Dakota is making his short notice UFC debut, but he was in a full fight camp both for his teammate Joshua Van next week and himself because he had a fight booked for mid May. I have no idea what Kai was doing when he got the call, but that doesn't weigh too heavily on the pick. Dakota should win here because he will be the cleaner striker and has good takedown defense is Kai goes to mix it up. My only hesitation is Dakota hasn't fought the highest level of competition and while Kai doesn't have the best wins, he definitely has the deeper resume. I'm going with Dakota though and do hope that this doesn't screw anything up for Josh Van's fight next week.

Dakota Hope

Dakota Hope is a forward pressure striker who does a nice job working in combinations. He is incredibly light on his toes and always working feints. He plots forward looking for his openings and while he is incredible fast and powerful, he doesn't chase. You won't see him work in a ton of takedowns, but hen he does shoot he is fast and runs through them. He is a dangerous striker with sold cardio and fight IQ.

Kai Kamaka III

Kai Kamaka is a name that the UFC faithfuls will recognize but maybe not the newer UFC fans. He had a 4 fight stint in the UFC from 2020 to 2021 with a couple of exciting matchups. Since exiting the UFC he bounced between a handful of promotions including Bellator and the PFL where he had a good amount of success. Style wise he is a busy striker with decent footwork and leg kicks. He has nice pressure, great low kicks, solid takedowns and a relatively solid chin.