After the nightmare that was Week 5 I look to return to my winning ways of dominating the man who calls himself “The Greek”. I did completely forget to finish last weeks article but it was probably for the best considering how that went. This week is much higher level and there is a lot of tape to be found for everyone on the card which is a fantastic change of pace. Some intriguing prospects on this one.

HECHER SOSA (13-1) vs. MACKSON LEE (9-0) – Bantamweight

This is a banger. Hecher Sosa has the perfect style for DWCS. He is all action and is always throwing bombs and combinations on the feet. He doesn't have great defense because of this though. Sosa does have some wrestling but he usually shoots take downs from the clinch positions against the cage. He always is coming forward and I had a great time watching his fights. Mackson Lee is a very intriguing prospect. He went 7-0 against absolute cans, and then appeared out of nowhere after a 4 year break on an LFA card and beat Mateus Soares as a +200 underdog. Mateus Soares is a great fighter himself and we may see him in the UFC one day. He got another highlight win for the LFA this year and that truly established him as a prospect. He is a 6'1″ bantamweight who reminds me a lot of Carlos Prates. He keeps his hands low like Prates and snipes his opponents with jabs, and really odd strikes from awkward angles that he can throw because of his 75″ reach. His take down defense has held up quite well as he did need to wrestle quite a bit against Soares. If he does one thing that bothers me, it is that he throws too many spinning attacks. Against his most recent opponent he threw a ridiculous amount of spinning attacks and a pressure fighter like Sosa will capitalize on that by trying to catch him with a take down or get some easy cage position. He is an accurate striker though and despite the fact he has only fought two good opponents, I was impressed with him and think he could be a very interesting guy to keep an eye on at this weight class.

Pick: Mackson Lee by KO/TKO. Low-medium confidence.

IWO BARANIEWSKI (5-0) vs. MAHAMED ALY (4-0) – Light Heavyweight

Really struggling to pick this one, and at the time of writing (Friday night) I haven't picked a side yet. I was leaning Baraniewski but have just flipped to Aly.

Pick: Mahamed Aly by KO/TKO. Very low confidence.

THOMAS GANTT (10-0) vs. ADAM LIVINGSTON (6-0) – Lightweight

This is a good match up for Gantt, who is one of the best wrestlers to transfer over to MMA from the USA. He has been incredibly active, fighting 12 times across pro and amateur in 2024. He hasn't fought very good competition at all but this is a strategy that I wouldn't mind seeing more often as he has the talent, and just needed to build up a record to get him this shot. He wrestled at a high level in College and trilled for the Olympic team. His striking is actually quite good, he doesn't throw many kicks at all though. He mostly fights behind straight punches, but where he excels is in his dirty boxing in the clinch, or exiting the clinch. He gets some big take downs and once his opponents are taken down he throws nasty ground and pound. He does struggle to hold these opponents down in moments. This is likely due him lacking BJJ/MMA experience as he doesn't offer much of a submission threat. Livingston is a big lightweight. He is a 6'2″ powerful striker but I think he is quite awkward. His take down defense has looked good, as in the open he is able to sprawl effectively. Against the cage is where his defense doesn't look as confident though, and that is where Gantt shoots the majority of his take downs. Livingston needs to get a KO on the feet but I don't think Gantt's wrestling is going to give him the opportunity.

Pick: Thomas Gantt by KO/TKO. Medium confidence.

IN SOO HWANG (8-1) vs. PADDY MCCORRY (6-1) – Light Heavyweight

Neither of these guys are ready for the UFC. In all honesty I would like to see Hwang win as I can't remember the last time we saw someone from Korea fight in the UFC at a heavy weight class. But he looks way too one dimensional. He is a brawler but only really has leg kicks and big right hand. He is also very flat footed and hittable. McCorry isn't UFC ready either but he is significantly more defensively responsible and that is probably enough to beat Hwang. McCorry was also on TUF so he does have a couple more fights than what shows up on his record. This will be a striking fight, and honestly not a very high level one, but I do think McCorry is just better. Aside from Mark Hulme on TUF, McCorry hasn't beaten the best competition but he looks comfortable on the feet and has some solid counter striking. Hwang just comes forwards and swings wildly. I don't think I have ever seen him actually set anything up. He is fun but as I stated earlier I just think McCorry is the better fighter of the two.

Pick: Paddy McCorry by KO/TKO. Medium confidence.

CODY CHOVANCEK (8-0) vs. RAPHAEL UCHEGBU (10-1) – Bantamweight

This was an interesting one to research. To be brutally honest, Chovanchek was nowhere near as good as I expected him to be. He is a wrestler but he doesn't seem to wrestle super often. On the feet he throws a lot of combinations but these are just him running into the pocket while throwing overhands. He doesn't set anything up, he just runs forwards, closes his eyes, looks and the ground and lets his hands go. He was picked apart at range in his last fight which I think most people would agree he should have lost. He does have a good win over Gage Gill, but Gill death gassed pretty early in that fight and just didn't have the energy to defend the take down. At range he is very vulnerable to strikes given his shorter frame. Uchegbu is a rangy striker who will find a lot of success against Chovanchek on the feet. He throws a lot of jabs, leg kicks, body kicks which Chovanchek doesn't defend very well. Uchegbu does have a loss where he was out wrestled for all three rounds but since then it does seem like he has improved his wrestling. If he does get taken down he does throw up submissions but I don't think he is super dangerous off his back. I think Uchegbu is better everywhere except for in wrestling. I also think Uchegbu has a cardio advantage.

Pick: Raphael Uchegbu by decision. Medium confidence.