ILIAS BULAID (9-0) vs. ERICK VISCONDE (17-3) – Featherweight
ILIAS BULAID 9-0 (5 KO, 1 SUB, 3 DEC)
Bulaid is a former K-1 kickboxer who started to fight in MMA in 2019. Opposite to Tyshawn Williams, I needed to double check that this was a featherweight fight. Bulaid is pretty big for this weight class – Listed at 5″10″ but he has a big upper body. It doesn’t look like he carries a lot of weight in his legs though. He is patient but also high volume at the same time. As in he won’t rush anything but he will put out a great deal of kicks. Most of the kicks are to the legs but he does throw question mark kicks up up quite regularly too. When he lets his hands go he throws with a decent amount of power. He has a decent enough jab but he is mostly looking to set up his overhand right. I don’t think he has yet fought a great wrestler but his take down defense reminded me a lot of Losene Keita’s, where it isn’t technical defense as he is relying on sprawls and athleticism. This is mostly shown in the Kewin Jacques, Saba Sozashvili, and Wellyton Junior fights. That Jacques fight was a bit of a red flag as his opponent was a stiff punching bag with no defense at all and he needed 3 rounds to finish him. Bulaid has also turned himself into an MMA fighter, rather than a kickboxer in MMA. He actually does shoot take downs more regularly than you would expect, and he has a strong clinch game. When he gets these take downs he doesn’t really do anything though he just camps in guard. He does have a submission win but this was handed to him by his opponent who was on his knees for ages while Bulaid set up an anaconda. The only real problem is that his competition level hasn’t been great since he left Bellator in 2022, and as I stated earlier he has been more competitive than you would like with these opponents.
ERICK VISCONDE 17-3 (6 KO, 6 SUB, 5 DEC)
Visconde is the LFA featherweight champion. He is listed at 5’7″ but he has a solid build for this weight class. I don’t know what to think of him. He has been the distance a lot in his recent fights so there is a lot of information out there, but it’s hard to tell if he is actually any good. On the feet he is very low volume and when he does throw strikes he looks quite slow. He got a big highlight win over Ary Farias recently but that spinning elbow he threw wasn’t very quick or well set up – Farias is just an old BJJ guy with no cardio. Visconde can wrestle but it seems like he just gives up on it if he can’t have early success. Against Pintos he wreslted pretty hard in round 1, didn’t get any great offense off with his wrestling, and then just accepted that it would be a striking fight for 5 rounds. If the same happens here I think he will be a step behind given the height and reach disadvantage he will be giving up. His boxing is okay but nothing too impressive. He is a good minute winner though as he pressures well and usually does his best work in the last two minutes of the round. He is a black belt in BJJ but he hasn’t won by submission in a few years and against solid opponents he has struggled to get the fight down to the ground anyways. We saw a bit of this BJJ in his Mecate fight and I would say that was his best performance of his career. He actually threw volume in that fight and it lead to a doctor stoppage as Mecate’s eye was swollen completely shut.
PREDICTION
I didn’t expect to pick Bulaid to win this as I was much more familiar with Visconde due his LFA fights. But upon a rewatch of Visconde’s career I just wasn’t that impressed by him. Both of these guys are very high level fighters with a fair share of flaws but I think Viscondes flaws play into Bulaids strengths a lot more. Bulaid will be throwing significantly more volume on the feet and he will have a size advantage being taller and longer. Visconde is slow on the feet whereas Bulaid is pretty fast. Where it could get interesting is if Visconde can pressure for 15 minutes and wear down on the cardio of Bulaid. Visconde paces himself a lot and has shown that he can go 5 rounds. If the fight gets to the ground it will favour Visconde as well. But Bulaid has fought MMA for 7 years now so he will have enough experience defending take downs and submissions. Bulaid’s take down defense isn’t perfect but he should be able to keep the fight upright the same way Pintos was able to, and then have his success striking from range. I think either way this goes the distance and should be a pretty close fight.
Pick: Ilias Bulaid – Low confidence. Most likely method: Decision.
ZAURBEK SABANOV (4-0) vs. ADAMA DIOP (6-1) – Heavyweight
ZAURBEK SABANOV 4-0 (3 KO, 1 DEC)
This guy is like a way more athletic Shamil Gaziev. He is 6’4″ with decent wrestling, but on the feet he is so fast. He has good kicks and punches, targeting the legs and body often. He has looked dominant in his career so far aside from the first round in his pro debut. He got hurt on the feet a little bit and then resorted to winning a decision with his wrestling in round 2 and 3. He can throw oblique kicks and spinning kicks which is pretty funny to watch from a heavyweight. Being 27-29 years old, he may be able to go far in the division despite only 4 professional fights. There isn’t too much to say about him aside from the fact that he does look good. He has rare speed and athleticism for the weight class.
ADAMA DIOP 6-1 (5 KO, 1 DEC)
At first I wasn’t too impressed by Diop as he is a Senegalese wrestler who likes to stall against the cage. On the feet he has little to no technique but he has some real power. He put Gnaze out cold with punches that weren’t even landing cleanly. He mostly throws punches and overhands but he is very defensively flawed and is pretty slow. In his loss he was able to get the take down after a couple minutes of trying, but he didn’t do anything with it and then his opponent got up and KOed him with a spinning elbow, putting him out cold. That is how all of Diop’s fights go really. He just looks for take downs and is happy to camp in guard and do nothing. But he is a real threat on the feet if he wants to let his hands go.
PREDICTION
I was a lot more impressed with Sabanov than Diop. If Sabanov can defend the take downs he should be able to dominate this fight. He is much, much faster on the feet with better technique and a wider striking arsenal.
Pick: Zaurbek Sabanov – medium confidence. Most likely method: KO in round 1.
CAMILA REYNOSO (9-1) vs. AIEZA BERTOLSO (7-0) – Women’s Strawweight
CAMILA REYNOSO 9-1 (4 KO, 2 SUB, 1 DEC)
Reynoso is one of my boy Martin’s Samurai Fight House prospects which are very hit or miss. And of course Martin has hid all her SFH fights from YouTube. I couldn’t even find her Combate Global fights which is strange. So I have so far just watched her highlights in instagram reels. Based on what I could find she is pretty much a pure wreslter. She shoots take downs from far out and doesn’t even really set these up with striking as he striking just isn’t great. She strikes with the classic “going for a swim” technique Julianna Pena was famous for. She can throw kicks but these are pretty slow.
AIEZA BERTOLSO 7-0 (1 KO, 4 SUB, 2 DEC)
Bertolso is taking this fight on short notice as Reynose was supposed to fight Wushamo Hailai on Week 6. I have actually followed Bertolso’s entire career since she turned pro after amassing a 16-1 amateur MMA record. She has a BJJ base and is a good wrestler herself for the weight class. She is very lanky, 5’6″ at strawweight but she may even be taller considering how big she has looked compared to her opponents. She is coming off an LFA title win by submission in round 2. She didn’t shoot a take down until round 2 in that fight and when she did she instantly found herself in mount before rolling for an arm bar. She also holds wins over Janaina Silva who fought on Contender Series against Eduara Moura, and Samara Santos who is a regional mainstay at this point.
PREDICTION
I am not too bothered by the fact we can’t find much on Reynoso, as I don’t think this fight should be super competitive. It is women’s MMA and I don’t predict women’s fight very accurately on DWCS usually but I am very high on Bertolso. Even if she gets taken down she can threaten Reynoso with submission attempts, and I also think she is the better striker too.
Prediction: Aieza Bertolso – high confidence. Most likely method: Submission. Maybe early too – First two rounds.
LUCA BORANDO (9-1) vs. IAN ESCUZA (7-0) – Featherweight
LUCA BORANDO 9-1 (7 KO, 1 SUB, 1 DEC)
Italian fighters have been on a comeback this year and it looks Borando is going to try keep that momentum going. Borando fights for Cage Warriors which is one of the best promotions on UFC Fight Pass. Unfortunately Cage Warriors guys can be very hit or miss though. Borando looks legit to me as he has been dispatching his opponents with ease. He is a counter striker with good footwork and speed. He has multiple knock outs with knees as well. He knocked down his most recent opponent with knees and his win over Abbasov started with him timing a knee when his opponent shot a take down. I like his boxing quite a bit even though it seems like he has some sort of Muay Thai base. He throws counters regularly in the pocket and has good techniques with both straight punches and hooks. He does throw a decent amount of kicks to the body as well. His take down defense is very good, and a good indicator of this is the Tariel Abbasov fight. Abbasov found some wrestling success against Luke Riley in round 1. Borando did get taken down by Abbasov, but this was due to his mistake and he worked his way back up easily. Borrando has showed pretty bad fight IQ in these wrestling exchanges though. When an opponent tries to take him down, he does very well to defend. But then for some reason he will turn his dominant clinch position into his own take down attempt. I saw him do this multiple times and this could be a concern when he starts to fight better competition. His cardio seems to be pretty good too. I don’t think he cuts a lot of weight to make 145 lbs either. He was able to beat down and break Caique Araujo in round 2 and got a 3rd round finish earlier in his career against someone not on his level. He looks to be improving quickly and I think we may see the best version of him.
IAN ESCUZA 7-0 (5 KO, 2 SUB)
Escuza has all 7 of his wins in the first round, with 4 of his seven wins coming in the first minute. Of course this is very impressive but this leaves us with a few unknowns. Despite there not being a great deal of minutes of MMA footage, he does also have a professional muay thai background. I watched his entire professsional MMA career and it did not take me long. One of the biggest stand outs of his game is how many finishes he has from body shots. His wins over Lopez and Neto are both TKOs due to body shots. He kicked Lopez to the body and finished him in 27 seconds, and hurt Neto to the body with the first punch he threw in the whole fight. Then he actually finishes Neto with ground and pound to the body. He is very technical and one of the auto dubbed broadcasts (and his instagram bio) said he was a world muay thai champion. He is very patient on the feet despite having so many fast wins. When he throws he throws with power and intent. His leg kicks are fantastic as well. It was a weird finishing sequence as I think his opponent was just giving up, but he landed a strong leg kick during his finish over Wemerson Vitor. The only real problem I have is that his level of competition has been abysmal. His best win is definitely over Novato Junior, but Nonato is one of the guys who is beating jobbers and losing to anyone with skill. He is dispatching his opponents in the way you would expect him to though. When it comes to his wrestling there really isn’t much to say. He has defended take downs but it was absolute jobbers shooting them. I watched his first two fights which he won by submission. In his debut his BJJ actually looked quite impressive as he had to do some scrambling to take his opponents back. And then in his second fight he just pulled guillotine against an opponent that looked clueless. It is worth noting that Escuza has only fought once since 2024 as he had a ligament rapture in his knee (torn ACL?) which had him sidelined for all of 2025. He has only had one fight since this injury which he won in 27 seconds.
PREDICTION
Both of these guys impressed me. I didn’t know what to expect going in but Ian Eszuza looks like he is the real deal. Yes, he is beating an abysmal level of competition – But he is doing this with quality technique rather than just rushing his opponents. I am a very big believer in body shots and we have seen in 2026 that body shots are starting to result in many finishes, from high profile fights such as Parnasse vs. Hooker, to Natividad pulling off a surprise KO on DWCS a few weeks ago. Escuza throws shots targeting the liver with both his kicks and punches. Borando is more well rounded in my opinion but he isn’t a complete wrestler. He is a striker than has a decent ability to wrestle. Escuza also trains at Pitbull Martial Arts so he is getting some quality sparring in with former PFL champion Jesus Pinedo. I am worried about him coming from injury but he took a lot of time off so hopefully we see him at 100%.
Pick: Ian Escuza – Low confidence. Admittedly, this would be a medium confidence pick if not for him coming back from injury. We have seen how much these particular injuries slow down fighters coming into these opportunities. Murtalza Talha and Otgonbaatar Boldbaatar ring a bell for me as both looked slow coming into DWCS and Road to UFC fights. Most likely method is KO in round 1 for Escuza.
LOAI ABUSHAAR (7-1) vs. GEORGE STAINES (10-0) – Lightweight
LOAI ABUSHAAR 7-1 (4 KO, 3 SUB)
Abushaar is listed at 6’4″ and he may be one of the biggest lightweights I have ever seen? I have no idea how this guy makes the weight class. He is a super lanky striker but I also think that his size make him slow and awkward. The way he was throwing strikes against Scottie Stockman left him wide open for counters. He must have some crazy power though as the left hand that sat Stockman down looked like it barely even landed. In his KO loss he throws a lazy jab and gets absolutely slumped. He does have some submissions but I believe these are all defensive submissions. His submission over James Rosas was a standing guillotine and his most recent win was by anaconda. He has a win over Adam Livingston as an amateur which has aged well at least. I think he is more awkward than good though, he literally looked like a giraffe out there.
GEORGE STAINES 10-0 (1 KO, 3 SUB, 6 DEC)
I am quite confident that Staines is the A-side in this fight. He is a Cage Warriors prospect and is from Wales, a country the UFC probably wants to sign a couple more fighters from. He is mostly a wrestler but once he does get his take downs his control is top level. He doesn’t get many finishes as he is position over submission and this may be why it has taken him this long to get a shot at getting into the UFC. On the feet he is mostly a boxer but I think he is still pretty awkward and uncomfortable here. He has fought a very high level of competition though and has yet to be caught by anything yet. He has managed to get two wins by finish in his last three so it is good to see him with this instinct now. His KO was oner Harris where Harris got caught with a very well timed knee by Staines. His last fight he got a rear naked choke standing which was also good to see.
PREDICTION
This may be an unpopular opinion but I am not super impressed by Staines. He is a fantastic wrestler and he has fought a very, very high level of competition across Cage Warriors and OKTAGON. But my problem with him is that his striking is quite poor. Abushaar is a very flawed fighter but that length and power is going to give Staines some problems as long as the fight is standing. Staines mostly shoots on single leg take downs against the cage though and eventually this should wear down on Abushaar’s cardio. Staines is a cardio machine and is relentless with his wrestling and grappling. I am not sure how many finishes we will see form Staines in the UFC, but I do think he will finish Abushaar.
Pick: George Staines – medium confidence. Most likely method: Round 2 or 3 KO or SUB. Potentially a decision for Staines.
