DWCS is back! Week 1 takes place next Tuesday.

ILIAN BOUAFIA (6-0) vs. NEEMIAS SANTANA (7-2-1) – Middleweight

This a match up between a 6′ 5″, low volume yet very accurate kick boxer and a come-forward brawler. Bouafia is very patient but he does use his height and length very well. He hasn't been tested in a war yet which will be interesting to see and Santana is going to bring one. Bouafia has great technique and his defense does hold up well overall. Santana just bombs forwards. I don't think he is particularly good but just like Claudio Ribeiro he is so aggressive he will be a threat to anyone. His cardio isn't great but this could be because of his high volume. He doesn't have the same amount of power as Ribeiro did though. Overall, Bouafia is the better fight and as long as he doesn't caught by something stupid he should win. I am picking him to win by decision but he could find a late KO if Bouafia gasses out.

Pick: Ilian Bouafia by decision, or late KO/TKO. Medium-high confidence.

RADLEY DA SILVA (7-1) vs. GEORGE MANGOS (7-0) – Featherweight

This is a very high level fight. Radley Da Silva and George Mangos are both legitimately ready for the UFC so it is a shame one has to lose. Da Silva will be the bigger fighter in this match up and that is important as this fight will likely have a lot of grappling. Da Silva is a champion of BFL and he has pushed 5 rounds and found late finishes a few times now so his cardio is fantastic. He throws a lot of spinning wheel kicks. Like a lot. Aside form that on the feet he is good at pressuring forwards but his wrestling is absolutely his biggest strength. Mangos is somewhat small for the weight class but is probably bigger than the smallest UFC guys like Vallejos for example. He definitely started out as a pure grappler but recently his striking has been getting him some huge KO wins. He has a great submission threat on the ground but I don't think his wrestling is as good as Da Silva's. His striking has improved rapidly and I actually like him on the feet in this fight. On the ground I think he is going to see to use his submission threats to reverse positions and work for his own submission. This is a low confidence pick as I do think Da Silva is more proven but my gut is siding with Mangos due to the finishing threat on the ground and on the feet.

Pick: George Mangos by submission. Low confidence.

JIMMY DRAGO (7-2) vs. TY MILLER (5-0) – Welterweight

I like this fight a lot. Initially I wasn't too interested as I was unfamiliar with both guys. But after looking into the fight they have both looked impressive, especially Ty Miller. Ty Miller is a 6'2″ boxer. He mostly throws straight punches. He doesn't kick too often but when he does they are low kicks. His take down defense is pretty good but he does get taken down a lot initially, and then works his way to his feet very quickly. Drago pushes a pretty aggressive pace but his style is much more Muay Thai based. He does shoot take downs but not super often his style is definitely more based around his striking. I don't think Drago will be able to catch Miller clean on the feet and Miller should be the guy winning the minutes with his jab and straight shots.

Pick: Ty Miller by KO/TKO. Medium confidence.

CHRISTOPHER EWERT (7-0) vs. YURI PANFEROV (8-1) – Middleweight

Panferov was on DWCS in 2023 but that was against a pure wrestler in Torrez Finney. Now he is fighting a striker in Ewert. Panferov is a wrestler who has very strong top control and his grappling is quite good. However his striking – especially his striking defense is a huge weakness in his game. So far Ewert has proven to have pretty good take down defense so this will be a problem for Yuri. Ewert is a boxer who liked to brawl up close. He throws a lot of hooks and most of his strikes landed come from up close exchanges. His cardio is pretty good as well and is probably better than Panferov's as well. It will be interesting to see what happens if Panferov can get a take down but there is a huge difference in skill on the feet that I think Ewert will exploit.

Pick: Christopher Ewert by KO/TKO. Medium confidence.

BAYSANGUR SUSARKAEV (8-0) vs. MURTAZA TALHA (7-1) – Middleweight

Short notice: Susurkaev has taken this fight on 1 week notice. I hope this isn't a factor as Susurkaev is very talented. His striking reminds me a lot of Adesanya. He fights very well from range but can be too patient at times. He likes to taunt his opponents a lot. He has a lot of power too because even against Sobnosky he hurt him early. He doesn't offensively wrestle much but in the grappling he is solid as well. His take down defense has looked fantastic against recent opponents and he is able to reverse positions very well and find his own control. Murtaza Talha is someone I was high on but he got beaten badly by Rodolfo Bellato. He was coming off an ACL injury and it was obvious he was too small for 205, but that was a bad performance. He is an aggressive boxer who comes forward and shoots a lot of take downs. He will be dangerous early but it's hard to tell how his cardio will hold up at this new weight class. I do like Susurkaev to test Talha everywhere and take over later in the fight.

Pick: Baysangur Susurkaev by decision. Low confidence.