The UFC Columbus prelim card features seven bouts, the first three of which will be previewed in this post. All win probabilities are based on a fighter’s CC Rating and their place in the CC Rankings.

Luis Saldana vs. Bruno Souza (Men’s Featherweight)

Luis Saldana

• Record: 15-7-0
• Division Ranking: 71/75 featherweights
• Vegas Odds: +100 (Underdog)

Bruno Souza

• Record: 10-2-0
• Division Ranking: 56/75 featherweights
• Vegas Odds: -120 (Favorite)

Saldana is coming off his first UFC loss, a unanimous decision against Austin Lingo. Prior, he’d scored a decision win over the since-cut Jordan Griffin in his UFC debut. That win marked the first decision win of his career. In 15 career wins, Saldana has eight submissions, six KOs, and that one aforementioned decision. Saldana will be the taller, longer fighter in the octagon Saturday.

Souza is trying to score his first UFC win. After becoming LFA featherweight champion, he dropped his UFC debut to Melsik Baghdasaryan at UFC 268 in November. It was a close, rather uneventful fight. Souza will have the better cardio by far of the two fighters, with his fights going the distance more often than not. He only has three finishes in ten career wins.

Subjective Spin on Objective Reality: Given Souza’s tendency to rely on his cardio, Saldana will likely push for a finish early. With the reach advantage, he’ll be much better off in the standup game, whereas Souza will keep his distance and wear Saldana down.

Editor’s Pick: Souza

[11] Matheus Nicolau vs. [5] David Dvorak (Men’s Flyweight)

Matheus Nicolau

• Record: 17-3-1
• Division Ranking: 12/36 flyweights
• Vegas Odds: +105 (Underdog)

David Dvorak

• Record: 20-3-0
• Division Ranking: 6/36 flyweights
• Vegas Odds: -125 (Favorite)

Nicolau (#11 CC, #7 UFC) is an undefeated 2-0 since rejoining the UFC. He won a narrow split decision over the dangerous finisher Manel Kape (#10 CC, #14 UFC) in his debut. He then took a unanimous decision over Tim Elliott (NR CC, #11 UFC) in his next bout. That brings his UFC record to 5-1 overall. Nicolau hasn’t had many finishes since joining the UFC, but has nine in his career and is known for his ability in the ground game.

The Czech native Dvorak (#5 CC, #10 UFC) has not lost a fight since May of 2012. He has a professional win streak of 16 straight bouts since that time. It’s been over ten months since his last bout, a first round submission over Juancamilo Ronderos. He has an 80 percent finishing rate over his career. A win here would greatly help his prospects in the flyweight division.

Subjective Spin on Objective Reality: The winner will make a name for himself in this division for sure. Dvorak will have the standup advantage and Nicolau will be better on the mat. In this particular matchup, bet on Nicolau to be able to do enough to mitigate the striking and take the fight down.

Editor’s Pick: Nicolau

[10] Jennifer Maia vs. [12] Manon Fiorot (Women’s Flyweight)

Jennifer Maia

• Record: 19-8-1
• Division Ranking: 11/42 flyweights
• Vegas Odds: +350 (Underdog)

Manon Fiorot

• Record: 8-1-0
• Division Ranking: 13/42 flyweights
• Vegas Odds: -450 (Favorite)

Maia (#10 CC, #4 UFC) has come a long way since falling to Valentina Shevchenko for the flyweight title in November of 2020. After defeating Jessica Eye (NR CC, #10 UFC), Maia followed that up by losing to Katlyn Chookagian (#3 CC, #2 UFC). She’s running out of time if she wants to make another run at the title. Now, she plays the role of gatekeeper, facing an up and coming prospect looking to stake her own claim to the title.

That prospect comes in the form of French mauler Fiorot (#12 CC, #13 UFC). Despite already being 32 years old, she only has nine professional bouts to her name. After losing her pro debut, she’s never looked back, going 8-0 since. She’s 3-0 in the UFC, with two knockouts in those bouts. None of her bouts have been close. Now. she gets a real test, facing off against one of the UFC’s top five.

Subjective Spin on Objective Reality: Maia will give Fiorot looks she’s never seen before. However, we saw how Maia performs against lankier strikers when she lost to Chookagian. Fiorot can implement the same playbook and use her superior talent to do more damage.

Editor’s Pick: Fiorot

Photo Credit: Yahoo Sports