It's a big week for MMA as UFC puts on a solid card in the APEX, and the PFL's regular season returns with the heavyweights and the women's flyweights.
PFL 4: 2024 Regular Season
PFL's 2024 regular season returns with the heavyweights and the women's flyweights. I typically do quite well predicting PFL card's but these two weight classes are always tough to predict. The card airs on Thursday night on the 13th June at 05:30 PM ET on ESPN+. I will be in the middle of my exam while this card is on so please wish me luck as you are watching the card.
VALENTIN MOLDAVSKY (13-3) vs. LINTON VASSELL 3 (24-9) – Heavyweight
Moldavsky fights Vassell for the 3rd time this weekend. The series between the two is tied 1-1 with Vassell getting the most recent win in 2023. I do like Moldavsky to get the win back for a few reasons that don't favour Vassell. Vassell is now 41 years old and he has slowed down recently which isn't good for his style as he relies on his quick movement for the weight class. He was also knocked out two months ago in the first episode of the season. Moldavsky has got some momentum recently including a big win in the first round against 2022 champion Ante Delija. He will be the much fresher fighter in the matchup due to age and wear and tear recently and I like his well rounded ground to slow down the aging Vassell. The pick is Moldavsky (-165) to win by TKO.
DAKOTA DITCHEVA (11-0) vs. CHELSEA HACKETT (4-2-1) – Women's Flyweight
Dakota Ditcheva is a fighter the PFL has built up over the last few years, and they have done a great job doing so. She has proven to be one of the most dangerous strikers in the weight class and has won most of her PFL fights by KO in the first round. Despite winning the PFL Europe tournament last year she still hasn't fought great competition though and am I very interested to see how she deals against a proven championship fighter such as Liz Carmouche or Taila Santos. In this fight she is fighting another up and coming prospect in Chelsea Hackett. I haven't seen anything that makes me think Ditcheva won't win this one, so I will pick her to win by KO in the first two rounds. She is -1300 money line which is a little ridiculous so there's no real reason to put her in a parlay.
DENIS GOLTSOV (33-8) vs. THIAGO SANTOS (22-12) – Heavyweight
PFL loves to put fights together on short notice and this is one of them. To my knowledge, Santos accepted this fight last week and Goltsov has had a full camp as he was preparing for another opponent. This is Santos's first heavyweight fight in his career and will be the first time in a long time he is fighting an opponent much bigger than him. Goltsov is a big heavyweight standing at 6'5″ with a 78″ reach. He also carries big power and ability to wrestle if needed. Santos is now 40 years old and has lost his last 4 fights, including the decision loss that was overturned to a no contest as both him and Wilkinson failed drug tests. He is coming off a loss to Romero who has moved up to 205 lbs since leaving the UFC. I like Goltsov in this fight as he can land big power on the feet and mix in take downs. He is -360 which I feel is a big wide but I'm guessing the odds makers have factored Santos' age, losing streak, and short notice heavily there. I'm going to pick Goltsov to win by TKO in the second or third round.
LIZ CARMOUCHE (21-7) vs. KANA WATANABE (13-2-1) – Women's Flyweight
Liz Carmouche was the champion of this weight class in Bellator when the promotion was acquired by the PFL. She is a pioneer of Women's MMA and was Ronda Rousey's opponent in the first women's MMA fight in the UFC. Her last fight was a trilogy with former Bellator champion Juliana Velasquez. She was the trilogy 3-0 with two stoppages. Kana Watanabe was a top contender for Bellator but was unable to win the fights that could get her the title. These two have met before in a fight which Carmouche won by standing TKO in less than a minute. Although I think this meeting will last much longer than that I think Carmouche will still come out with the win. Carmouche is the more aggressive striker and should be able to defend the takedowns of Watanabe. Carmouche's moneyline is -300.
TAILA SANTOS (20-3) vs. JENA BISHOP (7-0) – Women's Flyweight
PFL's women's flyweight division is stacked as this is another great fight. I am very interested to see how Santos looks again in the PFL as she is my early prediction to win the whole tournament. After a two fight losing streak to Shevchenko and Blanchfield, Santos was released from the promotion for somewhat unknown reasons. I think there was some frustration between her camp and the UFC as she had pulled out of money fights while being signed with the promotion. She has had no issues fighting for the PFL though. It is worth noting that it's hard to see Santos making big improvements in her game as to my knowledge she is still training in her own gym which she started only recently with her husband. I do think she is more well rounded than Jena Bishop though. Bishop a world class grappler who found a lot of success in the sport before transitioning over to MMA. She now holds an undefeated record but at 38 years old she may have moved over too late. Santos should be able to defend her takedowns and if the fight does go down, Santos will be the best grappler she has fought in MMA. I like Santos to keep the fight standing and to win by decision, or maybe a very late finish. Santos is -260.
OTHER PREDICTIONS:
My full card predictions are out in video form on my YouTube channel (Artem MMA) and will be uploaded to the We Want Picks channel as well.
- Tyrell Fortune (-175) – Note that Marcelo Golm has accepted this fight on very short notice
- Oleg Popov (-275)
- Shanna Young (+110)
- Danilo Marques (+125)
- Juliana Velasquez (-300)
- Sumiko Inaba (-505)
- Melissa Balic (-260)
HEX Fight Series 31
I am most excited for this show because of the headliner between Sam Kei and Navajo Stirling. This event takes place in Melbourne, Australia at 03:30 AM ET on Friday 14th June. It will be broadcast on PPV on CSN.
SAM KEI (8-8) vs. NAVAJO STIRLING (3-0) – Light Heavyweight Championship
Navajo Stirling is a prospect from New Zealand I am quite high on – I think he gets a UFC contract or a Contender Series fight with a win here. He is a multiple time King in the Ring kickboxing tournament champion and WKBF K-1 kickboxing champion. After struggling to find opponents in kickboxing, he has recently transitioned over to MMA and has already built up an undefeated record. Sam Kei is a former PFL fighter who is going to be willing to stand and bang with Stirling so we are in for a great fight. I like Stirling a lot as a prospect and I'm going to pick him to find the KO in the first couple of rounds.
JUSTIN VAN HEERDEN (13-5) vs. GEORGE MANGOS (3-0) – Featherweight Championship
I think we may learn a lot about both fighters in this matchup. I have felt like Justin has been deserving of a UFC opportunity for a while now, but I do have to admit he didn't have a great performance in his last fight. He is making a quick turn around though and was meant to fight against another top prospect Abdullah Biayda, but he for some reason accepted a Muay Thai bout a couple weeks ago and was knocked out badly. Mangos has taken this fight on short notice, He is a young, undefeated prospect with an undefeated amateur record as well. He has won every pro fight so far in the first round by rear naked choke but van Heerden is by far the best opponent he has ever fought. van Heerden is also a wrestler so the grappling exchanges will be very interesting to watch. I am going to side with van Heerden, mostly due to the full camp and the experience. This is a 5 round fight that very much could get extended and we haven't seen Mangos out of the first round yet.
ARES FC 22: Sola vs. Daguir Imavov
Ares FC is the leading regional promotion in France. They regularly put on great, high level events and I think this is one of their better cards. The card will be broadcast on UFC Fight Pass at 02:00 PM ET on Friday 14th June.
AXEL SOLA (7-0) vs. DAGUIR IMAVOV (15-3-1) – Lightweight Championship
Daguir is the older brother of UFC middleweight Nassourdine Imavov. He has been very inactive recently and has taken a lot of time off in between fights. I actually don't know the reason for this, perhaps he was injured or was more focused on helping Nassourdine. I have been impressed with him so far in his return but I do like him fighting at featherweight a lot more. He had a big size advantage at 145 and I think he's giving that up moving up to lightweight. With that being said he has moved in between division his whole career and missed weight in his last fight. I feel like the winner of this fight should get signed to the UFC as they are both top prospects and Imavov is of course related to a ranked fighter. Training at MMA Factory would have held him back from getting a UFC contract but now that Fernand Lopez is out of the picture I think UFC will be more open to signing fighters from that gym. Sola is a very aggressive wrestler who constantly shoots for take downs. His striking is also pretty decent. Imavov is also a wrestler but he is quite comfortable on the feet as well. I'm going to side with Sola with low confidence.
There are two other championship bouts on this card at heavyweight and bantamweight. I also think the UFC will keeping an eye on how Amin Ayoub performs as he there were some rumours of the UFC having interest in him last year.
XKO 67
XKO 67’s main event should be a banger. Former Contender Series fighter Donovan Beard fights former PFL title challenger Dilano Taylor. The event was originally schudeled to take place two weeks ago but was delayed. It will be taking place now on June 14th at 03:00 PM ET and can be watched on Triller TV.
DONOVAN BEARD (8-3) vs. DILANO TAYLOR (11-5) – Welterweight
Dilano Taylor fought Sadibou Sy for the PFL Championship in 2022, but lost two fights in a row after that. He wasn’t signed for the 2024 season and fought in Canada earlier this year. He is a very good striker who had a lot of very solid wins on his record before signing to the PFL. His most notable win is a first round knockout over Rory MacDonald. At 27 years old he still has plenty of time to make a run on the regional scene to earn another shot in a big promotion. Donovan Beard fought Bo Nickal on the Contender Series and has won one fight since. He has a wrestling background. I like the experience at the highest level for Taylor and I think he uses his elite striking to find a knockout.
