO in round 1. He nearly knocked out Gabriel Santos in 2022, but was caught early in the second round. Since then he has won two fights by KO in round 1. I think he can catch Oliveira in this fight. Oliveira is also a striker but he is much more patient. I don't like how he fights with his chin in the air, and that he can get backed up. Honestly this looks like the perfect match up for Barbosa to get another finish win.

Pick: Marcio Barbosa by KO. High confidence.

MICHAEL OLIVEIRA (7-0) vs. ALDO PEREIRA (11-7-2) – Welterweight

Oliveira was rumoured to be on DWCS this year but he never was on the show for some reason. He is the perfect guy for the show as all 7 of his wins have come by KO. He is so explosive and aggressive. This looks to be a set up as Pereira just isn't that good honestly.

Pick: Michael Oliveira by KO. High confidence.

LUANN SARDINHA (8-0) vs. MARCELO MARQUES (10-0) – Lightweight

Sardinha has been very inactive recently, only fighting once in the last three years. He has a win over Kaue Fernandes who has had a decent start to his UFC career. In his come back fight he was beating his opponent on the feet but ended up throwing an elbow to the back of the head Jacob Malkoun style and the fight was a no contest. He is an aggressive striker who likes to move forward. His opponent Marques is a very talented grappler. Both of these guys have had great career so far but I like the grappler in this fight. Marques has been much more active so we have seen a lot more from him recently, and what we have seen has looked great. I do worry a bit about his size as he is a small lightweight who might be able to make 145. He hasn't fought the best competition but he has made it look easy.

Pick: Marcelo Marques to win by submission or decision. Low confidence.

 

BRAVE CF 90

MUSLIM DANAEV (7-0) vs. CHEQUINA NOSO PEDRO (9-4) – Welterweight (175 lbs)

This is a home town fight for Danaev as this event is held in Austria. Honestly I don't know what to think of him though. He's a striker who likes to move forward and throw a lot of kicks. Most of his kicks are leg kicks but he does have a pretty big head kick KO as well, but that was 4 years ago. Chequina has been a lot more active, even fighting for PFL Europe where he lost a super close decision to Ibrahima Mane. Chequina also looks to be in much better shape as he is shredded whereas Danaev isn't, and in his decision win Danaev was starting to slow down in the second round onwards. Chequina is coming off a big submission win where he beat an undefeated Ali Isajew but that was against a wrestler. It looks like BRAVE is trying to give Danaev a set up win but Chequina isn't a push over. Overall I'm very confused and am going to pick the guy with the better cardio.

Pick: Chequina Noso Pedro by decision. Very low confidence

RASUL MAGOMEDOV (6-0) vs. LAKASZ OLECH (5-1) – Light Heavyweight

Magomedov is fighting for the fifth time this year. He is a big time prospect out of KHK MMA Team so I am very happy to see him active, and I highly expect to see him on DWCS next year like Magomed Gadzhiyasulov was. To be fair he hasn't been fighting great competition but he has been getting some quick finishes. He went 13-0 as an amateur and is now 6-0 as a pro. I read a couple articles that stated that he is a combat sambo world champion as well. He looks for take downs and looks to win by ground and pound TKO. Olech looks like he could be a pretty fun test as he has some decent wins and is a grappler himself. He recently submitted former PFL fighter Delan Monte in the first round. Four of his wins are by rear naked choke in the first round. From what I have seen Rasul should be better in the striking as well so I think he gets another KO win here.

Pick: Rasul Magomedov by KO. High confidence.

 

Ares FC 27

VIRGIL AUGEN (7-0) vs. MOACIR ROCHA (14-7-1) – Middleweight Championship

Augen looks like the real deal at middleweight. His fights aren't super fun to watch as he does wrestle and ground and pound in top control but he's been able to do it to all of his opponents so far. This is a steap down in competition and Rocha just looks like a guy with a regional belt in Brazil that Ares has called up to get Augen a finish. Rocha is a grappler himself but I'd be shocked if he catches Augen with anything. Augen should be able to get a finish here.

Pick: Virgil Augen by KO. High confidence

OTHER QUICK ARES 27 PICKS:

Amin Ayoub by decision. High confidence. Mentioning this fight as Ayoub has been in rumours to sign with the UFC.

Jean Do Santos by KO. High confidence. Now that Do Santos has pulled off a big win in a main event I think Ares is looking to push him here as this is a step down in competition for him.

Jordan Zebo by decision. High confidence. Zebo is a power wrestler who was sacrificed to Doumbe. Should be able to get his wrestling going here.

Zarah Fairn also fights on this card.