This is a solid card taking place in Charlotte on Friday night at 7 pm EST. It will be broadcast on ESPN. If you live in the Charlotte area, tickets aren't very expensive to get in so could be a fun card to go to.
BRYAN BATTLE (12-3) vs. DALTON ROSTA (11-3) – Middleweight
I originally was going to pick Rosta as I just can't trust Battle that much. I don't believe Battle is taking his career seriously anymore considering he has been taking bareknuckle fights instead of rebuilding his MMA career. With that said, he did have a strong UFC run. In his PFL debut he got taken down and beaten easily by Eblen who does fight similarly to Rosta. The problem with Rosta however, is that he is much smaller than Eblen and has considerably worse cardio. Rosta gassed out in round 2 badly against Edwards, and prior to that was gassing out in the later rounds of his decision wins. Against Impa he also showed poor fight IQ and durability, as it didn't look like a big shot that put him out cold. Rosta could win the fight with his wrestling but I don't believe he has much finishing upside here. Battle has the power on the feet to knock out Rosta in any of the three rounds too. If Rosta swings wild, he could get Koed early. If he wrestles, it could eb Battle finishing him late in round 3.
Pick: Bryan Battle by KO/TKO in round 2. Low confidence.
DOVLET YAGSHIMURADOV (26-8-1) vs. SIMEON POWELL (12-2) – Light Heavyweight
Just copy and pasting my breakdown from when this fight was booked for last week. If Dovlet didn't fight Tyson Pedro I would feel a lot better about picking him to win this fight. In that fight Dovlet did win a decision but he spent a lot of the fight fighting Pedro from range instead of using his pressure heavy style to throw heavy in the pocket. He got hurt by Pedro in that fight as well which is a terrible look. Dovlet is a 5'11” pressure boxer who mostly closes the distance with hooks before clinching, and further dirty boxing. I never considered him to be one of the best light heavyweights PFL had but he did well to prove me wrong by winning the PFL tournament in 2024. When PFL was starting up Powell was one of their first fighters who had star potential, and they did well to capitalize on this by giving him main card and main event positions for PFL Europe. The problem is that Powell never developed his skills to be a world class fighter. He has big power on a 6'5″ frame and a 85″ inch reach, but he never used this well. Most of his offense comes from him crashing the pocket and even then he can get hit easily. He has a bad chin and can get backed up too. He has the power to KO Dovlet at any time but as long as Dovlet is pressuring forwards he should be in control. I think eventually Dovlet will be able to break down Powell and win by later finish, or maybe even a decision if Dovlet isn't aggressive.
Pick: Dovlet Yagshimuradov by KO/TKO in round 2 or 3. Low-medium confidence.
JOSH SILVEIRA (15-5) vs. AARON JEFFREY (16-6) – Middleweight
I am not a big fan of either of these guys to be honest. I was never sold on the Silveira hype when he fought at light heavyweight. Now he has moved down to middleweight where he has looked better. At this weight class he looks to striker more instead of engaging in the clinch, but even then I think he may be a bit slow for Jeffey. Jeffrey come into Bellator and went on a strong KO run but since he lost to John Salter who was well past his prime he has resorted to becoming a boring wrestler. He now likes to clinch and wrestle against the cage on his way to wins now. This should work against Silveira too, as we have seen his losses to Impa Kasanganay come in this way.
Pick: Aaron Jeffrey by decision. Low-medium confidence.
LEWIS MCGRILLEN (12-2) vs. BRANDON LEWIS (7-3) – Bantamweight
McGrillen sold in his last fight where he was initiating the grappling against a much better grappler than himself. He is making a quick turnaround now on short notice against Brandon Lewis. He did disappoint a lot in his last outing but I am expecting him to find a KO here. Lewis has been very inactive so I don't know how he will look here. On top of that he is also very small for the weight class and not super great anywhere. McGrillen should cruise here.
Pick: Lewis McGrillen by KO/TKO in round 1. High confidence.
JOSH FREMD (12-6) vs. JHONY GREGORY (10-5) – Middleweight
This is a step down in competition for Fremd from his debut, and he is fighting another guy with no chin. If Gregory can't get the take down he usually gets knocked out so I expect that to happen here.
Pick: Josh Fremd by KO.TKO in round 1. High confidence.
DENIS GOLTSOV (36-9) vs. HASAN MEZHIEV (14-0) – Heavyweight
Mezhiev is a complete unknown as I could not find any of his recent fights. He has fought twice in the last 5-6 years too. He seems to be pretty good at grappling but he has never fought anyone good and looks like he would be better suited at middleweight rather than heavyweight. Goltsov is a big guy with some decent striking technique for this weight class. He looked in good shape in his last fight even if he did gas out. I don't think Mezhiev will be able to take him down so if he is stuck on the feet with Goltsov I can't see this going well.
Pick: Denis Goltsov by KO/TKO in round 1. Medium confidence.
CHEYDEN LEIAHOLA (11-3) vs. ROBBIE RING (9-1) – Featherweight
Not confident here but I am more convinced of Cheyden's skillset than Robbie's. Cheyden showed up on short notice against Braga and was quite competitive, getting take downs and not looking too bad on the feet. Robbie Ring is pretty fraudulent and we have already seen him exposed on DWCS. He hasn't fought anyone great since.
Pick: Cheyden Leiahola by decision. Low confidence.
CHEYANNE BOWERS (7-3) vs. ELORA DANA (8-2) – Women's Flyweight
Bowers is best at wrestling, whereas Dana is weakest at wrestling. Not very confident here and I think the fight will be boring.
Pick: Cheyanne Bowers by decision. Low confidence.
MICHAEL BOYLAN (6-0) vs. LANDRY WARD (10-3) – Lightweight
Boylan seems like he could have some star potential but from what I saw of him against very low level competition, this isn't a good fight for him. Boylan wants to get take downs but in doing so his striking defense will get exposed. He was getting tagged with straight punches by Kendall Whited. Landry Ward is a good striker but he has recently found power in his boxing. His best attributes are kicks down the middle and straight punches – both are strikes I think will be effective for him here.
Pick: Landry Ward by KO/TKO in round 1. Medium confidence.
VALENTIN MOLDAVSKY (15-4) vs. BRUNO CAPPELOZZA (15-7) – Light Heavyweight
It didn't occur to me that this was at 205. I like this Moldavsky a lot more now as Cappelozza is 37 years old and I worry about his durability.
Pick: Valentin Moldavsky by KO/TKO in round 1 or 2. Medium-high confidence.
JONATHAN MARTIN (8-3) vs. WILSON LOPSHIRE (7-0) – Lightweight
Both of these guys are good grapplers with bad striking defense. Lopshire should find the more dominant positions though.
Pick: Wilson Lopshire by submission in round 1. Medium confidence.
EDUARDO NEVES (9-3) vs. MAXWELL DJANTOU NANA (8-2) – Heavyweight
This could be sloppy but I have to go with Neves here. Nana doesn't offer much on the feet for Neves to be afraid of. I worry that Neves has absolutely no idea what he is doing on the ground though, and Nana is a wrestler.
Pick: Eduardo Neves by KO/TKO in round 1. Low confidence.
TREY WATERS (9-2) vs. TRUKON CARSON (6-1) – Welterweight
Carson is very hittable on the feet. He might be able to overwhelm Waters early but I think Waters should be able to stay composed and strike from range.
Pick: Trey Waters by KO/TKO in round 2 or 3, or decision. Medium confidence.
